This is the Sunday before Thanksgiving, so our message today is about being thankful. The Bible has much to say about Thanksgiving. It’s not in our natural thoughts or in our hearts to show thankfulness. As parents, we try to teach our children to be thankful.

Today’s story begins as Jesus traveled along the border of Samaria. Jews viewed Samaritans as half-breeds and the two groups were often openly hostile to each other. There were a group of Jews and Samaritans that were drawn together by their common suffering of leprosy. The men had been living away from other people.

Busy - Just don’t know all you have to do after getting cleansed: I was busy

Fearful - Afraid of his peers, and what they would say

Earnie - Well you know I earned what Jesus did for me, I had to get up

Crasty - Procrastinate, you know I had every intention of going back

Taker - I heard if you had a need He would take care of it; God did what I was looking for

Mini - Says I did the minimal thing that He required me to do

Ignorant - Ignorant didn’t understand the magnitude of the devastation of his disease

Lawful - I wore myself out doing everything that the law required me to do in order to get cleansed

Debtor - One who has slipped into the mindset that God owes me

- He saw he was healed went straight back to Jesus so he could show his gratitude.

- Jesus knew their need, there was no need to go 8 days and see the Priest.

- This man came back, he showed up.

- Gratitude always reveals itself in a physical way. This man came back to Jesus.

- As the body of Christ, we reveal Jesus to the whole world.

- Coming to church is an act of thanksgiving.

- Mary Magdalene was from Magdala, a village on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.

- This leper is giving glory to God because of what God has done. He is speaking up with His voice.

- Maybe you don’t speak up because you are like the leper that was fearful.

- Imagine being the Apostle Paul for just a moment. Here is a man that has risked his life time and time again to get the gospel to people who have never heard about Jesus Christ.

- When the trial starts, Paul is shocked at what goes on in the courtroom. He writes what we see in 2 Timothy 4:16, “At my first defense, no one came to my support.”

- The silence and the absence of witnesses are not due to a desire to betray Paul, but rather a fear of what might happen to them if they sided with the truth.

- Just praise Him!

- Imagine giving a gift to a small child. The child doesn’t understand the value: immaturity causes them to not understand the value of the gift.

- I am convinced that there are many believers who need to grow up. They didn’t realize the gift they have received, the miraculous gift of grace from heaven.

- Grow up - "Were there not ten healed? Where are the nine?" Suppose the Lord looked down on all the people in the world. Would he look at us and say: "Look at this person: I poured out my blessings upon them, but they didn't have time to thank me."

- Grow up - understand the value of what God has given us.