Good evening.  As we look at our text tonight, we are going to cover a characteristic that is not in the book that I am looking at, but I feel is a characteristic of a High Quality Christian.  Like this morning, we are going to take a look at being thankful.

Before we start, let’s pray

Thanksgiving has become just a "Turkey Day," a day to throw our diets into the wastebasket, engage in a ritual of overeating and watching football until we’re fast asleep.  But for Christians, Thanksgiving is a day to acknowledge that everything we have is a gift from God, and to lift our hearts in thanksgiving to Him.

The story is told of a man who decided to become a monk and joined an order where silence was the cardinal rule.  He could only say 2 words every decade.  After 10 years, the head monk called him.  “Well,” he said, “you can say your 2 words now.”  The man replied, “food tasteless.”  Having said his piece, the monk returned to his quarters to spend the next 10 years.

After 10 more years passed, he was once again summoned to his superior’s office to speak just 2 words.  This time he said, “Bed hard.”

Another 10 years passed, now a total of 30 years had gone by, and the head of the order summoned the monk once again.  He was told that the time had come for him to speak his 2 words.  He said, “I quit.”  Immediately the head monk jumped up and responded, “I’m not surprised.  You have been complaining every since you got here.”

In I Thessalonians 5:16-18 it says, “1”

Be thankful always.  At this time I want to just take a few minutes to give you the opportunity to share some of the things that you are thankful for. 

So, what are some things that you are thankful for?

In that passage it said, to be thankful in all circumstances.  Now that is hard isn’t it?  Sometimes in life we need to see the bright side of things.

Robert E. Bruce relates the following incident: “While walking along a busy street one day, I heard someone singing.  His sweet voice was distinguishable even above the noise of the traffic.  When I located him, I noticed that he had no legs and was pushing himself through the crowd in a wheelchair.  Catching up with him, I said, “I want you to know, friend, that to hear singing from a person in your condition gives everyone else a lift.”  He answered with a grateful smile and said, “When I stopped looking at what I had lost and began concentrating on all I had left, I found much for which I could rejoice and be happy.””

We have so much, and we don’t thank God because we focus on what we don’t have.

Look at some of these statements: I am Thankful for.........

....the taxes I pay ....because it means I’m employed.

....the clothes that fit a little too snug ....because it means I have enough to eat.

....my shadow who watches me work ....because it means I am out in the sunshine.

....a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing ....because it means I have a home.
....the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot ....because it means I am capable of walking.

....my huge heating bill ....because it means I am warm.

....all the complaining I hear about our government ....because it means we have freedom of speech.

....the lady behind me in church who sings off key. ....because it means that I can hear.

....the piles of laundry and ironing ....because it means my loved ones are nearby.

....the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours ....because it means that I’m alive.

....weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day ....because it means I have been productive.

…the mess to clean after a party… because it means I have been surrounded by friends.
....the Old Rugged Cross… because it means my faith is in Jesus Christ.

Now many times we look at some of those things and we are not thankful for them, but because of them, it means that we have something great that we should be thankful for.

Turn with me to Psalms 46:1-7.  Here in this passage we read of being thankful in difficult times.  Here in Psalms 46:1-7 it says, “2”

How can we be thankful during difficult times?
When our world is falling apart…
When we have more questions than answers…
When bad things happen to good people…
When evil seems to be gaining ground…
When the last penny is spent and retirement is decades away…
When your retirement savings are gone and you still have many years to live…
When your medical coverage has come to an end and you’ve found no relief…
When the doctor says its terminal…
When the phone rings in the middle of night and the news is much worse than you could ever image…

When life is hard, when there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel, where do we turn?  How can we be thankful during difficult times?

The Bible teaches us that we can trust in God.  Psalm 46 reminds us that God is our strength and our refuge.  He is our place of security and safety.  Everything else WILL fall away at one time or another.  Health, Wealth, Job Security, Family, and Friends will fade, but not God.  All else may forsake us, but God will not.  All else may collapse, but God won’t.
No one knows what tomorrow will bring.  In life there is only One who is constant, and who is firm, who is secure.  Our God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  His promises can be ours today!  How can we be thankful during difficult times?  Only when we recognize that God is our only source of strength and refuge.  He is our only security in this life and the one to come.

So, this morning we looked at being thankful, and I want to touch on that 1 more time tonight from a couple different passages.  And the last passage for tonight is from Luke 17:12-19.  Here in this passage we learn about being thankful.  Here in Luke 17:12-19 it says, “3”

The following proclamation was made by Governor Bradford in 1623, 3 years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth; it said,
“To all ye Pilgrims, Inasmuch as the great father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, squashes and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the raids of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday November ye 29th of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty three, and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Plymouth rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.”

The Pilgrims had a choice to make.  They could have thanked God for the fact they were alive and functioning.  They could have cursed God for the fact they lost well over half of the people they left England with.  The other choice they had was to just forget about what God did for them and just live out their lives.

They chose wisely and they chose to be thankful.  Even though they had a lot they could complain about, they chose to be thankful.  They knew who to give the glory to.

In the passage we read, the 10 men with leprosy where cleansed, but only 1 of those men where thankful and took the opportunity to return and thank Jesus.  How many times in our lives to we not return to God and thank Him for what he has given us, or blessed us with?  10 men where cleansed, but only 1 was truly thankful.  Then Jesus told him in verse 19 to, “Rise and go, your faith has made you well.”

You see, when we have faith in Christ and His blessings, we will return to Him to thank Him.  The high quality Christian always thanks God in all circumstances.

Are you thankful today?  Do you realize how much God has blessed you?

We can go through life complaining or we can go through this life being thankful.  The choice is ours!

Do you have a lot to be thankful for this week?  I believe that we all do!  If you belong to Jesus you should be thanking Him everyday for the opportunity you have to follow Him.

He has done so much for us.  He wants to do so much more!  In life we can look at the glass as half empty of half full.  If we chose to look at it as half full, then we need to be thanking God daily.

(Move to discussion)

1.      What are some things that people tend to not be thankful for, that they should be?

2.      What is something that we can do to help us to be more thankful for what we have?

3.      What are some ways to let others know that we are thankful to them?

4.      What is one thing that you personally are going to do this week with thanksgiving approaching to say, “Thank You” to God?

In conclusion, I want to read a selection from Our Daily Bread that deals with our last text that we looked at.  In Our Daily Bread it says, “4”

Let’s Pray