Thanksgiving Message

The Not-So-Secret of a Thankful Heart

Message by:
Pastor Terry Crawford
Covenant Church
Shepherdstown, WV

Being thankful is good for you

• Thankful people thank God
  
  Romans 6:17-18 NIV
  ¹⁷But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. ¹⁸You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
  
  2 Corinthians 2:14 NIV
  But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.
  
  1 Corinthians 15:56-57 NIV
  ⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
  
  
• Thanklessness and ingratitude are not fruits of a follower of Jesus
  
  2 Timothy 3:1-5 NIV
  ¹But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ²People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
  
  Philippians 1:3-6
  ³I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
  
  
• Thankful people thank people



• Thankful people are changed people
  
  1 Thessalonians 5:12-18 NIV
  ¹²Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. ¹³Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. ¹⁴And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. ¹⁵Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. ¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray continually, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.



• A thankful heart is an outward focusedheart

My Next Steps

• Today I commit to give thanks to God in my daily prayer time.
• This week I commit to tell someone in my circle of influence why I am thankful for them.
• This week I commit to tell some in my church family why I am thankful for them.