Dear Church Family,

Even with the many holiday gatherings and busyness, the days around Thanksgiving have a way of slowing us down just enough to notice what God has placed at our tables. We have much to be thankful for. But gratitude isn’t meant to always be quiet and still. It can travel from our hearts to our hands, from our homes to our neighbors. Scripture tells us that when God enriches His people, it multiplies thanksgiving in others (2 Corinthians 9:11-12). In other words, thanksgiving turns outward. It becomes thankful giving.

As a church family, we can achieve this thankful giving in multiple hands-on ways. One is to pray for families in our city facing food struggles, for those helping on the front lines of service, and for volunteers who serve with joy. Another is to give donations of food or finances or physically serving alongside the many charitable organizations across the city.

One such ministry we work with directly is Bethel’s Heavenly Hands, led by President and CEO Pastor James Lee. Bethel’s Heavenly Hands is the largest Houston Food Bank partner in our city, and the team who helps supply our Missouri City campus’s monthly Food Distribution (the last Saturday of each month). They are an extraordinary ministry meeting an extraordinary need. Through them, around 15,000 are served every month, which equals roughly 250,000 (that’s a quarter of a million!) nutritious meals of fresh and healthy items that get placed into homes.

Thanksgiving is obviously a very busy and very important holiday for Bethel’s Heavenly Hands because those numbers are not merely numbers. They’re dinner tables, stressed families who can exhale a little because the Lord has provided. Generosity turns into groceries and the reassurance that God sees every household.

Church Family, thank you for your heart of service! You’re welcome to assist Pastor Lee and Bethel’s Heavenly Hands directly, and you can visit our Local Missions page for more opportunities to seek out this Thanksgiving and Christmas season. Let’s continue being thoughtful neighbors, generous believers, and thankful givers.

We have two messages remaining in our Can I Still Experience God? series. We’ll see you on Sunday to learn how we can experience God in the impossible.


Stay Expectant,
Pastor Roger