HOW TO EXPRESS THANKFULNESS TO GOD
Psalm 116:12-13 “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.”
Introduction: Andrae Crouch in the song My Tribute wrote “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 question we must face this morning is how can we truly express our thankfulness to God in a manner pleasing to Him?
I. We thank God by Worshipping and Praising Him.
A. Praise is thanking God and rejoicing as we remember
1. What He "has" done for us.
a. Isaiah 12:4-6 "And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee."
b. For physical life, material blessings – 1 Chronicles 29:12-13 “Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name
c. For the gift of His Son – 2 Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”
d. For eternal life – Colossians 1:12-14 “giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
2. What He "Is" doing for us.
a. Psalm 68:19 “Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! Selah”
b. Philippians 1:3 - 6 3I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
3. What He "will" do for us.
a. John 14:1 - 3 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
b. 1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
B. We rob ourselves of blessings by not thanking God for what all that he has done, is doing and will do for us.
C. God has given us far more blessings than we’ve ever thanked Him for.
D. (Kent Crockett, I Once Was Blind But Now I Squint, Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2004, 166-167)
II. We thank God by our Stewardship.
A. Stewardship is an expression of gratitude to God. It reminds us that we are the administrators, not the owners, of our assets. It fills a need deep within each of us to worship God and to thank Him for the abundant blessings He has showered upon us.
B. Each week, we are given 168 hours which we choose how they will be used. Will we use a portion of that time with God in prayer, praise, thanksgiving, and worship?
C. God has given everyone has a knack for something. They are not all the same. Are you using your knack or talent to glorify God as an act of worship and thanksgiving?
D. With little or no exception we all bring some kind of income into our households. Do we honor God by giving a tithe of our income to the church?
E. The apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 8 – 9 used these seven New Testament motivation principles as he appealed to Christians to give as:
1. A response to God’s Grace.
2. A response to the example of Christ who gave Himself for us.
3. A response to human need.
4. An expression of thanksgiving to God.
5. A form of sacrifice to God.
6. A way of symbolizing one’s commitment of all one’s resources to the service of God and man.
7. A concrete proof of love. - The Worshipgiver by Talmage Williams, (SBC Stewardship Commission)
F. 2 Corinthians 9:6 - 7 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
G. We place so low an estimate on what we owe the Lord and our obligations to the Church. We never stop to quibble at the high cost of other things, but when the matter of stewardship is placed upon us, we complain, and too often fall down and miss the mark altogether. The following from an exchange is proof of this fact: In central Texas, a rich drover, whose son had committed murder, engaged the best criminal lawyer that money could procure to defend his boy. He was acquitted. The lawyer presented his bill. It was staggering. The attorney said, "I hope you do not think it too large?" "Oh, no, not at all," he responded. "You have saved my boy. I would gladly have paid you twice the amount." That winter a faithful pastor won that boy to Christ, and thus saved him from a continuance in drunkenness and sin. When the pastor asked the drover for a contribution toward the kingdom of God, his thank offering was one dollar! How much should we give to Him who saved us? – adapted from William Moses Tidwell, "Effective Illustrations."
III. We thank God by our Obedience
A. 1 Samuel 15:22 So Samuel said: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.
B. Obedience is an expression of thanksgiving and worship unto the Lord.
C. John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
D. 2 Corinthians 5:14 - 15 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
E. Obedience is an expression of grateful appreciation for what God has done for us and what we know he will do.
F. Romans 1:21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
G. Do you express your gratitude to God through obedience to all His directives in your life?
IV. We thank God by our Serving and Sharing.
A. Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
B. During a terrible storm at sea that threatened every moment to carry the ship to the bottom, one of the ship’s crew was doing something on the deck when a great sea struck the ship and went fairly over the deck, striking this man with great force, disabling him and carrying him into the mad waters. Although he was a good swimmer, he was so disabled that he could only keep above water. They saw him lifting up his imploring hands through the white foam, signifying his desire for help. But the Captain said, "Don’t lower a boat, for no small boat can live in this sea, in this terrific storm. We cannot save the man. The most we can do is to save the ship." The vessel was bearing farther and farther from the helpless man. Once more they saw his imploring hands come up among the white caps further off, which moved all hearts that witnessed it. Still the Captain said a small boat must not be lowered, as it could not live a moment among these wild billows. But one man who was an expert swimmer, was so moved by the imploring signals of the drowning man, that he threw off his loose garments, saying: "I will save that man, or die with him." So plunging into the surging deep, he struggled so bravely with the mad waters that he reached the poor man just as his strength had gone; he had given up and was filling with water, and sinking down unconscious. He grasped him, and strange to tell, he brought him so near the ship that a small boat was lowered, and both men were taken up and laid down upon the deck. The one that had been swept overboard, entirely unconscious and his deliverer nearly so. Appliances were used and both were brought to consciousness. As soon as the rescued man opened his eyes and found he was not in the ocean, his first words were: "Who saved me?" He was pointed to his deliverer still lying on the deck in his wet clothes. He crept to his deliverer, and putting his arms around his feet, and in the most tender and heart moving tone of voice cried out: "I’m your servant, I’m your servant." He felt that he could never do enough for him. Should we not feel the same toward Him who saved us from a far greater fate? – A. B. Earle, From: "Incidents Used ... In His Meetings," published in 1888
C. Every day God gives each of us dozens of opportunities to worship him by serving others and sharing Christ with them.
D. John 13:13 - 16 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.
E. Are you giving thanks by serving others?
