INTRO.- ILL.- "Grandpa, I'm really proud of you," said his granddaughter. "What's to be proud of?" asked the old man.
She replied, "I noticed that when you sneeze, you've learned to put your hand in front of your mouth." "Of course," explained Grandpa. "How else can I catch my teeth???"
ILL.- One lady said: My daughter had absentmindedly left her sneakers on our kitchen table. "That’s disgusting," my husband grumbled. "Doesn’t she realize we eat off that table?" Then he went out back to work on the car. I cleaned the table and left to do my grocery shopping. When I came home I couldn’t set my bags down anywhere. Sitting in the middle of the kitchen table was a car muffler.
They are called manners. And all people need to have them.
Whatever happened to the words “Please” and “Thank you”? And “you’re welcome”? And “May I?” “Yes, you may.” And whatever happened to a warm handshake and a “Hi! How are you?” Are you quick to speak to others? Are you quick to greet others warmly or in a friendly manner? Are you quick to express gratitude?
Someone said, “You can’t expect excellent behavior at a restaurant (or anywhere else) if you’re not practicing it at home.”
Some people are downright unmannerly, rude, crude. The worst rudeness and crudeness of all is failing to express our gratitude to God! We owe Him manners, gratitude, worship, and praise!
I Thessalonians 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Psalm 34:1 “I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.”
What a good habit to have! It’s the best! We need to be quick to give thanks to God and remember the good He’s done in our lives. Give thanks and remember. Or remember and give thanks. Either way is good.
PROP.- Give thanks and remember.
1- Give thanks and remember His wonders
2- Give thanks and remember His covenant
2- Give thanks and remember His people
I. GIVE THANKS AND REMEMBER HIS WONDERS
4 Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. 5 Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced.
Look to the Lord and remember what He has done in life and IN people and praise Him!
ILL.- Stan the man Musial passed away on January 19, 2013, at the age of 92. People who knew him said he was a good man. His baseball career of 22 seasons with the Cardinals went from 1941 to 1963. Many recalled Musial as the most selfless of sports heroes. Mitchell Boggs was touched by Musial's enthusiasm. He said, "Everybody knew who Stan Musial was. Everyone knew what a great person he was." "He was one of the best players to ever play the game, and he was very happy for me when I made my first team," Boggs said. "He was extremely kind to me. He was one of a kind."
Whitey Herzog said, "He was always great to me when I was a nobody. He will always be Mr. Baseball. You can go around the world and you'll never find a better human being than Stan Musial."
Wow! What a great man Stan the man must have been for people to have heaped praise on him like they did and still do. He sounds like a man I would like to have known. And if he was as a good as people said he was, guess how he got that way? It was our good God who made him that way! We should therefore praise God most of all!
4 Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. 5 Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced.
We need to remember Him, what He has done and thank Him every chance we get! We marvel at His wonders: His creation, the starry universe which is far beyond what we can see or even imagine. We are amazed at the many facets of His creation: plant and animal life. And many animals which science is just now discovering and are naming. And the greatest miracle of all is when God saves a person and turns him or her into a better person!
ILL.- Testimony of Dwayne Davis. I dread to think where I would be today if God had not saved me. My drug and alcohol abuse started when I was 14. First, I was experimenting with tobacco and Marijuana, and quickly began using harder drugs. It wasn’t long before Satan was in full control, and I was heavily involved in taking and making drugs. This led to extreme violence and robbery. I had been in and out of jail since I was 18. I can not help but weep, when I think of all the men and
women’s lives I led to destruction. Everything we do in life, good or bad, right or wrong affects EVERYONE around us.
Then, while I was sitting in a prison cell, lost, hopeless, and without direction, at the age of 34, God began to work on me. Upon my release His divine direction led me to cross paths with a backslider from the Rialto church, who invited me to one of their services.
In 1997 I met my Redeemer. By March of 1998 I was baptized in Jesus’ name. I carried a lot of baggage to the altar that day. But after laying it all down, and giving it all over to Him who is “Altogether Lovely”, He made all my burdens roll away. I cannot begin to express the love and peace I felt that day, and still do today. Now I am 40 and I thank God every day for His Blood, His mercy, His loving kindness, and this church.
Look to the Lord and remember what He has done and praise Him!
II. GIVE THANKS AND REMEMBER HIS COVENANT
6 O descendants of Abraham his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones. 7 He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. 8 He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded, for a thousand generations, 9 the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.
If God remembers His covenant with us then we should too. God remembers even when we tend to forget.
Someone said: “A man apt to promise is apt to forget.” But not God. If God makes a promise with man He will keep it.
ILL.- When Sir Winston Churchill resigned as prime minister of Great Britain on April 5, 1955, the 81-year-old statesman had made a promise which he intended to keep. To the former Clementine Hozier, his wife since 1908, Sir Winston promised to give his remaining years in companionship and affection. The late, great man commented about the companionship, “I was married and lived happily ever after.”
A promise made should be a promise kept. Wasn’t that sweet of Winston Churchill? Not everyone keeps their promises as well as he did. We should always keep our promises and especially, when it comes to the Lord.
Ecclesiastes 5:4-6 4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.”
Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? This scripture says it all. Don’t let your mouth lead you into sin by not keeping your promises to God. But even if we don’t, He does. He keeps His Word and all His promises.
Matthew 6:33 “Seek ye first the kingdom of God...” I did and He has.
Matthew 10:32 “If you confess me before men I will confess you before my Father in heaven.” I have and still do and I’m confident that He has.
Matthew 10:42 “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” I have and He will.
We need to remember God’s big promise, that is, His covenant with us through Christ. He remembers it but we also must remember it.
John 3:16 “For God so love that He gave His one..."
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death but...”
I Corinthians 11:23-25 23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Give thanks and remember.
Is there anything better than knowing because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross that you will live forever in a place of no pain, no sorrow, no crying, no death??? What a blessed promise! And I don’t think we can ever overdo our thanks to Him for such a gift and promise!
III. GIVE THANKS AND REMEMBER HIS PEOPLE
11 “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.”12 When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it, 13 they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. 14 He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings: 15 “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.
New Century Version 14 But the Lord did not let anyone hurt them; he warned kings not to harm them. 15 He said, “Don’t touch my chosen people, and don’t harm my prophets.”
God would not allow anyone to hurt His chosen people at certain times in the Old Testament.
Genesis 35:5 “Then they (the people of God) set out, and the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.”
This was one of those special times when God protected His people from harm. And we all remember what happened to the people of Israel when the Egyptians chased them into the Red Sea! God protected His people and destroyed the Egyptian army. God protected His people time and time again.
God remembered His people and His prophets. If God remembered them it seems to me that we should remember them as well. We should remember God’s people today and His prophets. How should we remember His people today? In a kind and loving way.
John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” We remember by demonstrating love.
Romans 12:10 “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
Romans 12:16 “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.” We remember one another by being humble and devoted to one another.
Galatians 5:13 “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” By serving one another.
Ephesians 4:2 “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
15 “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.”
When some leader or preacher is doing God’s work people need to be cautious about doing them harm, verbally or otherwise.
II Kings 2:23-24 CEV “Elisha left and headed toward Bethel. Along the way some boys started making fun of him by shouting, “Go away, baldy! Get out of here!” Elisha turned around and stared at the boys. Then he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Right away two bears ran out of the woods and ripped to pieces forty-two of the boys.”
These boys were grown men (30 to 40 years) and they mocked God’s prophet Elisha by calling him baldy. Baldness was uncommon among the ancient Jews. By calling him “Baldhead” or “baldy” they showed utter contempt for the Lord’s prophet. Warren Wiersbe said it was one of the lowest forms of insults. And they paid dearly for it.
IS THERE A LESSON FOR US TODAY? It could be. Don’t be too quick to mock any of God’s leaders or preachers who are doing His work or something bad could happen. I know of some situations where people paid dearly for their insults, mockery and disdain for God’s servants.
Deuteronomy 18:19 “If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.” Whoa!
Proverbs 17:13 “If a man pays back evil for good, evil will never leave his house.” We should remember God’s people and His so-called prophets and treat them kindly. If God does, we should also.
CONCLUSION-------------
ILL.- Have you noticed that at most funerals nothing negative is ever said about the deceased even if he or she lived a terrible? life? We are quick to remember and heap praise on that deceased person. I say we should give thanks and remember always, right now, every day.
I had an elderly lady say to me one time, “I believe in giving flowers to the living.” In other words, we need to remember people now and heap thanks and praise on them. And this is especially true when it comes to our great God. Look at all the good stuff He has done: His creation, His miracles, the good He’s done in people and through people.
And remember His wonderful covenant that we have with Him because He is so gracious. HOW CAN WE NOT REMEMBER AND GIVE THANKS? We need to live a daily life of remembrance and praise!
