Thanksgiving Sunday

October 11^th, 2026

Lighting the Christ Candle

Welcome and Announcements

Call to worship                                                

We gather in God’s holy presence, where God embraces us with grace.

Here God will transform us into disciples.

We glorify God, who yearns for justice and mercy for the last and the least.

Here God will write compassion on our hearts.

We give thanks to God for God’s persistent love that seeks us out.

Here God will breathe the Word of Life into our lives, and so we will praise our God!

 

Hymn:  802 For the fruits of all creation

Prayer of Adoration

God of all time and space,

You have called people to meet you over the centuries,

in many different places, in many different ways.

We praise you for welcoming us, receiving us as we are.

You hear our prayers and claim us as your own.

In this hour of worship, send your Spirit upon us

to revive our faith and guide our footsteps

in the way of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Saviour.

Be present in our Prayers, be glorified in our hymns of praise,

speak to us by your Word and the spoken word,

for yours is the honour and the glory forever.

Now hear our confession as we pray to you saying:

 

Prayer of Confession:

God of all life and each life, you know all about us, our deepest concerns and our fondest hopes. We confess we are often anxious to see results. We lose patience when we cannot see progress. We blame others rather than seek solutions. For these and all our shortcomings forgive us. Help us claim your peace when our hearts are anxious. In Jesus name.

Amen.

Assurance of Pardon
While it is true we have all sinned, it is a greater truth that we are forgiven through God’s love in Jesus Christ. So be at peace with God, with yourself and with one another.

 

Passing the Peace

                                                                        
Hymn: 407 Praise my soul the king of Heaven

Prayer for Understanding

God of prophets and parables, we gather to listen to the Scriptures read and proclaimed. By your Spirit, grant us fresh understanding, and challenge us to live according to your transforming grace. Amen.

 

Scripture:

Psalm 126                                              

Matthew 6: 25-34                                                            

Sermon:  “Seek ye First”

In my youth probably 50 or more years ago, I remember seeing a movie about biblical times, the era that “Ben Hur” was set in, perhaps the movie was Ben Hur, I don’t remember. In the movie there was a battleship powered by slaves chained to their stations, manning oars to the beat of a drum. If they needed more speed the drumbeat sped up; if you were out of steam, there was a whip to motivate you; if the other two men manning your oar passed out from exhaustion you picked up the slack. That oar, that seat, that hold of the ship, was your life, there was no relief and no escape, after all you were a captive, a slave.

Since the Pandemic our world has changed, for many living through those pandemic years, was like being a captive. Some today may say “we saw the best of times and the worst of times” while others may feel they have just seen the worst of times. There was Political upheaval, civil unrest, conspiracy theories, intolerance one for another, ungodly behaviour inside and outside of the church, neighbour pitted against neighbour, the vaccinated against the unvaccinated and vice versa, lockdowns, restricted travel, restricted gatherings, restricted care for our seniors, restricted or postponed surgeries and healthcare, personal losses, death of loved ones causing   grief, the list goes on and on. Many felt like captives, slaves to a repressive system. I have to confess during that time, for the first time in my life, I had the thought “okay Lord I am ready for you to take me home, I don’t like where things are heading, and this is no longer fun”. Well as time has passed a lot of the bad attitudes and behaviours from that pandemic period have lingered on, haven’t they?

As I thought about this Thanksgiving service, I said to myself “okay John let’s make a list of all the things you are thankful for”. In that moment I realized where my focus has been. I realized that I have allowed myself to slip into a barren wasteland devoid of any sustaining soul food. My meager list was hardly a list at all, and it shocked me. It wasn’t that I don’t have a huge list of things to be thankful for because I do. I discovered my list was a short one because I don’t make a practice of counting my blessings, day by day. How many of you fall into that category, how many of you count your blessings, day by day? There is a hymn I learned in Sunday school when I was young, and the chorus says this:

“Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

One of the buzzwords or phrases that came out of the pandemic was “mental health”. Since becoming the Chaplain of the Salmon Arm Fire Department, the words “mental health” have been most associated to my role as chaplain, not specifically by me but by the men and women of the department themselves. As I visit the different Halls, they all have welcomed me in the role and expressed their thanks for my willingness to care for and have a concern for their mental health. I remind them that their physical and emotional health is important, but their spiritual health can play a big role in how they are making out emotionally and physically. Do not ignore your spirituality, is part of the message I deliver. I need to heed my own words as well; lest my heart and mind be taken captive by the concerns of the world.

This Thanksgiving Sunday it is hard to find more fitting words than the scriptures we read from Matthew 6 verses 25 – 34. It’s not just, that these very words, brought Janet and others to salvation but that they are timely and ageless, speaking to our souls. Speaking of them Matthew Henry put it this way: “There is scarcely any one sin against which our Lord Jesus more largely and earnestly warns his disciples, than the sin of disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life”. Henry says it is the Lords council and command that we do not worry.

Matthew 6:25 begins: “Therefore I tell you do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than cloths?” Someone once said; “whenever you see a “therefore” you know it is there for a reason.” Such is the case here in Mathew 6 verse 25 and to find the reason we need only look to verse 24. Here Jesus says: “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

The phrase “do not worry” is used multiple times in the passage we read from Matthew. Often, when we hear, or read the term “do not worry” we think “that’s easy for you to say but you are not seeing things from my perspective”. Therein lies the problem; “my perspective” verses “God’s perspective”. When we have a world view that is from our own perspective, and we are told not to worry, those words can seem very trite, easily spoken, and of no value. It is easy to let the words “do not worry”, run off us like water off a duck; it is easy to not take them to heart when we are in the thick of things, the things of the world, the concerns of life. Perhaps we need stronger language or perhaps we need merely to recognize the strength of the person from whom the words are coming. Jesus is speaking on behalf of God the Father; what higher authority do we require to take the words “do not worry” to heart?

Matthew Henry calls these words, do not worry, “a prohibition laid down”. He says, “it is the council and command of the Lord Jesus, (the council and command of the Lord Jesus) that we take no thought about the things of this world; I say unto you. He says it as our lawgiver and the sovereign of our hearts; he says it as our Comforter and the helper of our joy” says Henry.

You may well ask; “John are we not to be concerned about the things of this world?” Yes, there are cares, and concerns that are legitimate and are our duty, to take to the Lord in prayer and even act upon as we are led by the Spirit of God. The cares and worries that are prohibited are the ones that as Henry said earlier disquiet and torment our thoughts robing us of our joy in the Lord; the ones that distract our focus, causing us to rely on our own strength; the distrustful cares and worries, the ones that cause us to feel we have a God who has lost control, the ones that cause us to lose faith in the sovereign Lord. Perhaps it is not so much to lose faith in, but rather to lose sight of the sovereign Lord. When the worries of this world come crashing in; when your family is stricken, when burdens seem overwhelming, when no peace is to be found in the world around us, when chaos and anarchy seem prevalent, who are you going to turn to? Who are you going to trust? Are you going to worry?

Jesus says, “who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” Jesus promises us food and clothing, not feasting and finery but the necessities. More than that Jesus also promises us Godliness; that is spiritual food - the Word of God; spiritual clothes – righteousness and the garments of praise. That is what Jesus refers to when he says, “is not life more important than food and the body more important than clothes?” When life comes crashing in, when you are overwhelmed, are you going to worry as the pagans do or are you going to trust in your heavenly Father who knows exactly what you need? It has been said that “we have a God who knows how to give what we want when we have no idea how to get it.” In Matthew 11 Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

“Do not worry, saying, ‘what shall we eat?’ or ‘what shall we drink?’ or ‘what shall we wear?’” but rather follow the instruction of Jesus when he commands “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” You see our cares, our worries if you will, are better placed in eternal matters; the health and life of our souls, as well as our eternal happiness; these are the things that should concern our thoughts. The necessities of life will be looked after if we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.

What does this look like to you and me? The fact is that many commentaries and books have been written about this very subject and they all share common themes. When you wake, let your first thoughts be of God; as you go through your day, let your waking moments and thoughts be of God; when you lay down at night, let your final thoughts be of God. Let him, who is the First, the alpha and the omega, have the first place in your life. It’s not easy is it, especially when we feel overwhelmed by our circumstances.

Have you ever thought or heard someone else say, why is God punishing me so? God disciplines those he loves; as far as punishment goes, I believe God has reserved that for after the judgement. We are not strong enough to endure God’s punishment; that is why in love, God disciplines us so that in the end we will not be punished. When we fail to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness we are essentially turning away from God and turning to the things of the world. Jonah knew what that was about and wrote these words from the belly of a large fish: “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘salvation comes from the Lord’”.

Matthew 6:34 says, “therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” I pray that this Thanksgiving Sunday you and I can shift our focus from the trials and worries of this world, the earthly concerns that seek to take us captive and rob our peace and joy, to the eternal concerns of our soul, by seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness. In so doing we will act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God, which is all that is required of us.

This Thanksgiving Sunday may we all with grateful hearts echo the words of the psalmist in 126 when he said:

 

 

 

1 When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion,

we were like men who dreamed.

2 Our mouths were filled with laughter or tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

3 The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

4 Restore our fortunes O Lord, like streams in the Negev.

5 Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.

6 He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow,

will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.

Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

Hymn:  807 We plow the fields and scatter

Invitation to the Offering

The Apostle Paul urges us to think on things that are honourable and just, commendable and true. To share what we have is honourable. Our gifts can help create justice and work for truth to prevail. So, trust your gifts to God and know they are pleasing to God. Your offering will now be received.

 

Offering and Doxology 830

Offertory Prayer

Generous God, we offer to you part of the abundance your share with us. Bless our gifts and work through them, so that others will know your generosity and be touched by your love through not just this offering but the kindness we extend throughout the week, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

 

Gathering Prayer Requests
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession (there is a response that will be used in this prayer printed in the bulletin)

Leader: We give you thanks, O God, for all things that make life good,

and pray that all people will share in the blessings we know.

For the world,

for the wonders of earth, sea and sky;

for beauty in nature and wildlife;

and for the rhythm of the days and seasons;

 

All:    we give you thanks, O God, and ask that all may share such blessings.

 

Leader: For waters that refresh and sustain life;

for soil that is fertile and rich;

for those who tend crops and care for harvests;

for those who produce, deliver and market our food;

and for those who make sure the hungry are fed;

 

All:    we give you thanks, O God, and ask that all may share such blessings.

 

Leader: For days to work and strength to do it;

for the many different gifts and talents you have given us;

for those whose work is dangerous and demanding,

for those whose positions are necessary for communities to flourish;

and for moments of leisure and rest when you restore us;

 

All:    we give you thanks, O God, and ask that all may share such blessings.

 

Leader: For human life;

for talking and thinking together, working on problems and plans;

for burdens and joys shared;

for relationships that give life meaning;

and for the wisdom exchanged between old and young in mutual support:

 

All:    we give you thanks, O God, and ask that all may share such blessings.

 

Leader: For our circle of family and friends;

for children and their curiosity and joy;

for the insight that comes with patience and experience;

and for events shared and memories cherished;

 

All:    we give you thanks, O God, and ask that all may share such blessings.

 

Leader: For your grace in times of anxiety, doubt and grief;

for healing in times of illness, confusion, and distress;

for rejuvenating strength and renewed purpose;

for scientific knowledge and discovery to confront disease and improve health;

 

All:    we give you thanks, O God, and ask that all may share such blessings.

 

Leader: For the trust that you hear each prayer and know every need;

that you love and care for each soul and body;

and that you walk with us through all our days and seasons;

 

All:                we give you thanks, O God, and ask that all may share such blessings.

 

Leader: Father we lift to you these concerns:

 

 

 

 

We offer our prayers, spoken and unspoken, in Jesus’ name,

saying together the words he taught us:

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.

 

 

Hymn:  457  Now thank we all our God

Benediction

In this season of harvests from field and garden, walk with thanksgiving in your hearts, savouring the abundance God’s creation produces,

honouring what the earth needs to flourish again next season.

And may the blessing of God, our Creator, Redeemer and Giver of Life, the grace of Jesus the son, and the power of the Holy Spirit,

be with you now and remain with you always. Amen.

 

Blessing Song   Go now in peace

 Go now in peace. Never be afraid. God will go with you each hour of every day. Go now in faith, steadfast, strong and true. Know He will guide you in all you do. Go now in love, and show you believe. Reach out to others so all the world can see. God will be there watching from above. Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.

3-Fold Amen