Sermons
Being thankful ought to mark us a believers, but being thankful has a certain look. It is humble, prompt, and without a hint of arrogant entitlement. From this text we can see how a leper shows us this truth by centering thankfulness on the person of Christ.
Rightly understanding were your identity lies is a key factor in being a thankful believer. True thankfulness comes from rightly seeing reality, that your identity is not dependent on you.
"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His steadfast love endures forever!" This is the cry of the psalmist, and, as Pastor Todd shows from the psalm, this can be our cry if we are Christ, because He meets us in our distress.
This Psalm seems like a contradiction. At the beginning there are praises to God, at the end there is lament concerning enemies, but as Pastor Todd shows, what seems like a contradiction is perfectly in harmony. We can praise God no matter the circumstance because of who God is and what he has done.
We can do the will of God, simply given thanks in all circumstances. That truth does not mean we give thanks of all circumstances, but in all circumstances. To accomplish that call we have to have a rightly directed thankfulness.
God calls us unbroken praise. Only one man fulfills that command, and we, as his followers, join our voices with his praise. We recognize that all other praise is false and based in false hope.
Paul makes clear that since the Gospel is true and grace has appeared in the person of Jesus Christ, we have the confidence to declare truths to a world as ambassadors to God's kingdom.
As Christians living in the time after the grace of God appeared in the person of Jesus Christ, we wait in the time between grace and glory. We look back to the promises of God and forward to their final consummation, and in that waiting, we are to be disciplined followers of Jesus Christ.
Grace has appeared, and beyond the salvation it brings, grace is meant to educate us to live upright, self-controlled, and godly lives. In other words, grace should teach us to relate to ourselves, others, and God.
At Christmas God's eternal unchanging grace appears in the person of Jesus Christ. Focusing on that truth can give a Gospel and missional clarity in the midst of a difficult Christmas season.