Sermons
Jesus came bringing the fulfillment of the Old Testament. He is the temple, the sacrifice, Prophet of prophets. Thus, when he clears the temple with a whip he is saying something clearly about himself, and has the authority to claim it.
The book of Revelation really helps to frame the Christian life on the consummation of God's kingdom. Since thankfulness is synonymous with the Christian life, the Revelation of John helps frame our grounding for thankfulness.
When the Word of Christ dwells in you, the peace of Christ reigns in you, and you are unleashed to be a thankful person.
At the very of sin in idolatry, misdirected worship. Our hearts tend toward idolatry because we have a forgetfulness of who God is and what he has done for us. Thankfulness combats idolatry. In fact, thankfulness is a mark of belief, while unthankfulness marks unbelief.
Giving will lead to thankfulness, and we are radical givers because we worship a God who radically gives.
Being thankful ought to mark us a believers, but being thankful has a certain look. It is humble, prompt, and without a hint of arrogant entitlement. From this text we can see how a leper shows us this truth by centering thankfulness on the person of Christ.
Rightly understanding were your identity lies is a key factor in being a thankful believer. True thankfulness comes from rightly seeing reality, that your identity is not dependent on you.
"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His steadfast love endures forever!" This is the cry of the psalmist, and, as Pastor Todd shows from the psalm, this can be our cry if we are Christ, because He meets us in our distress.
This Psalm seems like a contradiction. At the beginning there are praises to God, at the end there is lament concerning enemies, but as Pastor Todd shows, what seems like a contradiction is perfectly in harmony. We can praise God no matter the circumstance because of who God is and what he has done.
We can do the will of God, simply given thanks in all circumstances. That truth does not mean we give thanks of all circumstances, but in all circumstances. To accomplish that call we have to have a rightly directed thankfulness.