Give Thanks 1 | Established By Thanksgiving

We're approaching the Thanksgiving holiday here at Cross Connection. In getting ready for this holiday, we're taking a couple of weeks to talk about the topic of giving thanks and its importance for Christians. Today, we're in Colossians chapter 2, where we see that the result of our salvation should be giving thanks. This becomes the witness through which God shows that we are His in the world.

So, open your Bibles to Colossians chapter 2 and follow along with us. Good morning to you, and welcome to Cross Connection. Would you mind standing with me and opening your Bibles to the book of Colossians? Colossians chapter 2 is in the New Testament, just after the book of Philippians. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one.

Colossians chapter 2. The Scriptures say in the Psalms many times, "Oh, that men would praise the Lord!" We are to give thanks to the Lord, for His mercy endures forever. Repeatedly, we are told, "Oh, give thanks to the Lord." It is good to give thanks to the Lord. We will be taking some time this week and next weekend to look at the Scriptures as they relate to the topic of giving thanks.

In Colossians chapter 2, we will pick up at verse 5. The Apostle Paul is the author, and he says, "For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in the spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving."

God, we just sang that You are stronger, a reminder, Lord, that death could not even hold You. Through Your mighty and awesome strength, Your outstretched arm, You have rescued us and redeemed us from the power of death and the power of sin to make us living in You, new creations. All the old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. God, help us to have that firmly fixed in our minds as Your people, as those who are going to fulfill the commission this week to go into all the world.

To declare Your good name and the gospel, Lord, help us to have it firmly fixed in our minds that we have been rescued and redeemed by the One who is stronger than death. Nothing can keep You down; nothing can hold You back. As we looked at in the Scriptures just a week or two ago, You are the One who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens.

So, God, we pray that You would work in our lives, opening our minds, our ears, and our hearts, that we would receive from You today from Your Word, which is living and powerful. If there is a needed rebuke or correction today, that You would correct our way of thinking, and that our way of thinking would change the way that we live and glorify You.

We dedicate this time to You this morning and ask for You, by Your Spirit, to guide us through the Scriptures and instruct us in this topic of giving thanks as we prepare for a holiday here in our own nation, Thanksgiving. Lord, remind us of who You are and how great You are. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agree said, "Amen." You can be seated.

As I was looking over the schedule for teaching here as we close out the year 2014, I knew that we would be covering the seven churches of Revelation and that we would end on the date that we did last week. Then, looking at the rest of the year and thinking about Thanksgiving coming up and Christmas approaching, I wanted to take this week and next to begin to focus on this topic of Thanksgiving to promote a theology of gratitude, a theology of Thanksgiving among us.

I think it's an awesome thing that we live in a nation where there is a day set aside for National Thanksgiving, even if it gets overshadowed by turkey and football. Now, it is almost completely overshadowed by Black Friday, so much so that for a number of retail establishments, Black Friday begins on Thursday night at 8:00. People are leaving half-eaten turkey dinners, which is probably dangerous on the streets, just by the way, to go to some store to get ready for some good deal that is like the most important deal to spend money they don't have to buy things that they don't need for people they don't really need to impress.

We are moving into that time of year, and it's so easy to get distracted. I thought it would be good, at least for me, and I hope for you as well, to reset our focus and our minds on the idea of Thanksgiving. This concept is exceedingly important for Christians. The reality is that a national holiday dedicated to giving thanks acknowledges the fact that there is a God.

If there is no personal, loving, benevolent God, there is no need for a holiday like Thanksgiving. The fact that our culture promotes this idea, even if many people do not have a good understanding of it, is a recognition that there is someone to whom we are giving thanks. If there is no God, if there is no one who gives every good and perfect gift, there is no need for a national day of giving thanks. To whom are you giving thanks?

I recognize that there are some people in our culture, and maybe some in your own sphere of influence—family members, friends—who say they are agnostic or atheistic. They do not believe that there is a God, yet they celebrate Thanksgiving. They are just being thankful because it is good to be thankful for whatever they have. But to whom are you being thankful? Who are you acknowledging in your giving of thanks? The universe? That is misguided.

I am here to tell you this morning that it is misguided because the universe did not just manufacture gifts and pour them out to you. The Bible declares that every good and perfect gift comes from God. Amen. It all comes from Him. When we set aside time to give thanks, we are acknowledging that He is and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. It is good to do that.

We are going to take this week and next to look at a theology of gratitude. I find it interesting that there have been a number of both religious and secular studies done on the idea of gratitude and giving thanks. They have found that happiness is rooted in gratitude. Many people think it is the other way around—that gratitude is rooted in happiness. They believe that you are happy, something good happens, and then you are thankful.

However, when you peel back the layers and begin to look at how we work, how God actually created us, our satisfaction, joy, and happiness are actually rooted in our gratitude. The happiest people in the world are the most thankful people, not because happiness came first.

First, gratitude seems to be the thing that produces, to a greater extent, joy and happiness. This is one of the reasons why I believe it is commanded in the Scriptures that God’s people be grateful and that they be thankful. God deserves our thanks and gratitude; He is worthy of that kind of praise and rejoicing in Him for the things He has given to us. However, He commands you and me to be thankful because He also desires that the height of our joy would increase through our giving of thanks. As His glory increases through our gratitude, our joy increases as well.

I talked about this a few years ago in a series called "The Key to Unlocking Joy," and it is connected to that. A theology of gratitude is very important for the people of God. Since I assume that most of you gathered here today believe that there is a God and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, as Hebrews chapter 11 makes clear, we should be those who are the most thankful—not just on one day a year.

It is good to express gratitude on Thanksgiving, the last Thursday in November, but if you are a believer today, you should be compelled by the knowledge that there is a God who rewards those who diligently seek Him to give thanks constantly and consistently throughout your life.

I am approaching this text in Colossians, as well as the one we will look at next week in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, with that mindset. I would like, in my own life and in the lives of this church, to heighten our gratitude because I believe that elevating our gratitude will also elevate our joy. This is the time of year when we should experience some joy. I love this time of year; it just makes me happy. I assume that for most of you, that is probably the case as well.

I realize some people don’t like the holidays, but I am one of those people who absolutely loves them. When you go to Costco and see the aisles filled with Christmas items, some people may be bothered by that, but I think it is wonderful. I love it! This should be a time when our joy is heightened, and I believe our joy is connected to our gratitude. So, here in Colossians chapter 2, we will explore this further.

The author of this letter is the Apostle Paul, and he is writing to a church that he had never visited before. He is addressing a group of people with whom he had not had the opportunity to gather, worship, or break bread together. However, it is likely that this church started in some way through the fruit of his ministry. The church that existed in the city of Colossae, which we discussed in our study last week as we were finishing the series in Revelation, is just ten miles to the east of the city of Laodicea. Laodicea was the last of the churches that Jesus writes to in Revelation chapter 3.

Paul actually mentions the city of Laodicea twice in this letter to the Colossians. He instructs them to take the letter to the Laodiceans and read it there, as the things written in it will encourage them and serve as an exhortation to them as well. This should clue us into the fact that even though we live 2,000 years later, the things written in this letter, although targeted for the people in Colossae, are also applicable to the people in Laodicea and to us today. God is speaking to us, and His message is relevant to our lives.

Today, we will look into the text and see how it speaks to us in the 21st century. Although we have medical, technological, and scientific advancements, we are not all that far removed philosophically from the people who lived in Colossae 2,000 years ago. God wants to speak to us about the concept of gratitude, which He reveals as very important in this text.

When Paul writes this letter, he is nearing the end of his life and is a grateful person. He speaks a lot about being grateful and giving thanks. Yet, the conditions under which Paul is living at this moment seem to be the kind of things that do not promote thanksgiving. At the time of writing, he is in prison in the city of Rome, facing the day of his execution for crimes he did not commit. He has done nothing wrong other than be a bold witness for Jesus, which upset some people in his day and will upset some people in our day as well.

Despite being in prison, Paul writes letters to the Colossians, the Philippians, the Ephesians, and various other gatherings of Christians. In many of these letters, he encourages them to give thanks and demonstrates how, in spite of his circumstances, he remains grateful.

He seems to have joy and happiness in the midst of his circumstances. You can see that his joy and gratitude were not dependent on his situation, which is really encouraging to me. In our nature, in our flesh, and just our natural sinful tendencies, our gratitude is severely dependent on our circumstances, isn't it?

But Paul says there is a higher level that we can live in Christ, a different plane on which we can exist in Jesus. He writes to this gathering of Christians in the city of Colossae, and he says to them in verse five of Colossians 2: "For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am present with you in spirit." This was a common idiom 2,000 years ago, just as it is today. If you're writing to someone, you might say, "I'm not able to be with you in person, but I'm with you in heart, I'm with you in spirit."

Sometimes people will say about a deceased loved one, "I know they're not with me here physically, but they're here with me spiritually." Theologically speaking, that's not exactly something you can support scripturally, but we understand the sentiment behind the expression. It's interesting for the Apostle Paul to address this church in Colossae because this was a group of people he had never visited before. He didn't plant the church personally, and he had never been to their city. However, he had heard about them and the things that were going on there among those Christians.

He says, "I'm not with you in the flesh, but I'm with you in spirit, and I've heard some great things." Look at the next thing he says in verse five: "I am rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ." He is rejoicing because he has received news about them.

Now, chapter 1 of Colossians tells us that Paul received news about the Christians in Colossae, and ever since the day he received that news, he has been grateful and thankful. Turn to Colossians chapter 1; it's just one chapter to the left. Look at verse three. Paul says to this church, to the saints that lived there—this is just an expression of the church. If you're a Christian today, you're a saint. So, to the saints, to those who are faithful brethren, it says in verse two, "We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord."

Jesus Christ is praying always for you. We are giving thanks to God for you. It's very similar to what he says in chapter 2, verse 5. We rejoice because we've heard some things about you. He says, "I'm giving thanks to God because of you and praying always for you since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints because of the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven."

He comments on three things that were identified in the Christians who lived in Colossae as he heard the news about them. He hears that they have these three essential and important aspects of Christian living: they had faith, they had hope, and they had love. These things are attached to those who are Christians, believers in Jesus, throughout the New Testament. They have faith, they have hope, and that overflows into love for other people.

Paul speaks about the importance of faith, hope, and love in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13. He says the greatest of these is love. You see, the overflow of my faith in Jesus and my hope in the future resurrection, because of my faith in Jesus, should result in a display of love in this world. My faith in Jesus and the hope that I have of the resurrection of Jesus and rising to be with Him forever is set in stone. But how does that affect my life here and now? It should overflow in love.

The most important characteristic for this world to see in the life of the Christian, the follower of Jesus, is not their solid faith or their steadfast hope, although those things are important, but their love. It needs to be expressed in the way that they live. This is exactly what Jesus said in the Gospel of John. If you're a Christian today, Jesus says, "And they, the world, will know that you are my followers, my disciples, by the love that you have one for another." That's the defining thing that should be seen in our lives.

That's why, when Paul the Apostle, in his letter to the church in Galatia, talks about the evidence of God in our lives, which he calls the fruit of the Spirit, he says the fruit of the Spirit is, firstly, love. The evidence that God is in you and in me, if He is in you today, is going to be that expression of love. It's the overflow of our faith in Jesus and the hope that He gives us and how that comes out in this world. The world needs to see that.

So Paul says to the Christians who lived there in Colossae, "We have not ceased to give thanks for you since..."

We heard the news about you: that you have faith, hope, and love. These qualities are being expressed through you in the region of Asia Minor. Your love for all the saints is because of the hope that is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word, the truth of the Gospel.

In Colossians 1:6, it states that the Gospel has come to you, even though Paul was not the one who brought it to them or planted the church. He emphasizes that the Gospel came to you as it has also in all the world. This is in fulfillment of the commission of Jesus to go into all the world and make disciples. The Gospel came to you, and it is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day that you heard it. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. You knew the grace of God in truth.

Now, notice verse 7, as you also learned from Epaphras. Underline the name Epaphras. We will be teaching through the book of Colossians in the New Year, around the middle part of next year, so this serves as a prequel to Colossians. Paul mentions that you heard the Gospel from this man, Epaphras. He was apparently the church planter, and Paul knew him. Perhaps he was connected as a disciple of Paul's ministry when Paul was ministering in the city of Ephesus, as described in Acts chapter 19, the history book of the Bible.

Paul says that we heard about your faith through our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ. He is a servant of Jesus on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. In Colossians chapter 2, verse 5, Paul states that we have been rejoicing, praising God, and giving thanks. This is all built into the word "rejoicing." We have been rejoicing to see or to hear about your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

Paul expresses that he rejoices in God because of the testimony about you, which we received from Epaphras, who is the one that apparently brought the Gospel to the Christians there. The result of the Gospel going to them is fruit, and the fruit is love in the Spirit. Paul emphasizes that we rejoice in that. He rejoices in two newsworthy things that he speaks of in Colossians 2:5. There are two things that were present in the Christians in Colossae that Paul says are newsworthy. Notice it.

Colossians 2:5 states, "For though I am absent in the flesh, I am with you in the spirit, rejoicing to see, number one, your good order, and number two, the steadfastness of your faith in Christ." The two things that were newsworthy were their good conduct and their strong faith.

Now, understand that your strong faith will be represented in your life by your good conduct. In a little book in the New Testament called The Book of James, which was written by James, it is stated that faith without works is dead. Your strong faith will be evidenced by your good conduct. If there is no good conduct, if there is no expression of your faith, then how do we know whether or not you truly have faith?

In Paul's letter to the church at Rome, the longest letter that he wrote in the New Testament, he addresses a group of Christians he had never visited before. In Romans 1:8, he writes, "Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world." You have newsworthy faith.

I suggest to you that the only way our faith becomes noticeable is through action. Many people think of faith as something private, something we keep in our hearts or minds, and that no one else sees. However, the only way for your faith to become noticeable to the point that people start talking about it—so Paul could say to the Romans, "Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world"—is that your faith becomes active. The outflow of our faith in Jesus should be good conduct.

For the Romans, this was the case. Paul says, "I'm hearing about your faith throughout all the Christian world; everybody's talking about you there in Rome." To the Colossians, he says the same thing: "Listen, I've heard about your steadfastness of faith. You have strong faith, and it is evidenced in your good conduct." He states that this is newsworthy, and I believe that we should endeavor to have newsworthy faith. This newsworthy faith should be evidenced in the way that we live.

Should be seen. Point number one on your outlines: be newsworthy in faith and faithfulness. I think that there are some Christians today who have a hard time with that idea of being newsworthy in their faith and their faithfulness because of a misinterpretation and what I think is not the best teaching on the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.

In Matthew 6, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus cautions his disciples, and we should all take notice of the cautions of Jesus in the Scriptures. He says to his disciples, "Don't be like the Pharisees," who were a group of hyper-religious people in Judaism in the first century. He describes what they are like, saying that when they fast, they make their faces look all sad, proclaiming, "Oh, I'm fasting," so that they can get the praise of men. Jesus says they have their reward.

Then he says, "When you pray, don't be like the hyper-religious who love to pray out in the street corners with loud prayers. They pray with big, eloquent words and very long prayers so that they may be seen by men." He emphasizes that they have their reward. Instead, he instructs us to pray in secret before our Father, who sees in secret. How many of you remember that passage?

Then he continues, "When you do your good works, don't do it like the Pharisees, who would have a herald go before them, announcing, 'Look at what Bob is doing!' If your name is Bob, I'm not picking on you. Look at what he is doing; he is giving to the poor." Jesus says, "Don't do that. Do your good works before your Father, who sees in secret, so He may reward you openly."

Here’s the problem: some Christians have taken that to mean that nobody should ever say anything good about my good conduct because then I've lost my reward in heaven. That is such a bad teaching and a bad interpretation of that passage. What Jesus is saying there is that if your motivation is to receive the praise of men, that's the problem. If you're doing this merely to get people to sound your name, you have an issue. It's a motivational issue.

What we see here in Romans and also in Colossians is we...

We should have newsworthy faith and newsworthy conduct. People should be sounding off about that church in Escondido or those believers in North County. Look at how faithful they are to Jesus through the things that they do. Look at the expression of love in their lives. We should want our faith to be well spoken of in the world.

I think this may be connected to the work of the enemy, who has seduced us into a mindset that thinks we can't ever let anybody know what we're doing. We often hear, "Don't let the right hand know what the left hand is doing." But listen, people should see our expression of faith to the glory of God. Jesus says, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven." He wants your good works to be seen by this world. He does not want James Bond Christians or covert Christianity. It needs to be lived out loud.

So, I am going to tell you Christians to come out of the closet as Christians. You know what? It is less politically correct in 21st-century America to do that than to come out as a homosexual. That's pretty startling how quickly things change. It is less politically correct to be an overt, open Christian than to be an overt, open person practicing sin. Striking, isn't it?

We should be newsworthy in our faith and our faithfulness. Again, you're in Colossians, so turn just one book to the left to the book of Philippians. Philippians chapter 1 was written around the same time that Paul wrote this letter to the Colossians. Paul was in prison, and the Philippian church, which he planted, was near to his heart. They loved Paul, and Paul loved them. His love for them is seen in this book.

He says to those who lived in Philippi in Philippians 1:27, "Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ." He says, "Christian, conduct yourself in a way that your conduct is worthy of the gospel of Christ." Another way to read that is that your life represents the gospel well. That's what it means to walk worthy of the gospel of Christ. So, let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come to you or am absent...

Whether I'm with you in the flesh or only with you in the spirit, I'm not there. This is the same sort of idea as in Colossians chapter 2. Whether I'm with you or not, I may hear of your affairs, your good work, and that you stand fast in one spirit, striving together for the faith of the Gospel. You are working hand in hand for the Gospel and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you, salvation, and that from God.

So, Paul says to the Philippian Christians to live in such a way that you represent the Gospel well, so that it is newsworthy. If I'm hearing about it, I want you to live in such a way that I hear how strong of a Christian you are. This week, I was at a table at a banquet with a group of people, and I met a guy across the table who works with a ministry here in San Diego. I know a guy who's connected with that ministry, so I said, "Hey, do you know so-and-so?" He responded, "Oh yeah, I know that guy," and he just started gushing about how strong in the faith this guy is. He loves the Lord, serves the Lord, and has integrity on a college campus here in San Diego County. He said that is not something you normally see in a young man, and he went on and on about the steadfastness of this guy's faith.

I thought to myself, that's how it should be. When I meet a mutual friend of yours or you meet a mutual friend of mine, and you say, "Oh, do you know so-and-so?" and they respond, "I know that guy," they should start talking about how strong he is in his faith and his faithfulness. That is the way it should be. Notice the integrity in this: whether I'm with you or absent, I may hear about your steadfastness of faith.

Paul says you don't need apostolic oversight to live out your faith. You don't need another Christian standing right next to you constantly to make sure you'll do the right thing. For example, when the person at the cash register gives you too much change, the right thing to do would be to say, "Hey, you gave me too much change." I've had that happen. I actually went back to a place one time to make sure, "Hey, you know what? I was here about a week ago."

I remember you gave me too much change back, and I wanted to make sure you got it back. He looked at me and said, "Are you serious?" He gave me the strangest look. I wanted to make it right, and as I was leaving, I heard him talking to his friend who works there, saying, "That guy just came and gave me the change back. Why would he do that?" That should be the way we live our lives.

I'm not saying that so you go, "Wow, that's great integrity, Pastor." No, I'm not saying that. That's the way we should live; that's how we ought to be. So, be newsworthy in your faith and your faithfulness and the great integrity in that.

He says to the Christians there in Colossae, "I am rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith." Your good conduct and your strong faith that you have in Christ—your faith in Jesus is not private; it should be evident in the way that we live. I'm going to make the case, as we move through this, that one of the things that should be evident is primarily Thanksgiving.

In verse six, he says to them, "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." I want to unpack this verse a little bit because, although there are not a lot of words in verse six, there is a lot of meaning in it. There are many deep things that speak to us in applicable ways.

Notice first that he says, "As you have received." The tense could not be more clear. You don't need to study the original language to get the idea that this is something they took possession of in the past. "As you have received" indicates an action that took place in the past. You took possession of something that wasn't yours, but then, on that day in the past, it became yours.

He says, "As you have received Him," and I think even in these words is a challenge to us to just ask the question: Have you received Him? He is talking about Jesus; he is pointing in that direction. So the question comes to us: Have you received Him?

If you're a Christian today, if you're a follower of Jesus, you should be able to point back to a time—even if it's not a specific date, time, and location—some period in your life where there was a turning point. There was something that happened, and you can say, "I took possession of Him; He became mine at that moment."

Some of you today can point back to a location, a time, and a place exactly. You can say, "It was on this date at this time that I was born again," and I was in this person's living room or I was on...

That day at Jack Murphy Stadium, I remember Greg Lory was up front. I was driving in my car, listening to the radio, and I happened to scan the stations. All of a sudden, it came up on K-Wave, and I was listening to something on the radio. I remember that day as a turning point in my life.

For some of you, that may not be the case, but for me, I don't remember the specifics. I had the privilege of growing up in a home where we went to church. My earliest memories were spent going to church, so I don't have a definite period of time. However, I do know that being raised in the Lord, there were certain turning points. I think every Christian should have that awareness to be able to point back and say, "There was a turning point at that time."

So, the question comes to us: Have you received the Lord in the past? Was there an action in the past where you took possession of Him? Let me illustrate it this way: How many of you have bought a new car from a dealer? Lift up your hand if you have. Isn't that a wonderful experience? It is such a joyful occasion. If you're a car dealer today, God bless you!

If you've had that experience, you know you're in the market for a new car. You start watching advertisements and go down to the auto park in Escondido. Walking around those places can be a bit scary, but they are doing a better job of making it less intimidating. You may have decided you want an SUV or a midsize vehicle; you have an idea of what you want.

Finally, you zero in on a make and model. You go and test drive it, and you think, "Yes, this is the one." Then you decide on the color and features you want. Now you're sitting down in the office, going through the negotiation phase, which could take a while. You might even order a pizza because it’s going to take some time.

Eventually, you reach the point where you've made the decision, and now you're just filling out paperwork, signing over your life. Everything is finally taken care of, and you go through all the different departments along the way. Registration is done, and then, all of a sudden, they hand you the keys. Boom! You take possession of the keys, and now you get into the vehicle. You turn on the car, and as you're leaving the parking lot, you have now taken possession of the vehicle.

Now, I'd say it's yours, but technically, it may not really be yours yet. However, you have received the car. Prior to that, when you were just signing the paperwork, it was yours on paper, but you had not taken possession of it yet.

Once you get in that car, you drive it a lot. You have received the car. Now, that illustration breaks down because what we're talking about here is that you're not buying anything. Receiving Christ Jesus the Lord has nothing to do with you paying for anything; you didn't buy it. It has nothing to do with you meriting it either. You didn't get it because of something you did. It's merely by grace, as we see as we go through this passage.

This idea of having received it implies a gift. It implies that He has given it to you. But notice also, if you caught it when I said "as you have received," I skipped the word "therefore." He says, "as you therefore have received," and that word "therefore" changes this whole idea of having received Christ Jesus the Lord because it implies a responsibility.

You could read it technically as "because you have received Christ Jesus the Lord." So, it's perfectly fine to take "as you therefore have received Christ Jesus" to mean that, as a Christian, you have in the past received and taken possession of Christ Jesus the Lord. You have a responsibility, and the responsibility He mentions here, which we'll get to in a moment, is to walk in Him.

Let me go back to our previous illustration. Imagine that you didn't go to the car dealer, but one day you're sitting in your living room and you hear a knock at your door. You go to the door, and there's someone standing there. Maybe it's a friend, maybe it's a family member, or maybe it's just a stranger. They say, "Listen, I have something for you." You ask, "What do you have for me?" They hand you some keys. You say, "What's this?" They reply, "Come outside; I want to show it to you."

You walk outside, and in your driveway is a Tesla Model S. Now, some of you might think, "Well, I don't want one of those; I want a Ferrari or something." But for me, I wouldn't mind a Tesla Model S. You walk outside, and there it is—a cool car, an electric vehicle with lots of horsepower that can go a long distance. It's a cool car, and it's yours. They give you the keys; it's in your driveway. It's yours, and you've taken possession—no strings attached, a gift to you.

Now, because you have received the Tesla Model S, you should drive it, right? You wouldn't just leave it there.

There and just kind of like, "Yeah, I got it." I don't know what to do with it. I got it. To go on driving your 2001 Ford Escort would be stupid because you have received the Tesla Model S, so drive it. That's your proper response, but it's also your responsibility. The Gift Giver might say, "What's wrong with you? Do you take for granted the gift that I have given to you?"

You see the connection there. The same thing applies here. If you're a Christian today, you have received in the past Christ Jesus the Lord. Here’s your proper response and your responsibility to Him who has given this gift. As you therefore have received, what is it that we have received? He says you have received Christ Jesus the Lord.

There’s so much in that phrase "Christ Jesus the Lord" that we have to start breaking it down. So, we'll start with Christ Jesus. If you're a Christian today, you have received a gift, and the gift is a person, which might seem odd to you because you can't buy people. You shouldn't buy people. eBay says it's against the law in their policy to sell people on eBay. Praise God, I'm glad to hear that!

So, you have received a person as a gift. Now, there are some people who think that they are a gift. Jesus actually is a gift because He is Jesus Christ. Now, what does that mean? Well, that word "Christos" means the Anointed One. It could rightly be translated as the Savior. It points back to the Old Testament to a Hebrew word, the Messiah.

In the Old Testament, there are multitudes of prophecies surrounding this one who is the Messiah. There are a number of things in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and other Old Testament passages that are spoken about the Messiah. The Messiah brings with Him salvation, peace, forgiveness, justice, righteousness, joy, wisdom, might, counsel, understanding, and knowledge. All of those things describe the Messiah in the Old Testament prophetically. Salvation, justice, wisdom, might, counsel, understanding, and many other things describe the Messiah.

The Testament means that when you, as a Christian, took possession of Christ Jesus, all of that is yours. Salvation, peace, wisdom, joy, counsel, understanding, and so many other things are yours in Jesus. I don't know a person alive who doesn't want those kinds of things: peace, wisdom, joy, and eternity. As you have received Christ Jesus, you have received all of that in the person of Jesus.

However, not only does He say, "As you have received Christ Jesus," but He also says, "You have received Christ Jesus the Lord." This introduces a difficult problem for some Americans because the idea of "Lord" is clear; the word simply means master or ruler. We are cultured in America to say there is no one ruling over me. We are a nation built on some of our founding principles of individual independence, and the mindset that no one is over me is how we rule our lives.

As a result, some Christians in America have a hard time with the concept of Jesus as Lord, ruler, master, and king over our lives to whom we are going to subject ourselves and submit ourselves. There is a way in which, to the American mind, some Evangelical Christians have somewhat altered the way they present the gospel. They make it seem that you can receive Christ Jesus but not necessarily sign on the dotted line for Lord Jesus.

People may say, "I'm going to take reception of Christ as Savior, Messiah, and all these things that are within Him, but I'm going to kind of wait and see how this whole thing goes." It becomes a sort of lease-to-own arrangement to see if they are ready to embrace the whole Lordship of Jesus.

There is a way in which the gospel has been presented to culturally American people in a skewed way, creating a bifurcation, a separation, or a division between Jesus the Christ, the Savior, and Jesus the Lord. Some people will honestly say, "Well, I'm not really ready to submit to the lordship of Jesus." There is a problem with that, a theological problem, even if there may not be a problem in their minds.

Culturally, for Americans, there is a problem theologically with the way of thinking and presenting the gospel. I'm here to tell you today that yes, you should desire the lordship of Jesus. Why? Well, the great 20th-century philosopher Bob Dylan was right: you got to serve somebody. The chorus says, "You may serve the devil, you may serve the Lord, but you're going to serve somebody." How many of you remember that song? If you're in a certain age group, you might remember it. I had to actually go on YouTube and listen to it yesterday because I just knew the lyric, but I had never heard the song "You're Going to Serve Somebody."

The reality is that whether you're an American with individual independence as the underpinning of your philosophy, you're going to serve somebody. Because you should, you're going to serve someone. I say yes, you should desire the lordship of Christ. Why? Because the Lord alone is described as the master who is merciful, gracious, patient, abundant in goodness, and forgiving of iniquity, transgression, and sin, among many other things in the Scriptures. He is the only Lord described in those ways, while every other lord is a harsh taskmaster.

Every other thing that you could submit yourself to in this world is a harsh taskmaster. Paul speaks in these terms in the New Testament, in the Book of Romans, where he says, "To whom you submit yourself as a slave to obey, you are that one’s slave whom you obey." So, you're going to serve somebody, and you're going to be the slave of something. For most people in the world, they are the slaves of sin, and sin is a harsh taskmaster that only brings about death.

When we talk about the lordship of Christ, you should want the lordship of Christ because He is gracious, patient, abundant in goodness, and ready to forgive. He alone is a Lord like that. That's the kind of Lord you want to be submitted to, to have rule over your life.

Now, one final thing on why you should want the Lord Jesus is that you cannot have Savior Jesus without Lord Jesus. You cannot have one without the other. So, point number two on your outline: receive Him all or nothing. You cannot receive the Savior.

Jesus, and not just the Lord Jesus, acts 2:36. On the great birthday of the church, the Apostle Peter stands up and says to the Jews he was speaking to, "This Jesus whom you crucified, God the Father has made Him both Lord and Christ." He is Lord and Christ; there is no division between those two essential aspects of His nature. He is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all. We receive Him all or nothing.

Paul says, "I rejoice because you there in Colossae have received the Lord Jesus Christ." Because you have received the Lord Jesus Christ, the response and the responsibility is simple: so walk in Him. This is the proper response and the right responsibility—to walk in Him. But what does it look like practically? Well, he describes it in verse 7: "So walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving."

Paul gives five things about what it looks like to be walking in Jesus. It's point number three on your outline, letters A through E. The first one is: A) be rooted in Him, B) be built up in Him, C) be established in the faith, D) abound in the faith, and E) do all with thanksgiving.

So quickly, I'll break some of these things down. Be rooted in Him, and we instantly have a picture—a picture of a plant or a tree. It's planted in the ground, in the dirt, and as it's there in the dirt, there's more of that tree than meets the eye. Above the surface is just a small part of it; down below the surface are these roots that go down into the dirt. Those roots in the dirt make it possible for the tree to stand. Without the roots, there's no support. Without the dirt around the roots, there's no support, no nutrients, and no water.

Life is like a tree that gets its stability from the ground it is planted in. This picture of being rooted in God is seen throughout both the Old Testament and the New Testament. In Psalm 92:13, the psalmist says, "Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of God." Paul, in Ephesians chapter 3, describes those who are rooted in love, and since God is love, being rooted in Him means that those who are rooted in Him will comprehend the width, the length, the height, and the depth of the love of God. They will be filled with all knowledge and everything that comes from God.

To be rooted in Him is the place you want to be if you're a Christian because you get your sustenance and stability from being rooted in Him. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law, he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in season. His leaf does not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper (Psalm 1).

Being rooted in Him conveys a picture of steadfastness. You are not going to be rooted anywhere else; you will not be uprooted. You are stuck in Him. He is the only source, the only supply, and your only ability. Being rooted in Him is one of the outgrowths of walking in Him. You are to be stuck in Him alone and grow where you are planted.

Next, he says to be built up in Him. This changes the picture to that of a building or house being constructed. The idea of being built up in Him is to have Him as the bedrock, the foundation. Every structure needs a strong, enduring, and steadfast foundation. If you are a Christian and you are going to walk in Him, then Jesus needs to be your foundation.

Jesus talks about this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 7. He says that he who hears His sayings and does them shall be like a house built upon the rock. When the storm came, the rains fell, and the floods rose, they blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall because...

It was founded on the Rock. If you're going to be walking in Him, your life, the superstructure of all that you are, needs to be built upon Jesus, laying a good, strong foundation. In 1 Corinthians 3:11, Paul says there is no other foundation; He is the only foundation. He goes on to say that you need to be established in the faith. Those who are rooted in Jesus and built up in Jesus will ultimately be established in their faith. They will be steadfast and strong in their confidence in the Lord because they only have one foundation and are only sustained and supplied from one ground. Therefore, their confidence in the Lord is sure and steadfast as well.

Paul encourages us to be steadfast. In 1 Corinthians 15, he talks about being steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. We need to be those who are established in our confidence and trust in Jesus. The only way for that to happen is if you build only on one foundation and dig deep into only one ground. So, be built up and then abound in faith. Abound in your confidence, your trust, and your steadfastness in Jesus.

Jesus said in John 10, "I have come to give life and that more abundantly." I don't know a person alive who doesn't want a life more abundantly. That life more abundantly is found in being rooted in Him, built up in Him, and established in your confidence and trust in Him. Then you begin to abound in the faith.

Lastly, Paul mentions Thanksgiving. I believe Thanksgiving is the ultimate essential outcome of this whole process. The ultimate outcome of walking in Him, being rooted in Him, being built up in Him, and abounding in the faith is the giving of thanks. The word Thanksgiving here is the Greek word "eucharistia." Some of you come from a more traditional faith background in Christianity, a more liturgical Christianity, and so you've heard this word before: Eucharist. How many of you know that word? Have you heard that word, Eucharist? It speaks of the Lord's Supper. If you come from a more liturgical tradition of Christianity, partaking of the bread and the cup, the Eucharist, is significant. This word "Eucharist" is connected to the idea of giving thanks, eucharistia, because in 1 Corinthians 11:24, when Paul is recounting the story of the Eucharist, he emphasizes this connection.

Of the Lord's Supper, Jesus says, "On the night that he was betrayed, he took bread and he gave thanks." He gave thanks, or eucharistia, and he broke it. He gave it to his disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me." It is in that giving of thanks that his body was broken and his blood was shed for us. This is where the word is connected to the Eucharist.

He says we need to be those Christians who are giving thanks. If you are rooted in him, built up in him, established in the faith, and abounding in the faith, then the characteristic that will dominate your life is Eucharist, or Thanksgiving. The thing that people will see on the outside is how can someone know if you are rooted, built up, established, and abounding in him? The overflow will be Thanksgiving. If it is not in your life, then we do not have a right concept of our salvation. We do not have a right understanding of what we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. If the expression of our lives is not gratitude, that should be a dominating characteristic in our lives.

Next week, we will look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, which points to the reality that our greatest measure of satisfaction is going to be found in this kind of gratitude. That is why God says we need to do it. The fact is, we need to give thanks, and the fastest way for us to give thanks is to remember, to think on, and to ponder the things that God has done. Ponder anew what the Almighty can do. What is that? It is remembering what he has done in the past and considering who he is.

Being rooted in him, being built up in him, and being established in my confidence and trust in him, what do I have? I have all this stuff: I have salvation, I have forgiveness, I have redemption, I have mercy given to me, and I have wisdom, knowledge, and understanding—all these things poured out onto me through the Lord Jesus Christ. All of this is my possession. How could I not be thankful?

Thanksgiving as a holiday is absolutely great. I say yes and amen; we should have a Thanksgiving holiday. However, it is only right that we, who have an understanding of reality because God has opened our minds through the truth revealed in the Bible, recognize the importance of gratitude in our lives.

Scripture teaches that we who have an understanding of reality should be the most grateful, gratitude-filled people in the world. It should be evident in our lives. My exhortation to you today is to be thankful.

You might say, "Well, I didn't have a very good morning. I have nothing to be thankful about." Really? Maybe you need a timeout. One of the things we've been doing with our kids is taking a moment to reset. I do this with my daughter, Evangeline, all the time. Evangeline is the most wonderful little girl around, but she has two poles: the world is all good, or she feels like she has to do everything by herself and gets mad. When she gets mad, she can't do anything.

So, I pull her aside and say, "Evangeline, take a deep breath." It's amazing; she's almost three, but every time I say, "Take a deep breath," she could be in absolute hysterics, and she will stop. I tell her again, "Evangeline, take another deep breath," and it's like a reset. It just came to me one day when she was having a fit, and I said, "Evangeline, take a deep breath." She looked at me like I was speaking Martian, but she did it with me, and it worked.

Listen, if you're grumpy today and think you have nothing to be thankful for, take a deep breath and remember that God gave you that deep breath. We should be the most gratitude-filled people on the planet, which means we should also be happy because gratitude and happiness are connected. We're going to see that next week.

I think it's really important, even though we're taking just a couple of weeks to reset our minds on a theology of Thanksgiving, to remember this. I, like you, have been a little distracted from gratitude. Would you stand with me as we ask the Lord to keep these things in mind? God, thank you. Thank you for your good word. Thank you that you are the Lord Jesus.

Christ and God, you have brought salvation, forgiveness, joy, and redemption into our lives. You have provided steadfastness and stability through your rule in our lives. God, I pray that this week you would bring to our remembrance the things that you have done in and for us.

Through this remembrance, may gratitude well up within us. I cannot manufacture it, but in recognizing these things, it becomes our response. So, God, may gratitude be the characteristic that defines our lives as we go about our day. Make us a thankful people. We ask this in Jesus' name.