Preaching At EBBC: August 11th, 2019

Stand Alone at East Boulder Baptist: Guide To Gratitude

Story: How many here today would admit that being grateful 24/7 is a bit of a challenge? It’s just difficult to have a grateful and thankful spirit ALL THE TIME.

How about when you’re waiting in line at the store and every line is moving but yours? Of all the lines, I chose this one! Great! We don’t think about the BLESSING that we CAN buy groceries, no, we just need the line to move a little faster so that we can get somewhere! We don’t know where, but we’re in a hurry to get there right?!

How about the airport? Anybody ever lack gratitude at the airport? When you leave the house with plenty of time, but then you hit that Denver traffic at 5am… and you’re wondering why so many people are up so early. :) Then you get to the airport… listen I think you understand what happens next. It’s testing to say the least. Am I speaking to any in the room tonight?

Sure! I could have been grateful that I can fly safely on a 346 ton submarine with wings across the country to see friends and family, but no, I’m mad about why I have to take my shoes off and take my laptop out of my bag going through security. Haha. This is just real life.

If we’re being honest with each other, gratitude every day and in every circumstance is a struggle. But I believe there’s a passage in Psalms that gets us started, and with some other Scriptures it gives us some clear guidelines for living a life of gratitude.

Passage: Psalms 118:21-24 CSB

21 I will give thanks to you because you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This came from the Lord; it is wondrous in our sight. 24 This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Pray:

Background:

The book of Psalms is a collection of songs and prayers. This amazing book of the bible is jam packed with deep theological doctrine, prophetic words, and beautiful poetic liturgy. And we see all three in this text alone.

Title: Guide To Gratitude

I want to take the next few minutes and talk about some simple and very practical ways we can live out a life of gratitude in our everyday lives.

Main Points: Guide To Gratitude

1. Realize where you’ve come from
   1. “I will give thanks to you because you have answered me and have become my salvation.” Psalm 118:21
   2. “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” Psalm 107:1
   3. So much of our thankfulness comes when we look back on God’s faithfulness in our lives. Do you believe that this morning?

   4. Question: Have you ever had moments in your life that you questioned God’s plan for your life? Maybe it was in a low point in your life or a time when you felt alone and isolated.

      1. I remember feeling that coming out of college and wondering why God had me starting businesses and not in ministry. But now looking back, I could see all that He was building and developing in me.

      2. I don’t know who I’m speaking to this morning, but there’s somebody here today that has grown cynical and negative and I want to encourage you today, look back. Look back on God’s grace over your life and stay with Him there until you come out with a grateful spirit. Grateful to serve, grateful to be known, grateful to breathe, grateful for His presence, grateful for the mountains...

         5. Application: slow down and reflect

      3. Everything God is doing in your life is for a greater story than what you can see right now.

      4. Embrace where you are

         1. “I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 1:6
         2. find contentment right now, in this season, under these conditions, in this heartbreak, in this grief…
         3. We have everything we’ll ever need in Jesus, find contentment in Him and His salvation

      5. Question: How can you embrace every season? Because Jesus started something that he plans to finish in your life!

      6. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This came from the Lord; it is wondrous in our sight. Psalm 118:22-23

         4. A thankful heart produces a grounded life
         5. A grounded life produces a thankful heart
         6. A.C.T.S. (Adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication)
         7. A grateful heart gives you a fresh perspective and a firm foundation.
         8. Application: take in a room, go on a walk or hike, embrace your surroundings, pause for 2 minutes and meditate on the goodness of God!
         9. Grounded with Gratitude from the inside out:

      7. A thankful heart is humble... because we recognize how far God has brought us and that all good things are from God.

      8. A thankful mind is grounded... because trials come and life is hard, but God’s Love is steadfast and unconditional
      9. A thankful spirit is content... because whether we have plenty or little, we know God will supply all our needs.
      10. Don’t compare with others
          1. Nothing kills gratitude like envy. Wanting what others have and not knowing if you’ll ever get it.
          2. “He who began a good work in you.... will be faithful to complete it.” Not your friend, not your spouse, not your neighbor, but you. Trust that God knows what He’s doing in your life! Trust that God has a plan and a purpose for your life even if you can’t see it now!
          3. Application: Thank God for what He is doing NOW in your life, even when you don’t understand it! Thank God for the miracle in motion! Thank God for the answered prayer that you haven’t seen come to pass! Thank God that in Christ we have everything we’ll ever need!
          4. The New Testament says Jesus is that rejected stone God made the cornerstone. Here’s how I’d apply that: with Jesus as your chief cornerstone you have no need for comparison!
          5. Spend more time looking IN at what God is doing in your soul than looking AROUND at what the circumstances are doing to your life.

      11. Make some changes

          1. “And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” - Colossians‬ ‭3:15-17‬ ‭CSB‬‬
          2. Change your language and your responses to others.

      12. Illust: When our vehicle was stolen. I could have said “yeah this sucks” “Woe is us”, but no! If we’re going to be people of faith we have to make some adjustments in our body language, some adjustments in our words, and we have to boldly declare “Our God is Good! He’s got a plan! He’s in control!”

      13. Pastor Keith Baldridge texted me “Watch God work.”
          3. Commit to being proactive with gratitude, not reactive.
          4. Gratitude that is consistent will produce an influence that is attractive!

      14. Say it out loud and write it down

          1. “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” - Psalm 34:1 CSB
          2. When you speak gratitude it elevates others around you and it brings glory to God.
          3. Illust: How do we teach children to be grateful? First we model it for them, then we tell them “say thank you”, then we teach them why.
          4. Some of us here today need that friendly reminder to God, “Say thank you.”
          5. Illust: Giving someone a gift

      15. Question: How do you know when someone is grateful? They say “Thank you!”

      16. Real and authentic gratitude is vocal, not silent.
          6. Build gratitude into the fabric of who you are as a church.
      17. Schedule your weeks
          1. “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians‬ ‭4:6-7‬ ‭CSB‬‬
          2. A busy schedule and a life completely out of rhythm produces stress and anxiety. It is near impossible to be both stressed and grateful at the same time.
          3. A spirit of gratitude has a way of reducing the problems of the world around you.
          4. Paul doesn’t mention a schedule here, but here’s how I’d apply it: intentionality with your time can give you more space to give gratitude and not be anxious.
      18. Be grateful in the midst of grief
          1. “Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.” Psalm 23:4-6
          2. We gotta learn how to thank God through the storm. In the middle of pain. He’s still good. He’s still faithful.
          3. This is how we fight our battles.
          4. Seasons come and go, your circumstances change, but our God stays the same. His steadfast love endures forever. Your praise will ever be on my lips.

Closing:

Results Of A Grateful Attitude:

1. It shifts the atmosphere

   1. A thankful heart leads to a fruitful life.

   2. It is attractive

   3. Question: Have you ever met someone that was super grateful that you hated to be around?

   4. It prepares your heart for worship

   5. Gratitude will bring you to a posture of humility

   6. It releases fear and anxiety

   7. Gratitude releases control and surrenders to God

   8. It honors God

Thankfulness is both an attitude and action.

Thankfulness reveals what’s on the inside.

Thankful or Entitled - I deserve this

Thankful or Arrogant - I’m better than this

Thankful or Selfish - It’s all about me

A thankful spirit is honor, not entitled

A thankful spirit is humbled, not arrogant

A thankful spirit is generous, not selfish

Thankful for the gift of grace.

Thank you for giving me life

Thank you for saving my life

Thank you for my past

Thank you for my present

Thank you for giving me a future

Thank you for Boulder

Thank you for my community

Thank you for my pillow

Thank Him in every season

Thank Him in every trial

Thank Him on every mountain top

Thank Him in the valley