Let Your Gratitude Overflow in Generosity

By Rev. Tom Parkinson

As Halloween candy flies off shelves, November is quickly approaching. Highlighted by Thanksgiving Day, November is a month of gratitude. All month long we count our blessings, giving thanks to God for the abundance of love, mercy, and goodness He has given us.

The Bible has a lot to say about the importance of giving thanks to the Lord. Among the lessons scripture teaches is that our gratitude should overflow in acts of generosity. Jesus said in Matthew 10:8, “Freely you have received; freely give.” When we recognize the free and bounteous gifts God has given us, the appropriate response is to freely give to others.

Every year, our church holds a Thanksgiving food drive in the month of November. The drive is a tangible way we can let gratitude overflow into generosity.

This year’s food drive will support Inspired Heart and Hands, a ministry based in Cranberry that will provide Thanksgiving food boxes to more than one-thousand local families. Members of the Dutilh family are invited to drop off needed items at the church between now and November 8. Our children’s ministry will then spend an evening at the Inspired Heart and Hands warehouse sorting, packing, and blessing the food we collect.

Every can donated, every box packed, and every family served becomes a small but meaningful testimony to God's love.

Thank you for helping our church be a channel of God's provision. As we celebrate Thanksgiving this year, may we remember that one of the best ways to thank God for the gifts we have received is to generously share with others.