Thanksgiving - 2024
Part 2
Q: If God were to prepare a Thanksgiving Dinner for us, what dishes would be at His table?
A: All of his promises.
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Self-control, etc.
Gratitude is not natural.
There are different levels of Gratitude & Thanksgiving
Different Levels of Thankfulness
Level 1 of Thankfulness
1. I am thankful “For” ____!
(Elementary School, Kiddy Table Level)
Good manners.
When God blesses you, remember him.
When God blesses you, obey him.
“When you have eaten your fill, be sure to PRAISE the Lord [Thank the Lord] your God for the good land the Lord has given you.”
Deuteronomy 8:10
[Moses]
Level 2 of Thankfulness
2. I am thankful “Even though” ____!
(Jr/Sr High School, Adult Table) DAVID
“EVEN THOUGH I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for YOU ARE WITH ME; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
-Psalm 23:4
“EVEN THOUGH” …
Everything feels like it is falling apart, My heart is broken, I am so sad, I feel so alone, I am so unsure, I am so afraid…
YOU ARE WITH ME
“It is Well with my Soul”
Whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say it is well with my soul.”
This level takes more faith.
“Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
-Hebrews 11:1
The “Even though” Table is where we thank God for his PRESENCE.
“I am the Good Shepherd…”
John 10:10
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me ALL the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
-Psalm 23:5-6
“The one who is in you [Jesus] is greater than the one who is in the world.” [Satan]
-1 John 4:4
“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. ... 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me ALL the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
-Psalm 23
Things turn out best, for those who make the best, of the ways things turn out.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
“I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours… I will remain in the world no longer but they are still in the world… Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one… 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it…”
-John 17:9-16
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