Post Thanksgiving Study: Gratitude

For Sunday Dec 7th, 2008

[Note: For these first three questions, have post-it notes ready, and ideally a whiteboard that can be divided into 3 sections.]

1) Write down on separate post-its up to 3 items you own that you are thankful for and post them on the board. [Note: Give them a couple minutes to come up with them.]
Why did you pick the items you did? Was it hard to limit yourself to 3 items?

2) Write down on separate post-its up to 3 events that you attended recently that you are thankful for and post them on the board.
Why did you pick the events you did? [Note: Encourage them to share the significance of that event, no matter how small. This is also a good opportunity to invite laughter.]

3) Write down on separate post-its up to 3 people in your life that you are thankful for.
Why did you pick the people that you did? [Note: Encourage them to share what that person contributes to their lives.]

[Note: As an optional addition, have each of them pick out one item from all 3 sections (and perhaps even borrowing someone else's idea) as their biggest thankfulness. This might be prone to favoritism or challenge if someone in the group is on a post-it. The leader should use with caution. Focus a question on why pick that one over the others.]

4) Read: John 6:1-11

Jesus crossed Lake Galilee, which was also known as Lake Tiberias. A large crowd had seen him work miracles to heal the sick, and those people went with him. It was almost time for the Jewish festival of Passover, and Jesus went up on a mountain with his disciples and sat down. When Jesus saw the large crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, "Where will we get enough food to feed all these people?" He said this to test Philip, since he already knew what he was going to do.

Philip answered, "Don't you know that it would take almost a year's wages just to buy only a little bread for each of these people?" Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the disciples. He spoke up and said, "There is a boy here who has five small loaves of barley bread and two fish. But what good is that with all these people?" The ground was covered with grass, and Jesus told his disciples to have everyone sit down. About five thousand men were in the crowd. Jesus took the bread in his hands and gave thanks to God. Then he passed the bread to the people, and he did the same with the fish, until everyone had plenty to eat.

Who ends up feeding the crowd? [Note: Both Jesus and the small boy.]
Why does Jesus give thanks before handing out the food?
[Note: Optionally invite them to expore the rest of the passage. Some may wonder why Jesus was testing Philip which is a valid question to ask.]

5) Read: Psalm 105:1-8 [Note: The NIV translation was specifically chosen for this reading over the Contemporary English translation.]

Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
O descendants of Abraham his servant,
O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.
He is the LORD our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
He remembers his covenant forever,
the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.

In this psalm, the writer is encouraging Israel to remember the great things that God has done for them and be thankful. The psalm goes on to recount how the Lord performed miraculous signs to the Egyptians, freed the Israelites, and provided for them as walked the desert to the promised land.
What part of this psalm stands out to you personally?
Why is it important for them to remember these events and be thankful?

6) Sometimes we can be thankful before a blessing, and sometimes we can only be thankful afterward. Is there a difference in those types of being thankful?
Regardless of whether we are thankful before or after, it is important to give God thanks for the many blessings in our lives. When we close in prayer, use it as an opportunity to thank God for something you haven't already thanked him for. [Note: This is a good opportunity to encourage each of them to say a prayer of thanks out loud. Perhaps give them a little time to think about what they want to be thankful for before starting the prayer so they can be more comfortable.]