good morning. and a few weeks we will be celebrating the holidays.>> a song came to me. it is a song from sly and the family song. this song was saying be

thankful and thoughtful. he talked about having prayer on a sunday morning. and being thankful. i think he is still around and living in vallejo. i thought of that song because there is so much to be thankful for and thoughtful about. i'm thankful for being in ministry for 45 years. also being a district superintendent. i'm thankful for my colleagues in ministry. two of those colleagues were with me on easter and i invited them back. it's great to have you jim. and thank you dale.>> i think there has been some changes since we've seen you. jim is the north star in oakland. tell us where you are. >> i'm the pastor at lakeshore at this church. and i will begin my 30th year

there.>> you have some longevity. >> and dale has had a change. >> yes after five great years, i've now went to easter hill. >> great charge. >> i mentioned to you earlier, i've had you here as a guest before but i've never asked you about your families. so give a shout out to your families and let people know the people who get up may not know your families. >> good morning karen. i've been married 39 years. we have three adult children. we have four grandsons. one of the great statuses of our lives is our daughter and son-in-law left us and moved to

oregon. >> i think you said you just came back from oregon. >> we went up to visit them and also had a memorial service for my father-in-law who passed away.>> i've been married to debbie witherspoon -- weatherspoon and we have two sons. wesley is in high school and one in middle school. they are doing well and adjusting.>> debbie has an appointment? >> debbie was on leave of absence but now she has a quarter time appointment at stanford with campus ministry. she's also serving on the board in louisville kentucky. she's working on her doctorate of ministry degree. >> that's great. >> we have a few minutes and that we will come back. if you were to summarize and give us a synopsis about

thanksgiving, what would be on your heart and mind. mine was sly and the family stone. and saying thank you for letting me be myself again. >> let's go to jim first.>> i was reading an old sermon by one of my predecessors. they had this sermon about the gospel of luke, the lepers. 10 were healed and only one came back to give them -- thanks. we need to recognize there is ingratitude as well as gratitude and lust. we need to work a little harder than we think to give rise to that gratitude. that is when we give we can shape. >> they'll? >> there is a scripture from

james that says every good and perfect gift, from god above. we are blessed each day just waking up. waking up is a blessing. to be able to see another day. and give our offerings and ties and sing a song that's a praise god from whom all blessings flow. all come from god. we have to be conscious and be able to recognize the blessings. whether we do or not, god is still in the blessing business. >> i think someone said that god's gift to us is the day he gives us. and our gift to him is what we do with the date. >> we will be back with jim and dale.

welcome back. we have been speaking to jim and dale. when abraham lincoln mentioned that the fourth thursday of the month would be, i should see that sexy the last thursday of the before the last said he was

praying for those who were wounded and those who would become orphans during this terrible time in our history. and he prayed that god god father would yield -- healed wounds. we find ourselves divided so many ways. i think that prayer still very apropos for our time. what way do you think we could bring healing this season? >> when our gratitude takes the form of humility, and recognizing that we are all in ways we don't know, dependent on the grace of god, that could be unifying. when our gratitude takes the form of service. reaching out, tepid out serving another human being, that could

be unifying. when our gratitude takes the form of praise. every one of us have something similar to praise god. the praise can be unifying as well >> in a word things giving itself, we just say thanks to everyone. when you go into the supermarket just think take you to the checker. the person you are asking for help, the person is being paid but they are also providing a service. sometimes we take those things for granted. whether it is the barber, the beautician, just to be able to say thank you.>> that's all we can say. that is a great prayer. >> the other piece is you have to notice someone. i've been speaking a lot about noticing lately. to take the time to notice someone and say thank you for the ways they make our lives better.

the things that enhance our quality of life. so it goes back to saying thank you.>> i came across a quote from jfk. there is a new book out about him. it's called raging spirit. he said it's not enough to just say thank you it is how we live. that shows how we are thinking and saying thank you.>> pay attention is another word for that. being mindful. mindfulness is a deep spiritual practice. the younger folks talk about being woke up. >> that's being aware. >> that's great. >> i know that churches over the years have been able to give during thanksgiving times, on my way driving here, the doctors without borders made an announcement about how they are trying to service the refugees.

i love that organization. do you know >> all of you have had church experiences where churches give, do you have certain things planned in the coming month or before the year is out. >> we will be collecting things giving baskets and giving them out. so that will be one way that we hope to reach the community and help them to have a blessed thanksgiving day. >> we will do something similar and work with different community partners. one of our folks, we work with cease-fire oakland a violence reduction program, some of the men -- young men and that we

will provide for them and give them something extra so they can in turn give to the communities. so much about cease-fire is just helping young men become rooted or rerouted in the community. thanksgiving, christmas provides openings to do that. >> i think all of us were impacted by the tremendous fire in california. it was one of the worst ever. so people are still rebuilding and recovering. some people in my church had family members lose their home. i know there is outreach there i'm sure.>> we have been able to raise special offerings. we are collecting closing -- clothing and things we can send out. there's a song that says every day is a day of thanksgiving. it's not just on thanksgiving that we provide the meals, but we look for opportunities each and every day throughout the

year, working with community operations. we like to serve lunches, once a month and other groups also provide meals at that agency. there is places every day, not just on thanksgiving. thanksgiving gets a lot of notoriety, but the need is there. >> went is the church. >> we have been collecting money for the flood victims in florida, houston, in puerto rico and for the earthquake in mexico. even the fires in the north bay. so it is that all of these disasters just like the red cross. >> we are supported by gifts. a lot of churches give.

if there is a disaster or if there is a need someplace in the world, it is a marvelous mechanism of getting support to the ground where it is needed. >> it is a tough time for a lot of people. but i'm sure they are grateful and thankful for their outreach. >> in the north bay, so many of the shelters and emergency centers were the emergency points for churches. r. it is a lot to be thankful in our next segment i will ask about what you think about the reformation. thank you for joining us please stay with us as we continue

with our team of thanksgiving.

my favorite quote of martin luther king is if i cannot live, in heaven i don't want to go there. so we know him, or read about how tough and rough he was, but there was some humor and laughter in his ministry. i want these fellows to talk about the reformation. jim you want to go first? >> all of us methodist, baptist, we are part of the reformation stream. the baptist came to be about 100 years, but we are all shaped by his emphasis on faith. the just shall live by faith. his emphasis on getting the

scriptures to the people and the vernacular and the language they could read. his emphasis on teaching children. his emphasis on taking stance of courage. we are all shaped by the legacy of luther. he was tough and he got off on some tangents, so we are also shaped by some of the mistakes he made. >> i think the method is wooden exist if it wasn't for luther. it came about about 200 years later. wesley's heart was strangely warmed through a lightning bolt. john luther came to faith. both of them work touched by the romans. one of the differences is the faith. both said by faith alone, but by grace alone, but one of the

differences is luther was saying, sanctification was big for him. wesley said, we are goin to perfection for justification, turning around and being in a relationship with jesus. both of them were giants in faith. >> his favorite holiday, was christmas. annie preached 2000 sermons on christmas. >> there are some people that trace it to luther. the just history -- christmas. his deathbed quote, he said as he was dying, we are all beggars. that we all depend on the grace of god in ways we don't fully understand which is true at thanksgiving and it is true at christmas and it is true

throughout the year. >> i think one of the things jim was saying is that we are all connected and part of the same branch. 2 years ago, many leaders went to plant trees. the tree is symbolic of life. it is also symbolic with the branches, that we are all part of the same branch. i give thanks to note that we are all part of the same fate. it is all one god. >> when it comes to trees, one of the quotes is what would you do if you knew the world would end tomorrow. his answer was i would plan a tree.>> oakland we know is based on trees. i understand oakland has a new side to greet oakland, it is with the tree and the words are live life. i think that is what we need to be doing in the mist. we are grateful for life.>> the

roots and the branches and the way they stand up against the storm, that is all part of me in a tree.>> like a tree planted . i shall not be moved. >> we have a few more minutes in this segment. let's look at, some of the things that make our churches live in living. we talked about our giving, we talked about our worship, is there other aspects that keep our churches involved and active . we talked earlier about how the churches have declined in attendance and that is because people have died or moved, so can we still be a vital, effective community in the church. >> absolutely. so a rabbi talks about the role

of religion in the modern world . she said instead of focusing on religion as an escape, let's focus on religion as oxygen. the breath of life. in our study and our worship in our study. local congregations touch that oxygen. >> i think we can be vital. so much in our nation and in our communities and change. the church used to be the center of the community. the church can still be the center of the community. it meets a lot of the needs of the people whether it is financial or educational. but i think the church can also be vital as we find new ways to going to the community not expecting people to come to the church but we go into the community and make the word of god real. i like this passage, the

message says they went into the neighborhood. if we go into the neighborhood and meet people, and really see them and notice them and listen to them, play with them, cry with them, laugh with them, we can be a vital force. >> amen to that. >> we have one more segment left. we will wrap it up with some more jewels from you guys. thank you for being with us. be with us in our last segment.

thank you for being with us. if you have been with us i know you have been inspired by jim hopkins and dale weatherspoon. i'm going to ask them where the churches are. if you want to visit them and worship with them. tell us in. >> lakeshore avenue baptist church is on the corner of lake sure -- sure. we worship it 10 am and we have bible studies tuesday evening at six -- six amp. >> were going on 30 years. >> dale. >> eastern hills located 3911,

about three quarters of a mile from highway 80. we worship at 8 am. and 10 am. we have bible study on wednesday . right now we have a scripture study on wednesday at 1 pm. >> you're still doing the two services. >> yes. >> is a little quieter at the early one but both are great services. >> we have a long range plan that cause -- calls for second service. it should be coming online by mid-2018. >> jim cogdill is doing so well there. the district superintendent is giving good reports, members have set out thankful they are, so i called him for this program i said don't be putting your name on the wall, but he said the letters he tried, but

the letters are too many. >> the probably followed him somewhere. >> i appreciate that. >> is been great to be in ministry. it's one of the things i'm grateful for and having colleagues like yourselves. i've known both of you many years so it is been great. >> thank you for being here. i'll probably call you again. >> happy thanksgiving. >> thank you you too. >> blessings to all of you on this thanksgiving feast -- season. be grateful for all you have received in life. share it with everyone. thank you. god bless you.

but first, he's a bay area icon... and the maestro of the oakland east bay symphony... r and music dire welcome to day sunday. we have a great store -- shown store. welcome. >> so the oakland symphony is putting on a concert called love and lost. >> it's a piece about mary and jesus at the crucifixion. so we always take our music and we bring whatever the