Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. —1 Thessalonians 5 :16-18 CSB

What do we have to be thankful for?

I. HEAVEN

A. HEAVEN IS REAL

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. —John 14:1-3

Jesus was leaving and it was okay. Because he is coming back again!

He told them that He was going to prepare a place for them. It was in the Fathers home.

I love that word home. Ideally, as God intended it, a home means family. Home means love and rest. Home means structure and order. Home means peace and security. Home means comfort.

Heaven is home for the believer.

B. HEAVEN IS PERMANENT

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. —1 Peter 1:3-4

It is permanent for all of eternity Never grow old.

The things that are priceless are there, so they are beyond the reach of decay

A place where the roads are made of Gold because that’s the most worthless substance

Our riches in Heaven will be in relationships. In joy.

It is Unfading, Everyday is the best day! Every relationship never gets old or tired. Every experience is like the first one!

C. HEAVEN IS PERFECT

He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” —Revelation 21:4

Heaven will be perfect because of what is not there. No sin. No sickness. No COVID or cancer. No sorrow. No pain. No more death. Amen

No more separation. No more fear of separation.

No more angst. No politics and media to pick fights.

Everyone is forgiven and everyone is free in His love and acceptance.

D. HEAVEN IS A Gift

It is a Gift for those who say “YES” to Jesus.

It is a place of preparation. No one is there by accident.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. —John 3:3

We have to be born again because mankind has been born into sin.

for all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard. —Romans 3:23

We all are in the same boat. Evil can be undone but it cannot develop into good. time will not heal it and make it good.

For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. —Romans 6:23

You can only accept or receive a gift.

You can say yes to Him right now.

If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” —Romans 10:9-10, 13

We are thankful for HEAVEN! If we insist on keeping hell or even earth we will not see heaven. If we accept heaven we cannot keep even the smallest and most intimate souvenir of hell or earth.

C.S. Lewis: I believe to be sure that any man who reaches heaven will find that what he abandoned even in plucking out his right eye has not been lost. That the kernel of what he was really seeking even in his most depraved wishes will be there. Beyond expectation.

II. The WORD of God

Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path. —Psalm 119:105 CSB

A. The explanation of Life!

The Word of God reveals and explains life.

Without it we would have no idea what’s really going on.

Without it we wouldn’t know we were made in the image of God. we wouldn’t know that this world is our responsibility. That we were given dominion to take care of and populate this beautiful earth.

We wouldn’t know that Adam and Eve failed, and we wouldn’t know our need for a savior. We wouldn’t know in that failure, In the same verse he condemns them, he reveals a plan for a savior.

B. Reading the word of God gives blessings

Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. —Psalm 1:1-3 NKJV

When our advice about life comes from God’s word we are blessed.

When we delight in the word of God we become strong.

Our lives will be fruitful when we meditate on what God says and whatever we do shall prosper.

C. The word of God is Alive.

For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. —Hebrews 4:12 CSB

It’s double edged. It cuts the wielder as well as the enemy.

It can penetrate to any truth no matter how deep in the soul or spirit it may lie.

the heart is deceitfully wicked who can know it? David prayed… —Jeremiah 17:9

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way. —Psalm 139:23-24

We are so wicked so steeped in sin that we can no longer see the truth about ourselves but the Bible can it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of our hearts.

What a great gift given to mankind. Today it is maligned as hate speech but that is only because people don’t know what’s in it. the revelation of king Jesus the one who saves us from the wages of our sins. The one who’s prepared a place we call heaven.

D. Take advantage of the word of God.

We do this by knowing what it says. Not knowing what someone else says about it but knowing what it says.

We use the Christian standard Bible here at a fresh wind. It is a word for word translation of the Bible into modern American English.

You need a word for word translation to study the Bible. If we want to know how the original Hebrew Greek and Aramaic translates into our English we need to have a good word for word translation.

Here are a few that we like. KJV, NKJV, NIV, ESV, NAS, CSB these are good solid well reviewed translations of the original Greek and Hebrew into English.

Now there are many accoutrements that you can use to help you study. Commentaries, paraphrases, contextual translations, and amplified versions. but all these things are not the word of God they’re about the word of God.

We need to know what the word of God says. Not what it says to you. What it said at the time of its writing the context it was written in and to whom it was written to. When you know what it says then you can ask the question what is God telling me here or what does this mean to me.

The enemies of our faith. The spiritual enemies are after the word of God. They want to change it. Get rid of it. Make it illegal. Got to smile amazon (Plug the church) and buy you while you can a waterproof bible. God’s His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We are so very grateful.

III. JESUS

A. Atonement

At the very heart of the Christianity lies the all-important doctrine of the Atonement

For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures… —1 Corinthians 15:3-4 CSB

Christ died for our sins in place of us.

We believe that men are regenerated, redeemed, reconciled to God, justified, forgiven, adopted, not by the Doctrine of the Atonement, but by the Atonement itself, by the sacrificial and substitutionary death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

B. Grace

Jesus is God’s grace. Grace means Gods UN_MERITED FAVOR.

That means God’s inexhaustible supply of goodness laid out for mankind even thought they don’t deserve it. Even though they are sinners.

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. —Ephesians 2:8-9 CSB

Our Salvation is not ours it is His! A Salvation given as a gift, not a reward! It not something you can work for!

Your life is not an audition for the afterlife.

C. He is all we need.

Word of life, never thirst.

But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.” —John 4:14 CSB

He has come to seek and save the lost. To save them completely or to the uttermost for your KJV guys!

He is the one and the only. He is the answer to all of life’s questions. Jesus!

Summary

3 things we are grateful for as the church of Jesus. Heaven! Of course! His word that guides us corrects us and shows us the truth. Jesus! God incarnate. God with us. Who substituted himself on the cross to pay your penalty for our sins. These next few weeks we are going to discover more of what it means to be grateful about these things and your response. Your gratefulness in action!