”Attitude of Gratitude” by Kevin Bueltmann - Song: ”Let Me Count the Ways” by Kip Fox

Weak Days with Jesus

Let Me Count the Ways by Kip Fox

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hrmS92h1P4

Gratitude Attitude - Thanksgiving Sermon

Well, here we are…. Another Thanksgiving Day!

With so many negative things going on around us in the world, our country, and our community, it might be hard for us to feel thankful…

We're hunting for bargains on turkeys & cautiously filling grocery carts & gas tanks while prices skyrocket! It can be challenging to look past the chaos around us to reflect on our blessings and what difference would it make if we did?

We live in an age where some people mistakenly think that if we don’t look extraordinary on social media, that having normal life is a BAD thing.

As difficult as life is right now for so many people, that's when you really have to do your best to look around & focus on the blessings that remain and remember that God is still on the throne, & He’s the Giver of all things. Remember that He HAS given us so much! Things of ETERNAL consequence.

I’ve had a tough time this past year & a half during the vacancy & during COVID. I become so focused on NEGATIVE things that I couldn’t see much POSITIVE. This caused me to be angry at everyone, including God.

Here’s a challenge I was recently given…

Begin each day by writing down & thanking God for at least 10 things we are grateful for. This is called Daily Gratitudes

Here are some examples:

• 3 Physical things: home, car that works, my health
• 3 Things you may take for granted: fresh air, my God-given talents, internet
• 3 Amazing things from the day before
• 3 Things about your wife’s personality/strengths/character:

I did this every day for weeks, even though I didn’t really see the point.

But slowly over time, my attitude was changing from BADitude to GRATitude

Have you ever heard teachers say to kids, “You need an attitude adjustment”?

I didn’t think I needed one this past year, but I sure did. Just ask my wife.

We need to focus more on what God has GIVEN us and less on the things He has NOT given us.

Not just because we’re supposed to. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but also, because it’s GOOD for us.

I think that’s why St. Paul says in: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Notice he says give thanks in ALL circumstances, NOT just in the good times.

When we remember to give thanks to God during the bad times, it helps us cope.

Even though there’s a storm raging all around you,

You don’t need to go out into the storm and curse at it the whole time.

You can just go and be safe and dry and warm inside your home for a while.

Do you sometimes feel that need for a safe place? A calm from the storm?

God provides that for us in our homes. But also HE is the calm from the storm.

We can find refuge in Him. In our relationship with Him.

In prayer and reading His Word… And here in His house where we hear His Word

The Oxford Dictionary defines the word thankful as “pleased and relieved,” but it defines the word grateful as “showing an appreciation of kindness.”

Thankful is a feeling, and being Grateful is an action.

It was 400 years ago that the first recorded Thanksgiving took place on American soil. We can learn a lot from those brave settlers who hosted that first meal. "These were not like other men. The more adversity mounted against them, the harder they prayed -- never giving in to despair." Yet, when you think about all they had to endure in those first 10 months, losing almost half of their company to death, it's hard to believe they didn't just throw up their hands and give up.

For them, gratitude was a choice. It was a decision to see God's hand at work, even when everything around them seemed hopeless. Despite the harshest of conditions, they never stopped trusting God's promises.

Being content or giving thanks does't just come naturally sometimes.

I don’t know if you recognize the name Sarah Hale, but she is the lady who wrote, "Mary had a little lamb.” --- She’s also the lady who, in 1828, began a campaign to make Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

Two years into the Civil War, the most divided America has ever been, 51,000 men and boys lay dead on the fields of Gettysburg when a letter crossed President Lincoln's desk. Sarah Hale, for more than 17 years, had written to presidents, governors, and dozens of other leaders -- pleading with them to invoke a national day of gratitude. Almost none of them responded.

But Abraham Lincoln, who saw his broken nation on the brink in 1863, decided to make a day of Thanksgiving permanent. But Congress didn't approve it. It took until 1941, when our country was involved in another war, for Congress to set aside a day of Thanksgiving.

Our struggles are different, but our choice is the same: will we be grateful?

Will we look past hardship to see hope? It's not normal to be content or thankful. Humans forget. But we should continuously praise God who sent His Son to give His life so we might have eternal life.

God doesn’t tell us to rejoice only when the economy is good, and gas prices are low. He said to give thanks in all circumstances, whether the people you trust are in power or not, whether the pandemic or a government mandate has caused you problems or not, or even when the country you love is breaking apart.

You can fight for justice. But don’t despair. Don’t forget that God loves you.

In the end, the only thing that matters is that people have faith in Jesus.

Do all your family members have this faith? If not, pray for them.

Invite them to church to hear God’s Word. Share in a loving way that there is hope

These last few years have been long. The only thing Americans seem united about is how divided we are. But believe it or not, as a country we have survived worse. One way we can power though it is to have an attitude of gratitude.

Here are some excerpts of a poem of thankfulness:

Lord, thank you for this sink of dirty dishes;

we have plenty of food to eat.

Thank you for this pile of dirty, stinky laundry;

we have plenty of nice clothes to wear.

And I would like to thank you, Lord, for those unmade beds;

they were so warm and comfortable last night.

I know that many have no bed.

My thanks to you, Lord, for this bathroom,

complete with all the splattered mirrors,

soggy, grimy towels and dirty lavatory;

they are so convenient.

Lord, the presence of all these chores awaiting me says

You have richly blessed my family.

I shall do them cheerfully and I shall do them gratefully.

Even though the first hour of my day is hectic,

when socks are lost, toast is burned and tempers are short,

my children are so loud,

Thank you, Lord, for my family.

There are many who are lonely.

Even though the routine of my job is often monotonous,

Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to work.

There are many who have no job.

Even though I grumble and bemoan my fate from day to day

and wish my circumstances were not so modest,

Thank you, Lord, for life.

Thankfulness is a feeling. Being Grateful is an action.

Who do we thank? The universe? That wouldn’t do any good, would it?

The universe is not the one responsible for our blessings.

It’s God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our Triune God.

Let’s put that feeling of thankfulness into action.

Lets live a life of gratefulness to our good God.

We give back to Him from hearts overflowing with love and gratefulness.

We give Him our money. Our time. Our words of appreciation.

Our love by serving the people He put in our lives.

We spend time with HIM… Praying to Him. And hearing Him speak to us through His Word, the Bible.

People of God, we have hope. For this life, but for the life beyond. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. Because He lives, we can live also.