Sunday nights is always a special time in the Sanchez family home. This is the one night of the week where we journal as a family what things we are thankful for. The topic of thankfulness has been brought out to the forefront of our minds in the past couple weeks because of our study through 1 Thessalonians. You can't walk away from this letter without realizing that Paul was a thankful person. In the opening chapter he tells the Thessalonian church that he (and his cohorts) gives thanks for the Thessalonian church in 3 ways. He says he gives thanks to God for them when he continually makes mention of them in his prayers. He says that the times he gives thanks for them is when he remembers their work produced by their faith, their labor produced by their love, and their perseverence produced by their hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then he says that the reason he gives thanks for them is because he knows that they were chosen by God. And he knows they are chosen by God because they believed the gospel when it came to them and it changed their lives.
Last Friday we had the leaders of FBC's Family and Children's Ministry in our home for our final leadership dinner for the year. We had 11 couples in our home who serve as ministry leaders. As I was giving a short lesson on this passage on this particular night I looked througout that room and realized, these people emulate what Paul is describing in 1 Thessalonians 1:2-5. Every single one of our leaders have full time jobs and families to provide for and care for. Yet, they devote a large part of their week in leading Bible studies with the teachers in their department, caring for needs the teachers may have, and they make sure their department in Children's ministry is appropriately staffed so that Sunday mornings run smoothly.
Paul's words in 1 Thess 1:3-5 reminded me that I need to be constantly on the hunt to find things to be thankful for in my family and the people of FBC.
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