Developing an Attitude of Gratitude (2)
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Intro
Snoopy - A few years ago, the Peanuts cartoon pictured Charlie Brown bringing out Snoopy’s dinner on Thanksgiving Day. But it was just his usual dog food in a bowl. Snoopy took one look at the dog food and said, "This isn’t fair. The rest of the world is eating turkey with all the trimmings, and all I get is dog food. Because I’m a dog, all I get is dog food." He stood there and stared at his dog food for a moment, and said, "I guess it could be worse. I could be a turkey."
What are some things we can be thankful for?
I am thankful for…
My wife Kathy and I getting to serve the Lord together.
I am thankful for each one of you here today.
I am thankful for this building we can worship in… even with the roof issues. But Blessings are coming.
I am thankful for the kids we help on a weekly basis through Fuel the Future.
I am thankful for the Smoke alarms because they let me know the Turkey is done.
Some one said they were thankful for..
The taxes they paid because it means they were employed.
The clothes that fit too snug because it mean they had enough to eat.
That the gutters need fixing and the grass needed cutting because it meant they had a home.
For the furtherest spot at the mall, because it meant that they were capable of walking.
For all the complaining they hear about our government… free speech.
The person behind me singing off key… it means that I can hear.
The tiredness at the end of the day because it means I have been productive.
In 1789, President George Washington issued a proclamation.
"By the President of the United States of America. A proclamation: Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, & humbly to implore His protection & favor, - and
"By the President of the United States of America. A proclamation: Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, & humbly to implore His protection & favor, - and
"Whereas, Both Houses of Congress have by their joint committee requested me `to recommend to the people of the United States a day of Public Thanksgiving & Prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God. . .’
"Whereas, Both Houses of Congress have by their joint committee requested me `to recommend to the people of the United States a day of Public Thanksgiving & Prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God. . .’
"Now, Therefore I do recommend & assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great & glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. . ."
"Now, Therefore I do recommend & assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great & glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. . ."
This week our entire nation will celebrate Thanksgiving. The irony of it is that very little thanks to God will happen. We get so busy preparing, cooking, entertaining, watching football, and eating that about the only real thanks that gets done on Thanksgiving is done in a single prayer… before the big meal.
Too often we miss the whole point of the holiday to give thanks to God for what He’s done in our lives.
So today I want to share with you a way I think you can make this Thanksgiving different. It starts with first realizing that everything you own, everything you are comes from God. Without God there would be nothing in your life.
16 O Lord, our God, we have brought together all this wealth to build a temple to honour your holy name, but it all came from you and all belongs to you.
If you did not have God in your life, if God had not even created you, you would have nothing. So it all starts with God. So when we start saying, “What can we be thankful for?” we really have to thank God for everything. I want to share Four things we all can be thankful for.
Four Things We can Be Thankful For
Four Things We can Be Thankful For
If you know Jesus Christ, if you are a believer, you have every reason to thank God for these four things.
1. I’m thankful to God for the GRACE he’s shown to me.
1. I’m thankful to God for the GRACE he’s shown to me.
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
What is Grace?
Grace is everything God does for you even though you don’t deserve it.
Grace is everything God does for you even though you don’t deserve it.
The Bible says that everything you have comes by grace. Everything God does in you and through you and for you and to you and by you is by grace. You don’t earn it, you don’t deserve it, you don’t work for it. It’s just a free gift when you turn to the Lord.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. 5 He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s! 6 The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. 7 He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel. 8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. 10 He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. 11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
The Psalmist says, “I will not forget the good things he does for me.” What does he do?
He forgives all my sins.
He heals me of all my diseases.
He redeems be from death and hell.
He surrounds me with love and mercy.
He fills my life with good things.
He is merciful and tender to me when I don’t deserve it.
He is slow to get angry.
He doesn’t hold a grudge
He hasn’t punished us like we deserve to be punished for our sins.
Are those some things to be thankful for? Absolutely.
Who is glad that God doesn’t give us what we deserve? Aren’t you glad that instead, God gives us what we need.
If you don’t understand grace, and if your heart doesn’t explode with gratitude when you understand the grace of God, then you have no idea of what bad shape you were in before you met Christ. Let me summarize it in one word – hopeless.
You had no meaning, no purpose in your life, guilt, fear, bitterness, worry, regrets. You had no hope for the future. You were headed for hell not heaven. There was nothing you could do about it. You would never be good enough to earn your salvation. But God came along in His wonderful love and said, “I’m just going to show you grace.” So this thanksgiving, I am thankful to God for the grace that He has shown me.
2. I am thankful to God for the plan he has for me.
2. I am thankful to God for the plan he has for me.
Life is not an accident. You were made for a reason. You were made for a purpose. God has a plan for your life. Your parents may not have planned you but God did. No baby is ever born by accident. There are illegitimate parents but there are no illegitimate babies. If you’re alive and you’re breathing and your heart and pulse are going, that means God has a plan for your life.
God’s plan is a good plan. It’s not a plan we have to worry about, that we have to be afraid of, be anxious about. It’s a good plan.
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
How about that, is that something we can thank God for? That he has a plan for you and for me? I think so…
God’s plan is so good that He even takes our mistakes, our faults, our failures, and the things other people do to hurt us, and somehow brings good out of them. Check out what Paul said…
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Everything = Everything.
God’s plan for your life is not all happy, all comfortable. God’s plan includes pain in your life. And God’s plan includes some disappointments. And God’s plan certainly involves some discipline. If you were never disciplined, you would never have any character. God’s plan in your life involves some unanswered prayers. Yet He does it all for good. It’s for a future. Are you glad that God has a future for you?
He has shown me grace and He’s given me a plan, a plan that when the more I discover it, the more I get in the center of it, the more my life unfolds and my true potential comes out. He says, I have good plans for you. I’m grateful for the plans He has for me. How about you?
3. I am grateful for the home in heaven that he has prepared for me.
3. I am grateful for the home in heaven that he has prepared for me.
1 We know that our body—the tent we live in here on earth—will be destroyed. But when that happens, God will have a house for us. It will not be a house made by human hands; instead, it will be a home in heaven that will last forever.
We are made to last forever. Every human that’s ever been born has been made, not just for here on earth, but to last forever. And one day our bodies will die, if the rapture doesn’t come first, but that’s not the end.
The bible says,
You were made in God’s image and that means you have a soul.
You were made in God’s image and that means you have a soul.
You will spend eternity one of two places– heaven or hell, depending on whether you received Christ and trusted His grace or not. Heaven and hell are real places. They’re not some figment of somebody’s imagination. Jesus talked more about heaven and hell than He did about a lot of things. He knows more about it than you or me & He says they’re real places.
As Christians, we don’t have to be afraid of the future. Christians, of all people, are the most confident about death because we know where we’re going. You’re not ready to live until you’re ready to die. Are you ready to die? Are you ready to meet the Lord? You’re not ready to live until you’re ready to die.
Only a fool would go all through life totally unprepared for something you know is inevitably going to happen. You know you’re going to die. The latest statistic tells us that in America the mortality rate is 100%. Everybody in this room is terminal. Every human being is terminal. It’s just a matter of time. But we don’t have to be afraid of that. We can actually be thankful to God because He’s shown us His grace. And while we’re on earth He has a plan for us and when we leave this earth, if we’ve trusted Christ and His grace, He’s going to take us to heaven. And I’m grateful for that. A home in heaven!
What is heaven like?
What is heaven like?
Four words…
Reunited
Reunited
In heaven, we’re going to be reunited with loved ones who are believers. We’re going to see those again who’ve known the Lord, who’ve trusted Christ. We’re going to be able to fellowship and love each other there, reunited with those loved ones.
Rewarded
Rewarded
The Bible says in heaven we will be rewarded for our faith, rewarded for our service, rewarded for our trust in Christ, rewarded for our faithfulness in praying and serving and giving and sharing. And there will be eternal rewards. The Bible is very clear about that.
Reassigned
Reassigned
In heaven, we will all be reassigned new tasks to do, new things to do with our lives that keep us occupied. There will be jobs you will like. God understands you. He knows how you’re wired. You will be assigned things to do that are fulfilling in heaven.
Contrary to popular opinion, when you get to heaven, you’re not going to sit on a cloud in a sheet and play a harp. (To me, that would be hell!) I can’t think of anything more boring. And this whole thing about heaven being all white… Heaven is going to have lots of color. God invented color. If you think the world is beautiful – and it’s an imperfect place – how much more is heaven going to be beautiful. It’s going to blow your mind.
Released
Released
The Bible says that in heaven we will all be released from pain, from fear, from depression, from sorrow, from conflict, from tears, from stress. The Bible says there will be no tears in heaven. There will be no sorrow. They’ll be great joy.
Heaven was made for us!
Heaven was made for us!
4 And God has reserved for his children the priceless gift of eternal life; it is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And God, in his mighty power, will make sure that you get there safely to receive it because you are trusting him. It will be yours in that coming last day for all to see. 6 So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here.
Does everybody go to heaven? No they don’t. Heave is for those who accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord. If God allowed people like Hitler, and some of the Hamas Terrorist into heaven it would be hell and it would not be heaven. Heaven is for God’s children… who have repented of their sins.
How do you become God’s child? By trusting in Jesus as your Savior. Look at John 1:12
12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
I’m grateful to God for the graceHe’s shown me. And I’m grateful to God for the plan He has for me. And I’m grateful to God for the home He’s prepared for me. I am also thankful for …
I am thankful to God for the changes he’s making in me.
I am thankful to God for the changes he’s making in me.
I am glad I am not the same person I used to be. God is helping me make changes in my life that I could never do on my own. I am grateful for that. I’m grateful to God I am not the person I used to be but also that I am not the person I’m going to be. I am still growing.
When God looks at you, he sees a lump of clay and just like the master potter, he say, Now I can do something with them. God sees your potential even when no one else sees it. And when everyone else is writing you off as worthless, God says, “No, I created you… I see a diamond and I value you.”
the moment you become a Believer, He starts your very own, custom designed improvement program on you. He is chipping away at the things in your life that need to change.
The Mike Glanton Story
God does love you just like you are. You don’t have to clean up before you can come to the Lord. But he also loves you too much to leave you where you are. trucker in Pascagoula.
13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
He not only gives you the desire to do the right thing, He gives you the power. God never asks you to do something He doesn’t give you the power to do.
Many of you have seen radical transformation of your life that no one else could have ever made, no human being, no program, no therapy could have ever possibly done. Changes in your marriage, changes in your relationships, changes in your own life. You ought to be thankful from the bottom of your heart.
The problem is that the longer we’re Christians, the more we forget what a good deal we’ve got. We actually forget what it’s like to live without hope, to live without help, to live without God’s power and presence and peace and protection in our lives. The Bible says that when we come to Christ He starts changing us. Look at 2 CO 3:18
18 But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.
That’s God’s goal for all of us… to make us more and more like Jesus.
God, our church, any church … we are in the life-changing business. When you boil it down, it’s not about buildings, programs, the music, and it’s not even the message. We are in the life changing business with the Lord. Jesus has the power to change things and people that no one else can change.
Jesus changes wife beaters into loving husbands.
Jesus is the power to take addicts in the street and turn them into responsible citizens.
He has the responsibility and the power to put marriages back together when there were daggers of hate going in those counseling sessions.
Jesus has the power to change selfish, arrogant, pompous businessmen and business women into loving, humble, unselfish servants of God.
Only God can make those kinds of changes in our lives. It’s transformative power. I’ve seen people who were consumed with worry, consumed with fear, consumed with bitterness, consumed with guilt and low self esteem and depression, seen them blossom in the power of God. Thank God I am not what I used to be.
Let me give you four ways to say thank you to God.
Four Ways to Say Thanks to God.
Four Ways to Say Thanks to God.
1. We give thanks to God through singing.
1. We give thanks to God through singing.
7 Sing out your thanks to the Lord; sing praises to our God with a harp.
Nothing makes you more aware of God’s presence faster than praising hIm. The Bible says to sing with thanksgiving in our hearts. You might say, “I can’t sing…” When we all blend together it makes a beautiful sound.
Maybe you are a prison singer… always behind a few bars and never have the right key.
Maybe you are a farm singer… you voice needs to be cultivated or plowed under.
It doesn’t matter… Just sing to the Lord. Sing all the time and sing everywhere. Home… shower… office… car… playing golf… washing dishes… putting your kids to bed… when you get up in the morning…
Christianity is a singing faith. That’s why it was crazy when during COVID they said don’t sing… they were crazy.
Did you know that more songs have been written about Jesus Christ than any other single subject in history? More than love songs or anything else. More songs are written about Jesus Christ than any other subject. Why? Because He’s the one worthy of our praise.
Some people who come to church and they come late intentionally saying, “I’m just going to hear the message. I don’t need the music.” Big mistake! You are missing out on an important healing element in your life. You need something for your head and you need something for your heart.
Psychologists have discovered that singing praise actually lifts your spirits. There are physical changes that take place in your life. Praise renews. Praise rejuvenates. You’re missing out. You’re cheating yourself.
I heard about a psychologist that when people come to him for counseling one of the first questions is “Did you sing the songs in your church last week?” If they say no, he says, “You need to go home and sing them.” It’s a mood lifter, a depression lifter – praise. If you’re feeling down this holiday season, just start singing and watch the miracle of thanksgiving take place in your heart.
2. We give thanks to God by serving.
2. We give thanks to God by serving.
We sing with our lips but we serve with our lives.
The Bible says to serve the Lord with gladness.
28 Since we have a Kingdom nothing can destroy, let us please God by serving him with thankful hearts and with holy fear and awe.
When we serve God, it’s not some chore, some duty, and some obligation. It’s a privilege. The motive for serving God, the motive for using my talents and gifts is serving God and others in ministry is gratitude.
If God never did another single thing in your life, you owe Him everything. You say, “I work for what I got. I worked hard for it.”
Where did you get your talent? God. Where did you get your energy? God. Where did you get your health? God. Where did you get Your mind? God. Where did you get your opportunity? God. Where did you get your Freedom? God.
Everything you have is a gift of God. So at Thanksgiving, don’t just eat food and watch football. Thank God for what He’s done in your life. Thank Him through singing, thank Him through service– by doing something totally unselfish, by using talents and gifts that you’ve got to help people in a way that you don’t get anything personally back from it. It’s just in gratitude to God.
You need to remember that all work is God’s work if it’s done in the name of Jesus Christ. It’s not divided into “This is spiritual, teaching a Bible study and this is secular, cleaning a carpet.” Somebody made the chair you’re siting on and when they did that, they had a ministry to you. You wouldn’t have anything to sit on if somebody didn’t make the chair. If they did it in the name of Jesus with a grateful heart, it was ministering to you. It’s all God’s work. We sing our thanks with our lips but we serve with our lives.
3. We give thanks to God by giving to the Lord.
3. We give thanks to God by giving to the Lord.
14 Give an offering to show thanks to God. Give God Most High what you have promised.
The Bible says that the level of my giving shows the level of my gratitude. If I’m not giving, I’m not very grateful. Obviously “thanks” and “giving” go together. One of the ways we give our thanks is through giving.
ILL: Several years ago some German immigrants to America told this story of a woman living on a farm in Germany who brought to her minister an amount in German money equivalent to about $10 in American money.
As she laid down the money she said: “In former years I have had to pay about this amount in medicine. This year there has been no sickness in our family. I want to show my gratitude to the Lord in this way.”
Some time later this same woman again came to her minister with about $5, explaining that many of her neighbors had suffered some losses in a recent windstorm, but that her farm had been spared. “I bring the church this donation as an offering of thanks.” That’s gratitude
Here is something you can to every year at Thanksgiving.
Review your commitments.
Thanksgiving is a great time to review your giving commitments.
Thanksgiving is a great time to review your giving commitments.
Go back and say, “What does my giving say about me? What statement is it making about me?” Review your giving.
Ask yourself six questions:
a. Have I been giving this past year based on reason or revelation? Am I just giving what I think I can afford to give? Or am I giving what I know God wants to give through me?
b. Is my giving this past year stretching my faith?
c. Has my giving showed my hope of eternal reward or my interest in material things?
d. Has my giving showed how much I really love Christ and His church family?
e. Has my giving represented a genuine sacrifice? Was it really a sacrifice?
f. Does the amount I’m giving truly express the level of thanksgiving that I have for my life, my family, my church and my salvation?
You can make up your own list. Review your giving at Thanksgiving.
At Thanksgiving, renew your commitments.
At Thanksgiving, renew your commitments.
Renew your commitment. Say, “God, I just want to remind You that this next year I again commit to being a tither – 10% of all I make goes back to You. And I again commit to being more than that. I commit to becoming a more generous person.”
Whatever you need to renew…
Then try to outdo last year.
Then try to outdo last year.
We want to grow in our faith every year. We want to grow in my generosity, grow in my gratitude. Say, I’m not going to give the same thing I gave last year. That’s staying level. But this next year I want to be giving more.
Because as I give more to God, I see more of His blessing in my own life. So I try to raise that level. We can’t out give the Lord. (Bob Maurer to YFC)
Many people try to make large end of the year gifts, just to make sure they’re outdoing what they did last year. Don’t stay level, stretch your faith grow in the area of giving every year.
ILL: Two wealthy men in the NO Area give more than 50% of what they make. You might say they can do that because they are wealthy, but the fact is that they started giving when they had a paper route.
(Jack Andonie 100 charties 500 k)
10 and then celebrate the Harvest Festival, to honour the Lord your God, by bringing him a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing he has given you.
This is a biblical principle. Three hundred fifty plus years ago, the Pilgrims sat aside a day called Thanksgiving in the fall. But three thousand years before that, God established a Thanksgiving festival that He called the Feast of Weeks where His people were to bring Him an offering.
I challenge you that either today or next week, give an offering of gratitude to God. Give a gift of thanks at Thanksgiving.
We give God thanks by singing, serving, giving and
4. We give thanks to God by telling others about Jesus.
4. We give thanks to God by telling others about Jesus.
Tell others about him every chance you get.
4 In that wonderful day you will sing: “Thank the Lord! Praise his name! Tell the nations what he has done. Let them know how mighty he is!
We have the greatest news in the world and the good news keeps getting better because the news in the world keeps getting worse. It’s better than the cure for cancer. Everybody needs Jesus. Everybody needs what we know. You can only be the authority on your testimony. You are the authority on how God’s worked in your life. If you don’t tell it, who will tell it? Not me. If you don’t tell your story, if you don’t share your faith, it’s not going to get shared and the world is at a loss because of that.
This Thanksgiving, look for somebody who you can share your faith with, somebody you can invite to church where you can communicate and say, “I am a Christian.” That’s giving thanks to God when you do that. That’s what baptism is. It’s saying, “I am thankful for what God has done in my life.”
This power of thanksgiving is amazing. There’s miracle-working power in the power of praise and thanksgiving.
There’s a great story in Acts 16 where Paul and Silas had been out talking about the Lord and they were thrown in prison in Philippi. They’re in this dark, dank dungeon of a jail and in the middle of the night, at midnight, they decided to start thanking God in their circumstance. They start singing and praising God and God does a miracle. He sends an earthquake the earthquake is so powerful that it rattles all the jail doors loose. It’s the original Jailhouse Rock.
The jailer goes, “I’m going to kill myself because all the prisoners are loose now and they’ll kill me.” Paul says, “No, we’re all here.” The jailer says, “What kind of prisoners are you?” “Christians,” Paul says. So the jailer takes Paul and Silas to his home and they pray and they bind up their wounds with bandages and Paul tells them about Christ and that night the jailer’s whole family accepts the Lord and are all baptized that night. The prison doors were unlocked when they began to praise and thank God.
What prison are you in this evening? An emotional prison? A financial prison? A relational prison? Are you locked up with guilt? Are you locked up with worry? Are you locked up with discouragement and disappointment? Are you locked up in a habit that you can’t break loose from? Conflict?
Whatever it is, start thanking God. And watch the prison doors open wide. The attitude of gratitude can do a miracle in your life. It releases the power of God when we thank Him, when we praise Him. Today, instead of complaining about your problems, start counting your blessings. Instead of looking at what you’ve lost, start looking at all you have left.
Prayer:
Say today, “Dear Jesus Christ, I am so grateful for the grace that You’ve shown me, for the plan that You have for me, for the home that You’ve prepared in heaven, and for the changesYou’re making in me. Help me to show my gratitude by singing, and serving, giving and tellingothers. In Jesus’ name