Let's Be Thankful

Thanks unto the Lord, for he is good for his mercy and earth

forever. Psalm 104.

Enter into his gates with Thanksgiving and into his courts

with praise. Be thankful unto him, and bless

his name. You go ahead and turn to 1st

Thessalonian chapter 5 and verse #18 First Thessalonian is 5/18.

It says in everything. Give thanks for this is the will

of God and Christ Jesus concerning you.

I want you to notice the first part of verse #18.

It says in everything. Give thanks.

And now I know what you're thinking tonight.

You're saying to yourself, is he really going to preach a message

about being thankful this far away from Thanksgiving?

And yes, I am. Because I believe we as

Christians need to be thankful all year around, not just during

Thanksgiving time. We have so much to be thankful

for. Let's pray.

Dear Jesus, I pray that you would just be with these next

few minutes. Father.

I pray that you would bless me as I speak.

Father, give me the words to say.

Father, I just pray that you would give us a good rest of the

night and just stay my pray. Amen.

And as a Christian, one of the first things that pops into my

head when we're talking about being thankful, one of the first

things that comes to my mind is being thankful for our

salvation. Do you realize tonight that if

we're saved, we have a home in heaven and that we get to spend

eternity with Jesus? Now that should make us

thankful, if not anything else? I could stop right there and not

even preach, just being thankful for our salvation, knowing for

for sure that we have a home in heaven.

One day turning your Bibles to Luke, chapter #17, Luke 17, and

we're going to be looking at verses 11 through 19, they say.

And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed

through to the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men

that were levers which stood afar off.

And they lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, Master, have no

have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said to

them, go show yourselves unto the priest.

And it came to pass as they went, they were cleansed.

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back

and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face

at his feet. And that here it is giving him

thanks, as he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, were

there not ten cleanse. But where are the 9:00 They are

not found that return to give Gore to God save this stranger.

And he said in him Arise, go thy way, thy faith that made the

whole What do we see here? In verses 11 through 19 we see

this leopard that came to Jesus and then left being made, that

was left being healed, and he was thankful because of what

Jesus had done in his life so many times.

I think there's too many Christians that have forgotten

what Jesus has done their life. They've forgotten that he's

saved them from an eternity of hell and that he's given them a

home in heaven. And this past year of college,

my RA would go on team visitation with the youth group

at Temple Baptist Church. And I remember him coming back

to the dorm after going to soul Went in that day.

And they came back and they were able to have a good conversation

with this woman at her house and they were able to actually give

her the gospel and leader to Christ.

And I remember him telling us the story.

This is what he was emphasizing. He was emphasizing how thankful

she was after she accepted Jesus Christ.

She was saying, just thank you, thank you, Thank you for coming

to my house and giving me this opportunity.

And I think we can. We must never lose our

thankfulness for our salvation #1.

Be thankful for your salvation. Night #2 Be thankful for the

word of God. Just the freedom we have in this

country to carry a Bible freely and wake up in the morning and

read our Bible is something that I think we take for granted too

often. We didn't have to smuggle our

Bibles into church tonight. We didn't have to hide our

Bibles on the way to church tonight.

We were able to come in here freely with the word of God.

I remember a few years ago my mom would remember probably

better than I did. But there was a missionary that

came to our church. I think he was from China and he

showed us this video of all these little Chinese children

and they were receiving Bibles for the very first time.

And as they were getting these Bibles, as he was showing us

this video, it made me almost emotional just seeing the tears

from these kids faces as they received the Bible for the first

time and just hugging it. They were kissing it.

They were saying thank you, thank you, thank you.

And they were truly thankful for the word of God.

And I think many times today in America we've lost that, we've

lost our thankfulness for the word of God and we take it for

granted. So often, many times, I think we

take it for granted the word of God because we have forgotten

its power. Turn to Hebrews chapter 4,

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

Hebrews chapter 4, and verse 12. Hebrews 412 says.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any

two edges, sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul

and spirit and of joints, of the joints and marrow, and is a

discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart as we read

this first, and if we really study this first, we're going to

find that the word of God is powerful, isn't it?

We're going to find that there's nothing more powerful in this

world than the word of God. And I'm preaching to myself

tonight. How many times do I wake up in

the morning and instead of reading my Bible like I should,

I get up because I'm too tired and I go to work.

I go do this, I go do that. I go play this sport.

I go play that sport. I go hang out with this friend

and that friend instead of taking the time that I need to

in my Bible. We must always be thankful for

the word of God and not take it for granted #1.

We have to be thankful for your salvation #2 Be thankful for the

Bible #3 Be thankful for your church.

I'm so thankful for churches like my home church, Gilgrove

Baptist Church, and Mount Victory where I can come and

receive encouragement every single night or not every single

night but Monday or Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday morning,

Sunday night and Wednesday night.

There we go. Finally got it out.

I'm so thankful for it. Turn your Bibles.

The Hebrews chapter 10. A few chapters over Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10, Hebrews 10 and verse 24 and 25 is what we're going to

be looking at. It says, and let us consider one

another to provoke until love and to good works.

Here it is right here, not forsaking the assembling of

ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting

one another and so much the more as he see the day approaching.

Now more than ever, we need the church in America.

We need a place where we can come just for a few hours and

get away from the world. Get get away from the filth and

the junk that we all day on the world and come and sit down and

hear the word of God preached and hear the and sing praise

unto God. It's one of the most I'm it's

one of the things I'm most thankful for especially as a

college student. You go busy all week one test 1

class to go to another thing another this another that and

but I'm so thankful for the nights that I can just go to

church and just be reminded who God is and that he's going to

take care of us. We need to be thankful for the

church. I think one of the reasons

people are leaving the church is because they weren't truly

thankful for it when they were in the church.

We always need to be thankful for our church #4.

This is for the young people. So young people, I'm going to

pick on y'all for a little while, so, but I think it's also

for the adults to be be thankful for your parents.

The Bible still says to honor your parents the last time I

checked, young person and I don't do it as much as I should

and I don't do it as often as I should.

But many young people nowadays are not being thankful for their

parents. Your parents have done so much

for you. They've given you clothes,

They've given you food on your table.

They've given you a house to live in.

They have you in a good church tonight.

They want what's best for you and don't complain if your

parents have rules for you and boundaries for you, man, be

thankful for that. I'm thankful growing up in my

parents set certain rules and bound for me that kept me from

doing some of the things that I probably would have done if

those rules weren't there. Don't go home and complain

saying I can't go here. I can't do this, I can't do

that. I can't wear this.

I can't date him. I can't date her.

I can't have this. Your parents rules are not there

to harm you or to hinder you from doing the things you want

to do. They're there to protect you

from doing the things that you want to do.

Be thankful for your parents. And my last point tonight is be

thankful for your future and many of your thing.

And how can I be thankful for my future?

Hasn't happened to me yet. I don't know what's in my

future, but if you're saved this morning or this evening, and you

know you're on your way to heaven, that's reason to be

thankful enough. Be thankful that this world is

not our home. What does the song say?

This world is not our home. We're just a passing through.

Our treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.

We are going to have eternity with Jesus.

We're going to be able to praise him for eternity.

Turn to Revelation chapter 22. Revelation 22.

Revelation 22 · chapter mention

And we're going to be reading verses one through 5 Revelation

22, one through 5, he says. And he showed me a pure river of

water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of

God and of the Lamb in the midst of the street of it.

And on either side of the river was there the tree of life,

which bear 12 manner of fruits and yielded her fruit of yielded

her fruit every month. And the leaves of the trees were

from the healing for the healing of the nations.

And there shall be no more curse with the throne of God, and of

the Lamb shall be in it. And his servant shall serve him,

and they shall see his face. And his name shall be in their

foreheads. And there shall be no night

there. And they need no candle neither

light of the sun. For the Lord God giveth them

light. And they shall reign forever.

Be thankful that one day we're going to be in heaven with

Jesus. This world is going to be no

more. We're going to be perfect.

There's going to be no more night.

There's going to be no more sickness.

There's going to be no more pain.

There's going to be no more heartache.

We're going to be able to see our loved ones that have gone on

before us. I'm going to be able to see my

grandpa and my Paul, Paul again. I can't wait to see them.

It's going to be great. I'm going to be able to see

Pastor Brothers one day. He's there and I can just

picture him now. Just waiting for us to get up

there. And it's coming sooner than we

think. Pretty soon the trumpets going

to sound and all of us, they're saved, are going to be raptured

out of this world. We're going to be taking and

meet Jesus in the air. And that's something that I look

forward to. And that's something that I'm

thankful for. He's coming.

Be thankful for our future. So tonight we have Be thankful

for your salvation. Be thankful for the word of God.

Be thankful for your church. Be thankful for your parents,

young people and old people. Be thankful for our future and

everything it brings you back to first Thessalonia Chapter 5,

verse 18 and everything. Give things We have so much to

be thankful for it only. Let's go out here.

Let's go out from here and live thankful lives because of what

Jesus has done for us. Let's pray, Dear Jesus, I pray

that you would just bless these few words that I say, Father.

I pray that you would help us as we go out from here.

Or just help us to be truly thankful, Father, and just

realize that all the stuff that we're going through, Father,

that we have so much to look forward to and so much to be

thankful for. And just thank you for all this

you do for us. And you say, I pray, Amen.

Amen. Let's stand our seats with heads

about and our eyes closed. Took a plate page out of my

playbook when it comes to being thankful year round.

I say that all the time. You know, we we think that only

around Thanksgiving is when you're allowed to talk about

being thankful. But we we need to be thankful

always. And boy, sometimes we forget the

things that we should be thankful for.

And you know what an amazing thing to remember our salvation

and to remember our future and to remember what we have and

what we have in Christ. So the piano is going to play

tonight. And as she does, the invitation

is open. God spoke to your heart to now

you come. Even if you just need to come

and tell the Lord thank you again.

If you're not unthankful, maybe you just need to tell them thank

you again. Great opportunity to do that

tonight.