Thanksgiving & Prayer

I’m no master gardener, but in my small-scale gardening, I’ve learned about companion planting. Some flowers, vegetables, and herbs grow better together. They don’t just tolerate one another; they encourage one another’s health and fruitfulness. But some plants can’t grow together. One steals nutrients, blocks the sun, or entices pests that hinder the growth of other plants.

The same is true in our life. Faith, humility, and thankfulness are companion practices, supporting and sustaining one another. As one increases, so do the others. But unbelief and boasting choke out the tiniest seedlings of thankfulness. Whereas humility and gratitude feed off each other, gratitude and pride cannot coexist in proximity. Either we’ll view ourselves as the source of good things and take the credit, or we’ll acknowledge God behind everything we have and redirect the glory to Him. As our lives center on God, gratitude grows. When self-focus sprouts and spreads, gratefulness withers.4

—Dustin Crowe, The Grumbler’s Guide to Giving Thanks: Reclaiming the Gifts of a Lost Spiritual Discipline

Thanksgiving.

I hope you plan sometimes this weekend to reflect upon the goodness of God and to celebrate with one another, share with one another of the goodness in our lives.

As most of you know, we are spending these last few weeks on the topic of prayer.

Today is no different and we are going to spend some time in a thanksgiving prayer and words from Paul found in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1

As you turn to that in your Bibles or watch it on the screen, we have developed a custom here to stand together if you are able as we read God’s Word

2 Thessalonians 1:3–12 ESV

3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring. 5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. 11 To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s Pray

Thanksgiving

This short passage we are going to discover in Paul’s words to the believers in Thessalonian church that their hearts and minds should be on Thanksgiving, encouragement and prayer.

You see Paul was writing this second letter to the people to address a particular situation going on in the church.

But before he addresses the issue, he wanted to offer some thanksgiving, encouragement and prayer.

What a way to start.

How often do you have to go to someone whether a co-worker, family member, or a fellow believer and you need to bring something to their attention.

Something that is important to discuss with them and it may be a difficult discussion.

Paul sets out an example for us and he starts with a word of thanksgiving.

2 Thessalonians 1:3 (ESV)

3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.

This is a common greeting in his other letters, but Paul uses stronger language here in this passage.

In your English translations, you find,

we ought

The greek uses the word Opheilo (Oh Feel oh)

It’s much stronger than ought. Ought lets us choose, knowing it is the right thing to do, but permissible if we don’t.

But the Greek word is different.

It’s along the lines of owing a debt, an obligation.

To be bound by this action.

Heather comes from a Dutch family. She is first generation Canadian. Both her parents immigrated from Holland and she was born in Canada.

She is proud of her Dutch lineage and they have many customs and traditions that we have adopted as our family as well.

One such tradition, of which I thoroughly enjoy celebrating, is in the line of thanksgiving. I do my best to rise up to the level of Dutch in this tradition among Heather’s relatives.

The tradition of thanksgiving and blessing is to congratulate one another and be thankful for a family member’s special celebration day.

Days like birthdays, anniversaries, etc.

If one is celebrating they all have a point.

If Heather’s Parents are having a birthday, it is my thanksgiving obligation to congratulate Heather and her relatives on their parent, sister, brother, cousin, aunt, uncle etc on that person’s birthday.

It’s an obligation I take quite seriously. Especially if its a party to celebrate, I will go around the room and greet each person if they are in any way connected to the person being celebrated.

Paul is telling us the same.

Our thanksgiving to others should be an obligation. And not only once a year.

The first thing that should come out of our mouths when we greet one another, thanksgiving.

What was your greeting to one another this morning as you meet in the foyer.

I was challenged by these words as I read them.

When I meet another believer, are my first thoughts and words, words of thanksgiving for you?

Is that even possible? Yes,

But the words of thanksgiving, especially to a fellow believer that Paul is talking about it because if the relationship with one another.

Paul knew these people. He had interactions with these folks and was receiving reports, not gossip, but first had reports of that spiritual growth that was happening in the lives of the people.

In other words, testimonies from the people of their growth in faith and understanding of God.

Do we share with one another what we are learning in our faith.

When you gather around the table this weekend, do you acknowledge to one another how your faith has grown over the past year.

Do we take the time to share with one another the way in which we have grown in our faith?

This is a part of thanksgiving.

If you take the time to look at verse 4

2 Thessalonians 1:4 ESV

4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.

He is boasting about these believers, boasting about their faith.

This leads me to the question, and maybe you are thinking about this yourselves.

How have I grown in my faith?

What are some markers in my life that I know that I have grown in my faith.

Is it years of faithful service? Is it years of faithful attendance at church?

Is it years of daily coming before the Lord on your knees in prayer and reading of His Word?

Yes,

But what does Paul state as the marker of growth that he is so quickly and willing to boast about in the followers of Christ in this city.

Steadfastness and Faith in life.

Steadfastness in the journey of following God.

Folks our walk and life with Christ until He returns or we go is not a sprint rather it is a marathon that has no end.

In my younger years, one of my regular activities was running. Not short distances but long.

In High school I was a part of the cross country running team and although I didn’t win many awards or trophies, it was the lessons I learned in those times that kept me going.

I stopped competing to win trophies because I found out you could buy them.

Our High School coach would always remind us that we are running not against others but ourselves. To compare our achievements not by looking at others, but in what ways have we grown. Winning was an objective of each race, but evaluation of how you are doing was based upon beating your personal time.

Steadfastness in each of our Christian walk should be based upon God’s expectation of our lives and not a comparison of others.

How has your faith grown over the past year?

When you hear testimonies of people and how God is working in their life, do you have a heart of thanksgiving for them or a comparison of why my life isn’t like theirs.

Take some time to look back at your life and where you were on the journey of faith last year, last month, even last week.

Is there progress? Has there been growth.

When it comes to how we are doing in the steadfastness of our faith, we need to look at our own lives and not a comparison of others.

How did Paul see their steadfastness?

It was how they endured persecutions and afflictions.

Let me take you back to the days of my cross country running.

Cross Country running was different than running on the track.

The course of the race had hills and valleys, twists and turns. As I ran in Saskatchewan as a youth, there were no mountains.

The ground was uneven and had potential for twisting of ankles and pain on the body.

Races in cross country always seemed to be in the fall and the weather could change as well.

Cross country running and the training for races is very similar to that of the Christian life.

There are times of hills and valleys and sometimes mountains that we face. We feel like we are on uneven ground and twisting of the ankles seems to appear every day as we journey through life.

Yet when we come to God’s Word, spend time in prayer, the race is easier to handle.

When we gather people around us to run with us, to share our burden, the race is easier to handle.

When we go through a time of training, listening to a coach or a friend on how to handle the rough terrain, the race is easier to handle.

Maybe this week has been an uphill climb. The climb seems impossible and you desire to quit.

My coach in high school took us to a park with a hill to run on. He would always say, focus on the other side of the hill the level ground on the other side as you run.

Run to that and not look at the hill. Run through the hill.

It is from this lesson in running that I have adapted a saying from my spiritual life.

I always look forward to the day that I can look back and see what God has done.

When I made it to the top of the hill the first day I ran up the hill without stopping, I was able to look back at the route and say. I made it. I pressed on through the trial. The words of the coach rang in my ear.

Our steadfastness and faith are developed when we spend our walk looking to God for the strength and endurance to run the race for Him.

We will have the strength as we let Him speak to us.

He will give you the strength when life seems hard.

He will give you the endurance in those hills and valleys, rough paths and terrible weather.

It is with thanksgiving that we say what God has done in my life because I have put my faith and trust in Him through those times.

It was that steadfastness and Faith that Paul was boasting about in the lives of the believers.

Encouragement

The second part of this passage, Paul sets out to encourage the believers who are listening to this message.

He encourages them by reminding them of a time that will be coming that victory will be at hand.

The suffering and persecution they were feeling will not go unpunished and those who are not on God’s side will be punished in God’s timing.

Folks these words written here can be hard to hear.

2 Thessalonians 1:8 (ESV)

8 ......... inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

This is the reality of those who when hearing the Gospel choose not to follow the truth.

When you feel like your the only one standing on the Gospel, and you are sharing your faith with those around you and yet are being mocked and put down, there is coming a day of judgement for all who choose not to believe.

Paul’s encouragement here in this section is two fold.

One, for the believers there is coming a day when all the struggles and trials of this life will be over.

The pain and suffering that we are enduring will end.

We will be rejoicing with God and Christ as He will once again return to this world to usher in a new kingdom.

We are to be encouraged until that day that we continue to keep pressing on with the strength of the Lord.

The second way of encouragement is the way in which we will celebrate with each other on those who have come to know the Lord because of our witness.

This month we have been highlighting the various prayer ministries in our church and today is no exception.

One of the prayer ministries we have is called the prayer quilt ministries.

I will ask now Louisa/Carol to come and tell you about that ministry.

Prayer Quilt Ministry

Folks we as a congregation as these quilts are being presented to others, it is not only an encouragement to the folks receiving that quilt, but they know they are being prayed for, supported for.

It is our prayer that all those who receive a quilt will come to the knowledge and Gospel of Christ through this ministry.

One pastor wrote,

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 32: 1, 2 Thessalonians / 1, 2 Timothy / Titus (The Contagion of a Growing Faith)

As I look back over nineteen years of pastoral ministry in one congregation, I can see evidences all around me of profound changes in people and in the church. But I’m aware that in the daily rounds the change is not as evident. On the door frame in our laundry room are a lot of pencil marks and dates with the initials of each of our girls. I can recall their frustration time after time when they stood up to the last mark only to discover they hadn’t grown! But over the years, the marks did indicate growth, only not as fast as they wanted. And that’s the way it often is in Christian leadership. The pace of growth is rarely as rapid as we wish it to be.

But let me say, I have seen growth here at this church

I have heard testimonies of many of you and seen the growth as you have gone through trials.

Paul was setting out in this section of the passage that there will be coming a day in which we will hear those stories.

Over the many years in ministry, I have had the chance to impact many people with the Gospel and to challenge them in their faith. I am blessed to see and hear how Christ’s message has impacted their lives.

I am looking forward to the day as we gather around the throne to see and hear the impact that God has used me for His Kingdom.

I know that will be a glorious and Christ praising day as I have experienced a bit of it here on this side of heaven.

I once received a letter from a young man and the words of encouragement were uplifting as he was thankful for my ministry in his life.

Those letters are keepers, but we are reminded of this

2 Thessalonians 1:10 ESV

10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

May I encourage you today, as Paul did to the people in that city.

Keep on living for the Lord.

Keep on running your race God has placed you in and with the strength given to you by God.

Prayer

Paul ends this beautiful section with a wonderful three fold prayer for the believers.

God’s Call on your life

Paul first prayers for the believers and the call on their life. Each one of us have been called to serve our risen saviour in the place where you are today.

It goes with no surprise if you look on your life as God’s calling on your life.

You don’t have to be in full time vocational ministry to have a call.

He has a purpose for your life today. To live fully for Him and to share God’s gospel with everyone you come in contact with

Grow in your faith

The second prayer is that your faith will grow.

As you journey through this world and abide in Christ that there will be times like marks on the wall when you grew as a child there will be times of growth.

A growing in your faith that you can look back and see the marvelous growth of faith as you trusted God through those difficult times.

God’s Glory reveled through your life

and the last part of the prayer for the people is that God will be glorified through your life.

Folks, this life is not about us.

It is to bring honor and Glory to God.

To praise Him for the wonderful things that He has done.

Our lives should be a living testimony of God’s grace in our life.

In Summary

As the worship team comes forward to lead us in a song of celebration, I encourage our prayer team to come forward.

During this song they are hear for you if you want someone to pray with you or for you.

Maybe this morning as you hear the words of scripture with Thanksgiving, encouragement and prayer that you need to pray with someone.

Come during the song they are here this morning to pray with and for you.

Response to Worship

Benediction

In keeping with Paul’s words to the church, let me leave you with the benediction found in 1 Thess

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 ESV

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

This corporate worship service is over; however, if you would still like someone to pray with you or for you, the worship team will be around. Stay in your seats and they will come to you.

We ask that this time be a time of prayer and we encourage you to fellowship in the foyer and fireside room.

Don’t forget to pray for the prayer quilt and tie your knot in support.

Blessings.

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