Thanksgiving 2024

Bottom line

There is a lot to be thankful for as a follower of Jesus Christ

Opening Line

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Take a few moments this morning and share with everyone at your table something you are thankful for today.

Introduction

When it comes to things to be thankful for, how many of you are thankful for the friends that God has put in your life, either past or present?

But not all friends are created equal, are they? I’ve oversimplified it down to two categories. I know that friendships are much more complex than this, but bear with me.

Category one is the good time friend. When you are down, they are your pick me up. You know that you will always be able to have fun with them, and generally will tell you what you want to hear. You just feel good when you hang out with these friends.

Category two is the set you straight friend. Its not that you can’t have fun with this friend, but when push comes to shove, they are going to tell you what you need to hear. They love you enough to not sugar coat things, rather just tell you the truth as straight forwardly as they can muster.

It is really easy to tell the difference between the two categories, especially when times get tough, or you make a mistake. Category one is prone to disappear when things get tough. If you make a mistake, category one is very likely to shrink away out of fear that being associated with you might result in their reputation taking a hit. On the flip side, category two will stand with you, and they might even point out how these tough times are your own fault. They love you enough to walk through hard times, and they love you enough to make sure you never end up in this situation again.

At the end of the day, which friend are you more thankful for?

Main Point

The way you answer that question is going to have implication for how you approach scripture, especially a letter like Jude. If you approach Scripture, only ever looking for a pick me up, you will read this book with deeply tinted glasses. That’s not to say there are not great and encouraging passages of scripture, but that’s not the whole story. The God Who inspired these words loves you enough to tell you what you need to hear, not necessarily what you want to hear. Sometimes, you need a wake up call, to make a course correction before it is too late!

Why it matters

If you only ever read Scripture wanting a pick me up, it will be easy to read it through the lens of the hero of the story. Whenever Jesus or any of the authors start using corrective language, it is easy to think of everyone who needs to hear it, and forget that often we are the ones who need to hear it. In fact, if you read scripture only with rose colored glasses, you run the risk of being the people that Jude was upset with when he wrote this letter.

Instead, you need to approach this book with a heart of thanksgiving, grateful for the fact that God loves you enough to tell you what you need to hear, often times when you need to hear it. So Jesus, thank you for all the words of the Bible, not just the ones that make us feel good.

So this morning, as we dive into the letter of Jude, I’m going to point out all the things that you as a believer in Jesus Christ should be thankful for. These things are unique to believers, and if you haven’t declared Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you will miss many of these things in your life. We won’t shy away from the hard things that Jude is talking about, but we will highlight the good things.

Scripture

Jude 1–3 NLT

This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. I am writing to all who have been called by God the Father, who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love. Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.

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Jude starts the letter by indicating that he had an initial intention for writing this letter. He wanted to write about the salvation that we all share.

1. Thankful for our salvation in Christ

As a follower of Jesus Christ, this should fuel a perpetual feeling of thanksgiving and praise. Before Jesus, you were at the mercy of your sinful desires, the pulls and temptations of the world, and nudging of the devil. You were living in rebellion of God, and judgment and eternal separation from all things good awaited you.

But then one day you prayed, and believed in your heart that Jesus is Lord and that He died and rose again to take away your sins. Your life has never been the same since. Sins pull isn’t as strong, you have a freedom that is not possible apart from Christ. You salvation meant you are now a new creation in Him. Praise God that you are not the same, but are a part of God’s eternal family. Rejoice always as Paul says because of the amazing thing Jesus has done for you.

However, Jude goes on to say

Jude 3 NLT

Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.

By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Jude says that intent of the letter has changed. Instead, he must urge the church to defend the faith from a new threat, a false teaching that threatens to corrupt the church and poison the message that the Apostles had passed on to the church.

Jude 4 NLT

I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

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Jude calls out some false teachers that have infiltrated the church, and though the language may seem unfamiliar to us today, the false teaching that Jude is denouncing is still very alive today. In fact, I would say that this teaching is the one of the biggest threats to the church in the West.

Let me put it terms that might seem a little more familiar. Morality in our society has become relativistic. What is right and wrong for you isn’t right and wrong for me. In fact, what is right and wrong can almost be reduced down to what feels good and what doesn’t. There is no absolute truth, just what I choose to be true. It is why there are a lot of people who claim to be Christians, yet the way they live their lives seems to indicate otherwise. The parts of Scripture they like they hold to, but the parts they disagree with, they reject and live in opposition to.

But I want to take it a step further. Do you know what percentage of communication is non-verbal, aka not the words that come out of you mouth? Somewhere between 70 - 93%. This is why it is not what you say, but how you say it that matters. So let’s take this formula and apply to the life of the Christian. You can say with you mouth that you are a believer in Jesus all you want, but what do your actions say? What does how you spend your time say? What does how you spend your money say? This is all non-verbal communication. So what does your life say, and does it line up with what your mouth says?

Now Jude gets into some stories from the Old Testament, and next week I want to take some time and dive into them because they are not your typical kid’s picture bible stories. Jude refers to them, assuming that the audience knows what he’s talking about, and so I want to make sure you know the stories he’s refering to.

The point of the stories is to point out that people who hold to this false teaching, declaring themselves believers but not living like a believer, open themselves up to judgment.

Jude 8–11 NLT

In the same way, these people—who claim authority from their dreams—live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at supernatural beings. But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses’ body.) But these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction. What sorrow awaits them! For they follow in the footsteps of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they deceive people for money. And like Korah, they perish in their rebellion.

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Jude refers to more stories that we will dive into next week. Story time with Pastor Matt, can’t wait. But look at the marks of these wayward people that Jude is referring to. The live immoral lives, defy authority, scoff at supernatural beings, and they follow their instincts. Then Jude keeps going.

Jude 12–13 NLT

When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots. They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.

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It is not enough that people who live this kind of life are opening themselves up to hurt, but they also hurt the church. They are selfish, stir up trouble, and they do not produce the fruit that someone who is filled with Holy Spirit should produce.

Jude 16 NLT

These people are grumblers and complainers, living only to satisfy their desires. They brag loudly about themselves, and they flatter others to get what they want.

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The apostle Paul often taught that followers of Jesus should be humble and content with all that they have. Jude points out that the people the church needed to be aware of were grumblers, complainers, and braggers. They flatter others to get what they want because they are driven to only satisfy their own desires.

I believe that there are some here that need to hear what I am saying. I say this because I love you as a brother or sister, but this is your wake up call. You may call yourself a believer in Christ, but if you’re honest, one of the things Jude talked about in this letter has been true of your life. You find you’re complaining more then you’re worshiping. You have put your own desires before your relationship with God, the church, your ministry that God has called you to, and possibly even your own family. You haven’t picked up your Bible in a long time because you know if you do, God is going to convict you of something. Maybe you haven’t even been coming to church all that often because you know something needs to change and you just don’t want it to.

Brother, sister, you are not here by accident, and you don’t know what tomorrow has in store for you. You do know that God is tugging at your heart right now, and you need to do something different. It is time to make some changes and live the life Jesus saved your for. If that is you, I will be in the prayer room, I would love to talk to you and pray with you.

After all that hard message from Jude, we get to the part that we can be thankful for.

Jude 17–21 NLT

But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ predicted. They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them. But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.

2. Thankful for Scripture

3. Thankful for the church

God has not called you to live your life or grow in your faith alone. His plan to see you grow and discipled is the church. So thank you Jesus for you church that encourages you and challenges you to step out into the ministry God has called you to.

4. Thankful for the Holy Spirit’s power

You don’t have to pray empty prayers. You have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, and you can pray world changing prayers. So pray with power. Pray with authority. God has not given you a Spirit of fear but one of power, love, and self-control. Thank you Jesus for the Holy Spirit!

5. Thankful for the mercy of Jesus

It is not by works that you are saved. You are saved by the mercy and love of Jesus Christ alone. He loved you enough to die for you, to restrict His divinity to live life as a human for you. It is the mercy of Jesus that opens the door for eternal life for you.

6. Thankful for God’s love

It is God’s love that keeps you safe, even when you are going through hard times. It is God’s love that is able to keep you from falling away from Him. It is God’s love that sustains you, even in your darkest days.

When you live the kind of immoral, self seeking life that Jude has talked about, it is not that God turns off the blessing and love; you decided to live in rebellion, so it is your decision to step outside His love and blessing.

Transition to Application

You have a lot to be thankful for. This is why Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 NLT

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

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Main To Do

You need to find ways to be more thankful.

Why it matters

Did you know that when you feel tired, overwhelmed, or anxious, you actually lose the ability to think rationally? It is true. It is why often times when you react to a situation, your reaction is often not a good one, and often not a God-honoring one. The portion of your brain has actually turned off.

But when you maintain a mindset of thankfulness, you actually activate that part of your brain. You actually think more clearly, more rationally, and some say you even hear God’s voice more clearly.

As a Christian, you have a lot to be thankful for, even when things aren’t going your way. So choose to be thankful, and things will go a lot better for you.

Closing Line

Discussion Questions

1. What stood out?

2. Which of the 6 things you should be thankful for stood out? Why that one?

3. How can you maintain a mindset of thankfulness this week?