Thanksgiving Sunday Sermon Sunday October 11, 2015

Thanksgiving Sunday Sermon Sunday October 11, 2015 We're in the middle of a sermon series these days called Why We're Here. We've been looking at what...
Author: Emily Lambert
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Thanksgiving Sunday Sermon Sunday October 11, 2015 We're in the middle of a sermon series these days called Why We're Here. We've been looking at what makes up Cornerstone's DNA if you will. What's our purpose? What are we about as a local church? We've unpacked our Vision Statement: Embracing the Jesus who embraces the world. This vision of embrace represents the kind of community he wants us to become. So when we embrace Jesus for who he is, we will naturally extend his loving embrace to the world around us. We also unpacked our Mission Statement: Making space for Jesus to shape people together in God's love. Like most people in North America, most of us have jampacked schedules, preoccupied minds, and cluttered hearts. Our mission is to make space for Jesus in our daily and weekly rhythms, our calendars, agendas, our relationships. That's our job. And as we do that Jesus shapes us in His love and we become more and more like Jesus. The Jesus who was defined by self-giving self-sacrificial love. Next week we'll continue our series, but this Sunday, we're taking a break to talk about Thanksgiving. I'm indebted to a message on this by John Ortberg. Thanksgiving is a theme that runs through the entire Scriptures. Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess 5:16-18) Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph 5:19-20) And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col 3:15-17) You see, God's people are defined by thankfulness, gratitude and joy.

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In biblical times, the way of life for the Israelites was structured around this. They had special thanksgiving offerings they would take to the temple. They celebrated special feasts and festivals throughout the year to give thanks for all that God had done. They sang songs and prayed prayers of thanksgiving. For us, probably the closest tradition we have is our annual Thanksgiving holiday. Thanksgiving is a time when we gather with friends and family. When we give thanks for the blessings in our lives. When we stuff ourselves with turkey, gravy, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. And for the first time in 22 years, it will also be a time when we cheer on the Blue Jays in the playoffs. But this Thanksgiving in particular is a special one for Cornerstone isn't it? Because for the very first time in our history, we are holding our Thanksgiving Worship Service in our very own facilities! After 17 years as a local church that always rented, God has provided this space - which is now ours - to worship and use to serve the local community. Anyone thankful for that? Many of you have many other reasons to be thankful this year. A new job, a good school year, an addition to your family, opportunities to travel, meaningful friendships, opportunities to grow in your faith. In Psalm 100, the psalmist writes: Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his[a]; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. This morning, we're going to look at what it means to be thankful and how gratitude is the key to a life of freedom and joy. So let's talk about gratitude. What is gratitude? Normally we associate gratitude with appreciating the things we have.

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Remember when people were doing that Gratitude Challenge on Facebook not too long ago? They would post things they were thankful for: family, friends, good health, the freedoms and privileges we enjoy as Canadians. Studies have shown that grateful people are happier, healthier and have better relationships. But this shouldn't come as a surprise. After all, it's simply how the creator of the human race has told us to live. Three thousand years ago, King David issued the original Gratitude Challenge. He writes in Psalm 103: "Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits" and then goes on to post what he's thankful for: God's forgiveness, healing, redemption, provision and love. But for David, gratitude isn't merely about appreciating what we have. It's about becoming more aware of God's goodness. Verse 4 says: 4

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

Why? What's the basis and reason for being thankful? 5

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Biblical thanksgiving is rooted in the worldview that we worship a good and loving God who is sovereign over the entire world. Which means you don't become more grateful by acquiring more stuff or mustering up more willpower. You become more grateful by becoming more aware of God's goodness. Learning to be more thankful can be so challenging for us. We live in a world that sends young people the message, You deserve to be successful. You have rights, benefits and privileges. It doesn't matter if you don't work hard. Success should be yours and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. In fact, there's a word people use to describe this generation. And that word is Entitled. But this doesn't just apply to young people. Our sinful human nature naturally leads us all to believe that what we have rightfully belongs to us. I've earned it, I deserve it, I'm owed it.

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This isn't just a social problem. The Bible calls it sin. In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul writes: Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. (Rom 1:21) We see a classic example of this in the book of Exodus. For 400 years, the Israelites had been in bondage to the cruel and oppressive Pharaoh in Egypt. They worked as slaves risking their lives doing backbreaking labour. But God hears their cries and in his mercy intervenes. He raises up Moses to lead them. He performs miracle after miracle, including the parting of the Red Sea to rescue his people from Pharaoh's armies. He provides for all their needs in their desert journey - raining down manna or bread from heaven, giving them quail to eat, supplying water from a rock. He even personally makes his presence known by appearing in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Surely after all these blessings and miracles, God's people would be thankful right? Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded. (Ex 15:24) There, too, the whole community of Israel complained... 3

“If only the LORD had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.” (Ex 16:2-3) Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the LORD heard everything they said. (Num 11:1) Do you see a pattern here? Have you noticed, it doesn't matter how much have or how many miracles you've experienced - it's impossible to be thankful when you believe you're entitled to it. That you deserve it. That you've earned it. You see, there's an inverse relationship between entitlement and gratitude. If I believe I'm owed something, I won't be thankful because I think I'm entitled.

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Pastor Steve Furtick puts it like this: "When entitlement is high, gratitude is low. When gratitude is high, entitlement is low. Gratitude begins where our sense of entitlement ends." So often we think we'll be more grateful when we have more. When I get that job, when I buy my dream home, when I finish school, when my troubles disappear. But this discontentment only robs your life of joy. Have you ever known someone who's a perpetual complaining? A couple years ago, I talked to one of my neighbours and made the comment, "Hasn't this summer been great?" "Oh no, it's horrible - I hate the heat! I'm always sweating and the cost to run my air conditioner is killing me!" So this summer I made the comment, "Isn't it great how this summer's been so much cooler?" "Oh no, it's horrible - it's so cold. I just want to be outside and enjoy the hot weather." Two years ago was the winter Markham got tons of snow. We live on a small street so we're usually one of the last streets to get plowed. So I was pleasantly surprised to see the snow plow coming around the corner clearing the snow off our street. Right away, I was outside the house with my shovel digging away the snow. My neighbour was also outside at the time. And so I said, "Isn't it great how quickly the snow plow came?" "Are you kidding me? It left all this snow in front of my house that I now have to clear out!" Can you believe that? Have you ever noticed how ingratitude will turn even a blessing into a burden? How it makes opportunities feel like obligations? Ingratitude will rob you of joy because it makes you take your gifts for granted. And I think there are a lot of people who live their lives stuck in this mindset. Trapped, paralyzed, snowed in if you will, with no way to get out of their miserable and discontented lives. But thanksgiving is the key to freedom. It corrects our perspective. It reminds us of our God who has already gone ahead of us to clear the way and make open the path to freedom and life.

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Becoming more thankful means learning to reinterpret the situations in our lives with the fundamental confession that we don't deserve anything. Turn to your neighbour and say, You deserve nothing. None of us deserve anything. We didn't earn it, God doesn't owe us. Everything is a gift. The Apostle James writes: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights (James 1:17) You see, the purpose of giving thanks isn't simply to make us happier. The purpose of giving thanks is to become more aware of God's goodness. So we can live joyfully and generously. But what do you do when your life is just hard? When your dreams are shattered, when your health is failing, when your relationships are strained? Many of you have been there. Some of you are there right now. This was a situation someone from our congregation found herself in. She and her husband have been faithfully serving at Cornerstone for 12 years. But in 2011, she was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. This news came as a huge blow. Imagine being a young parent wondering how long you had to live. Wondering, Will I live to see my children drive a car, graduate from school, have families of their own. This alone would have been devastating enough. But that same year, she got more news. Two of her children were diagnosed with learning disabilities. One of them with a moderate form of autism. According to doctors, he was unlikely to ever hold a job or have a family of his own. What do you do when life deals you a hand like that? Just like anyone would, this family grieved and mourned the loss of their hopes and dreams. But years of faithfully walking with the Lord and choosing to be thankful had prepared them. They held on to God's promise that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. They decided they would not be anxious about anything but that by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, they would present their requests to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, would guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

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They resolved to choose to call God good in spite of their situation. This isn't being naive. It's not denying reality. It's simply choosing to see things from a higher vantage point, from God's perspective. Looking back, this family is thankful for this season. They've grown in their faith and experienced God's love more than at any other point in their lives. They still have hard days and challenges ahead, but they see this season as a gift. Everyday, they're thankful they're alive and together. They're thankful for the unique strengths and personalities of the precious children God has blessed them with. They're thankful for the way God has replaced fear with peace. But their story isn't over. Because of what they've gone through, their desire and mission is to encourage others who may be going through tough times and share with them how God has carried them through. And so they meet with people, have them over for meals, share with them, pray with them, encourage them. Even these opportunities that God has opened up, they see as ways they can be used to bless others. Another gift. The truth is when you decide to be a grateful person, there will always be gifts to thank God for. Because our thanksgiving isn't dependent on our circumstances, it's dependent on God's goodness. That's why as God's people, we can confidently declare: God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good. We can say that because we have:     

A God who is bigger than our circumstances. A God who has plans and purposes for you to prosper. A God who works in all things for the good of those who love him. A God who promises never to leave us or forsake us. A God who delights in giving good gifts to his children.

And we have a God who did not spare even his own son Jesus but gave him up for us all. And so now we have a Good Shepherd who leads us to Life. Who's delivered us from the bondage of sin. Who forgives our grumbling and rebellion. Who feeds us and sustains us in our desert journey. Who leads us into the hope of the Promised Land.

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In closing, I want to share some words from Pastor Tim Keller that are great things to be thinking about this Thanksgiving season. He reminds us that in Jesus we have 3 excellent reasons to be thankful.   

Our bad things will turn out for good. Our good things can never be taken away. And the best things are yet to come.

God is good - all the time. And all the time, God is good.

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