Thankfulness in Every Season: A Thanksgiving Sermon with Pastor Eric Crawford

What a blessing that was worth coming tonight. Amen. Amen. What

a wonderful blessing. Turn if you wouldn't your Bibles to first

Thessalonians chapter five tonight. Just want to thank you,

Lord. I remember when our kids used to sing that song. Anyway, We

have so much to be thankful for. Thanksgiving time set aside

back to time set aside by the plymouth Colony in 1621 after a bad

first winter to thank God for the blessings he had bestowed upon

them. And if you'll remember, for every hut they built, they buried

seven people. And yet they still set aside time to thank God

for the blessings he had bestowed upon them. George Washington

in 1789 also made the proclamation that the nation should

thank God for its many blessings. Abraham Lincoln again

made that same proclamation in 1863. And finally Congress got on

board. 1941 made Thanksgiving a national holiday to be thankful

to God for His blessings upon our nation. And so that's our politicians

would do good to remember what Thanksgiving was originally set aside

for. It wasn't just to thank and be blessed or thank us for our

blessings, but thank God for our blessings. Thank God for what

he's done for our nation. We are so blessed. Look at 1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4 and we'll begin reading verse 17, you'll know the

two verses. Pray without ceasing. Very long verse. Pray without

ceasing. In other words, we ought to always be in the attitude

of prayer, always understanding and knowing that God

is available and his door is never shut. You ever go into a building,

an office building, and some crazy person has put a big old huge

window in the offices, in the wall of the offices of that building.

Like you walk down the hallway and instead of having some privacy,

every office has a big old window in it. That's crazy. That

just says if I look in there and I see you're not doing, I can

just walk in, right? Do that to our banker too. Big old window

means the door's always open. I'm thankful God's door is always

open. He's always on the line. His line is never busy. He's always

there. Now verse 18 in everything give thanks. For this

is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you in everything

giving thanks. Let me pray again. Heavenly Father, bless the

time we've had. We have here together for just the next few minutes.

Lord, may we again see the importance of being a thankful people.

In Jesus name, Amen. We in America are so, so blessed. So blessed

by God. And then we've had the opportunity as many of you to go

to some other countries, especially those who are in developing

countries. We used to call them third world countries. You can't

do that anymore, these developing countries. And you go

there and you see things that you just never thought you'd see,

learn of things you never thought were still possible in the

modern era. How someone. Our people could not afford to get glasses.

Our poorest people in America are rich. Go do the stats, you'll

find out that the 1%, that's a farce. Nearly every American is in

the 1%. If you go by what the world has proven. Our poorest people

are rich compared to many people in the world. In fact, compared

to most people in the world. We are blessed beyond measure. We're

blessed not only with, you know, finances and the ability to

have food on our table. God's been so good to us, our freedoms,

our family. I mean, we could just go down the list, couldn't we?

In Psalm 104, the Bible says, enter into his gates with thanksgiving

and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and

bless his name. Be thankful unto him. But what does it mean to

bless his name? It means we ought to do it with our lips. Bless

his name with our lips. I mentioned Sunday about those who

denigrate the name of God and take the name of God in vain. And

it happened to me just a few days ago. I'm like, why would you,

why would you need to say those words? Why would you do those

things? We need to be thankful to God, thankful to him. And the

negative part of this, and we do this every Thanksgiving. And it

needs, we need to be reminded of this too, that the majority of

people today are unthankful, that those of us who I believe hopefully

in this room are thankful, that we sit in the minority. We live

in a generation, we live in a day and age in which people are ungrateful,

especially in the United States of America. We know this is

part of prophecy. That's why I mention it. Second Timothy, chapter

three. Know this, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

Goes on to give you a list. People will be lovers of themselves,

covetous, proud, high minded. And in that same list, it says unthankful.

It just amazes me that in all of this big list of just terrible

things, lovers of their own self, covetous, proud, unthankful.

It's kind of like when you read Romans chapter one and you're

reading down through there and Paul says the invisible things that

we do not see conclude. We conclude that there is a God. And

that those who conclude there's not a God are without excuse

because again, what he's saying there is that creation tells

us that there is a God. He, he said, but they have willfully denied

God. I'm summarizing. And because of that, ungrateful, unthankful

to God. And then the next verse it says, and he gave them up

to a reprobate mind. So in that list, and I didn't, I'm not

going to go read it, but there's a bunch of bad stuff in there

and right in the middle of it, unthankful. I believe that God puts

a lot of stock in those individuals who are thankful and

that those who are unthankful, he. How do I put this nicely? They

don't like it. And there are repercussions for that. And many

people today are experiencing those repercussions because they

are, again, unthankful. We have raised a couple of generations

of those individuals who are in America especially unthankful,

Very unthankful. From kids to adults. Have you ever seen, ever

been a time in your life where you've seen such a large group of

people with a sense of entitlement? That's because they

all receive participation trophies and they think everybody

ought to get one. I know we make fun of that, but it really is

some of the problem. Kids didn't learn how to lose. Sometimes

you lose, sometimes you don't get the job, sometimes you don't

get the raise. You're not entitled to the raise. You're not

entitled to health insurance. Oh, man, sorry, I got off on that.

You're not entitled. None of us deserve it, man. It's amazing,

isn't it? Several generations with a lack of wisdom. A lot of people

with no common sense. I promise I'm going to get off the

negative in a minute, brother Billy, but it's good for us, you

know. Hey, it's true. We can't just bury our head in the sand and

just. I'll just ignore it. Those 35 year olds living in their

mom and daddy's basement, that's a problem. Can I tell you,

a lot of the problem is with the parents. And I know I'm preaching

to the choir tonight and you guys are teaching your children correctly.

At least I hope you are. But there are a lot of people today who

have a lack of understanding in finances. There's a lot of people

who just lack common sense in math. I think two plus two equals

five. Because they've been, if they put that down. They haven't

been marked wrong. So I'm glad. In Texas, for the most part,

the teacher will mark them wrong. Unless you're in Dallas, probably,

or Fort Worth. I should go on. And I don't. Where does stuff come

from? Where does stuff come from? When your kids are little,

did you ever ask them, you know, hey, they're eating a hot dog

or they're eating a hamburger, maybe, whatever the case is. And

as they're eating it, there's some question comes up, and you.

And you're having to answer where that thing. And you say, well,

that came from a cow or that came from a pig. And they finally

get to the age where they sort of understand, and it just clicks

for them for a little bit, and they go, that's good. At least that's

the guys anyway, right? The boys. That's good stuff. But they

finally figured out, you know, the egg didn't just magically appear.

It has to come from somewhere. If the government's going to give

away money, it has to come from somewhere. You wouldn't go over

and grab your neighbor's wallet, take money out of it and

go over and say, well, I'm entitled to it, but the government

does it. And people have that sense of entitlement. A generation,

two generations, slightly three generations. Where does stuff

come from? Where's the food on our table come from? I think it's

good to teach our kids. Hey. And I had this conversation up when

I was at Brother Glenn's place in North Carolina, of course, was

picking on a kid, and he was giving kind of blabbing at his mom

a little bit. So I just simply said, you know, who put the roof

over your head? Who puts the roof over your head? And he said,

my mama does. Oh, he had a really good, strong accent. My mama

does. He's a good boy. He's 11 or 12 years old. Mama was sitting

right there. You better believe I do. Who puts the food on

your table? Mama does. All right, then I think it's reasonable

that you should mind her. As you know, I've told this story a

thousand times. I used to tell our boys, that door on Your room

cost $35. You never shut the door on me because I'll come right

through it. I paid for that door. It's kind of like that old

saying, I brought you in this world, I can take you out, right?

Where does stuff come from, ultimately? From God. Everything

comes from him. Everything we have comes from him. I don't have

no stuff. I have Nothing. I hope Brother House is able to make

it this Sunday. Pray for him that he's able to be here Sunday

morning. I don't have any stuff God's given me. Everything

comes down from the Father of Lights. By the way, that verse says

for us to enjoy. Absolutely. God gives us these things for us

to enjoy. Can you imagine if all food was made to taste the same?

But it wasn't and it isn't. Hallelujah. But God could have made

it all taste the same. God could have made everything black

and white. God's so good to us. God is so gracious. We are the

center of his creation. We are the pinnacle, if you would, of his

creation. He loves us and has given us this earth to enjoy and

the things of this earth to enjoy. God is so good, and all things

come ultimately from Him. And we need to be thankful. We need to

be thankful. Not just say it, but also show it and practice it

in front of our children to teach our kids. I know small things,

but we say this every year around Thanksgiving to teach our

kids to say thank you. I know I'm preaching to the choir again,

but maybe somebody's listening online. Every parent ought to be

teaching their kid to say thank you as they get older. You

give them something, Johnny, say thank you. Somebody else gives

them something and they don't say thank you. You take it away and

you give it back to the person who gave it to them. Amen. Say thank

you. Say thank you. Let's go ahead and just say, yes, sir. No,

sir. Yes, ma', am. No, ma'. Am. I love some of the memes and

some of the reels on social media. Southerners. Northerners.

Make some Northerners. Not all. You know, I pick on you Northerners

all the time. Let me clarify. Some Northerners have an issue. They

don't. They weren't raised around saying, yes, ma' am and no,

ma', am, and yes, sir and no, sir. It's just good hospitality.

Okay, I'll stop. But saying thank you is important. I paid the

bills. You'll do what I say. Amen. Right? Teaching them to be

grateful. Teaching them to be thankful. Sometimes adults need to

learn the same thing. We are commanded to be thankful. In Colossians,

chapter three, verse 15, Paul said, and let the peace of God rule

in your hearts to the which also you are called in one body.

And be. Be ye thankful. Be ye thankful. It's a command. And of

course, here in our verse, it says in everything, give thanks.

It's a command. We're commanded as Christians to be thankful.

To be thankful. Thinking brings thanksgiving. As we think

about the blessings that God has given us, as we think about the

goodness of God, as we think about the stuff he's given us, we

think about our family. I mean, we could go on and on and on.

The list gets longer and longer and longer in my life every

year. I'm so thankful for what he's given me, for what he's done

for me. I'm thankful for the hope that I have. I'm so thankful.

Be careful, boy. The devil loves, loves, loves to get you on

the negative. He loves to get you thinking about the negative.

He loves to get you thinking about the bad stuff. Thankful that

life is made up way more of good stuff than bad. We need to be

reminded of that. Colossians, chapter three. Again, it says there,

and let the peace of God. I want to remind you there that it

doesn't say make the peace of God. It's let the peace of God. Let

the peace of God rule in your hearts. Rule in your hearts. The

peace of God. I'm glad when I got saved, I got peace with God.

And then as a Christian, I get the peace of God. Philippians describes

as the peace of God that passes all understanding. There's

many places where it refers to the peace of God. I'm so thankful

for the peace of God. The peace of God should rule in our hearts.

God should sit on the throne of our heart. And the understanding

and the knowledge that he's in control should rule in our hearts.

And if he's in control, then we will have peace. Hang on, let's

say that differently. If we believe and have faith, knowing that

he is in control, we'll have peace. The peace of God. Whether

good or bad things happening in our life now, let the peace of

God rule in our hearts to the which also you're called in one body.

In other words, rule in our hearts means that God rules in our

hearts. We are walking with him, we are talking with him. And

this produces fruit in our life. The fruit that walking with

God produces in our life is a love for others. Here it refers to

the body, the body, the church, fellow brothers and sisters

in Christ, unity, commonality, same goals, same purpose. I love

this one. Each walking with God, therefore in the same direction.

If we're all walking with God, we're all walking the same direction.

Amen. All the same goals, all the same purpose. Loving others as

we love ourselves, experiencing the peace of God. And

all of that results in being a thankful people, a thankful church.

Aren't you thankful as a church? And maybe you get tired of

hearing it. Preachers come in here that special speakers and they

brag on you. They brag on us. I wonder why. Have you been to some

other churches lately? I don't even like going out of town. I seriously

don't. I know I'm. You know, I'm biased. I love our church. Not

a lot of churches out there like this one. Just not. Do you believe

that? Go find out. It shouldn't be that way now. I'm thankful

for Worth Baptist Church. I'm thankful for Victory Baptist Church.

I'm thankful there are absolutely some wonderful churches

out there. But man, it's really hard to find. We are to be

a thankful people. Understanding as we walk with God

and as we walk in the same direction as we keep the main thing.

The main thing and that's spreading the gospel that that we

as a church family should be a thankful family. A congregation that

recognizes God's blessings. Notice the verse again. Look back

at it with me first. Thessalonians 5:18. For in everything

1 Thessalonians 5:18

give thanks. Is that what it says? Doesn't say for. It says in.

And there is a difference in everything give thanks. It doesn't

even say be thankful in most things. It says in everything. In

everything. And you know where I'm headed with this one. That's

Romans 8:28. And we know that all things work together for good

Romans 8:28

to them who love God. To them who are the called according to his

purpose. The called according to his purpose. We know the vexed

verse says for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate

to be conformed to the image of his Son. That God works everything

to our good is a biblical principle. It is fact. It is something

we have to accept by faith. That God is working in our lives

both in the good and the bad that we perceive to be good and the

bad and working all those things to our good. It's easy to

be thankful when in the good times. Amen. Isn't is for me when

things are going great. When you're healthy. I got made to go

to the doctor. People are so mean. So I had a blood test. Test.

Came back today, got the phone call. They said on the phone to me

everything is wonderful. That's great. Praise the Lord. They

really did. That happened just before church. Until the next time.

51 years old. Blood work came out great. It's great when everything

is great. We can be thankful when again our health is all right.

The money in the bank Kids are halfway behaving, spouse is minding.

Just quit looking at each other. You're going to get in trouble.

It's Thanksgiving. You're going to be in the house together

the next couple of days. Be careful. No, no. Everything. It's

easy to be thankful when things are going good. But what happens

when you. When you get the phone call and instead of saying,

hey, the blood work was great. Hey, we need you to come in. Most

of us have been there, haven't we? Get a test result back from your

child who has a problem and you have to go in or the doctor meets

with you in another room. My wife and I have been through that.

It's hard to be thankful in those times. It's hard to be thankful

when the money is, you know, you're at the end of the money. And

I know, again, I've already said the poor in America are rich

compared to others. But when we live on this plane, on this level,

most of us live according to our, you know, maybe above our means

sometimes. And you find yourself in hot water. It's tough,

isn't it? Sometimes of your own making, but sometimes not of

your making. Things that happen in your life that you have

no control over and you find yourself in the middle of it. The

Bible says to be thankful, That's a tough order. Again, it's

a command. That's a tough order. Amen. Would you not agree?

That is a tough order. It's hard to be thankful in the bad times

we've had. Know of a couple of men here lately who are in their

40s who had a stroke, who are associated with our church or with

our school. I just. It boggles my mind. And then the ramifications

that happen because of that, and maybe a job loss, and then all

of a sudden it just kind of spins out of control and the medical

bills build up and I feel for them. We've been able to help them

some and, you know, pray for them, but it's hard to be thankful

in those times. It's hard to be thankful when you get the phone

call that your kid was taken to the pokey, the jail. I haven't

been there yet, but I know some parents who have. And they've

called me and said, hey, preacher, my son is this. Or my daughter,

what do I do? That's tough, isn't it? Or when a kid just rebels

and, you know, why are we to be thankful at all times? How can

we be thankful in everything? Well, the verse tells you, for this

is the will of God. In Christ Jesus concerning you. The only way

you can give thanks in everything is, is if you believe

the next statement. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus

concerning you. You see, God again uses circumstances in our life

to conform us into the image of His Son. He brings us through

tests or he allows things into our life to help us grow and in our

faith to be conformed to the image of His Son. And then secondly,

sometimes it's his chastening whom he loveth. He also chasteneth,

right? I mean, we understand that children, in order to have them

grow up properly, to train them properly, is they need chastening,

they need love. They need love that's not just spoken, but love

that is showed. And that love is also the chastening rod. Whom

the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. In fact, the Bible says

that if you do not use the rod with your child, you hate them. Well,

that's strong words, isn't it? That's because the chastening of

a mom and a dad of a child, it should be and it ought to be, and

it is, if done right. Love showing love to that kid. Hey, I

have your best interest in mind. You don't need to do this or

you should do this. Because that is the best way, that is the

right way. And you're going to find out that mom and dad know better

than you. You train them, you're helping them developing right

and wrong and all those things. And God does the same thing

with us. Do you believe that God is truly in control? It really

comes down to that, right? It's God who sets up kings. It's

God who takes them down. Do you really believe that God is in

control of everything? Of everyone? There are so many who believe

that God just started everything and then just kind of

wound it up and threw it into space and doesn't care. But no, that's

not the God of the Bible. That's somebody's box they put God

in. As far from the Bible as you can be. Because the Bible says

that God is not very far from any of us. That God cares for us,

that he never leaves us and never forsakes us. He also says he

would never fail us. You ever been in a spot where you feel like

God failed you? Be thankful. In everything. In everything, be

thankful. Do you truly believe that God's in control? He is the

one who brings or allows the storms in our life in order to conform

us to the image of his son. If you truly believe that he's in control,

you can be thankful in all things. Count your blessings. Name

them one by one. You won't believe what God has done for you.

I have in my office many times said to somebody, I really do think

it works. Sit down one day and just start counting your blessings.

We have a lot of people now, especially social media, who do the,

you know what I'm thankful for, you know, for 30 days. And that's

super easy to do. But I guarantee if you try to make up the

list of the bad stuff, you'll find that that list is far shorter

than you think if you actually put it down. God is working in our

lives and we need to be thankful for that. By the way, live

long enough and you'll view the storms of the past differently.

Amazing how time gives past storms perspective. Not all of them.

There are some storms that we have faced that we won't know until

eternity, why or how or what. And those we truly have to put our

confidence in God and faith in him that he has our best interest

in mind, that he's in control. Being thankful is recognizing that

everything comes from God. That's the basis of Thanksgiving.

Everything comes from God. I have no stuff. It's teaching that

to our kids, helping them to understand and realize the cost of

things. That's why kids ought to have chores, Kids ought to learn

the value of earning something. And kids ought to get

jobs as they get older. And kids ought to be taught the value

of things. Where stuff come from. Might be good to take your

kid to a farm. Be really good for them, actually, where does their

stuff come from? Where's their food come from? Comes from the store.

No, be thankful. We ought to be thankful in the good and the bad.

And again, as I said before, that's a tough order. We ought to

be thankful in all things. That's a command. Think about it.

It's a command from our heavenly Father, from God. And when

we are not thankful, we are breaking God's command. And when

we break God's command, that's a sin. Being unthankful is a sin.

It's wrong. So, preacher, I've gone through this and I've gone through

that. Listen, I have too. And sometimes it takes a while. Now,

it says here, be thankful in all things. That means while you're

in it. But I can tell you from my experience, sometimes when I'm

in it, I'm not as thankful as I should be. But it's not until a

little while later that I look back and go, oh, thank you, Lord.

Thank you for being so good to me, providing me the grace that I

needed at the time I needed it. Sometimes that grace that's shed

abroad in our hearts. Is really not revealed to us till sometime

later. We ought to be thankful in all things again, to think is

to be thankful. Thankfulness produces thankfulness. And then I

would say to you too tonight that thankfulness really is a choice.

Thankfulness is really an attitude. Amen. It's an attitude.

It's an attitude created by perspective. How big is your God?

Is your God truly in control? Do you. Do you believe, honestly

believe. Do you truly believe that God has your best interests

in mind? I believe he does. The Bible teaches that emphatically.

He does have your best interest in mind. He had Israel's

best interest in mind. He said he did all things for them. He said

he did all things for them for their good. Look it up. Deuteronomy,

around chapter six or seven. All things for their good. Everything

he did for them. Have you been. Have you thanked him lately?

Have you thanked God lately? Seriously, have you? Have you thanked

Him? Man, the list is long, isn't it? Have you thanked him not

only with words, but by your actions? It's one thing to say you're

thankful, it's another thing to show it. So many times we question

God in the midst of the storm. We question his power, his abilities,

even, maybe even his motive. And we find ourselves in a position

where we become ungrateful to the God of the universe, who saved

us from the wrath of God, who saved us by sending His Son to save

us from the penalty of sin. If all he did, if God. The only thing

God did for us was to give His Son, Jesus, if that's the only thing

he did, was to send His Son into this world. If the only thing

he did was for His Son to give his life for us for our sins, to

pay the price for our sins, to shed his blood for our sins. The

Creator of the universe shed his blood for us. If that's all he

did. He went to the cross for us, took the beating that he took

for us, put in that tomb. If that's all he did for us. Rose again

the third day, defeating death, hell and the grave. Amen.

If that's all he did for us, we ought to be a grateful people.

We ought to be thankful. Because this life, compared to eternity,

is just a speck of dust. Just that long. I get to live forever

with the Lord. I get to live forever with the loved ones who've

gone on before me. I get to live forever with Noah Got lots of

questions Adam Lots of questions. Peter, how big was his

foot? I have lots of questions we ought to be a thankful people

Amen. Amen let's all stand with verse invitation tonight hymn

113 sweet hour of prayer after we pray Heavenly father Lord help

us by your grace by the power of the Holy Spirit to be a thankful

people Lord because it doesn't come natural to us and we realize

that we are a selfish people but Lord, we know that through you

we can be a grateful people and Lord we pray tonight if someone's

here who doesn't know you as their savior they never accepted

you they never trusted in you and you alone as the means of escaping

hell and having a home in heaven as a means of having their

sins forgiven Lord, may they accept you today before it's too

late. Lord, we thank you once again for all that you've done for

us in Jesus name amen.