Faith Practices Encouragement
Session 1 — Gratitude
(Faith Practices book, p.15-17)
Arrival and Fellowship
Invitation
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Psalm 107:1
Prayer
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we open our hearts to you at the beginning of this journey. Fill us and shape us. (adapted from prayer in Faith Practices book, p. 8)
Share
- What are the behaviors, attitudes, and characteristics of grateful people? (from p. 16)
- Would you say you have an “abundance mentality” or a “scarcity mentality”? How might that affect gratitude? (from online resource)
Reflections on Gratitude
By Chris Schoon, director of Faith Formation Ministries
https://www.crcna.org/FaithPracticesProject/gratitude/gratitude-responding-gods-goodness
- Gratitude: Responding to God’s Goodness
- The practice of gratitude is about recognizing, trusting, and responding to God’s goodness and abiding presence with us.
- Gratitude forms us as a people who look with confidence toward God as the One who loves us, who saves us in Jesus Christ, and who will ultimately deliver all of creation from our entanglement with sin and its consequences.
- More than simply saying thank you, practicing gratitude trains us to respond with all that we are to God’s generosity in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Lectio divina
(see Faith Practices book, page 10 – 11 for lectio divina overview)
Three passages are mentioned in the Gratitude session on page 16. A suggestion is to focus on Psalm 100 for lectio divina.
- Psalm 100: a song of thanksgiving
Practicing Gratitude
- Ann Voskamp writes, “Slapping a sloppy brush of thanksgiving over everything in my life leaves me deeply thankful for very few things in my life. A lifetime of sermons on ‘thanks in all things’ and the shelves sagging with books on these things and I testify: life-changing gratitude does not fasten to a life unless nailed through with one very specific nail at a time.”
https://www.crcna.org/FaithPracticesProject/gratitude/practicing-gratitude-individually
- Gratitude is good medicine
https://health.ucdavis.edu/medicalcenter/features/2015-2016/11/20151125_gratitude.html
Prayer:
- Give thanks for God’s generosity abundantly given to us in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
- Give thanks for God’s abiding presence with us.
- Other items you would like to lift in prayer.
Review between session overview – below
Blessing:
Colossians 3:17 “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Between sessions
1) Gratitude journal
Read the resource mentioned above: Gratitude is good medicine.
Each day you are encouraged to write down 2 or 3 things you are thankful for.
2) Gratitude: Scripture Readings
https://www.crcna.org/FaithPracticesProject/gratitude/gratitude-scripture-readings
You are encouraged to read these Scripture passages and consider the questions. Write down a few thoughts in response to the questions provided.
3) Resources for continuing enrichment:
https://www.crcna.org/FaithPracticesProject/gratitude/gratitude-helpful-resources
4) An encouragement: Perhaps volunteers in the group would be willing to explore a section on the website under How Can I Practice… and share takeaways at the next meeting. The practice section headings are the following: individually, with a group, as a family. Would a group member be willing to explore one of these sections?