We are processing in a journey of faith that moves us from the national holiday of Thanksgiving to the season of preparation for Christmas known in many churches as “Advent”. That season of Advent is the four weekends preceding Christmas Day and features themes of hope, faith, peace and joy as it calls to mind the return of the Christ and the implosion of his kingdom in our midst.

Thanksgiving holidays stretch our minds and remind us of family members separated and gathered at this time of year as well as the historical pilgrims and Native Americans who joined together to feast after a hard year and an economy that failed. Their shared meal brought stability to persons in need. That sounds a little like the situations we face in modern America and we could do well to pray to our almighty Father for stability in our lives and shared growth experiences.

In Philippians 1:3-11, the apostle Paul wrote about a church established in Philippi that he could not claim too much success on his part. With humility and pride he speaks of God receiving the credit.

All of the churches of this community become successful when we give God the glory for what is done. Yes, we mortals do a lot of the work and we invest heavily of our time, but “the churches are God’s churches”. We are “convicted” or “persuaded” that the ongoing work that happens between the time of our organization as a particular church in this community and the coming day of the Lord, must glorify God.

Our church traces its origin back nearly 90 years ago and one of the churches that are a part of our congregation traces an earlier Lutheran group of Norwegians dating back to 1896. I wonder how many of the pioneer families of Lutheranism in Bee County claim credit for these churches existing for such a long time and how many humbly say, “it was all God’s doing”?

In Advent, we remember God’s great promises and ourselves in the present as we look forward to the completion of all within the compassion of Christ.

Philippians 1:3-11 is practical advice for us all in our life of faith. The church’s missional activity is to pray and to pray with confidence. We do that when we force ourselves to be humble, let loose of our prideful nature, and let God’s love overflow with knowledge and insight in our lives.

If you want to pray confidently, you must lower your needs and your worth and turn the concerns you have over to God. You might even want to share a little of your humble thanksgiving with another child of God. “Let go and let God!”