Fundamental Gratitude

Being grateful and giving thanks to God should come easy for us. But for many, there is this
expectation that we deserve to be blessed, and that we should expect only good things from a God who loves us.

So, this morning and for the next few weeks we will be looking at the theme of gratitude as
we prepare our hearts for Thanksgiving.

Watch the full Sunday service and message by Pastor Dennis Jacobson below.

SERMON TEXT

Genesis 8:15-22 (ESV)

Then God said to Noah, “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark.

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

Exodus 12:24-27 (ESV)

You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

SERMON NOTES

• What is gratitude?
• Why should we give thanks?
  • For what God has given us…
  • For what God has done…
  • For who God is…
• What are the benefits of praising God?
• How does God respond to our gratitude?
• How often do you practice gratitude?
• Do you give thanks to God for the good and the bad?