OUR BLUE GLOBE
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
God created the earth and all that is in it. It suffers along with us for the disconnection we humans have with our Creator.
Jesus came to earth,
- became part of what we are,
- to fulfill the hopes of creation,
- to reunite us with our Father God.
Our hope and expectation is now in an eternal life with our Father in Heaven.
Earthly Good
We can’t help but appreciate the beauty of the world around us, it is everywhere we look. In the same way, no matter how distorted the face of humanity becomes through evil and cruelty, we cannot help but see the how wonderful humankind can be.
What is this, but the image of God still to be seen in mankind?
And so, we are thankful for the good we see in others. We are thankful for life.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
God is love and in His love made all there is. He continued to love what He had made even when it no longer represented His nature. And, all within his plan from before creation, He spent all of heavens best to save it and make it new.
That is our hope: a new creation. If this first world is beautiful, how much that which is to come?
What Being Thankful Means
When we love and appreciate something we care for it. That is how we show God our thankfulness:
- We care for each other,
- we care for those in the world,
- we care for the earth and for its animal life
Our attitude of being grateful shows in the way we act.
Childhood Memory
Today, create an ornament that is like a globe, and animal in it, a snowflake or a tree.
- Paper snowflakes
- Globe ornament
- Christmas tree craft
- Origami Crane
I am posting one of the first hymns I learned in children’s choir. An offering of thankfulness and celebration of the beauty we see all around us.
Carol:
For the Beauty of the Earth
1. For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies,
(Chorus)
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.2. For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flow’r,
Sun and moon, and stars of light,3. For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild,
There are several more verses, and the tune is the same as the carol, As with Gladness Men of Old. Which you could also sing today.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven,
We thank you for making us and making the world. We thank you for planning to send Jesus long before there were mistakes and problems. We are thankful for our life here, for our hope and expectation of the life to come.
It is all in the name of Jesus, amen.
