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Colossians Thanksgiving:
An Attitude of Gratitude
Colossians 1:3-5 – We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the
love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in
heaven.
Colossians 1:12 – giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in
the inheritance of the saints in light.
Colossians 2:6-7 – Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in
him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were
taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Colossians 3:17 – And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the
name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 4:2 - Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with
thanksgiving.
I. Sermon Intro: This thanksgiving we want to praise our God for all that he
has done for us, but more specifically, this morning we want to thank him for the
things that the book of Colossians has brought to our attention as most
important.
A) 5 Key Passages in Colossians on thanksgiving – We have just
finished almost three months in the book of Colossians and isn't it fitting
that we have finished right at the Thanksgiving holiday. So I thought that
it would be fun, if not providential, to look upon the 5 key passages in
Colossians that deal with thanksgiving and see what they have to say to
us today as a Church.
B) Read the Passages
C) When we think of thanksgiving – Traditionally when we think of
thanksgiving we think of a few different things. We think of family and
getting together with them over a meal. We think of Turkey's and
Dressing. We think of Football. Every year we get to watch the Lions
and the Cowboys. We think of shopping. Black Friday. Getting the best
deals of the year. We may even think of the beginnings of the holiday
with the pilgrims and Indians.
But how often do we think of giving thanks at thanksgiving. Sure you
may say a prayer of thanks before gorging yourself with mashed
potatoes, but do we really stop to thank God for all that he has done for
us?
D) Should We only be thankful one day? - And should we? Should we
have a day designated for giving thanks to God for all that he has done? Or
should we live everyday in awe and gratitude of what God has done for us?
I think the idea of Thanksgiving Day is a wonderful idea. A day where we
really concentrate and celebrate the blessings of God. But, in reality, the
organization of a holiday, focused around giving thanks to God, has actually
caused us to be less thankful on a daily basis, even to the point where now
we aren't really all that thankful on the day that we created to be thankful.
Think about that for a second. When we made a single day to celebrate
giving Thanks to God, we unintentionally began to think that giving thanks
on days not named Thanksgiving was not as important. I'll give thanks on
thanksgiving, and therefore I don't need to give thanks on other days. This
may sound absurd to you or too simple, but I assure you that this is the
case.
E) We should give thanks all the time – My point is this. We make a huge
mistake when we designate singular annual celebrations for things that God
has made clear need to be a part of our everyday lifestyle. I don't have a
problem with Thanksgiving. I have a problem with the way it causes us to
think. I have a problem with people only giving thanks at Thanksgiving
while being absent minded about it the rest of the year. And I have a huge
problem with people not even being remotely thankful on the day that's been
designated for giving thanks.
Instead of a holiday of thanksgiving, I think what God appreciates a whole
lot more is Christians living life with an attitude of thanksgiving everyday of
their life. And I think the book of Colossians helps us to see this as well.
We are called to have an everyday, year long, God glorifying attitude of
gratitude.
F) Attitude is everything – As we've already discussed in the book of
Colossians. Attitude is everything. Your attitude, or demeanor, depicts who
you are in Christ. If you are a follower of Jesus, indwelt with the power of
the Holy Spirit, then you are joyful, patient, kind, loving, merciful, graceful, a
servant, a minister, a light in the darkness, and the salt of the earth. And
above all, a true believer is constantly mindful of the provision of God and
how thankful they must be of that at all times.
II. Body: So let's look at these passage this morning and see a couple of key
themes that we see here about having an attitude of gratitude everyday of our lives.
A. An Attitude of Gratitude Thanks GOD- In all but 1 on these passages is
the word thanksgiving related to both God the Father and Jesus Christ our
Lord.
a) God is Good – Why is God ultimately the recipient of our
thanks. Because God is the ultimate good. James 1:17 tells us
that every gift, if it is good is from our God. Therefore,
everything we have we attribute to God. You may have gotten a
promotion.. is that from your employer or God? God. You may
have received a gift from your wife on your anniversary... is that
from your wife or God? God.
So what does this mean for you? It means this. That you can have
a faith that no matter what pain or suffering you are going through,
according to Romans 8:18 – God is working it for your good and his
glory!
So even in the pain and suffering, God is worthy of being praised.
We thank God even in our sufferings because we know that he is
working it for our good and his glory. Even our pains are a gift from
a good God.
b) Thanking people – Now does this mean that we don't thank
people for their gifts and for their care? Of course not. We are
always to show respect and care for each other. But I believe
that when you thank others, knowing the source of all good gifts,
you are actually thanking God.
B. An Attitude of Gratitude Thanks God in PRAYER - Of course this is
simple, and we've talked and talked about prayer. But lets just make it clear
one more time. The language of thanksgiving is prayer! Every time we
thank God we do so in prayer. It isn't necessarily in a concentrated time of
prayer, but in consistent daily conversation.
Matthew 10:42 says that if you give someone a cup of cold water
in the name of Christ then you are actually doing that service for
Christ. This means that when you thank anyone, knowing the
true source of that gift, then you are actually thanking God.
C. An Attitude of Gratitude Thanks God for BROTHERS and SISTERS
in Christ
c) Worship is natural – And how does knowing this affect your
attitude? Simple, When you know that God is the giver of all
good things, simply saying thank you is an act of worship. And,
worship in your heart happens more often because every time
you are blessed, you know where your thanks should be
directed.
d) What about Bad things – So you may be asking, well what
about bad things like suffering, trials, etc... Where does an
attitude of gratitude align with my pain?
First, God is not evil. He is all good and all powerful. He can
stop evil and he wants to stop evil. However, he also sees the
big picture and can ordain evil things for your ultimate good.
Confused? Well let me give you the greatest example.
Does God want all people to be saved? Yes 1 Tim 2:4, 2 Peter
3:9 both make this clear. And because of this, what was God to
do? John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he sent his
only begotten son, that whoever should believe in him, would not
perish but would have everlasting life.
Get this... God orchestrated the greatest tragedy of all time (the
death of Christ) so that ultimately everyone might be saved.
Temporary evil for ultimate good.
a) Christian Family – Col 1:3 – I thank God for you. Col. 1:12 –
give thanks to the father who has qualified you. It is clear that we
are to thank God for our Christian family.
They are our covenant friends. They are our accountability
partners. They are our prayer warriors. They are our spiritual
leaders. They are our companions in Christ, and therefore we thank
God for them everyday.
b) The Church - And of course as we've been learning, our
Christian brothers and sisters are the church. The church isn't a
building, it is the people who are in Christ, the body of Christ, the
Bride of Christ. So naturally we thank God for the church.
We reject the temptation to downgrade the church and say that we
don't need the church in order to live for Christ. We are less critical
of the church and its leadership. We trust Christ and our Christian
brothers and sisters. We are thankful that we see God working in
our church and that he is leading us to a greater walk with him.
An attitude of Gratitude is displayed in the way we love the church
D. An Attitude of Gratitude Thanks God for our SALVATION - Every
one of these verses points towards our faith. Col. 1:4 – we thank God since
we heard of your faith. Col. 1:12 – we thank God for your inheritance with
the saints. Col. 2:6 – as you've received Christ... abound in thanksgiving.
a) Only God Saves – It is only our God who saves. He looks upon
your faith in Christ and the work that Christ has done on the
Cross for you and he declares you righteous. As we've said a
hundred times... you have not and cannot save yourself. It was
all God.
b) Salvation always produces love towards others – And as
we've stated many times, according to Col 1:3-5, that salvation
produces a love for others. We thank God for your salvation and
the love you have. Listen, people will know that we are
Christians, not because of the way we look, but because our
attitude displays the love of Christ. An attitude of Gratitude is an
attitude of sacrificial love for all people.
c) Our Salvation makes us thankful for Heaven – And, a
gratitude for salvation doesn't just point our love towards others,
it also points our love towards Heaven. Col. 1:5 tells us about
our hope in Heaven. Col. 1:12 tells us about our inheritance in
heaven. We thank God for Heaven.
And this means that we don't only thank God for the things he
has already done for us, we thank him for the blessings that he
will give us in the future... namely Heaven.
III. Conclusion – In conclusion today, I want to recap. What is an attitude
of Gratitude that depicts your love for God everyday of your life, not just
on Thanksgiving day?
An attitude of Gratitude is focused on thanking God because God is the
only one who deserves ultimate thanks.
This thankfulness to God is displayed through the consistent language of
prayer. You show me someone who prays and I will show you someone
who is thankful.
This lifestyle of a thankful attitude gives God praise and worship for two
main things. Christian family, the Church, and our Salvation. These two
things should dominate your gratitude.