Gratitude

Genesis 1:5,27; 2:2, 24; Mark 12:43-44

Blessed to be Generous

CIT: Praise the Lord 

CIS: Blessed are those who act out their praise

SO: The hearer will understand the need to give Gratitude to God

Follow along at d1.church/notes.

Intro: I am excited about this new series, especially this new season. Every year, we focus on Generosity at the end of the year. We do not just preach about it; we want to be about it.

From now until the end of the year, we will be discussing Gratitude.

Gratitude is being thankful and ready to show appreciation for and return kindness.

Gratitude is not just being thankful but ready to act upon it. 

We will have opportunities to act over the next few weeks:

November 27 - No Midweek Services

November 28- Thanksgiving dinner service

December 1- Water Baptism/Lumberjack Sunday

December 8- Undie Sundie/No Talent-Talent Show

December 21- Live Nativity/Mens Gift giving

December 22- Big Give

December 24- Christmas Eve Service at Special Event Center

December 29- Regular services

No Midweek Dec 25 and Jan 1

This is why the Israelites retell their story in Psalm 136, never to forget what God has done.

1. Blessings (Psalm 112:1-5) 

Praise the Lord.

Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands.

Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.

Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever.

Even in darkness, light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious, compassionate, and righteous.

Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.

EXP: This Psalm is a song of Praise to the Lord. That is why it starts specifically with the phrase. It is also an acrostic poem, meaning that in Hebrew, each line begins with the Hebrew alphabet in order. They did this so that it would be easier to remember and recite. Knowing your alphabet, you could read this Psalm and remember to praise the Lord. 

The Psalmist declares that you are Blessed if you delight in God’s words, That your Children will also be blessed and live good lives. You will be wealthy, and your good doing will be remembered forever. He says even in Darkness, light is coming for you!

ILL: Many say that this type of Teaching is not biblical. That God does not promise, such as this or generational blessings, is invalid. Any mention of money or fame is terrible, and you would certainly never promise that a better future will come simply because you follow God. 

This is not our everyday preaching mode in this church. Just as the Psalms have this Psalm, they also have Psalms that cry out to God from the darkness. We preach those as well. But can I tell you, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it? It is easy to say woe is me and just call the Bible a liar. It is easy to assess all the problems to God and the victories to Self. 

EXP(2): Then God doubles down in verse 5: Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. God gives the key to this whole thing: Generosity.

ILL: We praise God in general and then talk about what it means to be blessed by God. What others see in our lives that we may be too close to see. 

You may think my children are great, and honestly, they are a blessing from God. But when I look at them, I sometimes see a knucklehead. 

In middle school, I had a friend named Mike who lived down the street from me. Mike was special needs, but we went to school together on the bus every morning. I remember that Mike’s house always had the best snacks, he was allowed to play video games in the den, and his mom made dinner every night. His super friendly older sister would ensure we had everything if I were there for lunch. Mike was fun. We spend a lot of time together for a few years. At that time, Mike’s dad and Mom split after his sister went to college, and things were tough for their house. From my outside perspective, I could see the blessing of their home, but from the inside, there was a lot of struggle and things to make sense of. 

APP: You may be looking at your life saying, What is this Pastor talking about this blessing? But if you stepped back, you would see all God provides and what others see.

T.S.: The you part or call commands in this section are Delight in his commands and be generous with what he gives you.

2. Troubles (Psalm 112:6-9).

Surely, the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever.

They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

Their hearts are secure; they will have no fear; in the end, they will look in triumph on their foes.

They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor.

EXP: The next stanza or verse proclaims truths about the righteous or those who follow God’s commands. These truths are not based on the righteous’s actions but on God’s character. God is going to uphold his people. It does not say there will be no bad news. It says that fear will not come in instead of trusting in God. It doesn’t say there will never be fear, but there will be no reason to fear because of the knowledge that God will triumph over any foes. 

ILL: When I was in the Army, I was a medic. You can earn a badge as a medic by serving in a combat zone. It is called a Combat Medal Badge (CMB). If you were not deployed as I was, there is a process to earn the expert field medic badge (EFMB). To do this, it is basically Field Medic Olympics. It is a multi-day excursion that shows a level of competency in your job and combat operations, including an almost impossible ruck march that you must run to finish in time—12 miles in 3 hours in full gear. You must complete all qualifications, or you will be out. The pass rate is 16% for those who attempt the EFMB track. 

One of the qualifications is night navigation. They give you a map, a compass, and a buddy and drop you off in the middle of nowhere, and you have to find your way to the base. It is dark, and you must look at the map, plot your first course, count your steps, and then repeat it. You have to navigate your way home. I remember we debated how to read the map and how many steps were in a kilometer the whole way. This exercise is also timed. Even with the tools, I have never felt more lost. I knew the training and had practiced, but now, everything was on the line. I was scared and unsure; sometimes, I felt like I was just guessing. When we got frustrated, we would backtrack to where we were and do it repeatedly. We finished our course based on our map and work and wouldn’t you know it, we did not see the camp. We were lost, time was running out, and we heard a slight noise. We walked another 15 feet toward the sound and saw the back of a tent. We walked around it and were sure we were in the camp. We were not at the entrance but could see a place to go and check in and qualify.

APP: This is what the Psalmist is talking about. Even though you may feel lost, incompetent, or fearful, if you just keep following the directions of the word, you will find camp. Because God loves you, no one said it would be easy, but if you trust God and his word, just keep plotting the course and walking off the steps. His plan is a good one.

Verse 9: They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor.

EXP(2): The verse ends with only one command. To freely scatter the gifts to the poor.

T.S.: This is our witness. Despite our circumstances, we can still give.

3. Witness (Psalm 112:10)

The wicked will see and be vexed; they will gnash their teeth and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.

EXP: If we can follow the commands in Psalm 112 1. Delight in his Word 2. Be Generous from a Place of Gratitude. Verse 10 tells us that it will affect the wicked. They will gnash their teeth and waste away, and evil desires will result in nothing. We have already been told that God will be victorious over those who wish us harm, so I think this verse says that the non-followers of God will see us and be convicted in the spirit of having to acknowledge the power of God by simply following Jesus and being generous. 

ILL: I have seen a lot on X about people who have been uninvited by their family members to Thanksgiving based on who they voted for. One news host says his mother uninvited him from the holidays in general. This scripture tells us that we aren’t supposed to separate from those who do not believe as we do. Instead, we should give them the last Turkey leg even though we want it. We should serve them pumpkin pie even if we do not get any. 

If we live in God’s blessings as followers of Christ, we should be generous because it will cause those who oppose us to feel the same way.

ILL: Joyce Meyer tells a story of being at a restaurant with her traveling crew and having breakfast. She goes on to say how the service was awful, and they got her order wrong, as well as many others. It was slow, the food was cold, and no one was pleased. Her husband, Dave, was paying the credit card bill, and she saw the tip he wrote down. And she said to him in a stern voice, Oh no, you did not. She was awful; I did not even get the correct order. Dave leans over to her and says, “So let me get this right; you want me to tell this waitress via the tip we give her that Joyce Meyer, the voice of God for this generation, follower of Christ, thinks she is not worth the 20% customary tip?” Joyce was immediately convicted and understood that generosity matters. If you represent God, Generosity leaves a mark on the unbeliever. 

APP: As Children of God, God has ensured we are provided for and protected. If we want to see the impact on the Kingdom, Generosity will make a difference in the lives of those who do not follow God. 

T. S.: I love that this Psalm starts with Praise the Lord. Not only is he worthy, but this is how we praise him, by following his commandments and being generous.

I want to pray for three groups today:

1. God blesses some of you in many areas, but you are having a hard time seeing it
2. I want to pray that God will let you see what others see from you as a blessed person of God.
3. Some of you are considering avoiding the drama this holiday season; it could be an opportunity to witness.
4. I pray you will go with a generous heart and make a new disciple.
5. Some of you struggle with generosity because you are lost and scared about the future.
6. I pray today for salvation.