I’M THANKFUL FOR…

Pastor Dennis Clanton

Woodland Church

Sunday, November 10, 2024

(Luke 17:14–19, NLT) “He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”

1.  Thanksgiving reminds us of our faith in God

2.  Thanksgiving cleanses us of our wrong attitudes

“To thank with all your heart is an art–an art which the Holy Spirit teaches. And you need not worry that the man who can really say “Deo gratias” (to God be thanks) with all his heart will be proud, stubborn, rough, and tough, or will work against God with His gifts.” –Martin Luther

3.  Thanksgiving allows us to remember the goodness of God

4.  Thanksgiving teaches us that God wants to be understood and honored

(1 Thessalonians 5:18, NLT) “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

“Thanks be to God for a life full-packed with things that matter crying to be done–a life, thank God, of never-ending strife against the odds. … Just enough time to do one’s best, and then pass on, leaving the rest to Him.” –John Oxenham

FOUR DAILY BLESSINGS TO BE THANKFUL FOR

1.  GOD LOVES ME

(Psalm 136:26, PT) “Give thanks to the great God of the heavens! His tender love for us continues on forever!”

(1 John 3:1, NLT) “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!”

2.  GOD FORGIVES ME

(Psalm 103:12, NLT) “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.”

(Ephesians 1:7, NLT) “He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.”

(Romans 5:15, NLT) “But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.”

God’s forgiveness is complete, unconditional, and continual

3.  GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR MY LIFE

(Jeremiah 29:11, NLT) “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

4.  GOD GIVES ME ETERNAL LIFE

(1 John 5:12, NLT) “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.”

(John 10:27–29, NLT) “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.”

(John 3:16, NLT) “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

GROWTHWORK

1.  PRACTICE PRAISING GOD DAILY

(Psalm 145:2, NLT) “I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever.”

2.  PRAISING GOD REVEALS ANSWERS

(Psalm 73:16–17, Message) “Still, when I tried to figure it out, all I got was a splitting headache … Until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I saw the whole picture”

3.  PRAISING GOD BREAKS CHAINS AND REMOVES BONDAGES

(Acts 16:26, NLT) “Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!”