Remember the Lord Who Blessed You

15 October 2014

Opening Prayer/Worship

Hymn: Count Your Blessings

Theme: God Our Maker

Topic: Remember the Lord Who Blessed You

Reading: Deuteronomy 8:7-18

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, ⁸a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, ⁹a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. ¹⁰You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you. ¹¹ Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. ¹²When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, ¹³and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, ¹⁴then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,¹⁵who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid waste-land with poisonous snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, ¹⁶and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. ¹⁷Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gained me this wealth.’ ¹⁸But remember the Lordyour God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today.

Introduction

The Lord our God delights in bestowing His blessings upon us; and this is not because we deserve His blessings, but for His immeasurable grace and love towards us.  Although there are times we feel the opposite; we neither feel the presence of God nor His blessings, if we take a careful look at our lives and the world around us, we will see that the Lord our maker is with us, and has blessed us.  Beginning with His most precious gift of salvation through Jesus Christ to provision of our needs and the beauty of all creation, our hearts will be filled with thanksgiving to God.  This does not mean that we have no challenges in our lives, but that amidst the trials, God our maker has blessed us beyond measure.  God knows that the cares and worries of this world can erroneously becloud His blessings in our lives, family, church and world, hence He reminds us in Scripture, to take stock once in a while and thank Him.

Questions/Discussion

1. What does giving thanks to God entail?

1 Chronicles 16:8-36

⁸ O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
   make known his deeds among the peoples.
⁹ Sing to him, sing praises to him,
   tell of all his wonderful works.
¹⁰ Glory in his holy name;
   let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
¹¹ Seek the Lord and his strength,
   seek his presence continually.
¹² Remember the wonderful works he has done,
   his miracles, and the judgements he uttered,
¹³ O offspring of his servant Israel,
   children of Jacob, his chosen ones. 

¹⁴ He is the Lord our God;
   his judgements are in all the earth.
¹⁵ Remember his covenant for ever,
   the word that he commanded for a thousand generations,
¹⁶ the covenant that he made with Abraham,
   his sworn promise to Isaac,
¹⁷ which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
   to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
¹⁸ saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan
   as your portion for an inheritance.’ 

¹⁹ When they were few in number,
   of little account, and strangers in the land,
²⁰ wandering from nation to nation,
   from one kingdom to another people,
²¹ he allowed no one to oppress them;
   he rebuked kings on their account,
²² saying, ‘Do not touch my anointed ones;
   do my prophets no harm.’ 

²³ Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
   Tell of his salvation from day to day.
²⁴ Declare his glory among the nations,
   his marvellous works among all the peoples.
²⁵ For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
   he is to be revered above all gods.
²⁶ For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
   but the Lord made the heavens.
²⁷ Honour and majesty are before him;
   strength and joy are in his place. 

²⁸ Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
   ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
²⁹ Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
   bring an offering, and come before him.
Worship the Lord in holy splendour;
³⁰   tremble before him, all the earth.
   The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
³¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,
   and let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord is king!’
³² Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
   let the field exult, and everything in it.
³³ Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy
   before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.
³⁴ O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
   for his steadfast love endures for ever. 

³⁵Say also:
‘Save us, O God of our salvation,
   and gather and rescue us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name,
   and glory in your praise.
³⁶ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
   from everlasting to everlasting.’
Then all the people said ‘Amen!’ and praised the Lord.

Psalm 65:1-13

¹ Praise is due to you,
   O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed, 
²   O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come. 
³ When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
   you forgive our transgressions. 
⁴ Happy are those whom you choose and bring near
   to live in your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
   your holy temple. 

⁵ By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
   O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
   and of the farthest seas. 
⁶ By your strength you established the mountains;
   you are girded with might. 
⁷ You silence the roaring of the seas,
   the roaring of their waves,
   the tumult of the peoples. 
⁸ Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy. 

⁹ You visit the earth and water it,
   you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
   you provide the people with grain,
   for so you have prepared it. 
¹⁰ You water its furrows abundantly,
   settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
   and blessing its growth. 
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty;
   your wagon tracks overflow with richness. 
¹² The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
   the hills gird themselves with joy, 
¹³ the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
   the valleys deck themselves with grain,
   they shout and sing together for joy.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray without ceasing, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰Do not despise the words of prophets, ²¹but test everything; hold fast to what is good; ²²abstain from every form of evil.

2. What are the lessons for us in Luke 17:11-19 regarding remembering our God who blessed us?

Luke 17:11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As he entered a village, ten lepersapproached him. Keeping their distance, ¹³they called out, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ ¹⁴When he saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were made clean. ¹⁵Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. ¹⁶He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan.¹⁷Then Jesus asked, ‘Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? ¹⁸Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ ¹⁹Then he said to him, ‘Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.’

Psalm 100:1-5

¹ Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
²   Worship the Lord with gladness;
   come into his presence with singing. 

³ Know that the Lord is God.
   It is he that made us, and we are his;
   we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
   and his courts with praise.
   Give thanks to him, bless his name. 

⁵ For the Lord is good;
   his steadfast love endures for ever,
   and his faithfulness to all generations.

3. How do we remember the Lord our God through thanksgiving?  What are the rewards?

Deuteronomy 16:9-17

You shall count seven weeks; begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. ¹⁰Then you shall keep the festival of weeks to the Lord your God, contributing a freewill-offering in proportion to the blessing that you have received from the Lord your God. ¹¹Rejoice before the Lord your God—you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, the Levites resident in your towns, as well as the strangers, the orphans, and the widows who are among you—at the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. ¹²Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and diligently observe these statutes. ¹³ You shall keep the festival of booths for seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing-floor and your wine press.¹⁴Rejoice during your festival, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, as well as the Levites, the strangers, the orphans, and the widows resident in your towns. ¹⁵For seven days you shall keep the festival to the Lord your God at the place that the Lord will choose; for the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all your undertakings, and you shall surely celebrate. ¹⁶ Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the festival of unleavened bread, at the festival of weeks, and at the festival of booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed; ¹⁷all shall give as they are able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.

Psalm 95:1-11

¹ O come, let us sing to the Lord;
   let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
² Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
   let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
³ For the Lord is a great God,
   and a great King above all gods.
⁴ In his hand are the depths of the earth;
   the heights of the mountains are his also.
⁵ The sea is his, for he made it,
   and the dry land, which his hands have formed. 

⁶ O come, let us worship and bow down,
   let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
⁷ For he is our God,
   and we are the people of his pasture,
   and the sheep of his hand. 

O that today you would listen to his voice!
⁸   Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
   as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
⁹ when your ancestors tested me,
   and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
¹⁰ For forty years I loathed that generation
   and said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
   and they do not regard my ways.’
¹¹ Therefore in my anger I swore,
   ‘They shall not enter my rest.’

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. ⁹As it is written, ‘He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever.’ ¹⁰He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; ¹²for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. ¹³Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, ¹⁴while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you. ¹⁵Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 

Intercession/Worship

Conclusion

May we always be mindful of God’s numerous blessings upon our lives, family, church and world.

Closing Prayer (Collect for Harvest Thanksgiving)

Creator of the fruitful earth, you made us stewards of all things. Give us grateful hearts for all your goodness, and steadfast wills to use your bounty well, that the whole human family, today and in generations to come, may with us give thanks for the riches of your creation. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.