What Are You Thankful For?
“Good Morning, Everybody!” sang out Mrs. Lynden as the boys and girls filed into the Adventure Class room for Sunday School. Her big smile made all the kids feel welcome. Snacks and drinks were sitting by the door so each person could pick them up on their way in. Turkey-shaped cupcakes, popcorn, and fruit drinks kept everyone busy while Mrs. Lynden said hello to the first-time visitors and wrote down their information, and then took attendance and gave points for bringing Bibles.
Sarah couldn’t help but notice that one of the new bus riders, McKenzie, locked her gaze on the snacks like a dream had come true. Mom had said just yesterday that sometimes kids come to church who haven’t had much to eat. All the kids enjoy the snacks, but maybe some kids actually need them more.
After just a few minutes they sang, “Thank you Lord for saving my soul,” and then it was memory verse time. “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,” (Psalm 92:1-2) They sang it and said it a few times, then the teacher turned the white board around and everyone had an opportunity to say the verse from memory and get their points written down.
“Last Sunday I told you, class, that today YOU are going to teach the lesson, so here we go! I wanted you to think of something that you are thankful for and give us a Bible verse to go with it. So if you are ready with the first point of our lesson, then raise your hands.”
Many hands went up, and Mrs. Lynden called on Lucas. “I’m thankful for my mom and dad. They love me and give me a house to live in and clothes to wear and food to eat. I know they are always there for me, even sometimes when I don’t appreciate them. And my verse to go with it is Ephesians 6:1-3. ‘Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the earth.’”
She wrote down Lucas’ points by his name, and then said, “Wow, that’s a big one. While we are on this point of being thankful for the parents God gave us, why don’t we take a few minutes to list some more reasons why we are thankful for our parents?”
“I’m thankful that my mom always takes care of us when we are sick. It would be awful to be sick and not have my mom there,” said Allysa.
Jackson was next. “I’m thankful that my dad spends time with me, and teaches me to use his tools and how to help him while he remodels the kitchen.”
“Moms cook good food, but they have to go grocery shopping first,” added Felicity.
“...AND they clean the house and wash our clothes too,” said Andrew.
Zach reminded them, “Don’t forget that Dads have to go to work to earn money for our family, to pay for all of those things.”
“Those are all good reasons to be thankful for our parents. Any more before we move on?” A timid hand rose near the back of the room, and Mrs. Lynden called on Lily Ann. “I’m thankful that my Daddy and Mommy got saved, and now we all come to church together.”
“That is a beautiful reason to remember to thank the Lord, Lily Ann.”
Garrett’s hand was up next. “I’m thankful that we have a church to come to, and a pastor who loves us and prays for us. In class we learned Matthew 16:18b, and I thought it would be a good verse for that. ‘...upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’”
“You guys are such good teachers that I may have to retire!” Mrs. Lynden said with a smile. “Who has the next point for our thankfulness lesson?”
“Tim is thankful for food,” said Kyle, while Timothy elbowed him in the ribs and they both laughed. “And I am thankful that God made good food, too. My dad told me a good verse for that would be I Timothy 4:4 because it reminds us to pray and thank God for the food on our table. ‘For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.’”
Sarah raised her hand next. “I don’t know a verse for it, but I’m thankful for my trampoline. When I wanted a trampoline for my birthday, my mom said it would be a miracle for us to get a trampoline because we didn’t have that much money to spend. But she said that nothing is too hard for God and He can work miracles, so we should pray and ask God if He would give us one. Now we have a trampoline in our backyard that the Brownlee family had to get rid of before they moved, and they gave us their swingset, too. That was even more than we asked for!”
“Oh my, that’s wonderful! Well, I think we ought to have a verse about God answering prayer to go with that testimony, so why don’t you look up Mark 11:24 for us?”
Sarah opened her Bible and read, “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
“How about this one, also? Who will read Ephesians 3:20?” Jonathan raised his hand, and then turned in his Bible. “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,”
“There’s no prayer you can pray that is bigger than God has the power to answer, and that is certainly something we ought to be thankful for. Who wants to be next?”
Gabriella’s hand went up, and Mrs. Lynden pointed her way. “This is an answer to prayer too, but I’m thankful that God healed my Grandpa. A few months ago the doctor said Grandpa would probably die within a few days, but we prayed and prayed, and now he is a lot better, and still getting better all the time. He can even play Tic-Tac-Toe and Uno with me again. When I asked my mom about a verse to go with God healing Grandpa, she said that she claimed James 5:15 and 16 and memorized them and prayed over them when Grandpa was so sick, and God answered and healed him. It says, ‘And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
“My goodness, class, we have run out of time, but I don’t think we could ever run out of things to thank the Lord for. This is a true statement: “If you think, you will thank!” Keep on thinking of all the reasons we have to tell God, “Thank You!” It seems like there are millions and billions of things to be thankful for, so I hope this week while we have Thanksgiving with our families, you will keep remembering to thank God for all the wonderful things He does in our lives. I am thankful that the Adventure Class is full of many future Sunday School Teachers, and I will be praying that many of you will join me someday and serve the Lord by teaching Bible lessons and the plan of salvation to other boys and girls after you have grown up. You all did a wonderful job of teaching our class today.”
“Good Morning, Everybody!” sang out Mrs. Lynden as the boys and girls filed into the Adventure Class room for Sunday School. Her big smile made all the kids feel welcome. Snacks and drinks were sitting by the door so each person could pick them up on their way in. Turkey-shaped cupcakes, popcorn, and fruit drinks kept everyone busy while Mrs. Lynden said hello to the first-time visitors and wrote down their information, and then took attendance and gave points for bringing Bibles.
Sarah couldn’t help but notice that one of the new bus riders, McKenzie, locked her gaze on the snacks like a dream had come true. Mom had said just yesterday that sometimes kids come to church who haven’t had much to eat. All the kids enjoy the snacks, but maybe some kids actually need them more.
After just a few minutes they sang, “Thank you Lord for saving my soul,” and then it was memory verse time. “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,” (Psalm 92:1-2) They sang it and said it a few times, then the teacher turned the white board around and everyone had an opportunity to say the verse from memory and get their points written down.
“Last Sunday I told you, class, that today YOU are going to teach the lesson, so here we go! I wanted you to think of something that you are thankful for and give us a Bible verse to go with it. So if you are ready with the first point of our lesson, then raise your hands.”
Many hands went up, and Mrs. Lynden called on Lucas. “I’m thankful for my mom and dad. They love me and give me a house to live in and clothes to wear and food to eat. I know they are always there for me, even sometimes when I don’t appreciate them. And my verse to go with it is Ephesians 6:1-3. ‘Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the earth.’”
She wrote down Lucas’ points by his name, and then said, “Wow, that’s a big one. While we are on this point of being thankful for the parents God gave us, why don’t we take a few minutes to list some more reasons why we are thankful for our parents?”
“I’m thankful that my mom always takes care of us when we are sick. It would be awful to be sick and not have my mom there,” said Allysa.
Jackson was next. “I’m thankful that my dad spends time with me, and teaches me to use his tools and how to help him while he remodels the kitchen.”
“Moms cook good food, but they have to go grocery shopping first,” added Felicity.
“...AND they clean the house and wash our clothes too,” said Andrew.
Zach reminded them, “Don’t forget that Dads have to go to work to earn money for our family, to pay for all of those things.”
“Those are all good reasons to be thankful for our parents. Any more before we move on?” A timid hand rose near the back of the room, and Mrs. Lynden called on Lily Ann. “I’m thankful that my Daddy and Mommy got saved, and now we all come to church together.”
“That is a beautiful reason to remember to thank the Lord, Lily Ann.”
Garrett’s hand was up next. “I’m thankful that we have a church to come to, and a pastor who loves us and prays for us. In class we learned Matthew 16:18b, and I thought it would be a good verse for that. ‘...upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’”
“You guys are such good teachers that I may have to retire!” Mrs. Lynden said with a smile. “Who has the next point for our thankfulness lesson?”
“Tim is thankful for food,” said Kyle, while Timothy elbowed him in the ribs and they both laughed. “And I am thankful that God made good food, too. My dad told me a good verse for that would be I Timothy 4:4 because it reminds us to pray and thank God for the food on our table. ‘For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.’”
Sarah raised her hand next. “I don’t know a verse for it, but I’m thankful for my trampoline. When I wanted a trampoline for my birthday, my mom said it would be a miracle for us to get a trampoline because we didn’t have that much money to spend. But she said that nothing is too hard for God and He can work miracles, so we should pray and ask God if He would give us one. Now we have a trampoline in our backyard that the Brownlee family had to get rid of before they moved, and they gave us their swingset, too. That was even more than we asked for!”
“Oh my, that’s wonderful! Well, I think we ought to have a verse about God answering prayer to go with that testimony, so why don’t you look up Mark 11:24 for us?”
Sarah opened her Bible and read, “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
“How about this one, also? Who will read Ephesians 3:20?” Jonathan raised his hand, and then turned in his Bible. “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,”
“There’s no prayer you can pray that is bigger than God has the power to answer, and that is certainly something we ought to be thankful for. Who wants to be next?”
Gabriella’s hand went up, and Mrs. Lynden pointed her way. “This is an answer to prayer too, but I’m thankful that God healed my Grandpa. A few months ago the doctor said Grandpa would probably die within a few days, but we prayed and prayed, and now he is a lot better, and still getting better all the time. He can even play Tic-Tac-Toe and Uno with me again. When I asked my mom about a verse to go with God healing Grandpa, she said that she claimed James 5:15 and 16 and memorized them and prayed over them when Grandpa was so sick, and God answered and healed him. It says, ‘And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
“My goodness, class, we have run out of time, but I don’t think we could ever run out of things to thank the Lord for. This is a true statement: “If you think, you will thank!” Keep on thinking of all the reasons we have to tell God, “Thank You!” It seems like there are millions and billions of things to be thankful for, so I hope this week while we have Thanksgiving with our families, you will keep remembering to thank God for all the wonderful things He does in our lives. I am thankful that the Adventure Class is full of many future Sunday School Teachers, and I will be praying that many of you will join me someday and serve the Lord by teaching Bible lessons and the plan of salvation to other boys and girls after you have grown up. You all did a wonderful job of teaching our class today.”
