Series: “WIJD” — Sermon #5 “Jesus Is Releasing The Power Of Thanksgiving”

Series: “WIJD” — Sermon #5 “Jesus Is Releasing The Power Of Thanksgiving”

Romans 1:21 (NLT) “Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.”

Being unthankful is the cornerstone, the launching point, for every corrupting influence.

Grumbling sustains offences.

Philippians 2:14 “Do all things without complaining and disputing”

1 Corinthians 10:10-11 “And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.”     Make this a way of life.

Acts 16:23-26 “And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, … he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, … all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.”

Daniel 6:10  “But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.”

John 6:11 “Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted.”

John 11:41  “Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.’”

Cicero who lived in Rome between 106 – 43 BC said that, “gratitude is not only the greatest of the virtues but the parent of all others”. 

What you appreciate, appreciates!    What you don’t appreciate … depreciates!
Appreciate:— to be grateful or thankful for. OR to raise or increase in value.

Spouse – Job – Pastor – Kids

Psalm 100:4-5 “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.”

Psalm 69:30 “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.”

Ephesians 5:19 “Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything.”

Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Thanks (eucharistia):–gratitude; expressions of grateful language to God as an act of worship, thankfulness, giving of thanks, thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving (towdah):– to express visible thanks or adoration to God by extending the hands to God in reverence, coupled with offering a sacrifice of praise to God through audible confessions of thanks.

Sonja Lyubomirsky Professor of Psychology at the University of California Author of “The How of Happiness,” a book of strategies backed by scientific research that can be used to increase happiness.

“One characteristic of the happiest people is that they are comfortable expressing gratitude for all they have.”

               Sonja Lyubomirsky

Dr. Robert Emmons (Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier) “I soon discovered that gratitude is a deeper, more complex phenomenon that plays a critical role in human happiness. Gratitude is literally one of the few things that can measurably change peoples’ lives. …

… We have discovered that a person who experiences gratitude is able to cope more effectively with everyday stress, may show increased resilience in the face of trauma-induced stress, and may recover more quickly from illness and benefit from greater physical health”

Dr. Robert Emmons  “A practice of gratitude raises your ‘happiness set-point’ so you can remain at a higher level of happiness regardless of outside circumstances.”

Dan Baker — (What Happy People Know). “During active appreciation, the threatening messages from your amygdala [fear center of the brain] and the anxious instincts of your brainstem are cut off, suddenly and surely, from access to your brain’s neocortex, where they can fester,..

 … replicate themselves, and turn your stream of thoughts into a cold river of dread. It is a fact of neurology that the brain cannot be in a state of appreciation and a state of fear at the same time. The two states may alternate, but are mutually exclusive.”

Luke 5:12-15 “‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’ Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.’ Immediately the leprosy left him. …’show yourself to the priest’”

Leviticus 13 Law Concerning Leprosy   “…then the priest shall isolate the one who has the sore seven days …  has indeed spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is leprosy. … All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.” 

Luke 17:11-19  “Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.  And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.  And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God,  and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. … 

“…So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? (katharezo:— to cleanse) But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well. (sozo:— save, to keep safe, rescue, restore health).”

Psalm 136:1 “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!”

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