FOUR WAYS TO EXPRESS THANKS TO GOD
On Thursday of this week we are going to celebrate a National Holiday
called Thanksgiving. The irony of that
is - that very little thanks are given on that day. In fact, that day is usually very busy with
all the preparation - cooking - watching football - resting after the big meal
- entertaining - and reading the sales flyers for the next day! Many other activities - yet very little
thanks is given - except for the words of thanks when you sit down for the big
meal. Today, I want to show you how to
make Thanksgiving more meaningful. The
Bible says that there are 4 ways to express thanks to God: We are going to talk about them today - we
are going to do them today - and I hope you will do these 4 things on Thursday
of this week.
I GIVE THANKS TO GOD . . .
1. BY SINGING TO HIM
“Sing out your thanks to him; sing praises to our God ...” Psalm 147:7 (LB)
“Shout with joy to the
Lord. Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his ... Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into
his courts with praise. Give thanks to
him and bless his name ... For the Lord
is good. His unfailing love continues forever... Psalm 100
Nothing makes you more aware of God’s presence than singing to
Him! When you sing praise to God you
sense His presence. I know what some of
you are thinking - I can’t sing- The
good news is : you don’t have too - the Bible says “Make a joyful noise” You can do that - even pigs can do that.
Do you realize that Christianity is a “singing” faith? There are more songs about Jesus Christ than
any other subject - even love. You need
to learn to sing your praise and thanks to God.
You need the emotional expression of singing to God. You need not only impressions from the
worship service - but you also need “expressions” of your faith in God. This is a core value of our church that we
express our faith about God in the form of “celebrative worship”.
Friend - when I don’t feel like singing - is the time I need to sing -
Through singing to God your heart is warmed and encouraged. If you are feeling a little down or hassled
this morning - I encourage you to sing with gusto. Let’s stand together and sing our praise to
the Lord:
2. BY PRAYING TO HIM
“Give thanks to the Lord
and pray to him.” Psalm 105:1
“Don’t worry about
anything; instead pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s
peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as
you live in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:6-7
This verse tells us to pray with thanksgiving. Thank God for all He has done! You parents would not like it if your
children constantly made request of you (give me/ give me/ give me) and never said thank you. God is the same way - He wants us to ask
(over 20 times in the NT the scriptures say ASK) BUT we are also to give
thanks in our prayers! Ask with
thanksgiving. Make a list of what you
are thankful for and express it to God.
What are you thankful for today?
When we offer our prayers to thanks to the Lord - the Bible tells us
that God inhabits the praise of His people.
I realize that life runs of 2 tracks.
There are good things and bad things going on in your life at the same
time. Today, I want to pray for those of
you who are going through a tough time
- difficulties -
(out of work - separated from a love one - grieving the loss of a loved
one - need a miracle in your life -
financial difficulties - health crisis - hurts.
Tell Jesus your problem - your greatest need (hurt, worry, fear, broken
heart , ...)
Now, with gratitude - thank Him for His care and his help
With your request - give your thanks.
If you have a hurt - burden - stand (PRAYER *)
This is the prayer I prepared:
* Prayer: “Father, as a church family we pray for these who are
standing, who have special needs in their lives. We do not fully know what the need or the
burden is - but You do. And you knew
their need even before they made the request.
We thank you that you are so keenly aware of our needs. I pray that these individuals will sense the
love and care of their church family around them. You know our hurts; you know our struggles
and our sins. You know our heartaches,
our grief and our physical pain. May
those who are hurting this morning experience relief. For those who are in conflict with loved
ones, may they sense reconciliation. For
those who are lonely, may they know your love for them and sense your presence
with them. For those who can’t break a
habit - may they experience release. For
those who are depressed - may they experience your peace. For those who need direction and don’t know
what to do please guide their life and show them the way. For anyone who does not know Jesus Christ as
Savior, may they experience your love and find salvation and peace in their
life. We make these requests with a
thankful heart and in great gratitude.
We thank you in advance for the answers that are already on the way -
even as we are praying. We ask this in
Jesus name – AMEN
3. BY GIVING TO HIM
“Give an offering to show thanks
to God.
Give him what you promised.”
Psalm 50:14
“ . . . your generosity will result in
thanksgiving to God.” 2 Cor. 9:11
Thanks and Giving go
together.
“Celebrate the Harvest
Festival, to honor the Lord your God by bringing him a freewill offering in
proportion to the blessing He has given you.
Be joyful in the Lord’s presence...” Deut.
16:10-11
About 350 years ago a group of individuals known as the Pilgrims
decided to set aside a day - in the fall - and enjoy a time of food and
fellowship and give thanks to the Lord.
We remember that as Thanksgiving - and on Thursday we celebrate that as
a national holiday. BUT - about 3,000 years before that - God told His people -
the true believers of God - to set aside a day in the fall - Called the Feast
of Weeks - or - the Harvest Festival and they would bring an offering unto the
Lord - express their thanks to God -
and enjoy a banquet or a meal together.
Today - we are doing what God called his believers to do: we are
joining together this morning in singing our thanks and praise to the Lord -
going to Him in faith and prayer - and bringing an offering to Him. Last week, I shared we need to bring the
tithe up to date. Today is a day to
bring a thank offering to the Lord.
When they gave, they did not give out of a reluctant heart. They did not give under pressure or begging -
They gave from hearts of gratitude. When
you give with a heart of thanksgiving and gratitude it is worship pleasing to
the Lord.
“Now, our God, we
thank you ... These things did not really come from me and my people. Everything comes from you; we have only given
you back what you gave us ... Lord, we have gathered all this to build your
Temple. But everything has come from you
and everything belongs to you. You test
people’s hearts and you are happy when people do what is right. I
am happy to give all these things, and I gave with an honest heart. And your people gathered here are happy to
give to you too, and we rejoice to see their giving.” 1
Chronicles 29:13-16 (NCV)
The giving of our Offerings to the Lord...
4. BY SHARING MY TESTIMONY
ABOUT HIM
“Thank the Lord! Praise his name! Tell the world about his wondrous love
and how mighty he is!” Isa.
12:4
“Be very careful to never
forget what you've seen God doing for you.
May his miracles have a deep and permanent effect upon your lives! Tell your children and your grandchildren
about the glorious miracles he did.” Deut. 4:9 (LB)
Let us now tell others of the faithfulness of our great God... Testimony time.
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