Much to Be Thankful For!
Ephesians 5:20, 1 Thessalonians 5:18
November 18, 2007
New Hope Community Chapel
Goal: Changed Lives. Changing from saying, “Poor me” to “Thank you, Lord.”
Main Point: I Can Give Thanks for Everything
What is the one thing I want my audience to know? We can give thanks to the Lord for all things and in all circumstances.
What do I want them to do about it? I want them to consider a way to give thanks no matter what their situation.
Introduction:
What do Thanksgiving, Easter, Pentecost, Memorial Day, Labor Day, etc. have in common?
They are all holidays which fall not on a specific date, like, December 25 or July 4, but they fall on the “first Monday”, “fourth Thursday”, “fifty days after….”
You see what I mean?
Thanksgiving Day has a special significance to me…
Can’t remember the exact date, but I do remember the year was 1995.
I remember everyone who was there.
My grandparents, parents, sister, Prudence, Laura, me, my friend and next door neighbor, David and Abdi Mohammed (a Somali immigrant I was working with at that time).
Before dinner we went around the table and said what we were grateful for.
I went last. I set it up…
I was grateful for my friend Laura and I commenced by asking her to marry me.
I was more grateful than ever when she said, “Yes.”
I am still thankful for Laura.
We don’t always see eye to eye. She is shorter than me.
Besides, how boring would it be if she were always right like me?
She has a mind of her own.
Her life was going pretty good without me and I am glad I am not the center of it.
I couldn’t take the pressure.
We have 4 (might as well say 5) children and I couldn’t be more grateful for the experience of knowing Laura, blending our families together and creating our own.
Of course, there are many, many things that I am grateful for, there wouldn’t be enough time to cover them all…
The Problem:
I wonder if you would also being willing to – in a sentence or two – tell us what you are thankful for today.
Allow response…
Summarize the points made…
Of all of you who are thankful for something – anything, how many of you have perfect, trouble free lives?
I know I don’t.
I wonder if any of us would be honest enough to name a thing or two for which we are ungrateful?
For instance, I am ungrateful every time I get a flat tire.
It’s usually when I am hauling way too much weight on a trailer.
Like when I put 65 sheets of OSB on my trailer that was made to haul a medium sized pile of leaves.
Thankful? Not really.
Maybe I am the only one who is occasionally unthankful… What about you?
Allow response…
Many times when we are unthankful it is due to our sense of self entitlement.
In other words, we think we deserve something and it is not coming.
Maybe things aren’t going my way.
Maybe someone is trying and succeeding at ruining my plans for myself, my family, or my church.
Sometimes we are unthankful because we fail to see the big picture.
After all, we are not God and only He is all-knowing.
We can’t see how it will be when we get through the scenario.
We can’t see what we are to learn from the experience.
We can’t see how God can use it for good.
How can we be thankful for tired and aching bones and muscles?
How can I thank God when I am in the midst of a really trying situation that is doing its best to rock my faith?
I can’t see how it will be when I get through it…
How can I thank God for critical people at my workplace who want to tear apart my style, my method or my ability?
I can’t see what God wants me to learn in a situation like that.
How can I be thankful when health issues plague me, or my family, when I see people suffer or when I lose someone I love?
I can’t see how even God can make those painful things good.
And since we are not in a place of thankfulness, we often find we are in a place of self – pity.
We deserve a better job, car, spouse, house, position, church…
All of this leads to a great feeling of discontent.
And we carry on from day to day failing to see the good in most any situation – only looking at the negative – feeling bad for ourselves, but failing to do anything about it.
It’s hard to be thankful when we feel like we deserve more than we actually have… finances, spiritual things, responsibility, privileges, respect, love…
I want to propose to you today that you can do something about it.
It’s within your power to get a new perspective.
You can… are you ready? CHANGE!
The Solution:
Ephesians 5:20
And you will always give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. NLT
God says there is a time coming, there is a way of living in which you will always give thanks to Him for everything.
I am kind of surprised by this text.
It tells us to give thanks always – not just sometimes like Thanksgiving Day.
Always also implies “no matter what.”
That’s hard for me.
I don’t always want to give thanks.
There are plenty of times when I can’t see anything to be thankful for.
And living that way is a miserable life.
In fact, the reason why an unthankful life is so miserable is because we are commanded to give thanks in all circumstances and we are disobedient to God’s Word if we choose not to.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
…give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. NIV
Application:
I can give thanks for everything – whether I want to or not is the issue.
I have to choose.
You can give thanks for everything.
If it were not possible, God wouldn’t have commanded it in His Word.
This is God’s will for you… give thanks in all circumstances.
You can choose to be thankful for work that makes your back ache because it means that your stomach won’t have to ache.
You can choose to be thankful for a humongous grocery bill because it means that you have a lot of friends and family to enjoy company with.
You can choose to be thankful for critical people in your life because it shows that they are thinkers – able to make decisions and discern on their own.
It’s not your fault they are wrong!
You can be choose to be thankful for cold, wet, windy days because they make you want to stop and enjoy the nice warm sunny ones.
You can choose to be thankful for a boss that gives you a list of expectations and responsibilities a mile long.
It means you are trusted with great responsibility and when you give it 100% you will come through.
I am thankful that God created you and me with a free will.
We can choose to know Him and obey Him, or we can choose not to.
There’s something about making the choice to do it that makes it so much more appealing.
There is something about choosing to accept His forgiveness of sin and grace that makes it impossible to take for granted.
Vision:
We can be thankful in all circumstances.
Paul wrote those words from a prison.
Imagine what it would be like if God’s people were thankful for everything… if we were thankful in all circumstances?
Wouldn’t we find that we were much happier with the people around us as we began to realize what they already know: the world doesn’t revolve around me?
Just think about how this could change your marriage?
How different would your attitude about your work be?
Wouldn’t your stress level greatly diminish if you looked for something to be thankful for even in the midst of a disappointing time, even a tragedy?
What would this church be like if we were thankful for everything… if we were thankful in all circumstances?
Perhaps then we would stop expecting so much from one another.
Maybe we would look for opportunities to serve rather than be served.
What would our nation be like if we were thankful for everything… if we were thankful in all circumstances?
Wouldn’t it be great if we were thankful enough for the freedoms we enjoy, but for the most part, didn’t have to pay for?
In an America like that, we would have the resolve to fight to protect everything that we have.
Wouldn’t it be great if we were so grateful for life that there were no need for abortions and every “unwanted” pregnancy ended in a “wanted” adoption rather than a funeral for an unknown?
I want each of you this week to face every difficult, annoying, complicated, frustrating situation and ask yourself, “What is there here that I can be thankful for?”
You may be surprised that you will come up with something.
I can give thanks for everything.
You know, this idea about giving thanks in all circumstances is not given to you just so that you can live a better – more God pleasing life.
It will have a tremendous impact on your testimony.
Don’t be one of those negative Christians who always has something bad to say about life, or a situation, a political point, the community, etc.
You will be a far greater testimony and people will want what you have when they see that you are thankful in all things.
Invitation:
Do you want to know the Jesus who makes it possible for you to be thankful in all circumstance?
This is the outline of my message - it was preached with portions of ad lib. If you have been blessed by this message please send an email to newhope@iowatelecom.net and let us know. God’s best to you.
