Thanksgiving Eve Sermon

1 Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice always, 17 Pray without ceasing.18 In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you..

Perhaps this is one of the hardest commands the bible gives us… In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you..

And I think that it is one of the hardest commands that the bible gives us because - like all the commands of God, it offers us no loopholes; no exception clauses, no room for excuses!

IN FACT - This bible verse and several others plainly and simply tell us that God wants our lives to be characterized by thankfulness, by a thankful spirit. He wants us to have a posture, a disposition that is characterized by a gratitude that flows out of our hearts, and is seen in all seasons and in every area and circumstance of our lives.

Q: HOW CAN THIS BE DONE? HOW CAN THIS DISPOSITION BE DEVELOPED?

(TS) WELL I’LL GIVE YOU – TWO THINGS TO REMEMBER TONIGHT – TWO LITTLE TIDBITS IF I MAY THAT WILL HELP YOU TO DEVELOP THIS KIND OF DISPOSTION AND CHARACTER. ONE CHARACTERIZED BY THANKSGIVING…(One is easy to apply, one perhaps not so easy, but doable.)

1. REMEMBER IN THE GOOD TIMES, WERE ALL THE GOOD THINGS COME FROM!

James 1:16 Don't be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Q: Have you ever thought about the fact that we would have nothing good in our lives if it were not for God placing it there?

Remind yourself that - No matter how small or how large, every good gift, has been placed in your life by a good and gracious God.

Things like:

1. The dawning of another day.

2. The meal that we ate today,

3. the meal that we are about to eat tomorrow!

2 Corinthians 9:10a For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. – NLT

After the flood God Told Noah…

Genesis 9:1Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. 3Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

4. REMEMBER WHEN YOU EAT THAT TURKEY THAT -GOD GAVE YOU THAT TURKEY, YOU TURKEY!

5. The family that may be gathered with you tomorrow, the friends that may be there…remember God gave them to you!

Psalm 68 (NIV)

5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,

is God in his holy dwelling.

6 God sets the lonely in families,[c]

he leads out the prisoners with singing;

but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

6. The sleep that you will enjoy tonight – before tomorrow’s festivities God graciously gives to you…

Psalm 127:2b for he grants sleep to those he loves.

7. The Job you trudge off to on Monday Morning.

Deuteronomy 8: 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

Deuteronomy 8:17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,

Deuteronomy 8: 19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.

REMIND YOURSELF – THAT YOU don’t NECESSARILY deserve any of those things from God - should produce in us deep AND ABIDING ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE…for as the scripture says…

Psalm 103

8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

Psalm 103

10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

12 as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

WELL YOU MAY BE THINKING, “OK I CAN AND WILL REJOICE AND WILL REJOICE IN THE GOOD TIMES. AND I WILL REMEMBER THE GOD OF THE GOOD TIMES,

But what about the HARD THINGS AND THE HARD TIMES? AM I TO REJOICE AND GIVE THANKS THEN?