“Thankful in all things”
Part 4
November 2018
“The people in our lives”
Today is the last of our sermons in the short thankful series
In the weeks to come we will be studying the Christmas story, it’s components and the significance of the story to our lives
But for today we need to focus on thanks
In fact
Every day in the life of a believer should be a day of thanksgiving
We have so much to be thankful for
Everything we have, have had or ever will have is a gift from God
Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 5 :16-18
The theme for this series
16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus
Always be joyful
Never stop praying
Be thankful in all circumstances
Profound words inspired by the Holy Sprit
Written down by the apostle Paul
That if taken to heart
Applied to our lives
Are transforming
Let me repeat them just so you can drink deeply of these words
Always be joyful
Never stop praying
Be thankful in all circumstances
During the month of November, we have focused on just a few of the thousands or million things we have to be thankful for
God’s love, mercy and grace
The gift of salvation
Deliverance from the pits of our lives
We have heard words from our friends
Brother and sisters that tied directly with these themes and we have also
Heard the words of great me of the bible
Isaiah
Jeremiah
The Psalmist
And in the words of those who stood before you
And those who have passed before us
We saw many things in our own lives that we are or need to be thankful for
The last of the topics in this series
Is thankfulness for the people God puts in our lives
This includes
Family
Friends
Acquaintances
Co- workers
And even people who push your buttons
God has gifted us with the chance to interact with other people
He has given us the chance to impact their lives and have our own lives impacted
He has given us the ability to show or be shown the love of Jesus in the people who cross our paths
And today this is our focus
I have asked Cody Young to come up and share just a bit of testimony with you in this area this morning
Cody Young testimony
Cody as you heard had the chance though God’s mercy
Though his grace
Though his love
Because of the salvation he received and the deliverance from the pits he found himself in
To impact his family for Jesus
And his story is or can be our stories as well
Listen to me
If you are here this morning and Know Jesus as your savior
Someone
At some theme in your life cared enough about you
About your soul
To tell you about Jesus
And if you are saved
And still breathing
You too can pass o n the blessings
Share with others
Show them the love you have been shown
God put’s many people in our lives
Believers
Unbelievers
Those that have and show love and those who don’t
Those who are affable and those who are obstinate
Those we desire to / long to be around
And those we sometimes try to avoid
Listen to me
I get this
We all have those we want to be around and those we would prefer to pass on by
But
God tells us though his word that we are to be thankful for all of them
First, I want you to think of your very favorite person
And vow to pray for them
That one is easy, right
Now think of the person who is on the other end of that curve
The one who the very though of makes un holy thoughts enter your mind
Now vow to pray for them as well
This one is not so easy
But it is transforming
If done with the proper heart
Because it releases you from anger, bitterness, unforgiveness and so many other things
It is also transforming because it pleases God
As I was studying and praying about today’s sermon
I kept asking myself
How can I show
How can we show thanks to God for the people he places in our lives?
And the first and obvious answer is bow our heads close our eyes and just thank him in prayer
But this just stops at words
And we all know words without action is worthless
So, the next thing is that we show our thankfulness by our love
Treat people, with love and respect
Refrain from judging others
Look at each other through the lens of our Jesus glasses
When we do that
We can’t help but begin to thank God for them
It is then we stop seeing color
Or class
Or religious affiliation
Or what ever it is that causes you to not want to give thanks for their impact in your life
Listen to me
As I have already said
If you are a believer
If you have been redeemed
Bought back from your sins and the punishment of those sins
Someone was thankful enough to God to tell you about Jesus
And we need to pass it on
Often times we talk about our purpose in Christ
Other times we talk about our callings
And knowing our purpose
Our calling
Knowing God’s will
Can sometimes seem overwhelming
But it really is simple
It really is not some secret
One of my professors puts it this way
Our purpose
Our calling
God’s will for us is this
To know God
And make him known
And here is the cool part
The people God’s places in your life
Make this possible
Some have helped you find Jesus
And some you can help find him
And for all these we should give thanks
The last and possibly the most important way we thank God for the people in our lives
Is to pray for them
Thank God by praying for those you love
Those you don’t
Those you work with
Those you see once or twice and may never see again
Listen to me
You don’t know
Nor may ever know
Just how transforming and moment can be in your life por in the life of others
And Prayer for others
Is a key for transformation in ourselves and in their lives?
My text for today comes from
Colossians chapter 1
The Apostle Paul
Is in prison
Incarcerated for his faith in Christ
And he writes to the church at Colossi to remind them of his love for them
And to instruct them
Or better reinstruct them in the ways of God
Preached a series on Colossians years ago and use this letter often
And
I encourage you to spend some time in this book in your own quiet time
Colossians 1 :1-12
This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.
2 We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters[a] in Christ.
May God our Father give you grace and peace.
Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.
7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf.[b] 8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy,[c] 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.
In this passage
If you break it down
We see how to give thanks for the people in our lives
Though our prayers for them
Verses 1 and 2 are a greeting
Verses 1-2
This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.
2 We are writing to God’s holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters[a] in Christ.
May God our Father give you grace and peace.
That simply tell us who is writing and who is being written to
And while this may seem unimportant
It is very important for our understanding of God’ word
Verse 3 moves into the meat of today’s message
Verses 3 -7
3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News.
6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.
7 You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ’s faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf.[b] 8 He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.
One of the first ways we can give thanks to God by praying for others
Is to thank God for their faith and their changed lives
All of us were once living apart for the will of God
And in his mercy
He sent someone to tell you the good news
And life change happened
For the believers in your life thank God for the life change
Thank him for their faith
For the unbelievers
Pray for faith and life change
Pray that they will find what we have found
That their eyes will be opened, and they too will be saved
Verse 9
So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Thank God for the people in your lives
By asking him to let them know him more
And know his will
God’s first will that no one be lost
That all be saved
So, a great prayer of thanks giving
Is praying that those in your life will come to know God through Jesus Christ
That they will find God’s first will for their lives
To know God
And for them if they accept Christ and for those in your life who are believers
That he will show his further will in their lives
Which all goes back to making him known
Know God and make him known
God’s will is reviled though prayer
Our prayer and he prayer of other for us
His will is revealed in the people he places in our paths
The circumstances we come across
His word
And once again Prayer
Seeking his will
Verse 9 also tells us to pray for spiritual wisdom and understanding for those in our lives
Spiritual wisdom simply means spiritual growth/ knowing God more
As we mature in Christ
More understanding is given to us
As God reveals more and more of his plan to those who seek him
Praying for spiritual wisdom and understanding
May mean for salvation for those who are lost in your lives
Or for a deeper ‘stronger relationship for the saved
Verse 10
10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
Verse 10 ties with verse 9
Ask God to give those in your life
And you
More knowledge of him
To Know God
And also gives us another great thankful prayer for those in our lives
Ask God to help them live lives that are pleasing to God
This means living lives that honor God by obeying his word
Seeking his views on the things of this life
Instead of the views and opinions of the world
As a person Grows in knowledge of God
They can’t help but grow in a life that is pleasing to him and honors him
Verse 11a
11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power, so you will have all the endurance and patience you need
Praying for patience is a dangerous prayer
How do we get patience?
By being exposed to things that cause us to be impatient
And trails and hardships are what produce endurance
Notice her that Paul is not asking for patience or endurance
But Power
He says pray that they will be strengthened by his power
And in his power, they can develop patience and endurance
Listen to me
I Know God send some people our lives
To help us learn to be patient
But I also know he sends us into others lives to teach them to be patient
Pray for the strength that comes from his power for the lost and the saved
Because it is through his power that we can endure
Verse 11b-12
May you be filled with joy,[c] 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light
And lastly on the list today
Pray for those in your lives that they will be filled with Joy
That they will develop thankful hearts
And thank God that he has allowed them to share in the inheritance of God
Or that they can share in the inheritance of God for those who don’t yet know Christ
God puts many people in our lives
Some lost
Some saved
Some nice and some not so nice
Some you love
And other you love to hate
But
God places each of them in your lives for a reason
And each of them has the ability to impact your life
Or be impacted by your life
Thank God for the gift of them
Pray as a form of thanksgiving
For all people
In all circumstance
At all times
And remember your purpose
Know God
And make him Known
Close from the heart
Pray
