Eucharisteo and a life of thankfulness

I wanted to share the commununion message that I preached on the 17th of December 2024. I will also share the video of the teaching at the end of this post. May you be blessed by this word from God.

To say I’m excited to be bringing this message is an understatement. Not only is it the week before Christmas, but it is also Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday in Advent.  

Gaudete is Latin for Rejoice, so this is Rejoicing Sunday. Which we are doing on so many counts this Sunday, rejoicing together for this Christmas season and the gift that is Our Lord and Saviour. Rejoicing and celebrating the service, love and joy that Matt has brought to this church and will continue to bring to the greater church family. We rejoice in what this year has bring and what God has ahead of us in this year to come.  
 
One of the synonyms for rejoice is joy, and that is where God lead me for this talk today.  
 
What is the emotion of Christmas? It’s Joy! 

 
Joy from giving gifts and receiving gifts.  
Joy from seeing family and friends. 
Joy from the parties and Christmas carols.  
Joy in the laughter of children on Christmas morning.  
Joy from the meaning of the season as a whole.  
 
Keeping that in mind, let’s read the first part of the last supper where Jesus broke bread with the disciples in Luke 22. It says, “and He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them and said, “This is my body, which is given to you. Do this in remembrance of me”. 

 
Now where it says “Gave thanks” this word in the Greek is the word Eucharisteo.  
 
 
 
Now in the Greek and Hebrew we have what are called root words, these are words that are the building blocks for other words. In the case of Euchristeo we have the root word Charis, which means grace. That in itself is amazing, to have the link of thanksgiving and grace within communion. But did you know that charis also has a root word, and that word is Chara, which means joy.  
So when Jesus was showing us that we are to give thanks by breaking the bread, He is also showing us a path to joy.  
Through a life of thankfulness and thanking God for even the little things we start to change our perspective on the world around us and things start to look brighter, things that we used to take for granted now bring us to a smile. With thanksgiving in our hearts, we start on the path to joy.  
 
 

When I saw that I was rostered on to do communion the week before Christmas I was so honoured. Because what better time to be thankful than at Christmas time. The time we remember the birth and gift that is our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.  

 
For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, what a sacrifice. Thank you, Father.  

 
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Thank you, Father.  
 
These two verses are so regularly mentioned that they can tend to lose their power.  
But if we take a moment to really soak in those words.  

Wow, what a gift.  

Just look at the gifts that God blesses us with to be thankful for.  
Jesus is Wonderful, He is our Counsellor, He is Mighty God, He is the Prince of Peace. 
 
The promises they don’t stop there, they continue throughout the whole bible, but here are just a few from the many. 
Psalm 18:2 says, Yahweh, you’re the bedrock beneath my feet, my faith-fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock of rescue where none can reach me. You’re the shield around me, the mighty power that saves me, and my high place.” He is our strong tower, our protector.  
 
Isaiah 53:5, But He was hurt because of us; He suffered so. Our wrongdoing wounded and crushed Him. He endured the breaking that made us whole. The injuries He suffered became our healing” He is our healer. 
 
John 15:15, and maybe my favourite, I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.” He is our friend.  
 
 

Jesus is the greatest gift that God could have ever given to us.  

His ultimate sacrifice meant that we no longer have to fear because He is the Prince of Peace. We no longer have to worry about what may attack us because He is our strong tower and our protector. We no longer have to feel alone or a loner because He is our friend. We have confidence that we have been healed by His blood and by His stripes.  
Look at all we have to be thankful for!  

 
Especially at Christmas time, we see the greatest gift that was given to us and what better time to start a journey of thankfulness and joy than at Christmas.  

The time we stop to remember the birth of Our Saviour, Jesus Christ. 
 

If we stop a moment each day to think back through our day and thank God for the gifts He gave us throughout it, we begin to see the never-ending gifts that Our Father showers upon us.  
 
It might be the willy wagtail hopping around in the brush that seems to appear right when you’re feeling down to tell you that God is walking with you.  
If might be the freshly opened rose bud and its divine scent.  
It might be the rainbows in the soap suds while you were washing the dishes.  
Not all gifts come with big shiny bows, most are in the mundane. But when we stop to see what God placed around us in our day, we begin to see the beauty in the world around us and that day that started off a little dull now is shining bright and radiant because of that beautiful rainbow that made you smile.  
 
Thanksgiving really does bring us to joy.  
And while we now join together in communion this morning take a moment, like Jesus said, to give thanks. Give thanks that He died for us. Give thanks for the healing He has and continues to give us. Give thanks for the provisions that He has given us. Give thanks for the smile He brings to our faces. Give thanks for this season and the journey He has us on and leads us in.  
With a thankful heart, give thanks.   If you'd like to read more about Eucharisteo and the thanksgiving mindset I highly recommend One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, Waymaker by Ann Voskamp or her devotional One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. God Bless, Holly.