Andrew Fountain - When Thanksgiving Leads to Victory

  • There is strong Biblical support for the power of weaving thanksgiving into the story of our lives.
  • In more than one place, victory and answer to prayer are linked to giving thanks.

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Sermon Outline - When Thanksgiving Leads to Victory

Goal:

To raise our view of the value of thankfulness to a whole new level.

Outline

  1. Thanking God in difficult circumstances
  2. Making thanksgiving part of the story of our lives
  3. Thanksgiving as a Weapon

1. Thanking God in Difficult Circumstances

Philippians 1 & 4

  1. I thank my God every time I remember you.
     
  2. Be anxious about nothing, but in everything
    • by prayer [worshipping]
    • and petition [expressing needs]
    • with thanksgiving [gratitude]
            let your requests be made known to God.
  3. And the peace of God [his own peace]
          which surpasses all understanding
                will stand guard over your hearts and your minds
                in Christ Jesus

Acts 16 In Prison at Philippi

  1. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
  2. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,
  3. and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken.
    And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

1 Thessalonians 5

  1. Give thanks in all circumstances,
    for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Colossians 3

  1. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts...
    And be thankful!

Philippians 4

  1. Be anxious about nothing, but in everything
    • by prayer [worshipping]
    • and petition [expressing need]
    • with thanksgiving [gratitude]
            let your requests be made known to God.
  2. And the peace of God [his own peace]
          which surpasses all understanding
                will stand guard over your hearts and your minds
                in Christ Jesus

2. Making thanksgiving part of the story of our lives

Psalm 107

  1. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    • and his loyal love endures.
  2. Let those delivered by the Lord speak out,
    • those whom he delivered from the power of the enemy,
  3. and gathered from foreign lands,
    • from east and west,
    • from north and south.
    •  
  4. Some wandered through the wilderness, in a wasteland;
    • they found no road to a city in which to live.
  5. They were hungry and thirsty;
    • they fainted from exhaustion.
  6. They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
    • he delivered them from their troubles.
  7. He led them on a level road,
    • that they might find a city in which to live.
  8. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
    • and for the amazing things he has done for people.
  9. For he has satisfied those who thirst,
    • and those who hunger he has filled with food.
    •  
  10. Some sat in utter darkness,
    • bound in painful iron chains,
  11. because they had rebelled against God’s commands,
    • and rejected the instructions of the Most High.
  12. So he used suffering to humble them;
    • they stumbled and no one helped them up.
  13. They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
    • he delivered them from their troubles.
  14. He brought them out of the utter darkness,
    • and tore off their shackles.
  15. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
    • and for the amazing things he has done for people.
  16. For he shattered the bronze gates,
    • and hacked through the iron bars.
    •  
  17. Some acted like fools in their rebellious ways,
    • and suffered because of their sins.
  18. They lost their appetite for all food,
    • and they drew near the gates of death.
  19. They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
    • he delivered them from their troubles.
  20. He sent them an assuring word and healed them;
    • he rescued them from the pits where they were trapped.
  21. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
    • and for the amazing things he has done for people.
  22. Let them present thank offerings,
    • and loudly proclaim what he has done.
    •  
  23. Some traveled on the sea in ships,
    • and carried cargo over the vast waters.
  24. They witnessed the acts of the Lord,
    • his amazing feats on the deep water.
  25. He gave the order for a windstorm,
    • and it stirred up the waves of the sea.
  26. They reached up to the sky,
    • then dropped into the depths.
    • The sailors’ strength left them because the danger was so great.
  27. They swayed and staggered like drunks,
    • and all their skill proved ineffective.
  28. They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
    • he delivered them from their troubles.
  29. He calmed the storm,
    • and the waves grew silent.
  30. The sailors rejoiced because the waves grew quiet,
    • and he led them to the harbor they desired.
  31. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his loyal love,
    • and for the amazing things he has done for people.
  32. Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people.
    • Let them praise him in the place where the leaders preside.
    •  
  33. He turned streams into a desert,
    • springs of water into arid land,
  34. and a fruitful land into a barren place,
    • because of the sin of its inhabitants.
  35. As for his people, he turned a desert into a pool of water,
    • and a dry land into springs of water.
  36. He allowed the hungry to settle there,
    • and they established a city in which to live.
  37. They cultivated fields,
    • and planted vineyards,
    • which yielded a harvest of fruit.
  38. He blessed them so that they became very numerous.
    • He would not allow their cattle to decrease in number.
    •  
  39. As for their enemies, they decreased in number and were beaten down,
    • because of painful distress and suffering.
  40. He would pour contempt upon princes,
    • and he made them wander in a wasteland with no road.
  41. Yet he protected the needy from oppression,
    • and cared for his families like a flock of sheep.
  42. When the godly see this, they rejoice,
    • and every sinner shuts his mouth.
  43. Whoever is wise, let him take note of these things.
    • Let them ponder the loyal loving deeds of the Lord

based on NET Bible with some changes by amf


My Story during Immigration

3. Thanksgiving as a Weapon

  • I originally entitled this
    • Thankfulness as a Weapon
    • What is the difference between thankfulness and thanksgiving?
    • It starts with thankfulness in your heart
      • But when you start to tell others, or tell God, it is Thanksgiving

Colossians 4:2–4

  1. In prayer continue steadfastly, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;
  2.       praying at the same time also for us,
                that God would open to us a door for the word,
                to speak the mystery of Christ,
                for which I am also in chains,
  3.       that I may reveal it, as I ought to speak.

2 Chronicles 20

  1. And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, “Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
  2. And when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.

Give Thanks
whatever your situation!

  • What is your battle right now?
  • Are you anxious? -I don’t want to deny that we can have a problem with anxiety
  • Don’t just be thankful, be thanksgiving
  • Try it this week, you are allowed to make up your own songs! -no matter how silly!

Updated on 2020-09-27 by Andrew Fountain