Give Thanks: Thankful for Life in the Spirit Lamentataiona 3:19-26 11/18/2012

Today’s Message: Give Thanks: Thankful for Life in the Spirit

Today’s Scripture:  Lamentations 3:19-26, NIV 1984

¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering,  the bitterness and the gall.
²⁰ I well remember them,  and my soul is downcast within me.
²¹ Yet this I call to mind   and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;  great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

 ²⁵ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,  to the one who seeks him;
²⁶ it is good to wait quietly  for the salvation of the Lord. 

The sermon series is on giving thanks

          But I hope you are engaged in a life of thanksgiving.  Today is the 324^th day of 2012

          What about a life of thanksgiving…. Today I am how many days old? 20,226

          It is not just a sermon series……Every day should be thanksgiving.

Today giving thanks for the spiritual life

Our passage is from lamentations

Little known old testament book

Written to mourn the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Babylonians 586 BC

The suffering of the people is portrayed in great detail.

 warfare, siege, famine, and death that are described - are not just on a ‘society’ level- they are experiences on individual levels.  Brave men are reduced to begging, mothers are unable to nourish their children.  The national catastrophe is made even more real as society disintegrates and people die or are deported.  The entire book of Lamentations is an appeal for God’s mercy.

Stories of book of daniel originate here

          Three men in the firey furnace

          Daniel in the lions den

          Daniel’s visions

In a time of difficulty, the prophet still points the people to the joy that we have in the Lord

The life in the spirit helps us rise above what ever may be going on in the world.

Verse 24 “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

When the lord is our portion, we are full.  In the most complete kind of way.

It was true then.  It is still true today.

Spiritual life

We don’t like the word

Its hard to explain

We feel more earthly than spiritual

We can relate to the physical

We are more comfortable with earthly issues

          Mow the grass.  Get yr nails done.  Go to the grocery store. Watch tv.

Spiritual things?  Tend to frighten us

          Read the bible.  Pray.  Pray outloud.  Think harder about how we live.

          The spiritual life is hard work, but it is rewarding.

We tend to divide life into compartments

The spiritual and the carnal, or the worldly

Yet when we open our heart, we can see that everything in life can be spiritual

Everything is spiritual

See the joy in a sunrise

Finding people to love in the grocery store

Thanking god for breath as you mow the grass

Give thanks for your pain…..its when we feel the most alive

See life as a journey with our father

Celebrate it

What is the Story of your life

Smiled at baptism

What do you want to be when you grow up – a football player – or a pastor

First prayer remembered june 1969- brian adams was doing what?

Thankful for salvation – punch the ticket

Decisions decisions decisions  for christ

                I am doing it wrong

                Spiritual birthdays

My  journey

          I am a child.  I go because they make me

          I am a youth.  I am starting to think about this

          I have an epiphany

                I know it all

          Life breaks me

                I don’t know it all

                There is so much to learn, not that we will attain

There is no arrival

Seeing is so important

The spiritual journey begins when we start to see the world differently

Most of us have a very narrow view of life…….. horse blinders

We see and evaluate experiences and people in very human ways

God sees so differently, and invites us to see as he sees

          Seeing every moment as a gift from god

          Seeing his presence every where

Seeing others as souls

          Seeing yourself as a soul

The spiritual search

Allowing others to have theirs – folks looking for a church

Allowing yourself to enjoy yours

Setting aside guilt

Welcoming celebration

Taking a serious bent

What can you take from this?

Ed wimberly’s book, remembering your faith story

We all have one.  What happens to you when you remember the stories?

This is the side of life that delivers us joy. Hope.  Love.  gratitude.

Do you have something to be thankful for?

Today can be a day of decision for you.

          To choose Christ for the first time

          To choose him again- every day is a day of decisioin/embracing christ

To tackle a bad habit or attitude

To release someone from bondage

To love someone

To love

To live the generous life

To find the joy

What are you waiting for?

Thanksgiving Acts 20:22-27, 32-35 11/25/2012

Thanksgiving 4 November 25^th, 2012  acts 20:22-27, 32-35 -

One of the main themes of Christmas is giving.  God gave so we give.

One of the main themes, maybe the only theme of Thanksgiving is being grateful for what we have received.

Giving and receiving.  They go together.  They are twin sisters of the generous life.

Yes sometimes we only want to experience one

Lets get after the scripture.  Paul is writing to the Ephesian church.  Saying goodbye…

²² “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³ I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. ²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

²⁵ “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. ²⁶ Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. ²⁷ For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. ^………..

³² “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³ I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. ³⁵ In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Its is better to give than to receive

These are the words of Jesus….. where?

John 21:25

²⁵ Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

I was reading an author who took exception to this phrase.  It is better to give than to receive.

Sort of.

Lets consider for a moment that there are two kinds of people.

Now this is a generalization, there are many shades in between, but lets consider these extremes.

1.     The person who receives everything and does not give

Entitled, unappreciative, ungenerous, selfish, demanding, expecting everything investing nothing.  A taker.

Some of the people that are like this are collectors.  I want more.  The one with the most toys at the end wins.

2.    The person who gives all the time, but will not allow you to do anything for them.

Glad to help you, glad to give you a gift, but not interested in you doing anything for them.  Does not want to be a burden.  Does not want to have to depend on others.  Wants to be the helper, not the helpee.

Which are we more like?  The first?  The second.

There are dangers to both ways of living

Its better to give than to receive

Its also easier to give than to receive

The author takes exception with this life style.  He insisits that we cannot truly give until we know how to receive.  He insists that the words of Jesus/paul here are only true after we have learned how to receive.

When we are willing to graciously receive, our pride is set aside and we can see the value in others, not just in ourselves.  When we are willing to graciously receive, we allow the other person to exercise their opportunities to be generous.

Sometimes people don’t want me to help them.  I tell them, you are going to rob me of a chance to do what God calls us to do.  I want to be a part of this thing.

           

Difference in the types of  giving

One is graceless and gives out of duty or guilt

The other is based in grace and both joyfully receives and gives

The person who joyfully receives

Has a different way of giving.  A different spirit.

There is something that happens when we receive.

We become grateful.  We become full.

My father sent me to college.  On the day that I realized what a blessing this was, he was permanently lodged in my heart.

And, I wanted to do everything I could to share this gift with my children.

The German work ethic has made many of us into people that can never rest.  Never stop.  Always work and help others, but never ask for or receive help. 

We understand how this relates with people, but what does it do with God?

The chirstian life is more than a list of do’s and don’ts.

Doing good things for the wrong reason  will exhaust you rather than energize you.

You will feel like a martyr and then wonder why others around you seem to be so joyful in their calling.

This is important to understand because until we grasp the difference, we will never experience the joy of life  in Christ.

The Christian life is not lived of duty.  It is a joyful response to love.

Lets look at the cross

What if you related to god as you do to other humans….. no, no problem God, I have this.

We would receive nothing from him.

It is when we see our need and open our hearts to receive his love that we become full. 

And the giving starts.

1 Jn 4:19   “We love him because he first loved us”

God always plays the principle role in the drama of rescue.

So we have received from him.  

Then, we can live and love and give.

That’s how it works.

Why would we want to live the rest of our lives with different rules?

It works one way with God, but another way with you?

I know a lot of people who have trouble accepting God’s forgiveness

Maybe one of the reasons that we sometimes have trouble accepting our own salvation is because we are trying to cause God to live by our human rule.  I am  a giver, not a receiver.

Peter pulled this with Jesus…Jesus wants to wash peters feet.  No.  never.  If you don’t receive from me, you have no part of me. John 13

But when you receive the love, then something changes inside of you. You are full and you want to give it away.

Lets just think for a moment of what God has done for us in Jesus

Describe the experience of receiving God’s grace

when our hearts have received from God- there is a lightning explosion of giving grace

When we realize what God has done for us in Christ, we want to care, we want to help.  We want to love

Rivers of living water begin to pour from the person who has been touched by God.

Transition/pause

We like to ask why.  Why did my parents die.  Why is my kid in trouble.  Why this why that.

Do we ever look at what we have received?  Why can I see?  Why does my wife love me?  Why are my kids healthy?  When we see what we have received, our hearts become full.

Everyone wants to help the shelters during the holidays.  Why?  It’s the thing to do.  Show some appreciation.  But if this stops the rest of the year, what does that say about what we were doing?  Just did some things to make ourselves feel better?  When we remember how blest we are, we want to help everybody, every day.  it becomes a lifestyle

Waking up to a drudgery or waking up to the gift of life?

God loves a cheerful giver.  God loves a cheerful liver. 2 cor 9:7

It is thanksgiving.  Are you full?  Do you see that God has given you so much?

If you do than just savor the love.

Feel the love.

And now, having rece ived, yuou are ready for the season of Giving.

As we enter this Christmas, may  you find more joy than you have ever known, in giving, and in receving.

Lets pray

Freely freely we have received freely freely give.

God forgave my sin in Jesus' name,
I've been born again in Jesus' name,
And in Jesus' name I come to you
To share His love as He told me to.

Chorus:
He said, Freely, freely you have received;
Freely, freely give.
Go in my name and because you believe,
Others will know that I live."

All power is given in Jesus' name,
In earth and heaven, in Jesus' name;
And in Jesus' name I come to you
To share His power as He told me to.

Chorus

Thanksgiving - Just Psalm 9 Thankful 11/20/2011

Sermon 11-20-11 thanksgiving – just thankful

Psalm 9
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A psalm of David.
1 I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.

9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

William Bradford, governor of Plymouth colony
To All Ye Pilgrims: Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, beans, 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 ravages 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 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 third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor, and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.

I am thankful.

I had to rewrite the sermon….
Most encouraging thing I could do was to tell you that I am thankful

I am thankful for those who encourage me
I am thankful for the ability to encourage others
And for the joy that we feel when we encourage others
We need to do more of this

I am thankful for our church
Seeing people released from bondage
Coming to find a relationship with Jesus based on love
Finding forgiveness
Seeking to live outside of themselves

I am thankful for food.
I grew up on three meals a day
I lived for a year when my dad was unemployed
I lived for a year in poverty – 50cents= 1 hardees hamburger
I see so many that have so little
I just about cannot go to the grocery store and shop for thanksgiving

I am thankful for people that put up with me
Do better for your children than we have for you
We have done pretty well
There’s a little bit of Jeff that is pretty crazy too

I am thankful to be alive
I lived so many years on auto pilot
Going thru the motions
Six years ago, I was diagnosed with lung cancer
Thank god they were wrong
But it does something to you
Now I am growing older. My hair is going. My muscle mass is goiong. My knees are going. But there is a savoring. There is a joy.
I am thankful to be alive. I look at birds. I look at trees. I look at the sky. I look at people. I see the beauty of the earth

I am thankful for our father
He has brought me through some rough times
He got a hold of a young man who thought he knew everything.
He saved him from his sins, and then he went to work.
All these years that I have been a friend of God he has been working to make me sweeter.
He has some work left to do
There is not life better than to walk with our father

In these days of bad news and worry I am all the more thank ful for our father
We need to remind each other of the good.
MJ Ryan wrote – “Tapping into the wellspring of gratitude is the greatest antidote to worry I have ever experienced. Why? worry is always about the future, the next minute, hour or day, whereas gratitude is in the here and now. Look over your list of worries. Aren’t they always about what might or might not happen? You are worried about the reaction of your boss to something. You are worried about how to pay for something. You are worried about test results. In every case, you project yourself into the future and imagine something bad happening. Gratitude brings you back to the present moment to see the good. To see that we are not alone. To see that god is with us.”

We need to encourage each other with words of hope
With the embrace of joy
We need to tell each other how much we care
Especially in hard times we need to be of encouragement to each other.

Bad things can happen and you can get mad or you can get glad
Show video here

Bad things can happen and you can get mad or you can get glad
Which will it be
Will you add you voice to the chorus of negativity in this world or will you lift up your heart in praise of our father

Now thank we all our god

German pastor Martin Rinkart served in the walled town of Eilenburg during the horrors of the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648. Eilenburg became an overcrowded refuge for the surrounding area. The fugitives suffered from epidemic and famine. At the beginning of 1637, the year of the Great Pestilence, there were four ministers in Eilenburg. But one abandoned his post for healthier areas and could not be persuaded to return. Pastor Rinkhart officiated at the funerals of the other two. As the only pastor left, he often conducted services for as many as 40 to 50 persons a day—some 4,480 in all. In May of that year, his own wife died. . In the heart of that darkness, with the cries of fear outside his window, he sat down and wrote this table grace for his children:

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers� arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.