Worship Leader:  Paul Whiteley, LLWL                                                                           Music Director:  Tim Hallman, B.Mus.,B.Ed.

 THANKSGIVING SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2025

“An Attitude of Gratitude”

WELCOME / ANNOUNCEMENTS / CELEBRATIONS

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

LIGHTING OF CHRIST CANDLE

CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: Come, let us celebrate the wondrous gifts that God has given us.
All: Throughout all our lives, God has blessed us with love and hope.
One: Praise be to God who provides for us.
All: May our hearts be truly grateful, and may we show our gratitude by the ways in which we live and care for others.
One: Hallelujah!
All: Amen.
-Nancy Townley, Ministry Matters, 2013

HYMN: VU 820 “Make a Joyful Noise”

PASSING OF THE PEACE

OPENING PRAYER:
Lord of bounty and blessing, we come to you this day in gratitude for all that we have been given. We are grateful for the blessings and for the opportunities to be of service to others in your holy Name. Bless each of us here, that we may become truly blessings to others. For we ask this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
-Nancy Townley, Ministry Matters, 2013

LEARNING TOGETHER

HYMN: MV 90 “Don’t be Afraid”

SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 100 “Shout for Joy”
Luke 17:11-19 “Giving Grateful Thanks”

ANTHEM: “For These Blessings” by Natalie Sleeth

REFLECTION: “An Attitude of Gratitude”

There are many different ways of understanding how Christian faith connects with everyday life. Some worship leaders specialize in finding connections between our scriptures and traditions on the one hand, and the insights of physical and social science on the other. While I don’t have any objections to that approach, it hasn’t been a theme I’ve been especially called to, when I have prepared to lead worship.

But this month, thinking about Thanksgiving, has been an exception. Unlike some of the more exuberant claims of popular psychology – the “new age” manifesting or old-school “power of positive thinking” – the importance of giving thanks, of gratitude, to our mental and physical well-being is actually well-supported by science. People who practice gratitude on a daily basis have lower levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, better heart health and generally more resilience than people who don’t incorporate gratitude in their daily lives.

Now cortisol is an interesting thing. I am old enough, and avoided biology courses early enough in my studies, that I wasn’t really educated in the functions of different stress hormones growing up. I knew adrenaline – fight or flight – and that was about it. Only as an adult did I learn about how levels of cortisol relate to acute and chronic stress. My lightbulb moment for cortisol came in an unusual way: for as long as I can remember, I’ve taken a fairly relaxed approach to big projects for most of the time, followed by an episode of frantic preparation close to the deadline. That habit didn’t necessarily impact others for solo work, but when as a young adult I became more involved in collaboration I noticed an important shift during crunch time – I lost my sense of humor. Literally. Once I was aware of it, it was just as obvious a shift as losing your sense of smell or your ability to see colour. It just so happened that I had an episode of this not long after reading about what cortisol can do, so the lightbulb came on. A certain level of cortisol could change me in this way, and make me almost a different person, so managing cortisol levels turns out to be just as important as all the other things we have to learn to balance, to manage our health as adults.

And it turns out that one of the main ways we can control cortisol levels in our lives is through an attitude of gratitude. But giving thanks for what we have, being aware of our blessings, has been part of our spiritual tradition long before there was any science to back it up. In Hebrew scripture, giving thanks is one of the main activities of worship and forms a defining ritual for the people. God gives to the people in abundance and the people respond with thanks and praise.

In the gospels, gratitude becomes a key individual act as well. Today’s story of ten people with skin conditions draws attention to the one, the Samaritan other, who turns around and gives thanks for the blessings he was given. Over and over again in scripture, Jesus insists that not he but people’s inherent faith has made them well, and again and again we are given examples to follow of those who return blessing with thanksgiving, with praise, with an attitude of gratitude.

And what is true of us individually is also true for us in families and in communities. In today’s world, it is easy – and probably necessary – to feel a certain level of stress and anxiety. Some things in our political world, some things in our ecological world, are clearly deteriorating, and we don’t know how bad they will get. Some communities of faith are feeling stress about finances, human resources, and goals, and the same kind of thing can happen in families. All of that is normal and may be inevitable.

But in our families and communities, we also need to give thanks. We need to remember the blessings we have received, the abundance we have shared, the moments of peace and grace that have held us together and brought us the opportunities and satisfactions we’ve shared. And just as giving thanks strengthens our resilience as individuals, experiencing an attitude of gratitude when we gather together gives us strength in our connections; it can empower us to go forward into uncertain times with a sense of grounding and rootedness.

Let us remember together the abundance we have received as community and in all our connections, and let us go forth with the understanding that we ought to be giving thanks more than this one week of the year. To God be the praise and the thanks: Amen and amen.

INVITATION FOR OFFERING

OFFERING HYMN: VU 541 “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow”

OFFERING PRAYER

PREPARE OUR HEARTS FOR PRAYERS: VU 400 “Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying” (x2)

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE / LORD’S PRAYER

God of abundance, we thank you for all you have given to us this day. We are mindful of the many blessings that have poured into our lives over the years. Be with us today, as we gather in this congregation to celebrate the bounty of your transforming and forgiving love. We are blessed and rejoice in these blessings as we gather in your presence.

O God, we are reminded of all those for whom this day is like all others, filled with sorrow, suffering and pain, loneliness and alienation. Touch their hearts and spirits. We lift all these dear ones in prayer, confident in your healing and redeeming love. Help us to reach out to them and show them the reality of your presence.

We ourselves, in spite of our struggles, are called to live in God’s mercy and grace. Help us, heal us, and empower us to bring help and hope to those around us, close by and far away, across this aching world. Amen.

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 trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from the evil one.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

HYMN: VU 227 “For the Fruit of All Creation”

BENEDICTION

CHORAL BLESSING: “Go Now in Peace”

This morning’s bulletin has been sponsored
In loving memory of our parents
Rose and Jean McLean
Wedding Anniversary October 15, 1949
Never forgotten! Brenda Cartwright & Family

         "A Village Church With A Heart For The World"

Christ United Church

12 Perth St., Lyn, ON, K0E 1M0
(613)498-0281 (Phone)   (613)498-2589 (Fax)

 lynunitedchurch@cogeco.net               www.lynunitedchurch.com               Follow on Twitter:  @Ch1United