Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Prairie Baptist Church – 11/22/09

A.M. Service

Text: Psalm 100

Key Verse: Psalm 100:4 - Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Premise: God is certainly worthy of praise and thanksgiving and in this Psalm; the writer gives us a wonderful glimpse into the world of a thankful spirit.

The Introduction

Max Lucado tells about living as an American in Brazil. One day, as he was walking along the street on his way to the University to teach a class, he felt a tug on his pants leg. Turning around, he saw a little boy about 5 or 6 years old with dark beady eyes and a dirty little face. The little boy looked up at the big American and said, "Bread, Sir." He was a little beggar boy and Lucado said, "There are always little beggar boys in the streets of Brazil. Usually I turn away from them because there are so many and you can’t feed them all. But there was something so compelling about this little boy that I couldn’t turn away. So, taking his hand, I said, `Come with me’ and I took him into a coffee shop." Max told the owner, "I’ll have a cup of coffee and give the boy a piece of pastry…whatever he wants." Since the coffee counter was at the other end of the store, Max walked on and got a cup of coffee, forgetting about the little boy because beggar boys usually get the bread and then run back out into the street and disappear. But this one didn’t. After he got his pastry, he went over to the big American and just stood there until Lucado felt his staring eyes. Lucado said, "I turned and looked at him. Standing up, his eyes just about hit my belt buckle. Then slowly his eyes came up until they met mine. The little boy, holding his pastry in one hand, looked up and said, ‘Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.’” Lucado said, "I was so touched by the boy’s thanks that I would have bought him the store. I sat there for another 30 minutes, late for my class, just thinking about a little beggar boy who came back and said, `Thank you.’" SOURCE: Max Lucado. Citation: Quoted by Steve Shepherd in "Thanksgiving"

In a few days we will sit around a table full of good food and a time with family. We will stuff ourselves silly and watch a football game or just talk and have a good time.

What motivates us to be thankful?

What makes you a thankful person?

1. The Invitation to Thanksgiving – 4 [God gives us an invitation]

A. We are invited into the presence of God (gates and courts)

i. What is the presence of God?

a. It is inescapable - Psalms 139:7 – Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

b. It is Jesus with us - Matthew 28:20 – I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.

c. It is the Holy Spirit indwelling us - John 14:16-17 - 16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

d. It is Holy – 1st Pet 1:15-16 - 15but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

ii. What do some do with the presence of God?

a. They mock it

b. They laugh at it

c. They disregard it

d. Someday they will be subdued before him – Psalms 72:9 - They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. (Phil. 2:10-11; Romans 14:11-12)

B. What do you do with the presence of God in your life now?

i. Is it a daily experience or every once in a while?

ii. Does He take your breath away or is the effort too much?

iii. Have you drawn closer to Him or do you find yourself fleeing from His presence?

2. The How of Thanksgiving – 1-3 [God also tells us how to be thankful]

A. Joyful – 1 (make a joyful noise)

i. In church one Sunday there was noted a small child who was turning around smiling at everyone. He wasn’t gurgling, spitting, humming, tearing the hymnbooks apart, or rummaging through his mother’s purse. He was just smiling. Suddenly his mother jerked him around, and in a staged whisper that everyone could hear, said, "Stop grinning. You’re in church." With that she gave him a slap on his hindside, and as the tears rolled down his cheeks she added, "That’s better," and returned to her prayers. If you can’t grin in church, where can you be happy?