Being Thankful

Being Thankful

Selective verses

Introduction-

Welcome to those listening with us online.

We are glad that you have chosen to join us. May the Lord be allowed to speak to us in our few minutes together.

We have begun this month to look at being grateful and being thankful for the things that the lord has done for us. It will be a theme as we move through the month of November.

The Lord a lot of times reminds me or directs me as I am in sermon prep. If you only knew how many times that He speaks to me first before I stand at the is pulpit. This week is no exception.

I will say that it is easy to speak thankfulness and gratitude if you are not going through something. This week I had an appliance that quit and I had a home warranty where this washer should be fixed for a service call.. After waiting for them to come, order a part ,wait again for them to come back, the short side of the story is the washer did not work. It has been four service calls and four failures to get the washer to work. Each time each service tech assuring me that it is now fixed. They clear the claim as if all is well and now the warranty company has ghosted me- made it so hard to reach them I have given up and surrender and plan to buy a new washer. Frustrating phone calls with no response, people pretending to care but no results- Anybody know what I am talking about? Anyone just blown it and have lost their last nerve? Anyone call out to God and wonder where He is when we have are having those kinds of moments? I sat Thursday in bed with no idea what to do about the situation. The Lord in His still small voice as I was mad and disappointed softly said that there are a lot of people who give anything that the worst part of their life right now is that a washer does not work.

Thankfulness is usually associated with getting something –you get something and you express your appreciation for it.

But the principal that God wants us to understand is that thankfulness is a lifestyle.

Not only thankful for what you get but grateful for all that has already been done for you.

Grateful in those moments when all hell seems to break out in our lives

Don’t believe me…look at some other people’s kids. They could never be our kids, someone else’s… (wink wink.)

You give them something and please and thank you seems like words they never heard of. It carries up to adults also. We have all seen people that were very ungrateful for things that were done for them and things given to them.

They almost approach life with an entitlement mentality. Like everyone owes them.

Illustration-

You heard the story about the little boy that hollered at his mother… give me an orange. The mother hands the little boy an orange and says in a sweet voice- what do you say? Peel it!

Last several weeks we looked at some settling issues in our life

Avoiding quicksand- things that take us down and we struggle to get out of.

Not growing weary and allowing the Lord to speak into our lives strength and peace

We need the Lord in our lives to be able to settle the internal and external fears that keep you from God.

Settling these issues in your life you will find peace with God.

Settling these issues in your life you will find thankfulness and gratefulness.

These are the two things we will unpack this morning.

Gratefulness

Thankfulness

And living out those two things, we will find God gives us peace.

Some Scriptures to meditate a minute on- think and write down

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” 1 Chronicles 16:34

“I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” Psalms 9:1

“Do not be anxious for anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Phil 4:6-7

“Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great king above all gods. Psalm 95:2-3

Directives Here-

Give thanks-

I will (personal) I will give thanks

Do not (warning) Do not be anxious

Let us. (Community) Let us come

Individually and corporately we should be grateful for what God has already done for us and corporately we should be worshiping and responding to his love with an attitude of praise.