I Thessalonians 5:16-18
From an Elementary School Teacher
After reading my all-time favorite turkey-day book,
“The Night Before Thanksgiving” by Dave Pilkey, to
the class, I asked them what Thanksgiving was
really all about. While many shouted, “FOOD!”
others enthusiastically raised their hands.
“Well, we are celebrating the day our country came
here!”
I looked at Tennison and asked, “What do you
mean?”
“There were some people from somewhere who
came in a boat over to this land. They saw this big
land and said WE WANT THIS COUNTRY! But the
native americans said NO! And then some crazies
started a great big war! Years later after they won
the war they said, ‘Hey we really don’t know each
other! Let’s have a meal and get to know each
udder.’ And that’s how it started.”
Our starting off text this morning is found in
I Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray
without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
People are always wanting to know what God’s will is.
Check out the last phrase of verse 18.
God’s will is for us to rejoice always, pray without ceasing
and give thanks in all circumstances.
It’s easy to be thankful when things are going great for
us.
But how often do we take God’s love and kindness and
faithfulness for granted?
This morning I want us to look at a couple of
circumstances where we see God’s people rejoicing
always, praying without ceasing and giving thanks in all
circumstances.
First, let’s turn to Exodus 15. For context, this is Moses
and the Israelites response after God rescued them from
the Egyptians by parting the Red Sea, making a way for
them to cross on dry land and then after they were safely
on the shore, God allowed the water to cover their
enemies.
Giving Thanks in the Good Times
The Song of Moses
Exodus 15:1-21
Moses and the people are praising God showing their
thankfulness to Him for saving them.
Notice their joy in verse 2. I will praise Him, I will exalt
Him.
He has become my salvation.
Moses continues to thank and praise God by describing in
detail the way God provided a way when there seemed to
be no way.
It’s easy to give thanks when things are going well.
It’s also easy to forget to give thanks when things
are going well.
Let’s turn our attention to a different circumstance.
Giving Thanks in the Tough Times
Paul and Silas in Prison
This is one of those times that we might not want to
rejoice always, pray without ceasing and be thankful to
God for our circumstances.
But Paul and Silas do just that.
Acts 16:16-34
They had been beaten with rods, thrown in prison and
fastened to stocks in the inner part of the prison.
What would your first thought be? Don’t answer that.
Verse 25 tells us that about midnight Paul and Silas were
praying and singing hymns to God.
When you are walking faithfully with Christ it
doesn’t matter what happens in your life. You learn
to praise Him in whatever circumstance comes your
way.
We can do that because we have the Holy Spirit living
inside of us. The Holy Spirit reminds us that God works
all things for the good for those who love God and are
called according to His purpose.
How did God use Paul and Silas’ thankfulness in that
prison?
He used it to save the jailer and his family.
Paul and Silas were able to see the glory that God
brought to Himself through their time in prison. But that
is not always the case.
Even when we can’t see the glory that God is going to
get, we can praise Him and pray without ceasing and
thank Him in all circumstances.
The most difficult part of thanking God in our trials is the
uncertainty of how God will work it out for our good and
His glory.
If you find yourself in a position where you don’t feel like
rejoicing, praying and thanking, what should we do?
Turn to the Psalms. There is wonderful encouragement in
the Psalms.
Our Motivation for Giving Thanks
Psalm 106:1-12
We should give thanks to God because of His love and
because He is good.
This Psalm recaps God’s goodness and love at the Red
Sea.
Neither the Israelites nor us are deserving of God’s love
and mercy, but He saves us anyway by offering us grace.
What we deserve is death and hell, but that is not what
God gives to those who trust in Him.
I also want to look at Psalm 105:1-5.
Notice the Psalmist mentions giving thanks, rejoicing and
calling on the name of the Lord.
The three things Paul commanded the church at
Thessalonica to do in the first Scripture we looked at this
morning.
He also calls us to tell of His wondrous works.
That is what Alyssa has done today. She has given
testimony to what God has done.
Sometimes there are good times, and sometimes
there are hard times. But God is the God of all time.
And we can rejoice in Him, pray to Him and thank Him in
all circumstances.
Look at verse 5 here in Psalm 105.
“Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his
miracles, and the judgments he uttered,”
We have so much to be thankful for.
God had done so much to show us His great love for us.
First and foremost we should be thankful for our
salvation.
God showed us how much He loved us by sending His
only Son to the cross to die in our place.
We should also be thankful for the Holy Spirit in our
lives.
Because of the Holy Spirit we can rejoice, pray and be
thankful in any and all circumstances. Without Him we
would be lost.
We should also be thankful for His Promise to Return.
Jesus told His disciples that He was going to prepare a
place for them and that He would come again and take
them to Himself.
APPLICATION
Because we have so much to be thankful for, we must
remember to be thankful every day of our lives.
Circumstances don’t matter, we must;
Be Thankful in All Circumstances
God doesn’t want fairweather followers.
He wants us to deny ourselves, and to take up our cross
daily to follow Him.
It’s easy to run from Him when things get tough, but the
results are disastrous.
When we press into Him through the trials, He
strengthens us and makes us more holy.