So how do you wrap-up a year in working to be a true child of God? Today’s lessons suggest one way is to be thankful to God for all that He has done for us this year (and every other year)! Listen to these lessons for ideas on how to be more thankful for what you have been given.
Psalm 100 – “Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing. 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. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.”
Recordings of these lessons are below, further down you can review the text from both lessons including scriptures to follow along with the audio.
With Thanksgiving – Martin, part 1
With Thanksgiving – Martin, part 2
With Thanksgiving
- This is the last lesson on Sunday for this year, 2015.
- As always, the year goes by quickly.
- Much has happened during the last 12 months.
- We have seen changes worldwide, nationwide and even in our local areas.
- Each one of us has experienced changes in our physical families, our spiritual families and our sphere of influence.
- Each one of us today can reflect on those changes.
- I hope as Christians that one thing has not changed for us and that is our relationship to God.
- That should be the one constant in our lives.
- God will always be there for those who love and obey Him.
- That is the reason we can always be thankful.
- Paul, inspired to write this by the Holy Spirit, shows us in Philippians 4:6 the importance of always approaching God in prayer with thanksgiving.
Philippians 4:6 – “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”
Luke 17:12-19 – “Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!“ So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? “Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?“ And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
Attitude of Gratitude
Dreadful Condition – Luke 17:12 – “Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.”
- Lepers (Leviticus 13 & 14)
- Stay some distance away (leper colonies)
Desperate Measures – Luke 17:13a – “And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master””
- Jesus
- The Right One to approach
- Master
- The Right way to approach Him
Dire Need – Luke 17:13b – “have mercy on us!”
- Found in their plea or “prayer”
- They need mercy
- To be rid of this terrible disease
Immediate Obedience – Luke 17:14a – “So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”
- They are told to obey the Law of Moses
- They do as they are told
Complete Healing – Luke 17:14b – “And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.”
- “They are cleansed”
- They instantly realize they are 100% healed
One is properly grateful – Luke 17:15-16 – “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.”
- Returned
- Praised
- Worshiped
- Gave thanks
- “He was a Samaritan”
How many are really grateful? – Luke 17:17-18 – “So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”
- One out of ten
- “Were there not ten cleansed?”
- “But where are the nine?”
- “Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”
What is the difference? – Luke 17:19 – “And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
- Faith
- How many times had Jesus said to someone that their faith had made them well?
- God blesses all – Matthew 5:45
- But Jesus makes a point about this man’s faith had made him well
- Faith is powerful enough to heal because faith recognized the One Who heals – Hebrews 11:6
- Dreadful Condition
- Desperate Measures
- Dire Need
- Immediate Obedience
- Complete Healing
- One is properly grateful
- How many are really grateful?
- What is the difference?
Do We Have An Attitude of Gratitude?
Dreadful Condition – Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Desperate Measures – John 8:24 – “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
Dire Need – Luke 18:13-14 – “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner! I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Immediate Obedience – Acts 16:25-34 (33) – “And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.”
Complete Healing – Acts 22:16 – “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'”
- Properly Grateful
- Return – Isaiah 55:6-7 – “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
- Praise – Acts 2:47 – “praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
- Worship –Matthew 28:16-17a – “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him”
- Give Thanks –Ephesians 5:20 – “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”
Do We Have An Attitude of Gratitude?
- How many are really grateful? – Matthew 13:3-23
- What is the difference? – Romans 1:16-17
Ephesians 2:1-9 – “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
- The just live by faith.
- Faith in the One Who is able to heal us both physically (temporary) and spiritually (permanent).
- Our faith leads us to obey.
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Psalm 100 – “Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing. 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. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.”
With Thanksgiving
- It is by faith that we believe all things were made by God and we give Him thanks.
- Romans 1:20-21 – “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
- Just like the 9 lepers we studied in the first lesson, most do not glorify God nor are they thankful to Him.
- We need to always approach God with thanksgiving.
For Our Physical Family
What a blessing from God!
- The family was formed quickly by God – Genesis 2:18-25
- It did not take long for the man to not be thankful – Genesis 3:12, 16-18
- A spouse is a special blessing from God – 1 Peter 3:1-7
- Children are a special blessing from God – Psalm 127:3-5
- Parents are a blessing to their children – Proverbs 31:28; Ephesians 6:4
- Grandchildren are the crown of old men – Proverbs 17:6
- We are named after our Lord – Ephesians 3:14-21
- Paul said this about the Christians in Philippi – Philippians 1:3-6
- He said the same about individual Christians – Philemon 3; 1 Timothy 1:3
For Our Spiritual Family
What a blessing from God!
For God’s blessings on this local congregation
- Additions to our family this last year
- New Christians – Acts 2:47
- Christians who decided to be a part of this group – Acts 11:26
- Selling this building & being able to rent it back – Acts 20:7-8
- Building a new facility to meet in – 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 (33-34)
- Good bible studies – Acts 18:24-28
- More men capable of giving sermons – 2 Timothy 2:2
- More women capable of teaching and doing other work necessary – Romans 16:1, 6
For God’s blessings on this local congregation
- Our edifying each other in song, in prayer, in giving, in the bible and in partaking of the Lord’s Supper together. – Ephesians 4:11-16
- We have a lot to be thankful for during this past year.
- Lord willing, we will have many new blessings in our lives this coming year.
- How thankful to God we would be if you would become a Christian today!!