Give Thanks

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• Governor Bradford made what many would call the first Thanksgiving proclamation in 1623, 3 years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth.

• The life and voyage the Pilgrims experienced was tough.

• They lost over half of the people they started, the winters were brutal, and they would have starved to death but for the Indians who were willing to help them out.

• The Pilgrims had a choice to make. They could give thanks to God for the fact they were alive and functioning.

• They could have cursed God for the fact they lost well over half of the people they left England with. Or they could have cursed God because they did not land in FLORIDA!

• The other choice they had was to just forget about what God did for them and just live out their lives.

• They chose to give thanks. Even though they had a lot they could complain about, they chose to give thanks. They knew who to give the glory to.

• We can go through life complaining or we can spend our lives giving thanks!

• Today we are going to watch the story of the healing of the ten lepers unfold before us.

• As we watch the story unfold, I pray we can gain some valuable insights as to how we can be people of give thanks to God.

• Today we are going to look at the healing of the 10 lepers by Jesus as recorded in Luke 17:11-19. As we look at this story, I hope that we can gain a few insights from it that will help us to be thankful for.

• Let’s begin with verses 11-12

• SLIDE #2

• Luke 17:11–12 (HCSB) 11 While traveling to Jerusalem, He passed between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As He entered a village, 10 men with serious skin diseases met Him. They stood at a distance

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. Understand the depth of your needs. (11-12)

• We all have issues we struggle with. Sometimes we do not see the depth of the issues we struggle with.

• For these ten men, they had a real deep problem that needed to be healed.

• Leprosy was a generic term applied to a variety of skin disorders from psoriasis to true leprosy. Its symptoms ranged from white patches on the skin to running sores to the loss of digits on the fingers and toes.

• The disease seemed to be a skin issue when in reality it started much deeper.

• The disease would manifest itself as a skin condition, but in reality it started down in the joints and bone marrow.

• Many of the things we struggle with are the same way. The problem presents itself, but the problem presented is really a sign of a much deeper need.

• If you had Leprosy, you had much deeper problem that went along with the disease.

• If you had leprosy, the Old Testament Law commanded that you be put out of the city. You could no longer live with friends or family. You had to keep a far distance from the highways.

• Whenever you were approaching a group of people, you were commanded by Law to yell out, “unclean, unclean” so that people could have the chance to get out of the way because if you came in contact with a Leper, you would be considered unclean also.

• Lepers would congregate together outside of the cities to help each other survive. They would beg at the city gates for food.

• If you were fortunate enough to have family around, they would leave food for you on a rock and when they left, you could go get the food.

• The life of the leper could in some way be compared to the way we treated Aids patients when the disease first was recognized. We did not know how it spread so we tried to isolate those with it.

• Being a leper was a terrible way to live your life. As Jesus is getting close to His crucifixion, He is going to come across 10 lepers who after meeting Jesus, their lives would never be the same.

• These ten men knew they had a problem. They knew they needed help, they knew left to their own they had no hope and a bleak future.

• If we are going to be thankful, we need to understand that we have needs than need to be addressed.

• If we are self-sufficient, then we are apt not to be thankful because we feel no need. We can feel entitled which is not a good thing!

• These men had a disease they could see, they had a sickness that affected them in ways they could see.