Thanks and Giving

Dave Reyna

Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

Psalm 100:title–5

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Thanks and Giving

English Standard Version Psalm 100

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

100 A PSALM FOR GIVING THANKS.

1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!

2 Serve the LORD with gladness!

Come into his presence with singing!

3 Know that the LORD, he is God!

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the LORD is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

For many of us Thanksgiving can be both a blessing and a black cloud maybe even a depressing day based on who might or might not be at the table to share a meal with us.. For some it’s the one time of the year that family can all be under one roof- and in the same way that same family can blow the top off that roof with one comment, one argument , one statement about our president, politics or even who gets the last turkey leg. Sometimes family has a way of knowing what buttons to press to bring the tension level up.

If we look at the last supper with Jesus and all His disciples, even Judas the betrayer sat with the group to eat- so you might want to look around your table for any shady characters this Thanksgiving- lol.

For those who don’t even get the chance to be under a roof with family or even with food on a table this can be a tough season and many of us should learn to appreciate family regardless of its dysfunction.

For those who don’t even get the chance to be under a roof with family or even with food on a table this can be tough and many of us should learn to appreciate family regardless of its dysfunction.

As I prayed about tonight's message the Lord pressed on me the importance of both Thanks and Giving. This holiday is one that is usually erased rather quickly. Halloween decor and candy last a few days after, Christmas seems to run an entire month and even New Years gets a day or two of remembrance but in our culture- Not Thanksgiving.

We do spend time preparing the house, cleaning corners and areas of the house that we normally don’t clean. There’s no quick hiding of dirty dishes in the dishwasher, or throwing all the living room mess in a closet- usually mom is coming over, or even grandma and they’re looking, they’re inspecting the house to see your slum way of living.

Food preparation is key, you become chef Ramsey for a day, going on Pintrest and looking for the best recipes and best looking dishes.

Guys are getting the TV room ready to watch football and everyone has to wear their best itchy clothes because you might have to take a family photo or get photo bombed on Facebook or Instagram .

But once you all gather, once the football games are over, once you’ve stuffed yourself with seconds, thirds, desert and who knows what other things- once the thanksgiving of family and food is gone 1 in 3 Americans, 1 in 3 of us in this room put on our stretchy pants on and forget the whole day to spend money buying items that seem to be on sale as a Black Friday sale.

And what i don’t understand the most is that many of the 11.5 million people that go Black Friday shopping actually sleep and have tents outside of the stores before they even open. Instead of serving those who actually live in tents and don’t get to stuff their face with food, they become like the homeless and place a temporary home outside of a store to buy meaning less materialistic things of no value.

Over the last few weeks we dove into the book of Revelation and the seven letters to the seven churches. In most of those letters was a common theme that Jesus wrote to each church. It was the worship of idolatry and the celebration of this idolatry that was bringing rebuke to the different churches. I’m not Jesus, my thoughts are not His thoughts and His ways are so much higher than my ways, but based on His teaches, i’m not sure but I’m pretty sure that He might consider Black Friday a pagan celebration of idolatry.

I believe that Thanksgiving is more reflective in verse 1-5 where it says:

Psalm 100:1–5 ESV

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 100:1-5

Nothing in there says we should ditch the day that we give thanks on with our families, and go to the stores and spend His money- because if you don’t know this- all that we have and all that we are is His, including money. If our prayer is that the Lord would bless our finances, Jesus tells us that He blesses those who invest in the Kingdom and His people.

Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master

In the parable of the talents :

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Figure of Speech Description: Change of Noun, Name: Metonymy

Psalm 66:1–4 ESV

Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah

Psalm 66:2

Where is the black friday sale in this psalm? where is the heart of the psalmist as he wrote this song of praise and love and thankfulness to God?

I”m not saying that you shouldn’t go out on Black Friday- but will say to check your intention the season - as yourself this- are you bringing glory to Him by going out?

Because if you can get deals on blankets, socks, warm clothing, things that you can bless struggling families with then by all means- go, do the work of the Lord and bless others through your efforts. When you make it about Him, then everything changes. This is why some can call Christians hypocritical about the celebration of Christmas or Easter-

We don’t make it about a fat man that breaks into your house through your chimney, eats your milk and cookies to leave presents- yeah it’s fun- but it’s all about Jesus. and everything we do should be.

As we serve others, we are worshiping Him in all that we do. And this shouldn’t just be an end of the year push- it’s an every day things. To love one another the way He loves us. Jesus gives His disciples a parable, a story that we find in the book of starting in verse 31:

English Standard Version Chapter 25

The Final Judgment

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

Notice that Jesus didn’t say, come- those who come to church or raised their hand to accept Jesus, or those who had memorized Scripture, - He said, come to those who served - again who worshiped through the blessing of others. When we serve others, we are acting out in worship.

ESVMake a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

The Outline Bible Section Outline One hundred (Psalm 100)

I. GOD IS THE SONG (100:1–2): We are his singers.

II. GOD IS THE CREATOR (100:3) : We are his creation.

III. GOD IS THE SHEPHERD (100:3) : We are his sheep.

IV. GOD IS THE BLESSED ONE (100:4) : We are his blessed ones.

V. GOD IS LOVE (100:5) : We are his loved ones.

This can be hard for some of us- to think we are someone elses... but the fact of the matter is that we belong to what controls us. That can be money for some, it can be sex for others, it can be materilistic things for others, but with God- We are His and we are loved.

And so this season of Thanksgiving, this season of shopping let us make our days about serving and worshiping Him in Thanks and in Giving to others.