To build the level of thankfulness of each of us today.
A huge amount of psychological reasearch has supported the importance of thankfulness
I’m not going to show you evidence today, but there is very strong evidence that training yourself to be more thankful:
Is better than a huge pay rise
Can permanently increase your level of satisfaction and happiness
All of us can make the change, simply be practicing thinking of what we are thankful for
Salewa’s comment at homegroup
Antidote to Covid depression
Giving Thanks Always and for Everything
Intro: Luke 17
Two passages from Colossians
Working this out in our lives + Romans 8
This may come as a shock to you, but it is
2 weeks to Thanksgiving
and less than 3 months to Christmas!
What happened to 2020?
The Greatest Gift
Christmas is a time to celebrate and give gifts
Why do we give gifts at Christmas?
To celebrate the greatest gift ever given
“Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (2 Cor 9:15)
But we don’t have to wait till Christmas!
Response
What do you do when someone gives you a gift?
Thank them!
There is a huge emphasis in the Bible on giving thanks to God.
Luke 17
On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.
And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance
and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.
Luke 17
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;
and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.
Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?
Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
Giving Thanks Always and for Everything
Intro: Luke 17
Two passages from Colossians
Working this out in our lives + Romans 8
We try to have a number of people participating in our meetings because that is what they did in the N.T.
there are two passages in Ephesians and Colossians which describe our meetings
When Christians meet together Col 3:16–17 & Eph 5:19–20
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart,
giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
both of them are pretty broad:
Everything we do should be done with thankfulness [Col 3:17]
Not just words, but in our hearts [Col 3:16]
Always and for everything [Eph 5:20]
But here is a problem:
What if we are not really thankful, are we just to mouth the words?
What do you think?
Thankfulness is a mindset that you can control
An optimist and a pessimist: (I am sure you have heard this)
But do you really believe that God is to be thanked?
Take an inventory (count your blessings)
As far as material things are concerned, we live as queens & kings compared to most people in history
I’g going to show you
a short comedy animation clip
which makes this point
I actually think that thankfulness is something we can grow in as we practice it
The problem is that we are not in a culture of thankfulness!
Paul warns us about this in Col 2
Colossians 2
Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,
rooted and built up in him and firm in your faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
So we are to be overflowing with thankfulness
How is this to be when many of them lived terrible lives
very little healthcare
injustice
inadequate diet
some had brutal slaveowners
most people would not have the opportunity of marrying for love
low life expectancy
Colossians 2 cont’d
Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty, deceitful philosophy that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
For in him all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form,
and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
Giving Thanks Always and for Everything
Intro: Luke 17
Two passages from Colossians
Working this out in our lives + Romans 8
This brings us back to a thanksgiving theme
He is the gift that above all things makes us thankful
I have found that I can actully increase my level of happiness by practicing thankfulness
This is what I do:
First I start on the basic necessities
Basic necessities
Food
Shelter
clothing
Safety and Security
Freedom from physical pain
Access to healthcare
Hygiene
Stability of life
Added Blessings
Excellent food
Beautiful and comfortable homes (comparatively)
Wonderful freedom of choice of clothing
Free time—don’t have to work 24/7
Access to culture and entertainment
Education
Easy transport
Communication with friends and family
Opportunities to make a difference to the lives of others
Spiritual Blessings Now
Forgiveness of sin
Peace with God
Loved and adopted by God
God’s care over our lives now
The gift of his Spirit within us
An opportunity to significantly serve God
The community of Christ
In Eternity
Secure for eternity
A future inheritance which is unimaginably wonderful
To reach the potential God has for each of us
To experience the love of Christ in its full intensity
But what if things are really bad?
Paul and Silas were in prison and they were singing
They were really happy, and not just because they were in prison for Christ
His reason is “the love of Christ” as he shares in Romans 8:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
What we have in Christ is greater!
Paul continues in Romans 8:
As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But what if things are really bad?
Are we to be dishonest?
We should not deny the pain of life’s circumstances
If someone is grieving over the death of a loved one, we don’t simply say “just give thanks!”
We are told to “weep with those who weep”
Jesus wept when Lazarus died
There is a time for weeping, but we should not remain in it
