“Thankful. be thankful even though Thanksgiving has passed,” said Pastor Eddie. “Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful, but did you notice how quickly we stop being thankful? Black Friday is the very next day, and our thankfulness goes out the window because we’re busy trying to find the best deals or keep our place in line at Macy’s, Kohl’s, or Best Buy.
In today’s blog, I share sermon snippets from a sermon Pastor Eddie, a guest pastor, preached on November 27, 2022. There are many great points; why keep them to myself when I can share the treasures with you?
The sermon text was taken from Colossians 1:3-14. The sermon title is ‘How Do Thankful People Live?’
Point #1 – Thankful people are thankful when the gospel is their source.
Colossians 1:3-6, “3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.
Thankful people are thankful because of what Jesus did on the cross.
May we always be centered in the gospel.
We all have needs, and we all have wants. Gospel-centered people have what they need. They are fully dependent on Jesus because he is the source of goodness, grace, and love.
Don’t waste your life.
What is a need in life? John Piper wrote this years ago.
“Three weeks ago, our church heard that Ruby and Laura had been killed in Cameroon. Ruby was over 80 years old, single all her life, and poured it out for one great thing – to make Jesus Christ known among the unreached, poor, and the sick. Laura was a widow, a medical doctor pushing 80 years old, and serving at Ruby’s side in Cameroon. They were both retired; missionaries across the sea. One day the brakes went out on their vehicle, and over the cliff, they went. They were killed instantly.
Was this a tragedy? Two great lives driven by one great vision were spent serving the perishing poor to the glory of Jesus Christ. They had spent two decades after their American counterparts had retired to throw their lives away at trivial things in Florida or New Mexico. That’s not a tragedy; that is a glory.
As he reads from Readers Digest, I’ll tell you what a tragedy is. He reads a story, “Bob and Penny took early retirement from their jobs in the northeast five years ago. He was 59, and she was 51. They lived in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruised in their 30-foot troller, playing softball and collecting shells. That’s a tragedy.
People today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. With all my heart, I plead with you, don’t buy the dream – the American dream – a nice house, a nice car, a nice job, a nice family, a nice retirement, collecting shells as the last chapter before you stand before the creator of the universe to give an account of what you did. Piper says, “Here it is, Lord, my shell collection!”
Point #2 – For thankful people, prayer is their sound.
Colossians 1:9, “9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,
Thankful people carve out time to pray, spend time with God, read the Word, and seek the Lord.
My will versus the Lord’s will. Knowing God’s will is living God’s Word. It’s intentional.
Point #3 – Praise is a thankful person’s surroundings
10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[a] to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Thankful people don’t approach life as “I have to…” Thankful people approach life as “I get to.” I get to go here. I get to minister to them. I get to work. I get to pray. I get to do this and get to do that.
Are you giving joyful thanks?
The Lord rescued us from the dominion of darkness, and that should humble and excite us.
The Lord wants to hear from us and to have a relationship with us. He cares about the struggles you face, the triumphs you experience, the pain, and the suffering. He wants to know how your day went and the things you fear.
Colossians 2:6-7, “6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Be thankful every day, not just Thanksgiving day. We get to be thankful. We get to do what we do each day.
Thank you, Pastor Eddie, for a great message on being thankful.
To God be the glory for the great things he has done!
Blessings,
Sermon Snippet Summary of Haggai and Malachi
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