EXODUS: Gratitude is a Response to Goodness
Pastor Brian Schafer
November 24, 2024
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The First Transcontinental Railroad: 2 Trains, from East and West, meeting in the Utah Territoy in 1869
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The Faithfulness of God pursues you from the PAST
The Sovereignty of God pursues you from the FUTURE
The Goodness of God pursues you in the PRESENT
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Deuteronomy 8:2-10
Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.
Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
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A Theology of Gratitude: Gratitude is the only right response to God’s
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John 6:11
Jesus took the loaves and fish. He GAVE THANKS, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.
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Is it possible that giving thanks was the primer for the miracle?
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Take your own notes here…
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2 Thoughts about Gratitude:
(1) Your Focus determines your
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The GOAL: To live from a place of GRATITUDE. (Not to simply be more polite, but to have a posture of gratitude formed in us, by the Holy Spirit)
The ACTION: Start a Gratitude Journal.
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Take your own notes here…
(2) God is the GIVER.
is the RESPONSE.
“We should endeavor to wonder at the permanent thing, not the mere exception. e should be startled by the sun, not the eclipse.” - G.K. Chesterton
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“The purpose of theology is doxology.” - J.I. Packer
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Take your own notes here…
Discussion Questions
(1) We said that Gratitude is the only right response to Goodness. Why do you think people are tempted to not be grateful? How is gratitude a posture of the heart (and more than just “being polite.”)?
(2) Read Deuteronomy 8:2-10. Focus on verse 10. Why do you think God tells the Israelites to praise God (or “to be thankful to God”)?
(3) Read John 6:5-13. Look especially at verse 11. What is the connection between Jesus giving thanks and the miracle that’s about to happen? Do you think our ability to identify miracles is diminished by a lack of gratitude? Talk about that.
(4) In the message, we said that “your focus determines your gratitude.” If you want to find something to complain about, you’ll find it. If you want to find somethign to be grateful for, you’ll find it. How has that been true in your life? Is it difficult to find things to be gratful for? How can we pray together for the Holy Spirit to form a posture of gratitude inside of us?
(5) The spiritual discipline inviation for this week is to journal daily gratitudes. Is this somethign you plan to start? Or, do you already do this? How have you seen the Holy Spirit work in your life through this?
(6) Pray tgoether.