Give Thanks 2012

Give thanks 2012

One Song

Scott Pray

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Good morning. You can be seated. This week in this country we come to the time when we formally celebrate Thanksgiving. We will gather together as families and enjoy each other’s presence, and be grateful for the good things that the Lord has provided

There are times in our lives, however, when our circumstances are pretty tough, that it becomes difficult to see the things we should be thankful for.

We need to realize, however, that even in the midst of difficult circumstances, there is much to be thankful for and recognizing those things and giving thanks for them glorifies the Lord and is what He wants us to do.

The Lord tells us through Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians to

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“16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

We need to give thanks in all circumstances. But what is it that we should we be giving thanks and praise for?

Well, we read in Psalm 105 that we are to

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Psalm 105:1-2

Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;

make known among the nations what he has done.

2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

We see here that we should give thanks and praise him for his wonderful acts, for the things he has done.

Maybe you are here today are not sure that God has been at work. Well today we are going to take time to reflect on what God has been doing and give Him thanks and praise and live out the verses we read in Psalm 105.

We are going to sing to Him, sing praise to him

We are going to tell of his wonderful deeds.

We are going to remember and tell the things he has done in this church.

And there will be opportunity for you to tell of his wonderful deeds in your own life over this past year and praise him and give him glory for his mighty works.

But first, we are going to sing praises to Him as we continue to worship Him in song, so stand with us again and let’s worship the King who is worthy to be praised.

Worship in music

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Praise Him for what He has done

Praise the Lord. God is good.

Even in the midst of difficult circumstances, we need to always keep our focus on the hope of eternal life that we have been given through the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins because no matter what is going on, that is always worthy of thanks and praise!

But even when we do have difficult circumstances, God has still poured out blessing in our life that we can give him praise for beyond our eternal life. Too often we just forget them or overlook them.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites faced this same issue.

They would often forget what God had done in their history and it would detrimentally affect their life going forward.

This is why it is so important that we remember and think about and give thanks and praise to the Lord and remember and tell of His wonderful acts.

I read the first 2 verses of Psalm 105 earlier, but that psalm goes on to recap the history of God’s work through Israel listing out God’s mighty works.

God’s mighty works in Israel

From the Abrahamic covenant to Joseph being sold into slavery in Egypt so Joseph could be exalted to second in command and Israel would come and live there and be protected during the famine.

Then even after they were made slaves in Egypt, God came to rescue them in a miraculous way by sending 10 plagues upon those who enslaved His people.

He led them out to the Promised Land, and even when they disobeyed, He fed them and provided for them until He eventually led the next generation into the land He had promised to give His people.

God sends people to remind them that even in tough times, God is at work and we are to sing praises, and remember and give praise for His wonderful acts.

And the reason that God does all these wonderful acts and the reason we need to remember God’s acts are because of what it says at the end of Psalm 105, “that they might keep his precepts and observe his laws.” (Psalm 105:45)

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We need to remember

to help us know that God is at work and

to help us continue to follow Him in obedience.

If we don’t remember, if we are not reminded, we tend to forget and we are in danger of not walking forward in faith, but in our own wisdom and own strength.