“Thanksgiving - More Than Just a Thought”

Date: 11.17.24 (Sunday)

Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Location: IND. Youth Building (1677 Delaware Crossing, Independence, KY 41051)

Audience: 6th - 12th Graders

Event: “Friendsgiving”

Passage: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)

Series: 1/1

INTRO:

Good Evening…

Thank you guys for making it a priority to be here…

I hope you are excited to jump into the Living Word of God… to see what the Lord is trying to tell us…

GODS WORD

I get excited about diving into Gods Word because of verses like…

Psalm 119:105 (ESV)

Your word is a lamp to my feet

and a light to my path.

Path = “A line or route along which something travels or moves”

In other words, God has given us his Word… so that we can see the route, path, and direction that he wants us to take…

His word is a lamp… something that we can carry with us each day…

His Word is a light that pierces the darkness of this world… showing us the next step…

I have noticed that the more I watch people who do not know who Jesus is… who do not read his Word… do not look to His Word as a lamp… are often just wandering…

They wander… aimlessly walking through life… trying to find a path… trying to make sense of their future… they are lost…

And even Christians who have a season of life where they are not reading their Bible… are prone to drift off God’s path… WHY? they stopped using their lamp… they can’t see the path…

It reminds me of…

Prone to Wonder…

Psalm 119:10 (ESV)

With my whole heart I seek you;

let me not wander from your commandments!

Wander = To drift, cost, or walk away from a proper belief or course of action…

I get excited to dive into God’s Word because I know I will not drift away from God..

I know that I will not coast away from Christ…

I know that I will not walk away from my wonderful savior…

I get excited about God’s Word because it is my guide and light in a world that is dark, cold, and impossible to navigate on my own…

TRANSITION

With this truth about God’s Word in mind…

Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (ESV)

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

CONTEXT

CONTEXT gives us a CLEAR picture of the CIRCUMSTANCES surrounding the STORY…

Example:

My freshman year… My High School Soccer Team went… to State to play in the State Tournament and we made it to the final four…

I was on that team as a freshman… I got a state jacket… and I was on the team that went that far...

You may think… wow… Tanner …

That kind of impressive… to be a freshman on the Varsity Team that went to State… thats a big deal…

You might even think that I was good at Soccer…

But the reality is… I hardly played any minutes on that varsity team… I did not play a single second in the state tournament…

I was a glorified bench warmer and cheerleader…

I did not contribute to the success of that team…

When I give you a CLEAR picture of the CIRCUMSTANCES surrounding the STORY… you can better understand the story…

WHATS IS THE CONTEXT OF 1 THESSALONIANS?

WHO: Many Scholars attribute the authorship of 1 Thessalonians to the apostle Paul

WHEN/DATE: Between 49 - 51 A.D. So about 50 years after the birth of Christ…

WHY: Paul and his companions established the church in Thessalonica and then left… Paul sends his friend and companion Timothy back to the Church in Thessalonica to get a report, update, and status of how the church is doing… Paul receives a status of the church and is prompted to Write 1 Thessalonians… because there were new converts or new people who had come to faith in Christ… so Paul writes a letter to encourage them…

TRANSITION

Now that we have a CLEAR picture of the CIRCUMSTANCES surrounding the STORY…

QUESTION TO ASK

What is God Teaching us Through This Passage?

POINT #1: Our CIRCUMSTANCES do not CONTROL whether or not we are THANKFUL

STORY #1 - WHY ME? WHY NOT ME?

I can remember growing up in middle school and high school… I would always look at what other people had or were given… and be jealous or under the impression that they had more… that they were treated better… or that they were some way or some how more loved by God than me…

For example:

My teeth were not straight through out Middle School and High School..

I can remember thinking… God why me? All this other kids are rockin’ two rows of crispy clean teeth… I mean kids teeth looked like they personally knew Mr. Clean…

But not my teeth…

‌I can remember thinking… Lord I am short… my father is a giant… my brother is a giant… why not me?

All this kids are bigger and taller… why not me?

I can remember my freshman year thinking… Lord… why do all these freshman girls like all the older kids… I mean I am nice guy, why not me? Why are they dating them?

Other kids were cooler, smarter, and funnier than me…

And I would constantly compare myself and my worth to what other people had… And instead of being thankful for all that I had been given… I was bitter and blind to all the blessings that the Lord had given me…

SLOW DOWN - HOOK

“A lack of thankfulness is a sign that you are blind and bitter to the blessing that God has given you…”

Let me say that again…

“A lack of thankfulness is a sign that you are blind and bitter to the blessing that God has given you…”

Quote:

Andy Mineo says, “Don’t let your food get cold looking at someone else’s plate”…

In Other Words… if you are constantly looking at what others have and how their circumstances are better than yours… you will forget and fail to see what God has given you…

STORY #2 - THE COMPLAINER

We all know someone who is a complainer and always finds something wrong with a situation…

When in doubt… no matter how great something my be… they find a way to bring it down…

They are experts in taking great things and grumbling about them…nothing is ever good enough…

I know of an individual who parents paid for there college… and his individual bounced from one expensive nice school to the next…

And each time I would talk to this person… there was always something just wrong or not good about the top end schools that they were going to…

They would complain about the campuses…

The professors…

The classes…

The school amenities…

The friends they had…

The roommate…

Nothing was good enough…

I am thinking to myself…

Oh so you parents have:

paid for your school - no loans no debt

paid for you to stay on campus in the nicest wing and building of the school

allowed you to take or be in any major you want, no matter the cost…

paid for your car to get you to and from school and classes

Give you money so that you don’t have to work while in school

Allowed you to transfer to two top tier schools…

And yet… you are still unthankful and ungrateful for what you have been given…

This person was blind and bitter and did not see all that God had already given them…

On the flip side of that coin..

I also know people who went to a community college, paid for school, worked full time, paid for their own car and expenses, did not have a solid home life, and are beyond thankful for what they have and have been given…

Why?

Because they know that see that God has given them so much already…

SLOW DOWN - HOOK…

A THANKFUL HEART is a HEART that has been HEALED by the HEAVENLY FATHER…

A person who is thankful is a person that understands that they have been given far more than they ever deserve because they have received salvation from God through Jesus Christ… there biggest problem has been solved!

And even in the midst of difficult circumstances they can just Christ and be thankful for all that they have already been given…

CLOSE

We are celebrating Friendsgiving this evening…

A time to reflect and look back and think about all that God has given you

A time to look back and be grateful for all that Christ has done for you

A time to realize that God has given you friends, family, leaders, and this church to and for you…

Some of you… have not been thankful for all that God has done…

And it has lead you to lash out at others because you are jealous or insecure about what you don’t have and what they do have…

Some of you have not been thankful for your friends in this room and have treated them poorly…

Some of you have not been thankful for your family… and you have treated them poorly …

Some of you have not been thankful for all that God has done for you and you have turned from him and questioned if he truly sees or cares about you… you have treated Him poorly…

And there are some of you… who are truly thankful for all that God has done for you… what thankful and grateful and who can truly say, you know what… this year was hard… it was not easy… but I am still so thankful that God has done so much for somebody like me…

QUESTION: Which one are you? Are you someone who is thankful? Or are you someone who is ungrateful?