Part 4 - Being Thankful Series

FAITH

PART 4 – Being Thankful

First Baptist Church of Tawas City Michigan

Rev. Bruce A. Shields – 11-13-2005

www.tawasbaptist.org

WELCOME

• Visitors (Visitor Cards & Prayer Request Cards in pews)

• Bulletin last week with incorrect scripture on the cover.

• Our youth group is going to do the Christmas Drive this year, so if anyone feels lead to give donations to the youth for that cause, please see me or Terri, or if you want to donate new gifts or toys let us know. Nest week the youth will begin to raise money for this outreach.

• If someone feels lead to head up the 12 and under group please see me so we can get that started as well.

PRAYER FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT

The last few weeks we have talked about a few different roadblocks to our faith and without faith we cannot please God, and we keep Him working in our lives.

Unforgiveness, not reading God’s word are some common roadblocks to faith, and today with Thanksgiving coming up, I would like to talk about one of the biggest roadblocks to our faith and God working in our lives, and that is not being thankful.

I think most of us have had the experience at one time or another in our lives where we work real hard for our children to make everything easy for them in their lives, trying to make things better than it was for us when we were kids.

Then all your work and effort completed the child looks at you and says “Is that it? I want more.”

Unthankful ness goes hand in hand with grumbling and complaining.

The Israelites gave us many examples in the scriptures of what grumbling is and how much God despises it.

Their grumbling begins in Exodus 15:24 and continues even after God keeps most of them from reaching the promised land because of their grumbling, through numbers, Deuteronomy, and into Joshua.

Exodus 15:24 – They grumbled, what are we to drink?

16:2 – they complained, against Moses and Aaron

17:3 – They whined, why did you bring us out of Egypt?

Numbers – 14:2 they moaned, If only we died in Egypt or the desert!

Why was God so upset when they were grumbling about the manna from heaven which sustained them?

Because that manna represented something God was trying to teach the Israelites.

The manna from heaven, the bread from heaven, it represented Christ.

John 6:41 – “At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."

Here we are in the book of John and the Jews are still grumbling about the bread that came down from heaven.

The manna from heaven represented Jesus. The grumbling was against the Lord and God in heaven.

Whenever someone grumbles, they are not grumbling about anything or anyone but God.

This is why God hates grumbling. No MATTER what you think it’s about, it is about God.

You can say, “I’m mad about this manna!” But you’re really saying, “God is that it? I want more!”

They were in essence telling God that what He supplied them with, His grace that was sustaining them, the bread from heaven was not good enough for them.

Then they complained about how good they had it in captivity.

Not a good way to say thanks for the deliverance.

Then they longed for death in Egypt or the desert!

But God is not deaf. He is alive and listening.

Numbers 14:27b – “I have heard the complaints and grumbling.”

Numbers 14:28-29 – “So tell them, ’As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: 29 In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me.”

They wanted to die in the desert, they received what they wanted.

They never saw the Promised Land because of their grumbling.

I wonder how many today miss out on their promised land because of this.

They never saw what God was doing or preparing for them because they were to busy grumbling to be thankful.

Did they thank God for rescuing them from slavery?

Did they thank God for providing them with nourishment?

Did they thank God for sustaining them in the desert?

Did they thank God for the work He was doing in their life?

Did they thank God for leading them to the Promised Land?

Did they thank God for anything?

They grumbled, they complained and they forgot the Lord and to be thankful.

So they received what they had grumbled for, to die in the desert, without ever seeing the Promised Land.