THANK YOU CITY CHURCHP A S T O R K E N T M U N S E Y

Thank You City Church November 29, 12:00PM Service

Pastor Kent Munsey | City Church Chicago

Introduction:

Pastor Kent opens his sermon with a reflection of his experience during this years Thanksgiving holiday. He reflects on a question that his father, Pastor Steve Munsey, traditionally ask every yearWhat are you most thankful for? Pastor Kent explains that this question moved him to another question that rests at the central theme of his message, What is Jesus thankful for? In consideration of this question, Pastor Kent gives four attributes that help us view gratitude from a Christian perspective.

Key Scripture:

I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and

have revealed them to babes.

Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone

know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and

lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

Now as they went down the road, they came to some

water. And the eunuch said, See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?

Then Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may.

And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he

baptized him. - Matthew 11:25-30 NKJV

Main Texts:

Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the LORD will work for us. For nothing restrains

the LORD from saving by many or by few.7 So his armor bearer said to him, Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I

am with you, according to your heart. I Samuel 14:6 NKJV

His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and

perhaps feel their way toward him and find himthough he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and

exist. Acts 17:27 NLT

1. INNOCENT FAITH Pastor Kent tells the story of a tender moment that he shared with his son Kausti. As they were entering their apartment building, they approached the elevator, and before either of them could press the call button, the door opened. As they walked onto the elevator, Kausti held a radiant smile on his face. As his son beamed, Pastor Kent asked him why he was smiling, and Kausti replied, Maybe God did it! referring to the elevator door opening at the precise moment. Pastor Kent described Kaustis reaction as innocent faith. As Christians, we need to get back to the place where we have that innocent component to our faith. Innocent Faith = Believing in the maybe with God. We lose that innocence in our faith when we allow our experiences to dictate our theology. Instead, we should allow our theology to reinforce our experiences.

2. GENEROUS SPIRIT

He took the seven loaves and the fish, and He Gave Thanks, Broke them, and Kept on Giving Them to the disciples, and the disciples Gave them to the Crowds.

They all ate and were filled. Then they collected the leftover piecesseven large baskets full. Now those who ate were 4,000 men, besides women and children. After dismissing the crowds, He got into the boat and went to

the region of Magadan. - Matthew 15:36-39 HCSB

Take and eat it; this is My body. Then He took a cup, and after Giving thanks, He Gave it to them and said,

Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the

forgiveness of sins. But I tell you, from this moment I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it in a new way in My Fathers kingdom with you. After singing psalms, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Matthew 26:26-30 HCSB

Pastor Kent talks about the rhythm of generosity. Just as we see in the above texts, Jesus had a consistent rhythm to his generosity. 1.) Take what God entrusts us with. 2.) Thank God for it. 3.) Give generously. We too should follow this model in our own generosity, just as Jesus did.

There is one who scatters, yet increases more;

And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty.

The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.

Psalms 11:24-25 NKJV

3. SERVANT SWAG

Suppose one of you has a servant who comes in from plowing the field or tending the sheep. Would you take his coat, set the table, and say, Sit down and eat? Wouldnt you be more likely to say, Prepare dinner; change your

clothes and wait table for me until Ive finished my coffee; then go to the kitchen and have your supper? Does the servant get special thanks for doing whats expected of

him? Its the same with you. When youve done everything expected of you, be matter-of-fact and say, The work is

done. What we were told to do, we did. Luke 17:9 MSG

He said to them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. But not so among you; on

the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For

who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among

you as the One who serves. Luke 22:25-27

We have to embody a spirit of servitude. We should be in a place where thank you isnt a necessity to motivate us. We should generously give not only of our treasure, but also of our service. Our service is only truly worth it when were doing it for Jesus. Therefore, we cant get caught up in expecting gratitude to fuel our desire to serve others.

4. APPRECIATIVE SPIRIT

Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I

thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are

standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me. Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth! And he who had died

came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, Loose

him, and let him go. John 11:41 NKJV

Pastor Kent talks references the above scripture, and highlights the appreciation that Jesus displays. The miracle here is that Lazarus, a friend of Jesus, is raised from the dead. Aside from that, when we look closer, we see Jesus showing appreciation to God for hearing his voice. Jesus acknowledges that God always hears his voice, nevertheless he still remains appreciative, even for something that is commonplace to him.

Conclusion:

The following quotes seal the theme of Pastor Kents

message:

John F. Kennedy

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by

them.

Voltaire Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is

excellent in others belong to us as well.

James Brown Like Christ said, love thee one another. I learned to do that, and I learned to respect and be appreciative and

thankful for what I had.

What you appreciate appreciates. Appreciation is the beating heart of sufficiency.

HEARTMATH.COM

The feeling of appreciation is one of the most concrete and easiest positive emotions for individuals to self-generate. Almost anyone can find something to genuinely appreciate. Through appreciation you can increase your heart rhythm coherence, reduce emotional stress and improve your health. This approach is currently being used in a number of hospitals and cardiac rehabilitation programs around the country.

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