In our home church over the past few weeks, we have been exploring the book of Colossians in our teaching series. Yesterday we spent some time noticing the importance of thankfulness and how it weaves its way throughout the letter.

Actually, when we take a big picture view of the bible we can see that that isn’t just the case for Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae – thankfulness is a golden thread that weaves its way throughout Scripture. Time and time again we are encouraged to give thanks … to pray with thankfulness … to allow thankfulness to overflow.

In Psalm 100 – we are given a beautiful sensory pattern for worship. The psalmist takes the physical space of the temple and uses it to give prompts for worshippers to prepare their hearts for worship as they arrive at the temple ready to meet with God. They call us to enter the gates with thanksgiving and cross the courts with praise as we head towards worship and encounter with God in the Holy of Holies. And its brilliant because, inevitably, thanksgiving spills over into worship. Thanksgiving leads us into worship. When we pause and take a moment to think of what we are grateful for … to notice where God has been at work in our lives, in the lives of our family, in our school or work place, in our church and community … we can’t help but turn our thoughts to the beauty, wonder and awe of God …

Thankfulness is a key part of a life with Jesus – and a core part of building the rhythm of wonder in our lives.

Over the past few decades, Neuroscience has been helping us understand in a new way some of how we are Fearfully and Wonderfully made. We’ve always had tools and patterns for living well laid out for us in the bible – God made us, so of course He knows how we work best and how to care well for us. But Neuroscience is helping us understand some of those important truths in a new way. It should be no surprise to us, therefore, that one of the important ‘discoveries’ is the significant role that gratitude plays in healthy brain development and overall well-being.

When we ‘give thanks in all circumstances’ ie do it regularly, we strengthen neural circuits in the brain associated with optimism and calm – which enables us to better manage stress.

Gratitude has been shown to boost our levels of the feel good hormones -Dopamine (associated with pleasure and reward) and Serotonin (linked with calm) which can help combat the low levels associated with anxiety and depression. And it enables our parasympathetic nervous system to do its job well – lowering our heart rate and soothing our Fight, Flight, Freeze responses.

We are learning the science behind the wisdom of Philippians 4: 6-7 which says:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

In the Message translation of those verses, Eugene Peterson says, ‘It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the centre of your life.’ When we take time to be still and ask God to show us where He has been at work in our lives – when we notice God’s goodness and allow it to spill over into thankfulness, we strengthen neural circuits associated with optimism and calm and we begin to re-wire our brain in a way that enables it to appreciate positive experiences months later.

So, this half term – why not explore gratitude and thankfulness!

Here are a few ideas to help get you started!

• I am sure there are very few of us who have managed to miss the viral 6/7 trend! Ali has been encouraging the young people in his small group, whenever they mention it, to learn a 6/7 bible verse by heart! There are 2 that link brilliantly with Thankfulness! To be honest, I’ve been calling him a bit of a geek for doing it – but it was great, actually, to hear a couple of the young people quote them yesterday as we reflected together on being thankful!

Philippians 4:6-7 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 2: 6-7 – So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, strengthened in the faith, as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

• If you are struggling to get started – check out Psalm 136 – you’ll find loads of reasons for gratitude listed – each with a reminder that ‘His love endures forever’!
• In the Living Well resources of the Wonderful Me! website you will find a 360° Thankfulness tool to help individuals and families reflect and be thankful. It was originally written as a New Year reflection tool – but it works at any time!!
• And, if you want to find out more about building the rhythm of wonder in your life – check out the Living Well resources on the website – Wonder is one of our 4 Rhythms of Grace!

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