We welcome you to Stone's Hill today!

A typical Stone's Hill service has:

* music (so feel free to sing out);

* some announcements (things that are upcoming that you can be a part of);

* a message out of the Bible (God speaks to us through his Word);

* and an opportunity for you to respond to the message (either immediately in the case of a decision that needs to be made OR in the future as you live out the message in your daily life.)

So relax and enjoy your morning! We're so glad you are here!

MESSAGE TEXT
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
*
INTRODUCTION
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 teaches three ways to stay in the will of God no matter what happens in your life. If Paul had only said, “Rejoice a lot, pray often, and try to be thankful.” Paul staccatos out what seems like three impossible commands. He puts them out there boldly as the ideal; basic Christianity in the practical of life – central things in our spiritual walk “thanksliving”. Ray Pritchard calls these the “standing orders of the Gospel.” They work for every generation. They’re easy to understand, but so hard to do. Paul is smarter than you think. He knows our propensity toward ingratitude. The true victories in life are won by Christians who are joyful, prayerful, and thankful.
*
APPLICATION
So as we think about these simple verses, two pictures emerge:
*
The Picture of Self-Will
So this is all about God’s will. What is the alternative to God’s will? Self-will. "God, get off the throne and put me on it. I want to be in charge, I want to run my life, I want to call the shots.” Self-will is more important than God's will, my plan is more important than God's plan. “I want my life this way. I want my job this way. I want my church this way. I want my spouse this way. I want my kids this way. I want my career this way.” And if God doesn't come in and fit the picture perfectly, then self-will begins to run roughshod over the plan of God and a thankless spirit is the result.
*
What this inevitable leads to is a critical spirit. A critical spirit. Here again is something that will steal thankfulness blind. A critical spirit, a person who is bitter, a person who is negative, who has a sour life attitude. It can be produced by a number of things but if it is running unchecked, it will destroy a thankful heart. It will blind your vision. It will warp your understanding. It will make you useless to God and a pain in the proverbial neck to everybody around you. It’ll corrode your spirituality; it’ll corrode your love, this critical spirit. This over-analysis of everything, this need to criticize everything that isn't exactly the way it ought to be. A critical spirit makes a bitter negative thankless person.
*
And this rises from pride. It rises from an enlarged ego that says, “I deserve better than this. I'm worthy of better than this.” Or it says, “I want people to think I'm better than I really am so I want stuff around me to make me look good. And it's not making me look as good as I want to look and so I get sour and bitter.” Or “I've been hurt,” or “I've been wounded by somebody, and I'm just going to take the pain and I'm going to run it through the course of the rest of my life.” That kind of critical attitude destroys thankfulness. A self-willed life is often marked by constantly complaining, persistent irritation, and prevailing ingratitude.
*
The Picture of Gods-Will
Rejoicing, praying, thanking - it keeps us continually aware that we are walking in God’s presence. No matter what happens throughout the day, we can thank Him, knowing that our all-loving, omnipotent, and omniscient God is helping us walk through it. Being thankful reminds us of our continual dependence upon the Lord. It’s gets us away from the spirit of independence that denies our need of Him.
*
In reality, we are all dependent upon Him for every breath we take but may not realize it until we face a situation that we are powerless to overcome or change. Adversity shows us our weakness and drives us to the Lord. Gratitude helps us trust the Lord when we don’t understand why. Although God hasn’t promised to explain why we go through pain or hardship, He has promised to be with us and enable us to face it. Thanksgiving reminds us that we don’t have to understand the situation; we just have to be obedient in the process.
*
Thankfulness displaces anxiety with peace. Thanksgiving focuses our attention on God rather than our circumstances. If we fix our eyes on the difficulty, the pain becomes unbearable, peace eludes us, and the situation seems hopeless. But thanksgiving shifts our focus to the Lord and reminds us what we can know for certain: We’re not alone. God is with us. He loves us. The Lord walks with us. He will bring us through. Gratitude energizes us physically, emotionally, and spiritually in difficult times. Pain, trouble, and disappointment drain us, but trusting God, focusing on Him, and thanking Him revitalize us. It’s His presence within us that renews us physically, spiritually, and emotionally so we can keep going.
*
CONCLUSION
Ephesians 5:20“Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father.” You cannot give thanks in all circumstances if you focus on your circumstances. You must run to the cross and look at Jesus. Jesus lived a righteous life that you can never live. Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins by his blood. And Jesus rose from the dead to give you new life. Jesus ascended to glory to sit on the right hand of God the Father. And Jesus is coming back again to take you to glory with him. Do you believe that? If you believe you have enough reason to give thanks in all circumstances.
*
Jesus knows what it’s like to be betrayed. Jesus knows what it’s like to be misunderstood. Jesus knows what it’s like to be slandered, and lied about, and hunted down and broken, hungry, and abused. He knows what it’s like to lose a loved one and weep. Church, we do not serve a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, wounds, and weariness. If you’d like to express gratitude to your Savior, come as we do communion.
*
Maybe, for some of you, the reason you’re not thankful is because you don’t have the Spirit of God living inside of you. You’ve been playing the religion game, but you’ve never actually personally received Jesus as your Savior. Perhaps your ingratitude is a result of not actually being “in Christ Jesus.” I don’t condemn you. Just come, the fountain is open for you. Joyful. Prayerful. Thankful. This is the life for you.