THANKSGIVING: The Outward Expression of an Inward Reality - The proclamation of gratitude 11-17-24

THANKSGIVING: The Outward Expression of an Inward Reality - The proclamation of gratitude 11-17-24

INTRODUCTION

A young salesman lands a job selling new windows door to door. On his first day of the job he comes across this sweet older lady who agrees to purchase a beautiful new window in her living room. A few days after the job was completed the salesmen gets a call from the lady informing him that she is not happy with the view from her new window.

Wanting to make a good impression at his new job the young salesmen works with the lady and replaces the window with a much larger one at no additional cost.

A few days pass and he once again gets a call from the lady saying that she is not happy with the view from her window; once again the salesman doubles the size of the window at no additional cost.

As predicted a few days pass and the lady calls him again letting him know that she is not happy with the view from her new window. The young salesman explains to the woman that he has just installed the newest, most efficient, largest window that the company sells and asks her what the problem is with the window.

The lady responds that every time she looks out the large new window she can still see the ugly old oak tree in her front yard.

Bill Love, Sermon Central, July 29, 2009.

We need to act grateful.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

‭‭ Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

John Henry Jowett said, “Gratitude is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic.”

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

Cicero

“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

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

‭‭ 1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

A.  Count your blessings

What is your second greatest blessing?  How many blessings were in the running?

B.  How has God been good to you?

In a sense, gratitude is an expression of modesty. In Hebrew, the word for gratitude - hoda’ah - is the same as the word for confession. To offer thanks is to confess dependence, to acknowledgment that others have the power to benefit you, to admit that your life is better because of their efforts. That frame of mind is indispensable to civilized society.

Jeff Jacoby, "The Power of Giving Thanks,” Boston Globe Staff, 11/23/2000.

C.  God’s blessings in Jesus

A lady was on a lake steamer when her little girl fell overboard, and the woman was almost frantic. A gentleman on the boat had a large Newfoundland dog. The dog was directed to leap into the water and save the child. He did so and swam ashore with the little girl, part of her dress in his mouth, I suppose. The mother seized her saved child, and kissed her again and again. Then turning to the dog, she hugged and kissed that dog, with a heart full of gratitude to the animal.

That’s more than some people have ever done for Jesus Christ, although He hung on the cross to save them from sin and hell.

William Moses Tidwell, "Pointed Illustrations."

II.  CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD

"If Jesus Christ be God and died for me," said the great British athlete C. T. Studd, "then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him."

Norman Grubb, C. T. Studd, Cricketer and Pioneer, p. 141.

A. Verbal proclamation 

Too often our gratitude is dependent upon the circumstances of life. A beautiful hymn was written by Martin Rinkart during the thirty-year war to help us look beyond our circumstances and see the hand of God. Rinkart was a pastor in Saxony, Germany as the turbulent years of the war dragged on. For a time he was the only pastor in his town. His pastoral duties caused him to preside at nearly 4500 burials in 1637 alone. In the context of this sad situation and these unfavorable circumstances he penned the words to Now Thank We All Our God. It is a hymn of unconditional gratitude to God.

Now thank we all our God

With Heart, hands, and voices

Who wondrous things has done

In whom his world rejoices

Thankful people don’t have to have everything going their way to rejoice.

John Roy, Sermon Central, January 19, 2001.

“I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.”

‭‭ Psalms‬ ‭7‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

B.  Speaking to God

Fanny Crosby was only six weeks old when she developed a minor eye inflammation. It was a simple thing to treat even in 1820, the year she was born. All the doctor had to do was apply some poultices to her eyes with a little medication. Only the doctor that treated Fanny Crosby was careless. He put too much medication in the poultices, and she went totally and permanently blind.

Later in life, she said of the doctor, "If I could meet him now, I would say 'thank you' over and over again for making me blind." That’s because she saw her blindness as a gift from God. It’s what helped her see Jesus in ways others seldom saw Him, for her blindness had given her spiritual insight few ever had. (Bible Illustrator #500-502, 10/1988.19)

C. Philip Green,Sermon Central, “The Blind See,” 10/28/2009.

C.  The name of the Lord

“I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hooves.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭69‬:‭30‬-‭31‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

D.  Private or public?

  

III. PROCLAIMING GRATITUDE FOR GOD’S GOODNESS TO YOU

A.  Say something that shows you are thankful.

B.  Tell someone else that you are thankful to God.

C.  Challenge others to proclaim gratitude to God.

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

‭‭ Psalms‬ ‭100‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

CONCLUSION

We must recognize God’s goodness to us.  We must “call on the name of the Lord.”  We must proclaim our gratitude for God’s goodness to us.

To illustrate how we often fail to give God the thanks he deserves, Chuck Swindoll told the following story of a man he visited in a dismal veterans hospital:

The day I arrived to visit, I saw a touching scene. This man had a young son, and during his confinement in the hospital, he had made a little wooden truck for his boy. Since the boy was not allowed to go into the ward and visit his father, an orderly had brought the gift down to the child, who was waiting in front of the hospital with his mother. The father was looking out of a fifth-floor window, watching his son unwrap the gift.

The little boy opened the package, and his eyes got wide when he saw that wonderful little truck. He hugged it to his chest.

Meanwhile, the father was walking back and forth waving his arms behind the windowpane, trying to get his son’s attention.

The little boy put the truck down and reached up and hugged the orderly and thanked him for the truck. And all the while the frustrated father was going through these dramatic gestures, trying to say, "It’s me, son. I made the truck for you. I gave that to you. Look up here!" I could almost read his lips.

Finally the mother and the orderly turned the boy’s attention up to that fifth-floor window. It was then the boy cried, "Daddy! Oh, thank you! I miss you, Daddy! Come home, Daddy. Thank you for my truck." And the father stood in the window with tears pouring down his cheeks.

How much like that child we are.

Neil Olcott, "Our Identity In Christ," 7/9/2009.

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.