Today's Sermon:

"The Spirit of the Race"

“The tragedy is not that we who occupy the middle class are rich when compared to the larger world but that we are rich and utterly unaware. We are rich and forget that we are rich. The scandal is not how much we have but how little we think we have, and thus, how much more we expect and demand. Our souls are in danger. In danger of the felony of ingratitude. In danger of straying from the God whose goodness is so immense and so often ignored.”Jeff Manion, Satisfied

Five Ways a Thankful Spirit Manifests Itself:

I. Thanksgiving is a Spirit of ....

“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

II. Thanksgiving is a Spirit of....

“Eat foods you love to eat, listen to music that moves your soul, play a sport that stretches and challenges you, read books that refresh your spirit, wear clothes that make you happy, surround yourself with beauty— and as you do these things, give thanks to God for his wonderful goodness. Reflect on what a gracious God he is to have thought of these gifts. Take the time to experience and savor joy, then direct your heart toward God so that you come to know he is the giver of ‘every good and perfect gift.’ Nothing is too small if it produces true joy in us and causes us to turn toward God in gratitude and delight.”-John Ortberg, The Life You've Always Wanted

III. Thanksgiving is a Spirit of....

IV. Thanksgiving is a Spirit of .....

V. Thanksgiving is a Spirit of....

“A rich self has a distinct attitude toward the past, the present, and the future. It surveys the past with gratitude for what it has received, not with annoyance about what it hasn’t achieved or about how little it has been given. A rich self lives in the present with contentment…it is ‘always having all sufficiency in everything’…A rich self looks toward the future with trust. It gives rather than holding back in fear of coming out too short, because it believes God’s promise that God will take care of it. Finite and endangered, the rich self still gives, because its life is ‘hidden with Christ’ in the infinite, unassailable, and utterly generous God, the Lord of the present, the past, and the future.”-Miraslov Volf, Free of Charge