Amen. All right, we're there in Luke chapter 17. Keep your place there in Luke 17, if you would, we're going to come right back to it.
And go with me to the book of Psalms, Psalm 69, right in the center of your Bible.
If you open up your Bible right in the center, you're more than likely following the book of Psalms, Psalm 79.
And of course, this week is Thanksgiving week. On Thursday, November 26, we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving.
And I want to preach a sermon on the subject of Thanksgiving, and specifically on how to show appreciation.
I'd like to begin just by way of introduction, showing you from the Bible how the giving of thanks or thanksgiving is a biblical concept.
And we could look at tons and tons of verses this morning. I'm not going to do that.
But I'll just share a few verses with you from the book of Psalms, Psalm 69.
If you look at verse 30, Psalm 69, verse 30, the Bible says this,
I will praise the name of God with a song. I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
So I want you to notice there the Bible talks about praising God and magnifying God with thanksgiving.
You're there in Psalm 69. Flip over to Psalm 95 and look at verse number 2, Psalm 95 and verse 2.
The Bible says this, Psalm 95 and verse 2,
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
And flip over, if you would, to Psalm 100.
Psalm 100, just a few Psalms over, Psalm 100.
And like I said, there's lots of Psalms we could look at this morning.
I'm just going to show you these three.
Psalm 100 and look at verse 4.
Psalm 100, verse 4, the Bible says this,
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.
Be thankful unto him and bless his name.
So I want you to notice that the Bible teaches this concept, this idea,
which is something we're celebrating as a country this week,
which is the giving of thanks, of being thankful.
And of course, I would remind you that we should be thankful
and that we should have thanksgiving in our hearts and in our minds all year round,
not just on a holiday, but it's good to have these memorial days,
these holy days to be able to think and consider of these things.
And today, go back with me to Luke 17, if you would.
Today I'm preaching a very practical sermon on the subject of how to show appreciation.
You know, the skill of showing appreciation is not something that comes to us naturally.
It is not something that comes to us just by nature.
Being thankful and showing appreciation is something that needs to be taught to us.
It's something that needs to be taught to children.
Children are not just thankful by nature.
You need to teach your children to say thank you when somebody hands them something or gives them something.
This is something that needs to be taught to children.
So this is why a sermon like this is good for kids.
We're a family integrated church, and it's good to have kids in the service
and help them learn how to show appreciation.
But you know, this is a sermon that's good for adults as well
because unfortunately, a lot of adults were raised by parents who never taught them how to show appreciation,
never taught them how to properly show appreciation for others, how to say thank you.
And these are good truths and good thoughts for us to learn.
Something I've learned over the last 10 years of ministry is that my job as a pastor
is not only to teach you the Bible and teach you biblical doctrine.
Of course, that's what we always attempt to do when we teach the Word of God and preach the Word of God.
But it's also just to teach you basic life skills.
It's to teach you, you know, how to live life and how to do life
and how to get along with each other and people skills and things like that
because oftentimes, we're just not taught these things by society.
We're not taught them. You're not taught them in public education.
And oftentimes, you're not taught them by children.
When I was in by parents, when we were children, when I was in the Air Force, when I went to boot camp,
at some point in our training, we had our technical instructor say this to us or scream this to us.
And I'm pretty sure every boot camp instructor says this to every boot camp group probably that's ever gone through.
But he said to us, our job is to teach you in the next eight weeks what your parents failed to teach you in the last 18 years.
And, you know, sometimes I feel like as a pastor, my job is to teach you in the next however many weeks you happen to be with us
or years you happen to be with us what your parents might have failed to teach you in the 30 or 40 or 50 years of your life
or the 20 or 18 years that you lived with them.
So I want to teach you about this idea of how to show appreciation because it's Thanksgiving, right?
We're supposed to be thankful. We're supposed to be giving thanks.
So how is it that we show appreciation?
Now, you're there in Luke chapter 17, and I want to give you two main thoughts this morning,
and then I've got some concluding statements.
And if you're taking notes, I'd encourage you to write these down.
How to show appreciation. How is it that we show appreciation?
Well, number one, to show appreciation, we should communicate appreciation with our words.
Now, again, that sounds pretty basic, but sometimes that's where we have to begin.
To show appreciation, we should communicate appreciation with our words.
You say, what do you mean? Here's what I mean.
By opening your mouth and just saying thank you.
Now, look, this is something that we need to teach our children.
This is something that you need to get in the habit of doing as an adult,
of just being someone who says thank you. Are you there in Luke 17?
This is probably one of the most famous passages or famous stories of people not being thankful in the Bible.
Luke chapter 17, verse number 11, the Bible says this,
And it came to pass as he, now the he there is Jesus, of course,
as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria in Galilee.
And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers,
which stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said,
Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priest.
And it came to pass, as they went, they were cleansed.
Notice verse 15.
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back,
and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks.
And he was a Samaritan.
And Jesus answering said, now notice the question that Jesus asked, very interesting.
Because one guy comes back and says, with a very loud voice, very thankful,
glorifying God in his heart, he fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks.
And here's a response that we get from Jesus.
He says, Were there not ten cleansed?
But where are the nine?
There are not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger.
And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way. Thy faith hath made thee whole.
It's interesting that Jesus heals ten lepers,
and only one comes back to actually communicate his gratitude.
Now here's the thing, I'm sure that these ten men were all thankful.
I'm sure that these ten men were all very appreciative of the fact that Jesus took the time to heal them from leprosy.
I mean, they were all, I'm sure if we were to stop them, if we were to find the other nine and say,
Hey, let me ask you something, you just got healed by Jesus, are you thankful for that?
I'm sure they'd say, absolutely, I'm thankful.
Man, I've got my life back, I've got my health back, I'm able to go back to my family and able to go back to society.
I am positive that all ten of these men, if you were to ask them, would say, I am thankful for what Jesus has done.
But the interesting thing is that only one took the time to communicate it to Christ.
Only one took the time to go back and say, let me make sure you know, let me make sure you hear it from my mouth.
Thank you.
And fell down on his face, at his feet, giving him thanks.
Now, there's a lot in this passage we could develop, and I'm not going to take the time to do it this morning.
I do want to point out some things just real quickly.
Notice in verse 15, we see this idea of faith.
In verse 15, the Bible says, and one of them, when he saw that he was healed, I'm sorry, not verse 15, excuse me, verse number 14.
And when he saw them, he said unto them, go show yourselves unto the priest.
And it came to pass, as they went, they were cleansed.
It's interesting that they weren't cleansed until they went.
And this, of course, we see this idea of stepping out by faith.
Jesus told them, go show thyself unto the priest, which is something that they would only do if they were cleansed.
And it came to pass that as they went, they were cleansed.
Notice, they didn't get cleansed until they went.
And the idea is this, that if they would have waited, if they said, well, I'm not going to go until I'm cleansed, they would have never been cleansed.
Because they had to step out by faith, they had to step out by faith and do what God had called them to do.
Now, this idea of stepping out by faith is often misused by Christians today.
And please understand this, the idea of stepping out by faith is always connected, biblically, to God's word.
We only step out by faith with what God has already told us to do.
Jesus already said to them, go show yourselves unto the priest, so as they went, they were cleansed.
I want you to notice also that there's this idea of an entitlement mentality.
And I would say this, the main reason that we don't say thank you is because we sometimes have this entitlement mentality.
This idea that I don't have to say thank you because whatever I get is something I deserve.
It's interesting that the one person in the story that gives thanks is the one person who was not allowed by society to develop a mentality of entitlement.
Look at verse 16, and fell down on his face at his feet giving thanks, and he was a Samaritan.
See, the other nine were Jews.
Now, it's interesting because the Bible is very clear that the Samaritans and the Jews, they have no dealings with each other.
These happened to find themselves because of the fact that they were all lepers.
They were all outcasts from society, but before they had become lepers,
nine had been raised in this Jewish culture that told them that they were better than the Gentiles,
better than the Samaritans in this mentality of entitlement.
We're God's people. We're better than everyone else.
While the Samaritan, you know, he'd always been an outcast.
And even as a leper, he'd been an outcast before that, and even after his healing, he was still an outcast
because though he was healed, he was still a Samaritan,
meaning the nine Jewish healed individuals would not have accepted him anyway.
And this one, and notice Jesus highlights this for us, verse 17,
And Jesus answered and said, We're not ten cleansed, but where are the nine?
There are not found that return to give glory to God. Notice what Jesus says, Save this stranger.
So we see that the one who gave thanks was one who did not have this entitlement mentality of,
well, I'm just special. Now, again, I'm sure all of these people were thankful.
I'm sure all of them were thankful, but there's only one individual who went back and said thank you.
So, you know, as adults, we should, number one, those of us that have children,
we need to make sure we're teaching our children to say thank you.
You know, when your children are handed something, when they're given something,
you should teach them to say thank you, to communicate thank you, to look someone in the eye and say thank you.
I appreciate that. Thank you for what you've given me or what you've done for me.
But, you know, as adults, we need to make sure that we say thank you as well.
And you may think, oh, well, you know, this is pretty basic. I don't think there's something that's needed.
Go to Romans, if you would, Romans chapter number one. You're there in Luke.
You're going to go past John, Acts, into the book of Romans, Romans chapter number one.
But, you know, as a pastor, I've literally given rides to, I'm talking about grown men that I've given rides to,
that I took time out of my schedule when I'm busy to go pick them up somewhere, take them somewhere,
you know, drop them off somewhere, and literally I've had people come out of my vehicle, you know,
shut the door and just walk off. It's like, you're welcome.
You know, and you think, ah, that's ridiculous. You know, where does that come from?
That comes from people who were never taught to say thank you.
You know, somebody takes time out of their schedule to give you a ride.
Look them in the eye and say thank you. I appreciate it.
Thank you very much. I know you didn't have to. I know you're busy.
I know there's fuel in this car. Somebody paid for that.
You know, and the point is this, and look, obviously we shouldn't do things in order to have people say thank you to us,
but the idea is this, when we are the recipients of something, a blessing, Jesus did not have to heal them.
Jesus did not have to acknowledge them. Jesus did not have to do anything for them,
and yet he healed all ten of them, and he says, were there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine?
So how do we show appreciation? To show appreciation, we should, number one, communicate appreciation with our words
by literally, physically getting in the habit of just saying thank you. Thank you.
But there's another way that we can communicate thankfulness, and that's through writing,
and I want to specifically refer to writing of thank you cards.
Now, it's really interesting to me in Romans, and we'll see it here in other passages,
how the apostle Paul always made sure to express his appreciation in writing.
Romans chapter 1, look at verse 8, and of course we know this is scripture, but this is also given to us in samples.
Romans chapter 1 verse 18, notice what Paul writes. He says, first, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all.
Now, did Paul have to write that in the beginning statements, in the introductory statements of the book of Romans?
But he wrote these words. He says, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all,
that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1.
I'm going to show you enough passages to show you that this was a habit that the apostle Paul had in his life.
This is not something he did one time, but multiple times in his writings,
he would take the time to express his appreciation for people through writing.
1 Corinthians chapter 1, look at verse 4. You're there in Romans?
Let's flip over to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and look at verse 1 and verse 4. Notice what Paul says.
He says, I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which was given you by Jesus Christ.
And notice he's always thanking God for them, but the fact that he's sending them this letter,
and he wrote in them, hey, I want you to know I thank God for you, he's showing them his appreciation for them as well.
Go to Philippians chapter 1. You're there in 1 Corinthians? You have 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians.
Philippians chapter 1, and look at verse 3. Philippians chapter 1 and verse 3.
1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. Philippians chapter 1 and verse 3. Notice what Paul writes.
He says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.
He writes these expressions. He writes these words of appreciation.
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.
Go to 1 Thessalonians chapter number 2. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2.
You're there in Philippians. You have Galatians, and then you have the book of 1 Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians chapter 2, and look at verse 13. 1 Thessalonians 2, 13,
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us,
ye received it, not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1.
Notice what the apostle Paul wrote. He wrote these words. He says, We are bound to thank God always for you.
We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly,
and the charity of every one of you all toward each other abounded.
And I want you to notice that the apostle Paul, he had this habit of expressing his gratitude to God and for people in his writings.
He had this habit of just writing down his words of appreciation.
And you know, in our culture, just to make it very practical for us this morning, in our culture, it is considered polite to write thank you cards.
And you know, again, you say, Pastor, are you really preaching a sermon on this? Well, you know, maybe you should have had a parent that taught you this,
or maybe you grew up in a different culture that didn't have that idea, but let me just let you in on a little secret.
In our culture in 2020, in American culture, it is considered polite to write thank you cards, and by the way, it is considered impolite to not.
So when someone gives you a gift, when someone does something for you, when someone goes out of their way to do something special for you,
you should take the time, you should take the time to write down an expression of gratitude.
Now let me just say this, and let me just kind of be real practical.
For some of you, you may not care about this, and that's fine. It's no problem. It doesn't make a difference.
But for those of you in leadership, and I'm talking, of course, to pastors, deacons, evangelists, I'm talking to our staff people,
I'm talking to those of you that are team captains, you're leaders of teams,
and any of you that want to be future pastors, future deacons, future evangelists, future in ministry,
you should really get in the habit of writing thank you cards, because here's the thing.
When a non-leader or a layman doesn't write a thank you card, and somebody may think they were rude as a result of it,
it's whatever. I mean, someone thinks you're rude. Okay.
But you know, as a leader, the whole point of being a leader is to have influence. Leadership is influence.
The only power that I have as a leader is to stand up here and try to influence you to do certain things in your life.
So because leadership is influence, as leaders, we should do everything in our power to protect our influence.
So if there's a thing that we can do that would cause us to have more influence,
where people would think well of us versus causing people to think badly of us or to think we're rude or to think we're inconsiderate,
then we should always take that step to protect our influence. As leaders, we should always protect our influence.
So in ministry, for those of you that are in leadership, you should really get in the habit, like the Apostle Paul, of expressing his thankful.
You don't think it helped Paul's influence over his people that he was ministering to when they would read these letters,
and he would always take the time to appreciate them, always take the time to thank them,
always take the time to write genuine words of appreciation for them.
So we should always try to write thank you cards, especially those of us in leadership.
If somebody gives us a gift or something like that, we should try to communicate.
Look, when you say, how do I show my appreciation? Do everything you can in your power to communicate appreciation.
It might be a text message. It might be an email. It might be a different way of doing it,
but we should try to communicate appreciation. It's not enough to just say, oh, I'm thankful. I'm one of the nine. I'm thankful.
No, take the time to turn around and go back and say, hey, Jesus, I just want to let you know. Thank you. I appreciate you. I appreciate.
So how do we show appreciation? Number one, we should communicate appreciation with our words.
Go to the Old Testament book of 1 Kings, if you would, 1 Kings 5, and you've got the first and second books.
They're all clustered together. 1 Samuel, 1 Kings, 1 Chronicles.
And let me just say this for those of you that, you know, write thank you cards or maybe you need to get in the habit of writing thank you cards.
You know, for me, and this is just my opinion, this is what I do. You don't have to do it this way if you don't want to.
But just a little hint. Whenever I give out thank you cards, and oftentimes when I give out thank you cards, I have my staff guys help me with that,
and I'll give them a stack of cards and say, hey, can you pass these out to these individuals?
I always instruct them, give it to the wife, not the husband. Give it to the wife, not the husband.
You say, why? Because men are idiots. I'm sorry to say. I don't know how else to say it.
Because I've literally seen this. I've literally seen this. I gave a thank you card to the husband, and he opens it, and he puts it in the trash can and walks off.
And I'm thinking to myself, his wife is never going to know. His wife is never going to know that I wrote a thank you card.
And his wife is going to think that her pastor is rude. You know? So we always make sure we give it to the wives.
Because the wives read it, they show their husbands, they keep it for six weeks, then they throw it away.
Husbands, open it, put it in the trash can, go on their merry way.
So anyway, for whatever it's worth, I always give the thank you cards to the wives, and maybe that will help you.
1 Kings chapter 5, if you would, 1 Kings chapter 5. How to communicate appreciation?
Number one, communicate appreciation with our words. Number two, how do we communicate, how do we show appreciation?
To show appreciation, we should communicate appreciation with our words.
And number two, we should contemplate appreciation in our minds.
We should communicate appreciation with our words by verbally or physically writing words of expressing our appreciation.
But secondly, we should contemplate appreciation in our minds.
Now in 1 Kings chapter 5 and chapter 9, we're going to look at it here in a minute, we have a really interesting story.
And in order to build the context of 1 Kings 9, you need to read 1 Kings chapter 5. Look at verse number 8.
Now in 1 Kings 5 and verse 8, we have this relationship of Hyrum and Solomon.
Now Solomon and Hyrum had a working relationship that developed into a friendship. Notice 1 Kings chapter 5 and verse 8.
The Bible says this,
And Hyrum sent to Solomon saying,
Now Solomon was building the house of the Lord and Solomon was also building his own house.
And he had contracted Hyrum to provide the timber that he needed. Hyrum was a king of a different kingdom.
And in that kingdom, they had the timber that Solomon would need to build these structures.
So he had reached out to him and said, hey, would you work with me and help me with this?
And Hyrum said,
Notice verse 9. Now notice that Hyrum puts a lot of work into this endeavor. Verse 9, the Bible says,
This is Hyrum speaking to Solomon.
Now I want you to notice that Hyrum didn't say, hey Solomon, I'm going to cut down these trees and you've got to bring up your guys and figure out how to carry them out there.
No, Hyrum, he went the extra step. He said, hey, I'll cut them down.
And since there's this river we could use and since we are north of you and you are south of us, we'll build these floats and we'll put this timber down and we'll send it down to you.
And wherever you want to have us discharge it, we'll get it there.
You know, he's really going above and beyond. He's taking the extra step. He's giving very good customer service.
But I want you to notice he's doing this because he's being hired to do it. He's doing this as a good employee.
Because look at the last part of verse 9 there. He says, I'm going to do all this, right?
Verse 9, he says,
Notice what he says, in giving food for my household.
So he says, okay, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to get you the timber. He said, I'm going to be a great businessman.
I'm going to go above and beyond with customer service. I'm going to get it right to your doorstep.
I'm going to use nature. I'm going to use floats. I'm going to get it all done. And then you, here's how you're going to pay us in giving food for my household.
Look at verse 10.
So they have this working relationship. Okay, you're going to get us the timber that we need and we're going to get you every year 20,000.
We're going to pay you 20,000 measures of wheat for food to his household and 20 measures of pure oil.
And we're going to do this every year. This is our contract. Look at verse 12.
This is the relationship between Hyrum and Solomon and they two made a league together. They went into contract together.
They were, they had a working relationship, but Solomon and Hyrum actually became friends through this working relationship.
This is often something that you'll see in business where two people will begin to do business together and a friendship develops as a result.
Go to 1 Kings chapter number 9. You're there in 1 Kings 5. Just turn over to 1 Kings chapter number 9 and look at verse number 12.
Now in 1 Kings 9 we fast forward. Now the job is done. The work's complete. The houses are built. The contract is over.
And Solomon wants to show his appreciation to Hyrum. 1 Kings chapter 9. Look at verse 12.
And Hyrum came out from Tyre to see the cities. Now notice this was not how Hyrum was getting paid for the work.
Because Hyrum got paid for the work every year by getting paid in food for his household. 20,000 measures of wheat for food and 20 measures of pure oil.
This is Solomon telling Hyrum, hey Hyrum, thank you for all the great customer service. Thank you for all the great hard work.
Thank you for everything you've done for us. I want to give you a little thank you gift. And obviously in business you see this as well.
Where one company will give the other company a little thank you gift at the end of a project for work well done.
This is what's happening here with Solomon and Hyrum. Notice verse 12. And Hyrum came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him.
So Solomon is giving him cities as a thank you gift. Notice the last part of verse 12. And they pleased him not.
Hyrum looked at the cities and he wasn't very happy with them. Look at verse 13. And he said, what cities are these which thou has given me?
Now notice that there is a close relationship here between Hyrum and Solomon. Because he says, what cities are these which thou has given me my brother?
And he called them the land of Kabul unto this day. Now obviously we don't have pictures here to see what Hyrum saw.
But obviously when Solomon gave this gift to Hyrum, Hyrum was actually offended by it. It displeased him.
I don't know what cities, you know we know the region of the cities. It was a northern region of Israel. What in the New Testament we considered Galilee.
That's the area that he gave to Hyrum. You know I don't know what it looked like at the time but you know I would imagine that by Hyrum's reaction.
You know here you have the king of Tyre taking the time to leave his kingdom to come down to Israel to see these cities as gifts.
Solomon says, hey I'm going to give you this gift. I'm going to give you the city. And Hyrum gets down there, travels down there, gets there and it's Del Paso.
Right? I mean he gets down there and he's like, a methadone clinic? What are these cities that thou has given me my brother?
You know sometimes an inappropriate attempt at appreciation can be offensive. Sometimes when we are inappropriate in our attempts to give appreciation, it's worse than not doing anything at all.
And look by the way, some of you husbands, let me just help you out. This is why your wife was so offended on your 20 year anniversary gift when you gave her a blender.
Okay? You're like, I don't get it. I got her a blender. Okay, sometimes our attempts at inappropriate appreciation can be offensive.
Sometimes we are not thankful because we are not thoughtful. See being thankful requires thinking through what we're doing.
Showing appreciation requires you communicating it, you saying, taking the time to say thank you. But you know what? Showing appreciation also requires you contemplating it in your mind.
Solomon was a very wise man. But you know what we know about Solomon? He was very wise in theory. He was very foolish in practicality.
I mean, you see the book of Proverbs, in theory, everything Solomon tells you to do, do it. But practically speaking, read the book of Ecclesiastes.
And you realize he was not very good at doing what he said to do. And you know, I'm sure that Solomon had every good intention.
But he obviously didn't take the time to think through what is higher I'm going to think about when I give him Del Paso Heights.
When I give him just the most ghetto, ugly part. What's he going to think about this? Sometimes we are not thankful because we are not thoughtful.
So look, this Thanksgiving season, when you take the time to be thankful, you should really take the time to think through it.
You should take the time to think through your thankfulness. Now keep your place right there in 1 Kings chapter 19 if you would.
And go to the book of Judges, Judges chapter number 8. Judges chapter number 8. If you go backwards from 2 Kings, you have 2 Kings, 1 Kings, 2 Samuel, 1 Samuel, Ruth, and then the book of Judges.
So take your place in 1 Kings 9 and go back to the book of Judges, Judges. And let me just say this while you're turning there.
And if you would, allow me to give a little bit of a personal illustration.
A couple of years ago, my parents celebrated their 40th marriage anniversary. And you know, 40 years of marriage is a big deal.
Being married to the same person for 40 years in a row is a big accomplishment.
And you know, when they were, we knew that their 40 year anniversary was coming up. And all of us, you know, kids or whatever in the family got together.
And my sister Michelle and brother Jose and my wife and myself and my brother who was not married at the time.
We got together and we said, you know, we got to do something for their 40 year anniversary is a big deal.
We want to show them that we love them and we appreciate them, you know.
And we started talking and we knew that they had friends that they hadn't seen in decades that they talked to on a regular basis.
But they hadn't seen them in a long time who lived in Australia.
And we'd always known that my parents always wanted to go to Australia anyway to see the country, but they also had friends there that they could have spent time with and stuff.
So we decided to send them on a trip to Australia for their 40 year anniversary.
And we, you know, we sat down and honestly I need to give the credit to the wives.
You know, my sister Michelle and my wife Joanne, they really were the ones that kind of sat down and planned this thing through.
And they figured out, okay, well how much is it going to cost to fly them there?
And how long are they going to be there?
And you know, how much is hotels?
And they're going to need a rental vehicle and they're going to need this and we're going to need that.
We figured out, you know, how much money it's going to take to do this.
And then we figured out, okay, well, you know, let's split this by three.
You know, me and my wife and then Michelle and brother Jose and then my brother, you know, we figured out, okay, it's going to cost this much money.
We have this much time.
If we set aside this much every month for the next couple of years, you know, we can give them this gift and we can do this.
You know, and then on their 40 year anniversary we set up this big banquet thing and the ladies, they cooked this nice meal and they got it all decorated.
And my sister Michelle hosted it at her house.
And my wife, with her crickets, she made these cups as these little favors or souvenirs where she put their names and 40 year anniversary and the date that they were married.
And we had this big, you know, nice meal and a big celebration.
At the end of the night we uncovered the gift and presented it to them and all that.
But here's one that I'm making.
That didn't happen overnight.
It's not like Michelle called me, you know, the week before their 40th anniversary and said, what are we going to do?
Let's send them to Australia.
You know, that took, it took like two years to really plan that out.
You know, to raise the money, to save the money.
And here's what I'm telling you.
To be thankful, you have to be thoughtful.
It takes time to plan.
It takes time to think.
It takes time.
If you want to do something and be special, do something special and appreciate someone that you love, you know, take the time to be thankful.
And to take the time to be thankful, you need to take the time to be thoughtful.
That's why I always laugh on Valentine's Day when I'm driving down the road and I see the people at the corner where they're selling the huge, you know, teddy bear for $65 on Valentine's Day.
Look, guys, let me help you with something.
Nothing says more, I forgot Valentine's Day, than you showing up at 7.40 p.m. at night with a giant teddy bear that you bought down the street.
Okay?
It's not very thoughtful.
Now, look, if you say, I think those are cool, I want to give my wife a huge teddy bear, that's fine.
Give it to her first thing in the morning so she knows you at least thought about it beforehand, you know?
But the point is this.
Sometimes to be thankful, we need to be thoughtful.
We need to actually think things through.
We need to prepare.
And not only do we need to be thoughtful in the fact that we should plan it out, we should also be thoughtful in the fact that we are appropriate.
You should be appropriate in your appreciation.
And again, this is the whole idea of the wife getting offended when she gets a blender after 20 years of anniversary.
You know, she's been married to you for 20 years.
She's given birth to four, five, six children, raised the children, fed you, took care of you, you know, kept the home, did everything for 20 years, and you're like, here's a blender.
I bought you a broom for our 20-year anniversary.
Look, this is why your wife is offended, okay?
We need to be appropriate in our giving.
You know, think about this for my parents.
Imagine if we would have gone through all that work, right?
Hey, we got this banquet set up.
We decorated it all nicely, prepared this beautiful meal, got all these favors.
We say, hey, at the end of the—you know, we sang happy anniversary to them.
What if we told them, at the end of the night, we have this beautiful gift we're going to give you.
We've been working on this for a couple of years.
You guys are going to be so excited.
We reveal it, and it's like, here's a $25 gift card to Red Lobster.
I mean, it's like, wouldn't that have been a little anticlimactic?
You know, one of the grandkids could get them a $25 gift card to Red Lobster.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
When we are being thankful or using our gratitude, we should be thoughtful, and that means that we should plan it out.
That means that we should be appropriate, and that means that we should be appropriate.
This is why you're there in 1 Kings 9.
Look at verse 12 again, 1 Kings 9 and verse 12.
Hyrum says, And Hyrum came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him, and they pleased him not.
And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother?
And he called the name, the land of Cabal unto this day.
Look, it requires us to be thoughtful in our thanksgiving.
It requires us to be thoughtful in our thanksgiving.
Now, I'll tell you this. This is why we fail often at being thankful.
And look, there's many times I've failed to be thankful to people I should have been thankful to and to say thank you or to write a thank you card or whatever.
Do you know why we fail to be thoughtful?
It's because being thoughtful requires work.
Planning and appropriateness requires work.
It requires putting effort.
Look, doesn't the Bible say, Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might?
And the Bible says if you're going to do something, do it good. Do it well.
Put your effort into it. Put your energy into it.
You know, put time into it.
Don't just last minute, ah, let's just throw something together.
Look, when we're going to do something, you know, just in life, in general, we should live by this concept, go big or go home.
Right? But especially when it comes to being generous.
So when it comes to being generous with other people, we should go big or go home.
We should take our time to be thankful.
We should take our time to appreciate people.
And look, this requires work.
I mean, just this last week, our church had this big worker appreciation day, this big worker appreciation dinner on Friday night.
We invited all the volunteers to a special dinner, you know, and we gave out gifts and we wrote cards and we did all these things.
You know, you don't think that took up work?
You don't think that took up time?
You don't think it would have been easier for me to just not acknowledge the workers at all, not acknowledge the volunteers?
You don't think I would have had more time for myself last week?
I would have had more time of leisure for myself?
Look, it took time and it took work to go through the list, to figure out all the workers and what they do, to print them, to come up with games.
To come up with prizes, to write special notes, to get the gifts, to have the meal, to prepare the place.
All of that takes work, but here's the point.
Being thankful requires work.
So look, this Thanksgiving, make sure that you are appreciative of those that you love and those that love you.
You say, how do I do it?
Number one, you communicate appreciation with our words and we contemplate appreciation with our minds.
Are you there in Judges Chapter 8?
Let me just say this.
In case you think this sermon doesn't apply to me, there are people in our lives who deserve the hard work and effort of appreciation.
Somebody said this to me one time I thought it was interesting.
I've never forgotten it.
I've said it to you several times.
When we look at our lives, we should feel like a turtle on a fence post.
A turtle on a fence post doesn't know how it got there, but it knows it didn't get there on its own.
In your life and in my life, whatever we've accomplished in our lives, sometimes you've accomplished things, you've done things in your personal life, in ministry, whatever.
Here's what we know.
Sometimes we look back and we say, I don't know how I got here, but I know this, I didn't get here on my own.
You didn't get to where you are in life on your own.
People have invested in you.
People have taught you.
People have loved you.
People have been patient with you.
There are people in your lives that have invested into all of us and we as Christians should be people who take the time and put in the energy and the effort, the hard work to appreciate those who deserve it.
Judges Chapter 8.
Look at verse 33.
Notice what the Bible says.
Judges Chapter 8 and verse 33.
Notice verse 35.
When the children of Israel came to pass as soon as Gideon was dead that the children of Israel turned again and went to a whoring after Balaam and made Baal be with their God.
Notice verse 35, neither showed they kindness to the house of Jerubel, namely Gideon, according
to all the goodness which he had showed unto Israel.
You know, Gideon had done a lot for the nation of Israel.
Gideon had led them out of captivity.
Gideon had given his life and had given his sweat and his toil to be a blessing to these
people.
And then the Bible says these very negative words, neither showed they kindness to the
house of Jerubel, namely Gideon.
And again, in your life, there have been parents, there have been people, there have been grandparents,
there have been aunts or uncles, pastors and pastors' wives, there have been maybe teachers
and coaches.
There have been people who came alongside you and helped you in life, and we should
not be people who are unthankful and unthoughtful.
We should make sure that it's never said of us, neither showed they kindness to the
house of Jerubel, namely Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had showed unto
Israel.
Go to Romans chapter number 13.
Romans chapter number 13, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans.
Romans chapter 13, look at verse 7.
Romans chapter 13 and verse 7.
Romans 13 and verse 7, the Bible says this, render therefore to all their dues tribute
to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, and of course we understand the main context
here is referring to government, but there's a practical lesson here as well.
Render therefore to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom,
fear to whom fear.
Notice these words, honor to whom honor.
We should give credit where credit is due, where people have loved us and invested in
us and helped us, where they've helped us along the way, we should honor them and we
should be willing to do the hard work of being thoughtful, of contemplating gratitude in
our hearts and communicating gratitude with our mouths.
Go to Philippians chapter 4, Philippians chapter 4.
Let me just say this also in case you really are kind of hard-headed and don't think this
sermon applies to you.
You say, I don't need to say thank you to anybody.
Well here's what I know about you, you didn't get where you are on your own.
People have helped you, people have loved you, people have invested in you, people have
prayed for you.
I know this, if you're saved, you didn't get saved on your own, somebody gave you the gospel,
but let me just say this, not only, here's what I know about you, that there are people
in your life and in my life who deserve the hard work and effort of appreciation and sometimes
we are so ungrateful and we are so self-centered that we can't even, I can't even think of
who to thank.
Okay, well here's the other thing I know about you, there is a God in our lives who deserves
the hard work and effort of appreciation.
You know, as Christians, we should have an attitude of gratitude all year round.
Philippians chapter 4, look at verse 6.
Philippians chapter 4 and verse 6 notice what the Bible says, be careful for nothing.
The word careful means there about worry or anxiety.
Don't be anxious, don't be worryfull over anything.
He says, be careful for nothing.
He says, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your
requests be made known unto God.
One of the reasons in our prayer list on Wednesday nights that we take the time to write little,
you know, to make sure we print on their little praise reports is because we never
want to be the people who only, we never want to be the nine who have no problem when we
have a problem telling Jesus, communicating to Jesus, have mercy on us.
But after the prayer gets answered, they forget to communicate appreciation.
We always want to be the people who pray and bring our requests unto the Lord, who by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.
Let me tell you this, there's always something to be thankful for.
This thanksgiving, you have something to be thankful for.
You say, thanksgiving of 2020 pastor, really?
Haven't you been paying attention?
2020 has been a pretty crazy year.
I can tell you this, in 2020, you have something to be thankful for.
In 2020, you can find something to be thankful for, you can always find something to be thankful
for.
It doesn't matter who's the president, doesn't matter what the riots are, it doesn't matter
what the pandemic is, we can always in everything with thanksgiving, let your requests be made
known unto God.
Look, in every situation, you can find something to be thankful for.
Go to 1 Thessalonians chapter five.
If you would, 1 Thessalonians chapter five, you're there in Philippians, you're gonna
go past Colossians into 1 Thessalonians, we're almost done.
1 Thessalonians chapter five, look at verse 17, 1 Thessalonians 5, 17, pray without ceasing.
Notice how this prayer is always connected to being thankful.
And I don't have time to develop this, but the reason for that is because the Bible says
that we should bring our complaints unto God.
And let me just say this, complaining kills gratitude.
Complaining kills contentment.
If you're, it's a sermon for another day, but your mom and dad should have taught you
to not complain.
And we should be people who get ourselves out of the habit of constantly complaining
about everything.
Complaining about the government and complaining, look, there's problems in the government,
we know that.
Complaining about this and complaining about my boss and complaining about my spouse and
complaining about my kids and complaining about this, complaining about that.
Don't be the person who's complaining, who's constantly complaining because complaining
kills contentment.
You say, I have nothing to be thankful for.
You're just not looking hard enough.
The Bible says in verse 18, in everything give thanks.
Now look, don't miss this.
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
What's God's will for my life?
That in everything I give thanks.
And look, you say, well, I don't have anything to be thankful for.
You're not looking hard enough.
You can be thankful in everything.
There's a story of a man named Matthew Henry who lived in the 1600s and 1700s.
He's best known for a six-volume biblical commentary that he wrote, which I'm not endorsing
this morning.
But I think it's interesting because there's a famous story about him, a well-known story
about Matthew Henry that is helpful in illustrating a thankful attitude for us today.
Back in the 1700s, he had been mugged one day while he was walking down the street.
And when he went home, he wrote down in his journal four statements.
Here's what he wrote.
He wrote, number one, I am thankful that I had never been robbed before.
Number two, I am thankful that although he took my wallet, he did not take my life.
Number three, I am thankful that although he took all I had, it was not much.
Number four, I am thankful that it was I who was robbed and not I who did the robbing.
And here's the truth.
The truth is this, that you and I can be thankful in everything.
We can find something to be thankful in all things.
In everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
And here's the point.
You don't have to be thankful for everything, but you should be thankful in everything.
Because there's always a reason to say thank you.
There's always a reason to show gratitude.
But it may require time and energy and effort and thoughtfulness to contemplate appreciation
and to communicate appreciation to those who have invested in our lives around us.
Let's bow our heads in our word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for everything you do, for every blessing you give us, for
all the things that you've done in our lives.
And Lord, I pray that you'd help us to be grateful people.
Help us to be people who communicate gratitude.
Help us to teach our children to be thankful.
And we understand that's a work in progress, to communicate thankfulness, to say thank
you, to teach the kids to say thank you, to teach the kids, even the little ones, to write
thank you cards when somebody gives them a gift or does something for them.
Lord, I pray you'd help us to be people who communicate gratitude.
Help us to be people who contemplate gratitude.
Help us, Lord, to take the time to be thoughtful so that we can be thankful.
Lord, I pray you'd help us to use this Thanksgiving season, the next several days, to really think
about are there people in our lives that we should thank?
Are there people in our lives who we should appreciate?
Maybe a mother, maybe a father, a grandparent, an uncle, an aunt, a family member, a family
friend, someone who's came alongside us and invested in us and loved on us and been patient
to us.
Lord, I pray you'd help us to be people who are thankful, not just because of a heart
or a soul.
Help us, Lord, to be thankful.