Why do people 'say grace'?

Catchy Introduction

Pray at the end of the introduction telling God “I really do mean it when I say it—I am thankful for this time. We pause to acknowledge that you are here. If you were not here, there would be no reason in use being here. If I am the one to speak during this time, it would not be worth it. God I ask that you speak and that we will be great listeners and even better responders. Amen”

Introduction

Continuing in Asking for a Friend series

Anytime we are embarrassed or don’t want to appear dumb we may say “I’m asking for a friend”

Not all these questions are not tough—questions none the less

Centered around holidays since it is that time of year

Who remembers what question we asked about Halloween?

We are one week from Thanksgiving—how do some of you celebrate?

We had two tables—kids and adults—even now I still sit at kids

We would start in the kitchen and my dad would ‘say grace’

Pray over food—then eat

Many Christians now pray before they eat—don’t mean it

Why would we do it if we don’t mean it?

I don’t want to waste time pretending being thankful if I’m not actually thankful

Teaching

What does it mean to say grace?

Where does it come from?

There’s several verses Christians got this idea from—here’s one:

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 24

So he went in with them. And here is what happened: He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them.

After Jesus’ resurrection—he prayed then ate

I want you to know—it is not a sin to eat without praying

I usually pray before I eat—until I started thinking about it—I did not mean it

Which makes me think—it’s better not to do something than to do something and not mean it

Jesus would say the same

Jesus is not a “go through the motions” kind of person

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 15

These people make a big show of saying the right thing,

but their heart isn’t in it.

If I’m going to “say grace” I’d rather pray it and mean it

Most families say grace before a Thanksgiving meal

Does anyone know the year/month of the first “thanksgiving meal”?

October 1621

90 Native Americans/53 Pilgrims

New England colonists regularly celebrated thanksgiving

They spent days praying and eating thanking God for military victories, good crops, end of a drought, etc.

Whatever they were thankful for they took time to express

The real reason to “say grace”—acknowledge God and to thank Him

“Saying grace” is just one way we practice being more thankful

We never take the time to discuss this—you have so much to be thankful for

It’s easy to point out what’s going wrong

We constantly pass by opportunities to thank others and God

I surprise myself with how ungrateful I can be

Talking to parents last week about school

I went from high school to college—got BS—took a year off—working on MA

After I get MA—getting Dr

People ask—how do you afford that I tell them my parents saved

By the time I’m done I will have 3 degrees and no debt

When I was talking to them on phone it hit me how big that is

For my whole life I knew they had saved but I was not thankful

You may not have college paid for but we all have something

Maybe terrible dad—awesome mom

Annoying brother—still a brother

We enjoy an enjoyable life

Some of you have good lives but you are not thankful for them

You’d rather have this car, that phone, a diff family, diff job

There’s a story I want to share from Luke (fav. book)

Transition to

Story will show how a majority of people don’t take time to be thankful

New Living Translation Chapter 17

11 As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. 12 As he entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance, 13 crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

14 He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.

15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” 16 He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.

17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”

1. Leprosy

Leprosy in the Bible means serious skin disease

There are people today who have a disease called leprosy—not same thing as here

There is a skin disease called leprosy but

10 people with skin diseases grouped together

Grouped together b/c “unclean”

“Unclean” in OT means unfit for worship

This is not God being mean—he’s protecting others b/c it could spread

2. Samaritan

#1 question to ask when reading the Bible: why did the author write that?

Luke adds the detail—a samaritan came back to thank Jesus

Why was that detail important enough for him to write down?

Samaritans hated Jews

Jesus was a Jew if anyone didn’t come back it should have been him

3. 1 out of 10 came back

I think this is very similar to how we work today

Use story to transition to tension and then application

Tension ideas: you have to be willing to go forward but don’t forget to come back (healed physically going, healed spiritually coming back)

Many Christians now pray before they eat—don’t mean it

There are very few moments we come back and show gratitude

Why would we do it if we don’t mean it?

I don’t want to waste time pretending being thankful if I’m not actually thankful

Application

We like moving forward in the blessing but don’t go back to the source to thank Him for the blessings (illustrate this)

You love getting a new car

Main application: To go forward you have to go back

The Samaritan in this story went forward—healed physically

Conclusion

That’s a good question to think about

He went back to Jesus to show gratitude

Conclusion

Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well”

But he has already been healed? So what is Jesus talking about here?

This is why I want you to remember—to go forward you have to go back

If that guy had never gone back—he wouldn’t have gone forward spiritually

If we do not live a life thankful and grateful life—we will not move forward

God will let you go through the motions but the only way to get closer to him is to respond to him

You can come to youth group—church on Sunday—forward conference but if you do not respond to what you here—you won’t go anywhere

The only

One way to go forward is to show thankfulness

List ways of doing this