Gratitude - Communion

Intro

Good morning

Walkertown it’s good to be here with you

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, that you all ate Turkey, or the more superior Ham!

But more than that I hope you spent the season and the day expressing Gratitude

One of my favorite things about this season is sending messages to friends and loved ones telling them how grateful I am for them

I am a big words of affirmation guy — I love hearing and sharing how much people mean to me

It just gets me overjoyed!

Well what cracked me up the most is the message I got from Pastor Nathan

See the thing with Nathan is you never know what kind of message you are going to get from him — the thing with me is, I’m kind of awkward

So when he has sent me messages in the past that’s like “i appreciate you, blah blah blah” I’m super awkward

But this time around he sent me what I think is the ultimate Thanksgiving text

Here’s what it said — side note I got the message while we are driving to Thanksgiving lunch

“Goal for the day is 10,000 calories. Dont be a quitter!”

Naturally I proceeded to send that to everyone — let them know the goal!

But man I hope you guys had an amazing Thanksgiving!

Giving thanks for family, friends, loved ones, the chocolate pie for dessert

But I also hope that in this season of busy I hope you were thankful to God

I mean after all we just finished up the book of James and James teaches us that

James 1:17 ESV

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Every good gift comes from the Father so I hope you blessed and thanked God this season

In fact church lets take a second right now and do just that

Prayer

Lord thank you for Jesus

Thank you for salvation

Thank you for blessings, for kids, wives and husbands, extended families

Thank you for your Word

Father thank you for everything

I pray you bless this time, give me the Words now that are yours not mine — if its something that is different than what I have studied and prepared than change the message God so it reflects your glory and goodness

Father I pray you be with South Fork and with North Campus

Amen!

Ευχαριστεω

On the back of Thanksgiving and having communion today we are going to look at something that is significant in Scripture: Giving thanks

There are many Greek words that are translated as “thankful, giving thanks”

But there is one that we are going to highlight today:

Ευχαριστεω (Eucharisteo) — to thank, to be thankful, give thanks

This singular verb is used 39 times in the NT to express to us the importance of giving thanks

It is used to show us and remind us that we need to stop and give thanks

That we are called to have a heart that is constantly thankful

This Greek word ευχαριστεω is used to describe the actions of Jesus

We are also taking time to focus in on this word specifically because it is where we get the word “eucharist” from

Eucharist of course is another name for the Lord’s supper or Communion

This being communion Sunday it was fitting to focus on this Greek Word

So today we are going to do a deep dive of four times Jesus gave thanks and how we should model the same kind of thankfulness

Feeding the 5,000

The story

The first instance we are going to look at is a story that might be very familiar to you

John 6:1–11 ESV

1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.

The feeding of the 5,000 is one of the most recognizable miracles

It is the only miracles that appears in all four gospels, not counting Jesus’ resurrection

Notice the context of this miracle — Jesus is teaching on a mountain and thousands of people are listening to Him

It’s getting late and everyones hungry, Jesus asks Philip (who is from the area) where they can get bread

Philip responds with no faith — “we don’t have enough money. there isn’t a place that has that much bread”

Andrew, Peter’s brother, however searches the crowd and finds a boy who is offering up his lunch

5 hushpuppies and 2 fish sticks — AMEN

And from here we see Jesus perform one of the greatest miracles

Jesus giving thanks

But notice that in verse 11 it says “he had given thanks”

Jesus before performing the miracle is giving thanks to God for the fish

But why? This struck me — why give thanks — you’re God after all

Jesus is giving thanks for the faithfulness of Andrew for bringing the food to Jesus without thinking “this isn’t enough”

Jesus is giving thanks for the the boy, who with blind faith in Jesus offered up the small lunch to feed everyone

Jesus is giving thanks to God for the strengthening of faith that is about to take place in the lives of the disciples and the crowd as a whole

Give Thanks for God’s Power to Multiply

So what does this first example of Jesus giving thanks teach us today?

Give Thanks for God’s Power to Multiply

We should at every moment be giving thanks to the God who has the power to multiply

Who uses all things regardless of what they are

No matter what we have to offer, if we are faithful God can and will use it

The boy offered up a lunch that is vastly to small for what some people would estimate as well over 10,000 people yet God took the small insignificant amount of food and used it

The same is true of us today

We cannot do anything on our own

Everything that we have to offer is insignificant and to small

We are not enough, we never will be

Isaiah tells us that are greatest deed is a dirty rag — the things we hold our hat own as the best we have, is nothing to God

Yet when we go to Jesus and give him the measly amount of effort, energy, time, strength that we have God can use it

Our job is not to provide the resource, but to offer the thanks and the small resource we do have.

When we offer up our five loaves of effort with Eucharisteo, God provides the miracle.

God always uses and blesses what we give Him

He did it with the boy, and he does it for us

So we need to first and foremost, just like Jesus, give thanks for God who uses all things

God Revealing Secrets

What is happening in Luke 10

The second time we see Christ giving thanks come in the middle of Luke 10

Luke 10:21–24 ESV

21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” 23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

Now as any good Bible reader and scholar we are are not just going to parachute into the middle of a chapter

That is both irresponsible and dangerous

Always always always go back and read what comes before

Luke 10 starts out in verses 1-12 with Jesus commissioning His followers to go into all the surrounding towns and preach this message “the Kingdom is at hand” aka “Jesus is coming to your town, get ready”

In verse 17 we see the disciples coming back amazed at what happened — demons fled in the name of Jesus

Yet Jesus tells them not to celebrate this — instead celebrate in Jesus for who He is

He drops one of the hardest lines in the Bible “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”

Jesus giving thanks

Then we get to verse 21-24 where Jesus is giving thanks to the Father

But what is He giving thanks for?

That the wonders of God are now revealed

Specifically that He, Jesus, is the one that will save everyone

That He, Jesus, is the one that casts out demons

He tells them that they are blessed in having this revealed to them!

That the prophets and kings before them desired to witness this but did not, yet they the disciples did

Jesus is praising God that He is revealing Himself

Give Thanks for God’s Revealed Truth

So what does Jesus’ second example of thanksgiving teach us?

Give Thanks for God’s Revealed Truth

We need to thank God that He has revealed the truth of Jesus and the Gospel

The blessing that Jesus spoke to the disciples here is so true of us — He has revealed all things to us — especially the Gospel

We have the completed Bible, in English, with roughly 900 different versions

THINK ABOUT THAT!

We should be praising God that we have the full knowledge of the Gospel

I love what Tim Keller says “the Gospel isn’t the ABC’s, it’s the A-Z’s”

The Gospel encompasses everything:

Want to know how God created everything — Genesis 1

Want to know about the fall of man — Genesis 3

Want to know about the day of Pentecost and the Spirit ascending — Acts 2

Want to know about how the world will end — Revelation

Church we have it all!

We should be praising God that we are blessed with knowledge!

We should be praising God that we don’t have to live like the prophets, Kings, OT Patriarchs, even the disciples — where they were told a promise, a one statement command, or just the knowledge about God and had to live life

We instead get to know it all!

God has revealed all knowledge to us!

Don’t waste it church — dive deep into the word!

Don’t let Josiah Queen’s song be true about you that you have “dusty bibles but brand new iPhones”

But not just knowledge for knowledge sake — we are blessed with knowledge of salvation

We know the full Gospel — what Paul called in Romans “a mystery that is now revealed”

We have the full message of God’s redemption and salvation, don’t waste it!

Just like Jesus we should be giving thanks to God for the revealed truth

Raising up Lazarus

The Story

The third time comes from John 11:39-44

John 11:39–44 ESV

39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

To give some context to what we are seeing

At the beginning of chapter 11 Jesus is sent word that Lazarus is on his death bed — he’s about to die

They are begging Jesus to come quickly and help his friend

Yet I love what Jesus said in verse 4 “this illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God”

Side note — maybe the thing(s) you are going through right now are for the glory of God

The pain, confusion, the problems…

Maybe it isn’t a punishment but instead a platform

A way for the glory of the Lord to be revealed?

IDK just a thought

After hearing the news Jesus waited another 2 days before going

Once He shows up Lazarus is dead, people are mourning and wailing and Jesus cries

Jesus Giving Thanks

Then we get to verse 41 where Jesus gives thanks to God

ευχαριστεω — to give thanks to God

But why is Jesus giving thanks to God in a moment that seems lost and defeated?

Because people are about to see the full power of Jesus on display

The full power of God and what He can do

That nothing, not even death can stop Him

Give Thanks for God’s Complete Control

This leads us to our third reason we should be giving thanks to God

Give Thanks for God’s Complete Control

Jesus praised the Father for allowing Him to show that there is nothing impossible with God

A dead man that has been in the grave for a couple days? No problem for God

Earlier almost 10,000 people that are hungry? No problem for God

The stress and fear and pain that you are carrying? No problem for God

Listen to how Jesus is described at the end of time:

Revelation 1:8 ESV

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

He is the Alpha and Omega — the beginning and end — who was and is and is to come

There is nothing that our God cannot do!

There is nothing outside of His control

We should be showing gratitude and praising Jesus for the fact that nothing is out of His control!

Lord’s Supper

The Story

The last place comes in Matthew 26:26-28

Matthew 26:26–28 ESV

26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

The Lord’s supper

A passage I’m sure everyone here is familiar with

The context though is often skipped over

This is during the Passover meal — an extremely complex meal to remind the nation of Israel how the Lord took care of them in Egypt

The Passover meal for those who don’t know was essentially a 15 step meal which included:

Eating bitter herbs to remind them of slavery

Eating unleavened bread because on the day of passover they didn’t have time to put leaven in the bread

Have your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on, and your staff in hand to remind them of the speed they had to leave

Multiple praises sang

It was a complex meal that was worthy of a lot of stress and preparation

Jesus giving thanks

Yet the Bible says that Jesus gives thanks

He gives thanks in the stress of the passover meal

But he is also God which means He knows what is about to happen

He knows that Judas has already made a plan to kill Him

He knows that the disciples are going to fall asleep when He asks for prayer

He knows that the disciples are going to run and flee from Him when He’s captured

He knows that Peter is going to deny knowing Him 3 times

He knows the cross and the pain that is coming

He knows the suffering

EVERYTHING

HE KNOWS IT ALL!

Yet he went to the cross and thanked God at the Passover

The author of Hebrews says it was for the JOY that he endured and praised the Lord for it

Jesus was praising God for the ability to SAVE YOU!

Give Thanks for God’s Ultimate Sacrifice

What does this teach us?

The last thing is this:

Give Thanks for God’s Ultimate Sacrifice

We need to be praising God because of the ultimate sacrifice Jesus took on the cross

Jesus willingly went to the cross and by Him going to the cross He is offering us a seat with Him

Because of His death we no longer are called sinners / Lost / dead / enemies

We can now be called CHILDREN

But this only happens if we accept Him as Savior

If we run to Him

Transition to Communion

Before Jesus broke the bread and gave the disciples the bread and before He passed the cup I want you to notice something that happened

Matthew 26:21–22 ESV

21 And as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?”

Jesus points out how someone is going to betray Him, fall into sin

The disciples modeled a attitude that every single one of us need to do now

We need to stop and ask the Lord “is it I, Lord?”

What sin do I have Lord that I need revealed to me now?

What thing Lord do I need to bring to the table and exchange for your gift of salvation, peace and rest?

It’s not only a matter of sins. We can bring all that weighs us down and offer it up.

So as the band plays and you come to the table to grab the elements ask yourself — Lord what things do I need to bring to the table?

Then once you confess, and grab the elements go back to your seat and we will take the elements together as one faith family

Taking of the elements

In 1 Cor 11 the Apostle Paul tells us:

1 Corinthians 11:23–24 ESV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

He continues by saying

1 Corinthians 11:25 ESV

25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

The Apostle Paul finishes by saying:

1 Corinthians 11:26 ESV

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

At the table the Lord exchanged our sin for His grace

Our anxiety for His peace

Our weakness for His strength

In this season of Thanksgiving there is a lot to be thankful for

Let us worship together