SPECIAL DAYS: Thanksgiving Eve Service

November 21, 2001 - LESSON: Philippians 4:4-7, (NRSVA)

SERMON TITLE: Praise Him! Praise Him!

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  1. To rejoice is a matter of attitude
    1. Attitude
      1. A state of mind or a feeling; disposition: an attitude of friendship or hostility.
      2. In this case the friendship with God.
      3. Friendship with God creates a channel of inner strength and power.

        Those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint, (Isaiah 40:31 NRSV).

    2. This is not physical but spiritual
  2. It is simply a matter of amplitude
    1. Amplitude
      1. Greatness of size; magnitude.
      2. In this case, not physical size, but the size of the soul, the spirit.
    2. One youth, who had gotten into trouble, said this to his high-school counselor: (1)
      1. "You know what I am? I'm a comma.
      2. When I talk to my dad, he'll say something, and then when I start to talk, he makes me a comma.
      3. He doesn't interrupt me, but when I'm finished talking, he starts in right where he left off.
      4. It's as if I didn't say anything!"
      5. Ever know what it is like to be reduced to a comma, a pause in someone else's speech?
    3. God does not see us as a comma.
      1. In God's eyes we are very important
      2. (John 3:16-17 NRSV) "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. [17] "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

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  3.   It is all a matter of altitude
    1. Altitude
      1. High position or rank.
      2. In this case not in public or political or economic circles, but in relationship with God.
    2. A flight attendant was serving dinner to passengers on a trip from New York to Chicago. (2)
      1. She placed a plate of lasagna on a passenger's tray.
      2. He sampled it and frowned.
        1. "Doesn't taste quite like Mom's?" she jokingly asked.
        2. "Mom's?" he retorted. "This doesn't even taste like Dad's!"
      3. Physically the man was flying high, but spiritually he had little altitude.
    3. It is Christ who helps us to achieve altitude.
      1. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. [4] Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. [5] Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 2:3-5 NRSV).
      2. Let the same kind of mind set be in you and me.
      3. Good can be found in all things, even bad things.
      4. The Spirit helps us to fly high within the grace and power of God.

CONCLUSION:

  1. Consider the case of the woman and her household. (3)

The division of labor was such that she did not work outside the home at that time, so she found herself doing most of the household chores.

Now, she went to a PTA meeting one evening, and her husband and her oldest daughter got together and decided that it would be a very wonderful thing if they would clean up the kitchen for her.

So they did.

They put up all the food, wiped all the counters, washed all the pots and put them away, put the dishes in the dishwasher, and even remembered to put detergent in and turn the thing on!

They swept and mopped the floors and then sat down, and overcome by their own nobility, they awaited her arrival.

Two hours later she returned from the meeting, walked in and took off her coat, hung it up, walked right through the kitchen and into the den, grabbed the remote control, and began watching television.

Whoops, that sounds like a male thing.

They followed her over to her chair and stood by her side.

Finally she felt them looking over her shoulder and looked up at them and said, "What?"

Her husband said, "The kitchen."

"The kitchen. What?"

"The kitchen. We cleaned up the kitchen. Didn't you notice? It's sparkling clean. We cleaned it for you."

The woman replied, "Yes, I noticed. Thankless job, isn't it?"

  1. The Pilgrims celebrated a Thanksgiving.
    1. We admire their fortitude and courage.
    2. They were able to celebrate because they were in tune with God.
  2. Remember no matter what happens to us life we can rejoice and praise God if we have:
    1. Attitude
    2. Amplitude
    3. Altitude
    4. It is a matter of being in tune with God.

      1. As quoted by Russell E. Mase in "Love People, Use Things," May 3, 1998, Naples, Florida.

      2. -With thanks to Jerry Fisher

      3. As told by Dr. John Fiedler, "This Thing of Giving Thanks," First United Methodist Church, Dallas, Texas, November 23, 1997.

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