A CROSS-Examination – John 19

24 11 2008
  • The greatest thing to be thankful for is the cross.
  • Worship begins at the cross.
  • Thankfulness is part of worship.
  • We must be thankful for the cross most of all.
  • Part of the way we learn to be more thankful for the cross is to think about it.
  • You can’t be very thankful for something you seldom think about.
  • You are most thankful about the things you think about the most often.

Examine who had authority at the cross

  1. God had authority over those with authority.
  2. God had authority over the choices of others.
  3. Jesus had authority over his life.

How does this cultivate thankfulness?

  • Thank God that God lead Jesus to the cross for the sins of those who repent and believe.
  • Thank God that Jesus willing gave his life for us.
  • Thank God that everyday he has just as much authority and power in our lives.
  • When Jesus’ world “fell apart” he didn’t say, “God must not be in control because if he was this wouldn’t be happening to me” and we should not either.

Examine the words that describe the events of the cross
flogged
crown of thorns
struck him
bearing his own cross
crucified
pierced his side
These words tell us…
1. that sin is a big deal.
2.What Hell must be like.

  • Hell is as the torture of the cross.
  • The cross it the clearest place in the Bible that we see sin being punished and Hell is going to be a place where sin is punished.

Some are not thankful for the cross
1. You are not thankful for the cross if you have not turn to the one who was on the cross.
2. You are not thankful for the cross if you have not turned from your sin that makes a mockery of the cross.


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Sermon Summary 11-18-07

19 11 2007

Thoughts that Hinder Thankfulness – Luke 17:11-19

I. All receive mercy, but few are thankful.

  • Jesus gives mercy to all, but only 1 acknowledges Him for it.

  • Just because a person receives mercy is no proof Jesus is pleased with them.

  • Jesus is please with those who praise Him, worship Him, and follow Him.

II. Many pray, but few are thankful.

  • Just because a persons prayer is answered is no proof Jesus is pleased with them.

  • Just because a person asks God for healing and it happens is no proof Jesus is pleased with him.

  • Jesus is pleased with those who thank him. Notice the 1 thanked him loudly.

III. An enemy of thankfulness is wrong thinking.

A lack of thankfulness is due to something. There is some reason for it.  The nine that did not return failed to return for some reason.

We are not thankful when…

1. We think we need more than what we have.

  • When we are focused on what we don’t have we cannot focus on what we do have.

2. We think all we have is because of our hard work.

  • The 9 could have went to their families and said, “We are so brilliant, we acted in a way that Jesus gave us what we wanted. Jesus must have really been pleased with us.”

  • Those that think they deserve mercy the most are the least likely to be thankful. Those that know they don’t deserve the mercy of God, are the most thankful.

3. We think what we have was mere chance.

  • “You will not believe what happened to me today.  This man who heals lepers just happened to come by at the time we were standing outside the city and he healed us.”

  • When we attribute the good that happens to use to mere chance it keeps us from being thankful.

4. We think more of the gift than the giver.

  • The 9 could have been so excited they were healed that they began to think of everything they could do now. Be with their family, go to the temple etc. They could have just gotten so carried away with the blessing of being healed that they did not come back. 

  • There are times that we are so excited about the gift God gives us that we do not give thanks to the Giver.

IV. Thinking that cultivates gratitude

1. Think about what you would be without Jesus.

  • You and I would be like the lepers. We would never enter the city of God, but would be condemned to life outside the city. We would be covered in ugly skins sores, so hideous that we hate to look in a mirror. We would hopeless.

2. Think about what Jesus has done for You.

  • Jesus has had mercy on us. He as said, go and though you were stained with the sin of lying, stealing, sexual immorality, taking God’s name in vain, and have failed a bazillion times to put God first, He washed you white as snow. Though your sins be as scarlet, he will wash them white as snow.

 

These are the two main impulses that drive the thoughts of a grateful believer.


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