November 28, 2021

A Song of Thanksgiving

Pastor: Jeff Bedwell Topic: Thankfulness Scripture: 1 Chronicles 16:7–36

Message: A Song Of Thanksgiving
Scripture: 1 Chronicles 16:7-36

Thankfulness flows when God has His rightful place in our lives!

Background:

What This Song Teaches Us

  1. What we should Seek (11)
  • Seek the Lord
  • Seek His Strength for service.
  • Seek His Face continually for fellowship
  1. What we should Sing (9, 23)

“People say you are what you eat. Well, songs are food for the soul. What your sing, and don’t sing, changes you.”  Keith and Kristyn Getty

  • Singing brings Sunday’s truths into Monday
  • Singing sustains you in every season of life
  • Singing reminds you of what God has done in your life
  • Singing keeps your mind on eternity
  1. What we should Give
  • Give Thanks to the Lord (8)
  • Give the Lord glory and Honor (28-29)
  • Give the Lord an Offering (29)
  1. What we should Remember
  • Remember His Works (12)
  • Remember His Words (12)
  • Remember His Faithfulness (15-22)
  1. What we should Speak
  • We are to speak of His Works (9)
  • We are to Witness (24)

“Thanksgiving is a deeply theological act, rightly understood. As a matter of fact, thankfulness is a theology in microcosm — a key to understanding what we really believe about God, ourselves, and the world we experience.”   Albert Mohler

“If we want to know how healthy our souls are, we should check our levels of gratitude…We should monitor our gratitude, not merely for our spiritual health, but also for our spiritual protection. Gratitude is immensely (and subtly) powerful…The more thankfulness is present in us, the less vulnerable we are to sin. Therefore, cultivating thankfulness should be one of our core strategies in helping each other fight sin. In our small groups and accountability groups, we should encourage each other to “be thankful” (Colossians 3:15). Not out of guilty obligation, but out of an unashamed desire to be happy! Thankful people are not only the most spiritually healthy and spiritually protected, but very often the happiest.”  Jon Bloom

“Thankfulness is not just a religious duty, or a task on a list, or something nice people do, or a simple protocol of good manners to be taught to children. Rather, thankfulness is a powerful force. It wins or loses the war for your future. When practiced, it works toward beauty and produces fruit. When ignored, it works toward ugliness and chokes out life.”  Sam Crabtree

Making It Personal

Using Philippians 4:4-8 as a scriptural prompt, set aside some time to sit before the Lord with the following prompts:

  • Take a moment to reflect on the goodness of God. Praise Him for who He is.  
  • We are told to rejoice always, which includes difficult circumstances.  What difficulties have you walked through this year?  
  • Were you able to rejoice in the midst of your difficult circumstances?  If not, can you remember what thoughts were occupying your mind?  Were they helpful or hurtful?  
  • What were the wins for this year?  Take time to celebrate those and look for God’s hand in them.  
  • What stirs your heart to worship and rejoice?  How can you incorporate that into your daily routine more?  
  • Have you seen kindness and gentleness in others this year?  Take some time to reflect on this, write a prayer of thanksgiving for their presence in your life, and consider taking it a step further even by telling them if you haven’t already.  
  • Have you found it easy or difficult to have a “gentle spirit” this year?  Are there any patterns in your thoughts or behavior you can identify that might help you understand why?
  • Have you felt the nearness of God this year?  In Matthew 28:20, Jesus tells us that He is with us always.  Has it been hard to believe that He is always near?  Why?  Take some time to reflect and thank Him for His continual nearness.  
  • We serve a good God who wants to meet our needs in His perfect wisdom (meaning His answers won’t always be what we expect but will be for our ultimate good).  What needs do you need to turn over to God?  Spend some time writing them down.  If you struggle to release control, ask Him to help you depend on Him.  He’s there, and He wants to help. 
  • As you think about the needs you wrote down, can you think of any difficult circumstances that you have walked through previously?  How has God previously met needs in your life?  Take some time to reflect on this and thank Him for how He has proved faithful before.
  • Still thinking about your current needs, are there any Bible verses that would encourage you and strengthen you to persevere through this trial
  • Have you experienced peace this year?  Are you in need of peace right now?  
  • Take some time to reflect on how the peace of God is different from the peace of this world.  What do you think it means for the peace of God to “guard your heart”? 
  • What we intake has a profound impact on our emotions and mental well-being.  What has been helpful this year in fixing your heart and mind on truth? (music, books, Bible passages, sermons, etc.)  Have you shared these resources with your friends and family so they can be encouraged by them as well?  
  • Finally, take some time to dwell on things that are “worthy of praise” right now.  Praise God for who He is, list out as many adjectives as you can that describe Him.  Praise God for how He has moved in your life this year, no matter how small or big it seems.  Dwell on Him till you have peace.