Blessing Upon Blessing – Thankful And Grateful

November 2025

November has arrived. Crisp, cool mornings, warms mugs of a favorite beverage, and the smell of campfires have cycled back around for a time. School is in full swing, and traditional holiday festivities are fast approaching. As we look toward Thanksgiving, it’s only natural to take time to reflect in gratitude and thankfulness for the blessings the Lord has bestowed on each of us this past year.

NIDnews.org was able to speak with Rev. Erik Gauss (Senior Pastor at Cross Lutheran Church and School in Yorkvillee, Illinois) and Chad Hemminger (Chairman of the Board of Elders at St. John’s Lutheran Church in La Grange, Illinois) to discuss with them what it means to be thankful and grateful.

Chad shared, “Gratitude starts with appreciating the people around you. There are so many people that I am grateful to have in my life—my family and friends who have helped and encouraged me along the way. I think of gratitude as the first step in thankfulness, recognizing all the gifts that have been given to you by God, which then leads you to praise and thank God, who has given you all of these gifts. An “attitude of gratitude” will naturally lead to more hope, joy, and thankfulness being expressed in your life. Praising God is a natural outpouring of a grateful and thankful heart.”

Rev. Gauss echoes those thoughts in this way, “Gratitude and thanksgiving are responsive actions to having been blessed. While that answer may sound like gratitude is cause by an external force and is simply a reaction, that view is incomplete. This is much like the idea that love is a feeling, but, in addition, it is a conscious decision to sacrifice for another regardless of how you feel. So, too, gratitude is a decision to view the blessings we have, rather than focusing on the places in which we lack. Oftentimes, the blessings we receive don’t come to us in the form we anticipated or preferred, but thankfulness and gratitude are still able to be embraced when we choose to see the world through God’s eyes rather than man’s. God pours out blessing upon blessing for us. We have much for which to give thanks!”

Particular selections from Scripture are often brought to mind when faced with trials or in moments of joy and celebration. Recalling memory verses learned in childhood or hymn phrases pulled right from Scripture can bring comfort, serve as praise to our Heavenly Father, and bring a sense a peace and comfort to our spirits.

Rev. Gauss reflected on 1 Peter 1 and the refining of faith discussed there, but he also shared Romans 5:3-5, “… we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” He added, “These verses used to discourage me, because I struggled to rejoice in my suffering, but I am always encouraged to look for the ‘good’ God is working, even in the difficult times. This help me to keep a posture of gratitude. Remembering the process of growth that God is accomplishing in me, even through hardship, does increase my gratitude in every circumstance.”

Chad commented that there are so many verses about gratitude and thanksgiving in the Bible that God certainly must be trying to tell us that it is super important! Out of all those to consider, he said the verses which bring him the most joy and also sum up our life in Christ are from 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, “‘Where, O death, is your victory, Where, O death is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin in the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Each of these gentlemen had specific reflections in regard to gratitude during this Thanksgiving season. Chad mentioned his wife, parents, and in-laws, stating that they are “truly gifts from God that have sustained me through the difficult times.” He is also thankful for the ability to be able to provide for his family and, additionally, for his pastor and church family, who have encouraged him to always find things for which to be grateful. Rev. Gauss reflected specifically on the Eucharist – “not only am I receiving communions, but I am also being grateful for the grace of God. When I learned that, it change me. I now seek to take that gratitude from and for God with me into literally every circumstance. If He can sacrifice like that for me, I can certainly endure this (whatever “this” may be) with a thankful heart and mind.”

Rev. Gauss recently attended the North/West Regional Pastoral Conference and came back with specific takeaways from his time together with brother pastors and some of the LCMS Northern Illinois District leadership. He shared, “I am, once again, grateful for the attitude of so many of the pastors and leaders in our District. At times, it seems our church body manifests much handwriting over little things and assumes our larger struggles will go away. I am continually encouraged by how pastors of all different worship and strategy preferences throughout the NID can come together and truly embrace the reality that our Lutheran identity is rooted in the Word of God and the Confessions, even though those strategies may look a bit different based on those to whom we minster…”

It’s not always easy to be grateful, is it? Chad shared, “I try to pass on the feeling of joy that gratitude brings to other people. I desire to follow His direction as He has outlined it through His Word, the Bible. Out of gratitude, I praise and thank God, give of my time and treasures, and try to remember that all the blessings in my life flow directly from God.” Rev. Gauss commented, “… it is through seasons of grumbling in the desert that have led me to rejoice in His life-giving waters. However, it is this reality that has grown my gratitude. God doesn’t stop giving because I am ungrateful. He keeps pouring out grace and transforming my sinful heart into His instrument of praise. At some point, I run out of words to describe it and simply must say, ‘Thank you!’ His abundant giving inspires me to respond to all of life from a place of gratitude.”

Yes, the Lord pours out grace and keeps giving us blessings, even if we don’t have that “attitude of gratitude.” Looking at the big picture of life and death, ups and downs, and trials and rejoicing, we can rest in the knowledge of the saving grace and omniscient power and protection of the Lord. He provides blessings, even when we can’t seem them at the time. Current circumstances can cause much anxiety and fear. However, Rev. Gauss concluded with these words, “No matter what life brings, I know the end of this story. My daughter is an avid fiction reader. She gets fully immersed in the story, so much so, that she routinely gets fearful as the hero/heroine becomes ensnared in the crisis of the story. She started reading the end of the book FIRST, so she would know everything is going to be OK. At first, I tried to get her to stop. Then, I decided it was a genius idea and started applying the same strategy to my life. When crisis comes (and it does!), I remember that I’ve already read the end of this book, and it turns out awesome! This reality gives me more strength to approach the current crisis with gratitude that this circumstance, too, has been defeated in Christ, our Lord.”

May we each be able to reflect with gratitude and thanksgiving for the blessings received from the Lord!