Summer Refresh Session 2 "Stewarding Thankfulness" | Pastor John Vaught | Saturday, August 1, 2026

We're going to read 1 Thessalonians 5

and then our primary text that I want us

to consider is Luke

Luke 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

Now, I'm going to need you to be a

little more gracious with me. Um, I

literally

felt like the Lord kind of redirect and

so I really didn't have time to study

this.

Uh, I think I can articulate it maybe

without my notes, but um, but there

there's a great mindset

that harmonizes with what we just looked

at of being a steward of our mind

that also harmonizes with being a

steward of thanksgiving. Because you you

have to be a steward of thanksgiving.

You have to determine, I I'm gonna be a

thankful person. I'm gonna be a thankful

person. Why don't you say that with me?

I'm going to be a thankful person. And

and and you practice that every day.

Every day. When you're in a good mood,

be a thankful person.

When you're in a bad mood,

be a thankful person. So, this is going

to help us. Are you in 1 Thessalonians

5?

Look in verse 18.

In everything

give what?

For this is the will of God

in Christ Jesus

concerning you.

Yeah. So hard, isn't it? It's just Can

we just be honest? That's hard

[sighs]

when Misty is upset at me and I've

earned it and I'm trying to make things

right and she's just not [sighs]

um

at the place

that I want her to be.

uh after I've messed up,

I need to be thankful. And it's hard

when you know your husband and a husband

and wife are working through something

to be thankful. Yes or no? That's some

of the hardest moments. And when your

finances are

in a mess or you got a a medical problem

that you're trying to figure out how to

pay for,

it's hard to be thankful. Um and so but

but man, this is a mindset and being a

steward. You got to be a steward of

being a thankful person, which is part

of being a good steward of the mind. All

right. So, so we're going to see this

theme theme of thanksgiving. In fact,

it's in the title. I'll tell you the

title here in a minute. We're going to

see that as we progress through the

message in Luke 2. So, you can lose your

place in 1 Thessalonians 5 and hop over

to Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

Um, this message is a little bit

schizophrenic because it's a message

that typically you only hear a message

from this text during the Christmas

season

[laughter]

and uh it's part of the Christmas story.

And so, but it's applicable anytime.

It's applicable during the summer, not

just in December.

And uh um and and we're going to see

that we're going to take the thought of

being Thanksgiving and we're going to

apply it to this text, but we're going

to have some fun interaction first. And

this is I'm going to ask you to be

responsive once again. Are you ready?

Very good. Okay. Okay. So, when we think

about the Christmas story,

what characters

come to mind?

Jesus.

Pretty big character, right? In the

Christmas story. So, we think of Jesus.

All right.

We think about the shepherds, right? And

uh that's uh that's a that's there in

Luke 2. I believe that's in Luke 2. And

they came to see Jesus. Who else do we

think of?

Mary, right? Another pretty significant

part of the story. We think about the

angels that the shepherds saw or the

angels that came to Mary or Joseph. Um,

and so we think about that. Anyone else

that comes to mind?

>> The wise men

and the king who sent them. Yeah. Very

good. Yeah, we think about that. Anyone

else?

Joseph. Did we mention him already?

Yeah, of course. He always gets

forgotten, doesn't he? I always forget

the man. We think about Joseph. All

right. Very good. Huh?

>> Gabriel.

>> Think about Gabriel, the the archangel,

right? Uh, is that who you're referring

to? Part of the We've mentioned the

angels already. Anyone else that we're

leaving out? Huh? The inkeepers. Very

good. Yeah, this is good Bible trivia.

The animals. Of course, you got to think

about the animals. What animals were

they?

Yeah. Okay. All right. I'm not sure if

that's in the text, but that's what we

think of, right? That were in the inn or

the stable. Anything else? Are we

missing anybody?

John the Baptist. Yeah. and part of that

uh Christmas story and his parents

Elizabeth and Zachariah. Zacharias

Zachariah

Mr. Z. Yeah. Okay.

Well,

I set you up on purpose

and you failed.

Um, I asked you to mention some of the

main characters of the Christmas story.

Of course, you mentioned

some key ones,

but there's one key character

that not one of you mentioned.

Not one. Oh, you want a second chance

now, huh? Let's see if you get it. Go

ahead. Huh?

Yeah. Gota. Of course. God. Yeah.

David as it relates to, you know, his

lineage. Yeah, I'm [clears throat] we're

going to see a little bit of that in

here. Yeah, that's very good. Wasn't

thinking that, but you're still missing

a key character that's in our story.

Don't look at the story yet. We're going

to read it in just a minute.

One more chance.

Huh? Herod got mentioned already. Sent

by uh the shepherds were sent by Herod,

right? So, that got mentioned already.

Are you ready? Let's look at it. Let's

see if you can identify it. Luke 2. I

guess I should turn there. Let me get

there. Luke 2. And let's begin our

reading in verse

1.

And it came to pass in those days

that there went out a decree

from who?

I asked you about the main characters

of the Christmas story

and never once did you mentioned Caesar

Augustus,

but God includes him here as one of the

key figures.

And we don't often think of Caesar

being involved in the Christmas story,

but he is. Yes or no? Yeah. Let's keep

reading.

And so a decree went out from Caesar

Augustus that all the world

should be taxed. Okay, time out. Look up

here for a minute. Most powerful man in

the world. Yes, Caesar Augustus. He He

is the prime minister of the world. He

He is the authority of the world. Of

course, Rome, the the world empire at

this time. There's not a more powerful

man at this point in time than Caesar

Augustus. And so he's going to send out

uh a a tax a oh what's the other word

I'm looking for? A a census. And that's

going to involve like we mentioned

already David uh the heritage of David.

Let's read about it. Verse two. And this

taxing was first made when Sirenius was

governor of Syria. And all went to be

taxed,

everyone into his own city. And Joseph

also went up from Galilee out of the

city of Nazareth into Judea, unto the

city of who? So David got mentioned.

Good job. Uh which is called Bethlehem.

Why? because he was of the house

[snorts] and lineage of David to be

taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being

great with child. And so it was that

while they were there, the days were

accomplished that she should be

delivered, and she brought forth her

firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling

clothes,

laid him in a manger, because there was

no room in the end. Yeah. Here's the

title of the message.

Thank God for Caesar.

Thank

God

for Caesar.

Lord,

um I'm I'm confident that you've

directed

our our thoughts

to being a a a steward of the mind,

which is connected to being a steward of

thanksgiving

and even being thankful

for some of the most unlikely people

that we don't view as being people that

are for us,

but they actually are.

And so Lord, help us to not only uh not

only be reminded of uh our

responsibility to steward a heart of

gratitude and thanksgiving, but to also

see this great truth that is here that's

connected to thanksgiving. We praise you

for what you'll do. We ask it inh

Christ's name. And everyone said,

"Amen."

The way God recorded this story is

amazing to me. It is just absolutely uh

amazing. In Luke chapter 2, God brings

Luke 2 · chapter mention

our attention to a man. He has zero

desire for God. Caesar. [snorts] He has

zero interest in the things of God. Zero

interest in Jesus Christ. Zero interest

in the church. Zero interest in anything

spiritual. Now, he does have a lot of

interest in himself and how he can get

more money. and he's interested in that.

But Caesar plays a pivotal role in the

Christmas story. Did you read that? Did

you see that pivotal role in the

Christmas story? Mary, Joseph,

shepherds, wise men, angels, all usual

suspects as you mentioned, but we'd all

often think of Caesar Augustus. Look at

verse one again. Came to pass in those

days there went out a decree from Caesar

Augustus that all the world should be

what?

Text. Verse number three. And all went

to be what? Verse number four. Joseph

also went up from Galilee out of the

city of Nazareth unto Judea unto the

city of David which is called Bethlehem.

Verse number five, to be what?

Text.

The Bible says that Mary and Joseph

went to Bethlehem for what reason?

>> To be what?

>> They had to go there because of David's

lineage. But the we just read the verse.

Why did they go to Bethlehem? According

to verse number five, to be taxed.

Don't you like taxes?

>> [sighs and snorts]

>> The Bible says that Mary and Joseph went

to be taxed. Listen, listen here. They

did not go to Bethlehem to have a baby.

They went there

because a man made a decree that he

needed more money from the people that

are subject unto him.

They went to Bethlehem because the most

powerful man in the world

said, "I'm going to tax all of you and

you're going to pay your dues."

So they went

to Bethlehem based on a selfish command

from an ungodly man who has no interest

in the things of God, no interest in

Jesus Christ, no interest in the church.

Yes or no? Yeah. Yeah, of course it's

yes. It's in the Bible.

From a human standpoint,

Caesar is the reason Mary and Joseph

end up in Bethlehem.

We don't often think of Caesar playing a

crucial role. Get listen to this

statement. We don't often think of

Caesar

playing a crucial role with Mary and

Joseph and their walk with God, but he

did.

Caesar

is the reason, humanly speaking, Mary

and Joseph

end up in Bethlehem. Wow. I love how one

commentator what he says about this. Let

me read to you. It's a longer quote.

You're going to pay attention as I read

a longer quote. The reason I say that is

because longer quotes our mind tends to

wander. But not this time, right?

Listen to this quote. To fulfill the

prophecy that the Messiah would be born

in Bethlehem, God in his providence

moved the heart of the most powerful man

in the world, the ruler of the mighty

Roman Empire.

The emperor

seated on his throne in the imperial

capital of Rome was far removed from the

tiny hamlet of Bethlehem. He was even

further removed from an understanding of

the purposes of God and the plans of

God, being utterly ignorant of the word.

Yet, he played a crucial role in

fulfilling God's design concerning the

birth of the son of God.

[laughter]

If you knew nothing about the Christmas

story, but you knew God was going to

bring forth his son, and you were to

come up with how God would do that, none

of us in here would ever pick the most

powerful and probably the most ungodly

person in the world. God using him to

help Mary and Joseph fulfill God's plan

for their life.

It's just a little bit backwards.

You think of Mary and Joseph as they

were poor.

They're just peasants, so to speak,

common folk that have to obey the law.

That do obey the law under the authority

of Caesar. So for get this, from a human

standpoint, we're seeing Mary and

Joseph. Why are you guys going to

Bethlehem? Well, Caesar said we've got

to give money.

So from a human standpoint, it seems

like

Mary and Joseph are serving Caesar.

>> Mary and Joseph are just some

insignificant people as the world views

them.

Expendable religious people.

No real impact to ability to impact the

world. Mary and Joseph are living as

citizens under a strong dominant world

power called Rome.

And Mary and Joseph are people, get

this, Mary and Joseph, this is easy to

have this perspective. Mary and Joseph

are just people that have to put up with

the oppression

of selfish and wicked people and selfish

and wicked governments. They just got to

put up with it.

This is how we often now you don't view

the story this way because

but if God did this to you

and said you've got to travel while your

wife is 9 months pregnant

on a donkey

to go give more money to the government.

You would be complaining more than

likely as would I.

government, American government doesn't

need more money. They need more money

why why they already taking all this

money.

And so it it it seems like Mary and

Joseph

are servants to Caesar.

But what God does in this passage is he

flips that script upside down and he's

showing us that the one that seems to be

in charge and seems to be the authority

and seems to make people serve him, God

is using that one to be servants to the

peasants who follow God. Someone say

amen. Good night. That's an amazing

truth.

Wow.

From a horizontal perspective, they're

serving Caesar. But from God's divine

perspective, Caesar is actually the one

that is serving these two poor peasant

people.

Caesar is thinking, I have the power to

tax the world.

and and he does, but behind the scenes,

God is using the one that thinks he's in

control to actually serve God's people

to help God's will and God's calling in

their life

be fulfilled.

That's crazy.

Yep.

Caesar

in this story is the pawn,

not

Mary

and Joseph.

Wow.

The Bible shows that God is going to

accomplish his will. I've already talked

about it. And you're no one's stopping

his will. I love this verse. Isaiah 46

and verse number nine. I am God. There

is none else. I am God. There is none

like me. It's like God's like just

looking around, see if anyone's like me.

Nope. I'm the only one here. That's God.

I'm the only one that controls time. I'm

the only one that's made time. I'm only

one that made matter. I'm the only one

that can do all the things that I can

do.

Verse uh verse 10 of Isaiah 46,

declaring the end from the beginning,

from the ancient times, the things that

are not yet done, saying, "My counsel

shall stand. I will do all my pleasure.

Let me translate that for you. No one

stops God. No one stops his will. And

God will use anybody he wants, no matter

how against they may be against the ways

of God to accomplish his will. And God

can even use the most powerful people in

the world to help peasant people who

believe in God and are serving his

eternal purpose. Woo, buddy.

Amen. I love that. Here's

the lesson. Here's the lesson that I

want you to take away. The takehome

truth.

When you determine to live for the

purposes of God,

the world will actually work for you.

Though it seems like

they're against you.

Yeah.

It seems like boulders against you.

This story shows that when you're

surrendered to God in his will,

he will use even the most powerful

governments

and people that are against him

to help you fulfill your calling and his

will. That's what this story shows.

You got to remind yourself of that over

and over again.

There's a building somewhere out there.

These people that are trying to keep you

from that.

Government officials, city officials,

God's actually going to use them. No, I

believe that God's actually going to use

them

to put it in your lap.

It might be uncomfortable.

the process.

The the journey there might be

uncomfortable.

I get uncomfortable just looking at a

9-month-old pregnant woman, right? I

mean, I you just and I know this is

awkward, but when I if they allow me and

I know them, I don't just walk up to any

pregnant woman, but you know, if I know

them, my daughter is pregnant. and she's

she 5 months pregnant and uh and when

Misty was pregnant and just touching the

belly and it's like so firm. I'm like,

"Oh, that seems so uncomfortable."

That alone is uncomfortable. Whoa. No.

Time out. Riding on a don a donkey

to Bethlehem.

How uncomfortable. By the way, this is

unrelated that uh I do that. I hike the

Grand Canyon all the time. And um and so

they have these mules, mule trains that

go down and they provide supplies to the

different areas down in the Grand Canyon

and people can pay to ride a mule down

to the Grand Canyon and it's slow and

I'm like, "Have you ever ridden like a

horse like and gone fast for a long time

or just been on a horse for a long

time?" Man, I've done that. My back is

sore and I'm like, "Good night." And I'm

still fairly young and I'm like there's

no way I'm going to Grand Canyon on a

mule. No way. I want to be able to walk

and I can go faster than mule anyway.

I'm just saying that that that God has a

building for you somewhere. The process

might be uncomfortable. It wasn't

comfortable for Mary to go from Nazareth

to Bethlehem. There was some discomfort

and some uncertainty.

But behind the scenes, God is using

Caesar to fulfill his will in these two

peasant people's life. And the same

thing is true here. Yes, they seem

against you. But if you're surrendered

to God, God's going to use these people

that are against you to help accomplish

the very thing that God's going to

accomplish here. So don't look beyond

the horizontal. Look beyond the people

that are against you and understand

God's in control of all of this. And

he'll use their selfish, wicked ways to

actually put bring forth on a platter

the very thing that y'all need. Y'all

need a building. Amen. I believe that.

I believe that when you determine to

live for the purposes of God,

the powerful people that you're expected

to submit unto

can be used by God to help serve you.

actually

help you fulfill your calling.

That's what makes this Christmas story

so amazing and that's why we can say

this.

Thank God for Caesar.

I'm so glad the 20

24 election I had to think

ended the way it did.

You know what I'm saying? With President

Trump. Look, there's a lot of things

about President Trump I don't like. Just

if I'm if I'm transparent, there's a lot

of things I don't like.

But I'm really thankful

that it wasn't Kamla.

But even if it was Kamla,

you know what I could say?

Thank God for Kamla.

I could say that because God I don't

need Kamla to make the government

accommodating to Christians or American

virtues

in order to fulfill God's will. Why?

Because God's will is unstoppable. And

God will use Kamla and any other person

he wants to to help God fulfill his will

in my life. I believe that. And listen,

if we were persuaded by the I'm going to

read this truth again. When you

determine to live for the purposes of

God, the world that seems like it's

working against you will be used of God

to work for you. If you're convinced by

that truth, how much would that change

your attitude?

You'd probably complain less and have a

more positive

attitude and perspective. Yes or no?

Amen.

>> And this goes back to stewarding our

mind.

Even though we may be victimized by

powerful people in the government and we

might be able we might be forced to pay

for a bloated government and even pay

for things that are supported immoral

things that are supported by our

government.

If you understood this truth you would

not view yourself as a victim of the

government. though it seems that way

because you would understand that God is

ultimately in control of these things.

So I'm fine if you view me as a peasant

having to give taxes to Caesar,

but I don't have a horizontal

perspective like that.

I I know who's in control.

And I know that God's called me. And I

know that no one stops God.

Though I'm slain or they try to kill me

every day, I am more than a conqueror

through Jesus Christ. And I have

everything I need because I've got Jesus

Christ and I have his Holy Spirit and I

got his word. And yeah, I might have

bonds and afflictions that abide me.

That's okay. I'm going to finish my

course with joy. I'm not stopping. Can

you see how all of this ties together of

being a steward of the mind, steward of

thanksgiving? Thank God

for Caesar

and thank God for the difficulties you

face here as as a church. Thank God for

them. Thank God for them. They're

frustrating at times, aren't they?

Frustrating at times. Thank God you got

to set up and tear down.

Thank God for that.

Thank God you've got to go into a

meeting here soon and they might raise

the rent. I don't know if that they know

about that. Anyway, thank God for that.

Thank God you've got to figure out how

to pay missionaries. Thank God you've

got to figure out how to expand the uh

expand the number of people that you can

reach. Thank God how that that you've

got to work through some difficulties of

trying to be more evangelistic and

expose more people to the gospel. Thank

God for the trans people that are in

this city that seem woke and want to

shut you up. God can use all of that.

Thank God for that. Thank God for all

things.

Can you see how applicable this is? And

so I just think that this will help you

so very much. So very much. If you

believe this truth, when you're

convinced of this truth, [snorts]

it what it does is it relieves you of a

lot of unnecessary stress and

frustration that you go through. It

would relieve you.

No, God, you're in control, Caesar.

You're in control of the city council at

in Boulder. You're in control. You're in

control of the person that we hope to

talk to to maybe get that building.

you're in control.

They they seem completely uninteresting.

Thank Thank God for that because you're

in control, God. Thank God for that. If

you really believe this truth, then you

could be in some of the most

uncomfortable circumstances that are

beyond your control, like pregnant,

traveling on a donkey to pay taxes and

still to come come to God each day with

thanksgiving and say, "God, you're in

control and you're using all of these

things that are beyond my control to

help your will be fulfilled in my life."

Amen.

And amen. So I ask you I ask you this.

I'm almost done.

We were supposed to be done 20 minutes

ago. Huh?

I hope it hasn't felt long to you. It

hasn't felt long to me. Okay, good.

Here's my question to you, and you have

to answer it. Everyone answers or we

don't go home.

[laughter]

Everyone answers.

Is the world

working for you

or against you?

You know what question you're really

asking? When I ask you that question, do

you know what question I'm really asking

you?

True. Yes.

What I'm really asking is, are you

submitted to the will of God? Because if

you're not submitted to the will of God,

the world will smash you.

But when I'm connected to him,

all things are used for what?

for good to those who love him and who

are the called according to

his purpose. And when that is a part of

my life, the world works for my good,

not against it. Does that make sense?

So maybe right now you can just

recommmit

to be submitted to God.

And then you can thank God

that the world is working for your good,

not against your good. Not because you

feel it, but because we know that about

God. Does that make sense? Would you bow

your heads for a minute? Lord, I pray

that

these are truths that don't come natural

to us.

Lord, these are truths that we find in

your word.

You made Caesar

the servant.

And if you can use Caesar to serve two

people

who from the world's view is powerless,

they're powerless.

And you can use anybody in our lives as

long as we're submitted to you

for our good.

So would you help us maybe in the time

of response [music]

to recommmit to you to being surrendered

to you

so that we can say the world is working

for us not against us?

Would you help that to be accomplished?

[music]

We ask it in Christ's name. Amen.

Pastor, I'm going to let you come up. If

you want to continue to lead in the time

of [music] response, that'd be great.