Give Thanks
Selected Passages
November 18, 2001
Introduction
GIVE THANKS
Give thanks with a grateful heart,
Give thanks to the Holy One,
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ His Son
And now let the weak say I am strong
And now let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the lord has done for us
Give thanks!
Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
What are you thankful for?
This morning there is an insert in your bulletins asking you to list five things, in no specific order, that you are thankful for. The list you’ve created may have included your family or friends, good health, good job, or the freedom you have as an American. All of these things are good and we should be thankful for all of them but I think in America we have taken the most basic blessings of God for granted.
Statistics from the World:
If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the worlds wealthy.
If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week
If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
If you can attend church meetings without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than three billion in the world.
And if your parents are still alive and still married, you are very rare, even in the United States.
We are greatly blessed by a gracious and wonderful God. This morning I want to examine a few of the reasons we should be thankful toward God.
I. Give Thanks because God is our Sovereign
We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.
Revelation 11:17
A. The meaning of thanks
1. The Hebrew word yadah
The Hebrew language has no word for that simply means thanks. The word we translate as thanks in English means much more in Hebrew. The word yadah means, "to make public acknowledgment."
2. ILL - Missionary: I will tell your name
A veteran medical missionary tells of his work in India. "I was a medical missionary for many years in India and I served a region where there was progressive blindness. People were born with healthy vision, but there was something in that area that caused people to lose their sight as they matured."
The missionary developed a process to stop the progressive blindness. Many people came to him to have him perform the operation and they would leave realizing that their sight had been saved. Not one of the people who received this treatment said "thank you" because it is not a part of their language. Instead, these people word say a word that meant "I will tell your name" and everywhere they went they told of the doctor and how he saved their sight.
B. God is Almighty
1. God has all power
Our God is all-powerful and there is absolutely nothing beyond His ability to accomplish. The same power that delivered Joseph from the pit can remove you from the pits in your life. The same power that parted the Red Sea can part the difficulties of your life. The same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead can give new life to you.
2. God has all knowledge
Our God has all knowledge and there is nothing that He does not already know. God cannot be surprised. God is never astonished. God knows your past, God knows your future and God has a marvelous plan for your life.
3. God has all sovereignty
Our God rules over all of creation and is the King of all people. There is nothing beyond His authority.
GIVE THANKS TO GOD!
II. Give Thanks because God is our Strength
You turned my wailing into dancing; you have removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy; that my heart may sing to you and not be silent, O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever. Psalm 30:11-12
A. The strength of God produces joy
1. God’s strength supports us
God gives us strength to get through even the toughest situations of life. It is God’s strength that gives us hope in the midst of despair. It is God’s strength that gives us light in the midst of our darkness. It is God’s strength that gives us support in our weakness.
2. God’s strength infuses us
God infuses our lives with strength and allows us a resource in His power. It is this power that turns our sorrow into dancing and our grief into joy. It is this power that gives us the strength to live beyond our own ability.
B. The strength of God produces praise
1. George Herbert quote
Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more - a grateful heart.
Not thankful when it pleases me,
As if thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart, whose pulse may be thy praise.
2. God’s strength makes us thankful
The very strength of God pours blessings into our lives on a daily basis. Let us then live every day with a grateful heart that beats with the praise of God. God is our strength and song. God is our rock and our salvation. Exalt and praise His name.
GIVE THANKS TO GOD!
III. Give Thanks because God is our Savior
I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Psalm 118:21 & 28
A. God has brought us deliverance
1. God answers our pleas
We serve a God who cares for our needs and listens for our call for help because God already knows that this life is beyond us to make it on our own. God not only hears; he answers. God brings assistance and assurance into our lives. We can live with the security of knowing that God is with us.
2. God offers us forgiveness
God already knows all of the sins of every person and He loves us in spite of it all. God has made the provisions to grant forgiveness to any and all that will ask. God has made forgiveness a gift for all people.
B. God deserves our thanks
1. Edward Spenser Illustration
Edward Spenser was a ministerial student in Evanston, Illinois and he served on a search and rescue team. In 1860, a ship went aground on the shores of Lake Michigan, not far from Evanston and Edward went with the team to the site. He waded in the frigid waters over and over again and saved 17 of the passengers. The cost was significant because the efforts caused permanent damage to his health. Many years later, at his funeral, it was noted that not one person Edward saved that night ever thanked him for his efforts.
2. God sacrificed His Son to save us
God sacrificed his one and only Son to bring us salvation. For god so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
God has done more to bless than we can ever put into words and He deserves our thanks.
Conclusion
First National Thanksgiving Proclamation
Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; Whereas, both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness!" Now therefore, I do recommend next, to be devoted by the people of the states to the service of that great and glorious being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be, that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country. George Washington, 1779.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 118:29
Thanksgiving should not be a once a year thing that we celebrate. Instead we should live each and every day with a grateful heart.
GIVE THANKS TO GOD!
