Celebrating Thanksgving at Home

Thanksgiving at home mailchimp 1200 x 842 pxFor centuries, Christians have been reading scripture, followed by a time of reflection and prayer. This year, I invite you to set aside time on Thanksgiving Day to do just that.

I pray this time will draw you into a deep time with our Lord, the One who so faithful provides. Happy Thanksgiving! – Lisa <><

ONE READS: Deuteronomy 8:7-10 (NRSV)
For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you.

Take turns finishing the sentences.
Thank you God for…
Thank you God for your…

ONE READS: Deuteronomy 8:11-14, 17-18a (NRSV)
Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery… Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” But remember the Lord your God…

Take turns finishing the sentence.
God help me remember you and remember to…

ONE PRAYS:
Most blessed, most beautiful Christ,
in you, we receive all things

The receiving takes growth, so you give us guiding-
saints and sages and scripture
Thank you for the guiding

The receiving takes others, so you give us the world-
nature and neighbors and nations
Thank you for the world

The receiving takes change, so you give us seasons-
life and death and new life
Thank you for the seasons

The receiving takes time, so you give us time-
present and future and forever
Thank you for the time

Most blessed, most beautiful Christ
You give us yourself
And in you, O Christ
We belong
To you and to God and to all
Thank you for the giving

Close with The Lord’s Prayer

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For more thoughts on gratitude, click here

You are welcome to use this in your ministry setting or home with proper attribution. (by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, http://www.revlisad.com) Please leave a comment for information on publishing this resource in any form.

Worship and Sermon Resources for Thanksgiving

thanksgiving-i-chronicles

WORSHIP RESOURCES
A Prayer for Thanksgiving- Most Blessed, Most Beautiful Christ
This prayer may be voiced by one person, two persons, or one person and the congregation.

God of Abundance, Provision, and Plenty
A prayer based on Genesis 13

A Steward’s Prayer
A prayer based on Matthew 24:42-51

Your Eternal Goodness
A prayer of thanksgiving and praise based on Psalm 65

Make Us Your Sanctuary
A prayer based on Ezekiel 37:26, “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will bless them and multiply them and will set my sanctuary among them forevermore.”

Prayer Litany for Thanksgiving
This worship resource includes verses of the hymn All Creatures of Our God and King plus time for silent reflection and prayer.

Thanksgiving Reflection
For centuries, Christians have been reading scripture, followed by a time of prayer. Thanksgiving Reflection is designed in this way, with readings from Deuteronomy 8 followed by prayer prompts for silent reflection. The sequence could be printed or projected on a screen. The post also includes a beautiful altar table display idea for a Thanksgiving or Harvest themed worship service.

Call to Worship: Way, Truth, Life

Your Eternal Goodness, a prayer of thanksgiving and praise based on Psalm 65

SERMON RESOURCES
Enough, A Thanksgiving Message from Psalm 23

A Thanksgiving Reflection Based on Deuteronomy 8

Gratitude and Glory Sightings, a Thanksgiving Message (Luke 13)

A Reflection on Three Psalms of Thanksgiving (Psalms 75, 106, 136)

Satisfying and Silencing: A Reflection and Prayer for Thanksgiving based on Psalm 65
The prayer in this resource is for a solo voice with a congregational response. It could also be a prayer in two voices.

Daily Bread (Matthew 6)
A sermon from a sermon series on The Lord’s Prayer

Prayers, Quotes, and Reflections on Gratitude

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You are welcome to use any/all of these resources in a worship setting with proper attribution. (by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, http://www.revlisad.com) Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish any of these resources in any form.

Prayers for a New Year

huge clock

Please let me know the artist of this piece that I may give him/her credit.

Prayer at Year’s End by Steve Garnaas Holmes
Eternal God,
in the evening of this year
I release the year to you.
Not a day, not a breath, have I been without you,
and I thank you.
All that I have done is done;
what I have not done I have not done.
All of my sins and errors you have forgiven,
and I release them.
All of my triumphs are your doing,
and I release them.
The year is gathered into your harvest,
to winnow and to save.
My life is gathered into your grace.
By your spirit in me may I learn from my mistakes,
grow from my wounds,
and deepen in gratitude for my gifts.
And now I turn to a new year,
grateful for your presence and your grace,
seeking only to live in harmony with your delight,
and open to your blessing and your leading.
Whether my journey onward be long or short,
it shall be in you, and I rejoice.
Amen.

O Mystery, remind me of my end, and how measured my days;
keep me mindful how fleeting my life is. —Psalm 39:4

Letting Go by Steve Garnaas Holmes
Before I step into the new year
I let go of the old one.
What I have done I have done.
What I have not done I have not done.
So be it. I release my regret.
I stand with myself.

For all the gifts I have received,
known and unknown, I am grateful.
However I have suffered I accept.
I learn what I can and move on.
Whatever others have done that hurt me,
I forgive. I learn and move on.
For however I have failed or fallen short,
I forgive myself. I learn and move on.

I release my fears.
I release my self-doubt, blame and self-silencing.
My hopes and dreams I place in God’s hands,
trusting what is blessed will remain with me.

I am alive, and life is good.
I open myself to the future,
enfolded in this present.
Holy Mystery, I am yours.
I am here, now.

Gratitude for a New Year by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
For the blessings of today
which remind us of the blessings of the past
which point forward to the blessings still to come
we give you thanks

Prayer for a New Year, based on Psalm 90 by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
ONE:
Eternal and Immortal One,
You have been our refuge from age to age.
Before the mountains were born,
Before the earth and the world came to birth,
From eternity to eternity,
You are God.

ALL:
To you, a thousand years are like a yesterday
Like a watch of the night

ONE:
You return us to dust
You sweep us away like a dream
We are like grass
In the morning we thrive,
We blossom
But come evening,
We are withered and dry

ALL:
Teach us to number our days
That we may gain your wise heart

Fill us with your faithful love
That we may sing your joyful story

Show us your wondrous deeds
That we may see your transforming power
That generations to come may see it as well

Let your favor, O God be upon us,
That the work of our hands
May bear forth your blessing
And bring your glory. Amen.

penitence by larry poncho brown

Penitence by Larry Poncho Brown

Prayer of Confession for a New Year
by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

As the new year is born,
We remember and regret…

Forgive us, Holy One,
When we keep You at a distance
When we defy your bidding
When we make it harder
for people to know you

Forgive us, Holy One,
When we deny our weakness
When we wallow in our weakness
When we take advantage
of the weakness of others

Forgive us, Holy One,
When we refuse Your counsel
When we waste your gifts
When we withhold Your compassion from others

Silent Confession

As the new year is born
We labor to look forward
Our hearts fill with hope
For you are making all things new
even us… Amen

A New Year’s Blessing by Steve Garnaas Holmes
My hope and prayer and confidence
is that in this new year
God will be lovingly present for you,
and you will more and more deeply trust
God’s delight in you.
Christ will lead you every step of the new year.
The Spirit’s gifts will unfold in you in new ways.
I rejoice that in this new year
beauty will surround you; grace will enfold you;
love will embrace and uphold you;
joy will bless you, and hope sustain you.
May you receive healing and wisdom;
may your creativity flower and your courage grow;
and in your hands may justice and mercy flourish.
I rejoice that these gifts await you in the new year,
and pray that you receive them with delight.
I give thanks for the gift of sharing together
the journey of this new year.
God bless us all.

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Click Here for a collection of quotes entitled Counting Our Days

Thank you to Steve Garnaas Holmes for his generosity in allowing me to share his work on my blog. Please, consider subscribing to his blog, www.unfoldinglight.net.

Gratitude for a New Year © 2015 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
Prayer for a New Year, based on Psalm 90 © 2013 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
Prayer of Confession for the New Year © 2012 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

You are welcome to use these prayers in a worship setting with proper attribution.
Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish them in any form

Worship and Sermon Resources for Thanksgiving

thanksgiving-i-chronicles

WORSHIP RESOURCES
A Prayer for Thanksgiving- Most Blessed, Most Beautiful Christ
This prayer may be voiced by one person, two persons, or one person and the congregation.

God of Abundance, Provision, and Plenty
A prayer based on Genesis 13

A Steward’s Prayer
A prayer based on Matthew 24:42-51

Your Eternal Goodness
A prayer of thanksgiving and praise based on Psalm 65

Make Us Your Sanctuary
A prayer based on Ezekiel 37:26, “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will bless them and multiply them and will set my sanctuary among them forevermore.”

Prayer Litany for Thanksgiving
This worship resource includes verses of the hymn All Creatures of Our God and King plus time for silent reflection and prayer.

Thanksgiving Reflection
For centuries, Christians have been reading scripture, followed by a time of prayer. Thanksgiving Reflection is designed in this way, with readings from Deuteronomy 8 followed by prayer prompts for silent reflection. The sequence could be printed or projected on a screen. The post also includes a beautiful altar table display idea for a Thanksgiving or Harvest themed worship service.

Call to Worship: Way, Truth, Life

Your Eternal Goodness, a prayer of thanksgiving and praise based on Psalm 65

SERMON RESOURCES
Enough, A Thanksgiving Message from Psalm 23

A Thanksgiving Reflection Based on Deuteronomy 8

Gratitude and Glory Sightings, a Thanksgiving Message (Luke 13)

A Reflection on Three Psalms of Thanksgiving (Psalms 75, 106, 136)

Satisfying and Silencing: A Reflection and Prayer for Thanksgiving based on Psalm 65
The prayer in this resource is for a solo voice with a congregational response. It could also be a prayer in two voices.

Daily Bread (Matthew 6)
A sermon from a sermon series on The Lord’s Prayer

Prayers, Quotes, and Reflections on Gratitude

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You are welcome to use any/all of these resources in a worship setting with proper attribution. (by Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia, http://www.revlisad.com) Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish any of these resources in any form.

Prayer Prompts Based on Luke 17, the Healing of the Ten Lepers

summer in the scriptures luke (13)

Prayer Prompts based on Luke 17:11-19
Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

Use one or more of the following prompts as you pray. Just finish the sentence again and again or use it as a springboard for your prayers. Share your prayer in the comments. What prayer prompt would you write? Share that as well.

Jesus, Master, have mercy on …

Mighty One, hear my cry for …

Jesus, cleanse me of …

Jesus, cleanse us of …

Generous One, receive my thanks for the small grace of …

Generous One, receive my thanks for the mighty grace of …

Jesus, I bow before your …

Jesus, I praise and adore you for …
 
_______________

For the next few months, I’m reading a chapter from the Gospels each day. This is part of the Summer in the Scriptures reading plan sponsored by the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. Click Here for the reading plan.

You’re most welcome to read along and to join the Facebook discussion group, Summer in the Scriptures. You don’t need to be a Methodist or attend a Methodist church. All are welcome and all means all.

As part of the Facebook group, I’ve been supplying prayers based on the day’s reading. Feel free to post your prayers and observations based on the readings here or there as well.

May the grace of the Gospels, the challenge, and the call, inspire us to great faith and great good works in Jesus’ name. – Lisa <

Prayer Prompts based on Luke 17 © 2020 Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia
You are welcome to use this work in a worship setting with proper attribution.
Please leave a comment for information and permission to publish this work in any form.