Life Of Thanks Series

The Body Beautiful

Part 3

Life of Thanks

We are in week three of this series entitled

The Body Beautiful

We actually began the week before this series

with a very frank discussion about how the Lord was impressing upon me the direction this church must be heading

I am feeling an intensity and desire to press into God

A desire to see the manifested glory of God – in our midst

Because it seemed we were stalled

Not moving forward

I was overwhelmed with a sense of failure

That maybe I was not the one to take this church to the next level

But what the Lord was revealing was that

It was necessary for me to experience

the Lord’s desire

to visit us –

with His Manifest Glory

To manifest His presence

But the only requirement --------------- HUNGER

Was not evident in the church

Something happened 3 weeks ago,

I don’t believe it had anything to do with me

It was the Holy Ghost –

Moving on you

You began to sense and feel

What I was feeling

And many of you – since then

Seem to be more free

Than you ever were

In regards to worship and praise

Remember

Praise ushers in the presence of God

And Worship is

Us acknowledging His presence

Then we talked about how God created His Body

To worship Him-

To usher in the presence of God

and to recognize His presence

And just bask in His presence

In His presence is fullness of joy – freedom – and total healing

And then last week we talked about

how God has high hopes for us

because His plans for us are plans for success

He is not disappointed with us

He loves us and accepts us – just as we are

We have a lot to live for here on earth

And even more to live for in eternity

No matter how bad your past was

Your past does not determine your future

He has already buried the past

And gave you a new start today

Others may not extend that much grace to you

But God has – and

We must take advantage of it

Because if we don’t we are

Actually – disrespecting His sacrifice for us

We must be about the Fathers business

You are a vital part of the Body of Christ

No matter what part you have in the Body

It is vital to the entirety of the body

There is a place for you

Here – where God has placed you

There is a purpose for you

here –

Where he has established you

If you are not committed to a church

You need to find the place where God wants you

And get to work

Once you get busy – you will find

God will ---- in time

Fulfill all your dreams and aspirations

Today we are going to take this deeper

And the exciting part is

Only God could have planned

This sermon – this week

Today we will talk about another reason the Body was established

And that is

To be thankful

We are called to live a life of thanksgiving

To be a complete Body –

We need thanksgiving –

Thanksgiving brings blessings

Living a life of thanks

Opens closed doors

And breaks down barriers

What are you thankful for?

Thankfullness is so important

To receiving the blessings from above

This is a true story of a shipwreck off the coast of Evanston, Ill. many years ago. The students of Northwestern University came to the rescue. One student, Edward Spenser, personally saved the lives of 17 persons that day. Years later a reporter was writing a follow up story on the event, and went to interview the now elderly Spenser. When asked what was the one thing that stood out about the incident in his mind;

Spenser replied: “I remember that of the seventeen people I saved that day, not one of them ever thanked me.”

Thankfulness says a lot about

Who we are

And what we believe

Our scripture reference for today is

Psalms 100:1-5

A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!

Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.

Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

So I would like to ask you today

WHAT DOES REAL WORSHIP LOOK LIKE?

It should look like thanksgiving

IT IS A MATTER OF THANKSGIVING!!

Let’s look at verse one