THANKSGIVING: The Outward Expression of an Inward Reality - The cup of salvation 11-10-24
INTRODUCTION
Thanksgiving - my reasons for giving thanks
Let's consider the first Thanksgiving in America. It was in the fall of 1621, one year after the Pilgrim’s landed. There was great affliction in their voyage. 102 Pilgrims the left Holland, stopped briefly in England before sailing to America. They were at sea for 66 days. There were fierce Atlantic storms, so severe that at the half-way point, the sailors debated whether or not to turn back to England. Their accommodations were very limited, with all 102 Pilgrims below deck in the ship’s hold which was smaller than a volleyball court! With the hatches closed to keep out the beating ocean, the air grew foul, making their sea-sick condition even worse. There were no fires, and little water. Two Pilgrims did not survive the journey, and two were born during the journey.
When they landed in Massachusetts, they had no place to go. There were no villages. No stores. No one to welcome them. No way to restock their ship. They lived on and off the ship, surviving basically on the ships provision through the first winter. They built one make-shift building, and lived in fear of the Natives who were not known. They were supposed to land somewhere north of current NYC on the Hudson river, but strong winds kept them from getting there. 47 of the 102 pilgrims died during the first winter!
Govenor William Bradford wrote concerning their faith, “God gave them health and strength in a good measure; and shewed them by experience ye truth of ye word, Deut. 8. 3. Yet man liveth not by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of ye mouth of ye Lord doth a man live.
Bradford, William (2011-03-17). Bradford’s History of ’Plimoth Plantation’ From the Original Manuscript. With a Report of the Proceedings Incident to the Return of the Manuscript to Massachusetts (p. 133). Kindle Edition.
“What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.”
Psalm 116:12-14 NIV
I. RECOGNIZING GOD’S GOODNESS TO YOU
A. Count your blessings
While on a short-term missions trip, Pastor Jack Hinton was leading worship at a leper colony on the island of Tobago. A woman who had been facing away from the pulpit turned around.
"It was the most hideous face I had ever seen," Hinton said. "The woman's nose and ears were entirely gone. She lifted a fingerless hand in the air and asked, 'Can we sing Count Your Many Blessings?'"
Overcome with emotion, Hinton left the service. He was followed by a team member who said, "I guess you’ll never be able to sing that song again."
"Yes, I will," he replied, "but I’ll never sing it the same way."
Guy McGraw, Sermon Central, February 16, 2012.
B. How has God been good to you?
C. God’s blessings in Jesus
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.”
Ephesians 1:3-8a NIV
D. Jesus’ cup
“Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.””
Matthew 26:39 NIV
“Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?””
John 18:11 NIV
“In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
Luke 22:20 NIV
II. LIFTING UP THE CUP OF SALVATION
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.””
Acts 4:12 NIV
A. The cup symbolizes something received.
B. The lifting up of the cup symbolizes an oath.
C. The cup of salvation is a reminder that salvation is a gift.
D. This act is an outward expression of an inward reality.
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,”
Hebrews 12:28 NIV
After one of the terrible battles of the Civil War, a dying Confederate soldier asked to see the chaplain. When the chaplain arrived, he supposed the young man would wish him to ask God for his recovery; but it was very different.
First the soldier asked him to cut off a lock of his hair for is mother, and then he asked him to kneel down and thank God.
"What for?" asked the surprised chaplain.
"For giving me such a mother. Thank God that I am a Christian. And thank God for giving me grace to die with. And thank God for the home He has promised me over there."
And so the chaplain knelt down by the dying man, and in his prayer he had not a single petition to offer, but only praise and gratitude.
Bill Butsko, Sermon Central, May 9, 2008, from the Christian Herald.
III. DEMONSTRATING GRATITUDE FOR GOD’S GOODNESS TO YOU
Think of that little band of people who crossed the Atlantic in a boat that was 26 feet by 112 feet and landed on the New England coast during a bitter cold winter. At times that first year the daily ration of those who were well was only five grains of corn. In early New England, it was the custom at Thanksgiving time to place five kernels of corn at every plate as a reminder of those stern days in the first winter when the food of the Pilgrims was to depleted that only five kernels of corn were rationed to each individual at a time. The Pilgrim Fathers wanted their children to remember the sacrifice, sufferings, and hardships through which they had safely passed -- a fitting hardship that made possible the settlement of a free people in a free land. They wanted to keep alive the memory of that sixty-three-day trip taken in the tiny Mayflower. They desired to keep alive the thought of that stern and rock-bound coast, its inhospitable welcome, and the first terrible winter which took such a toll of lives.
They did not want their descendants to forget that on that day in which their rations was reduced to five kernels of corn, only seven healthy colonists remained to nurse the sick, and that nearly half their members lay in the windswept graveyard on the hill.
They worked seven years to repay London the loan for their trip. That was before the days of credit cards. After suffering every kind of hardship, they had a harvest of 21 acres of corn and in the fall of 1621, they immediately offered thanks to God for His blessings. This little group led by Gov. William Bradford marched triumphantly through the cornfields singing, "The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein." Then they sat down to a meal in gladness and joy. They were giving thanks to God no matter what.
Gerald Steffy, Sermon Central, “Thankful No Matter What”, 10/14/2009
A. Do something that shows you are thankful.
B. Say something that shows you are thankful for your salvation.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”
1 Peter 1:3-5 NIV
C. Share your hope of salvation with someone else as an act of gratitude.
CONCLUSION
We must recognize God’s goodness to us. We must “lift up the cup of salvation.” We must demonstrate gratitude for God’s goodness to us.
In the 18th-century classic, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, William Law made the following statement:
“Would you know who is the greatest saint in the world? It is not he who prays most or fasts most; it is not he who gives most alms or is most eminent for temperance, chastity, or justice; but it is he who is always thankful to God, who wills everything that God wills, who receives everything as an instance of God’s goodness and has a heart always ready to praise God for it. Could you therefore work miracles, you could not do more for yourself than by this thankful spirit, for it turns all that it touches into happiness.”
“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”
2 Corinthians 9:15 NIV
INVITATION
It is our custom to offer an "invitation" following the preaching of the Word. You may want to follow Jesus. You may want to proclaim your faith. You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things). Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church. If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can come forward now. If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your life.
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