Thanksgiving: Jesus gave Thanks…

Community Baptist Church

November 13, 2011

Pastor Timothy Jackson

Notes from the Evening service

 

 

 

 

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100:4-5).

 

Our mission is to honor the Lord in all we do, that includes having a thankful heart. The Psalms are full of instruction to how to be thankful to the Lord.

 

Thankfulness is a conscious act of the believer confessing gratefulness: you do so with your actions, reactions, voice, song, finances, stuff as you offer it to God and others in a humble spirit.

“Thanksgiving” – is mentioned 30 times in the Bible!

No One was more thankful than Jesus! Although the Old Testament was filled with thanksgiving in Psalms it seems as if the Lord’s church doesn’t get it until they see it in the New Testament. Jesus, Himself left fingerprints all over “thankfulness” in the Holy Scriptures.

 

1. Jesus gave thanks before a meal with thousands Mark 8:6

And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks , and brake , and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people.

a. “Giving thanks is not a small prayer you chant before receiving a meal, it is the way you live.”-writer penned

b. Want to see miracle? Give thanks for God’s ability and name daily.

Illustration: Praying with a family about the victory through Christ over the power of alcohol, it only happens when one submits to the Lord’s Spirit.

 

2. Jesus gave thanks before the tomb of His dead friend Lazarus John 11:41

“Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid . And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said , Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.”

a. Jesus wants the sick well for God’s glory and the dead alive for God’s glory.

b. Jesus himself allowed the sick to die to do the work of God.

 

3. Jesus gave thanks before the Last Supper with His disciples Mark 14:23

And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks , he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.

 

4. Jesus gave thanks before the Disciples Supper Luke 24:30

And it came to pass , as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake , and gave to them.