Pastor Matt Sturdevant: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love...For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to His children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him...But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments. The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all...Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!”
Father, Your steadfast love endures forever. The year 2020 has not been the year that most of us expected when it started out on January 1st. But during this entire year and at this very moment, even right now, You are on Your great throne in heaven continuing to protect, provide for, and sustain our lives. As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving this Thursday, even in a year as strange and challenging as 2020 has been so far, there is so much to be grateful for. I pray that You would open our hearts and our minds and help us for the next few moments to focus on You, Your goodness, and all the ways that You have blessed us this year. I pray this in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Well, to state the obvious, 2020 has been an interesting year. It’s been a challenging year. You could say that it's been a difficult year. I think for most of us in one way or another, we’ve had some form of disappointment this year in 2020. Disappointment—where does it come from? What’s involved? Well, disappointment comes from unmet expectations. We have some sort of expectation of what’s going to happen, and that doesn’t happen. Then that leads to disappointment. I expected to be able to go on vacation this summer. I expected to be able to graduate in person. I expected to be able to attend my friend or my relative’s birthday party, graduation, wedding, baby shower, retirement party, or funeral. Something I was expecting to be able to do wasn’t able to happen. Therefore, that can lead to disappointment.
There have been so many ways to get disappointed this year. In fact, right now at this very moment while I’m recording this, I may have to give my kids some disappointing news. We were supposed to go camping this weekend, and it’s going to be their very first camping trip to sleep outside in a tent for just one night. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we may not be able to go camping this weekend. So, I may have to give some news to my children that will cause disappointment. Camping is relatively insignificant and not a large thing in life, but it’s something that they’ve really been looking forward to. It’s something that they’re hoping to be able to do, so I may or may not have to deliver disappointing news in the next day or so.
As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving (that’s happening on Thursday in case you forgot, just a few days from now), I want to share two truths and a lie that regardless of our feelings are two truths and a lie. Let’s take a look at them. The first truth is God is good regardless of my present circumstances. That is a truth that God is good regardless of my present circumstances. Let’s take a look at a couple of verses. First, “the Lord is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made.” “For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord bestows favor and honor. No good things does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” And finally, Romans 8:28 tells us, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.”
This first truth is that God is good regardless of my present circumstances. The second truth is this that I have much to be thankful for right now. In the middle of the mess of what has turned out to be the year 2020, we still have much to be thankful for, so much to be grateful for. What I want to do right now is I want us to just pause for a moment and think about what are three things that we’re grateful for right now. Regardless of how this year has gone for you, regardless of how this week has gone for you, there are things to be grateful for. So, let’s pause for just a moment and write down three things that you're grateful for right now.
Did you come up with your three? Here are my three. First, life—if you have breath right now and you are watching this video, then we have something to be grateful for. The life that we have, the air that’s in our lungs right now at this very moment… Another thing that I’m grateful for is the new life that I have in Jesus Christ. Then, the third thing that I wrote down that I’m thankful for is my wife and my two children. Even in the middle of all that’s gone wrong and in the middle of all of the unmet expectations and disappointment of this year, there is so much for us to be grateful for right now.
The two truths are God is good regardless of my present circumstances, and the second one is I have much to be thankful for right now. So, what’s the lie? The lie is this—My life has to be wonderfully amazing for me to give thanks and praise to God. My friends, that’s a lie. That’s a lie straight from the father of lies himself, the devil. Our life does not have to be wonderfully amazing for us to give God thanks and praise. Why? We’ve already looked at the two truths. We have so much to be thankful for this year as we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving.
I’m going to give you a definition so that we’re all kind of on the same page here. Thanksgiving is an expression of gratitude to God for who He is and what He’s done. Gratitude is about being appreciative for all the benefits that we have received. Gratitude should ultimately always be focused towards God because He is the One who brings so much blessing and benefit to our lives. One way or another, all of the good that we experience is from His hand.
The act of God’s people giving Him thanks didn’t start in Plymouth. It didn’t start with the Pilgrims. They gave thanks to God for sustaining them and for providing for them, but they are not the ones who invented this idea of God’s people giving Him thanks for who He is and all that He’s done and the wonderful blessings and benefits He’s given His people. I want to take a look with you at an overview of gratitude. I want to start with the Old Testament and work our way to the New Testament. Then, let’s talk a little bit about what we have to be grateful for in this year of 2020. Let’s start with the Old Testament.
Gratitude was actually part of the foundation of how God’s people were to relate to Him. The world around them at that time was evidence of God’s lordship over every aspect of life. Really, gratitude was the context and the condition for them to really be able to enjoy life as His creatures, as His creation, as they related to Him—a holy, righteous God who is Creator of the universe. They thanked Him for so many things as you read through the Scripture. I’ve listed several references for you to read on your own, but here are some of the things that they thanked Him for: creation and who He is. We find this in Psalm 19:1. It says, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim His handiwork.”
They also thanked Him for His goodness. 1 Chronicles 16:8-9 says, “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him. Sing praises to Him. Tell of all His wondrous works!” God’s people in the Old Testament also thanked Him for His justice, for His faithfulness, for His forgiveness, for His guidance to them. They also thanked Him for the good, as well as the bad. We find this in Job, when Job was thanking God when life was wonderfully amazing and when it wasn’t. Gratitude was a key part of the life of God’s people in the Old Testament. In fact, they had so many ceremonies and feasts and offerings and festivals that were centered around giving God thanks and praise and gratitude for who He is and what He’s done and His many blessings to His people.
Kings appointed Levitical priests specifically to offer thanks to God. We see this by King David, King Solomon, and King Hezekiah. Also, giving thanks and praise was an expression of just how God’s people related to Him all throughout the Old Testament. What about the New Testament? Did they continue to give God thanksgiving and praise? Of course, they did. The practice continued in the time of the New Testament because… Here’s why. The Bible tells us that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, everything that God’s people had to be thankful and grateful for during the Old Testament time carries on into the New Testament. It actually carries on for us today.
In the New Testament though, God’s people continued to thank Him for who He is and what He’s done. At the same time, they now had the redemptive work of Jesus Christ to now be able to thank God for, to be grateful for, and to give Him praise for. The apostle, Paul, thanked God for the gift of grace. 1 Corinthians 1:4 says, “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus.” Paul also thanked God for his own ability to share the gospel with others, for spiritual gifts that could be used to bless the rest of those in the church, and he also gave God thanks for the love and the faith that he found among the followers of Jesus. In fact, Ephesians 1:15-23 is a great passage to look at.
Here’s just a part of that. It says, starting in verse 15, “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him…” We find in the New Testament, when we’re looking at thanksgiving and gratitude, that there’s this real connection in the lives of God’s people between gratitude and what Christ has done for them, the new life that we now have as followers of Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we’re told to give thanks in all things at all times. Here are a couple of verses.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” We’re supposed to give thanks in all circumstances, the good including the difficult. Philippians 4:6–“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Then, Colossians 4:2 says, “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” This idea, this concept, of thanksgiving was a key part of the Old Testament and the way God’s people related to Him. It continued on into the New Testament and was a key piece of how God’s people worshiped Him. They, now because of what Jesus has done in the New Testament, God’s people had the redemptive work of Jesus to be grateful for and to thank God for.
What about today? What about today in a year like 2020 when so much unexpected has happened? So many disappointing things have occurred. Is there anything for us to be grateful for, to be thankful for today in the year 2020? Well, here are few things, three things actually. These are categories of things that I think we have to be thankful for today in the year 2020 as we approach Thanksgiving. The first thing is Jesus and what He accomplished on the cross. Jesus Christ, who He is and what He has done, has not changed because of all of the challenges that we have experienced in this year.
We, because of our own sin and our own rebellion, as God’s creatures/His creation, were destined to spend eternity apart from Him. We needed to be rescued. There was nothing that we could do on our own to get back to God, so God Himself intervened. God stepped into the story as Jesus Christ. He came to this planet. He died on the cross for us. He did what we couldn’t do for ourselves. So today in the year 2020 in the middle of all this mess, we have the ability, and we should be thankful and grateful for Jesus Christ and the work that He accomplished on the cross. Because of that, we can have a right relationship with God Himself, with our Creator.
The next thing that we can be thankful for and grateful for this year in the year of 2020 is the guidance and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. Just before Jesus left this planet to return to heaven, He told His followers to be on the watch. He was going to send another Helper. He was going to send a Comforter. The Holy Spirit is the One who guides us into all Truth. Especially in a year like 2020 with all of the difficult things that we have had to walk through, we can be so grateful and thankful that we have the Holy Spirit—those of us who are followers of Jesus—that we’ve been able to have Him to comfort us and guide us and lead us as we walk through these challenging days.
The third category that we can be so grateful for and so thankful for is just the provisions of life. If you’re watching this video right now, then that means you have some type of a device that you can watch this video on, whether it’s your phone or your tv or your computer or your tablet. It also means that you have an internet connection. Those are just a few small things, but not everyone in this world has things like a tv or a phone or an internet connection. Not to mention, you’re probably sitting on a chair in a house that if it’s cold outside, it’s nice and warm. If it’s hot outside, then it’s a nice cool temperature so that you are inside, indoors in a climate-controlled environment. You’re probably wearing clothes, like I am right now. You’ve probably had breakfast or lunch or dinner, whatever time of day you're watching this. Just the basic provisions of life that we’ve had in the middle of all the difficulties—God is still taking care of us. He’s still providing for us. These are just a few categories of things that we have to be thankful for and grateful for here in the year 2020.
We have so much to be thankful for. Before we continue, I want you to get to hear from some fellow Hope Church members and what they are thankful for and grateful for this year as we approach Thanksgiving. Take a look at this. (Video begins)
“I am grateful this year for friends that have held me accountable even through a really challenging year and have made me laugh and cried with me through hard things.”
“For every breath and for every heartbeat, because God never owed me a single one.”
“I’m thankful for my family.”
“I’m thankful for my mom making my food.”
“I’m thankful for friends.”
“I’m thankful for friends and family.”
“I’m thankful for friends, family, and football.”
“During this difficult season, there’s been a unique opportunity in that we’ve been able to get to know our neighbors really well all around different blocks, as well as next door.”
“I’m very thankful for my guinea pig, Rosie.”
“I’m thankful that I get to go to church.”
“My mom.”
“And, I’m thankful for Tim because he wrestles with me a lot!”
“The Heart Attitudes and how they’ve trained into us the culture of church, and we’ve been able to take that and train our kids in our home culture, as well.”
“I’m thankful for my parents.”
“I’m thankful that God is living.”
“I’m thankful for Christmas.”
“Jesus.”
“Jesus.”
“Jesus is nice.”
“I am so thankful that Bella was forced to be on lockdown with us during the end of her last year in high school before she went off to college.”
“And, I am thankful for this good set of hair that I’ve got from the Lord.” (Video ends)
Pastor Matt: We have so much to be grateful for this year in the year of 2020, but disappointment is a real thing. It’s still a real thing that happens, and I’m going to assume that everyone watching has probably had at least one thing that they’ve been disappointed about this year. Just one thing where you had an expectation, and that expectation wasn’t met. You had to battle some disappointment. Disappointment is a normal part of life even when we’re not going through a global pandemic and national unrest. But, how do we deal with disappointment? What are some ways that we can overcome disappointment?
I want to take a step back and look at some ways that I can move past my disappointment. Hopefully, this will help right now but even once we get past this season that we’re in. These are some things, some tools and ways, that you can use in the future to get past disappointment when you’re tempted with it and when you’re experiencing it. I’ve given you several verses you can check on your own, so I’m going to go through this kind of quickly. But hopefully, this will be a help to you.
The first one is this: Admit and clear up any foolishness and/or rebellion. See sometimes, we’re disappointed in life because we’re experiencing consequences—the results of our foolish or rebellious decisions and actions. If that’s the case, if you’re experiencing disappointment that is directly related to the consequences of your foolish or sinful behavior, the first step in making it right and getting over the disappointment is admitting it and clearing it up with God and anyone else that may have been involved. Once you’ve cleared that up, then you can begin to move forward.
The next way to get past disappointment is to trust God to be good to you and move past your feelings. Sometimes we get so caught up in our feelings that it’s hard to see past them and see what reality is. Take a step and choose to trust God. Choose to trust Him to do good to you. Remember, one of the things we do is often we have to act our way into feelings. If we wait to feel our way to the action, then the action would probably never come. So, go ahead and take initiative. Trust God to be good to you and help you move past any negative or disappointing feelings that you might be having right now.
Here’s a really important one. That is to thank God for the good that He’s already done. It’s easy for us when we’re starting to feel disappointed to get caught up in all that we don’t have or what we do have that we don’t want. We forget about all the good. We forget about all the things that God has already done for us in our lives. Our tendency as sinful, human creatures is to often approach God like this: “What have You done for me lately?” We forget a lifetime of good that God has done to us because at this moment, right now, we’re not getting what we want. So, thank Him for what He’s already done, because He’s already done so much in your life.
Again, here’s another one. Check and see if my prayer is valid. Did you know that God won’t answer a prayer that’s outside of His will? This is why the Bible talks about praying in the will of the Lord. There are certain things that God has already spoken on, and He’s not going to do something that you want Him to do if it’s outside of bounds that He’s already clearly spoken on in Scripture. So, we want to make sure that we are praying in line with God’s Word and God’s will. How do we know what that is? That’s why we spend time with God each day in His Word getting our thoughts aligned with His thoughts, just getting to know Him. The better we get to know God, the deeper we know Him, the more likely we are to pray in line with His will.
Another thing is to ask God to reveal what He might be trying to teach me. In life, the stuff on our plate (the challenges we’re dealing with), even the things we’re disappointed in right now. Those are all things that God is going to use to equip us and teach us and help us to become the man or the woman that He wants us to be so that He can do all that He has planned to do in us and through us. One of the things that has helped me over the years, and I do not do this perfectly all the time. When I remember to do this, it goes so much better for me. If I’m starting to feel disappointment because of a circumstance, then I try to take a step back. I pray, and I say, “Lord, what are You wanting to teach me right now in the middle of this difficulty, in the middle of this disappointment that I’m feeling?” I don’t want to miss what God is trying to teach me, especially if it’s a pretty uncomfortable circumstance. I don’t want to have to do it again. I want to learn the lesson now that God has for me right now.
Another thing to do is to pray until God says, “No.” Pray until He says “no.” When it comes to our prayers, there’s pretty much three answers. Yes—which is usually what we want, which is why we’re praying. Then, no—which sometimes we don’t like that. Then other times, we get a “not now.” The “not now” could be a “yes” or a “no” in the future, but it’s a “not now.” Many of us have experienced, after years of faithfully praying in line with God’s will for something or someone, the “yes” long after we began praying. In fact, sometimes a delay in the prayer could be that God wants to show us an area of foolishness or an area of rebellion in our lives that we need to admit and clear up. So that, He can then answer the prayer in line with what we want. Maybe we’ve been praying for a really good thing. Don’t let disappointment keep you from praying.
Then the final thing you can do to help get over disappointment is this. Focus on the mission, and focus on others. For me personally, I find it easiest to be disappointed when I’m really focused on myself. I’m just really concerned about Matt and what Matt is getting that he doesn’t want and what he’s not getting that he does want. When I intentionally choose to focus my attention on the mission that God has for me and focus on the lives of other people around me, certainly those closest to me in my home—my wife, my children, my coworkers, people in my group and on my team—when I do that, then it’s easy to get past the disappointment that I have because I’m on mission. I’m getting to contribute. I’m getting to be a part of something bigger than myself. Therefore, I’m not just focused on myself.
The key thing in getting over disappointment is watch out what you're focused on. Are you focused on yourself? Or, are you focused on the mission and others? As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving coming up this week on Thursday, I want to invite you to keep a gratitude journal this week. I’ve given you on your handout a sort of model of what that can look like, starting tomorrow on Monday and going through Monday through Saturday. Just write down one thing each day that you are grateful for. Do it tomorrow on Monday and the next day and the next day. Write down something that you’re grateful for each day.
The more we focus on gratitude, the more we recognize the things around us that God has done in our lives and the ways that He has blessed us, it’s so much easier to have a grateful and a thankful attitude and to give Him the gratitude and the praise that He deserves as God and Creator of the universe. So, I want to invite you to keep the gratitude journal, and then I want to invite you to share what you’re writing down with the others around you in your home. Share it with your spouse and your kids or your roommates. Share it with people who are in your group, because as we share with others what we’re grateful for that helps us have a bigger picture of gratitude, as well.
This year, even in the middle of all of the mess that we’ve experienced this year—uncertainty, health issues, economic issues, national unrest, you name it—even in the middle of all of that, there is so much to be thankful for, so much to be grateful for as we approach Thanksgiving this week. Would you bow with me in prayer? Father, You are a good God. You are so good to us even when we don’t see it. You have blessed us in so many ways. I thank You that Your love, Your steadfast love endures forever. Thank You for the ways that You have provided for us this year, the year 2020–the ways that You have provided for food and shelter and friendship and health and just all of the ways that You have provided for us. This week as we approach Thanksgiving, may we really have an attitude and a heart filled with gratitude and filled with Thanksgiving. May we look to You and give You the praise that You deserve—praise for who You are and what You've done—like Your people have done throughout the ages. Thank You for the Lord Jesus and the work that He’s done in our lives for those of us who are followers of Him. Thank You that we will one day spend eternity in heaven with You. And, thank You that now while we’re on this planet and while we’re living in the middle of challenging times like the year 2020, those of us who are followers of Jesus have the opportunity to share with others, to share the hope that we have because of Jesus with the world around us. Thank You, and it’s in His name that we pray. Amen.
