Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday 2-25-2021

Less Like Me

Thankful Thursday hears the words of a tune coming from my lips as a song I’ve heard multiple times recently keeps rolling through my head. Less Like Me seems an especially appropriate song during this season of Lent. As you take a listen, you will hear the lyrics speaking of becoming more like Jesus.

To do this, we live out the call to show mercy, grace, kindness, goodness, love, faith, patience, and peace. These actions are all part of the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) that shows up in our lives when we align our lives in thought, word, and action with Christ. So as I walk through this season of Lent, I put down my phone and pick up my Bible. I dive into His Word to gain guidance, inspiration, and love to live fully into the places where God is calling me.

I thank God for our time alone together. With His mercy and grace, it is there where I learn to grow more like Jesus and less like me. Thank you Lord!

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 2-25-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Online Worship. To know more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

Book Study of Entering the Passion of Jesus A Beginner’s Guide to Holy Week with Pastor Dan will be offered two ways: on Sundays at 9:10 AM  in Holy Grounds or Wednesdays from 6:30 – 7:30 pm over Zoom. To join, please RSVP for Sundays or email the office for the Wednesday zoom link: office@gravelhillumc.org. Books can be purchased on Amazon and Cokesbury, but are not necessary to participate.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

A Women’s Monday evening Bible Study using the book titled, “Anxious for Nothing,” by Max Lucado occurs at 6:30pm. Call the church office for the zoom link and purchase a book from Amazon or Walmart.

Thankful Thursday 2-18-2021

Rest

Thankful Thursday hears sounds of every family member doing their “jobs” from home today. These moments of intense focus on our individual projects worked on under the comfort of our roof and in the warmth of our home fill it with a hum of productiveness. It even hears sounds of groans from Cooper who seems dismayed at the abnormal noise and fullness of our home at this time of day ~ we are really interrupting his nap times!

To prepare well for my day, I fuel my mind and heart with time in scripture and devotions. Over the past few days, my devotions have repeatedly spoken to the importance of rest. One part of today’s reading really jumped out at me: Mark 2:27 “²⁷ Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

We need rest! So much so, God created an entire day of us to pause from laboring, rest and worship Him. So as I look out my window at the falling snow, I see a beckoning to complete my “work tasks” for the day. Then, use the remainder of the day to create good food for my family and spend time having some fun with them building our relationships.

I thank God for reminders through devotions, a job that allows me to contribute to the greater good, the opportunities of togetherness, and the moments of rest. I’m also grateful for our warm home both the one on this side of heaven and the one that waits for us in eternity. For all this and more, I am so thankful.

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 2-18-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Online Worship. To know more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

Book Study of Entering the Passion of Jesus A Beginner’s Guide to Holy Week with Pastor Dan will be offered two ways: on Sundays at 9:10 AM  in Holy Grounds or Wednesdays from 6:30 – 7:30 pm over Zoom. To join, please RSVP for Sundays or email the office for the Wednesday zoom link: office@gravelhillumc.org. Books can be purchased on Amazon and Cokesbury, but are not necessary to participate.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

A Women’s Monday evening Bible Study using the book titled, “Anxious for Nothing,” by Max Lucado occurs at 6:30pm. Call the church office for the zoom link and purchase a book from Amazon or Walmart.

Thankful Thursday 2-11-2021

Wisdom

Thankful Thursday greeted Central PA with a fresh coat of snow. This gift brought a little extra rest to our household as the two hour delay was in effect for school. Between the beauty outside our windows and the extra shut-eye, blessings gifted us a good start to the day.

To further the goodness, I fuel my body, mind, and spirit with good food, information, and knowledge. Breakfast nourishes my body. Devotions bring real world scenarios to mind with direction from scripture. Grounding myself in scriptures assures a peace that will walk with me through the day no matter the circumstances I face.

The Word’s Wisdom

The Bible waits with gifts for each of us. Proverbs 1-8 are some of my favorite chapters with a wealth of wisdom to read. Our minds must make the time to read, receive, and reflect on the words and messages that shine forth in the time we spend in the Word. But that too is a gift: free will. It is our choice. Choose wisely and be well nourished for you day!

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 2-11-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Online Worship. To know more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

Book Study of Entering the Passion of Jesus A Beginner’s Guide to Holy Week with Pastor Dan will be offered two ways: on Sundays at 9 AM  in Holy Grounds or Wednesdays from 6:30 – 7:30 pm over Zoom. To join, please RSVP for Sundays or email the office for the Wednesday zoom link: office@gravelhillumc.org. Books can be purchased on Amazon and Cokesbury, but are not necessary to participate.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

A Women’s Monday evening Bible Study using the book titled, “Anxious for Nothing,” by Max Lucado occurs at 6:30pm. Call the church office for the zoom link and purchase a book from Amazon or Walmart.

Thankful Thursday 2-4-2021

Fear & Love

Thankful Thursday shines brightly. The sun glistens brilliantly off the snow. The brightness warms my heart, my mood, and my spirit!

The warming goodness send the snow from one of our roofs sliding off onto our lower roof with resounding thuds. Our dog Cooper is NOT a fan of this noise. At the first thudding drop, he snuck back to the safety of his crate. But after the second resounding crash, he quickly came out to me on the sofa. He curled up as close to me as he could get laying on my leg.

As I petted him, I could feel him quaking. Cooper’s body was shuddering with the fear of the noises he had heard. With gentle words of reassurance, much petting, and a couple of hugs, Cooper relaxed his body. He released the fear and took hold of the love that was being showered upon him.

From Me to We

In pondering Cooper’s response to the unknown loud noises, I know that it was caused by the warm goodness of the sun, but he did not. So how often am I in Cooper’s position: faced with scary unknowns? Do I respond like he did by running to my comfort zone and having fear take hold of me? Do I try and “handle” the fear by myself? Or do I turn to the One who cares for me and loves me unconditionally to be guided and reassured?

Instead of standing on my own to figure things out, drawing close to the LORD grounds me in His love. I move from me (fear) to we (love). In staying close to the LORD, my confidence lives in the knowledge that I am loved, created by Him, and have purpose for His glory to be revealed. From that position, I can have peace and enjoy the gift of this life I get to live. That same position waits each of us can take hold of- close to the LORD in confidence that He uses all things for His glory!

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 2-4-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Online Worship. To know more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

Book Study of The Grace-Full Life with Pastor Dan on Wednesdays from 6:30 – 7:30 pm over Zoom. To join, email the office for the zoom link: office@gravelhillumc.org. Books can be purchased on Amazon and Cokesbury, but are not necessary to participate.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

A Women’s Monday evening Bible Study using the book titled, “Anxious for Nothing,” by Max Lucado occurs at 6:30pm. Call the church office for the zoom link and purchase a book from Amazon or Walmart.

Thankful Thursday 1-28-2021

Beauty, Love, and Creation

Thankful Thursday seeks beauty and love through words and offers gratitude to our Lord for it all. Poetry is a marriage each of these aspects and more. When reading the following poem Created by Lisa D. Scott on the Family Friend Poems website, both are found. Soak in this beautiful message and enjoy!

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 1-28-2021 Experience Opportunities:

**This week we will be having communion as part of worship. Please have your bread & juice/water to participate from home.** All are invited to Online Worship. To know more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

Book Study of The Grace-Full Life with Pastor Dan on Wednesdays from 6:30 – 7:30 pm over Zoom. To join, email the office for the zoom link: office@gravelhillumc.org. Books can be purchased on Amazon and Cokesbury, but are not necessary to participate.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

A Women’s Monday evening Bible Study using the book titled, “Anxious for Nothing,” by Max Lucado occurs at 6:30pm. It is a 6-week study. Call the church office for the zoom link and purchase a book from Amazon or Walmart.

Thankful Thursday 1-21-2021

Space

Thankful Thursday calls for space. The decorations of Christmas now sit neatly tucked away. In their absence, blank slates of space pocket our home. These spaces open dreams and imagined thoughts of seeing our home a little differently. Sliding a chair here, turning a rug there, and swapping out pictures occur to make these dreams a reality.

Just as the physical openings of space invited dreams of something new, in the hollows of my heart space lays waiting to be filled. Often times we try to fill it with actions, things, or relationships. But the only relationship that will complete and satisfy that emptiness is a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Grace

It is through Christ that we have a relationship with our heavenly Father. Your personal relationship with Jesus is the key to experiencing grace in those hollow places of your heart. When that grace comes flooding in, the thirst of longing and seeking is quenched with peace that passes understanding and pure joy.

Our Father created you and me (Psalm 139:14). He knows us each intimately (Psalm 149:13). Turning to God takes our heart hollows and makes them grace space where the glory of God shines through. Thank you Lord!

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 1-21-2021 Experience Opportunities:

**This week we will be having communion as part of worship. Please have your bread & juice/water to participate from home.** All are invited to Online Worship. To know more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

Book Study of The Grace-Full Life with Pastor Dan on Wednesdays from 6:30 – 7:30 pm over Zoom. To join, email the office for the zoom link: office@gravelhillumc.org. Books can be purchased on Amazon and Cokesbury, but are not necessary to participate.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

Joyce Lochinger will be starting a women’s Monday evening bible study using the book titled, “Anxious for Nothing,” by Max Lucado on January 25, 6:30pm. It is a 6-week study. Call the church office for the zoom link and purchase a book from Amazon or Walmart.

Thankful Thursday 1-14-2021

A New Day

Thankful Thursday takes us one day further into the year 2021. A new day dawning. Opportunities await. Which ones will you choose?

With all the changes life has thrown our way, new ideas and exciting connections have grown from the breeding ground of creativity. As you look around, you find these gems. Yes, they are new and different. They bring hope, excitement, and growth.

Growing

Our traditions and habits have been shaken in this past year. The challenge to our comfortable and “normal” way of living has given opportunity for new ideas to arise. These ventures and creative approaches seek to meet observed needs. When we choose try the efforts of those seeking to serve us, blessings begin. Both parties receive blessing through combined efforts to partake in the new.

Use one dawning new day to take on a new opportunity. As 2 Peter 3:18 says “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” In 2021, take one step. Grow your knowledge by one piece of information. As you do so consistently, those baby steps you have taken will blaze a whole new trail and perspective in and on your life.

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 1-14-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Online Worship. To know more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

Book Study of The Grace-Full Life with Pastor Dan beginning next Wednesday Jan. 20 from 6:30 – 7:30 pm over Zoom. To join, email the office for the zoom link: office@gravelhillumc.org. Books can be purchased on Amazon and Cokesbury, but are not necessary to participate.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

Joyce Lochinger will be starting a women’s Monday evening bible study using the book titled, “Anxious for Nothing,” by Max Lucado on January 25, 6:30pm. It is a 6-week study. Call the church office for the zoom link and purchase a book from Amazon or Walmart.

Thankful Thursday 1-7-2021

Drawing Closer

Thankful Thursday finds the gratitude today despite the emotional upheaval. I take time today to remember: I am a creation & child of God. All the emotions I get to experience are gifts from my heavenly Father.

With the gift of free will, the response and reaction I choose to my emotions either honors God or myself. The reactions (to my emotions) of turning to God equate to getting in His Word and sharing my heart by coming to Him in prayer. In drawing closer to Him I position myself to hear and understand as best I can His Will for me. I know that God will direct me where and when He wants me to move as I keep my eyes and ears on Him.

Praying

Right now I’m praying for guidance and direction as I use my gift of free will to choose to walk in my life by the Spirit. In doing so these fruits will come forth:

Galatians 5:22-26

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

I humbly invite you, a fellow creation and child of God, to draw closer to Him. Follow Jesus example. And allow God to use us to have His Glory shine through the fruit of the Spirit in our actions.

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 1-7-2021 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Online Worship. To know more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

Thankful Thursday 12-31-2020

What We Have

Thankful Thursday rests on the eve of a new year. The countdowns run quickly towards the strike of midnight (and in some places around the world, it has already struck!) The gift of these moments offer the opportunity to reflect on the year that has passed, the person we currently are, and the hopes held for our moments ahead.

As I ponder the each of these areas, my a piece of my dad’s advice keeps running through my head: “Use what you have to create what you need.” In looking back through the year, I come upon memories that I treasure in my heart of time with my family, freedom from a packed schedule to peacefully enjoy the beauty of the outdoors like I did as a kid, and time to explore my expectations for my life and their impact. Each of us chooses intangibles which fill our lives and impact our path.

Reflections to Creation

The reflections of all that is in my life brought a song to mind: Tis a Gift To Be Simple. (Enjoy this beautiful version by Yo Yo Ma & Alison Krauss.) Our lives abound with gifts and blessings. From each breath we take to perseverance and determined forward movement we make that evolves our character within us, our fortitude in life grows as we look to God to guide our steps for He is with us through each and every one. We create our lives with the support around us and the things upon which we train our eyes. As we ready ourselves to step forward into a new day, I praise and thank God for the simple gifts he has given me and will give me to create my life.

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 12-31-2020 Experience Opportunities:

All are invited to Online Worship. To know more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.

Thankful Thursday 12-24-2020

O Holy Night

Thankful Thursday holds the honor of the titled song, O Holy Night. As I awoke this morning the words to this very song were running through my head. As they ran through my thoughts, the words struck me as to how they are so very pertinent to today. I’ll share the lyrics to the first verse here:

O Holy night! The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
‘Til He appears and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees; O hear the Angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born
O night, O Holy night, O night divine!

Listen to the entire song performed by Hillsong Worship.

Weary World

The line that stuck with me the most: A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices. Tonight as we worship apart but together through online worship, we lift our hearts and souls as part of the rejoicing world. This year may have us feeling weary, but when we recognize Christ Jesus in our lives, our souls feel their worth. Luke 2:1-20 shares the journey Joseph and Mary experienced. Weary travelers wrapped with the most unexpected celebration upon the arrival of their baby, Jesus.

Cause for true celebration is here right now. Whether your celebration is loud and joyous like the angels in the heavenly skies or quiet sparks of hope in your heart like Mary pondering all that was happening, God hears it. Glory be to God!

On this Holy Night, join me in bringing your heart to our Heavenly Father thanking Him for the gift of our salvation through Christ Jesus!

Blessings to you!

Thankful Thursday 12-24-2020 Experience Opportunities:

You are invited! View it here. December 24: Christmas Eve Online Worship 5:00 PM On our GravelHillUMC YouTube channel and our homepage: gravelhillumc.org

All are invited to Online Worship. To know more about online worship, click here. Or want to revisit a message that really spoke to you? Check out our Sunday Sermons.

On Facebook (Gravel Hill Church) and Twitter (@GravelHill): A Moment To Praise and A Moment To Praise For Kids! find postings from our worship leader, Joyce. She shares a small devotional, scripture, and worship song.