Thanks . . .Giving
Pt. 1 - Targeted Thanks
I. Introduction
?The Word says that confession is an important part of our Christian life. So, we are going to practice this right now. How many of you have already put up a Christmas Tree at home? OK, how many of you have put up Christmas Trees at home?
We are now going to have altar time for deliverance.
It seems to me that in the last few years, in particular, that we, due to the rush of the stores to push Christmas earlier, have begun to skip right over Thanksgiving. I want us to pause or at least slow down long enough to recognize that as believers we should be involved in Thanks . . . Giving. Now, please don't misunderstand me. I am not talking about a holiday and turkeys and family get togethers. I am saying as believers we should be thanks . . . givers.
In fact, on the second Sunday of this year, I declared that we should be thank full. I said we should be the most thank full people on the planet. However, in this season I want to now tell you that it isn't enough to be thank full if we are not also thanks giving.
I know I am corny but hang with me. I noticed that it is Thanksgiving not thanks keeping. (SLIDE 2) Could it be that it is really only authentic thanks when it is combined with giving? Before you get too nervous I am not talking necessarily about giving in relationship to money. I am just questioning whether it is really thanks if it isn’t expressed. If we don’t give thanks, then isn’t it just thanks thoughts? So, I am convinced that there are really no benefits to being thank full if you don’t practice thanks . . . giving. How would anyone know that we are thank full if our thank fullness doesn’t translate and spill over into thanks giving?
So, in this season I want us to learn to participate in thanks . . . giving. But I also want to get very specific because I think for this to happen we must learn to practice targeted thanks. Otherwise, we have a tendency to say a lot of "thank yous" and cast around the word thanks without really expressing or communicating in meaningful ways or to the right recipient. So, let me suggest that there are two targets that we should aim our thanks towards both of which are modeled for us in Scripture.
Our thanks must be targeted!
Target 1 - God
I know it is obvious but we should give thanks (thanks give) to God. It is concerning to me that we not only have the ability to but a propensity to come into the presence of the God of the universe, the One who not only created us but provided for our salvation and redemption, and then blesses us even beyond that and we practice thankskeeping rather than thanks giving. In His presence we play. In His presence we yawn. We day dream. We distract. We nod off. We become bored. We turn the attention to us. We close our mouth. We refuse to raise our heads or our hands. We keep our thanks and rocks cry out!
We must intentionally and purposely and even sacrificially target God with thanks! We are instructed to give thanks!
1 Chronicles 16:34 (ESV) - Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!
Psalm 66:8 - Give honor and thanks to God, O people, and let all hear how great He is!
Psalm 100:4 (ESV) - Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
Thanks is the means by which we are to enter His
presence. How would church be different if you entered
giving thanks? How would worship services change if
you intentionally entered with thanks?
Psalm 107:22 - Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, And tell of His works with joyful singing.
Colossians 4:2 - Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; (So thanks giving should invade and be the underlying theme of our prayers!)
Paul illustrates this posture perfectly. Look how often he targeted God with thanks (and this is a small selection of the examples - One man has called Paul the “The Thankful Apostle”):
God be thanked (Romans 6:17).
I thank God (Romans 7:25).
Thanks be unto God (II Corinthians 9:15).
We give thanks to God (Colossians 1:3).
Giving thanks unto the Father (Colossians 1:12).
We thank God without ceasing (I Thessalonians 2:13).
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord (I Timothy 1:12).
I thank God (II Timothy 1:3).
I thank my God (Philemon 1:4).
Andrae Crouch said it right - How can I say thanks for the things you have done for me? Things so undeserved yet you gave to prove your love for me. The voices of a million angels could not express my gratitude all that I am and ever hope to be I owe it all to thee.
We hear that sung and we agree but then if we are not careful our own small view of our thanks, our praise, our worship, and our words keep us from targeting God with thanks.
We say we are thankful to God but are we practicing thanks giving to God? I want to challenge you . . . take a moment, take some time and actually and intentionally give thanks to God. Target Him with your thanks. We tend to just think about thanking Him but do we stop long enough to actually give Him thanks?
Target 2 - People
I also want to declare that it isn't enough just to target God with thanks. We must also target people with thanks. When we are thank full to God it is also necessary to recognize that God works, operates, and uses people to accomplish His purposes and plans. People are God assigned to bless us, assist us, challenge us, serve us and they deserve thanks giving as well. We need to pause to practice targeted thanks. Why?
We are told that if we can't love the people we see then we can't love a God we can't see. I submit to you that likewise we can't claim to be thankful to God if we aren't also thank full to those around us. I realize that it is easier to thank God sometimes than it is to thank people. However, out of the overflow of a grate full heart we must also target people and participate in thanks giving.
We can go right back to Paul as the prime model for this targeted thanks.
I thank my God … for you all (Romans 1:8).
I thank my God always on your behalf (I Corinthians 1:4).
I cease not to give thanks for you (Ephesians 1:16).
We give thanks to God always for you all (I Thessalonians 1:2).
We are bound to thank God always for you (II Thessalonians 1:3).
We are bound to give thanks always to God for you (II Thessalonians 2:13
So, when we read these statements I think we make a mistake if we read this as if he is only expressing thanks for and not to the saints and co-laborers he is talking about. These are letters that were written, stamped, delivered and read. These are thank you notes of targeted praise. He is literally picking out individuals and thanks giving to them. He knows these thanks giving notes would be read in a public setting and people would look up from the reading and see the people he was targeting with a big smile plastered on their face as they heard thanks given to them.
If we are bad about practicing thankskeeping towards God, then we are criminal in the level of thankskeeping we practice in regards to the people around us.
If we are not careful, then we make dangerous and destructive assumptions when it comes to people who do things that warrant thanks!
a. They know they are appreciated! So we keep thanks
to ourselves.
b. They are expected to do that. So, we begin to
fail to distribute praise because we are operate out
of an position of entitlement. They have to do that.
c. We underestimate the power of thanks. We know
thankfulness impacts and mobilizes God. Come and
magnify the Lord with me. We can’t make God any
bigger than He is but our thanks causes Him to
increase activity in our lives. What we fail to
recognize is that the same principle applies to
humanity. When we thanks give people can’t help but
to react and respond. A husband will husband better.
A wife will wife better. A waiter will wait better. All
because of the power of thanks giving. However, we
fail to act on that and we withhold the very fuel
people need to propel them into action. When we
thanks give people respond.
Just as intentionally as we thank God we need to stop and thank people.
We need to practice that now.
Maria, projection, sound, cameras, lights, worship team, ushers, greeters, youth, OERT, Teresa and Lauren, Cassidy, mom, prayer team, pastoral team, finance team.
This is how we close today. Find 4 or 5 people and target them with thanks. Look them square in the eye and say thanks.
