Jesus Is Savior Series

Sermon Brief

Date Written: November 8, 2013

Date Preached: November 10, 2013

Where Preached: OPBC (AM)

Sermon Details:

Series Title: Building a Foundation for a Thankful Life

Sermon Title: The 2nd Piling – Jesus Is Savior

Sermon Text: Colossians 1:12-22 [NLT]

Essence of the Text: Paul was stressing thankfulness to the believers in Colossae because of what Jesus had done and who Jesus was to them!

Essence of the Sermon: Paul’s words still stress a thankful attitude toward Jesus for what He has done for us and who He is to us today!

Objective of the Sermon: KNOWING what Jesus has done & who He is allows believers to live out their lives with a thankful attitude and heart!

Introduction:

Today we continue our series on how to build a foundation of thankfulness in our lives! Last week we looked at the 1st piling in the foundation and that was that God is God, and because He is God we can be thankful… we should LIVE thankfully toward Him, in obedience and submission!

Today I want us to look at what I would call the 2nd piling of the foundation… and that is Jesus! Today we are going to look at what Jesus has done and who Jesus is to us as believers and why we should live THANKFULLY and serve God thru His Son, Jesus!

Now let’s go back to the underlying premise of our series… In Phil 4:6 Paul wrote, “…Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and THANK Him for all He has done…”

We know that when we have trouble in our lives, when we have difficulty or trial… we can go to God for guidance and deliverance, but Paul says no matter WHAT it is that troubles you, he says in EVERYTHING lift it up in prayer and petition…but to do so with a heart of thanksgiving!

I asked this question LAST WEEK, I am going to ask it again THIS week and will probably ask it every week of this sermon series! [show slide 2 here]

Do you have ANYTHING in your life today that you are worried about, fretting over, or weighing heavy on your mind? Do you feel that life has short-changed you? Do you feel as if you have gotten the ‘short end’ of the stick?

So often in life we focus on what we DO NOT have or what we have MISSED OUT on, but as believers, our focus cannot be directed toward the negative - our focus MUST be on what we DO have & what we HAVE!

God has said in his word that all we need to do is ask and he will provide for us, but Scripture tells us that what we ask MUST be tied to the focus of our lives…

I said this last week; God is NOT a prayer vending machine with us putting in our prayers and Him dispensing out our hearts desires…

Scripture tells us to come to Him, SEEKING Him and He will answer… when we SEEK HIM, our focus is NOT on our problems… when we SEEK Him our focus is not on what we want but don’t have… or what we think we have missed out on because life is so unfair!

As I said last week and as Scripture clearly shows us… God is a loving God, but in prayer we must approach Him with the right attitude & when Paul speaks about this here in our foundational verse - that ‘right attitude’ is coming to God with an attitude of THANKFULNESS!

Preacher, you have GOT to be kidding me! How can I possibly go to God with a thankful heart & attitude when I’m suffering so much? Well remember what I said last week, Scripture calls us to come to God with a thankful attitude, and Paul never said it would be EASY! It requires a heart that is intentionally focused on God & filled with thankfulness! But...

How can I be thankful when I am hurting?

How can I be thankful when my heart aches from the pain?

How can I be thankful when all seems lost to me?

How can I be thankful when it seems my world is crashing down?

My friends, being thankful in times of hardship and trouble is NOT something that will come easy! It is going to take an intentional effort and focus within your heart!

To build a life of thankfulness we must first begin with the foundation. Last week we looked at the first piling of that foundation as we saw how we can be thankful that God is God... and you are NOT!

I truly want our fellowship to have a great foundation of thankfulness in our hearts, but I know that we all can struggle with being thankful and we need some reassurances about the promises we have in God…