THANKfull Part 1

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1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)

18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Introduction

MONTH OF GRATITUDE (MARCH-APRIL)

2020 has been arguably the strangest year in human history.

Most certainly the strangest year of my life.

I never thought I’d see people walking around everywhere with masks on.

I think we all had about a month in March and April in which we truly took inventory of our lives.

We got to see what really mattered when the entire world was shaken.

Our families.

I think many of us truly understood gratitude for the first time maybe.

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BACK TO NORMAL (GREEDY)

But were seven months removed from that now....

Christmas is coming....there’s a new Iphone out....PS5 is about to drop

We’ve shifted back into the mindset of wanting more and more.

I want to take the next couple of weeks and readjust our priorities back to a place of understanding the good things we have.

Why is that important?

God has some blessings that can only be accessed with a thank you

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I get that this is a hard truth to walk in in 2020. We live in a society that tells us the key to happiness is simple....more.

1 Timothy 6:6 (NKJV)

6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain.

Joy isn’t found as we acquire..Joy is found as we appreciate.

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We will talk about being thankful for the things we have throughout the next couple of weeks. But tonight I want us to focus on whats been done for us more than on what’s been given to us.

In order to do that we are looking at a story from Jesus time on earth.

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TONIGHTS TEXT

Luke 17:11–19 (NKJV)

Christ Cleanses Ten Lepers

11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.

15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

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WE ARE TYPICALLY THE NINE (MISSING MIRACLES)

This story is so amazing to me. There are ten guys who experience a legitimate unequivocal miracle…and nine of them just take it for granted.

I think we often are like the nine.

Every day is a miracle.

When you come to understand the intricacies of how your body works and you realize how your body breaks down food to use the nutrients and discard the rest.

Life is a miracle.

But very rarely do we value the miracle that God has given us. ___________________________________________________________________________

As people of faith this is even more poignant.

We have so much to be thankful for.

IF IM SAVED THAT’S ENOUGH

So what separated this man from the other nine?

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1. HE KNEW WHERE HE WAS FROM (HIS HISTORY)

HE WAS A SAMARITAN

The text tells us that this man was a Samaritan.

He was born into a family that was not as good as everyone else according to their culture.

He would have not have been welcome in Jewish territories.

This was the case because of the actions and struggles of the Samaritans generations ago!

The present situation of Samaritans wasn’t even about what they had done…it was what generations before them had done

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GENERATIONAL STRUGGLE (APPLICATION)

There are some of us who are from a family that makes us feel unworthy to even be a part of what God might want to do in our lives.

Parents are divorced

Dad’s an alcoholic

Parent is in jail

Maybe there is some type of sin that has been in our family for years and we feel like its just a matter of time before it becomes our vice.

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When I make a statement such as; “God has a plan for your life.” Many of you feel as though that’s some sort of fairy tale.

“People from my family don’t have “a call of God” on their life."

There are some in this room that are not from church families

You may not even know who your real dad is

You may not have seen your mom for years because she has left to fulfill some sort of selfish desire or addiction.

There is probably a part of you that wonders why you even come to church because you feel like someone from a family like yours doesn’t have any business being in a church.

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FEELING UNWORTHY

An understanding of our unworthiness is a terrible place to stay but a terrific place to start.

It was this mans lack of entitlement that put him in the right place to respond with gratitude.

2. HE KNEW WHERE HE WAS (HIS ISSUES)

HE WAS A LEPER

According to cultural context, because this man was a Samaritan he wasn’t welcome in Jerusalem.

Now, because of his sickness. Not only is he not welcome in Jewish territories, he’s not even welcome in Samaria.

As if being a Samaritan wasn’t bad enough…This man contracted leprosy.

Leprosy was a common disease in this culture in which sores would develop on the body and ultimately they would end up losing appendages.

When someone contracted leprosy they were forced to move outside of the populated areas.

They wanted to keep them away from everyone else so as not to spread the disease.

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This man has been characterized as less than for his entire life based on the heritage he was handed…but now he has been degraded to an even lower social status because of the issues that are his own.

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NOT MY PARENTS PROBLEM (IT’S MINE)

While there are some of us who feel like our future is certain because of the family we were born into.

There are many who feel hopeless because of our own sins.

It’s not our parents addictions…it’s our own.

It’s not our parents mistakes….it’s our own.

There are those that feel extremely uncomfortable when we talk about the love of God and the plan of God because you’ve got some things in your life that you're ashamed of.

You find yourself looking at things on the internet that your ashamed of.

You’re ashamed of what attracts you

You’re ashamed of the substances that you’ve allowed to become a part of your life.

You’re ashamed of sin

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When scripture talks about sin it makes the parallel that sin is a sickness.

Once sin is contracted it begins to do it’s best to infect every part of your life.

The sickness of sin will drive you into a place of isolation.

JUST LIKE THE LEPER

The sickness this man faced had driven him further away from anyone who might be able to help.

He now only found community with those who had the same sickness as himself.

You will never find a cure while only associating with those carrying the same disease

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HE NEEDED WHAT HE COULDN’T BE AROUND

This man was in need of medical attention.

But he (had to) let the shame of his sickness keep him from approaching those who might be able to cure him

He resigned himself to the fact that he would ultimately lose himself to his current condition.

HE HAD TO....BUT YOU DON’T

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SIN ISOLATION

There are some of us who have distanced ourselves from anyone who might be able to help us out with our issues.

We pull away from our Godly friends because they wouldn’t understand.

We pull away from our parents

We pull away from our Pastors and our church community.

The only place we feel like we belong is with the people who are as broken as we are.

And so we settle into a reality of living with sickness that will ultimately destroy us.

He was fully aware of his current reality.

He knew his history

He knew his issue

3. HE KNEW WHO JESUS WAS (HIS CURE)

By the time Jesus reaches the border of Galilee and Samaria in this text, He has become somewhat of a legend.

Word has gotten out that He is a healer. ___________________________________________________________________________

JESUS HAD A RESUME

Just a short time before this Jesus had spoken to a woman at the well who went back into town and brought the entire city of Samaria to see Jesus.

He is as religiously impressive as anyone in their day and age.

The fact that the miraculous is happening is testament to the fact that He is Godly.

They would have known about the fact that God had sent the Holy Spirit as a dove and spoken declaring how well pleased He was with Jesus.

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If being a Samaritan meant you couldn’t be near even the lowest of Jewish class and being a leper meant you had to be separated from even the poorest of the healthy people then it is certain that these men had no business talking to Jesus. ___________________________________________________________________________

They weren’t worthy of Jesus attention

Neither are we.

WE AREN”T EXCEPTIONAL ENOUGH

We have a tendency to always promote the exceptional nature of each person in our society.

There’s only one you

You are special.

While I see the merit in this and I do believe that each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made.

The fact is that we are each sinful creatures…we all have issues

Because of the nature within us, we are constantly doing things that are in opposition of God’s Will and Word

Because of the sinful nature we inherited and the sinful acts we have committed we don’t deserve any attention from God whatsoever.

Because of our sin we should be in hell.

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WE DESERVE ABANDONMENT…BUT WE DON’T GET IT

It is not unproductive to be aware of the fact that we are broken, sinful people.

In fact it is having a full understanding of all three of these things that puts us into the posture of gratitude.

Understanding where were from (Our Sin Nature)

Understanding where we are (Our Sinful Acts)

Understanding who Jesus is (His Holiness)

Tells us that we should have no hope

God should have abandoned us. But He didn’t!

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CLOSING

UNDERSTANDING THESE THREE THINGS = GRATITUDE

“While we were yet sinners!” Jesus died for us!

When I’m aware of my heritage of failure and my present reality of mistakes I am so thankful that Jesus didn’t give up on me.

I’m so thankful that He continually reaches for me and works with me and helps me along my journey.

To truly walk in an understanding of all three of these things results in humility.

Humility is the breeding ground of gratitude.

It is vitally important to remember our failures and His holiness within the context of grace.

To remember all of these things outside of the context of grace takes us from humility to insecurity.

It causes us to be ashamed of who we are.

But when I come to the understanding that in spite of my failures and in spite of God’s lack of ability to overlook sin, He has pursued me

I am driven into a place of gratitude

He’s aware of his heritage, he’s aware of his sickness, and he’s aware of who Jesus is….and because of that when he receives blessing, he returns to say thank you.

And as a result He is made whole...

The others were cleansed, the sickness was gone…but he was made whole meaning that anything he had lost because of his sickness was restored.

There are extra benefits available when you live from the posture of thankfulness.

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There are some who are just coming to the realization that God really does love them.

There are some who are realizing just how unworthy of His love they are.

I pray that those who don’t know Jesus would be aware that he loves them no matter what

I pray that those who have taken that love for granted would be reminded just how amazing his love is.

We need to walk in a posture of gratitude.

Rather than focusing on the things I don’t like about my situation and wish I could change.

I will identify the things that are good in my life…and understand where they came from.

I”M SAVED…THAT’S ENOUGH