The Portland congregation celebrated Thanksgiving on Sunday morning, November 23. In the Sunday school departments, students were already preparing for Christmas events but also enjoyed slices of pumpkin or apple pie.

The morning worship service began with an organ prelude from Shawn Worthington, featuring “O for a Thousand Tongues” and “Toccata on ‘Hymn to Joy.’” The choir followed with “Come Christians, Join to Sing,” which included “We Have Come to Worship Him.”

The congregation joined in singing several hymns together, with the theme of gratitude toward God. Songs included “For the Beauty of the Earth,” “We Are So Blessed,” and “Doxology.” Then Sola Adesope led a prayer expressing thanksgiving to God for His many blessings.

For the first special, a ladies’ quartet from the Worthington family sang “I Could Never Praise Him Enough,” with Sam Asaya on the bass. The Scripture reading was given by John Musgrave and was taken from Psalm 67:1–7. Following that, Marcus Luka and Peter Moberg sang “Lamb of God.”

Pastor Dave Lambert brought the morning message, “The Greatness of Gratitude,” drawing from Ephesians 5:19-20. He said that persevering faith grows out of thankfulness, and that all virtues are rooted in a thankful heart. He read from Psalm 136, which gives many reasons to be thankful. The first verse gives two right away: God is good and God is merciful. The following verses list God’s mighty works, from creating the world to leading the people of Israel through the wilderness and into the land He prepared for them. Brother Dave explained that the same God who did all those things still remembers each individual today, and He has provided salvation and redemption. He reminded the congregation of the importance of expressing gratitude to God. One way to do that is by giving a testimony, and he noted that each testimony is a victory in itself.