Giving Thanks for DGCC

Next week we celebrate Thanksgiving. The holiday prompts us to do what should be doing “always and for everything” (Ephesians 5:20). Indeed, the Apostle Paul instructs us elsewhere:

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

When preaching on this verse (audio; blog post), I encouraged you to put this into practice by thanking God for:

  • One aspect of salvation,
  • One obvious gift,
  • One clear answer to prayer,
  • One good you are tempted to think you earned or produced,
  • One good you are tempted to think you deserve,
  • One gift you easily overlook, and
  • One difficulty that considered by itself is not good.

In the run-up to the holiday, here are my answers to those prompts, primarily considering the last 22 years of Desiring God Community Church:

One Aspect of Salvation:

Thank You, Father God, that You make rebels deserving of condemnation into Your intimate family, and then delight to do them good, bringing us into the “white-hot enjoyment of Your glory.” Thank You for deepening my joy in You through DGCC.

One Obvious Gift:

Thank You, Father God, for the gift of Jacob as my fellow elder and as my successor Senior Pastor. You answered our prayers so faithfully, beyond what we could ask or imagine, in superintending the search process and in uniting us as elders and as a church under his ministry. Thank You also for the gift of his family, for Amy and Evie and Gigi. Thank You for the way You have complemented Jacob and me through the leadership of Daniel, Wil, and I’John;

One Clear Answer to Prayer:

Beth and I moved to Charlotte in 2002 with little understanding of the challenges ahead and no definite financial support for a church plant. We prayed with friends and family that You would be pleased to plant this church, that You would provide for that church spiritually and financially, that You would send out Your Word through this church. And here we are 22 years later. Thank You for Your grace shown through DGCC.

One Good I am Tempted to Think I Earned or Produced:

Thank You, Father, that this church is faithful to Your Word, is united as one family, and shines with Your Glory because of Your grace and mercy.

One Good I am Tempted to Think I Deserve:

Thank You, Gracious Father, that the members of DGCC respect me, listen to me, seek my counsel, bear with me, encourage me, love me, and pray for me.

One Difficulty that Considered by Itself is Not Good (flipping the order of the last two):

Thank You, Father, for the difficult challenges we faced in DGCC in 2005 and 2007. Painful as they were, You humbled and refined me, and then supported this church so that we together grew in Christlikeness. Thank You for the refreshment and strength You gave to Beth and me through the Desiring God National Conference in 2007, when I was wondering if we could continue.

One Gift I Easily Overlook:

I thank You, Father, for the many who have been part of this church – those who faithfully served, who generously gave, who led in various ways or served behind the scenes, who counseled and wept, who celebrated and rejoiced, who preached and learned, who cleaned and kept the books, who set up and tore down. Following the Apostle Paul in Romans 16 (and, like him, undoubtedly leaving out many I should mention), I thank You:

  • For those early members who worked so hard to begin DGCC: Amanda, Dee, Stacy, Matt, Michelle, Steve, Paula, Court, Linda, Rick, Nathan, Martha, Donna, Jody, Josh, Dana, Earl, Catherine, Jason, Shawnda, Jonathan, Nicole, Tyrone, Sharon, Derek, Damion and Rebecca, the Unsells, Michael and Jessica;
  • Thank You also for the Shanks, Kellers, Johnsons, Mosses, and Teiglands.
  • Thank You for the gift of five sons who worked with effort and joy in those early years to do whatever needed to be done: Jonathan, Thomas, Andrew, Matthew, Joel;
  • For the many children born into DGCC, beginning with Isabelle in August 2003, and the blessing of the many others brought into our church;
  • For David Livingston, for the wise counsel he has given us, the friendship with which he has blessed my family, and his opening up Your Word so many times;
  • For Kenny Stokes, for his devotion to us, his several visits, his vision for the Treasuring Christ Together Network, and his efforts to bring the network into existence and then to flourish;
  • For You, Father, enabling our tag line to become a reality: “A church of the nations with ministries to the nations, both in Charlotte and around the world.” Thank You for the Chinese You brought into the church in the early years, especially Mike and Lily and then Kevin and May. Thank You for the Indians You have blessed us with over the years, especially Sunil and Jerlin, Jonathan, William, George and Trapti. Thank You for the Filipinos, Aileen, Karol, and Fred for his faithful and God-honoring ministry among us. Thank You for the Kiswahili-speaking congregation, beginning with Bruno and then Thierry and Julienne, the Bingolos, Shaba and Mwali, John Felix, and so many more.
  • Thank You for Ty and Carla, for their friendship and hospitality; thank You for the grace You gave through the challenges of Ty’s illness and death; thank You that You have conquered death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.
  • Thank You for the “Taylor girls,” Amanda, Erin, and Erica;
  • Thank You for the dozens of married couples you have brought together, including Josh and Shelley, Andy and Laura, John and Helen, Rachel and Rick, Edward and Carrie, Albert and Natalia, Taylor and Ema, Scotty and Lisa, Blake and Elizabeth, I’John and Bria, Ivan and Stacy, Thomas and Kay, Matthew and Kailie, and now Noah and Sarah;
  • Thank You for Ed and Annette, for their friendship, for their hospitality, for their unwavering support, for their perseverance in witness and in prayer;
  • Thank You for the gift of having so many stay in our home, some for a day or two, some for weeks, including Len, Rachel, Michele, James;
  • Thank You for Amy Meshnick and the gifts of both her music leadership and her loving care for our missionaries;
  • Similarly, thank You for Kristin and her loving, faithful service with internationals and in music;
  • Thank You for sending Albert to us, and his leadership in music beginning the first month he was with us;
  • Thank You for the Suttons, the Taylors, the Timms, the Longs;
  • Thank You for Ray and Tom and Sobe and Selina and Paul and Donna and Rob and Amber and Wes and Jenn and Jarod and Eric and Kari and Matt and Vasti and Dan and Karen and Jeff and Samson and Annet and Maddie and Michael and Liz;
  • Thank You for Karl and Cindy, for so many years of faithful and wise leadership;
  • Thank You for Daniel and Julia, for their partnership in the Gospel and their devotion to leading their family in loving service;
  • Thank You for Michael and Julie, for hours and hours of service behind the scenes, and for their marriage and parenting;
  • Thank You for John Finney, for his week after week service to us and to me;
  • Thank You for Mike and his quiet faithfulness and love for internationals;
  • Thank You for Wil and Katie being members during two stints! For their evident love for you, for their hospitality, for the way their home foreshadows Your future Kingdom.

Thank You, Father, for appointing me to this ministry with these Your people – for the privilege of opening up Your Word week after week and seeing You breaking down barriers, encouraging the fainthearted, and advancing Your cause. Continue, O Father, to build up DGCC for the glory of Your Name and the joy of all peoples.

(To prompt your personal thanksgiving, here is a selection of Bible verses on the topic.)

 

 

Receive, Receive, Receive

What do you deserve? How much of what you have – family, goods, health, friends, ministry, influence – is yours by desert?

In Deuteronomy 26, God gives instructions for an offering of the firstfruits of the initial harvest after the Israelites enter the Promised Land. In addition to the offering, they are to say these words:

“A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation. . . . The Egyptians treated us harshly. . . . Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction. . . . The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. . . . He brought us into this place and gave us this land. . . . Now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me” (Deuteronomy 26:5-10).

Moses then says, “You shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you” (Deuteronomy 26:11).

Notice the God-centeredness of this statement. The Israelites are to say, “We were not even a people, yet God chose us, guided us, and watched over us. He enabled us to multiply. He rescued and redeemed us – all we did was cry out! All we have is the result of His grace!”

Now, the Israelites might be tempted to say, “We had to fight battles to get here! We defeated the Amalekites, we destroyed the armies of Sihon and Og, we defeated the forces of numerous Canaanite kings. Furthermore, we worked the ground, we harvested the crops. Of course, God has given us much – but surely because of our hard work we deserve a considerable portion of what we have!”

But that is not the biblical attitude. Paul asks the Corinthians, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). And earlier in Deuteronomy, Moses warns the Israelites against thinking they deserve what they have worked for:

Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’  You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth (Deuteronomy 8:17-18, emphasis added).

“It is He who gives you the power to get . . .” Complete the sentence. Put in place of “wealth” whatever you have that you think you deserve. Your job. Your friends. Your spouse. Your children. If you have worked for and received something worthwhile, even that is a gift of God. You did not deserve the ability to work.

My friends, whatever we have, whatever we are, whatever we love – all is a gift. Everything is ours by grace. We don’t deserve goods. We don’t deserve friends. We don’t deserve abilities. We don’t deserve family. We don’t deserve breath.

Today I turn 54 years old. This lesson – that I deserve nothing, that every good in my life is a gift and is not earned – is one I have needed to learn over and over again. So often, when matters don’t go exactly as I desire, the thought arises, “Surely I deserve. . . .” So often in times of joy I will pat myself on the back for what I have.

This evening there will be birthday presents to open. Last night before small group, there was a delicious birthday dinner complete with a 54-candle birthday cake. At moments like this, it’s relatively easy to say, “I don’t deserve these presents. I don’t deserve this party. I don’t deserve this 54-candle birthday cake.”

But, Lord God, help me to look at all else and say, “Everything good in my life is a gift from the Father. Whatever is good in my character, whatever I have received in pay, whatever joy in Beth or in the children or in athletics or in this loving church – all comes to me because of the mercy and lovingkindness of God the Father through Jesus Christ.”

And may I, in this next year of my life, say with the Apostle,

By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Thank you, Lord God. May I be overflowing with thankfulness for the abundance of Your undeserved grace toward me through Jesus Christ my Treasure.