Title: Three Thanksgivings of the Saints
Contents
Colossians 3:15-17 The three thanksgivings of the saints
Next week is Thanksgiving Day. We thank God for protecting us from tribulation, disease, and sin in the world this year , Thanksgiving is the feast to give thanks and praise to God for blessing the flesh.
However, the Apostle Paul did not complain when he encountered difficulties. Rather, he lived a life that was always thankful to God.
Today's text is to see what kind of thanks the Apostle Paul gave the Colossian church members and told them to live.
1. Be a grateful person
There are three times in the text to “give thanks”.
The English word “thank” (shank) comes from to think, he always thinks carefully before answering. Gratitude can be grateful when you think about what helped you.
(Col 3:15) Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.
Being called in one body, also be ye giving thanks.
The Colossae Church is a church that Paul planted during his third missionary journey.
Shortly after Paul was imprisoned, various cults flooded the church in Colossae like a wave, and this put the church in a serious crisis of division.
“Thank you,” Eucharisteo, refers to giving praise and glory to the realization that God has delivered them from the powers of darkness and brought them into the realm of the reign of the Son of God. Such gratitude was inextricably linked with peace. Gratitude for God's grace gives us the peace of Christ.
What is worship? While remembering the grace God has given us, we confess our sins with a grateful heart, sing praises, pray, and listen to the Word. Worshiping God is worship. Therefore, worship should always be offered with a grateful heart.
If we say worship without a grateful heart, it is only a formal worship and cannot be called true worship. I pray in the name of Jesus that the worship service this morning will bring glory to God and be a blessed time overflowing with thanksgiving.
The first stage of gratitude is gratitude from the heart. “Happiness and unhappiness are all in the heart,” he said. We should always have a grateful heart.
What is the difference between an unbeliever and a believer? It is that unbelievers do not have a heart of gratitude, but the heart of a believer is always full of gratitude.
The heart of an unbeliever is complaining, resenting, and always full of dissatisfaction.
How do you feel? Are you overflowing with gratitude? Are you full of resentment when you complain?
Even though their economic life has grown significantly compared to the past, people are not always satisfied and complain and complain. The reason, he says, is because of relative poverty, which he feels he lacks compared to others even though his standard of living has improved. Therefore, they say that absolute poverty has disappeared as the economic level has improved compared to before, but dissatisfaction remains because of relative poverty, where houses, cars, businesses, and jobs are inferior to others.
Today, I believe that we should live a life of gratitude, remembering God's grace that saved us from absolute poverty and enabled us to live a prosperous life, rather than complaining and complaining while feeling relative poverty compared to others.
The modern era is said to be “the era of the monre.”
“We are chasing more money, better cars, better homes, and greater happiness. That is why people are not satisfied with what they have and are calling for more, more, more.”
Therefore, the Lord said, “Beware of covetousness, for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” The Apostle Paul also urged us to be content with what we have.
The Apostle Paul had only one coat and a leather Bible, but he never complained or complained, and he lived his life with satisfaction and thanks.
I believe that the Christian life should be grateful even in the midst of absolute poverty, in the midst of relative poverty, and in the midst of tribulation and adversity. Dear brothers and sisters, we believe that we should live in this world while remembering the grace that God is always with us and always giving thanks and praise.
2. Be a person of thanksgiving
(Colossians 3:16) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, praising God with thanksgiving in your hearts.
“Poem” means Old Testament psalms, “Praise” means festival hymns and black silver hymns.
“Spiritual song” refers to a spiritual song that praises and glorifies God’s deeds
Praise is the fruit of the lips of Christians and is an act of worship to God.
(Hebrews 13:15) Therefore let us always offer to God a sacrifice of praise through Jesus, which is the fruit of lips that testify to his name.
Those who have a heart of gratitude for the love of God and the salvation of Christ will be grateful for true praise. The second stage of true gratitude is the appreciation of the lips and the appreciation of the words. Words are the house of character and clothing of thought.
Anyone except the dumb can do it, and there is no way to pay taxes and nothing to say, so there are many times when they don't realize the importance and preciousness of words.
But God did not give horses to animals, birds, fish, plants, or stones.
Therefore, language is the most precious gift God has given only to humans.
Let's say you live a day without talking. How frustrating, uninteresting, and inconvenient must there be?
Therefore, we should thank God for giving us the privilege to speak, and we should give praise and thanks to God with the mouth and beautiful voice God has given us, rather than complaining, resenting, envying, and swearing at Him.
Our members should glorify God even more by sincerely expressing their gratitude with the words God has given us.
I hope that you will become those who give thanks in all things by thinking deeply about the grace you have received, giving thanks in the midst of adversity, standing firm in your faith, giving thanks, and always overflowing with gratitude. Let's become a person of reconciliation, service and sacrifice through gracious words. Let our whole lives be filled with songs of thanksgiving.
3. Be a grateful person through your actions
(Col 3:17) And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
Thank Heavenly Father for Help
1) In the Old Testament, God chose the people of Israel, led their lives, prevented and rescued countless enemies from challenges, and asked them to keep the feast of thanksgiving in return for protecting their realistic lives.
2) In the New Testament, in return for salvation through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the completion of the work of redemption on the cross, we are exhorting us to live a life of thanksgiving to God.
How many conditions do we Christians have to be thankful for?
Thank you for believing in Jesus and getting the qualifications to go to heaven.
Thank you for being a child of God.
Thank you for the blessing of eternal life. Thank you for giving me peace of mind. As Christians, we should all be thankful.
(Deut 16:10) You shall keep the Feast of Weeks before the LORD your God;
As you have been blessed, I will measure your strength and give you a voluntary gift.
It is said to offer gifts voluntarily, but with all your heart and with all your might.
In doing so, it becomes a gift acceptable to God.
He praised the widow's two pennies more than the yearbook of the Pharisees. What was the reason? Because the widow's alimony provided all of her living expenses.
Unless we do our best and do our best, we cannot move the heart of God. It is not that we don't give what we have left over, but we believe that when we serve God with all our strength and give thanks with all our strength, God's work will be revealed to us.
(2 Corinthians 8:3) I testify that they should not only do as they are able, but also volunteer beyond their strength.
There is a saying that according to this word, there will be tithes and thanksgiving offerings in the offerings according to these words, and the offerings that exceed one's strength are the building offerings, mission offerings, and relief offerings. Congratulations on going.
(2 Corinthians 9:7) Let each one do just as he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.
You should not donate without thinking unconditionally, but give thanks with all your might and voluntarily as much as you can, as much as you can while praying while thinking of the grace and blessings that God has given you.
(Psalm 50:23) Those who offer sacrifices of thanksgiving glorify me; to those who make their works right, I will show the salvation of God.
(Col 3:17) And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
Thank Heavenly Father for Help
Here work means all life. Our life itself should be a life of gratitude. That is, our life should always be a life of gratitude for the redeeming grace of Christ. Gratitude is the root of the heart, and true gratitude is a life of devotion. We have celebrated a season of thanksgiving. But is there no one who does not turn around without entering the gate of true gratitude? A life of true gratitude that is sufficient requires bloody sacrifice. For the love that He did not spare and give to His only begotten Son, we give thanks 1) with our hearts, 2) with our mouths, and 3) with our actions. I wish you great blessings.