New Years - NOW IS THE HOUR!
Ephesians 5:15-5:17
(Changed e-mail address: Powerpoint slides are available at no charge. Just e-mail me at mnewland@sstelco.com with your request - #224.)
A. I’m sure you’ve noticed that each year almost all the major news magazines put out an issue with special pictorial sections recalling people & events that made news during the previous year.
Many magazines also include articles by experts predicting what they expect to see happening in the years ahead. Some even go so far as to make predictions covering 10, 20, or more years in the future. In the past, a few of these predictions have proven amazingly accurate, while others couldn’t have been more wrong.
ILL. For example, back in 1967, experts predicted that by the turn of the century technology would have taken over so much of the work we do that the average American work week would be only 22 hours long, & that we would work only 27 weeks a year. As a result, one of our biggest problems would be in deciding what to do with all our leisure time.
Well, I don’t know about you, but that prediction certainly missed the mark as far as my life was concerned!
In fact, most of us seem to be very busy. We’re always in a hurry. We walk fast, & talk fast, & eat fast. And after we eat, all too often, we stand up & say, "Excuse me. I’ve gotta run."
B. So here we are, at the first Sunday of 2010. I wonder how we’ll do this year? Will we be as busy? Will we make any better use of our time? In 362 days, when this year is over, will we be looking back with joy, or with regret? Will we be looking at the future with anticipation, or with dread?
There is a passage of Scripture that I believe can be of help to us as we look forward to the rest of 2010 if we’ll listen to it. The passage is Ephesians 5:15 17, & here is what it says, "Be very careful, then, how you live not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is."
PROP. I think that in this passage the Apostle Paul presents some important lessons that we need to consider.
I. OUR TIME ON THIS EARTH IS LIMITED
A. First of all, we must be very careful how we live because our time on this earth is limited.
The Psalmist wrote, "Show me, O Lord, my life’s end & the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life" (39:4). And again, "The length of our days is 70 years or 80, if we have the strength...they quickly pass, & we fly away" (90:10).
Now, I realize that for some of you younger folk, 70 or 80 years sounds like a long, long time. In fact, I can remember when I thought anyone over 40 was ancient. But no longer. It is all rather relative, isn’t it?
ILL. For example, for teenagers in love talking together in the car, an hour or two seems like a blink of an eye. But for mom & dad worrying about what’s going on out in that car, an hour or two seems like an eternity.
B. The Psalmist also tells us to number our days so that we will develop a heart of wisdom.
ILL. A few years ago People Magazine published an article entitled "Dead Ahead" telling about a new clock that keeps track of how much time you have left to live. It calculates an average life span of 75 years for men & 80 years for women. So you program your sex & age into the clock, & from then on it will tell you how much time you have left. It sold for $99.95.
I didn’t buy one. But it is an intriguing idea. Isn’t that what the Psalmist told us to do to number our days?
When I first heard about the clock I figured out that if I lived to be 75 years old that I had just about 2,345 days left to live. That’s all, just 2,345 days left to live. But wait a minute. Neither you nor I have a guarantee of even one day more to live.
In fact the Bible tells us not to count on tomorrow because tomorrow may not come for you or for me. All we have is right now. So our time on this earth is valuable because it is very limited.
II. MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY
Secondly, Paul tells us that we must make "the most of every opportunity." And he gives a reason, "because the days are evil."
A. Jesus said that Satan is a robber & a thief, & one of the things he tries to rob from us is our time because time is a very precious possession.
Just think of the time wasted in sinning. Think of the time wasted in bars or in gambling casinos or in shallow affairs. Think of the time wasted in gossiping or spreading rumors. Or think about all the time wasted worrying about the consequences of the sins we have committed. Satan is a thief & a robber!
B. But it is not just sin that makes demands on our time. Sometimes even good things can make demands.
ILL. Jesus went to the home of Mary & Martha & Lazarus. He sat down to teach, & Mary was sitting at His feet just soaking in every word. Meanwhile, Martha was out in the kitchen preparing dinner.
Now, you know the story. It is found in Luke 10. Martha gets upset because Mary is not in the kitchen, too. So she complains to Jesus, "Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," Jesus answered, "You are worried & upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, & it will not be taken away from her" [Luke 10:40 42].
Now was Martha committing a sin by fixing a meal in the kitchen? No, of course not! But here’s the problem. She was so preoccupied with what she was doing that she didn’t realize that God was in her living room.
APPL. That’s the same mistake you & I make almost every day. We get so caught up in the here & now that we fail to deal with the eternal, the things that will last forever & ever.
ILL. Richard Swenson, a medical doctor, wrote a book in which he discusses one of the major maladies of our time anxiety & stress. He calls it "overload," & says that people are just plain overloaded.
1. We’re overloaded with commitments. We’ve committed ourselves to go here & there, to take part in this activity & that social function. As a result we soon begin meeting ourselves coming & going because we have overloaded ourselves in the area of commitments.
2. We’re also overloaded with possessions, he says. Our closets are full, & our garages are overflowing. We’ve gone into debt to pay for all of these things that we "simply must have." And now we’re so afraid that someone will steal them. We are overloaded in the area of possessions.
3. Thirdly, we have an overload in the area of work. We get up early, fight traffic, & experience intolerable working conditions because we have to if we’re going to pay for all those possessions that we’ve accumulated.
4. There is also an information overload. He said that as a doctor he has to read 220 articles a month just to keep up with all the changes in his profession. And now with the internet there’s an information superhighway. But the problem is that we can’t possibly absorb it all. So we feel an overload in this area, too.
SUM. Well, I could go on & on, but you get the picture. There are so many demands on our time, so many good things that need to be done. But there are just 8,760 hours in this year, & we’ve already used 58 of them. We do want to make the most of every opportunity, so what are we to do?
III. UNDERSTAND WHAT THE LORD’S WILL IS
Well, to answer that, Paul tells us, "...do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is."
Now what do you think God’s will is for you in this new year? Do you think He wants your mind so saturated with worries & anxieties that you can’t think spiritual thoughts? Do you think He wants your calendar so crowded that you don’t have time for the important things? What do you think God’s will is for you this year?
A. Let me make a couple of suggestions for you to consider. First of all, establish your priorities.
1. I’m assuming that since you’re in church this morning that you believe God should be a part of your life. But when you begin to establish priorities, you have to decide just where He stands in your life. So ask yourself, "Who or what is most important in my life?"
And I’m hoping that your answer will be, "My relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, is most important to me." If so, then put that at the top of your list of priorities, & say, "This will affect my decisions, my scheduling, my relationship with others, & my whole outlook on life."
"Therefore, when Sunday rolls around neither rain nor shine nor football kickoffs will interfere with my being in church, because He comes first in my life. I’ll worship the Lord & nothing will interfere with that."
2. You also need to schedule some definite time each day to pray & to read His Word. Pray for yourself & for your family & for people around you. Pray for the church, & for the missionaries. Sometimes they feel so alone & so far away. You’ll never know how much your prayers will mean to them. But you’ll be blessed as you grow in your faith & trust in the Lord!
3. You must also spend time with your family. Every husband here ought to have a date night with his wife. I’m serious. You ought to have a date night with your wife, a time when just the two of you get away & don’t have anything else to interfere. No beepers, no telephones, no interruptions, & you can just talk. Maybe at a nice restaurant or maybe at home. Wherever it is, spend some time together.
Spend time with your children, too. They’re growing up ever so fast. These are precious moments. Don’t let them get away. Make sure that you spend quality time with your children. Make sure that your family is very high on the list.
4. Now most of us have to work. And I think Christians ought to be good workers. When someone hires a Christian they ought to know they’re getting someone who will give them an honest days work, & not cheat them. Because we’re Christians we have a responsibility to the Lord to honor Him even in the marketplace.
SUM. So first of all, establish your priorities.
B. And then, learn how to live today. The two greatest enemies of time are regrets for things we did in the past, & anxiety about what will happen to us in the future. Many of us are living either in the past or in the future.
In fact, many of us are engaged in the little game of, "I wish it were." "I wish it were next week," or "I wish it were next month," or some such thing. Kids go to school & say, "Boy, I wish this day were over."
ILL. Gary Freeman tells about a girl who went to college & just hated it. But she told herself, "If I can ever get out of college & get married & have children, I know I’ll finally be able to enjoy life."
So she stuck with it. She went to classes every day & finally graduated from college. Then she got married & had children, & discovered that children are a lot of work. So she told herself, "If I can just get these kids raised, then I’ll be able to relax & really enjoy life."
But about the time the kids were entering high school her husband said, "Guess what? We don’t have enough money to send our kids to college. I guess you’ll have to get a job."
Well, she didn’t want to, but she knew he was right & they needed the money, so she went to work. And she hated it. But she told herself, "If I can just get these kids out of college, & get all of the bills paid, then I can quit work & really enjoy life."
Finally, the last child graduated from college, & all the bills were paid. So she walked into her employer’s office & said, "I quit." He said, "Oh, you don’t want to quit now. If you stay with us just another 8 years you’ll have a pension for the rest of your life."
She thought, "Well, I don’t want to work another 8 years, but there’s all that money there, & I really can’t turn down the opportunity." So she worked for another 8 years. Finally, she & her husband retired at the same time. They sold their home & bought a little retirement cottage.
Then they sat down on the swing on their front porch & looked at the family picture album & dreamed about the good old days.
ILL. Someone said, "Life is what happens to you while you’re making plans to do something else."
True, isn’t it? Another year has come & gone. A new year stretches before us. Help us Lord, to redeem the time. So have a happy new year!
ILL. And during the New Year may you have:
enough happiness to keep you sweet - enough trials to keep you strong,
enough sorrow to keep you human - enough hope to keep you happy,
enough failure to keep you humble - enough success to keep you eager,
enough friends to give you comfort - enough wealth to meet your needs,
enough enthusiasm to make you look forward to tomorrow,
& enough determination to make each day better than the day before.
Lord, please help us to use the 8,760 hours of this year the wisest way we can for you, & for your glory.
CONCL. Romans 13:11 12 says, "The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness & put on the armor of light."
Friday, November 25, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
THANKS GIVING
A Proper Perspective On Thanksgiving
Ephesians 5:19-5:20
"A Proper Perspective On Thanksgiving"
Eph 5:19,20; 1 Thess 5:18
The following proclamation was made by Governor Bradford in 1623, 3 years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth;
To all ye Pilgrims,
Inasmuch as the great father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, squashes and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the raids of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday November ye 29th of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty three, and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Plymouth rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving t ye Almighty God for all His blessings.
This Thursday is Thanksgiving. One day in which we like those early Pilgrims set aside time in our busy schedules to give thanks to God. Now, there is nothing wrong with that but the word of God tells us that this should be a continual, daily, attitude.
Eph. 5:19,20 tells Christians to "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, ALWAYS giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
And I Thes. 5:16-18 says, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in
Christ Jesus."
Paul’s main subject here is PRAISE, THANKSGIVING. Notice the other important words in these passages; ALWAYS, CONTINUALLY, and IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. It sounds as if Paul is talking about a church service here, especially in Eph. "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your
heart..." But he isn’t. He is talking about a continual attitude for Christians - an attitude of the heart. How we are to be to each other. But how, you may wonder, can we have this
attitude continually, especially "in all circumstances?" I believe the answer lies in our perspective of thanksgiving. We need the proper perspective.
One young lady wrote home from college,
"Dear Mom: Sorry I haven’t written sooner. My arm really has been broken. I broke it, and my left leg, when I jumped from he second floor of my dormitory...when we had the fire. We were lucky. A young service station attendant saw the blaze and called the Fire Department. They were there in minutes. I was in the hospital for a few days. Paul, the service station attendant, came to see me every day. And because it was taking so long to get our dormitory liveable again, I moved in with him. He has been so nice. I must admit that I am pregnant. Paul and I plan to get married just as soon as he can get a divorce. I hope things are fine at home. I’m doing fine, and will write more when I get the chance. Love,
Your daughter, Susie
P.S. None of the above is true. But I did get a "C" in Sociology and flunked Chemistry. I just wanted you to receive this news in its "Proper Perspective!"
To be thankful in all circumstances, we need a proper perspective of our circumstances and of our God. Only then we will be able to give thanks to the Lord always.
Now, I believe there are at least three attitudes that steal away our gratitude. Three things that keep us from being thankful.
1) One is our pride. This is the attitude that says, "Nobody ever gave me anything, I worked hard for everything I have." For years
you studied hard and now it is finally paying off. With this kind of attitude, we feel that we have no one to thank but ourselves.
2) Another attitude that keeps us from being thankful is a critical spirit or constant complaining. Instead of being grateful, this person will always find something to complain about.
"A lady known as an incurable grumbler constantly complained about everything. At last her preacher thought he had found something about which she would be happy, for her farm crop was the finest for miles around. When he met her, he said with a beaming smile, `You must be very happy Mary. Everyone is saying how healthy your potatoes look this year.’ `True they’re pretty good, but what am I going to do when I need bad ones to feed the pigs.’"
3) A third attitude that keeps us from being grateful is carelessness. Someone once said that if the stars only came out once a year, we would stay out all night to watch them. But
they are there every night and we have grown a costumed to them.
The Israelites grumbled because they had no food so God miraculously sent manna (a crust-like bread) to cover the ground each day except the sabbath day. Then they started to grumble because it was the same thing every day.
They had a miracle - straight from God every day but were no longer satisfied. Because of pride, carelessness or a critical spirit we will never be truly thankful for all that God has given us.
Rudyard Kipling was a great writer and poet whose writings we have all enjoyed. Unlike many old writers, Kipling was one of the few who had opportunity to enjoy his success while he lived. He also made a great deal of money at his trade.
One time a newspaper reporter came up to him and said, "Mr. Kipling, I just read that somebody calculated that the money you make from your writings amounts to over a hundred dollars a word; Mr. Kipling raised his eyebrows and said, "Really, I certainly wasn’t aware of that."
The reporter cynically reached down into his pocket and pulled out a one hundred dollar bill and gave it to Kipling and said, "Here’s a hundred dollar bill, Mr. Kipling. Now, you give me one of your hundred dollar words." Mr. Kipling looked at that hundred dollar bill for a moment, took it and folded it up and put it in his pocket and said, "Thanks."
He’s right! The word thanks is certainly a hundred dollar word. In fact, I would say it is more like a million dollar word. It’s one word that is too seldom heard and too rarely spoken and too often forgotten. If we would all adopt an attitude of thanksgiving into our lives - our lives would be changed. We would savor each day.
If any nation ought to be thankful to God and grateful for his goodness, it ought to be America. If any people in America ought to be thankful to God and grateful for his goodness, it ought to be Christians.
This morning I would like to share with you three things we learn about thanksgiving from the Bible.
THANKSGIVING SHOULD BE EXPRESSED
In Luke 17 we read about ten men who were healed by Jesus of their leprosy. Out of those ten men only one came back to give thanks and Jesus said, "Where are the other nine?" He was the only one willing to take time to go back and say "thank you." Because of that Jesus said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
Have you ever wondered why Jesus said that? I mean like the others, the man was already healed of his leprosy from the time they went to show themselves to the priest. But when Jesus says to this one man, "Your faith has made you well,"he wasn’t just talking about a physical healing, he was talking about a spiritual one, a mental one. He was made whole.
We too are made whole by our thanksgiving. Psychologists today tell us that sincere gratitude, thanksgiving, is the healthiest of all human emotions. Hans Selye, who is considered the father of stress studies, has said that gratitude produces more positive emotional energy than any other attitude in life.
And a thankful heart will endear others to us and us to others.
For you see thanksgiving is not only good for the giver but also good for the receiver.
God appreciates our thanksgiving. It lifts Him up and it glorifies Him. And thanksgiving endears him to us. It draws us closer. If we are not grateful, if we do not express our thanksgiving, then it can have the opposite affect. In Rom. 1:21 Paul says, "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."
This passage seems to imply that people who are ungrateful to God will soon fall away - their hearts will become hardened. Here, we see pride keeping people from worshipping God and being thankful.
Before we leave this point that thanksgiving should be expressed let me list a few ways that we can say thank you to God.
You say thank you to God when you;
1) Spend time with Him (not just 1 hr a week)
2) When you forgive others
3) When you serve in His church
4) When you share His Plan of salvation
5) When you reach out to hurting people
6) When you give God the best of your TTT
7) When you praise Him enthusiastically from the heart
OUR THANKSGIVING SHOULD BE EXPANSIVE
And as our thanksgiving expands, it should include 3 things;
1) The Blessings of Life.
You know, I really love my wife. She is a very special lady. She’s truly a blessing to my life. One thing that is really special is that each evening she stands in our kitchen and thanks
God for our sink full of dirty dishes.
No, she doesn’t do that! Who does? But we should. A sink full of dirty dishes usually means that we have been blessed by God with daily food & water.
Do you realize that two thirds of the world goes to bed hungry every night?
Our prayers are often very general. We say, "Thank you God for all your blessings" but what blessings are we really thankful for? Count your blessings...name them one by one...count your blessings see what God has done.
Our Thanksgiving should also include
2) The Burdens of Life.
This is a tough one. I Thes. 5:18 says, "Give thanks in ALL circumstances." Eph. 5:20 says, "always giving thanks." You may think, surely Paul made a mistake or even that this was easy for him to say. But it wasn’t. Paul suffered from some very difficult problem that he called a thorn in the flesh. He also had been run out of town, beaten, whipped, imprisoned, betrayed by friends, naked, cold, hungry shipwrecked, and stoned because of his faith. Yet, Paul never stopped giving thanks.
Paul said several things that really show he had the proper perspective of the burdens of life...
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us..." Rm 8:18
"That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong..." 2 Cor 12:10
"Now I want you to know brothers that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel..." Phil 1:12
When we like Paul have the proper perspective we to can give thanks in all circumstances...
(Rhea Thompkins 35 yr old - just finished college - mother of 3 boys 4/15/18 - new job at GTE - develops lupus - husband leaves her - oldest son in jail for dealing drugs - lost wt. couldn’t hold her head up or get in and out of bath tub by her self... One time said to me that this was really a blessing -- it had allowed her to spend more time with the Lord - when in hospital may be some one here that God wants me to share with)
In our weakness God can make us strong. When we are struggling God is able to work in our lives. He helps us through times that we could have never faced on our own.
I never thought I would say this but I have learned to be thankful in the difficult circumstances my family has faced. Now, notice, I didn’t say I was thankful for them, but that I was thankful in this difficult time.
You see, I don’t believe Paul is saying that we have to be thankful for our problems but rather - IN THEM." And being thankful; in them allows God to use them for His greater good.
The Philipian Jailer was ready to take his life because an earthquake freed his prisoners but what saved him was the attitude of Peter and Silas during their difficult imprisonment. They were singing and praising God even though they were in chains. But, they knew God and that he would help them through. Because of
their joy the jailer and all his household became Christians.
Understand others can come to Christ because of your example especially in the midst of difficult times. (Judy - Jim Bob)
Our thanksgiving should include
3) The benefits of life as well.
When the Israelites focused on what they didn’t have, they failed to see ALL that they DID have. We are constantly adding to our prayer list but more than anything we should be adding to our
praise list.
Geoff Moore sings a song in which, at the beginning of a new day, he says,
"Well, I wonder what today will see. Will I find my dreams OR
stare in the face of tragedy?
Whatever may come, whatever may be, of this I am SURE,
I’m forgiven and free and I will live like I believe -
It’s good to be alive... It’s good to be alive, to feel the wind in my face, see the blue in the sky. It’s days like this, I realize what a gift it is - It’s good to be alive.
Oh, we have all had some difficult times. Maybe even times that we have despaired even of life itself. But, if we really look at all the benefits of life, I think we will find that its good to be alive. To feel the wind in our face, to see the sunrise, to fall in love, to see our new born child for the first time, to feel our child or parent or even a friend hug us and tell us we are special.
An experiment was done in New York’s Central Park where an advertizing firm dressed a man up as a blind man and gave him a cup to collect money. One day they put a sign around his neck that read, "I’m Blind." On that day he collected about $4.00. The next day they dressed him the same way, placed him in the same place but changed the sign to read, "It’s Spring and I’m Blind." That day he collected nearly $40.00. That day, those people realized how blessed they were by the beautiful flowers, birds, the sunrise and sunset.
And as Christians there are other benefits of life. We can be sure that we are forgiven and free. Oh, It’s good to be alive!
Not only should our Thanksgiving be expressed and expanded but also we learn that,
OUR THANKSGIVING IS EXPECTED
Paul says we are to "give thanks in all circumstances BECAUSE this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." This is God’s will for us. And he knows, if we will do it, that our lives will be changed.
1) This is the mark of a Growing Christian.
For example, a baby is ungrateful. You can take a little baby when it has colic and walk the floor with them for hours and when you put that baby down - they don’t say, "Thank You." More than likely, they will just yell a little louder. A child has to be taught to be thankful. It just doesn’t come naturally. Sometimes you have to almost force them to say thank you.
When we realize how blessed we are by others and by God and express that - we are growing.
2) Our thanksgiving is also the mark of a Giving Christian.
When we realize how much God has done for us and how much he continues to do, we should be more than happy to give something
back to him. This comes through our time and also our financial giving. Someone has said that for Thanksgiving to be real Thanksgiving, There must be "Thanks" and there must be "Giving."
In the last year, our church has been truly blessed by God. We have seen people come forward and be baptized into Christ, we have seen many families place their membership here, we have seen our operating debt go away and our giving go up....
Just as our congregation has grown, so have our needs. And just as God has blessed us - so should we bless his work by our giving. James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift (do you have any good gifts in your life?) is from above, and comes down from the father of lights."
When we go to a restaurant, we are more than happy to give a good waitress a 15% tip, but for some reason, many have a problem with giving God 10% of all the good gifts he has given us. We need to ask ourselves if we are truly thankful.
Remember God loves a cheerful giver.....
Thanksgiving is a mark of a growing Christian, a giving Christian and
3) A Glowing Christian.
If you are thankful to God then you will be glowing. Your will not
be constantly critical and pessimistic but eternally Thankful. Though the difficult times are just that - they will not break you.
Paul says in II Cor. 4:8,
"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed...For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen."
Henry Frost served for many years as a missionary to China. In his journal he wrote of a very difficult time in his life. He says,
"I had received sad news from home, and deep shadows had covered my soul. I prayed BUT the darkness did not vanish. I summoned myself to endure, BUT the darkness only deepened. Then I went to an inland station and saw on the wall of the mission home these
words: ’TRY THANKSGIVING.’ I did, and in a moment every shadow was gone, not to return.
Yes the Psalmist was right, ’It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord."
Have you been going through some difficult times?
Have you prayed but they’re still there?
Have you told yourself to keep on going and it would some day disappear - but it got deeper?
Then why not try THANKSGIVING?
Ephesians 5:19-5:20
"A Proper Perspective On Thanksgiving"
Eph 5:19,20; 1 Thess 5:18
The following proclamation was made by Governor Bradford in 1623, 3 years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth;
To all ye Pilgrims,
Inasmuch as the great father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, squashes and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the raids of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday November ye 29th of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty three, and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Plymouth rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving t ye Almighty God for all His blessings.
This Thursday is Thanksgiving. One day in which we like those early Pilgrims set aside time in our busy schedules to give thanks to God. Now, there is nothing wrong with that but the word of God tells us that this should be a continual, daily, attitude.
Eph. 5:19,20 tells Christians to "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, ALWAYS giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
And I Thes. 5:16-18 says, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in
Christ Jesus."
Paul’s main subject here is PRAISE, THANKSGIVING. Notice the other important words in these passages; ALWAYS, CONTINUALLY, and IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. It sounds as if Paul is talking about a church service here, especially in Eph. "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your
heart..." But he isn’t. He is talking about a continual attitude for Christians - an attitude of the heart. How we are to be to each other. But how, you may wonder, can we have this
attitude continually, especially "in all circumstances?" I believe the answer lies in our perspective of thanksgiving. We need the proper perspective.
One young lady wrote home from college,
"Dear Mom: Sorry I haven’t written sooner. My arm really has been broken. I broke it, and my left leg, when I jumped from he second floor of my dormitory...when we had the fire. We were lucky. A young service station attendant saw the blaze and called the Fire Department. They were there in minutes. I was in the hospital for a few days. Paul, the service station attendant, came to see me every day. And because it was taking so long to get our dormitory liveable again, I moved in with him. He has been so nice. I must admit that I am pregnant. Paul and I plan to get married just as soon as he can get a divorce. I hope things are fine at home. I’m doing fine, and will write more when I get the chance. Love,
Your daughter, Susie
P.S. None of the above is true. But I did get a "C" in Sociology and flunked Chemistry. I just wanted you to receive this news in its "Proper Perspective!"
To be thankful in all circumstances, we need a proper perspective of our circumstances and of our God. Only then we will be able to give thanks to the Lord always.
Now, I believe there are at least three attitudes that steal away our gratitude. Three things that keep us from being thankful.
1) One is our pride. This is the attitude that says, "Nobody ever gave me anything, I worked hard for everything I have." For years
you studied hard and now it is finally paying off. With this kind of attitude, we feel that we have no one to thank but ourselves.
2) Another attitude that keeps us from being thankful is a critical spirit or constant complaining. Instead of being grateful, this person will always find something to complain about.
"A lady known as an incurable grumbler constantly complained about everything. At last her preacher thought he had found something about which she would be happy, for her farm crop was the finest for miles around. When he met her, he said with a beaming smile, `You must be very happy Mary. Everyone is saying how healthy your potatoes look this year.’ `True they’re pretty good, but what am I going to do when I need bad ones to feed the pigs.’"
3) A third attitude that keeps us from being grateful is carelessness. Someone once said that if the stars only came out once a year, we would stay out all night to watch them. But
they are there every night and we have grown a costumed to them.
The Israelites grumbled because they had no food so God miraculously sent manna (a crust-like bread) to cover the ground each day except the sabbath day. Then they started to grumble because it was the same thing every day.
They had a miracle - straight from God every day but were no longer satisfied. Because of pride, carelessness or a critical spirit we will never be truly thankful for all that God has given us.
Rudyard Kipling was a great writer and poet whose writings we have all enjoyed. Unlike many old writers, Kipling was one of the few who had opportunity to enjoy his success while he lived. He also made a great deal of money at his trade.
One time a newspaper reporter came up to him and said, "Mr. Kipling, I just read that somebody calculated that the money you make from your writings amounts to over a hundred dollars a word; Mr. Kipling raised his eyebrows and said, "Really, I certainly wasn’t aware of that."
The reporter cynically reached down into his pocket and pulled out a one hundred dollar bill and gave it to Kipling and said, "Here’s a hundred dollar bill, Mr. Kipling. Now, you give me one of your hundred dollar words." Mr. Kipling looked at that hundred dollar bill for a moment, took it and folded it up and put it in his pocket and said, "Thanks."
He’s right! The word thanks is certainly a hundred dollar word. In fact, I would say it is more like a million dollar word. It’s one word that is too seldom heard and too rarely spoken and too often forgotten. If we would all adopt an attitude of thanksgiving into our lives - our lives would be changed. We would savor each day.
If any nation ought to be thankful to God and grateful for his goodness, it ought to be America. If any people in America ought to be thankful to God and grateful for his goodness, it ought to be Christians.
This morning I would like to share with you three things we learn about thanksgiving from the Bible.
THANKSGIVING SHOULD BE EXPRESSED
In Luke 17 we read about ten men who were healed by Jesus of their leprosy. Out of those ten men only one came back to give thanks and Jesus said, "Where are the other nine?" He was the only one willing to take time to go back and say "thank you." Because of that Jesus said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
Have you ever wondered why Jesus said that? I mean like the others, the man was already healed of his leprosy from the time they went to show themselves to the priest. But when Jesus says to this one man, "Your faith has made you well,"he wasn’t just talking about a physical healing, he was talking about a spiritual one, a mental one. He was made whole.
We too are made whole by our thanksgiving. Psychologists today tell us that sincere gratitude, thanksgiving, is the healthiest of all human emotions. Hans Selye, who is considered the father of stress studies, has said that gratitude produces more positive emotional energy than any other attitude in life.
And a thankful heart will endear others to us and us to others.
For you see thanksgiving is not only good for the giver but also good for the receiver.
God appreciates our thanksgiving. It lifts Him up and it glorifies Him. And thanksgiving endears him to us. It draws us closer. If we are not grateful, if we do not express our thanksgiving, then it can have the opposite affect. In Rom. 1:21 Paul says, "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."
This passage seems to imply that people who are ungrateful to God will soon fall away - their hearts will become hardened. Here, we see pride keeping people from worshipping God and being thankful.
Before we leave this point that thanksgiving should be expressed let me list a few ways that we can say thank you to God.
You say thank you to God when you;
1) Spend time with Him (not just 1 hr a week)
2) When you forgive others
3) When you serve in His church
4) When you share His Plan of salvation
5) When you reach out to hurting people
6) When you give God the best of your TTT
7) When you praise Him enthusiastically from the heart
OUR THANKSGIVING SHOULD BE EXPANSIVE
And as our thanksgiving expands, it should include 3 things;
1) The Blessings of Life.
You know, I really love my wife. She is a very special lady. She’s truly a blessing to my life. One thing that is really special is that each evening she stands in our kitchen and thanks
God for our sink full of dirty dishes.
No, she doesn’t do that! Who does? But we should. A sink full of dirty dishes usually means that we have been blessed by God with daily food & water.
Do you realize that two thirds of the world goes to bed hungry every night?
Our prayers are often very general. We say, "Thank you God for all your blessings" but what blessings are we really thankful for? Count your blessings...name them one by one...count your blessings see what God has done.
Our Thanksgiving should also include
2) The Burdens of Life.
This is a tough one. I Thes. 5:18 says, "Give thanks in ALL circumstances." Eph. 5:20 says, "always giving thanks." You may think, surely Paul made a mistake or even that this was easy for him to say. But it wasn’t. Paul suffered from some very difficult problem that he called a thorn in the flesh. He also had been run out of town, beaten, whipped, imprisoned, betrayed by friends, naked, cold, hungry shipwrecked, and stoned because of his faith. Yet, Paul never stopped giving thanks.
Paul said several things that really show he had the proper perspective of the burdens of life...
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us..." Rm 8:18
"That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong..." 2 Cor 12:10
"Now I want you to know brothers that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel..." Phil 1:12
When we like Paul have the proper perspective we to can give thanks in all circumstances...
(Rhea Thompkins 35 yr old - just finished college - mother of 3 boys 4/15/18 - new job at GTE - develops lupus - husband leaves her - oldest son in jail for dealing drugs - lost wt. couldn’t hold her head up or get in and out of bath tub by her self... One time said to me that this was really a blessing -- it had allowed her to spend more time with the Lord - when in hospital may be some one here that God wants me to share with)
In our weakness God can make us strong. When we are struggling God is able to work in our lives. He helps us through times that we could have never faced on our own.
I never thought I would say this but I have learned to be thankful in the difficult circumstances my family has faced. Now, notice, I didn’t say I was thankful for them, but that I was thankful in this difficult time.
You see, I don’t believe Paul is saying that we have to be thankful for our problems but rather - IN THEM." And being thankful; in them allows God to use them for His greater good.
The Philipian Jailer was ready to take his life because an earthquake freed his prisoners but what saved him was the attitude of Peter and Silas during their difficult imprisonment. They were singing and praising God even though they were in chains. But, they knew God and that he would help them through. Because of
their joy the jailer and all his household became Christians.
Understand others can come to Christ because of your example especially in the midst of difficult times. (Judy - Jim Bob)
Our thanksgiving should include
3) The benefits of life as well.
When the Israelites focused on what they didn’t have, they failed to see ALL that they DID have. We are constantly adding to our prayer list but more than anything we should be adding to our
praise list.
Geoff Moore sings a song in which, at the beginning of a new day, he says,
"Well, I wonder what today will see. Will I find my dreams OR
stare in the face of tragedy?
Whatever may come, whatever may be, of this I am SURE,
I’m forgiven and free and I will live like I believe -
It’s good to be alive... It’s good to be alive, to feel the wind in my face, see the blue in the sky. It’s days like this, I realize what a gift it is - It’s good to be alive.
Oh, we have all had some difficult times. Maybe even times that we have despaired even of life itself. But, if we really look at all the benefits of life, I think we will find that its good to be alive. To feel the wind in our face, to see the sunrise, to fall in love, to see our new born child for the first time, to feel our child or parent or even a friend hug us and tell us we are special.
An experiment was done in New York’s Central Park where an advertizing firm dressed a man up as a blind man and gave him a cup to collect money. One day they put a sign around his neck that read, "I’m Blind." On that day he collected about $4.00. The next day they dressed him the same way, placed him in the same place but changed the sign to read, "It’s Spring and I’m Blind." That day he collected nearly $40.00. That day, those people realized how blessed they were by the beautiful flowers, birds, the sunrise and sunset.
And as Christians there are other benefits of life. We can be sure that we are forgiven and free. Oh, It’s good to be alive!
Not only should our Thanksgiving be expressed and expanded but also we learn that,
OUR THANKSGIVING IS EXPECTED
Paul says we are to "give thanks in all circumstances BECAUSE this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." This is God’s will for us. And he knows, if we will do it, that our lives will be changed.
1) This is the mark of a Growing Christian.
For example, a baby is ungrateful. You can take a little baby when it has colic and walk the floor with them for hours and when you put that baby down - they don’t say, "Thank You." More than likely, they will just yell a little louder. A child has to be taught to be thankful. It just doesn’t come naturally. Sometimes you have to almost force them to say thank you.
When we realize how blessed we are by others and by God and express that - we are growing.
2) Our thanksgiving is also the mark of a Giving Christian.
When we realize how much God has done for us and how much he continues to do, we should be more than happy to give something
back to him. This comes through our time and also our financial giving. Someone has said that for Thanksgiving to be real Thanksgiving, There must be "Thanks" and there must be "Giving."
In the last year, our church has been truly blessed by God. We have seen people come forward and be baptized into Christ, we have seen many families place their membership here, we have seen our operating debt go away and our giving go up....
Just as our congregation has grown, so have our needs. And just as God has blessed us - so should we bless his work by our giving. James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift (do you have any good gifts in your life?) is from above, and comes down from the father of lights."
When we go to a restaurant, we are more than happy to give a good waitress a 15% tip, but for some reason, many have a problem with giving God 10% of all the good gifts he has given us. We need to ask ourselves if we are truly thankful.
Remember God loves a cheerful giver.....
Thanksgiving is a mark of a growing Christian, a giving Christian and
3) A Glowing Christian.
If you are thankful to God then you will be glowing. Your will not
be constantly critical and pessimistic but eternally Thankful. Though the difficult times are just that - they will not break you.
Paul says in II Cor. 4:8,
"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed...For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen."
Henry Frost served for many years as a missionary to China. In his journal he wrote of a very difficult time in his life. He says,
"I had received sad news from home, and deep shadows had covered my soul. I prayed BUT the darkness did not vanish. I summoned myself to endure, BUT the darkness only deepened. Then I went to an inland station and saw on the wall of the mission home these
words: ’TRY THANKSGIVING.’ I did, and in a moment every shadow was gone, not to return.
Yes the Psalmist was right, ’It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord."
Have you been going through some difficult times?
Have you prayed but they’re still there?
Have you told yourself to keep on going and it would some day disappear - but it got deeper?
Then why not try THANKSGIVING?
SOWEING THE WORD
Sowing the Seeds of Life for Jesus
Sowing seeds of Life for the Kingdom of God.
John 8:31-32”If you continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed: and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”Jesus told us to continue, persevere in His Word, and that is the purpose of Seeds of Eternal Life. To encourage, inspire and strengthen those who want to know more about the Word of God and have a more fruitful relationship with Jesus
As we study the Word of God I believe your heart will be flooded with light by the Spirit of Grace as He overshadows you revealing the heart of the Father God, and unveiling the scriptures so you can enjoy the inheritance you are called to share in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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