Thank you Sunday

This Sunday at church we are holing our first, hopefully annual, 'thank you Sunday'. It will be an opportunity to thank people who have helped make church possible over the last twelve months. 2011 was a busy year in the life of the church at Selston, with lots of exciting times and events. And this Sunday we will recognise that those events could not have happened without a lot of people doing a lot of hard work. It is also a great excuse to have lunch together, which is always a good thing.

In preparation for this Sunday I was thinking earlier about the importance of saying thank you; two words which are not used often enough in our modern lives. The definition of the phrase 'thank you' is a statement of appreciation - but I would suggest that it is actually so much more. When we say thank you to someone we do much more than express only our appreciation; we also show someone that they are valued, loved, cared about, important and worthy as well as appreciated.

When thinking about this topic I always think about the ten lepers whose meeting with Jesus we can read about in Luke 17. In this passage we read that Jesus healed ten lepers, but that only one came back to say thank you to Jesus. When the one leper returned Jesus commended his faith and explained that this faith had made him well. But Jesus is also quoted as asking the question"where are the other nine"?

As we go through our day, there must be dozens if not hundreds of people who help us every week; providing a service, cooking a meal, offering advice or conversation, or simply saying hello or holding open a door.

Maybe the most important one to thank is Jesus himself for giving us life and all his glorious gifts.

This week please don't forget to pass on your 'thank yous', make them genuine and ensure that

people around you know that they are appreciated. And in thanking Jesus make sure that we are not counted as one of the other nine.

Have a great day

God bless

Chris