5th October

5rd October 


Pray (AC-ts) 


Read — Romans 1:21


Message Alan Burke


Once upon a time I came across a lady who was always filled with gratitude but it was in a way that was lived out like no one else I have ever come across before or since and I honestly struggled to get my head around at the time. In the years since meeting her she has gone to be with her Lord and Saviour but the more and more I am about the more I get why she was filled with gratitude and as a result why she tried to live it out. Her gratitude of course sprang from her knowledge of what the Lord had done for her, how she was a sinner saved by His grace. 


One of the ways she tried to live that gratitude out is to thank others and to show her thanks and always when people asked she would say it was because of what the Lord had done for her that she was this way. I mean like she knew the birthdays of the bin men although I think now you have to call them ‘refuse collectors’ and there would be a cake baked and they’d be invited in for a cuppa, then there were sweets in December, thank you cards at random times, the post man and I’m not kidding (sorry post person) came for his lunch, there were boxes of sweets for the guy who serviced her car and a wee voucher, she said thank you to people who weren’t even doing anything for her, she was just thankful. 


Sadly we know that a person like that doesn’t come around very often. The heart attitude though of sinful man leads not only to an attitude that wont glorify God, but also one that wont give Him thanks. Sin is such that it means although it is clear that there is a God, that we by our nature do not seek to glorify Him or give the thanks to Him. And although these verses are speaking of those who do not know God, we can even see this in our lives as God’s people. Ask yourselves how thankful am I? It isn’t that we don’t give God thanks, rather we don’t give God the thanks that we should and as often as we should, we don’t live in a way that shows forth our gratitude. 


What about mealtimes, maybe on a Sunday for the big Sunday lunch we give God thanks, but for the toast when it’s burnt, and you eat it because you don’t want it to go to waste, do you thank God? God still provided for you and did you give Him thanks? Or when it comes to the beauty of and the wonder of, the sunrise and sunset, the wind and the rain, are we thankful? Are we thankful for how God causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Mt 5:45). That God in all of creation shows God’s common grace to all, in how He lavishes all people with His kindness, even those who ignore, belittle, or are hostile toward Him.


Often we who have most reasons to be thankful, who have been redeemed by the sacrificial death of our saviour Jesus Christ can often be thankless, or we fail to give thanks to God for His provision, we fail to thank Him for the wonder of the salvation He has wrought for us and all that which He has done for us. So how much less do we suppose those who do not live seeking the Glory of God give him the thanks? While there are many people who spend their entire lives, giving absolutely no thought to giving thanks to the creator who blesses in abundance in the ordinary everyday things, giving thanks for the wonders of friendship, family, health, strength, breath, sight, smell, we could go on, but they choose to ignore the Lord God. Although this is speaking of those who do not know God there is a challenge to us, are we thankful people, is it seen, and do we thank our God in Christ Jesus?


Pray (acTS) 


Sing 


WSC  
Q70 Which is the seventh commandment?
The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery. (Exod. 20:14)
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