Thanksgiving Gratitude

Every church has a persona. Some churches have the reputation of being a “friendly church”. others are known to be a “cold church”. Still others are said to be a “social church”. Have you ever thought about what the persona of WRPC is? They say you can discern a congregation’s personality by what they like to sing – I hope that’s true, because some of our favorite songs are taken up with…gratitude. “O Worship the King” (#2) begins “O worship the King all glorious above, O GRATEFULLY sing His pow’r and His love”.

What is gratitude? It comes from the Latin word “gratus” and means (in its Biblical usage) “a response of thanksgiving for generous and unexpected provision”. It is the proper way of answering God when He blesses us. A student once asked John Calvin to describe his conversion. Calvin responded by quoting Psalm 40…”The Lord brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock, making my footsteps firm. And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God”.

Indeed, profound gratitude is one of the distinguishing marks of a true believer, just as ingratitude is one of the surest signs of an unbeliever. In Romans 1, the Apostle Paul speaks about the sinfulness of the lost man in this way “although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, NOR WERE THANKFUL”. The unbeliever always betrays the real state of his soul by his grumbling, whining, and complaining. Conversely, the Christian is known by his grateful spirit.

The Scriptures even teach that in heaven we will STILL be expressing our gratitude to the Lord for all His mercies. The Apostle John describes a heavenly worship service where the worshipers “fall on their faces before the throne and worship God, saying: Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and THANKSGIVING and honor and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 7:11, 12).

What kind of church is WRPC? By God’s grace – a grateful church.

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Carl Robbins

Carl is a native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a graduate of Crichton College and Covenant Theological Seminary. Pastor Robbins has served churches in South Carolina, Oklahoma and Nevada. In addition Carl has served on the board of crisis pregnancy centers, Christian schools and seminaries. He has spoken to college groups, medical school forums, state legislative groups, seminary chapels and church conferences. His special passion is training pastors in developing countries. Carl and wife Sandy have been married for 37 years(!) and are the parents of three believing, adult children: John and his wife DeAnna and their children (Bray, Emmie Ruth, and Maggie Grace), James and his wife Megen and their children (Jack and Lainey Janice), and Sarah and her husband Andrew Holmes. Carl and Sandy love OU football, big dogs, good Mexican food, and the beach—any beach, any time.

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