NOVEMBER 2023 | ISSUE 4
NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER Southpointe Community Church | Monthly Newsletter
IN THIS ISSUE
We spend time talking about gratitude. As we head into the holiday season, this will give you ways to pause and be grateful for God and His provision in your life.
NOVEMBER EVENTS FRIDAY 11.3
SP KIDS JR | First Friday Thanksgiving Crafts 11:00-Noon
SUNDAY 11.5 Communion TUESDAY 11.7
WOMEN | 1st Tuesday Supper Club 6:30-8:30PM
FRIDAY 11.10
SPCC | 2nd Friday Meet Up 6:00-8:00PM
SATURDAY 11.11
SPCC | Redemptive Discipline Training 9:00-11:00AM
SUNDAY 11.19
SP STUDENTS | Friendsgiving 6:00-8:00PM
THURSDAY 11.23
THANKSGIVING DAY
SUNDAY 11.26
ROUTE 56 | Friendsgiving 6:00-8:00PM
FRIDAY 12.1
SP KIDS | Gingerbread Competition 6:00-7:30PM
WELCOME OUR NEW MEMBERS THIS OCTOBER Kat Ashley Benjamin and Sarah Easley Tom and Dodie Vanhooser Bill and Cathy Voelker Adrienne Zeiler
Praying Gratefully I don’t think that gratitude comes naturally for any of us, it must be cultivated through consistency and discipline. Our culture has a mindset of entitlement, not a mindset of privilege. Our culture is brimming over with perpetual complaints about our litany of first world problems and, as a result, we tend to have more advantages than any other age yet we are unhappy.
“Be joyful always. Pray continually. In all circumstances give thanks for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thess. 5:16-18 It is human nature to look for greener pastures, to wish for better circumstances, more affluence, and an easier life. We think, if only I had a different job, a nicer house, a newer spouse, better health, then—finally!— I’d be happy. But gratitude always involves a posture of humility. If I believe I’m owed something, I won’t be thankful for it because I think I’m entitled to it. Our sinful nature inclines us to naturally feel entitled and the bigger our sense of entitlement, the smaller our sense of gratitude, and, correspondingly, the less our sense of joy. Let’s face it, no one wants to be around ungrateful, entitled people. Because they tend to have the most and yet are the most unhappy people you’ll ever meet. There are appropriate seasons for lamenting, grieving, and wrestling with the complexities of life, however, the overarching aroma of our souls should be that of profoundly thankful people. People who realize that, because of God’s grace, there have inevitably been more blue skies in our lives than grey ones. Every one of us are on a perpetual quest to find joy in our lives. There’s an indelible link between joy and gratitude. Joy isn’t something that you get by trying to find joy in and of itself. Joy is a by-product of gratitude. Grateful people are joyful people. Let’s take time this Thanksgiving to cultivate the discipline of gratitude. Take time as a family to write a thank you note to God for all of the blessings in your lives. As you cultivate gratitude you will experience joy! -Pastor Matt
…The beginning of man’s rebellion against God was, and is, the lack of a thankful heart. Adam and Eve did not have proper, thankful hearts—seeing themselves as creatures before the Creator and being bowed not only in their knees, but in their stubborn hearts. The rebellion is a deliberate refusal to be the creature before the Creator, to the extent of being thankful…. Ingratitude is at the root of all sin. Francis Schaeffer, True Spirituality