INTRODUCTION (SECURE ATTENTION) & BACKGROUND OF THE PASSAGE:
PRAY before starting the sermon.
ILLUSTRATION: {Taken from “Our Daily Bread” dated February 20, 2005.
On my way to work one day I saw a bumper sticker that read: “Did you thank a green plant today?”
Plants are essential to the balance of nature.
They release oxygen into the air.
They’re also a source of food, fuel, medicine, and building materials.
Was the bumper sticker suggesting that because we are so dependent on plants we should actually thank them?
If that’s what the driver believes, he certainly has a lot to learn about who should receive our gratitude.
… to direct our praise to nature reminds us of Paul’s indictment of those who “worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25).
God alone is worthy of our gratitude!
He set our world in motion, and He sustains it by His power.}
Today is our Harvest and Thanksgiving Festival.
We don’t have to really wait for special days to thank God.
But still it’s a good practice to set apart few days to thank and praise God.
I say that because I see that many Christians, including myself, are ungrateful to God.
We wait for our circumstances to be perfect in order to thank God.
But that will never happen.
As we live in this world, we will never have a trouble-free life.
We must praise God right now, in whatever situation we are.
We are called to thank and praise God in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Praising God is extremely important.
That’s why Scriptures often command us to praise God.
It also gives us reasons to thank God.
Today’s psalm exhorts us to thank and praise God and gives few reasons to do so.
Would you take God’s Word and turn your Bibles with me to PSALM 100:1-5 (READ)?
I have entitled today’s sermon as: “GIVE THANKS TO HIM!”
The title of this psalm is “A psalm for giving thanks” and is an appropriate psalm for our Harvest and Thanksgiving Festival.
So, the theme of this psalm is thanksgiving.
In the psalm that we read today, we see that:
CENTRAL PROPOSITION OF THE TEXT: We must approach God by thanking him joyfully on the basis of his goodness.
FALLEN CONDITION FOCUS: Already dealt with.
THE PURPOSE BRIDGE: To encourage the members of EAGC to joyfully thank the Lord for his amazing goodness.
CENTRAL PROPOSITION OF THE SERMON: We must joyfully thank God for his amazing goodness.
I. A CALL TO THANK GOD.
Read Psalm 100:1-2.
These two verses give a call to thank and praise God.
A. The whole earth must make a joyful noise to the Lord (v. 1).
Not just Israel, but the whole earth is called make a joyful noise to the Lord.
Israel was called to be the light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 49:6) and thus the psalmist invites the Gentile nations to make a joyful noise to the Lord.
We worship the God who is King over all the earth.
Thus, the whole earth is invited to make a joyful noise to the Lord.
But we know that the whole earth still doesn’t worship God.
That’s why we must invite the lost to come to Jesus, be saved, and to make a joyful noise to the Lord.
We must make efforts to lead the lost to Christ.
In the ancient days, a messenger would bring the news of victory to the people.
Then, as the king and his army would march into the city, the crowd would make a joyful noise.
Likewise, we must express joyful worship unto our God!
Note that the psalmist says that we must make a joyful noise “to the Lord.”
This is not just for few extroverts, but it’s for “all the earth.”
ILLUSTRATION: {When we had a couple of cricket matches for the brothers in our church, we could see the excitement and joy on the faces of the brothers when their team did well.
However, when we are in church, we are not excited about God or the things of God.
Sometimes, I wonder whether we are excited about a game rather than God.}
Those who are more reserved need to push their boundaries and learn to express their praise to God.
On the other hand, praising God is not just about shouting all the times.
Sometimes, we need to reflect in silence and worship the Lord.
B. We must serve God with gladness (v. 2).
The psalmist further invites his readers to serve the Lord with gladness.
He’s probably referring to the temple rituals, but this call refers to any service that is rendered to the Lord.
Everyone serves something.
People serve money, work, movies, smartphones, and many other things.
But we are called to serve God, with gladness.
We must never allow our service to the Lord to become a drudgery.
Serving God with a grumbling spirit is not service at all.
We serve him because we love him.
Spurgeon says that if a soldier is driven to a battle, he’s not a soldier at all.
A soldier will march into the battlefield willingly because he is a patriot who loves his country.
We serve the Lord gladly because we love him.
Read Galatians 6:9.
Spurgeon says that just as engine oil helps the engine to work smoothly, joy enables our service to bring glory to God.
Our service is a form of worship unto God.
C. We must come into God’s presence with joyful singing (v. 2).
The Hebrew word translated as ‘singing’ in ESV is ‘renanah’ which literally means ‘joyful voice.’
NIV puts this verse as “come before him with joyful songs.”
Singing is not the only way to thank God, but it certainly is a powerful means to praise him.
In the Bible, we see that God’s people praised him through singing.
When the Lord parted the Red Sea and rescued the Israelites from Pharaoh and his army, Moses sang a song (Exodus 15).
Read 1 Chronicles 16:9.
Read Psalm 30:11-12.
Read Psalm 47:6-7.
II. REASONS TO THANK GOD.
Read Psalm 100:3.
In this verse, the psalmist gives a few reasons to thank God.
A. Because he is God (v. 3).
“Know.” Our worship must be thoughtful.
We must praise Yahweh for the simple fact that he is God.
Our worship must be based on the knowledge of God as found in his Word.
B. Because he is our Creator (v. 3).
ILLUSTRATION: {Dr. Joseph E. Faulkner shares, “A very obese man was talking arrogantly to a young child about his accomplishments. ‘I am a self-made man’ he proudly declared.
The youngster looked at him a moment and then asked in childish innocence, ‘Why did you make yourself that way then?’}
We are not self-made people; we are made by God.
We didn’t come to existence on our own or through evolution.
As disciples of Christ, we have more reasons to thank God because, in Christ, each one of us is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
C. Because we are his (v. 3).
This phrase can also be translated as “and not we ourselves.”
Both the translations are biblically true.
Once we were not his people, but now we belong to him (1 Peter 2:9-10).
Read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.
We were bought with a price.
We don’t have right over ourselves.
We belong to God.
Read 1 Peter 1:18-19.
You belong to God; you are a child of God; you are special!
D. Because we are the sheep of his pasture (v. 3).
He cares for us like a shepherd.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want (Psalm 23:1).
As members of the New Covenant, we have a good Shepherd who laid down his life for us (John 10:11).
ILLUSTRATION: {This sense of belonging is available to all who acknowledge God as their Father.
But many people don’t recognize God as their Maker and Owner.
They see themselves as orphans in a mindless universe, accidents of nature who have no purpose, meaning, or hope.
Believers, however, can rejoice with the psalmist, “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture” (100:3).
~ Our Daily Bread, September 21, 1995.}
He is our good shepherd.
As a good Shepherd, he is always with us (Hebrews 13:5).
As a good Shepherd, he gives his incomparable peace to us (John 14:27).
As a good Shepherd, he provides for us (Php. 4:19).
III. A CALL TO THANK GOD.
Read Psalm 100:4.
This verse gives a call to thank and praise God.
A. We must enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.
All the nations are invited to enter God’s presence with thanksgiving and praise.
Under the New Covenant, we are invited to the Holy of Holies (Hebrews 10:19).
Are you grateful to God that you have access to him through his Son, Jesus Christ? (Ephesians 2:18)
Note that it doesn’t say that after you come to the Lord’s presence, you must prepare your hearts to worship God and then start worshipping God.
We are commanded to thank and praise God as we enter his presence.
Many Christians come to church without any preparation.
They come with a lot of carnal thoughts on their minds.
Their hearts are just not ready to worship God.
Some even come to church after the praise and worship time is over.
Listen, you are disobeying the Lord’s command by not worshipping the Lord along with his people.
On Saturday itself, we must prepare our hearts to worship the Lord.
You must examine your hearts and confess your sins before the Lord.
You must ask God to enable you to worship him in spirit and in truth.
We must not wait for the right feelings to worship God.
If you follow the command to worship God, feelings will follow.
So, it’s not hypocritical to worship God even when you don’t feel like worshipping him.
We worship God because he is worthy!
B. We must give thanks to him and bless his name.
We must give thanks to him.
Someone said, “A thankful person enjoys a blessing twice—when it's received, and when it's remembered.”
Read Psalm 103:1-2.
The Jews praised God in several ways.
They sang as we saw earlier.
They clapped as they worshipped God (Psalm 47:1).
They lifted their hands unto the Lord (Psalm 63:4; 134:2).
They danced before the Lord and praised him (2 Samuel 6:14: King David).
Even Psalm 150:4 exhorts us to dance and praise the Lord.
Choreography is not for entertainment; we dance in order to praise God!
We must bless his name; in other words, we must praise God for his character.
IV. REASONS TO THANK GOD.
Read Psalm 100:5.
In this verse, the psalmist gives a few more reasons to thank God.
A. Because the Lord is good (v. 5).
We praise God because the Lord is good.
QUOTE: “The gods of the heathen were not good. They were selfish and capricious (impulsive). You could never know when they might turn against you and do you harm. Not so our God. The God of the Bible is and has always been good.” (Boice)
When we go through trials and difficulties, we doubt God’s goodness.
But we have to believe that God will use the trials in our lives for his glory and for our good (Romans 8:28).
Read Psalm 119:67-68.
In our trials and difficulties, we must believe that God is good and proclaim his goodness.
Satan often makes us doubt God’s goodness.
If we doubt his goodness, we won’t trust him.
If we doubt his goodness and don’t trust him, we will not obey him.
That’s what the enemy eventually wants.
But we must remember that God is good in his character, good in his grace, good in his forgiveness, good in his love, good in his plans, good in his purposes, good in his works, and good in every aspect.
God’s goodness is demonstrated in two ways:
B. His steadfast love endures forever (v. 5).
The Hebrew word for ‘steadfast love’ is ‘hesed.’
This word is derived from the word for stork.
The storks are extremely caring towards their young.
They build their nests in the tall trees to protect their children.
The Hebrews saw a picture of God in storks.
He loves us, cares for us, and protects us.
We must thank God because his steadfast love endures not just for a few years, but forever!
Have you ever pondered about how long eternity would be?
We can’t even fathom that.
That’s how long God’s steadfast love will endure.
There’s no end to it.
As we receiving unending steadfast love, we must give unending praise to the Lord!
C. His faithfulness endures for all generations (v. 5).
We must thank God because his faithfulness continues through all generations.
In other words, God’s faithfulness is everlasting.
God is not unstable or fickle like us humans.
As I mentioned earlier, he will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
Read Lamentations 3:22-23.
CONCLUSION (INCLUDING THE PROPOSITION, REVIEWING THE MAIN POINTS [OPTIONAL], AND ACTION STATEMENTS):
CENTRAL PROPOSITION OF THE SERMON: We must joyfully thank God for his amazing goodness.
Today, we have so many reasons to thank God rather than grumbling and complaining against God.
Let’s thank him.
One of the ways to thank and praise God is by giving to his work.
So, let’s participate in this Harvest Festival & Thanksgiving Service with a grateful heart.
QUOTE: “For the Christian, thanksgiving is not just a day but a way of life.” ~ Our Daily Bread, November 27, 2008.
Let’s develop a lifestyle of thanksgiving!
IF YOU ARE STILL NOT SAVED, REPENT AND GIVE YOUR LIFE TO JESUS RIGHT TODAY!
