Thanksgiving

(Series: The Power of Words and the Grace of God)

Chris Patton
Introduction:
As a local church we would continue to be, and in increasing measure, a thankful people
continually speaking words of gratitude. We are going to consider biblically what it means
for us as Christians to be thankful. We will focus on three aspects of biblical gratitude.

I. Thanksgiving is an act of praise
This aspect of biblical thanksgiving is different from common cultural way of thinking
about this idea.
We tend to think of gratitude as a social courtesy. When we say thank-you we feel that
weve given the minimum payment. When we through prayer or through song thank God for
all that He is done for us, we are not engaging in common courtesy. We are most certainly
not paying back God a debt that we owe. For who of us could ever pay back God for what
He has done in sending His Son to save us from our sins?
Who could ever repay God for grace, which is Gods unmerited favor? Of course the
answer is no one! If we could somehow repay God for grace, grace would cease to be
grace. This is why in Scripture, thanks to God are never repayment but it is always praise!
Psalm 35:18 I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise
you.
Heb. 12:28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,
and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.
In the case of the God of the universe, such possibility of return dissipates as no human
beings can offer anything in return that can do justice to the gift received In describing
divine-human encounter, therefore, thanksgiving and praise understandably merge and
become the one and only proper response to God who is the source of all power and all
goodness. David Pao

All biblical thanksgiving begins and ends with God. And so as Christians, when we speak
words of thankfulness to one another they must be more than merely polite words they
must be the overflow of passionate, thankful praise to God.
A thankful heart is like a river that never stops flowing. If you stay near a rushing river
for long enough, what happens? You get wet. And its the same with the person with a
thankful heart. Jesus says, out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks and so if
youre around a thankful person long enough, before long, youre going to get wet.
When we speak words of thanks as Christians we arent just being polite however noble
that is. But rather, we mean something like what Paul meant when he said to the
Corinthians I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was
given you in Christ Jesus7 (1 Cor.1:4) or as he said to the Colossians, We always thank
God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your
faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints.
Biblical thanksgiving is not merely a social courtesy, but is God-centered; its speaking
words out of the overflow of hearts that love God in other words, biblical thanksgiving is
praise.

II. Thanksgiving is an act of humble submission to God
Thanksgiving is not just about the words that we speak, but also about the way that we
live; its how a person who has humbled themselves and submitted their life to Jesus
Christ should live.
Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted
and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in
thanksgiving.
Here Paul is saying that as we go about living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ we must
overflow with thankfulness to God for who He is and what He has done in our lives.
The sobering implication: When we thank God, we affirm His Lordship and when we fail
to thank Him, well at a minimum, we are not in our hearts and with our mouths affirming
His rightful place as Lord.

Illustration: Israel
Continual I wish and if only thoughts can reveal a complaining heart, a murmuring heart
a heart that says like the Israelites Im weary of Jesus being Lord of my life.
We are not asked to be elated over the news of tragedies. We are, however, called to
focus on God and God alone in spite of all that can happen to us and around us. Rather than
being obsessed with the well-being of our own selves, acts of thanksgiving force us to
worship the one who deserves all glory and honor. In the face of evil, our responsibility is
to be faithful to him who is the Lord of all. David Pau
Perhaps the most difficult time to be thankful is when we're in the midst of a setback, a
challenge, or a trial. When the storm comes, giving thanks is rarely our first reaction.
Being thankful for adversity is never easy, but it is always right. From experience I know
the difficult times are the ones in which God seems to be most at work in our lives,
strengthening our weak spots, comforting our hurts, and drawing us to greater
dependence. Businessman John Marriott offered this perspective: "Good timber does not
grow with ease; the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees." Let's not neglect to thank
God for the strong winds He allows to blow our direction. -- John MacArthur

III. Thanksgiving is a response to Gods mighty deeds and acts.
In Gods call to be thankful, he doesnt call us to ignore trials and ignore pain or to
pretend that they arent happening to us. However, he does call us to remember and to
respond to his mighty acts of redemption both in history, and yet to come in the future --
with thanksgiving.
In the epistles, when Paul expresses gratitude or teaches on thankfulness, the primary
focus is what God has accomplished through the person and work of Jesus Christ. In
other words, the primary focus is Jesus.
Romans 7:24-25 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God
with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.


Sometimes we can become so obsessed with all of the challenges that we face, that we
forget Jesus and we forget what He is done. And as a result, when other hear us speak,
they dont often hear words of gratitude, but words of complaining and words of pre-
occupation with the troubles of this life.
Paul experienced all kinds of unimaginable hardships and difficulties, yet those things
didnt seem to pre-occupy Him. Paul was pre-occupied with Christ and Him crucified.
What do your words say about you? Do they say pre-occupied with Jesus? Or do they
say something else?
Thanksgiving is not only a proper response to past redemptive history; it is also the proper
faith-filled response to the future redemptive acts of God!
2 Thess. 2:13-15 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by
the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits to be saved, through sanctification by
the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may
obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the
traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
As Paul gives thanks he gives thanks not only for present grace but the future hope that
the Thessalonians will one day obtain to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION
We have so much to give thanks to God for! We can never pay God back for what He is
done .But we should and we must praise Him! Such an attitude of thankful, heartfelt
praise should so characterize our lives that when others encounter us, they get splashed
and soaked by the river of thankfulness flowing from our hearts to God as we express our
thankfulness with words. We must live thankful lives and speak thankful words as an act
of humble submission to God, whether we are prospering or suffering, because being
thankful for adversity is never easy, but it is always right. And its right because of who
God is and what He is done for us. Its right because He sent His Son to die on the Cross
for our sins. And its right because one day we will be with Jesus in eternity. And so may
we do what is right, and may we be in increasing measure, a thankful people continually
speaking words of gratitude and thanksgiving first to God and then to others.

















































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