Gratitude
Notes
Transcript
This morning before we dive head long into the Christmas Season
I know some of you already have Christmas up and are super duper ready for that season
I know we get so excited for the decoration and the presents and of course the time with family and friends
I know we enjoy the snow if we get any
I know we know the real reason for the season
But before we get to that
And since we just finished Thanksgiving
Maybe we can stay in that season for a little more time
Do you think it is funny how we celebrate thanksgiving and then the very next day we go out and spend a bunch of money and we see all those crazy videos of people
Who mind you were just thankful a day ago now are willing to crush people and get into all sorts of fights over wash clothes
So since we are still in the thanksgiving mode
I wanted to look at being thankful
Having an Attitude of Gratitude
That is something we need to have
And not to spoil it but we more than most other people have someone to be thankful for
Think about it
As believers we have so much to be thankful for
This morning I wanted to look at some of the things as believers we have to be thankful for
Since we are in church and the church answer is always what
Jesus
6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
The promise of Jesus
We can be so very thankful for Jesus
Because of who Jesus we can be so very thankful that He was promised
Because Jesus came
THANKFUL FOR JESUS
17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Church This is the first and foremost reason we as believers can and should be thankful
For our savior Jesus
See Jesus came not to pour out condemnation or to judge people
See Jesus came to bring about salvation to the world
A perfect sacrifice had to happen to pay your debt of sin and my debt of sin
And church you need to realize that you are a sinner and when you realize you are a sinner you become more and more thankful for Jesus
Because you understand Jesus is your only way out of sin
Because Jesus is your only hope you have to survive and thrive in this world
This gives us reason to be thankful and dare I say it but to have an attitude of gratitude
We can go about this world and we can go about life and we can do business and we can life our life in such a way that we are grateful and have an attitude of gratitude
Because of our Savior Jesus
We can and should be and remain thankful for Jesus
Thankful for The Holy Spirit
We should be thankful for Jesus but there is more
We know that Jesus came to bring about Salvation and Jesus knew He would need to go to Heaven to build a place for us
So because He was physically leaving He wanted to give us a Helper
26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
God the Father would send to us the Holy Spirit
As believers we can be thankful for the Holy Spirit because He is just that
A Helper
The Holy Spirit gives us guidance and direction as we walk through this life
It is the guidance in how to raise your kids
It is the guidance in how to conduct business in a lost world
It is the direction in how to raise your kids
It is the direction in what to say at work
It is the guidance in how to spend your money
The Holy Spirit goes to God the Father on our behalf even when we don’t know what to say
It is during those times when we are so hurt or so broken that we don’t know what to say or how to pray that the Holy Spirit speaks to God on our behalf
Church we can be thankful because the Holy Spirit is our Helper
And I don’t know about you but I know I need a helper through this life
The Holy Spirit also bring about conviction in our life’s
7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;
See I know this sounds like a bad thing conviction
We don’t like conviction we don’t like being told
But if we are never told we are wrong or we messed up or we missed the mark
Then we think we are just perfect all on our own
And remember what we said earlier about knowing we are a sinner drives us to a deeper relationship with Our Savior Jesus
So we can be thankful when we get that sick to our stomach feeling after we have missed the mark of perfection
When we sin because that is what its called when we miss the mark of perfection
When we sin and we then realized we have knowledge of it and realized we sinned that is a good thing
The feeling bad about ourself or like we have failed at life is not from God
But when we realized or have knowledge that we have sinned our response is to be thankful for that and then act on it
Our response to knowledge of the sin in our life is to repent and seek forgiveness
When we do that it brings about a deeper relationship with Christ
Church we can be so very thankful for Jesus and the Holy Spirit
We can also be thankful for God’s Word
Gods Word is to full and rich
Church it is Gods letter to you and I
It is how we know about who God is and His Character
It is how we know the History of the World
We know that Gods word is good for everything
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Church it should be where we go first for answers
You have all seen those pictures of Gods Phone Number for when you are struggling with such and such
For example if you are struggling with worry you read Matthew 6 if you struggle with fear you read Psalms 118, and we have seen those papers
I say all that to tell you when you do anything or deal with anything in life Scripture should be the first place you go
When you make a decision you should be able to answer what does scripture say about it
We are thankful for scripture because when we use it it guides us
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
Did you catch that when we use it
It is like a map to this life
It is like a playbook for life
It is a how to live in this world
It does us know good when we don’t use it and so church we can be thankful for Scripture because it is useful
Church we need to use it!!
We are thankful for scripture because it is good for us
It is life giving and so very very good and healthy for us
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”
To a lost world The Bible is just a book or a collection of stories
To a lost world The Bible is just a book on a best selling book
To the believer The Bible is Gods letter to us and to give us guidance and direction to give us wisdom and convey Gods love to us
To the believer it gives us truth
So as the believer we can and should be thankful for Jesus our Savior, The Holy Spirit, and The Word of God
Finally church we can and should be thankful for The Church
Awe the church
a body of believers unity for one purpose to run after Jesus
Awe the church
a group of broken people attempting to work together to do the will of God
Awe the church
a family, The Family of God
we should be thankful for the church
brother and sisters in Christ who love you and care for you
who will pray with you and for you during your time of need and even when you don’t think you need it
Thankful for the Body which is made up of many different people and members
4 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
Just like the physical body so is the church
Many different pieces and and skills that are called together to work together for one purpose which is the will of God
Thankful that there are people to work in the nursery
Thankful there are people to sing
Thankful there are people todo technology
Thankful for people to play instruments
Thankful for people to mow and shovel snow
Thankful for people to work with students
Church we are thankful for the Body of Christ
We are thankful because the promise from scripture is that when we get together God is with us
20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
There is power when the church gets together
We are thankful for that
This morning do you start to understand how as a believer we have so much to be thankful for
That because of Jesus we can and should have an attitude of gratitude
We should be walking around thankful for so much
And when people see that we are thankful we should be prepared to share the Gospel
We should be prepared to share with people why we are so thankful
Because church we have so much to be thankful for
This morning church
We are thankful for a Savior Jesus who knows us and desires a relationship with us, who died in our place
We are thankful for The Holy Spirit who helps us and gives us conviction only to help us into a deeper relationship with Christ who is our Savior
We are thankful for Gods Word who gives us wisdom, direction, who is God’s spoken word to us
We are thankful for The Church, a group of believers united for one purpose which is God’s Will, a group of believers who are family
Church we have so much reason to be thankful for this morning
CLOSING
As we move to our time of invitation
The band will come up
As they begin to play this is your opportunity to do business with Jesus this morning
Maybe you are here and do not have a personal relationship with morning
I would invite you to speak with someone and they can show you how you can begin a relationship with Jesus this morning
Maybe you are here this morning and are a believer and you need to spend sometime at the altar in prayer being thankful
Maybe you need to join the church this morning
The alter is open
