*Give Thanks To God*
Col. 1:3-5
Dorn Ridge October 7, 2007
INTRODUCTION:
1.) This is a special holiday weekend on our calendars and in our hearts.
A.) It is the time of the harvest.
B.) It is a time of being mindful of the blessings God has given to us.
C.) It is a time of thanksgiving.
2.) Really, for the Christian every day needs to be a day of thanksgiving, and certainly on the first day of the week when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we come together in thanksgiving.
3.)Today we are looking at a verses from the first chapter of Colossians. Paul, in our key verse, was giving thanks for the church members at Colosse.
A.) It is a most wonderful thing to be a part of a good church where born again people live together in love and care
for one another.
B.) These people were converts of Paul*s ministry.
ba.) He was grateful to God for them and expressed his
thankfulness in three ways.
I. PAUL WAS THANKFUL FOR THEIR FAITH.
1.) Faith is the channel through which our salvation comes.
A.) "By grace through faith" (Eph. 2:8).
B.) On thanksgiving Sunday what better thought than to think that our faith was bringing another Christian to thanksgiving because of us.
ba.) That is exactly the scene at Colosse.
bb.) Paul had worked with the saints of God in Colosse, but was now separated from them.
bb-1.) It was only through the coming of individuals who had been to Colosse, or perhaps an occasional letter, that might be months in coming that Paul was hearing of this church.
bb-2.) Yet what Paul was hearing was filling his heart with thanksgiving.
C.) What greater compliment could this or any church receive than to hear the words that our faith is bringing another Christian to Thanksgiving before God.
2.) Faith is the knowledge that God is in absolute control of all the situations of life and that He is working in everything, all the time.
A.) Even this morning, I am mindful of many individuals who are experiencing difficult things in their lives.
B.) Yet as Christians, even in such times there can be a thankful heart because of the knowledge that God is there.
3.) Faith makes possible our daily Christian walk.
A.) Gal. 2:20
4.) The faith of these Colossians was in the right place - - in
Christ Jesus.
A.) Our faith and hope must stand in Him alone.
B.) It cannot come through works of righteousness that
we have done, or in any other person, but by
trusting totally in Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
and in His death, burial, resurrection, and
second return.
C.) When Paul thought on the church at Colosse, it was truly a Thanksgiving celebration.
ca.) As we come here today on this Thanksgiving weekend, may the faith we see in those around us fill us with Thanksgiving to God as well.
II. PAUL WAS THANKFUL FOR THEIR LOVE
1.) Where there is true faith, there is also love.
A.) The love of God Is shed abroad in the hearts of all the saved by the Holy Spirit which dwells in
them.
aa.) Rom. 5:5
B.) One of the things that is so powerful about our faith is that it moves every other area of our lives.
C.) The church at Colosse had strong faith, and that faith motivated them in the realm of Christian love as well.
ca.) In Paul's Thanksgiving of praise for the Colossian Christians, he praised God for the love the church had for each other.
2.) There is no love as pure, sweet, or great as the love of true
Christians.
A.) 1 John 3:14
B.) When Paul looked at that church he thanked God for their love.
ba.) Today on this Thanksgiving weekend, let us give thanks to God for the love of God that is demonstrated in this room.
bb.) If we are to be honest, every person in this room have had occasions when we have felt the love of each other.
bb-1.) It may have been in times of tragedy, or death, or when there was a special need, but every person and family here have felt, and I am sure appreciated the love of God expressed here through each other.
bb-2.) May we like Paul go to God this weekend thanking him for the love that each person here has for the body of Christ.
3.) On this special weekend when we are trying to be conscious of that which we have to be thankful for, may each one of us be filled with thanksgiving from the love of each other in this congregation.
III. PAUL WAS THANKFUL FOR THEIR HOPE
1.) Biblical hope is, "A confident expectation which rests upon the promises of God."
A.) In other words, Hope is believing that God’s Word is true and can be believed.
B.) Genuine hope is not wishful thinking, but a confident expectation that God will do as He has promised. Hope takes the Word of God at face value!
2.) Hope speaks of things to come, or a time to come.
A.) Ultimately, for the Christian, our hope rests in Jesus Christ.
B.) Our hope looks forward to the day that Christ will come through the clouds, and take his Church to be his bride for all of eternity.
C.) On thanksgiving weekend, what grander thought could bring our hearts to thankfulness than the realization of the forgiveness of our sins, and the hope of eternity with Jesus Christ.
3.) True Christians have a future - - a real future.
A.)We have a Glorious Hope.
aa.) Rom 5:2
B.) One day because we have Christ as our Saviour, we will stand in the very presence of God, we will behold His glory.
ba.) We have a hope of eternal life, and it is The Apostle Paul was filled with thanksgiving because of witnessing the hope that was evident in the church.
bb.) Through the years, many here have demonstrated a Biblical hope.
bb-1.) When we witness the hope of so many in this congregation, may we too be filled with thanksgiving.
4.) For the child of God, hope Is not in this world.
A.) Our hope Is In Jesus Christ, who Is soon coming back to this Earth.
B.) He will put down all sin forever.
C.) This Is hope for which we need to give thanks to
our Heavenly Father.
CONCLUSION:
O give thanks to Him Who made
Morning light and evening shade;
Source and Giver of all good,
Nightly sleep and daily food;
Quickener of our wearied powers,
Guard of our unconscious hours.
O give thanks to nature’s King,
Who made every breathing thing;
His, our warm and sentient frame,
His, the mind’s immortal flame.
O how close the ties that bind
Spirits to the Eternal Mind!
O give thanks with heart and lip,
For we are His workmanship;
And all creatures are His care:
Not a bird that cleaves the air
Falls unnoticed; but who can
Speak the Father’s love to man?
O give thanks to Him Who came
In a mortal, suffering frame—
Temple of the Deity—
Came for rebel man to die;
In the path Himself hath trod
Leading back His saints to God.
