Back to the Basics A Look at thankfulness

Back to the Basics A Look at thankfulness Scripture Reading: Ps. 136: 1 -26

Introduction It’s time once again time to get back to the basics As we all know this is the time of year where people focus on the idea of being thankful Many from our congregation are worshipping elsewhere this evening as they have been spending time giving thanks with their families that they don’t get to see everyday This evening we will consider the idea of thankfulness

Quotes from the world about thankfulness “God gave you a gift of 86, 400 seconds today. Have you used one to say, ‘Thank you? ’” – William Ward “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ” – John F. Kennedy “There is no such thing as gratitude unexpressed. If it is unexpressed, it is plain, old-fashioned ingratitude. ” – Robert Brault

Quotes from the world about thankfulness “You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink. ” – G. K. Chesterton “The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!” – Henry Ward Beecher “Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all. ” – William Faulkner “If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily. ” – Gerald Good

Quotes from the world about thankfulness “Who does not thank for little will not thank for much. ” – Estonian Proverb “The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. ” – Eric Hoffer “When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep? ” – George Canning “Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart. ” – Henry Clay “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. ” – William Arthur Ward

Verses from the OT on thankfulness 2 Sam 22: 50 “Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name. ” 1 Chron 16: 8 -9 & Ps 105: 1 -2 “ 8 Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! 9 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works!” 1 Chron 16: 34, Ps 107: 1, 118: 1, 29 “ 34 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. ” Ps 30: 4 “Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. ”

Verses from the OT on thankfulness Ps 35: 17 -18 “Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue me from their destructions, My precious life from the lions. 18 I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among many people. ” Ps 92: 1 “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; ” Ps 95: 1 -5 “Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. 3 For the LORD is the great God, And the great King above all gods. 4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. 5 The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. ” Ps 97: 12 “Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. ”

Verses from the OT on thankfulness Ps 100: 1 -5 “Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! 2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3 Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5 For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. ” Ps 105: 1 -2 “Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! 2 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works!” Ps 140: 12 -13 “I know that the LORD will maintain The cause of the afflicted, 13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to Your name; The upright shall dwell in Your presence. ” Is 12: 3 -5 “Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation. 4 And in that day you will say: “Praise the LORD, call upon His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples, Make mention that His name is exalted. 5 Sing to the LORD, For He has done excellent things; This is known in all the earth. ”

Verses from the NT on thankfulness Mt 15: 36 “And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. ” Rom 1: 8 “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. ” Rom 7: 25 “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!. . . ” 1 Cor 1: 4 “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, ”

Verses from the NT on thankfulness 1 Cor 15: 57 “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ” 2 Cor 2: 14 “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. ” 2 Cor 9: 15 “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

Verses from the NT on thankfulness Eph 5: 18 -20 “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ” Col 2: 6 -7 “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it[a] with thanksgiving. ” Col 3: 15 -17 “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. ”

Verses from the NT on thankfulness 1 Thes 1: 2 “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, ” 1 Thes 5: 17 -18 “pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ” Heb 12: 28 “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. ” Heb 13: 12 -15 “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 13 Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14 For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. 15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. ”

Songs express our gratitude/thankfulness BB songs ◦ #43: Thank you Lord ◦ #44: Give Thanks ◦ #45: There is a Redeemer Red Book ◦ #10: We Thank Thee, Lord ◦ #24: For the Beauty of the Earth ◦ #392: Count Your Blessings ◦ #372: We Thank Thee, O Father

Conclusion “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. ” ― William Arthur Ward Jn 3: 16 and Rom 5: 8 remind us that God has given us the greatest gift ever given ◦ Are we expressing our gratitude for this ◦ “Or, have we forgotten, There is no such thing as gratitude unexpressed. If it is unexpressed, it is plain, old-fashioned ingratitude. ” – Robert Brault