In the Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving retreat theme, you’ll find thoughts, ideas, recommended scriptures, activities, songs, and more.
Feel free to use the ideas you need and leave the rest…or use them all.
As always, if you have ideas to add, please comment in the comment section below the post or send an email to julie (at) lovingchristministries (dot) com.
ENTER HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING NARRATIVE
Many scriptures encourage us to be thankful. Despite these reminders, we can easily forget our blessings with just one negative event in our day.
It’s easy to let that one ‘bad apple’ spoil our mood even when the rest of the day has gone well.
Let’s take this time we have here to focus on thanksgiving and what it means in our lives.
Yes, we all have unpleasant things happen; but, knowing God is always available for us and that His steadfast love endures forever is a major reason for us to rejoice with thankfulness and gratitude.
As a reminder, try visualizing a sign above every door you go through during the day that says, “I Will Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving In My Heart”!
If you continue that practice, you can train your mind to focus on the positive and not the negative.
ENTER HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING SCRIPTURES
Psalm 100:4-5 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Check back here for a link to more scriptures that go along with the Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving theme.
ENTER HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING ICEBREAKERS:
Marooned
Learn about others’ priorities in this silly icebreaker that asks you to determine a limited number of items you’d take if you were Marooned on a deserted island. It’s interesting to see what’s important to others compared to what you think might be important.
First Initial Fun
Go around the group and have each person describe herself with her name plus an adjective that begins with the first initial of her name. For example: Joyful Julie
ENTER HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING RETREAT ACTIVITY
Share and Prayer:
Provide pieces of paper and a box. Ask the ladies to write at least one thought about either feeling thankful about something in their past or, if they want to open up, something they don’t feel thankful about.
They will place the pieces of paper in the box. Then take turns drawing out a piece of paper and reading it to the group. Select a person who feels comfortable praying out loud and say a special prayer for each thought right after it is read.
ENTER HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- Discuss something you are thankful about. How does the feeling of being thankful change how you deal with other things happening?
- Do you feel you can be thankful about something that would be considered negative? Explain your answer.
- How can you change your mindset if you are stuck in an ungrateful mood?
ENTER HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING CRAFTS
Thankful Giftbags
Provide gift bags (such as these bags you can find on Amazon) and different ways to decorate them (markers, stickers, etc.).
Ask the ladies to decorate the bags. They can then take them home and fill them with anything they desire with the goal of sharing their thankfulness for a friend in their life.
Faithful Frames & Prayer Plaques
Turn frames into inspirational chalkboards and share meaningful messages, favorite bible scriptures, etc. with this meaningful Faithful Frames & Prayer Plaques activity.
ENTER HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING SONG SUGGESTIONS
I Will Enter His Gates – Praise Song (listen to it on YouTube HERE)
Give Thanks– by Don Moen (listen to it on YouTube HERE)
Forever-by Chris Tomlin (listen to it on YouTube HERE)
ENTER HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING DOOR PRIZE IDEAS
365 Devotions for a Thankful Heart
“Grateful Thankful Blessed” Flag
“Today I’m Thankful For” Chalk Board Sign
ENTER HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING CLOSING PRAYER:
Dear Lord, thank you for reminding us of your many reasons to be grateful even though we don’t always pay attention to those reminders. When things are going well for us, it’s easy to feel thankful. We can’t say the same for the times in our lives when we struggle. However, we know that you want us to always rejoice with the knowledge of your infinite love. As these ladies have opened up regarding their challenges and successes in having a sense of gratitude, please let us hold tight to what we have gained here. And, please guide our thoughts to visualizing that sign above each door we enter to help us focus on being thankful… “I Will Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving In My Heart!”. Amen.
Looking for more Thanksgiving theme ideas?
Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving
101 Retreat Theme Ideas for Christian Women
Want to remember this? Post this Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving Theme to your favorite Pinterest board!
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