Before We Go

On this day before Thanksgiving Day, is there someone to whom you would like to speak a word of thanks for who they are and what they have meant in your life? David and Karen Mains recount the great value of this exercise, using this theme: “A thoughtful word of thanks from you to __________ could do more good than you can imagine.”

David and Karen Mains reflect on the many blessings that God has given them over the years, especially from music that has moved them. They conclude that: “Observing November as a Thanksgiving Month will all but guarantee that your gratitude overflows on even the busiest of Thanksgiving days.”

In preparation for the celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday, David and Karen Mains share some of the things in their lives for which they are thankful. For listeners, they suggest: “During November, it is fitting as American Christians to practice giving thanks to the Lord.”

As you look back over the years of your life, can you identify certain individuals who may have had a profound influence for good in your life? David and Karen Mains address this very question, as they review their own lives. In doing so, they have found that: “It is fitting to thank the Lord for special individuals who touched your life for the better.”

David and Karen Mains share their observations about aging, based on the reality that: “Knowing that there are both positive and negative aspects related to aging, we choose to view it as a special gift from the Lord for which to be thankful, because it is not granted everyone.”

Keeping a written record of how God is at work in our lives, as well as keeping a record of our prayers and God’s answers to those prayers, has great value to our Christian spiritual development. David and Karen Mains discuss the reality that “Christians who develop the discipline of journaling will not only keep a record of their lives, but will discover the extraordinary ways God has interacted with them.”

It’s not at all too early to begin to prepare for the celebration of Advent and Christmas. David and Karen Mains introduce listeners to a very effective resource: “Because most church people need help to make Christ the focus of their Christmas season, we worked hard creating a series of truly meaningful Advent Calendars. An example would be the series called ‘The Amazing Emmanuel.’”

Do Christians actually prepare to worship God on the weekend? David and Karen Mains discuss the very real need to prepare for the privilege we have to join with other believers in a time of worship with this suggestion: “People who prepare themselves ahead of time are most likely to experience the miracle of Christ’s presence in His church.”

It should rightly serve as a challenge for followers of Jesus to imagine how they would react if Jesus were to bodily attend the Worship Service in their churches this weekend. David and Karen Mains discuss the fact that if Jesus bodily visited your church this Sunday, we believe many would stand patiently in line, waiting for the opportunity to speak briefly with Him.

If the risen Lord Jesus Christ were to come bodily to our churches, how would we respond? David and Karen Mains begin a new series of Podcasts on this very topic by discussing how, in the churches here in the United States and around the world, worship is an appropriate congregational response to the miracle presence of the risen Christ in their midst.