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Connecting People to God
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Thanksgiving        by Phil Kinney


Today we mark the National Day of Thanksgiving, a day where we recognise those who serve in the community and yet often don’t receive recognition for their service. Those out there who perform acts of kindness that benefit the general community. We have especially today recognised the service of some of our local politicians, and the work they do in making our community a better place – the acts of kindness and service that make a difference to those around them.
Professor Stephen Post, author of Why Good Things Happen to Good People, has examined the evidence that being kind is good for your health. A study of 2016 church members found those who regularly helped others had better mental health and lower rates of depression. Other studies found helpful people were less likely to fall ill from chronic disease, and tended to have better immune systems. "A strong correlation exists between the wellbeing, happiness and health of people who are kind," says Post. 
Research shows kindness can also make us happier. Professor Sonja Lyubomirsky from the University of California asked participants in a study to perform random acts of kindness over ten weeks. She found happiness increased over the study period, although there was a catch: people who performed a wide variety of kind acts – holding the door open for a stranger, doing a flatmate’s dishes – reported much higher levels of happiness, even one month after the study ended, than people who performed one act of kindness repeatedly. 
Romans 15: 1-2 says We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbour for his good, to build him up.
Paul in writing this challenge was attempting not to just have the Christians of the time do good deeds. Rather he knew the power of acts of Kindness and the unity they bring to the community. This passage continues with a discourse on unity in the church, of glorifying God together, of an increase of love in the community. 
Acts of kindness to those we know and those we don’t know can change how we view life. As we have seen in the study above, by performing random acts of kindness depression dropped, mental and physical health improved, and those involved were generally happier in life. What made the difference?
The difference comes in how the people viewed life. If we look at our life from a “me first” perspective, then we see what we don’t have, we see our lack, and this causes us to be down. But when we look at our lives as a resource to be able to bless and do good to others, our perspective changes. We see what we do have, and become more thankful for it, and therefore more generous, more willing to give of ourselves and our resources, more willing to make a difference in someone else’s life. And as we give, we feel a sense of satisfaction that changes our perspective to one of hope. 
This is why things such as Telethon are so effective in raising money. People see what they do have and what others lack, and there perspective changes, so that they are more willing to give as they see what they have in abundance rather than lacking.
God is the ultimate giver, in that he saw that we lacked relationship with God, in that we were drowning in our sin, our lack of self worth, our guilt and shame for the wrongs we had done in life. Out of this He gave His only son Jesus, who died where we deserved to die for our sins, so that we could have life abundant.
God so willingly gives us the opportunity for relationship with Him, and out of this relationship He desires us to give to others. It may be going out of your way to give someone a lift to work; buying someone their groceries for the week; paying a single parent or someone out of works rent for a week; giving a gift basket or some flowers; making a meal and giving it direct or leaving it in the freezer here; writing a note letting someone know they are appreciated; complimenting someone on how they are dressed today.
I recall a story of a lady who was in a marriage and she had enough of her husband. She went to a psychologist friend and asked him “What is the best way to hurt my husband”. I want to leave him, but I want to leave him and inflict as much pain as possible”.
The psychologist replied “for the next 30 days, absolutely dote on your husband, wait on him hand and foot, cook him his favourite meals, greet him at the door with a kiss, buy him nice gifts, compliment him and leave nice notes for him. When his team is playing set the TV up for him to watch it with his favourite drinks and snacks. Do the nicest things for him....and then at the end of the 30 days leave.”
A few months later the psychologist was at a function and saw the woman across the room full of smiles and looking very relaxed. He approached her and complimented her on how well and how happy she looked. He asked her she had enacted his plan and was she happy because she had left her husband so miserable.
The woman smiled and said the opposite had occurred. She had followed the psychologists advice and absolutely doted on her husband. She did all the things the psychologist suggest and more, wanting to hurt him. She said that as she did this, her husband became less painful to live with, and that he in turn had started to do nice things for her. The home suddenly became happier, they weren’t fighting any more, and she said she found herself falling in love with her husband all over again. This coming weekend they planned to renew their vows to each other, and were going to take a second honeymoon, and the relationship had never been better.
The bible says “Perfect love casts out all fear”. Love is powerful, especially when it is expressed. We have the chance each day to spread the love of Christ around through acts of kindness to others – letting in someone in front of you in traffic, helping a co worker, paying for a person’s meal in a restaurant (or drive thru) anonymously, giving up that great parking spot for another car. These acts can influence others towards acts of kindness and build unity and love that spreads. You may or may not receive recognition, but God sees, and He rewards those who walk in His way. It is about changing your perspective on life, being thankful for what you have, and using this to give to others. It has the power to bring change into other peoples lives as well as yours, and changes the atmosphere over the city.



TALK ABOUT
Try these discussion-starters about this week’s topic: