Weekly Devotional
Week of November 23, 2025
Sermon: “The Church Has Left the Building“
Thanksgiving Devotional: Gratitude & truth
This week we celebrate Thanksgiving, a quintessentially American holiday. Many of us come with full plates and fuller hearts, naming the gifts we have been given—family, food, friendship, and the small mercies that keep us going. We give thanks.
But we also must tell the whole truth. The story we often tell about this day leaves out other stories—stories of colonization, dispossession, violence, and the suffering endured by Native peoples. For many Indigenous communities, this day is not simply a day of gratitude; it is a day of grief and remembrance.
So we hold both things together. We give thanks and we remember. We honor the land, the people and the cultures that were here long before us. We repent where repentance is due. We commit to listening, learning, and standing with those whose histories have been erased and forgotten. Gratitude without truth is incomplete; worship without action is hollow.
Questions for Reflection
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What are you most grateful for this season—and how can you express that gratitude in ways that honor God and others?
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How does knowing the fuller story of Thanksgiving challenge or deepen your understanding of gratitude?
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What steps can you take to learn more about the Indigenous history of the land where you live and worship?
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How might you practice justice alongside gratitude—through advocacy, repentance, or relationship-building?
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Sermon Quotes & Reflection Questions
“You are now entering the mission field. The real worship begins when the service ends. The real church begins when the doors swing open.”
Reflect: What is one way you can live out your faith beyond the church walls this week?
“Gratitude without truth is incomplete; worship without justice is hollow.”
Reflect: How can your thanksgiving lead to an action that promotes justice?
“[The 72 disciples that Jesus sent] didn’t say, ‘Come to our church.’ They said, ‘The kingdom has come near to you.’”
Reflect: Who in your life needs to experience God’s presence through your actions today?
“A sanctuary is a space where God shows up… and God shows up in kitchens and classrooms, in coffee shops and crosswalks.”
Reflect: Where can you create space for God to show up in your everyday life?
“Worship is not just what we say. It’s what we serve. It’s not just what we sing. It’s what we share.”
Reflect: What is one act of service you can offer as worship this week?
