INTRODUCTION
• THANKSGIVING CLIP from Hyper Pixel.
• SLIDE #1
• Signs You’ve Eaten Too Much at Thanksgiving: The Gravy Boat your wife set out is an actual 12’ boat.
• On Friday, you set off three seismographs on your morning jog.
• Pricking your finger for a blood test only yields gravy
• That rash on your stomach turns out to be steering wheel burn
• Representatives from the Butterball Hall of Fame have called twice. (www.sermoncentral.com)
• A mother turkey was disappointed to hear that her teenage son had gotten into trouble and had been locked in jail. She fumed all the way to bail him out. When she finally saw her son, she gave him a terrible lecture. "If your father knew what you had just done, he would roll over in his gravy." (www.sermoncentral.com)
• We are closing in on the Thanksgiving Holiday. I hope you bought your Holiday tree!
• I would imagine there are times throughout the year where being thankful can be a struggle. Life can sometimes deal us a hand that can make a thankful attitude a difficult one to possess.
• For the Christian, we have PLENTY to be thankful for!
• Sometimes we simply need to get back to the basics to find a thankful attitude.
• There are going to be times where we need to look past the difficulties we face in this world so we can rest in a thankful attitude.
• We have to look past all the material things that we tend to thank God for and look at a deeper level for reasons to be thankful.
• Today I want to direct your attention to a few passages from God’s Word for which contain details for one to simply be thankful!
• In Christ, we can be thankful no matter what the world throws at us!
• I want to share 5 passages I was encouraged to memorize early in my walk with Jesus. These verses are a source of thankfulness and joy to me.
• These verses are a blessing bring joy as well as being able to carry me through the difficult times of life. I memorized them in the NASB translation.
• Let us begin by considering Proverbs 3:5-6
• SLIDE #2
• Proverbs 3:5–6 (HCSB) 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; 6 think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.
• Here is a reason to be thankful!
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
I. God is our guide.
• How many people do you know who life their life with no direction?
• I know people who are my age who are still figuratively wandering the streets seeking direction.
• They possess no direction and guidance for their life.
• Christians can be thankful for God’s guidance in life!
• Proverbs 3:5-6 lays out a promise of direction for those who are willing to adhere to the conditions which are given.
• It begins with TRUST. Our trust is to be placed in the Lord!
• Trust paints the picture of one who is willing to lie helpless face-down on the ground, they are willing to put all their weight on God.
• Trust does not meant to paint a pathetic picture but rather a picture of one who will give total reliance on God.
• If trust does not exist, one will not be able to follow the next step which is to not rely on your own understanding.
• The NASB translates this as do not LEAN on your own understanding. Trust has a flavor of confidence. If one trusts God, they will be able to lean or put their weight on God’s understanding.
• We get ourselves into trouble when we believe we are the smartest person in the room and decide to go it alone.
• Christians can lean on God’s knowledge and wisdom.
• When are we to lean on Him?
• Think about Him in all your ways.
• I like the way HCSB translates this part of the verse, THINK about HIM in ALL your ways!
• Think about God in everything you do BEFORE you do it!
• The NASB translates this as ACKNOWLEDGE Him in all your ways.
The word THINK catches to flavor of this thought much better, because we can acknowledge someone without thinking about them much.
Acknowledging tends to be more verbal in nature whereas, what we are to do is much deeper.
We are consider the impact of what we do not only in our own life, but also concerning the impact our “way” will impact God’s kingdom.
We think about what God’s would want us to do, we are to seek HIS guidance; we are to consider what is spiritually best for others.
• When we trust, lean, think, God will do something to be thankful for!
• He will guide you on the right paths.
• This happens when we fix our eyes on God!
• SLIDE #4
• Psalm 37:1–6 (HCSB) 1 Do not be agitated by evildoers; do not envy those who do wrong. 2 For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender green plants. 3 Trust in the LORD and do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely. 4 Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you your heart’s desires. 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will act, 6 making your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like the noonday.
• The snow covered the ground where three young boys were playing. A man came along and said to them, "Would you like to try a race and the winner receive a prize?"
• The boys agreed and the man told them that his race was to be different. "I will go to the other side of the field," he said, "and when I give you the signal, you will start to run. The one whose footsteps are the straightest in the snow will be the winner."
• The race commenced and the first boy kept looking at his feet to see if his steps were straight.
• The second boy kept looking at his companions to see what they were doing; but the third boy just ran on with his eyes steadfastly fixed on the man on the other side of the field.
• The third boy was the winner, for his footsteps were straight in the snow. He had kept his eyes on the goal ahead of him.
• Here is another reason to be THANKFUL!
• SLIDE #5
• 1 Corinthians 10:13 (HCSB) No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.
• SLIDE #6
II. God is our guardian.
• Isn’t nice to know someone is looking out for you, and the one looking out for you ALWAYS knows what is best for you!
• Paul tells us that God will never put the Christian in a position in which they are FORCED to sin.
• Temptation in itself is NOT sin, Jesus was tempted yet without sin. The sin comes in when one yields to the temptation.
• SLIDE #7
• James 1:14–15 (HCSB) But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desires. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.
• It is so good to know that God is the one who watches over me, the one who will make sure I am not in a situation where I HAVE to compromise my faithfulness to Him.
• God always provides an escape hatch for His children. The hatch will not always be easy to go through; nevertheless, it is always there!
• SLIDE #8
• 2 Thessalonians 3:3 (HCSB) But the Lord is faithful; He will strengthen and guard you from the evil one.
• We were not saved by God’s grace so that we could fall prey to the devil and his schemes.
• Let us examine another source of thankfulness and joy!
• SLIDE #9
• John 16:24 (HCSB) Until now you have asked for nothing in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
• SLIDE #10
III. God is our giver.
• We tend to be thankful to people who give us things. God is the GREAT giver!
• What can man give you? What can a parent give you? What can a spouse give you? What can your friends give you? God can give you eternal life through Jesus.
• I am SO THANKFUL that God did not reject me, that God does not reject ANYONE. Paul said it best in 1 Timothy 1:15 when he said…
• SLIDE #11
• 1 Timothy 1:15 (HCSB) This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” —and I am the worst of them.
• God has given me ALL I have, a wife I could only dream of having, two beautiful daughters, and one who has married a great Christian man. He has given me a wonderful church to serve and be a part of!
• In Christ we do not have to be anxious, God will take care of us.
• SLIDE #12
• Philippians 4:6 (HCSB) Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
• How many times have we allowed anxiety rule our lives? We are told that we need not be anxious because God hears our cries, He knows what we need in life!
• The fact that God is our giver should make us feel grateful and it should help us keep our possessions in a proper perspective.
• A final reason that we can be thankful is found in Romans 8:28
• SLIDE #13
• Romans 8:28 (HCSB) We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.
• SLIDE #14
IV. God is glorious!
• Those who are called according to His purpose are all of those who are obedient to the call the Gospel!
• Joseph was a man who had many things go wrong in his life. With all the bad things that happened to him, he still maintained his faithfulness to God.
• When given an opportunity to get back at his brothers for what they did to him years earlier he told them the following in Genesis 50:20…
• SLIDE #15
• Genesis 50:20 (HCSB) You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.
• Sometimes we need to dig deep to find how a situation is going to work for good, and sometimes we may not see the good, yet it exists.
• There are so many bad things that can and do happen in life. Isn’t it wonderful to know that if you belong to Jesus, that God can take a terrible situation and use it for good. I have seen God work in this manner many times.
• God does not promise we will not face the bad things of this world, He says He will use it those times to make something good happen.
• When tragedy strikes, we do not have to feel all is lost, we can start looking for what God is going to do with it!
CONCLUSION
Thanksgiving is a holiday that gives us the opportunity to be thankful for the way that God has blessed us.
There are times that we do not feel very blessed, but let us remember that God is our Guide, our Guardian, and our Giver. Do not forget, our God is GLORIOUS!!!
Let us all look deep within ourselves and search for the ways that God has blessed us!
Let us focus on the blessings that God has, is and will give us in the future as we serve Him! Let us give thanks to him.
