Last week we talked about being GR8ing or GR8ful where I laid out the need for having an attitude of gratitude, the science to back up the fact that gratitude leads to a better life, We looked at some of the Scriptures that command us to be thankful, grateful, such as 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT) “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” We looked at examples of ingratitude, and we looked at some tremendous examples of gratitude. We even did a gratitude dance. How many of you were not here last week? Well, we need to do it again then, don’t we?
Today, we are going to look at some practical aspects of how to live this out and I am going to challenge you to "30 Days of ThanksLIVING". Let's start a new habit, a new way of life.
Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday idea. The following proclamation was made by Governor Bradford in 1623, 3 years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth;
"To all ye Pilgrims, Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, squashes and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as He has protected us from the raids of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday November ye 29th of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty three, and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Plymouth rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving t ye Almighty God for all His blessings."
H.U. Westermayer said "The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving."
Thanksgiving Day is a distinctive holiday. It doesn't commemorate a battle or anyone's birthday or anniversary. It is simply a day set aside to express our nation's thanks to our nation's God.
In 1789, George Washington made this public proclamation. (Now I will read only a little part of it, but I want you to see the strong & absolute acknowledgment of the fact of God, & of our nation’s dependence upon Him.)
"By the President of the United States of America. A proclamation: Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, & humbly to implore His protection & favor, and
"Whereas, Both Houses of Congress" (Did you hear that, "Both Houses of Congress?") When is the last time “both houses of Congress” have agreed on anything? "have by their joint committee requested me `to recommend to the people of the United States a day of Public Thanksgiving & Prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God. . .’
"Now, Therefore I do recommend & assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great & glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. . ."
THANKSGIVING ... One day in which we, like those early Pilgrims, set aside time in our busy schedules to give thanks to God.
Do you think our forefathers had the current way we celebrate Thanksgiving in mind when it began. That it would be about football or getting ready for Black Friday or now Black Thursday or gorging ourselves till we are more stuffed than the turkey? I wonder what they would wish for us? Well, we may not find out the answer to that question but I did find a clip of what Mom's wish for Thanksgiving. Ladies, see if you can relate at all.
Video Clip - "What Mom's Wish for Thanksgiving"
As we discussed last week, though, Thanksgiving needs to become ThanksLIVING, developing an attitude of gratitude. So how do you develop the habits of ThanksLIVING? Listen to parts of several Scriptures that I have already read during this series of messages on Gratitude and ThanksLIVING.
"Be thankful in all circumstances"
"always be thankful."
"thank Him for all He has done"
"give thanks for everything to God"
"let there be thankfulness to God"
The point - Recognize WHO you should thank and thank HIM ALWAYS! Let's look at an example from Luke 17:11-19 (Read)
I like that Luke points this out - "...and he was a Samaritan". The assumption here is that the other nine were Jews. An amazing part of the story is that they were together in the first place. Jews and Samaritans HATED each other. Think of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. It was a shocking story BECAUSE a Samaritan helped a Jew. Here in this story:
Why would they have been together?
Their common disease - cruelty of leprosy. Can you imagine the plight of being diagnosed with leprosy? Ripped from your loving family, ostracized by society, shunned by all EXCEPT for other lepers. You had to miss your child’s next birthday party and your future was really set to miss ALL of their future birthdays, graduation, wedding, life. IT WAS A BIG DEAL TO BE HEALED of this awful DISEASE!
Their common need of mercy - they were not going to get better on their own. It didn’t just go away.
Their common faith -
The lepers were demonstrating that they had faith in the words of Jesus – by turning around and walking towards the priest before they experienced their healing.
They didn’t question Jesus’ command they believed Him.
They believed together in faith.
They received their healing together.
There are lots of things we DON’T know about these 10 lepers, but what we do know is that ONE outsider returned to give thanks to Jesus! He took time to be THANKFUL! He expressed his gratefulness to God! Would you be like the one or the nine? Are you like the one now? Has He done enough for you in your life to be thankful NOW?
For the next several minutes I want to get practical on HOW TO BECOME MORE THANKFUL. What are some things you can do to become more grateful? Christmas is coming, perhaps you could ask for one of these:
Video Clip - Complaint Zapper – 3:30
This could make for a good stocking stuffer for your kids, don't you think? How much would you be zapped during a normal day?
Actually, here are some more helpful suggestions.
1. Start a Thanksgiving Letter tradition
I started doing it 2005 and tweaked it a little. I write two letters each Thanksgiving. One to an individual that has impacted my life in some way and one annually to Michelle. I choose a different character trait of hers each year. I want to see how many years I can go before I have to repeat a trait or quality. Last year's letter was written to Forest and Virginia Arnold. They were professors at CBC and some of the truly greatest people I have ever known. In the early 50's he played basketball for Memphis State University and was their first All-American in school history. In 1954 he was drafted in the first round of the NBA draft. He turned it down and instead went to CBC, started the basketball program and was involved in training future ministers for over 50 years. Why to them? Their prayer altar, their tears, their sacrifice. When I wrote the letter, I didn’t realize he was suffering with severe Alzheimer’s. His wife read my letter to him and he wept. He passed away this year. I am so thankful I wrote him last year.
2. Start a Gratitude Journal
Buy a notebook of some kind or keep it on your computer
List things that you are thankful for
Go into detail on why you are thankful for certain people
Explain what you are grateful to God for
3. Go on a Missions Trip or Serve the Less Fortunate Locally
Learning to serve others helps to take your focus off of self. They also help you to BE
MORE GRATEFUL for what we have.
4. Do Something at Thanksgiving to Jump Start a new way of life
Family thanksgiving journal. Use a notebook or blank journal to record what your family is thankful for. Add to it all year round during family devotions, or create an annual tradition where each family member contributes one message a year. Read past entries as a reminder of God’s faithfulness.
Name exchange. This is an idea for a dinner party or holiday gathering. Toss everyone’s name in a hat, then have each person draw one name. Allow some time for thought, then have everyone take a turn finishing this sentence, “I’m thankful for _[name drawn]__ because ________.”
If you have children, write a letter to each of them, separately. (Write even if they are young. They’ll treasure it some day.) If you have teens, perhaps leave the letters in their rooms to be “discovered” and read alone. Identify their strengths and encourage them with appreciative comments on those positive characteristics.
Keep several little note cards in supply. Then once a month, ask God to show you someone to bless — a neighbor, bus driver, MPact Girls Club or Ranger leader, PASTOR or co-worker. A simple note saying “I thank God for you” will suffice.
The point is that there are lots of ways to start growing in gratitude. Each of them require SOMETHING of YOU, that is why the title of this series is "ThanksLIVING" so the challenge today is to commit to some new habits, to try some ideas that were shared this morning or come up with your own. Can you at least commit to 30 days of ThanksLiving? If you become a more thankful, grateful person it will make a tremendous difference in your life, and in the lives of those around you, not just for the Thanksgiving holiday but throughout the year.
The point of the message this morning is for you to DO something new over the next 30 days to BECOME MORE GRATEFUL! Let's start THANKSLIVING NOW!!!
