Thanksgiving- thought shared during worship, July 1st 2012

There's good news about the Waldo Canyon fire, and bad news.. Without God, we Christians will never be able to put it out.  That's the  bad news.  But the good news is that with God it will be put out!  Do you know that God has the whole world in His hands.  That's a fact, but what's more amazing is that He has everything that exists in His hands.  That's a fact too. It is  because God made everything that exists. Do you think that a God who has everything in His hands can put out a fire? Do you think you can be thankful for that? What other things are you thankful for? 

Luke 17:11-19 "Now on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.  As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice: "Jesus, Master!  Have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said: "Go show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed.  One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back praising God in a loud voice.  He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him.  And he was a Samaritan.  Jesus asked: "Were not all ten cleansed?  Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and and go.  Your faith has made you well."

What's important in this verse? It's important that the man thanked Jesus because then he made a stronger relationship with him.

Psalm 95:2-5  "Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.  For the Lord is a great God, the great king above all gods.  In his hand are the depths of the earth. And the mountain peaks belong to him; the sea is his for he made it. And his hands formed the dry land."

We are back to the point that God created everything.  Why do we give thanksgiving?  We give thanks because the Lord is the great God, the great King above all God, it says in verse 3. 

Psalm 100:4-5 "Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the Lord is good and his love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations."

Thanks doesn't come by itself, because praise is thanks companion.

Hebrews 12:28-29 "Therefore since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire."

Have you noticed that in almost in every verse it says something about the Lord being great? In Psalm 95 it says "the Lord is a great God." In Psalm 100 it says "the Lord is good." And in Hebrews 12:28-29 it says that "God is a consuming fire." 

Is the Waldo Canyon fire...   a. small,  b. good,  c. big,  or d. great?

d. It's a great fire!  But to God, it's a small fire, because God is billions of trillions times greater. 

Let's think a little bit more about the Hebrews passage.  It says to worship God acceptably.  This world is full of greedy me-myself and I, but as Christians we should try to know and tell others that everything (man-made and non man-made) comes from God.  Let's be thankful for that. 

Let's go back to Psalm 100.  It says "God is good and his love endures forever" and that we should thank Him for that.

John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this: that he should lay down his life for his friends." God demonstrates His own love for us because He truly died for us so that we may live with Him forever in Heaven because He loved us.