HOW CAN I SAY THANKS?
(Message outline from Charles R. Wood)
A. It was 1964. Our family, along with 5 other families and some
single ladies had to escape for our lives. from the Kafumba mission
station - because our lives had been threatened by communist rebels.
1. I remember it well. We each took a half hour to pack up a
few things, and tried to get out of the mission station. The rebels had already burned the bridge out on one side of us.
2. We only had one vehicle on the mission station for 25 people. Most of us piled into that vehicle.
- We headed out to the nearest city that was 35 miles away. Because the dirt road with gullies and large potholes, it took 1 1/2 hours to make the trip.
3. Meanwhile, another vehicle was sent out to pick up the rest of the people left on the mission station.
4. We all escaped with only one way out; and a short time later, the rebels came to Kafumba. They looted and burned our once beautiful station.
5. When the rebels came to the station, they took some of the church leaders, and made them dig their own graves with their hands.
6. In thankfulness, we praised God that he had spared our lives,even though we had lost most of our belongings.
7. During this evacuation, we moved 7 times in 7 months.
B. It was 1964, and now living in the big city of Kinshasa, and short while later, Thanksgiving came.
1. We gathered around the table for our Thanksgiving dinner. But on this day, and in that home, we were joined by the McMillian and
the Tucker families.
2. Mrs. McMillian sat around our table with 5 boys. The oldest of her 6 boys was in the hospital, because he had been shot in the hip by
a Communist soldier.
3. Mrs. Tucker sat at our table with her two sons. Both Mr. McMillian and Mr. Tucker had been killed in another part of the country.
4. These families had come from the northeastern part of the Congo that had very intense fighting, and was very anti-white, and
anti-missionary.
5. Many missionaries, catholic priests, and nuns in that area had been severely tortured and killed.
6. How can we thank the Lord, in a situation like this??
C. Thanksgiving is a reminder for all of us to be grateful and thankful to our Lord God.
1. The Bible says a lot about gratitude. What kind of gratitude attitude do you have today? How can I say "thanks" during this season?
2. I want to suggest five ways in which we can say, "thanks" to our God today!
I. BY GIVING THANKS FOR GOD’S BLESSINGS!
A. We need to gratefully acknowledge God’s blessings to us!
1. In Psalm 65 we read, "Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion; to you our vows will be fulfilled...You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the
earth...".
2. In Psalm 67 we read, "May the people’s praise you, O God, may all the people’s praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy...Then the land will yield it’s harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear Him.".
B. By giving thanks, we recognize and accept God’s blessings.
1. READ Psalm 92:1-5. "Count your many blessings, name them one by one."
2. As a part of accepting the blessings from the Lord, and from above; this means that we give praise to our God for all His blessings to us.
II. BY GIVING THANKS ALWAYS.
A. Pray without ceasing; Give thanks to the Lord without ceasing!
1. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, or pray continually; in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (I Thess. 5:16-18).
2. Is our thanks? Is our giving? Is our Thanksgiving done only once, or never done?
3. These verses emphatically call us to give thanks; to praise; to pray without ceasing; because of what the Lord has done for us.
4. Phil. 4:6 reminds us not to, "Be anxious about anything, butin everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving to let your
requests be made known to God."
B. By giving thanks all the time, covers every situation. Even before the situation, we must stand on God’s great and precious promises!
1. The more we get into the habit of giving thanks, the stronger our faith will be, and our dependence upon the Lord; when tough circumstances come our way. (REPEAT).
2. The more we get into the habit of giving thanks to the Lord;the more thanksgiving to God, becomes a natural part of who we are.
(REPEAT).
3. "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way that you shall go, I will guide you with my eye." (Psa. 32:8).
4. "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear. The Lord is the strength of my life, in whom shall I be afraid." (Psalm 27:1).
C. During the situation.
1. Being able to give thanks to the Lord during a difficult time or a crisis may be one of the greatest challenges for the believer.
2. How could you ask the McMillians and the Tuckers to give thanks to God on Thanksgiving day for the cruel death of their husbands and fathers? We did pray together.
3. In Jonah 2:9, Jonah prays, "But I will sacrifice to You with a voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord."
4. Even when Paul was in prison, he did not regard being there as a bitter experience. He took advantage of that situation, and wrote many encouraging letters to the churches and church leaders in Asia Minor.
5. Isa. 40:31 reminds us, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."
D. And after the situation is over. It is good for us to recall God’s goodness, and how He helped us through the situation.
1. And as I read in Phil. 4:6 - let us not forget to thank the Lord for His answers.
2. Psalm 107 says, "Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good;for His loving kindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary."
III. BY GIVING THANKS IN ALL THINGS.
A. It covers things that appear bad or good. It is so easy to be
thankful only for the good things.
1. Sometimes things may go too well. And then we tend to forget about the Lord, and want to become a little too self-sufficient.
2. If things go too bad for us, we tend to blame the Lord. It is difficult to be thankful for the bad things in our lives.
3. Realizing that it is difficult, let us try to make and effort to give thanks to our Lord, even in tough situations.
4. I Thess. 5:18 reminds us, "In everything give thanks, for this
is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
B. We need to look for new and creative ways to give thanks.
1. Corrie Ten Boom in her book, "The Hiding Place," relates a time that taught her to always be thankful.
2. She and her sister, Betsy, had been transferred to the worst German prison camp. This particular room was infested with fleas.
3. That morning, they had read in the Bible I Thess. 5; reminding them to rejoice always, and to pray constantly; giving thanks in all situations.
4. Even though Corrie at first refused to thank the Lord for those fleas, Betsy and Corrie did do that.
5. During the months spent in this room, they were surprised to find out how openly they could study the Bible, and hold prayer meetings without the guards interfering.
6. It was not until several months after this that they learned the reason that the guards did not bother them - because of the fleas.
7. Some of the things that the Lord brings our way, we may never want to thank Him for them. But they may just be a blessing in disguise - and used to serve as a different purpose.
8. Maybe today, you can think of some new and creative ways to give thanks to the Lord for what He has done for you!
IV. BY GIVING THANKS TO GOD.
A. God is the Source of Everything!!
1. Psalm 105 tells us, "Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His Name; Make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; speak of all His wonders. Glory in His holy Name;Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad. Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually. Remember His wonders which He has done."
2. The Scriptures clearly instruct us to proclaim the things that God has done from one generation to the next. (3-4 generations).
3. Truly we have many reasons; too many reasons to count, to give praise to our Lord!
4. I have already cited a number of examples and verses that call us to give thanks and praise to the Lord. READ PSALM 100:1-5.
5. AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE SHOULD CAUSE
US TO PRAISE OUR GOD!!
B. Our attitude of gratitude to God should also make us grateful to others.
1. One of the aspects of Old Testament worship was to live and to praise the Lord together as the community of the People of God.
2. Many of the Psalms address this fact and assume that this is taking place. (Todah’s and Halah’s).
3. One area in which Paul refers to several times in his letters is the need for Christians to show appreciation, and give encouragement to one another. I am glad that this aspect is present in this
congregation.
V. BY GIVING THANKS IN THE NAME OF THE LORD
JESUS.
A. Recognizing His place in all that we have, and who we are.
1. As we give of our tithes and offerings, we follow the Biblical mandate given to believers in our God and His Son, Jesus Christ.
B. Recognizing that without Him, we have nothing. Jesus illustrates this principle in John chapter 15:
"I AM the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that does not bear fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. No branch can bear fruit in itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me...I am the vine and you are the branches. If a
man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing."
C. Recognizing that all spiritual blessings come from Him. James reminds us to thank the Lord for all gifts, that come from Him:
1. "Every good and perfect gift is from the Father above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the
Word of Truth, that we might become of the first fruits of His creation."
2. Paul tells us in Eph. 4 that, we have been equipped with His gifts, so that we will be ready for service. And that in this we will experience Christ’s living power and presence in our lives.
3. As a part of the Church, and the Bride of Jesus Christ; we are called to share our love, our gifts, and our thanksgiving together as the People of God!
4. Let us not forget to give thanks to our Lord for the greatest gift of all - eternal life, and all His spiritual blessings which we have
received.
5. Today, we celebrate God’s wonderful goodness in our lives. As we celebrate with thankfulness in this week, we gather together, to
acknowledge Him for who He is; and to focus our hearts of Thanksgiving to Him!
CONCLUSION
A. This is how we can say thanks! But why should we say thanks?
1. Thankfulness to God eases our burdens. It lifts our spirits; it takes away self pity; and it focuses our attention on the Lord - even in
difficult situations.
2. Giving thanks to God enlarges our vision and concept of who God really is, and we become more grateful to Him for what we have. It increases our faith in God.
3. Can we live a life of thanksgiving every day of our lives?
4. Let us in this week, and the rest of our lives live with grateful hearts of Gratitude to our God, and to His Son, Jesus Christ!
HOW CAN I SAY THANKS?
Psalm 100 and other Selected Verses
INTRODUCTION Can we thank God, even in tough situations???
I. BY GIVING THANKS FOR GOD’S BLESSINGS!
II. BY GIVING THANKS ALWAYS.
III. BY GIVING THANKS IN ALL THINGS.
IV. BY GIVING THANKS TO GOD.
V. BY GIVING THANKS IN THE NAME OF THE LORD
JESUS.
CONCLUSION: Thankful attitudes and grateful hearts enlarge our love and vision for Christ, and for our Great God.
