Message Notes
Gratitude
John 3:16; Psalm 136; Genesis 1:5,27; 2:2, 24; Mark 12:43-44
Give Thanks
CIT: Israel Gives Thanks
CIS: His love endures forever
SO: The hearer will understand the need to give Gratitude to God
Follow along at d1.church/notes.
Intro: I am excited about this new series, especially this new season. Every year, we focus on Generosity at the end of the year. We do not just preach about it; we want to be about it.
From now until the end of the year, we will be discussing Gratitude.
Gratitude is being thankful and ready to show appreciation for and return kindness.
Gratitude is not just being thankful but ready to act upon it.
We will have opportunities to act over the next few weeks:
November 23- d1Mens Meat n’ Greet
November 28- Thanksgiving dinner service
December 1- Water Baptism
December 8- Undie Sundie
December 22- Big Give
December 24- Christmas Eve Service at Special Event Center
We will show our gratitude to God with words and actions over the next few weeks.
Please prepare your heart and family to give and serve together.
We say it every week: “Our God is a generous God, and he made us to be a Generous People.”
Our scripture reference for this is John 3:16:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
This sentence is structured so that we understand we are not generous people; as a matter of fact, we are selfish and self-serving. But when the Spirit of God entered our lives through salvation, He changed us and helped us understand how helpless we were and how our lives are entirely different because he gave first. So now, every day, being made in his image, we are generous because he was already generous.
This is why the Israelites retell their story in Psalm 136, never to forget what God has done.
1. God the Creator (Psalm 136:1-9)
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
To him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
Who, by his understanding, made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
Who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
Who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.
EXP: The Psalm is a songbook, but the songs written were meant to remind them of the God they serve and who they are as people of God. They may bring people to praise but may also bring them to repentance. The first part of Psalm 36 does three things: 1. Assigns all power to him 2. Assign all creation to him 3. Reminds us of His Love (Grace)
ILL: When we wish to praise God, it is best to start at the beginning. For most of this, praising God as all-powerful and the Creator God seems too basic; however, if we believed that most of our disagreements in Society would be fixed.
If God had all the power, we would end the struggle. We would understand that any idol (self, money, position) would be mute or put in a proper place of humility. The warring with others and ourselves could end if we knew God was in control.
If God created the world and just the first three chapters of Genesis were true, then we would no longer have issues with:
- Gender identity - Genesis 1:27: “He created them, male and female.”
- Marriage- Genesis 2:24: “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife.”
- Work/Life Balance Genesis 1:5: “God called the light “day” and the darkness “night” and Genesis 2:2: “He rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done.”
We can see that this applies to all our lives when we recognize the first two things worthy of Praise. To continue not acknowledging these truths is not to put God in the proper position.
APP: In our worship of God, we must first understand whose world we are living in. He created it for him, and we are made to worship him. To do this is Salvation. Anything less is cheap. His Grace is sufficient for us.
T.S.: Once we give him all power, we can acknowledge our journey with him.
2. God is a Deliverer/Provider (Psalm 136:10-16).
To him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
His love endures forever.
And brought Israel out from among them.
His love endures forever.
With a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
His love endures forever.
To him who divided the Red Sea asunder,
His love endures forever.
And brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures forever.
But swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever.
To him who led his people through the wilderness;
His love endures forever.
EXP: The Psalmist rehearses the story of God delivering them out of the bondage of Isreal, Parting the Red Sea to rescue them from their pursuers, and providing for them in the wilderness. This second section of Psalm 136: 1. God is our Deliver 2. God is our Provider 3. Reminds us of His Love (Grace)
ILL: By accepting God as our Savior, he then begins the process of removing us from our old life, protecting us, and then providing us with a new station in life.
In my young church life, an evangelist came through periodically. His name was Brother Norris. He played guitar and sang for years with another musician named Brother Romo. Brother Norris would be playing and worshipping for hours. They were anointed to do music. At some point, Brother Norris, in his scratchy voice, would begin to tell the story of how he was drunk and stupid and angry and walked into a church and the preacher was preaching. He looked him in the eye and pointed a finger at him, and lighting flew out of his finger, hitting him in the eyes and knocking him to the ground. While he was down there, he met Jesus, who told him his days of being a slave to sin and alcohol were over; he was called out of that life into a new life. He would tell us while praising God with all he had that he could not stop praising God for his life. He could play that guitar all night long and often did. He wasn’t praised for money or fame; he was praised because God delivered him, freed him from all his enemies, and provided for him to evangelize and spread the Gospel.
APP: Certainly, God is worthy of praise for who he is and for being our creator, but he doesn’t stop there. If you allow him to deliver and free you, the praise will not stop.
T.S.: His love extends beyond Brother Norris to you as well.
3. God is a fighter(Psalm 136:17-22; 23-26)
To him who struck down great kings,
His love endures forever.
and killed mighty kings—
His love endures forever.
Sihon, king of the Amorites
His love endures forever.
and Og king of Bashan—
His love endures forever.
and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love endures forever.
An inheritance to his servant Israel.
His love endures forever.
EXP: After the Israelites’ deliverance from Pharaoh, God defeated the inhabitants of the Promised Land and gave it to his people as rightful owners. The third section reminds us of 1. God fights for us 2. He provides new life 3. Reminds of his Love (Grace)
ILL: God extends his grace not just to provide sustenance for his people but to provide them land, homes, and a place they can have for eternity.
The end of the Book of Deuteronomy and the Book of Joshua tells how God went before them and gave them easy victories (sparing their lives and defeating every enemy). These books also have moments where the people, even though they had seen God do it repeatedly, would lack faith. People who understood who he was and had already seen his mighty hand of deliverance still thought they had to earn their way into a better life. Seems silly. The Psalmist is not so oriented today. Today, he praises God for these mighty acts. By this, he knows his next battle belongs to the Lord.
ILL: There is a story in the Gospel of Mark where Jesus sits watching the box where offerings of the temple are placed, and while he is watching, an older woman comes up and puts in a couple of coins. I want you to imagine that Jesus had been sitting there all day. While he was watching, those who were the religious leaders came by in their flashy clothes and placed large amounts of offerings in the box. Large amounts of spice or flour or money. Part of their tithe or commanded portion of the offering. In those days, they would make a show out of their grand offering. This happened multiple times that day; some had even made sure to wait till someone who gave less than them went so their offering would seem more significant. Then comes this old lady, who provides just two coins and walks away.
Jesus shouts to his disciples,
“Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth, but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”Mark 12:43-44
She did not make a show, But God made one for her. You see, it is not the size of the praise or acknowledgment of God; it is the motivation.
APP: If we can walk through this Psalm, we can understand who God is and then see his work in our life, his deliverance, and provision; then, when we offer praise or offering, it will be in the correct order. It may not seem like much to you or anyone else watching, But Jesus sees you.
He remembered us in our low-estate
His love endures forever.
And freed us from our enemies.
His love endures forever.
He gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.
T. S.: His Love endures forever, which means this is how he loves us, Forever.
I want to pray for three groups today:
- Some of you are like the Israelites; you have seen God do amazing things but are facing a challenge and feel you need to do it alone.
- Praise God for his deliverance and provision in the past, and remember that he will do it again.
- Some of you are struggling financially or provisionally.
- I pray you will understand that God desires to provide for his people.
- Some of you have been confused by who God is; you are wrestling with thoughts from society and the enemy and have decided today that it is his world, and he is worthy of praise.
- I pray today for salvation.