Christians are a people that must count our blessings and give thanks as often as we can. It keeps us humble, keeps us grateful, keeps us positive, and keeps us peaceful in a world that is often none of those things.

With that said, I have a few thanks to hand out…

  1. Jesse Cargill and Keith Barley have been teaching the young adults class on Sunday mornings, and though I am not considered a young adult anymore, neither is Keith Barley, so I don’t feel bad! Jesse started our most recent study—a walkthrough of the book of James chapter 1—and Keith took over a couple of weeks ago, focusing on chapter 2. This is a discussion-based class, and the mark of a good teacher in such a setting is on whether or not he can facilitate a good dialogue between the members, keep things on track, and use other people’s insights to reinforce his own lesson. It’s an extremely challenging balancing act (I’m terrible at it) but both men have done great work. If you’re college-age, or a little beyond, you’d be blessed to join us this coming Sunday morning. Daniel Powers will take over the teaching, walking us through James chapter 3. I’m certain he’ll do great, too.
  2. We recently finished a four-part series of sermons here at North Heights, focusing on the heart. I have received a tremendous amount of positive feedback regarding it, and I do not take that lightly. It was back in 2008 or so that I first heard my preaching hero, Dan Winkler, preach a sermon comparing the human heart and the spiritual heart; it was the basis for this multi-part series. Thank you to everyone who took the sermons to heart (no pun intended) and went out of your way to tell me you needed to hear them, etc.
  3. Last night we heard the first of our “Sword Sharpening” sermons, which will occur regularly on the fourth Sunday evening of each month. Jimmy Hubbard set the bar very high for all others to follow. His sermon, taken from Daniel’s time in Babylonian exile, was thoughtful, measured, well-studied, and soberly delivered. Jimmy speaks with obvious wisdom, and I look forward to hearing his next sermon, hopefully soon. Overall, the Sword Sharpening Sunday night started off great, and I’m excited to hear the next speaker in November.

There are always reasons to be thankful. Those are three of mine, but I hope you’ll keep your own eyes open to find your reasons for giving thanks.

~ Matthew