05/27/2026
(long, but worth the read!)
This idea of gratitude is a deeper, more meaningful, more devoted, more moving feeling - not something that just comes and goes - but something that burns within us. It is a recognition and acceptance that our lives would be fundamentally different if we were not held together by something stronger than ourselves. That something is Jesus showing up when we need him most.
Gratitude has that very spiritual connotation yes, but it also has very tangible physical benefits as well. Research has shown that gratitude - defined as a complex cognitive and emotional phenomenon that involves recognizing how others contribute to our well-being and enhances our appreciation of positive outcomes in life - activates regions in the brain associated with reward and well-being. The practice of gratitude leads to long term positive changes in mental health and resilience. Keeping a journal of gratitude increases our empathy and strengthens our social bonds, regulates anxiety, conditions us to focus on positives, lowers our stress & increases our resistance.
Where can I get this magic potion!?! If you bottled this up and sold it on the internet, you'd be a billionaire! So, what is stopping us from expressing, feeling and sharing gratitude? If it has all of these physical, mental and spiritual benefits, what is stopping us!?! It makes no sense that we shouldn't be doing this every day.
- Guest Pastor Matt Yoder -
Watch the complete message here: https://youtu.be/jpgS2KDbwR4?si=cmkab0ikAawJSCNf