Embracing Gratitude: A Thanksgiving Reflection with Pastor Josh Massaro
This week's Word of the Week is "Thanksgiving," as Pastor Josh Massaro delves into the biblical significance of gratitude in our lives as Christians. He emphasizes that thanksgiving should not be limited to a single holiday but should be a continual practice, reflecting on who God is and what He has done for us. The podcast highlights various scriptural references that encourage believers to express their thankfulness through singing praises, serving with gladness, and acknowledging the countless blessings received from God. Pastor Josh challenges listeners to adopt an attitude of gratitude, especially during the Thanksgiving season, and to recognize that even in difficult times, we can find reasons to be thankful. Join him as he explores the transformative power of gratitude and the peace it brings through our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Exploring the theme of Thanksgiving, Pastor Josh Massaro leads a reflective and spiritually enriching episode of the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast. The episode is timely, coinciding with the Thanksgiving holiday, and serves as an invitation for listeners to delve deeper into the biblical principles surrounding gratitude. Pastor Josh begins by acknowledging the cultural significance of Thanksgiving in America, where it's common to reflect on personal blessings. However, he emphasizes that true thanksgiving is rooted not merely in blessings but in an ongoing relationship with God, who embodies goodness and mercy. Referencing Psalm 118 and Romans 5:8, he outlines the reasons Christians should cultivate a spirit of gratitude, focusing on God's unwavering character and the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Throughout the episode, Pastor Josh encourages listeners to practice gratitude as a daily discipline, not confined to the Thanksgiving holiday. He shares insights from 1 Thessalonians 5, underscoring the importance of rejoicing and giving thanks in all circumstances. This message serves as a powerful reminder that gratitude can shift our perspective, fostering a mindset that recognizes God's presence in both joyful and challenging seasons. By encouraging listeners to express their thankfulness through worship—specifically singing praises and serving with gladness—Pastor Josh paints a vivid picture of how gratitude can manifest in tangible ways in our lives.
The episode culminates in a call to action, urging listeners to reflect on God's goodness and the gifts they have received, ultimately leading to a deeper contentment and peace that surpasses understanding. Pastor Josh's heartfelt message resonates with the audience, reminding them that every good gift comes from God and that the greatest of these is the gift of salvation. As Thanksgiving approaches, listeners are left inspired to embrace a lifestyle of gratitude, recognizing it as an essential aspect of their faith journey.
Takeaways:
- The podcast emphasizes the importance of giving thanks not just on Thanksgiving, but throughout our lives as Christians.
- Pastor Josh highlights that our gratitude should stem from God’s character and His goodness.
- We should recognize and be thankful for both the blessings in our lives and the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
- The Bible encourages us to express our thankfulness through singing and serving the Lord with gladness.
- Living with an attitude of gratitude aligns us with God's will for our lives.
- The peace that comes from thanksgiving is rooted in a deep reliance on God during all circumstances.
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00:00 - None
00:14 - Introduction to the Word of the Week
03:24 - Expressing Our Gratitude
05:30 - The Gift of Salvation
07:49 - The Attitude of Gratitude
12:41 - Thanksgiving Reflections and Gratitude
Speaker A
Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.
Speaker A
In this podcast series, we're going to be looking into biblical words that have great significance to our faith.
Speaker A
The name of this series is called the Word of the Week, where once a week we will dive deeper into these words that we are familiar with in scripture.
Speaker A
So come along with me.
Speaker A
Let's study the Word of the Week.
Pastor Josh
Pastor Josh here.
Pastor Josh
The word of the Week is Thanksgiving.
Pastor Josh
I know that most of you that are listening to this podcast, if you're listening to it on the day that it comes out, are getting prepared for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Pastor Josh
And we know that here in our country, we're thankful for the opportunity to exercise our freedoms, and we're thankful for the blessings that we have in our life.
Pastor Josh
But as Christians, we are called to give thanksgiving as well, and not just one time a year, but throughout our lives.
Pastor Josh
The Bible tells us that we have many reasons to be thankful.
Pastor Josh
The Bible tells us by way of command to be thankful to the Lord for many reasons.
Pastor Josh
We know that in multiple passages of Scripture, God gives us, reasoning behind our thanksgiving.
Pastor Josh
Psalm 118, verse 29 says, O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for his mercy endureth forever.
Pastor Josh
So one of the reasons why we are called to give thanks is because of who God is.
Pastor Josh
God is perfect, he is good, he is powerful, he is loving, he is forgiving, he is merciful.
Pastor Josh
I mean, the list goes on and on about all the things that we can thank the Lord for in his goodness and his perfection and his character.
Pastor Josh
So one of the things that I would challenge you to do here as you come into the Thanksgiving season is to think about who God is and thank him for his character, thank him for his perfection, thank him for his love and his grace.
Pastor Josh
But we also know that God has demonstrated his love towards us.
Pastor Josh
Romans chapter 5, verse 8 tells us that he demonstrated his love by giving us salvation, by sending his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins.
Pastor Josh
We know that we have a reason to be thankful not only in who God is, but what he has done for us by loving us, by sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins, for allowing us to know what it means to have everlasting life, allowing us to have faith in him, allowing us to have a hope in a life that in many ways, when it comes to the world's perspective, really there is no hope for the world's perspective.
Pastor Josh
There's birth, a life, and all the struggles that come therein.
Pastor Josh
Then death, and then it's over.
Pastor Josh
But for us as Christians, we know that birth is the start physically.
Pastor Josh
But in our spiritual rebirth, as we see in John chapter three, when we are born again, that's the start to our everlasting life.
Pastor Josh
And so this life that we live on this earth is just the start of our everlasting life that we have in Jesus Christ.
Pastor Josh
So we have a reason to be thankful.
Pastor Josh
We have a reason to be thankful in the concept of who God is.
Pastor Josh
But we also have a reason to be thankful for what God has done for us.
Pastor Josh
And one of the psalms that come to mind is Psalm 100.
Pastor Josh
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands.
Pastor Josh
Serve the Lord with gladness.
Pastor Josh
Come before his presence with singing.
Pastor Josh
So the Bible says one of the ways that we can show our thankfulness to God is to make a joyful noise, sing praises to his name.
Pastor Josh
We're sometimes in church singing songs that speak of who God is and what he has done for us.
Pastor Josh
But many times we just go through the motions of singing a song, but would encourage you to think about and to meditate upon the truth that you are praising him for.
Pastor Josh
And so the Bible says, sing.
Pastor Josh
And then we see in verse number two of Psalm 100, Serve, serve the Lord with gladness.
Pastor Josh
And so the Bible says that there's a few different ways that we can show thanksgiving to the Lord.
Pastor Josh
We can.
Pastor Josh
We can sing, we can serve.
Pastor Josh
It says in verse three, know ye that the Lord, he is God, it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves.
Pastor Josh
And so it's putting it into perspective that it's not our strength, it is not our wisdom that gets us where we are.
Pastor Josh
It's the strength of God, it's the wisdom of God, it's the salvation of God.
Pastor Josh
It says, we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Pastor Josh
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.
Pastor Josh
Be thankful unto him and bless his name.
Pastor Josh
For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations.
Pastor Josh
And so we're thankful for the truth of God.
Pastor Josh
We're thankful for the salvation that he provides for us.
Pastor Josh
We're thankful for all of those wonderful, good gifts that God sends our way.
Pastor Josh
We know that In James chapter 1, verse 17 says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Pastor Josh
So every good thing that we think about in our lives comes from God.
Pastor Josh
And so we could sit here and we could say, well, you know, I'm thankful for my family.
Pastor Josh
And that gift of family is from the Lord.
Pastor Josh
Maybe you're thankful for your health.
Pastor Josh
That is a gift of God.
Pastor Josh
Maybe you're thankful for your job, maybe you're thankful for your home, maybe you're thankful for your friends.
Pastor Josh
Those are all good gifts that God gives us.
Pastor Josh
But there's the greatest gift that God gives us, and that is the gift of salvation.
Pastor Josh
And so I would encourage you to think about that perfect gift, the perfect gift of salvation and the fact that he offers us that gift of the gospel.
Pastor Josh
The fact that Jesus came, lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins, conquered death through the resurrection, and now extends that gift of grace to us.
Pastor Josh
That's an amazing, beautiful thing.
Pastor Josh
And that gift is available to all those who call upon the name of the Lord.
Pastor Josh
John 3:16.
Pastor Josh
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life over and over again.
Pastor Josh
We see in Scripture that we need to call upon the name of the lord.
Pastor Josh
Romans chapter 6, verse 23.
Pastor Josh
For the wages of sin is death.
Pastor Josh
That's what our own life brings us.
Pastor Josh
But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Pastor Josh
Romans chapter 10, verse 13.
Pastor Josh
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Pastor Josh
That's the greatest gift.
Pastor Josh
Now we that live with freedoms here in the United States, we're thankful for those freedoms that we have.
Pastor Josh
So there's a lot of reasons to be thankful.
Pastor Josh
Even with things that we have on the day to day life that we have here in our country.
Pastor Josh
Food on our table, clothes, a home, transportation, all good things.
Pastor Josh
But we must see that what James chapter one says, these are all things from God.
Pastor Josh
But the greatest gift that we should give him things for is the gift of salvation extended to all.
Pastor Josh
And so I would encourage you to think about that, I would encourage you to put that into perspective when it comes to your life.
Pastor Josh
And I would even say and challenge us here today, that the Bible actually says that we are to live in the will of God by giving thanks first.
Pastor Josh
Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses 16 through 18 says this.
Pastor Josh
Rejoice evermore.
Pastor Josh
Rejoice in everything.
Pastor Josh
That's what it's saying there.
Pastor Josh
Sometimes it's easy to rejoice in the good times.
Pastor Josh
But he says, rejoice in everything.
Pastor Josh
Pray without ceasing.
Pastor Josh
That shows us how we can rejoice, right?
Pastor Josh
Our reliance on God, a reliance on God brings us joy.
Pastor Josh
Reliance on self brings us devastation.
Pastor Josh
So he says, rejoice evermore.
Pastor Josh
Pray without ceasing.
Pastor Josh
And then verse 18 of 1st Thessalonians, chapter 5.
Pastor Josh
In everything, not necessarily for everything, but in everything, in every season of our life, give thanks.
Pastor Josh
For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Pastor Josh
So I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but if you want to live in the will of God according to Scripture, we must then live according to an attitude of gratitude, giving thanks.
Pastor Josh
He says, give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Pastor Josh
So we can have this thanksgiving in our lives.
Pastor Josh
We can have that attitude of gratitude in our lives because of our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Pastor Josh
And so it's not saying that everything's going our way, it's not saying that we're happy with all the circumstances of our life, but there is an overwhelming contentment that we can find in the truth of knowing Jesus Christ.
Pastor Josh
Philippians chapter 4, verse 6 says, Be careful or be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication.
Pastor Josh
So we see that the conduit to this perspective is that communication with God, that fellowship with God, but everything by prayer and supplication.
Pastor Josh
And then we see our word here with thanksgiving.
Pastor Josh
So the spirit of our prayers, the spirit of the communication to the Lord is the spirit of thanksgiving by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God.
Pastor Josh
Now you would say, well, that's an interesting concept.
Pastor Josh
How can we have this type of peace?
Pastor Josh
How can we have this type of hope?
Pastor Josh
Well, the type of peace and hope comes from what the next verse says, verse number seven.
Pastor Josh
It says, the peace of God which passeth all understanding.
Pastor Josh
And so when we live this life of thanksgiving, when we live this life of contentment in the Lord, we do have that sense of peace, a peace that passeth all understanding that the world cannot understand.
Pastor Josh
And so if you're looking for that peace here in this thanksgiving season, what it is, is it's a total reliance on God.
Pastor Josh
It's a total reliance on his guidance in our life and that perspective of where we were before we came to Christ and where we are now in our transformation.
Pastor Josh
So I.
Pastor Josh
I encourage you to think about that.
Pastor Josh
When it comes to that perspective of thanksgiving, it's not necessarily a circumstantial peace.
Pastor Josh
It's a peace that passes all understanding.
Pastor Josh
Paul goes on to talk about that in Philippians chapter four, about that complete contentment that he has, that no matter what might be the case in his life.
Pastor Josh
He can be content in Christ.
Pastor Josh
And over and over again in the New Testament, we see that exhortation, that challenge to give thanks, to give thanks and everything.
Pastor Josh
First Timothy, chapter two, verse one.
Pastor Josh
I exhort, therefore, that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.
Pastor Josh
So the challenge is not just to give thanks for certain things and for certain people, but as it says there, obviously, it's for all things that God allows in our life.
Pastor Josh
And so we aren't necessarily naturally inclined to be thankful for the difficult times, but sometimes those difficult moments in our life, those closed doors, that conviction can lead us to a place of contentment in Christ.
Pastor Josh
And we even know that in Second Corinthians, chapter 12, Paul mentions the idea that when we are weak in our flesh, God is made strong in his spirit.
Pastor Josh
And so we even know that in Second Corinthians, chapter nine, he says, thanks be unto God for this, for his unspeakable gift, unbelievable gift that God gives us.
Pastor Josh
And that is this gift of grace.
Pastor Josh
So I don't know what you do for your Thanksgiving holiday.
Pastor Josh
I don't know if you have any traditions within your home, but I would encourage you to take some time to recount what God has given you and ultimately meditate upon, think about, dwell upon the gift of grace.
Pastor Josh
If you're a believer in Jesus Christ today, you have that reason to be thankful and that contentment.
Pastor Josh
So give thanks.
Pastor Josh
Go back to what it said in Psalm 100, Sing unto him, sing praises to his name, serve the Lord, as it says there, with gladness, with contentment, come before his presence, with singing.
Pastor Josh
And then the idea is knowing God, knowing Him, and knowing what he has done for us.
Pastor Josh
So if you're looking for a reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving season, think about who God is in his goodness, in his character, and think about what he has done for you.
Pastor Josh
And if you think about those two things, there's obviously all the more reason to be thankful.
Pastor Josh
And I think that that's something that all of us need to be challenged with when it comes to the season, because we live in a society that is very discontent, never satisfied.
Pastor Josh
But I will tell you that in Christ, we can be satisfied.
Pastor Josh
In Christ, there is sufficiency.
Pastor Josh
In Christ there is complete contentment and peace.
Pastor Josh
As the Bible says, that passeth all understanding.
Pastor Josh
So I hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, looking forward to coming back next week and continuing our study here and our words of the week.
Pastor Josh
And I hope that you have a time this week where you can just carve out a few moments to meditate upon the goodness of God and the goodness of what he has done for you.
Pastor Josh
I'll be praying for you and your family.
Pastor Josh
I hope that you have a wonderful time this Thanksgiving season.
Pastor Josh
I pray that it's safe if you're traveling.
Pastor Josh
And I look forward to hearing from you.
Pastor Josh
You can contact us on social media, on Facebook, you can message us there or you can email me at Josh Josh massaromiddletownbaptistchurch.org and we'd love to hear how you're celebrating your Thanksgiving holiday.
Pastor Josh
And we'd love to hear your ideas about future Words of the week.
Pastor Josh
And I would love to dissect passages of scripture that maybe are interesting you here in the season of your life.
Pastor Josh
Well, we look forward to talking to you more this weekend when it comes to our Sunday morning service.
Pastor Josh
But from here on out, I hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.
Pastor Josh
God bless you.
Pastor Josh
We will talk to you soon.
Speaker A
Hey, I really appreciate that you listened to the Word of the Week podcast.
Speaker A
If you have any questions about the podcast or about our church, Middletown Baptist Church, you can find more information about us on Facebook or YouTube.
Speaker A
Or you can find the podcast on NBC.
Speaker A
Podcast podcast.org you can contact me directly at Josh Massaro at middletown baptist church.org Stay tuned for future Word of the Week episodes where we dive deeper into words that impact our life according to scripture.
Speaker A
Thank you so much.
Speaker A
God bless.
Speaker A
We'll talk to you soon.
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