WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:04.000 Hi, everybody. Have I told you lately that I love 2 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:07.919 you because I do Happy Thanksgiving? You know, since this 3 00:00:08.039 --> 00:00:11.439 next week is Thanksgiving, I'm pausing my series on Pains 4 00:00:11.480 --> 00:00:14.839 that we can prepare ourselves for Thanksgiving Day. So you 5 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:17.199 know what I did this last week? I read through 6 00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:21.719 again every reference to gratitude and Thanksgiving in the Bible, 7 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:25.280 and there are actually over four hundred passages that mention 8 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:30.039 thanksgiving or gratitude. Now, what I saw in my Bible 9 00:00:30.039 --> 00:00:35.560 study were two big ideas. First, God wants gratitude to 10 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:40.039 be the primary motivation behind everything we do, or say 11 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:43.320 or think. Let me say that again. God wants gratitude 12 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:47.600 to be the primary motive, the primary motivation behind everything 13 00:00:47.640 --> 00:00:49.719 that we do or say or think we want. He 14 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:52.560 wants us to do everything out of thanksgiving and out 15 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:56.119 of gratitude. The second thing I learned is that God 16 00:00:56.399 --> 00:01:03.719 rewards gratitude with a long list of blessings and benefits 17 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:09.439 when we live with this continual attitude of gratitude or thanksgiving. 18 00:01:09.879 --> 00:01:12.719 So today, if you'll get out your message notes, I 19 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:17.480 want to share how God blesses grateful hearts, how God 20 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:21.680 blesses grateful hearts. And I want to identify a short 21 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:25.560 sample list of benefits of gratitude, and then I'm going 22 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:28.000 to give you a starter list of Bible verses that 23 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:31.400 you can use on Thanksgiving Day. And then we're going 24 00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:36.760 to practice God's three favorite ways that he loves for 25 00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:40.319 us to use in expressing our gratitude to him. This 26 00:01:40.359 --> 00:01:44.599 is what I call God's love language. Now, let's start 27 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:48.519 by reading the top two scriptures on the top of 28 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:52.079 your outline. Deuteronomy chapter twenty eight, verses one to eight 29 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:56.359 talks about the importance of obedience and the blessing that 30 00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:58.680 God gives when we obey his commands. It says this 31 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:02.120 Deuteronomy twenty eight. One day, if you fully obey the 32 00:02:02.120 --> 00:02:06.120 Lord your God, and if you carefully follow all his commands, 33 00:02:06.680 --> 00:02:10.439 all of these blessings will be yours. And then he 34 00:02:10.439 --> 00:02:13.360 gives us a laundry list. The Lord will bless you 35 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:17.159 in the city and in the country. He will bless 36 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:21.680 your children, as well as blessing your crops and your livestock. 37 00:02:22.199 --> 00:02:26.240 The Lord will bless your harvest and the food you prepare. 38 00:02:26.919 --> 00:02:31.400 The Lord will bless wherever you go. The Lord will 39 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:35.599 even defeat your enemies when they attack you. Yes, the 40 00:02:35.719 --> 00:02:40.000 Lord will send his blessing on all you put your 41 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:47.080 hand to and bless everything you do. Now. God promises 42 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:50.439 these blessings to us if we do what he tells 43 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:52.479 us to do. In other words, if we follow us 44 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:56.960 instructions for life. He says, I'm going to bless everything 45 00:02:57.479 --> 00:03:02.000 you do now. This past week, as I was studying 46 00:03:02.039 --> 00:03:06.759 what God tells us to do about the importance of gratitude, 47 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:10.159 you know what, I noticed that five different times in scripture, 48 00:03:10.520 --> 00:03:15.000 God tells us that gratitude is far, far more than 49 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:19.639 just saying thank you every so often. No, No, Gratitude 50 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:25.360 is a constant mindset. You might write that down. Gratitude 51 00:03:25.879 --> 00:03:30.039 is a constant mindset of thankfulness. It's more than just 52 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:32.319 saying thank you every once in a while to God 53 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:35.719 or to people. It's an attitude of gratitude that you 54 00:03:36.120 --> 00:03:39.240 make as your lifestyle. God wants us to respond to 55 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:44.719 everything that happens in our lives with an attitude of gratitude. Now, 56 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:46.560 what I want to do is read the next verse 57 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:50.400 aloud together. So everybody look at that first Thesalonians five 58 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:54.039 eighteen from the New Living Translation, and let's read it 59 00:03:54.080 --> 00:04:01.879 slowly aloud together. Okay, Ready, always be thankful in all circumstances, 60 00:04:02.280 --> 00:04:08.280 for this is God's will for you. Now, always be 61 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:13.199 thankful in all circumstances. That about covers everything right, there's 62 00:04:13.240 --> 00:04:18.160 no loophole there. Always be thankful in all circumstances. For 63 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:21.439 this is God's will for you. Now, if you obey that, 64 00:04:21.480 --> 00:04:24.360 God says, I'm going to bless you in every area 65 00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:27.199 of your life. And notice that he says, this is 66 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:30.000 God's will for you, God's will for your life. You say, 67 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:32.199 I want to know God's will for my life. God's 68 00:04:32.199 --> 00:04:36.759 will is that you are always grateful. You're always thankful, 69 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:41.160 You're always full of the attitude of gratitude. Now, of course, 70 00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:43.959 when God wants us to help us do the right thing, 71 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:49.360 he always attaches a benefit or blessings to doing it. 72 00:04:50.360 --> 00:04:53.720 I happen to have right now in my library seventy 73 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:58.279 nine different books on the topic of gratitude. So I've 74 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:02.160 studied this a lot, many nine different books just on 75 00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:05.279 the topic of gratitude. And what I've discovered is that 76 00:05:05.319 --> 00:05:11.199 both scripture and scientific studies show that having a mindset 77 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:17.079 of gratitude yields great, great blessings. This is an important 78 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:20.279 message that I'm going to share with you before Thanksgiving, 79 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:22.000 but you're going to use it the rest of your life. 80 00:05:22.040 --> 00:05:24.920 This could actually be an entire series of messages, but 81 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:28.639 let me just breeze through some bullet points. There on 82 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:31.480 your outline, there's a list of bullet points on the 83 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:36.600 benefits of the blessings of gratitude. Notice first, gratitude improves 84 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:39.600 your brain and your physical health. Did you know that. 85 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:42.199 I don't have time to go into all of these 86 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:45.319 and talk about them, but doctors say that gratitude is 87 00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:48.720 the healthiest human emotion. It improves your brain, it improves 88 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:52.879 your physical health. Number two, gratitude creates happiness. If you 89 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:56.600 want to be happy, develop a thankful heart. The happiest 90 00:05:56.639 --> 00:06:00.360 people are those who are the most grateful. Number three, 91 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:03.720 gratitude helps you sleep better. You probably didn't know that. 92 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:06.680 That's a recent discovery, but the Bible told us that 93 00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:09.600 literally thousands of years ago in the Book of Proverbs. 94 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:15.600 Gratitude Number four is the antidote to toxic emotions. In 95 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:19.720 other words, it defeats things like worry and depression and 96 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:24.120 anger and fear. You can't be grateful and worried at 97 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:26.680 the same time, or depressed and grateful the same time, 98 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:32.879 it defeats those toxic emotions. The next one, gratitude improves relationships. 99 00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:36.879 You want better relationships, become a more grateful man or woman. 100 00:06:37.319 --> 00:06:40.160 You know what, if you expressed gratitude more to your spouse, 101 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:44.160 you'd have a whole lot less conflict. And then gratitude 102 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:48.639 opens the door to people and to other opportunities. I 103 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:51.360 had a personal example of that. I could tell you 104 00:06:51.399 --> 00:06:54.439 this week, but I don't have a time to tell you. Gratitude. 105 00:06:54.439 --> 00:06:57.399 When you were expressed gratitude to people, you make friends. 106 00:06:57.879 --> 00:07:02.720 It opens doors, it gives you opportunity. Gratitude, the Bible says, 107 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:07.720 is the evidence of spiritual maturity. You want to know 108 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:10.959 if your spiritual mature, how grateful are you? How much 109 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:13.600 do you live with the attitude of gratitude. Glossians two 110 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:17.240 nine says, this look on the screen. Plant your roots 111 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:21.120 in Christ and let him be the foundation for your life. 112 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:27.560 Be strong in your faith, always overflowing with circle. This thanksgiving, 113 00:07:28.839 --> 00:07:32.279 all right, it is a mark of maturity. The more 114 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:35.079 mature you are, the more grateful you'll be. And then 115 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:39.680 gratitude pleases God and it brings his blessing. The Bible says, 116 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:44.959 it's the sacrifice that God loves most, the sacrifice of gratitude. Now, 117 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:50.199 what has always baffled me about Thanksgiving Day is how 118 00:07:50.439 --> 00:07:54.759 very little actual time is given to thanksgiving of God. 119 00:07:56.040 --> 00:07:59.959 We spend a full day preparing the meal. We spend 120 00:08:00.199 --> 00:08:05.399 several hours watching football and talking and maybe just hanging out, 121 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:10.680 and maybe one or two minutes thanking God in prayer 122 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:13.399 because you don't want the food to get cold with 123 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:17.920 a long prayer. So even though it's Thanksgiving Day, it's 124 00:08:17.959 --> 00:08:22.240 what we do the least of on that day. So 125 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:25.040 I want to give you some homework. It's a homework 126 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:29.439 assignment for Thanksgiving Day with those that you have Thanksgiving with. 127 00:08:29.879 --> 00:08:34.440 Here is a starter list for thanking God this Thanksgiving. 128 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:36.399 He said, I don't know what to be thankful for. Well, 129 00:08:37.559 --> 00:08:40.080 it's a list of verses. And what I would encourage 130 00:08:40.120 --> 00:08:42.519 you to do is, when you're sitting at the table together, 131 00:08:42.919 --> 00:08:47.080 ask everybody around your table to read one of the verses, okay, 132 00:08:47.879 --> 00:08:50.240 And then after all the verses have been read, you 133 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:53.279 might start a discussion simply asking well, which of these 134 00:08:55.720 --> 00:08:59.759 verses are you the most thankful for? And it may 135 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:02.240 be something that's already been mentioned, or maybe something that 136 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:07.000 hasn't been mentioned. What does God want us to be 137 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:10.480 grateful for, not just a thanksgiving but all the time. Well, 138 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:13.159 as we go through this list of verses, and again 139 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:16.320 didn't give you any blanks, so just circle the reason 140 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:19.919 in each verse. Okay, here are some reasons why we 141 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:23.720 need to be the most grateful people of all people. First, 142 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:28.000 because God gave us life. God gave us life Psalm 143 00:09:28.039 --> 00:09:31.480 one thirty nine, thirteen and fourteen. You created informed me. 144 00:09:31.559 --> 00:09:34.720 Circle that you created informed me in my mother's body. 145 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:38.600 So I thank you because you made me. I wouldn't 146 00:09:38.600 --> 00:09:41.639 even be alive if it weren't for God. That's reason enough. 147 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:44.960 Number two, we can be thankful that we're still alive. 148 00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:48.360 Are you glad you're still alive from a year ago? 149 00:09:49.720 --> 00:09:55.200 Ecclesiastes eleven eight says, be grateful for every year you live. 150 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:58.080 That's another thing to be grateful for. Number three, we 151 00:09:58.120 --> 00:10:02.159 can be grateful that He saved us Psalm thirteen, verse five. 152 00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:07.279 My heart is happy because you saved me. Number four, 153 00:10:07.399 --> 00:10:11.320 we can be grateful because God is good. God is good. 154 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:15.320 Circle this. I give you thanks because you are good, 155 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:19.759 says Psalm fifty four, verse six. Here's another one. I 156 00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:22.919 can be grateful that God answers our prayers Psalm one 157 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:25.919 eighteen twenty one. I praise the Lord for answering my prayers. 158 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:29.159 And I can be grateful that he shows us how 159 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:32.000 to live Psalm sixteen, verse seven. I praise the Lord 160 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:36.320 because he guides me. Here's another one I can praise 161 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:38.759 the Lord. I can thank God that he forgives me 162 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:42.440 Psalm eighteen, verse one. Tell the Lord how thankful you 163 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:47.720 are because he is kind and always merciful. And then 164 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:51.000 number eight, I can be grateful that he will never 165 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:56.360 stop loving us Psalm one oh seven, verse eight. Give 166 00:10:56.440 --> 00:11:01.480 thanks to the Lord for his unfailing life. Now, I 167 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:05.480 want to spend the rest of our time together looking 168 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:11.399 at what I call God's three favorite ways. God's three 169 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:16.799 favorite ways for us to express gratitude to Him. This 170 00:11:16.919 --> 00:11:19.559 last week, in my study of every passage in the 171 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:24.440 Bible that references gratefulness of thanksgiving, I found at least 172 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:28.759 a dozen different ways that God tells us to express 173 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:32.480 our gratitude he tells us, But I want to focus 174 00:11:32.559 --> 00:11:36.840 on just the three most mentioned ways because they are 175 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:40.240 mentioned more than all the others put together. These must 176 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:44.000 be God's favorite expressions of gratitude because, as I said, 177 00:11:44.039 --> 00:11:47.200 he refers to them, these three that I must share today, 178 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:52.799 more than all the others combined. Now, the Bible has 179 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:57.840 a lot to say about the songs of Thanksgiving, the 180 00:11:57.960 --> 00:12:04.720 offerings of Thanksgiving, and the top of Thanksgiving. I'm sure 181 00:12:04.759 --> 00:12:08.240 you're aware that we all have, as human beings, different 182 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:12.399 love languages. Your love language is different than the language 183 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:14.960 of your spouse. What makes your spouse feel loved is 184 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:18.440 different than what makes you feel loved. We like to 185 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:22.080 be told that we're loved in different ways. That's because 186 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:25.600 we're all different. Well, so does God. And what I'm 187 00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:28.519 going to share with you today are God's three top 188 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:32.799 love languages. These are the ones that bring him the 189 00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:36.320 most pleasure. So let's look at the first one. The 190 00:12:36.360 --> 00:12:39.720 first habit of expressing gratitude is this write it down, 191 00:12:40.360 --> 00:12:47.320 singing back to God, singing back to God. Now you 192 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:49.960 may not know this, nobody has ever told us to you, 193 00:12:50.279 --> 00:12:54.240 but God is a singing God. Did you know that 194 00:12:54.919 --> 00:12:58.799 the Bible tells us that God sings. In fact, and 195 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:03.600 here's the shocker, he sings about you. He sings love 196 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:09.120 songs and joyful songs about you. Zeph Andiah three verse 197 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:13.080 seventeen says this, the Lord your God is with you, 198 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:18.360 and he is your mighty savior. He takes great delight 199 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:24.919 in you, calming your fears with his love, and he 200 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:30.440 rejoices over you with singing about you. Did you know 201 00:13:30.519 --> 00:13:35.960 that verse? God rejoices over you with singing about you. Now, 202 00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:41.360 let me just say this. Think about this. You've never 203 00:13:41.399 --> 00:13:46.320 heard God sing over you. But one day in heaven, 204 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:52.840 you're going to hear God sing about you. And it's 205 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:59.120 gonna be the most beautiful, joyful sound you've ever heard. 206 00:14:00.679 --> 00:14:07.360 I can't wait to hear pure perfect joy. We have 207 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:10.879 joy on this planet, but it's a broken joy. It's 208 00:14:10.919 --> 00:14:15.919 an imperfect joy. When God sings, it is pure, perfect joy. 209 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:19.000 And you're gonna get to hear God sing over you 210 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:22.559 one day. That's something to look forward to. Have you 211 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:27.000 ever listened to a mother calm her baby by quietly 212 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:32.720 singing to that baby. I could never forget the sacred 213 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:38.360 moments of listening to my wife, okay, love our children 214 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:43.600 with lullabies. I can hear her voice in a soft voice, 215 00:14:44.200 --> 00:14:48.840 humming and singing to our babies. That's how God loves you. 216 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:54.200 God sings. You didn't know that In fact, the only 217 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:59.039 reason music exists in the universe is because God invented it. 218 00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:04.519 God is a musical god, and since you were created 219 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:09.360 in his image, you like music too. Horses don't like music. 220 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:12.600 They're not created in his image. Worms don't like music. 221 00:15:12.600 --> 00:15:15.679 They're not created in his image. So let me show 222 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:18.799 you just a few verses of scripture where God tells 223 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:24.960 us to express our thanks to Him through singing Psalm 224 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:29.919 one seven, verse seven. Sing out your thanks to him. 225 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:35.879 Sing praises to our God Psalm ninety five, verse two. 226 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:39.480 Let us come before him with thanksgiving, that's what we're 227 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:45.480 talking about, and sing joyful songs of praise. Now now, friends, 228 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:50.120 this is one of the main reasons for coming together 229 00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:55.080 to worship together instead of just watching a service online. 230 00:15:55.480 --> 00:16:01.600 You miss the value of singing praise together. You may 231 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:03.960 not realize this, but you sing better when you sing 232 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:08.279 with others. Right. Yeah, I don't like to hear myself sing, 233 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:11.080 but I don't mind singing when there's five hundred or 234 00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:14.799 one thousand other people out there. Colossian three point sixteen 235 00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:19.240 says this, sing psalms and hymns and sacred songs, singing 236 00:16:19.320 --> 00:16:23.159 to God with thanksgiving. In your hearts. This is the 237 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:28.039 first habit of thanksgiving that God loves singing back to God. 238 00:16:29.639 --> 00:16:34.320 Are you doing that, Somi, I don't sing. Somebody saying 239 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:38.120 I can't sing. Somebody said I've lost my voice, Sir, 240 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:42.039 I never had it. Listen, listen closely to a pastor 241 00:16:42.039 --> 00:16:51.360 who loves you. God loves your voice. He gave it 242 00:16:51.399 --> 00:16:55.960 to you. He gave you your voice. He wants to 243 00:16:56.039 --> 00:17:00.840 hear your voice from you, not somebody else's, not you 244 00:17:00.919 --> 00:17:04.559 trying to be somebody else. He wants to hear your 245 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:08.559 voice because he gave it to you. And if you 246 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:14.200 are embarrassed about singing with your voice, I'll just be 247 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:16.960 honest with you. You've got a pride problem. You got 248 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:20.680 an ego issue. You need to learn to accept yourself 249 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:23.400 the way God does. You need to treat yourself the 250 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:27.720 way God does. God enjoys hearing you sing praise to Him. 251 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:32.039 God wants you to learn to sing to Him all 252 00:17:32.119 --> 00:17:33.839 the time. Look at this verse on the screen. So 253 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:37.119 I'm forty four to eight. All day long we praise 254 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:41.000 our God, not just in service and worship on the weekends. 255 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:44.519 All day long, we praise to God. We are always 256 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:48.920 grateful to Him. Now, some of us hum more than 257 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:52.240 we sing. At least some are thanksgiving song. That's okay, 258 00:17:53.079 --> 00:17:57.039 he said, well, okay, all day long. What about it night. Well, 259 00:17:57.480 --> 00:17:59.920 if you're not gonna wake anybody else a single way, 260 00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:03.079 go right ahead and sing away. But if you've got 261 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:06.319 a full house at your home. Psalm sixty three, verse 262 00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:10.480 six from the Message says this, if I'm sleepless at night, 263 00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:15.279 I spend hours in grateful reflection. What because that's not 264 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:19.839 going to bother anybody. The first habit of gratitude is 265 00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:24.240 singing back to God. Singing back to God, it's one 266 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:26.480 of God's three favorite ways for you to express your 267 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:29.400 gratitude to him. Now here's the second habit of gratitude, 268 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:35.839 giving back to God. Write that down, giving back to God. 269 00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:39.880 At Thanksgiving or any other time, we give thanks by 270 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.920 giving back to God. We give thanks by giving, We 271 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:47.200 give back the first part of what He has given 272 00:18:47.240 --> 00:18:49.880 to us. Let's look at some scripture on this Psalm 273 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:52.720 fifty four, verse six of this, I will offer a 274 00:18:52.839 --> 00:18:59.400 sacrificial offering as a special gift to thank you Lord, 275 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:05.039 because you are so good. That's a thanksgiving offering. We 276 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:08.119 talked about a thanksgiving song. But the Bible talks about 277 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:13.000 a Thanksgiving offering, an offering where we give to give thanks. 278 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:16.119 You know, about four hundred years ago, a group of 279 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:19.720 Christian believers who were being persecuted for their faith left 280 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:24.519 Europe and moved to North America in order to establish 281 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:29.440 a colony that allowed religious liberty so they could worship 282 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:34.759 God freely. And those original people who came four hundred 283 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:39.680 years ago from Europe were called the Pilgrims. Four hundred 284 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:43.960 years ago, they established with the Native Americans in their 285 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:48.279 area a Thanksgiving Day in the fall to give thanks 286 00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:51.640 to God. That's where the whole Thanksgiving Day got started. 287 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:55.759 Of the modern days, now a lot of nations have 288 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:00.680 Thanksgiving Days. One hundred and fifty years later, after the Pilgrims, 289 00:20:01.319 --> 00:20:07.400 America's first President, George Washington, created, at the urging of Congress, 290 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:13.319 the first national Thanksgiving Holiday. If you'd like to see 291 00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:17.319 Washington's proclamation, just write me a note and give me 292 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:19.559 your email on a card. I'll be glad to send 293 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:21.160 it to you this week. You might want to read 294 00:20:21.319 --> 00:20:26.000 Washington's original proclamation. It'll blow your mind what the President 295 00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:29.519 of the United States said about the necessity of being 296 00:20:29.559 --> 00:20:34.759 grateful to God. And it's pretty clear. So that happened 297 00:20:34.799 --> 00:20:38.759 four hundred years ago, the first modern Thanksgiving, and then 298 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:42.240 one hundred and fifty years later the first Thanksgiving holiday 299 00:20:42.279 --> 00:20:45.960 for a nation. But did you know that three thousand 300 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:50.319 years before that, three thousand years before that, God had 301 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:53.680 told the nation of Israel to establish a thanksgiving festival 302 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:57.079 every year called the Feast of Weeks, and they were 303 00:20:57.079 --> 00:21:00.400 to celebrate God's goodness, and they were to expel pressed 304 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:05.720 their gratitude to God by bringing him a special thanksgiving offering. 305 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:11.000 That's three thousand years before the modern Thanksgiving day. Deuteronomy 306 00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:15.400 chapter sixteen, verse ten, and eleven says this, I love 307 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:19.759 this in the TeV version, celebrate the harvest festival. To 308 00:21:19.880 --> 00:21:23.720 honor the Lord your God by bringing him a free 309 00:21:23.720 --> 00:21:29.480 will offering in proportion to the blessing he has given. You. 310 00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:33.599 Do this at the place of worship. So in the 311 00:21:33.640 --> 00:21:38.319 original Thanksgiving day, they were to bring a gift of 312 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:42.480 thanksgiving to the place of thanksgiving, that's the temples where 313 00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:46.720 they worshiped. Now, this thanksgi offering has been practiced by 314 00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:49.960 God's people for thousands and thousands of years, and we've 315 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:53.759 practiced it here at saddleback since our church began forty 316 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:56.079 two years ago, So this week we're going to be 317 00:21:56.079 --> 00:21:59.680 doing our angle Thanksgiving offering. It's mentioned many many times 318 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:02.720 in the Bible, such as in Psalm one sixteen seventeen, 319 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:07.319 where King David says, this, I will sacrifice a thanksgiving 320 00:22:07.480 --> 00:22:13.039 offering to you. Now listen. This is God's second favorite 321 00:22:13.079 --> 00:22:16.240 way of being thanked. He talks about it over and 322 00:22:16.279 --> 00:22:19.799 over and over. The Thanksgiving offering is mentioned many times 323 00:22:19.799 --> 00:22:23.440 in scripture. In Psalm fifty, verse twenty three, God says this, 324 00:22:25.319 --> 00:22:31.839 those people who truly honor me are those who are 325 00:22:31.880 --> 00:22:37.680 they who bring me offerings to show thanks. Those people 326 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:41.279 who truly honor me, God says, are those who bring 327 00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:45.759 the offerings to show thanks. And I God save those 328 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:50.000 who do that. It's one of God's favorite love languages. 329 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:56.559 Singing back to God and giving back to God? Is it? Are? 330 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:01.720 You know? Examples and illustrations of gratitude. Anytime we give 331 00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:06.119 an offering to God, it actually represents three kinds of gratitude. 332 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:10.079 It's a three D gratitude past, present in future. When 333 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:13.640 I give an offering to God, it represents I'm grateful 334 00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:18.000 for God's blessing. In the past. I'm grateful for God's 335 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:22.200 blessing today, and I'm grateful in faith for God's continued 336 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:25.240 blessing in the future. I thank you for the past, 337 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:28.480 I thank him for today, and I thank him that 338 00:23:28.519 --> 00:23:30.119 He's going to keep on taking care of me in 339 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:34.200 the future. Three kinds of gratitude. So what kind of 340 00:23:34.319 --> 00:23:40.920 offering are we to bring to show our gratitude to God. Well, 341 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:43.759 the Bible says it over and over and over and over. 342 00:23:44.039 --> 00:23:48.079 We are to give God the first part of our income, 343 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:52.799 not the leftovers. Not well, I pay all my bills 344 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:55.039 and whatever's left I'll give to God. We are to 345 00:23:55.079 --> 00:23:59.559 put God first in our finances. Now. God knows this, 346 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:02.759 this skuy of faith putting him first, which is why 347 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:05.920 he tells us to do it. Because it's a step 348 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:09.599 of faith. God is more interested in your faith. He 349 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:12.640 certainly doesn't need your money. God doesn't need your money, 350 00:24:12.640 --> 00:24:14.680 He owns it. All the money you got in really 351 00:24:14.680 --> 00:24:16.680 yours it with somebody else. That's four years that yours 352 00:24:16.839 --> 00:24:19.039 right now on loan is be loaned to somebody else later. 353 00:24:19.240 --> 00:24:22.279 God just wants to know if you trust him. Now, 354 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:25.720 as I said, with every principle, God gives us that 355 00:24:25.799 --> 00:24:29.759 God gives us. He also attaches a promise. There are 356 00:24:29.799 --> 00:24:32.599 more promises in the Bible related to giving back to 357 00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:36.640 God than any other promises in the scripture. Proverbs three 358 00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:39.400 nine and ten is a good example. Proverbs three nine 359 00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:42.680 and ten says, this, honor the Lord by giving him 360 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:46.759 circle this the first part, circle first part. By giving 361 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:49.519 him the first part of your income. And here's the 362 00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:52.400 promise that was the premise. Here's the promise. He will 363 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:58.079 fill your barns and barrels to overflow with more. God says, 364 00:24:58.519 --> 00:25:02.200 giving him an offering is not just an act of gratitude, 365 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:05.880 it's an act of faith. And God always honors faith, 366 00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:09.400 so he promises to bless you back. That's why I 367 00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:12.039 said there are more promises in the Bible attached to 368 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:16.400 giving and generosity than the other subject. What God wants 369 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:18.680 his children to be like him. God is a generous God. 370 00:25:18.759 --> 00:25:21.319 Everything you have in life is a gift of God's love. 371 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:24.720 God is the number one giver. God so loved the 372 00:25:24.759 --> 00:25:28.559 world that he gave. You can love. You can give 373 00:25:28.599 --> 00:25:31.039 without loving, but you can't love without giving. God so 374 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:34.240 loved that he gave. And if you love God, you're 375 00:25:34.279 --> 00:25:37.640 gonna give, and if you love others, you're gonna give. Now, 376 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:40.279 he says, here's the promise. Give me the first part, 377 00:25:40.519 --> 00:25:43.480 and I'll overflow your barns and your barrels. In other words, 378 00:25:43.559 --> 00:25:46.440 you're gonna get back more than you could possibly give 379 00:25:46.519 --> 00:25:48.680 to me. God is that you give to me, and 380 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:50.839 I'll give to you, and we'll see who wins. Now, 381 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:55.960 Jesus expanded and extended the promise. We just read Proverbs 382 00:25:56.039 --> 00:25:59.960 three by saying it this way. In Luke, chapter six, 383 00:26:00.599 --> 00:26:03.160 verse thirty eight, look up here on the screen. This 384 00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:05.839 is from the New Living Translation Luke six thirty eight. 385 00:26:06.359 --> 00:26:09.799 If you give, this is Jesus talking. If you give, 386 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:15.519 you will receive, and your gift will return to you 387 00:26:15.880 --> 00:26:21.119 in full measure. And then he says, press down, shaken 388 00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:23.680 together to make room for more. Like you've got a 389 00:26:23.680 --> 00:26:25.599 bag of beans. You keep shaking it so it can 390 00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:28.920 hold more. Press down, press down, shaken together to make 391 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:32.440 room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use 392 00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:36.279 in giving larger from wall, Jesus is talking, it will 393 00:26:36.279 --> 00:26:39.200 be used to measure what is given back to you. 394 00:26:41.640 --> 00:26:45.480 Do you believe that verse? Do you believe that if 395 00:26:45.519 --> 00:26:50.079 you give, God will give back? More to you? How 396 00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:52.240 much do you trust God? Do you think Jesus is 397 00:26:52.279 --> 00:26:56.640 a liar? You know what, I've never understood, friends, I've 398 00:26:56.680 --> 00:26:59.680 never understood why do people trust Jesus to forgive their 399 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:02.880 sin and save their souls and take them to heaven, 400 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:05.319 but they don't trust the same Jesus with their finances 401 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:07.880