“THANK GOD FOR SALVATION!”
Luke 9:23-27
Well, this week marks the 31st Thanksgiving that I’ve celebrated. Probably the 26th or 27th time I’ve been able to actually verbalize what I’m thankful for. And that list should be so long for each of us. Especially for us because we are American, and not a nation in the world can touch us when it come to being blessed.
We are so blessed here that we have a Statue that stands in a harbor and reads,
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your
teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed,
to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
And eventually everyone found out that yes the USA is the best and now we are over run with people from other countries wanting to call America home. And I don’t care what side of the immigration issue your on, you can’t blame them!!!
Right now we can list so much to be thankful for;
• Be thankful we have food on your plate, we aren’t constantly hungry, we don’t see our house pets as meals!!
• Be thankful if you enjoy freedom of speech, you can be a complete idiot and your free to prove it to the whole world
• Be thankful if you have an unlimited supply of water, if your plants are never thirsty, even your dog can drink from a bowl, sometimes one that you don’t flush.
• Be thankful if you have freedom of worship, whether want to attend a church, a temple or a mosque, you can
• Be thankful you can see a doctor, usually when you need to
• Be thankful you got up today, and no one had to dress you, or wheel you in to church
• Be thankful if you have a job, even if it doesn’t have the best benefits, or if its not the best pay
• Be thankful if you have a roof over your head, and if that roof is wide enough to cover your whole family, and the floor is more than the ground below that roof
Do you see what I mean? This list could go on and on this morning if I wanted it too! Your family, your clothes, your friends, air condition, a furnace..so on.
But I want to tell you what I am most thankful for today. And what should be at the top of everyone’s list. And if it is not, it should only be because you do not have it, but you should be quick to get it today.
That is SALVATION!!!!!
There is nothing in the world as valuable, nothing more important, nothing I need more, and nothing I want more. I thank God for SALVATION!!!!
Read with me Luke 9:23- 27....
Now zone in on a key verse here...verse 25,
“What good is it if a man gains the whole
world, but loses his soul.”
You know you may be thankful for a lot of things today, but what do they amount to if you don’t know that you will not lose your soul.
It is very simple, you might have plenty of food, a great home, a wonderful family, nice car, yada yada yada, but that means nothing if you don’t know Christ!!! I said it, it means nothing if you don’t know Christ. That is exactly what Jesus was saying in
verse 25 that we read!!
In these words Jesus is trying to give us some perspective...but apparently many of us missed the lesson. We still get so caught up in materialism, in our wants, what others have and we don’t, on climbing the social and work ladder. Having more and more, having everything that is bigger, better and brand new!
And please realize, I know as a pastor I could easily be teaching you today to be thankful and content with what you have! But I don’t want you to be content unless you have salvation. And you never will be. You were created to have fellowship with God, and you have no idea what being thankful is until you experience salvation!!!
Without salvation, I don’t know what you do have to be thankful for.
• Your money is not going with you.
• Your house will be someone else’s home.
• Your food will soon be gone and you’ll have to go buy more, and chances are, doctors will tell you what you just ate is gonna give you cancer.
• Your clothes will either become too small, go out of style, or you get to pick one outfit to wear in your casket
I’m serious!!! If you don’t know Christ, what
exactly are you thankful for???
And some of you are thinking about your kids, and your spouse and you think, whether I know Christ or not, I’m still thankful for them!!!!! I’m thankful to be alive!!
#1– Who gave you life? And you don’t know Him as your savior? Your not thankful then r u?
#2– If your family knows the Lord, and you don’t, eventually you will part with them, never to see them again. And if they know salvation, how thankful for them are you if you do not plan to spend and eternity with them, but rather let them worry daily about your relationship with Jesus Christ????
#3 – If they don’t have salvation, than you and your family are all headed to an eternity in hell.
How thankful are you if you are content to let them live a life that is leading them to hell?!!?
You see, there is nothing to be thankful for in a life without Christ. But with Him and His salvation, I can be thankful in all situations.
• I don’t love money, I don’t hardly have any, and I won’t need any where I’m going
• The food I ate was a blessing and if it does give me cancer, thank God He will strengthen me for the battle ahead
Are you with me??
I Thess 5:18 says, “In all circumstances..give thanks”
I can do that today only because I know Christ.
I have stood at the end of a casket holding both my grandmothers, and a grandfather I held very dear.
But I gave thanks. Knowing that someday I will embrace them again.
I have sat at the bedside of people diagnosed with disease, going in to major surgery, or simply waiting to die. But I gave thanks.
I knew the Lord was there bringing his strength and comfort to those in need.
I have been sick...I have been afraid...I have been put down...I have been hurt...but I can give thanks knowing that these things help me realize even more my need for a Savior.
I want you to know today that Jesus Christ wants to forgive you of your sins, and set you free of all guilt, shame and the burdens you carry around. He wants to teach you what it really is to be thankful. What it is to truly know that everything will be alright. To know that one day you will spend an eternity in heaven with the same Almighty God that carried you through your life on earth. I want you to have the best Thanksgiving you have ever had, by spending it, no matter where you go, with Jesus Christ.
Thank God that salvation is still available!
