The Practice Of Gratitude
Ps. 100:4

A. How was your Thanksgiving Holiday? I hope it was the best ever.
Above all other people on earth, we should be the people who are the first to be thankful. And the ones who should be the most thankful.
a. Stop and think. There is nothing for which we should not be thankful every
moment of our lives. Even at it’s worst, life for us is far better for us than for any other
people on earth. Every day we should be thankful and pray, “God bless the USA.”
(A) Even David understood that about God’s people. Each day he expressed what
all of Israel should have felt as he prayed in Ps. 116:17, “I will offer to You the
sacrifice of thanksgiving.”
(1) Today I have many things for which I should be, and am thankful.
(a) As God’s child, created in His image, I’m thankful that I’m closer to Him than
at any other time in my life.
I’m thankful that I have a wife who makes my life sparkle with joy and love and that I have children who love me in spite of me.
I’m thankful that God in His kind and loving providence has placed me in a position at Sunset, where I share in the Churches greatest work of preaching the Gospel on a global scale.
I’m thankful that God has given me the honor to teach His word to a small group of brothers and sisters so they may grow in His likeness every week.
I’m thankful that God allows me to awaken each morning in this world which He has so magnificently and wonderfully created.
I’m thankful for Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross of Calvary. For with out it my life would be dark, fearful, lonely and hopeless.
(2) I think celebrating “Thanksgiving Day” is great...but I think living a thanksgiving life is even better.
(2) The practice of gratitude helps us to remain content and 1 Tim. 6:6, reminds us that “Living a godly life with contentment is great gain.” The more we focus on our daily blessings, the more content we are in trusting God with our future.
(3) The practice of gratitude guards me against worry and anxiety as Phip. 4:6-9, reminds us. The more I see God’s benevolent work in our lives, the stronger our faith becomes and the greater our relationship with Him grows.
(1) The practice of gratitude builds my faith. Heb 11:1?9, 13-19, 31-40. The more I see God’s benevolent work in my life, the stronger my faith becomes, and greater my relationship with Him grows.
(4) Guess what? 1 Thess. 5:18, says, “This is God’s will for you.”
(1) The practice of gratitude. Try it....I think you’ll like it.
(2) Acts 20:32.

11/25/01 pm