"Give Thanks" 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Introduction:

We Are Preparing to enter one of my favorite times of the year thanksgiving, a time traditionally where we gather with family and friends to come together under a roof to love one one another and yes partake of some great food. We have all different types of food just waiting to be consumed we have pOtto salad, macaroni,collard greens and the list goes on and on. After a waiting period we hear sone familiar words echoing from the kitchen “Wash your hands and grab your plate the food is ready. After preparing ourselves for the food , we will all gather around the kitchen ready to eat but there's a part that must occur before our tastebuds can come in contact with the food that has been prepared. We must Take a moment and give thanks not only for the food but also for the blessings God has bestowed upon us. Shortly after that we are lead in prayer and finally we are able to eat our food. The lesson of thanksgiving is never about the food that was prepared but its for the main purpose of expressing how thankful we really are. I believe if we could pass the mic around this sanctuary we could all give at least one thing we are thankful for, are you thankful for life, health and strength? Are you thankful the family circle hasn't been broken? Are you thankful for all that God has done for you? What are you thankful for? Thankfulness should be the center of every Christians life.

Here in our text we have before us Paul is writing to the church of Thessalonica a group of recently converted Gentile believers to encourage them to live Godly lives even in the mist of persucation and to live their lives in such a way preparing for the lords return. He opens up with joy of how well they are doing in the new found faith in Christ. He contines on by encouraging them to watch how they live he mentions things such as be sober and alert, those who sleep and get drunk but since we are light of the day let us be alert at al times. He then moves to a period of exheturion of explaining how Christians should properly conduct ourselves at all times. He later moves to serve real personal exhorting for the believers, he wants them to understand I'm going to not only inform of what's to come but I'm also going to give you some prticalsteps in order to experience what's on the way. He encourages them to rejoice always, be a person of prayer and just when you thought he was done he adds one more ingredient in the bowl and tells them to give thanks to God at all times. Sadly many people dwell more on the negative than the Good things that God has done, my intention is not to sway you from your emotions however i want to personally appeal to everyone in this house that being thankful isn't something we should be told to you but it should be who we are.

Question: Why should i give thanks? What is the text tailored to show me?

Giving Thanks involves Priority

“In Everything give thanks” everything simply means in all, or total meaning to us that in every possible circumstance of live we are to offer thanks unto the lord.

I Will bless the lord at all times

2.Giving thanks involves Purpose

we may not always feel like praising, prying or giving him thanks. but we use press on by purpose by doing what God has commanded us to do.