Being Thankful

 

Scripture Text

Psalm 100

Intro: The attitude when you enter church will determine how you perceive everything that takes place. We are to enter God's house with our focus on Him. When we focus on all the wonderful attributes of God our hearts are filled with thankfulness to Him.

I. We Are to Shout Joyfully to the Lord! Psalm 100:1 (NKJV) ¹  Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Here we are told every nation is to “Shout joyfully to God!” We who have been saved and made a child of God should give a joyful shout of praise to God for all He has done for us. Lets all praise God with a big Hallelujah! One day when Jesus returns to rule and reign on this earth, the devil and all his demons will be defeated. When this happens all nations will shout for joy. We who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus will join in with those of all nations to give a joyful shout of praise to God! This is a shout of victory over evil, over sin, over the devil and all wickedness! One thousand years of peace on earth as we rule and reign with Christ and then a new heaven and earth in which we will serve God forever! What a day that will be!

II. Being Thankful Means Joyfully Serving God! Psalm 100:2 (NKJV) ²  Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. If we are truly thankful We will serve God with our spiritual gifts and We serve Him with gladness. Our singing to God with joyful songs is a means of worshiping Him. As we worship we focus on God and show our reverent honor, respect and adoration to Him because He has given His only begotten Son to die for the penalty of our sins and make us His children. God now freely gives us all things through Jesus. When you think of God's love, mercy and grace in all He has done for us, it's not hard to serve Him, sing to Him and show Him the honor, respect and reverence due His name.

III. Being Thankful Means We Follow God! Psalm 100:3 (NKJV) Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. We acknowledge He alone is God and there is no other. He is sovereign over all. We acknowledge God is the One who made us, we belong to Him. In Genesis 2:7 God “formed” man out of the dust of the ground. He made us in His image and likeness. He has also made a covenant with us through the shed blood of Jesus. We now belong to Him. Because we are His, God instructs us, He leads us. We follow Him because we are the sheep of His pasture and He is our good Shepherd. Psalm 23:1-2 (NKJV) ¹  The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. ²  He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul! Because God is our Shepherd all our needs are met. God our Shepherd leads us His sheep to rest and refreshment. He restores our soul. Jesus said In Matthew 11:28-29 (NKJV) ²⁸  Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

IV. Being Thankful Means We Praise and Bless His Name! Psalm 100:4 (NKJV) Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. We are to enter God's house with our focus on Him, thanking, praising and blessing His name for all the wonderful things He has done for us. That's our reason for gathering together in His house. When we Bless His name, it means we proclaim as holy. It means we give all glory to Him as we lift up His name. We say good things about our heavenly Father when we leave this place. We tell others what awesome things God has done for us and what He wants to do for them. The truly thankful person is one who can see the hand of God in things around him and can see the hand of God working in their life. A thankful person sees the incredible things that God has done for them and others so that praise can be offered to God. It is not natural for people to simply thank God for all things, but it's something that has to be developed through constant exercise. It takes time to stop our mind and discipline it to thank Him for His Works in us. From His word we learn that everything perfect and good is from God.

James 1:17-19 (NLT) ¹⁷  Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. ¹⁸  He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession. Bless His holy name!

V. We Are to Thank God For His Unchanging Character! Psalm 100:5 (NKJV)  For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. God has been, is and always will be good. Good means morally excellent; perfect; innocent; and righteous. God is and always will be merciful in His dealings with mankind. Mercy means compassion for the miserable and a desire to help. By the atoning sacrifice of Christ a way is open for God to exercise mercy toward mankind. He is truth! Truth means that which is true and in accordance with reality. God's character never changes. Every generation can count on God being the same as He was in history and will be the same for ages to come. Thank God that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Invitation: We are to be thankful to God for His Son Jesus Christ who died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord? You come to know Jesus when you confess your sins to Him and ask Him to forgive you and save you from Hell and for Heaven. If you have not done that now is the right time.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we thank You, praise, magnify and honor Your name for all You have done for us. Help us to always remember to give You thanks on a daily basis. We recognize that You made us and we belong to You because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Help us as we leave here to always bring honor to Your name by what we say and how we live our lives. May we always be good witnesses for You in front of others and when we are alone.

Never Changing Jesus

 

Scripture Text Heb. 13:8

Intro: We live in a world that is changing all the time. Nothing ever stays the same. Though times and leaders change, Jesus Christ does not. Jesus Christ is the same all the time. Jesus never changes! He has been, is now and will always be faithful to us.

I. Jesus served us faithfully yesterday. [John 1:1,14, Philippians 2:8]a. John 1:1-2 (NKJV) ¹  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²  He was in the beginning with God. John 1:14 (NKJV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. In times past Jesus Christ was with God in heaven and He was God. He looked upon the plight of corruption and sin that had separated mankind from God. So He left heaven for us, came to this earth in a fleshly body. Philippians 2:8 (NKJV) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Jesus took on the form of a bond servant and humbled Himself even to the point of dying on a cross for us. He suffered to the ultimate degree for us: He took our sins upon Himself and bore our guilt and the punishment due us. Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price for us. He gave His life and shed His precious blood for us on the cross. He loved us and did everything necessary to save us from hell and make us acceptable to God.

II. Jesus serves us faithfully today. [Romans 8:34, Heb. 4:14-16] a. He is our mediator before God today. He has been raised form the dead and intercedes for us at the right hand of God. Romans 8:34 (NKJV) Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Jesus is even right now lifting us up before the Father. Hebrews 4:14-16 (NKJV) ¹⁴  Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵  For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Because Jesus is our High Priest and can sympathize with our weaknesses, we can go right before God's throne and obtain the mercy and grace we need today. Yesterday He suffered to the ultimate degree for us; today He has been exalted to the ultimate degree for us. He, the very Son of God, is our great High Priest who has passed through the heavens and been exalted to the right hand of the throne of God. And He has been exalted for one reason and one reason only: to shower mercy and grace upon His followers as He meets our every need. We can now come boldly before God's throne of grace with our needs. Are you taking advantage of this mercy and grace today?

III. Jesus will remain faithful to us forever.                                                   a.  "Jesus Christ is the same forever": forever—eternally, from now on, throughout all the ages. Jesus Christ has not only been exalted to the ultimate degree to meet our needs only for today, but He lives eternally to meet our needs forever and ever. John 14:1-3 ¹  "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ²  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. Here is how Jesus will return! 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 ¹⁶  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸  Therefore comfort one another with these words. At this time Jesus will then take us to the marriage supper of the Lamb there in heaven while the great tribulation is happening on earth. Then Jesus will return to earth with us in our glorified bodies and He will be the King over all the earth. We will rule and reign with Him on earth for a thousand years. Then the earth and the heavens as we know it will pass away according to Rev. 20:11 and there will be a new heaven and earth wherein no evil or death will ever present. Revelation 21:1-5 (NKJV) ¹  Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.²  Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³  And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." ⁵  Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." Jesus in the future will make all things new. He has made it possible for us to live in the new heavens and earth with the Father and Him where we will reign with Him forever and ever. Yes, Jesus will remain faithful to us forever!

Conclusion: Because of what Jesus has done in the past, what He is doing in the present, and what He will do in the future makes Him sufficient for any need we believers will ever have. Christ’s grace is presently and permanently available to all who believe in Him. No other religion has a risen Savior who has died for them and now lives in them and will be faithful to deliver them to heaven.  Thank God for the unspeakable gift of His unchangeable Son Jesus Christ.

Invitation: Do you know this unchangeable Jesus? Have you confessed your sins to Him and asked Him to forgive you for those sins? If not don't wait any longer. Do it now! Tomorrow might be too late!