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Grace-based biblical teaching and sermons with Pastor Jason White. Messages that focus on Life in Christ and practical application as New Covenant believers.
“Worship Matters” Series
Week 5 – Thanksgiving & Praise
Without elbowing the person sitting next to you: How many of you know someone who is a COMPLAINER? We probably all have people in our lives who it seems like all they do is complain about things, grumble, and are so negative all of the time.
And it can be so hard to be around that…I was around someone a while back who just seemed to complain about everything…and I mean everything. In one conversation they complained about the weather…about our government and our politicians…about the economy…about our schools…the things that go on in churches… I mean and just on and on.
It’s so hard to just sit there and listen to complaint after complaint after complaint, right?
…BUT I’ve also got to admit that maybe I’m the guy that is sometimes complaining about things…grumbling about this or that…and that maybe I’m the guy that is difficult to be around sometimes when I’m like that.
And maybe you find that to be true about you sometimes as well…
And the thing is, when complaining and grumbling is what characterizes our lives, let’s be honest… that is when we just don’t experience much peace in our lives. We feel angry, anxious, stressed, and depressed….and then what happens is that we start complaining about how we feel and it’s just sometimes an endless cycle.
But above and beyond the way it impacts our lives and others lives in a negative way, what I want you to see this mng as we close our Worship Matters message series today is that it is impossible to worship God and be a complainer…a grumbler…or someone who just doesn’t give thanks.
In Romans 1, the apostle Paul begins to talk about what is wrong with humanity. He’s writing, of course, to share the good news about Jesus who came to fix what was wrong with humanity, but he had to share the bad news so that they would know how good the good news really was.
And look at what he says in verse 21…
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him…
To glorify means worship…Paul says they did not worship Him as God their Creator and Lord, but he also says NOR did they give thanks to him…he puts these 2 things together.
In other words, to give thanks to God is at the heart of what it means to glorify and worship God. To worship God in its’ most basic sense means to give thanks to Him.
It is impossible to worship God without giving thanks. You can’t be a complainer and a grumbler or even just indifferent to Him and worship God at the same time.
And so when the apostle Paul would write to churches, he would teach them to give thanks… that giving thanks to the Lord is an expression of worship that glorifies and honors Him.
And Paul writes this all over the New Testament letters that he wrote to churches, but there are 2 passages in 2 different letters that really bring this aspect of worship through thanksgiving more than the others…and they are both very similar, almost identical to each other…
The first one is found in Colossians 3:15-17…
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
The other passage is in Ephesians 5:18-21...
18 …be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
To be “filled with the Spirit” here means to be controlled by the Spirit. You are already filled with the Spirit the moment you put your faith and trust in Jesus for salvation. Paul says that 4 chapters earlier in Ephesians 1:13.
And when you make yourself available to the Spirit’s work in you and through you, Paul outlines 4 things here that happen as a result. 4 things the Spirit will lead you and me to do.
19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.
The first thing the Spirit will do is lead us to “speak to one another” through our singing. A lot of people want to get caught up in the language of psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit… but the main thing Paul is saying is that when we sing as we gather together, the Spirit is using that to teach one another about Jesus and our life in Christ.
And we talked about this a few weeks ago when we said that worship is both vertical and horizontal. That as we gather together, He works in and through us in a horizontal way to teach us, grow us, and encourage us…and as He does, that begins to lead us towards this vertical worship of Him as the transcendent God who sits above all things…
And that is the 2nd thing that we see Paul mention next…
Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,
The Spirit will lead us to sing to the Lord from our hearts. He dwells in our hearts, He has changed us and given us new hearts, and He will lead us and empower us to sing and make music to God…to worship and glorify His name.
21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
This is the 4th one, but I’m going to mention it since the 3rd one is the focus of what we are talking about today, but as we are led by the Spirit one of the things He will do is to lead us to submit to one another. To love and serve one another. To put one another’s interests and preferences above our own. To not make it about ourselves (selfishness, preferences) but about others.
20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Spirit will lead us to always give thanks to God FOR EVERYTHING.
To give thanks for Him being our Creator…
For revealing Himself to us…
For loving us…
For sending Jesus to die for us…
For our complete forgiveness…
For our new life in Christ…
For how He provides for our needs…
For how He gives us peace, assurance, and all spiritual blessings…
For how He holds all things together in His hands…and for always being present with us
So much to be thankful for…and to express thanks for who He is and what He has done and is doing is at the heart of what it means to worship God.
And as we look at the other passage where Paul wrote something very similar we see even more of the thanksgiving language come out…
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Notice whose peace it is…it’s Jesus’ peace. You can’t manufacture peace. Peace is found in a Person, and if you’ve said yes to Jesus then you have that peace in Christ…so Paul says to let it rule in your heart. “Experience the peace you have in Christ.”
And Paul says here to “be thankful.” It’s hard to experience the peace of Christ if you are not being thankful. Complaining, grumbling…focusing on negative situations and circumstances doesn’t lead to peace, it leads to anger, anxiety, and depression…and it doesn’t glorify and worship our Lord.
16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
It’s the gospel message…the good news of Jesus Christ that is to dwell among us… and that happens Paul says, as we teach and admonish one another THROUGH singing to one another and THROUGH singing to God WITH gratitude…with thanksgiving.
When you and I sing in our worship services together, if it is not done in a spirit of thanksgiving, then it’s not worship.
This is the way the Spirit will work in us and through us as we sing…to lead us to declare our thanks to God for who He is, what He has done, and what He is doing in our lives (regardless of the situations or circumstances that we are in).
And then finally Paul sums it us and says…
17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Whatever means whatever. Whatever it is that we do in here for corporate worship and whatever it is that you do outside of here at home, school, your workplace, or in your neighborhood…do it all in the name of the Lord, GIVING THANKS TO GOD.
We talked last week about how worship is both an event and an everyday experience.
Worship is what we do here on Sunday mornings when we gather together, but it is also what we do as we offer ourselves to God as His instruments for Him to express His Life in us and through us in all areas of our lives after we leave here.
AND PAUL SAYS HERE THAT WHAT THAT WILL LOOK LIKE IS US LIVING A LIFESTYLE OF THANKSGIVING…
Giving thanks to God for the job we have and how He is providing for us and working through us in our work to glorify His name
Giving thanks to God for the chance to go to school and to learn and grow and for what He is doing in us and through us to glorify His name in that environment.
Giving thanks to God when we are looking at our finances and His provision for us and for how He is going to use them to bless others.
Giving thanks to God even when we walk into the doctor’s office and he says it’s cancer. Not for the cancer but thanks that He is with us and for us and that we don’t have to walk through it alone. Thanks for His peace that is present even in the suffering.
Worship is living a lifestyle of thanksgiving in all areas of our lives. That’s why Paul wrote this in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18…
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
So, as we close out this series on worship today, the truth we see from God’s Word is that worship is about a lifestyle of thanksgiving.
We gather together and as we do, we give thanks.
Then we are sent out into the world, and we give thanks to God for who He is and what He is doing in all situations and circumstances that we find ourselves in…throughout all areas of our lives.
So, are you living a lifestyle of thanksgiving?
Are you giving thanks to God in all areas of your life?
How is working in your life through this truth we see from His word today?
Let’s be thinking about that and asking God to speak to us as we continue in worship this morning.
I am going to pray and the band is going to come back up and lead us in a time of worship through singing…and we are going to give thanks together for who God is and what He has done and what He is doing in our lives.
PSALM 147:7...
7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving…
PSALM 69:30…
30 I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.
PSALM 100:4-5…
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever.