Taking Time To Give Thanks

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Taking Time To Give Thanks</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id494.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Life and Light At Christmas"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id470.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="God Our EverPresent Help in Trouble"><U><B><IMG SRC="008151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>"Taking Time To Give Thanks," 1 Chronicles 16:8-36</B></div> <div> <B>Berean Bible Church, </B><B>November 20-21, 2004</B></div> <bR> <div>      The Apostle Paul spent roughly one-quarter of his missionary career in prisons. John McRay wrote in <I>Christian History</I> [# 47]: Roman imprisonment was preceded by being stripped naked and then flogged - a humiliating, painful, and bloody ordeal. The bleeding wounds went untreated as prisoners sat in painful leg or wrist chains. Mutilated, bloodstained clothing was not replaced, even in the cold of winter. Most cells were dark, especially the inner cells of a prison, like the one Paul and Silas inhabited in Philippi. Unbearable cold, lack of water, cramped quarters, and sickening stench from few toilets made sleeping difficult and waking hours miserable. Because of the miserable conditions, many prisoners begged for a speedy death. Others simply committed suicide. In settings like this, Paul wrote encouraging, even joyful, letters and continued to speak of Jesus. [Elesha Coffman, Christian History Connection (6-1-02), LJ Weekly email, 3-1-04; "Joy"].</div> <div>      For example, 1 Thess 5:18 says, "<I>Give thanks in all circumstances</I>, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, <I>through prayer and petition with thanksgiving</I>, tell your requests to God." </div> <div>      Life is often difficult, but like the Apostle Paul we must still be people of <I>consistent</I> <I>thanksgiving</I>. Everyday should be a day of thanksgiving, of course, but there are also special times of thanksgiving. Our nation has chosen this time of year to give thanks to God for his blessing, his protection, his faithfulness. We who are followers of Jesus must lead the way in giving thanks, as a consistent course of life.</div> <div>      Please read <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=1Chron+16:8-36" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passag"><U>1 Chronicles 16:8-36</U></A>.This was on the occasion of bringing the Ark of God's Covenant into a temporary home in Jerusalem, awaiting the building of the Temple. The Ark represented the very presence, authority, and salvation of God. It belonged in an appropriate home. It has been held captive by Israel's enemies for many years, then stored in someone's house in Israel for a time. But now it was coming to where it belonged, in the city of Jerusalem, the center of God's people Israel.</div> <div> <I>     Giving thanks involves four key habits.</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>1. Remembering - Giving thanks always begins with recalling what God has done (Genesis 16:12-13).</B></div> <div>      Thanksgiving is a review of our history with God. We must look back, and never forget the awesome things he has done. Grab paper and make a list of 5 things. But remembering is not enough . . .</div> <bR> <div> <B>2. Declaring - Giving thanks demands that we tell the stories of what he has done, is doing, and plans to do (Genesis 16:8-9, 16:23-29, 16:34).</B></div> <div>      I was shy and quiet as a kid. In the second grade, in the first part of the year, I didn't say a word directly to my teacher. But when my sister was born in November, I couldn't help but share the good news! </div> <div>      We must tell God, we must tell each other, we must tell our children, we must tell the world of God's goodness. Our job is to enhance his reputation.</div> <bR> <div> Take time right now to review specifically that for which we can, should be, must be thankful.</div> <bR> <div> <B>3. Trusting - Giving thanks to God is a reminder that we can trust him completely (Genesis 16:11,15-22, 16:35).</B></div> <div>      We must thank the one in whom we trust. If we are trusting ourselves and our efforts, we should be thanking ourselves. But thanksgiving is to <I>God</I>, because he has been faithful, when we have trusted him. We do not thank <I>ourselves</I>, or the stars or good fortune - we thank God because we trust in him. </div> <bR> <div> <B>4. Respecting - Giving thanks and trusting in God call for a response of obeying God (Genesis 16:26-27, 30-33).</B></div> <div>      The presence of the Ark represented God's leadership of his people. Their worship was an act of surrender, of loyalty, of devotion and willingness to follow. Our deep appreciation for God's goodness and grace will lead us to follow him and obey him.</div> <bR> <div>      David Owen wrote in <I>Reader's Digest</I>, "William I, who conquered England some 930 years ago, had wealth, power, and a ruthless army. Yet although William was stupefyingly rich by the standard of his time, he had nothing remotely resembling a flush toilet. No paper towels, no riding lawn mower. How did he get by? / History books are filled with wealthy people who were practically destitute compared to me. I have triple-tracked storm windows; Croesus did not. Entire nations trembled before Alexander the Great, but he couldn't buy cat food in bulk. Czar Nicholas II lacked a compound-miter saw. / Given how much better off I am than so many famous dead people, you'd think I'd be content. The trouble is that, like most people, I compare my prosperity with that of living persons: neighbors, high-school classmates, TV personalities. The covetousness I feel toward my friend Howard's new kitchen is not mitigated by the fact that no French monarch ever had a refrigerator with glass doors. / There is really no rising or falling standard of living. Over the centuries people simply find different stuff to feel grumpy about. You'd think that merely not having bubonic plague would put us in a good mood. But no, we want a hot tub too. / Of course, one way to achieve happiness would be to realize that even by contemporary standards the things I own are pretty nice. My house is smaller than the houses of many investment bankers, but even so it has a lot more rooms than my wife and I can keep clean. / Besides, to people looking back at our era from a century or two in the future, those bankers' fancy counter tops and my own worn Formica will seem equally shabby. I can't keep up with my neighbor right now. But just wait." [Condensed from <I>Home</I>, David Owen, in Reader's Digest, July, 1996, p. 193].</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2004, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>