“Give Thanks”
How do you put Christ at the center of your worship? One sure way to enjoy worship every time, be it private or the corporate experience, is to make sure that worship is actually happening. Many try to chase connection with God but miss it because they don’t know the key factor of true worship. This is it, are you ready?
Worship only happens when the gratitude inside of you, is pours out.
I’m about to give you 4 ENCOURAGEMENTS: Think about this will me:
1. No one can force you to be thankful.
Most every parents have a desires for their child to become a grateful person. The problem with that desire is this; no parent is given a guarantee that it will happen.
A parent can demonstrate gratitude in front of their child in hope that they will learn to do the same, but still, they have no power to make the child choose to be a thankful kind of person.
(For Example: Children must be taught to say “please” and “Thank you” even before they understand what it has to do with their character.) What else can a parents do? They can pray hard, plant seeds and give the child the Words of God. To contribute to the outcome they desire, but in the end, even then the choice is not up to the parent to make, it’s the child’s prerogative.
So, consider this. If this is what we desire as human parents doesn’t it make since that our Heavenly Father desires the same from his children? He delights in us give thanks because it shows a mark of maturity is taking place in us.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 God revealed that we have the choice, whether we will be, and become, a thankful person. Here it is, these are Paul’s words,
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
So, according to God, neither a child or a parent can opt out. We’re all required to give thanks…IN SOME SELECT CIRCUMSTANCES, when we feel like it’s appropriate to do so, and when it feels easy to show gratitude.) Of course NOT! He says, give thanks…in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
The decision to give thanks is always rooted in God’s worthiness, rather than on the feelings we may have in the moment. So when I feel like it’s to difficult to give thanks in my situation, the first step in changing the situation is to change my perspective by…
ENCOIRAGMENT #2:
2. Give thanks-anyways.
Some people believe that giving thanks all the time means walking around with a goofy smile. Let me tell you, if you do that, you’ll look dumb, ignorant, people will think you haven’t a clue as to what is going on. We need to be observant, ready to morn with those who are morning, but just know that we don’t morn the same way as those who have no hope! Some mistakenly believe we should always feel happy, like we’ve been given a drug that never wears off. Don’t be overly spiritual!
Listen, we live in the real world, and I don’t know a single person, reasonable and sound minded person, who is happy 100% the time. But you can give thanks-always when you’re walking with Jesus’ hand in hand.
I’ve heard it said, "If you were happy every day of your life, you wouldn’t be a human being; you’d be a game show host." But what we find in Christ is this, we can be filled joy despite our circumstance, we can choose to be grateful because it’s up to us without being clueless in hard times.
God’s intention for us is that thankfulness is to be our lifestyle rather than a feeling we fake on Sundays.
Let’s move to Mark 12. I want us to look at a narrative passage that talks about paying taxes, even though paying tax is not our topic today. I noticed there was a very important principle to highlight, a principle that I believe is perfectly fitting for our topic of giving thanks.
And just so you don’t miss it (spoiler alert) Jesus is about to tell us that, we should always give credit where credit is due.
That’s our 3rd point of ENCOURAGEMENT:
3. Give Credit where Credit is due.
Now, if you’ve ever read the gospels, you know they are filled with stories of religious leaders in Jesus’ day, who were always trying to trap him and turn people away from him.
• By the way, that’s a giveaway when you’ve found yourself with unhealthily religious people; religious people will try to get you to follow them and make little of Christ.
Just to be clear, that’s not what people of God do. God’s people have the godly goal of getting you hooked on Jesus. Let me put it another way for you; In your eyes, we want to get smaller, and in your eyes, we want to make Jesus bigger.
So look with me at Mark 12:13-17. Now realize, this is Jesus talking about taxes but we’re here to grab an important principle we need to apply.
Mark 12:13-17, Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. 14 They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay or shouldn’t we?” But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. 17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” And they were amazed at him.
Jesus is saying, GIVE CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE.
• These guys weren’t willing to give God credit for the miracles and remarkable answers of wisdom Jesus displaying among them.
• They were clueless of God’s gift to them in Christ Jesus, who was standing right in front of them, and so they couldn’t worship Jesus and show him gratitude at all.
And so, while it’s true, no one can force you to be grateful, doesn’t it make sense to give credit where credit it’s due?
When we choose to express gratitude it’s a sign that we are thankful for the blessings we’ve been given. On the other hand, if we shrink back or choose to avoid expressing our gratitude it communicates one of two things:
1) Either we are ungrateful.
2) We lack awareness of God’s important role in our life.
(A personal Story) At 16, a mission to Honduras with my father was an eye-opening experience that left an incredible mark on my soul. I found myself in the foreign land, surrounded by poverty and heart wrenching realities that I had never encountered before.
One night, our bus pulled into a dimly lit gas station around 2:00 AM. The fog outside made it difficult to see, but as I wiped the window with my sleeve, I noticed a run-down building to the left. It's porch light struggled to illuminate the surroundings, revealed a heartbreaking scene. On the concrete step near the front door, a young boy lay, shirtless and shoeless, seemingly asleep. Honestly, his body looked lifeless to me.
I turned to the missionary accompanying our team, seeking an explanation for this heartbreaking site. He informed me that the boy was likely one of the many orphans in the area, part of a heartbreaking cycle of homelessness and poverty. These children sought refuge in random places at night, only to wake up and return each day to panhandle and scavenge for food. The harsh reality of their lives was etched into my memory that night.
The image of that young boy, vulnerable and alone, haunted me long after our mission trip concluded. The memory became a compass for me, guiding me towards gratitude for the privileges and comforts I often took for granted. It served as a reminder that, despite the challenges I faced, I had a home, a family, and security that so many like those children in Honduras and other countries of the world could only dream of.
Years later, that memory still lingers, An emotional anchor that grounds me in moments of self-pity or discontent. It fuels my desire to make a difference, to contribute and care for the suffering of those less fortunate. Honduras may be miles away, but the impact of that mission trip is forever woven into the fabric of my being, shaping my perspective, and influencing the choices I make in life.
Ona day like Thanksgiving we should recognize that as it says in (James 1:17) every good and perfect gift comes from God.
Why should we stop and recognize the blessing we have are from God?
Because it’s important that when we realize a blessing is from God, that we water the blessing with gratitude.
How do you know that your blessing has been watered by your gratitude?
You’ll know because it will spring up in colorful blossoms of worship!
Worship always produces expressions of gratitude!
The 4th ENCOURAGMENT is about your shown gratitude, #4…
4. Express it and God will bless it.
As we show our gratitude to God, we find ourselves entering a deeper relationship with him, finding our faith being used and it pays off.
Let me show you here in Luke 17:11-19.
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.
12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance
13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.
16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”
19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
• Notice how this one “former leper” returned is such a way that he threw himself at Jesus’ feet giving him thanks.
• He was realizing that Jesus just gave him his whole life back. A future and a hope he’d all but given up on until Jesus made him well.
Worship produces intimacy with God. And this emotional conversation that was taking place between the grateful Samaritan and Jesus was intense with worship. I mean, what we see here is the very act of worship “in its present tense”.
And just like the Samaritan, Jesus intends for you and me, as forgiven and cleansed sinners being transformed by his grace, He wants us to know and enjoy Him in our own conversations of worship.
(Pastor’s note: It would be good to incorporate a personal story of how you’ve experienced a special time of worship in our life. What made it so powerful? What did you feel was the reason God was touching your heart in that moment?)
Sometimes I feel in worship that the people around me would bedder understand why I praise the lord the way I do if they could see who I was and the struggles I’ve lived with. I’m thinking, “If they only knew what God has delivered me from, they would understand why I worship the lord with the passion I have!
Like the leper, I want to cast myself at Jesus feet, even in the presence of important people, “I don’t care what they think.” Whenever there is gratitude in your heart there will be an active faith work of worship spring forth.
And when you water your blessings with gratitude towards God it brings forth a powerful worship from your life that is life altering.
So understand as you take time with the lord for special moment with this truth:
• You are truly worshiping when your gratitude is pouring out.
Expressed Gratitude is the kind of worship God is watching for. Imagine, you could raise the quality of your worship by 50% today simply by making gratitude the foundation of your worship time with Him. You can choose to express your gratitude to God and others today. You can praise the lord inspire your circumstance. So if we will express it God will bless it and others will be blessed by it too.
(Pastor’s note: If you’d like to end the service with some of those Expressions of gratitude coming to life then consider ending with a time of corporate sharing and end by flowing into a powerful praise song.)
