Sermons

Who is the greatest saint in the world? Not the one who prays the most or fasts the most. It’s not the saint who gives the most money, or is most eminent for temperance, chastity, or justice, but it is the saint who is always thankful to God, who wills everything that God desires, who receives everything as an illustration of God's goodness, and who has a heart always ready to praise God for it." A grateful mind is a great mind!

1 Thess 5:18, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

If you can't think of anything to be thankful for, at least be thankful for what you have escaped! If you can't think of anything to be thankful for, you need to make up your mind that perhaps there is something missing in your life. Get on your knees and thank God that you are on your feet!

The Lord has given us the ability to think and to choose. Let us use the minds God has given us for His glory! The story goes of a minister who visited a mental hospital. One of the patients came up to him and said, "Good Sir, have you ever thanked God for your reason?" ... an intelligent idea!

The Anglo-Saxon word "THINK" is actually derived from the root word “THANK.” Let us think thankful thoughts!

A few years ago, a couple lost their house in a fire. Fortunately, they were able to snatch all the kids out just before the whole thing collapsed. They stood out on the sidewalk hugging and kissing each other. And they stood there thanking God. Why? Because despite the fact that they had lost their home, they had not lost their treasure, which was their kids and their God. Their family was still intact.

Psalm 95:2, “Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.”

A little school boy was asked: "Now, what do you have to be thankful for?" He said: "My Glasses!" He explained: "They keep the boys from fighting me and those girls from kissing me!"

Gratitude seems to be rare these days. We have even forbade our school children to thank God for their lunch. Ingratitude is a sign of the last days. 2 Timothy 3:1 - 2, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.”

Unappreciative! Thankless! In the last days about the only place you can find gratitude is in the dictionary.

Psalm 103:2, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” God sends so much blessing ..... do we thank Him for life's extras?

You cannot be expected to remember them all, you probably do not have a photographic mind. BUT, Don't forget them all. Remember some of them.

Christians above all people ought to be thankful. This week I thought of some things to be thankful for that have not happened. I live in Newfoundland, Canada. There was a time when we did not lock the doors when we went to bed at night. I am thankful now that a human predator did not break into our home. I was thankful nothing was taken or no member of my family was hurt. I am thankful for accidents I was not involved in. Illnesses that did not come. I am thankful that we are un-robbed and un-bothered.

I could have been mugged this year but it did not happen. Especially when the heat goes off and the house is dark, I become even more thankful for electricity. I am thankful for each calm day.

1 Chronicles 16:34, “O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.”

I believe we do too much complaining and too little appreciating. A man was walking home with his sack lunch. His shoelace came untied and he stopped, put his lunch down on the sidewalk and started to retie his shoe. A large dog came along and ran off with his lunch. The man said, "Thank God, I still have my appetite!"

James 1: 2 – 4, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. “

A husky 9 year old boy came thumping into the house after school. He had been walking through the mud and pounded across the kitchen floor leaving muddy footmarks on the floor his mother had just washed. He called out to her, "HI, MOM, Thursday is Thanksgiving day, what have you got to be thankful for?" She looked at him and said, "I'm thankful you are not twins!"

We should not pray so much for the removal of affliction, as for wisdom to make a right use of it. Let me illustrate:

What is the difference between a Prison and a Monastery?
_ Both inhabitants are incarcerated behind massive walls.
_ Both are Shut in from outside influences.
_ Both are Sequestered from people.
_ Both are famous for austere conditions and food.
_ Both are cold in the winter and hot in the summer.

The difference is just the contrast between Griping and Gratitude.
_ Most Imprisoned Criminals- Spend every waking moment griping and complaining over their forced confinement.
_ Are the children of the Heavenly King spending every waking moment giving thanks to God.

When a criminal becomes a Saint a prison may become a monastery. But when a saint gives up Jesus Christ, even a Church becomes like a prison.

THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD
by Adrian Victor Boyer

There comes a warm Euphoria
Bespeaking Gracious Living
That fills the Heart with Gratitude
And genuine Thanksgiving.

It is a Time to tally up Our Blessings large and small
And so acknowledge Heaven s Hand
That touches One and all.

Luke 18:11, “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus ... "God, I thank thee..." What an example! What great words! Yet he left the temple with divine disapproval! Notice what He said, "I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican."

Canada is a great nation. But have we become unthinkably weak - too weak to lift our hearts to heaven in gratitude to God for His uncounted blessings.

A prominent American who was visiting Argentina was asked by the president of the republic, "Why has South America gotten on so poorly and North America so well; What do you think is the reason?" The visitor replied, "I think the reason is found in the fact that the Spaniards came to South America seeking gold, while the Pilgrim Fathers came to North America seeking God."

Are we personally more thankful for God than we are for gold? Do we honestly appreciate God more than Money?

James 1: 2 – 4, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

There is a legend of a man who found the BARN where Satan kept his seeds, ready to be sown in the human heart. More numerous than any were the seeds of discouragement. The man learned that they can be made to grow almost anywhere. He questioned Satan and found that there was one place he could never get them to thrive... in the heart of a grateful person.

We learn silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strangely we are ungrateful to those instructors.

Colossians 4:2, “Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.”

Mother Teresa said: "The best way to show my gratitude to God is to accept everything, even my problems, with joy."

If we pause to think, we'll have cause to thank. A thankful heart enjoys blessings twice-- when they're received and when they're remembered. If Christians praised God more, the world would doubt him less.

Instead, all too many of us count our blessings on our fingers and our miseries on a calculator.

A group of visitors at a summer resort were watching the sunset from the gallery of the hotel. A heavy un-romantic man lingered until the last glow faded and seemed to be absolutely thrilled. Someone asked, "Are you an artist?" "No madam, I'm a plumber, but I was blind for 5 years."

Helen Keller: "It would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days."

A grave stone in a cemetery in Cades Cove which lies just west of the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in Tennessee contains this statement about a young boy that died:

"He was the sunshine of our home"

I wonder if they told the boy that. If they expressed their joy while he lived. If someone needs praise--give it to them while they live. A person cannot read their own tombstone. Let's praise each other and praise God from Whom ALL blessings overflow.

If life is to have meaning, and if God's will is to be done, all of us have to accept who we are and what we are, give it back to God, and thank Him for the way He made us. What I am is God's gift to me; what I do with it is my gift to Him.

• What if God didn't take time to bless us today since we didn't take time to thank Him yesterday?
• What if God decided to stop leading us tomorrow because we did not follow Him today?
• What if we never saw another flower bloom because we grumbled when God sent the rain?
• What if God didn't walk with us today because we failed to recognize it as His day?
• What if God took away the Bible tomorrow because we would not read it today?
• What if God stopped loving and caring for us because we failed to love and care for others?
• What if God would not hear us today because we would not listen to Him yesterday?
• What if God answered our prayers the way we answer His call for service?
What if God met our needs the way we meet His needs?

No wonder David said: “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” Psalm 103:10

My favourite author, E.G. White, brings this message to a praise-worthy conclusion:

To be a Christian means to possess the attributes of Christ's character, to have a heart imbued with love for God, to delight to honor God, to reach earnestly after heavenly attainments. It means to render to God grateful songs of praise from a heart swelling with gratitude, to appreciate all that has its origin in God and heaven. The Christian loves what God loves. A heart filled with Christian love is lifted far above the atmosphere of selfishness. It lives in a pure, bright, holy atmosphere. The love that God puts into the heart is a love dictated by holy impulses, sustained by a sense of duty, and cherished by a resolute will. In the soul where this love is cherished, virtue will grow like a tree in a well-cultivated garden.