The Gift of Gratitude (3)

Good morning, CHURCH!

Welcome to FFM where we are here to connect people to the love of God through biblical teaching, loving community, and relational small groups.

(Church joke of the day)

Let me tell y’all about these 4 ladies that were playing golf one Saturday morning.

They were 4 hours into the round and had finally reached the 18th hole.

Gloria was about to tee off when a funeral procession drove by.

She paused, took off her hat and bowed her head in silence.

The other three ladies were shocked because they had never seen anything like this on the golf course.

When the last car had passed, she put her hat back on and proceeded to continue her golf game.

One of the other ladies spoke up, “Hey Gloria, I’ve never seen anyone respect a funeral that much on the golf course. That was pretty sympathetic of you.”

Gloria said, “It was the least I could do, we did spend 35 pretty good years together.”

Are you ready to be equipped today?

Let me see your Bibles.

Pray

Lord, help us to see you as new and fresh through your word today.

Help us to see truth where we have believe lies.

Help us to see where we have been deceived by the enemy and a worldly society.

Most of all let us see how much you love us.

Let’s go to the book of Luke 4:8 NIV for this week’s wisdom Vaccination.

Here in Luke chapter four we are in a passage where the devil has just tempted Jesus for the second of what would be three total temptations.

Jesus had just finished a forty day fast and was famished.

The devil offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he would bow down and worship the him.

Question?

Have you bowed down in worship to the devil in areas of your life?

When I was meditating over the message, it came to my mind that here in Kansas City they have a Kingdom that so much of this area worships.

They even call it Chiefs Kingdom.

And believe me there is a difference between liking football while supporting your team and placing your team in top priority in your life. (God, family, work, church and hobbies!)

Here in verse eight we see Jesus’s reply.

This Week’s Wisdom Vaccination

Luke 4:8 NIV

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

Most of the time when we see or hear this word worship, we think of a specific time in service or a style of music.

Or we may think about singing hymns, praying prayers, words of praise or something like that.

All of those are outward manifestations of worship.

To really worship we are to long for God or desire his presence.

It would help us to worship if we knew what the word actually means.

The English word worship came in to being in the early 1300’s and was a combination of the words worth and ship which meant to declare the worth of something and to place value in that which is being honored.

It is to declared God’s value and to place our life under his lordship.

If you trace the word worship in the new covenant scriptures, you will find that its root word is a Greek word Proskuneo. (Proskunow)

It’s a combination of the words pros which means towards and kuneo which means to kiss.

Like kissing the hand of the king to show your complete dependence on him.

So, when Jesus says we should worship the Lord our God and serve him only this means more than we often give.

We should long for the presence of God.

We should kiss him with our worship.

We should openly declare our full dependence on him.

We should become worshipers so we can really WORSHIP.

Let’s get into today’s message.

Today we are in week three of the series:

The Gift of Gratitude

In this series we have been expressing how our gratitude is one of the gifts we can give to our God for all of the wonderful things he has done for us.

In week one we covered the gift of words being expressed to our God.

Last week we covered bringing actual gifts to our God.

It could be monetary gifts, spiritual gifts or even our talents as a gift.

Some people take out of there time to come and clean the sanctuary so that it represents our God well.

Some people take out of there time to give to those in the community that are less fortunate as a representation of our God.

Some people take time out of there schedule to come and prepare the sound and lyrics for worship.

Some people take time out of there schedule to come and sing or play instruments for our God.

Some people take time out of there schedule to come and secure the premises to keep us safe.

But whatever your gift that God has given you, when you present it back to him please do it with a heart of gratitude.

Never do it out of duty or begrudgingly.

Understand that it is a privilege to serve in the house of God.

And if you’re watching this or listening and you have the privilege to be on full time paid staff of a church, don’t give your gifts back like it’s a job.

Always have your heart in the right place.

Today’s message title is:

The Song of Gratitude

Our text of scripture for today will be 2 Chronicles 20.

2 Chronicles 20:2-3 NIV

Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar” (that is, En Gedi). 3 Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.

It’s kind of like modern day working for a company and you are able to pay all of your bills, but you don’t have a savings built up that could sustain you for 6 months to a year if you didn’t have the job.

And one day you’re in the cafeteria eating lunch and you overhear a conversation a table near yours that the company didn’t meet its projections for the last few quarters, and they are going to lay off one fourth of the work force including the division that you work in.

If you’ve ever been in this situation or even if you haven’t, try to imagine how that would feel.

All you would need to do is add 10 times more stress to it, to have an idea of what Jehoshaphat probably felt like.

But although Jehoshaphat had a natural emotion arise, he took an un-natural approach to the situation.

He didn’t panic. He didn’t run. He didn’t hide.

The Bible says He inquired of the Lord.

Point #1

Put him in remembrance.

2 Chronicles 20:5-7 NIV

Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem at the temple of the Lord in the front of the new courtyard

6 and said: “Lord, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.

7 Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?

Now we know God is much greater than humans but even if you tried this out on a us you would see how we go into action to make our promises good.

This is kind of like being a parent and looking out the window as your child is playing in the yard with some of the neighbors children.

And you overhear your child bragging about the new bike you promised to get them for their birthday.

One of the other children says that you probably won’t get it for them because parents make promises and don’t keep them all the time.

But your child rises up and says I remember last year they promised to get me a new playstation and they got it.

I remember two years ago they promised to get me a new baseball glove and bat, and they did it.

I remember them promising to get my little sister a large dollhouse and they did it.

As a parent when you overhear something like that, you know you have to come through for your children.

How about a wife speaking to her husband.

Honey, I know you to be a man that would do anything to make your word true.

I remember you telling me that you were going to get us out of this neighborhood and get us into a safer environment with better schools for the kids.

I’m so confident in you because you love to do what you say.

I remember when you told me you would get me out of that car that barely starts, and you did it.

So, I know you got us in this current situation.

Then step back and watch his mind go into processing mode to figure out how he can bring to pass what he said he would do.

How much more will our God come through on his promises.

2 Chronicles 20:9 NIV

‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’

I dare you to stand on the promises of God the way his people did under an old covenant.

2 Chronicles 20:12-13 NIV

Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

13 All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord.

If there is ever going to be a time to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, it is when you have put God in remembrance of His specific word.

Point #2

Watch him come through.

2 Chronicles 20:14-15 NIV

Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite and descendant of Asaph, as he stood in the assembly.

15 He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.

Often when life throws a curve ball at us unexpectedly, we get discouraged or fearful.

It could be an unexpected health crisis like I faced.

It could be an unexpected financial crisis like the loss of a job.

It could be an unexpected appliance crisis like a malfunction of a major appliance.

It could be an unexpected automobile crisis.

It could be an unexpected marriage crisis.

But I’m here to declare to you that if you are living for the Lord and a crisis happens to you/for you, do not be afraid or discouraged. You are a child of God, and the battle is not yours, it’s his.

That might sound amazing to hear that the battle is not mines but God’s.

But does this mean I don’t have to do anything?

Right after he told them the battle belongs to God:

2 Chronicles 20:16-17 NIV

Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. 17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lordwill be with you.’”

Did you notice he had to keep telling them not to be afraid or discouraged.

That’s because they were in a potentially fearful or discouraging predicament.

If God is going to fight the battle for you it’s usually going to require some faith on your part.

Did you also notice that he told them again that tomorrow they were going to have to go and face their enemies.

(They were going to have to sleep on this promise from God.)

They had to wake up the next day and position themselves for the battle as if they were going to fight.

(They probably suited up for war.)

(I wonder if there were any doubters in the camp?)

They had to march into position and have faith that something would happen miraculously that would cause them to not have to fight.

You want to talk about faith?

Trusting God in face of death.

Do you think for a moment God is not going to come through on a promise he made when you stand in that kind of faith?

Point #3

Sing in faith for your victory.

2 Chronicles 20:20 NIV

Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”

Jehoshaphat encouraged them again in the morning on the next day to have faith in God and have faith in his messenger.

2 Chronicles 20:21-22 NIV

After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

“Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.”

22 As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.

Here is the point of it all.

They didn’t wait for the victory to start singing and praising.

They started singing and praising God in faith for the victory that he had promised.

When life comes at you, don’t get defeated or discouraged, get tuned up and ready to sing and praise the one who will bring you the victory.

If you’re watching online or here in the building, I have a very important question to ask you.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you right now?