Let's Be Thankful

November 18,2007

Introduction

This Thursday is Thanksgiving Day. In past years, I have talked about the history of Thanksgiving Day, and some of the famous speeches made about Thanksgiving, or on Thanksgiving Day, but this morning we’d like to just discuss the general idea of Thanksgiving. This Thursday is certainly a good reminder to be thankful, but we’d like to use this opportunity to think in terms of being thankful everyday.

Body

I. What does the Bible say about Thanksgiving?

A. We are encouraged numerous times to be thankful.

(Col 3:15 NKJV) And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

B. Being thankful is the opposite of murmuring and complaining.

1. God was very displeased with the Children of Israel because they murmured and complained constantly.

(1 Cor 10:10-11 NKJV) nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. {11} Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

II. What do we have for which we should be thankful?

(James 1:16-17 NKJV) Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. {17} Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

A. The good gifts. I think of the things of a material nature. – Where do we begin?

1. Our clothing.

a. One of the things people always check in our homes is how much closet space there is. That’s because we have so many clothes!

b. We have clothes for all occasions. For church, for work, for special occasions.

c. Clothing that will keep us warm when it is cold.

d. Some pride themselves on being able to afford clothing with the right labels..

2. Our food.

a. We have all kinds of foods

1) Food at home prepared from food available in grocery stores.

2) Fast foods of all kinds that we can eat on the go.

3) Restaurants and cafeterias of many kinds.

b. In America, one of our greatest problems is that we eat too much food, or at least too much of the wrong kind.

1) About five years ago, someone was suing McDonalds because the food made him fat.

2) We have been a most blessed nation!

With these we should be content

(1 Tim 6:8 NKJV) And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

3. Our homes.

a. Protection from the rain and the cold, and more than that, from the heat.

b. The comfort and convenience of indoor plumbing and hot water.

c. Freedom from rodents and bugs.

d. Water that is clean and safe to drink.

e. Safety from violence and criminals.

4. Our transportation and travel.

a. Our cars

1) The freedom to move about the country?

2) Cars to get us to work, back home, to church, to shop, or to take us to “grandmother’s house.”.

b. Our fleet of trains and trucks.

1) They haul our products: food, clothing, appliances, practically everything we buy

2) They haul the material we use to build homes and manufacture other items.

3) And the list goes on.

c. Our system of highways.

d. Our system of hotels and motels that allow us to travel for business or pleasure and have a clean comfortable room in which to sleep.

5. Our national security and freedom.

a. Security that we took for granted until 9/11.

b. Freedom to worship God.

6. Our schools and our education.

a. The ability to read and write and communicate.

b. The ability to use math to solve so may kinds of problems including engineering.

7. The general cleanliness of our nation that we take for granted.

a. Our sewer and water systems are a tremendous blessing that we often take for granted.

b. Even city streets, sidewalks, and highways are very clean compared to many countries of the world.

c. Tourist to other countries describe so many other places as being dirty.

8. Health Care

9. Technology

10. Our personal health.

B. God gives a warning as to how we should respond to our blessings.

(Deu 8:10-19 NKJV) "When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you. {11} "Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, {12} "lest; when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; {13} "and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; {14} "when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; . . . {17} "then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.' {18} "And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. {19} "Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.

C. “And every perfect gift!” – I think of the spiritual things.

1. The greatest gift of all: from a comment I made last Sunday, Paul preached “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

(2 Cor 9:15 NKJV) Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

2. A right relationship with God.

a. Adam and Eve lost their close relationship with God because of their sin.

b. Through Christ, we have the forgiveness of our sins.

3. We have the forgiveness of our sins.

(Eph 4:32 NKJV) And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.

(Eph 1:3 NKJV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

4. The wonderful blessing of having a Bible in our language and to know how to read it.

a. There were days when the Bible was restricted to the leaders of the church.

b. Men paid dear prices to translate the Bible into our own language.

c. We are richly blessed.

5. We are blessed with church buildings and all the comfort and aid that a building brings to us.

6. We have been blessed with Bible teachers and church schools and colleges where the Bible is taught.

7. Many of us here today are blessed with Christian families.

a. What a blessing to have a faithful companion to support us in our faith.

b. What a blessing to have faithful children who love the Lord and seek to do His will.

8. What a blessing to think of the joy of meeting the Lord in the air, or the assurance that we will go to be with Him when we die. What a blessing!

III. When do we thank Him?

A. Thanksgiving – I hope, but that’s less than the minimum.

B. Everyday, but that doesn’t say it very well.

C. Let’s begin our days by thanking God and asking for His guidance.

D. Let’s thank Him for every meal.

(1 Cor 10:30 NKJV) But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks?

(1 Tim 4:4-5 NKJV) For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; {5} for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

E. Let’s thank Him with spontaneous “Thank you’s” when we see or hear things that remind us of the things for which we should be thankful.

1. David said that Thanksgiving was more important than sacrifice.

(Psa 69:30-31 NKJV) I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving. {31} This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bull, Which has horns and hooves.

2. David thought that thanking God was so important that he employed some of the Levities to do that.

(1 Chr 16:4 NKJV) And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the LORD God of Israel:

3. Look at Paul’s thanks for the churches to which he wrote.

Romans 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

1 Corinthians 1:4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, 5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,

Ephesians 1:15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers

(Phil 1:3 NKJV) I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

(Col 1:3 NKJV) We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

(1 Th 1:2-3 NKJV) We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, {3} remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,

4. Maybe we need to express more thanks to each other than we sometimes do.

Conclusion

Thanksgiving! It must be much more that a day on the calendar, it needs to be a way of life for everyone of us.

In our thoughts today, we’ve only scratched the surface of thinking of some of the things for which we need to be thankful.

May we be a thankful people.

Sermons I have Preached Bible Study with Harley

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