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Cultivating Gratitude: A Thanksgiving Message

Pastor Eric Crawford emphasizes the importance of thankfulness in our lives during this special Tuesday Night Thanksgiving Service. He draws from Colossians chapter three, highlighting the characteristics of the new man that believers should put on, such as kindness, humility, and forgiveness. Crawford explains that cultivating a spirit of gratitude is vital not only for personal peace but also for fostering unity within the church community. He reminds listeners that being thankful is a conscious choice that must be taught and practiced, contrasting it with the natural tendency toward ungratefulness prevalent in society today. By reflecting on God’s blessings, both big and small, Pastor Crawford encourages everyone to adopt an attitude of gratitude, reinforcing that a thankful heart leads to a more fulfilling and harmonious life.

Pastor Eric Crawford’s Tuesday Night Thanksgiving Service is a profound exploration of the Christian call to gratitude, anchored in the teachings of Colossians chapter three. He articulates the necessity of ‘putting on the new man’—a concept that entails adopting virtues like mercy, kindness, and humility as fundamental aspects of daily Christian living. The pastor’s approach is both reflective and practical, urging congregants to embody these attributes not just for their personal spiritual journeys but as a means of enriching the church community. By connecting biblical teachings with personal anecdotes, Pastor Crawford illustrates how intentionality in one’s spiritual practice can lead to a more vibrant faith life.

Throughout the sermon, the pastor emphasizes that thankfulness is more than a fleeting sentiment; it is a transformative practice that cultivates peace and unity within the body of Christ. He shares how gratitude can shift perspectives, encouraging believers to see their lives through the lens of God’s blessings, even in difficult times. This message is particularly resonant as families gather for the Thanksgiving holiday, prompting attendees to reflect on the importance of recognizing and celebrating God’s goodness in their lives.

As the service concludes, Pastor Crawford leads a heartfelt prayer, inviting the congregation to embrace a lifestyle of thankfulness that transcends the holiday season. He encourages them to actively demonstrate love and forgiveness, reinforcing the idea that a grateful heart is foundational to a healthy church community. By the end of the evening, attendees leave with a renewed sense of purpose, inspired to practice gratitude as a core element of their faith, thereby fostering a spirit of unity and love within their church and beyond.

Takeaways:

  • Pastor Eric Crawford emphasizes the importance of reading the Bible as it is written, highlighting the significance of public scripture reading.
  • The characteristics of the new man in Christ include mercy, kindness, humility, and long-suffering, which believers should embody daily.
  • Being thankful is a command from the Lord, and cultivating a thankful spirit requires intentional thought and recognition of God’s blessings.
  • A thankful heart leads to unity within the church, demonstrating the impact of individual spirituality on the collective body of Christ.
  • Pastor Crawford reminds us that thankfulness does not come naturally; it must be taught and practiced consistently.
  • In a world filled with unthankfulness, Christians are called to counteract negativity by recognizing and appreciating God’s goodness.
Transcript
Pastor Eric Crawford:

I love that song. And very good job tonight, turning your wood and your Bibles to Colossians, chapter three. Let's see if I can read the Scripture better tonight.

In seminary, I had the opportunity and the privilege of having Dr. Terry Rigsby as my. The class was called speech. I think it was speech class. And several things he taught us in that class.

And one of the things he really hammered and just pushed to us men was when you're reading the Bible, read the Bible. Read every word of it. Read it right. Take your time. Don't miss a word, don't add a word.

And so that's one of the things that I've tried to do over the years and making sure that when you read the Bible publicly, that you do so as it's read. And that's why Sunday morning, I was a little frustrated, like, I don't know, I must have the Honduran flu as well. I'm kind of making fun of that.

But we do have several out. I know my dad has it, Brother Johnson has it, Brother Stone has it. So I'm glad they stayed home, aren't you?

I pray for them, but they don't spread it around us. But it is important that when you read publicly that you read the Scripture as it's written.

It doesn't mean I'm not going to mess up tonight, Brother Billy, but I'm going to try to get back to reading it. Ready? Let's look at Colossians 3:10.

And have put on the new man, which is renewed in the knowledge after the image of him that created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision, nor uncircumcision, barbarian Scythian bond, nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Colossians 3:12.

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another and forgiving one another. And if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things, put on charity.

Remember, charity is love in action, which is the bond of perfectness. Verse 15. We've used this text a lot over the years. For Thanksgiving, we'll use it again tonight. Verse 15.

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the which ye are called in one body. And be ye what thankful. Be ye thankful. And we ought to be a thankful people.

It was, I believe, Curtis Hudson who said, a thankful people is a thankful people. Really, if we do count Our blessings we have. There's no doubt we would be a thankful people. So let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for your love, your grace and your mercy. We pray tonight, Lord, that you'd be with us, lead and direct in this message.

And I do pray, Lord, again, that we would be a thankful people, Lord, as we remember how good you've been to us, Lord, help us to be thankful in Jesus name, Amen. Back in the first part of the year, this would be March and April. We covered this particular chapter on Wednesday night in the Book of Colossians.

And in this portion of Scripture, we made the point that when you get up in the morning, you make a decision and you decide what to wear physically.

I got up this morning, decided what I was going to wear, and I put on, I call it my magic pants, my dry fit, you know, dry fit, business casual dress pants. And yes, they are stretchy pants, Brother Billy, I appreciate that. But they are dry fit. I'm telling you, dry fit stuff's amazing.

I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'll move on.

But I put on my pants, you know, put on my magic pants, put on a shirt, a polo shirt, and put on some little bit nicer cohons, you know, dress shoes that look like dress shoes, but they're really tennis shoes and just, you know, dressed appropriately for work. How I think a pastor ought to at least, you know, dressed to that point.

I do come to sometimes come to work in jeans, depending on what I plan to do and if I plan to do some manual labor, or at least I attempt to do some manual labor. But we all get up in the morning, decide what we're going to wear physically.

But the point we made in the first of the year was that we also get up every morning. We decide what we put on spiritually, if we're going to put off the old man and put on the new man.

It's so important, it's vital in our Christian life that we put on the new man, that we get up in the morning and frankly, decide whether or not we're going to read our Bible, whether or not we're going to pray, whether or not we're going to allow our flesh to dictate what we're going to do, or we allow the spirit to dictate what we're going to do. And I think every morning, almost every morning, you ought to pray, Lord, help me to live in the spirit, not the flesh. Today we need his help.

We're dependent upon him because we cannot live the Christian life as God intended for us to live it on our own and in our own strength. We need the Holy Spirit. By the way, it's been given to us to strengthen us and help us to put on the new man.

As we look here at the scriptures that we just read, it describes for us what this new man looks like. As you put that new man on every day. It's important that these are the characteristics that will be prevalent in your life. What are those?

Well, bowels of mercy. It just means deep, tender. It means deeply felt. It's benevolence. Number two is kindness. So goodness towards others.

If you are putting on the new man, these are the characteristics that will be evident in your life. Kindness, gentleness. Humbleness of mind. Meekness. Those are tough ones, aren't they?

That word humbleness or meekness has to do with willing to suffer injury or insult without desiring to retaliate. Hello? Okay, I'll move on from that one. When that person cuts you off in traffic, you know, Meekness, Humbleness.

The Bible talks about Moses being meek. The Bible talks about Jesus Christ being meek. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is power under control. Power under control.

Characteristic of putting on the new man is long suffering. The definition of that is to endure injustice or difficulties is to be long tempered, which the opposite would be short.

Not to be short tempered, but long suffering. We all experience this with our children, right? To be long suffering with our children.

To be long suffering with not just our family, but to be long suffering at work and to be long suffering with our neighbor. To be long suffering at Thanksgiving, around the Thanksgiving table. And y'all know my favorite word, the next one, verse 13. It really is. I just.

When I found this one, I'm like, that's cool. Forbearing one another. It does really mean put up with each other. And the idea of that is that we put up with our family. And we're fixing.

I mean, we're. We're. I'm gonna use the Texas word fixing to be there Thursday. We're gonna sit around with our family.

And honestly, there's some family that I may not like as much as others. Now, I gotta be careful because I think there's only gonna be like six people at ours on Friday, this Thursday.

So I can't tell you which one of that is, but I'm being silly. But it really is saying I love my family. And because I love them, I put up with some things because they're family.

And this word implies that we ought to do that for everyone, not just our family, but for everyone. That we forbear one another, that we put up with others. I mean, Jesus said, love your enemies.

So again, this cannot be done without the Holy Spirit and the strength of the Lord Jesus Christ. Forgiving one another. Again, characteristics of putting on the new man. Again, tenderness, kindness, humbleness, meekness, long suffering.

Forbearing one another, forgiving one another. Again, forgiving one another. As Christ has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32. Forgive one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Remember that now, God forgave us because of Christ, because of what Christ did on the cross, because of the death, burial and resurrection. It's because of Christ that we have fellowship with God now. He's our mediator, he's our go between.

He reconciled us to God and God has forgiven us because of His Son, forgiveness. And then again, in verse 14, it says, and above all these things, put on charity. Put on charity. Love in action.

Paul says, most importantly, above all these others, put on love. Put on love. And that is that we show goodwill and a loving attitude toward others around us.

And that that goodwill and loving attitude produces action. In other words, it's not just saying we love them, but we show action. We prove our love. If you would we show that love.

I know I'm a broken record, but it is important that you tell your kids you love them. It's important you tell your spouse that you love them. It's important that they hear it. Amen. It's important.

When's the last time you told your spouse you loved them? When's the last time you told your kids you love them? Verbally, it's important. But all that would be for naught if your actions don't back it up.

I mean, you could say it with your mouth, but it better be backed up with your actions. And that's what it's saying here, love in action.

That our charity should be that love should be shown in our benevolence towards others, in our actions towards others. We say that we love them and we should show that love. We see this in Christ's life as he showed the sacrificial love in giving his life for us.

By the way, he showed us sacrificial love day by day, as he healed the sick, as he raised the dead, as he all the things, the service that he did. So those are the characteristics of putting on the new man.

And when you get to the point of verse 15, he stops and says, and therefore or let the peace of God rule in your hearts.

So the product of putting on the new man, the results of that are not just the actions which we show to others and which is displayed in our life, but we benefit from it as we do for others, as we're selfless for others. We learned this in the book of Philippians. When we do for others, you want happiness in your life, you want joy in your life.

Do something for somebody else, serve others. And again you ask the question in Philippians, well, if I'm constantly doing for others, what's going to happen to me?

Well, God says there in Philippians chapter four, I will supply your needs. You look out for others, you do for others. It will bring joy into your life and God will take care of you.

And this is the same principle here as you put on the new man. The peace of God will rule in your hearts. You'll experience that peace of God to which also you're called.

In one body, it doesn't just affect you, it affects the body of Christ. Think about it for a moment. What would our church be like if everyone was just like you? We asked this question back in April.

What would our church be like if everyone was just like me? If everyone served as I serve, if everyone gave like I gave, would the church be able to pay its bills? Would it be able to support its ministries?

Would it be able to support its missionaries? Would it grow or decline? In other words, if everyone was in the church was just like me?

Again, the product of the characteristics or the product of putting on the new man is that of peace that rules in our hearts. And that peace that rules in our hearts affects those around us. If I have peace in my own life, it's because I'm walking with God, man.

I'm going to put you another scripture to you first, John 1:7. If we walk in the light as he's in light, we have fellowship one with another.

As the peace of God rules in my heart, I'll have fellowship with not only God, but with my fellow man. And they'll be.

And that's what he's precluding here, is that there'll be unity in the body if everyone in the church put on the new man every day and lived a life of testimony and a light for the Lord Jesus Christ, and that was produced in their life. Imagine the difference, the difference that would make in the church if everyone did it.

Things racing through my mind because all these principles connect together as we think about being a living stone. We are a lively stone. Building up a spiritual house, it's important that when we meet together, this is not the church.

This building is not the church. We are the church. We are the Christians. We are the church. And each one of us represent a stone. And as we come together, we are fitly framed together.

The Bible says to build up a spiritual house, it's important that your stone be here, number one. Number two, it's important that your stone be clean. Again, back to that principle. As I live for Jesus, as I walk in the light, as I.

My life is characterized by putting on the new man. And here they are, you know, again.

Forgiveness, vows of mercy, kindness, all these things, then it produces peace in my heart, it produces peace in my life, which everyone wants. And therefore it produces that same peace and unity in the church. I'm thankful for a church that experiences peace. I'm thankful for a church.

It doesn't mean we never had any problems, because we have. I can go back and write them down for you, but I'm thankful for a church who.

I love that preachers come in here and they say, preacher, your church is the church that God has given you to. Pastor is one of the easiest churches I've ever preached to. And that says a lot about you. It really does.

It means many of you, most of you are practicing what you preach during the week. Many of you, most of you are trying to live for the Lord, are putting on the new man. And that spirit, that peace permeates the church.

It makes the difference. Amen. By the way, that is important to keep that. So forgive one another, praise the Lord. Right?

If you want to keep a spiritual church, you want to keep a good spirit in the church, then we have to be a forgiving people. We have to be forgiving.

If you want harmony and peace, then that harmony and peace is again, ruled in our own lives, can be ruled in the church as well. As we work together, as we use our gifts that God has given us together, it's all important as we follow Christ.

We are children of God, and therefore we put up with each other sometimes. Hello. I put up with brother John and Ms. Aaron sitting in the wrong spot. Somebody has said it this way.

There's a difference between love and liking somebody. Right? Again, we should love everyone, we really should, because Christ did. And we should love our church family. Love them, you say.

Well, I just don't like them. That may be the case. There's always personality clashes, always hurt feelings.

And again, to have that joy that we experience personally, to have that same peace and Joy in the church itself, in the spirit, which I believe heritage does have most of the time, even over its history. We have to be putting on the new man, and we have to be a forgiving and have those characteristics.

And what happens then that produces a thankful spirit. Aren't you thankful tonight for all God's been for you? I'm so thankful for the love of Jesus. I'm thankful that he loves me in spite of me.

Every time I think about that, he knows every thought that I've ever thunk, it blows me away. The prophet says, he knows the secrets of your heart, and yet he loves you. He loves you. What a merciful God we serve. What a gracious God we serve.

Again, he says in verse 15, let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which ye are called in one body. We're called to be in this body, a body of peace, body of unity. Amen.

And when you're not at peace or not unified in the body, then you need to get that thing right. And then he goes, and be ye thankful. And be ye thankful. Thankful. Thinking, as I said, brings thanksgiving.

As we think about what God has done for us and how good he's been to us, it makes us a thankful people. I quoted Warren Wiersbe back again in April, and Warren Whispery said it this way.

When there is peace in your heart, there will be praise on your lips. You experience the peace of God in your hearts, man. There'll be praise on your lips for him. We will be a thankful people.

When you put on the new man and we're renewed, we'll be a thankful people. When you're walking with the Lord, and therefore in his will, we'll be a thankful people. The peace will reign in our hearts and in our life.

A love for others, a love for brothers and sisters in Christ, which will result in thanksgiving. Will result in thanksgiving. It's a product of it. The product of the new man is a peaceful heart.

The product of putting on the new man is unity in the body of Christ. Unity at Heritage Baptist Church.

The product of putting on the new man those characteristics of forgiveness and all the things meekness and so forth is thankfulness, is thankfulness. We live in a world today that is very unthankful, very unthankful. And it is as we've talked about many times there.

In second Timothy 3, the Bible says this. Know ye that in the last days perilous times shall come. And as it makes the list of the perilous times, the end times, it uses the Word unthankful.

It puts it in a list of terrible stuff, like immoral stuff, immorality. And it puts it right in the middle of it. Think God's concerned about unthankfulness? Yes, he is.

He puts it in the same category as immorality, adultery, fornication, so forth. And so we live in a society today that is predominantly unthankful. In fact, Romans chapter 1, verses 18, 30, 32.

In verse 21, it says, neither were thankful, but they were vain in their minds.

In other words, when you go through and you read Romans chapter one, and it lists off the things that are contrary to the word of God, again, immorality. And then it says those who are of that persuasion, those who are adulterers and fornicators.

And then it goes on and it talks about those who go against the very nature. Man with man, woman with woman, are unthankful. It uses that word.

And I believe as you study it, you'll find that when someone lives and lives in, let me put it that way, that's what it's talking about. It's not talking who sins and falls, but somebody who lives in that lifestyle rejecting God's law, Rejecting God's law of nature. Hello.

It's not natural, the things we're seeing today. Absolutely. And he says because of that, because they were unthankful, God gave them over to a reprobate mind.

In other words, unthankfulness is the tipping point. Not just the immorality, but the immorality is a product of being unthankful. Unthankful. And then God gives them up. May we be a thankful people.

Being thankful does not come natural. And I know I'm a broken record, but you don't have to teach a kid how to be unthankful. Right? It's a great illustration. It works every time.

Kid's two years old, what do you do? Somebody gives them something. You tell little Johnny, little Billy, Billy, tell them, thank you. And most of the time, what is the natural reaction?

No. And again, mom and dad gotta continually work at it and work at it. And of course, some kids are easier than others of getting it right.

But it means you do have to, no matter what, who, what personality the kid has, there has to be some instruction, There has to be some training. And you have to train a child to be thankful. And that's constantly staying at it. And we see this with even our grandchild, who's perfect.

Say, thank you, Say, yes, ma'am. Say, no, ma'am. Yes, sir. No, Sir.

And all the things that, especially if you've been in Texas, you've been taught to do, just picking on some other people. But it's not natural to be thankful adults. What happens to us too? Sometimes we get past our raisin and then we forget. We really do.

Sometimes we are not thankful either. And may we be reminded over and over again that being thankful does not come natural. Just like a child. It's not natural for a child to swim.

They have to be taught. A duck does not have to be taught. Swimming for a duck is natural. Swimming for a human being has to be taught. And so does being thankful.

It has to be taught. How are we to be thankful? We need to constantly recognize that God owns everything and that everything comes from Him.

I've quoted this Sunday, But James chapter 1, verse 17 says, Every good gift and every perfect gift from above. By the way, aren't you glad that God wants us to enjoy things? It's not like he's up there going, bam, bam. I hope this like a little.

Taking the little magnifying glass on a little ant like you did when you was a kid. If you didn't get to do that as a kid, you're missing. I'm sorry. Don't even know what a magnifying glass is, do you?

My papa and grandma, on my papa's desk there on the farm, he always had a magnifying glass. We take it outside, take that magnifying glass, find some ants and just burn them up. So much fun. But that's not how the Lord sees us. No, he wants us.

Life was not to be. I said this Sunday. Life was not meant to be endured. It's meant to be enjoyed. I know I'm a broken record. That's one of the things I say all the time.

Because I think we need to hear it all the time. Life was not to be endured. It's meant to be enjoyed. Kids were not meant to be endured. They were meant to be enjoyed.

Marriage was not meant to be endured. It was meant to be enjoyed. Life was meant to be enjoyed. God's been so good to us. Everything comes from Him. Everything comes from Him.

We are not self made. No, I did not build that. Some of y'all get that one later. Psalm 103, verse 2 says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits Again.

We're so forgetful. So forgetful. He is the Creator of all and the curator of all. As Colossians has told us there in chapter two. By him, all things consist.

He's the superglue that holds it all together. The basis of Thanksgiving is recognizing that everything comes from God. That's the foundation. Everything comes from him.

And then what should we be or how should we be thankful for? What should we be thankful for? Well, we should be thankful for the good and the bad. All things work together for good.

We should think, as I said before, thankfulness. And the more you think, the more thankful you'll be.

I don't know how many times I've counseled somebody in my office, especially marriage counseling, and say, okay, you really have, both of you. I've heard both sides, and all you've said was negative stuff. Lots and lots of negative.

Maybe we should write down the good stuff and see what happens and try to encourage them to write down the good also. That's happened. And it's amazing how many times the good will far outweigh the bad. In fact, every time it does, we just gotta be reminded.

We just gotta be reminded the blessings. Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Again, it's the devil who likes to get your mind on the negative. It's the devil who likes to get your mind on just the problems alone. It's the devil that likes to look back in your history and go, that was wrong.

That was bad. That was bad. That was bad. Instead of looking back in the same land, look what the Lord did there and there and there and there.

Look at all the good things that God supplied to me. We're commanded in this scripture to be thankful. Notice what it says. And be ye thankful. It's a command. It's a command from the Lord.

It's not optional. Everybody agree? And be ye thankful. It's not optional. We are to be a thankful people. Thankful.

We're gonna sit around the table and I've been silly about it Sunday and today, but, man, aren't we blessed beyond measure. Literally.

I went to Sam's today, and because of you taking care of your pastor so well, I could go through Sam's and I could buy not everything I wanted, but most everything I wanted for Thursday. You walk right into Sam's. What's the first thing you see to the left? Pumpkin pies, $5.98. And they're this big around hubcap off a car. Really?

I'm not exact. $5.98. Right beside it was pecan pie. It was like $10 and something. Then there was apple and whatever else. That stuff I don't care about.

No, I'M just kidding. And, you know, you walk through the store and you're putting stuff in your. In your basket and, you know, just putting stuff in the basket. Ham.

We're not cooking turkey at our house Thursday. We're having steak because there's only going to be six of us. Couldn't afford to feed steak to, like, if my brother's kids came. He has 11 kids.

That wouldn't work. But we're having steak and it's going to be awesome. Isn't it amazing?

You know, I'm not going to tell you how much I spent, but, I mean, most of us could go spend 50 to $100. And aren't we blessed? Isn't that amazing? I just got back from a country that that's not the case. Honduras. The average wage a month is $150 a month.

A banker in Honduras makes $500 a month. You know, the, the teller. $500 a month. We're blessed.

It was amazing to me as I looked out the window or looked out the side of that church building, what a beautiful church building they have. And the land was given to them and the property already had a structure on it that they were able to retrofit and make into a church building.

Just so blessed. But as I looked out over the balcony type area, you look down, very nice house, five or six shanties, you know, very nice house, five or six.

I mean, it's absolutely rich and very poor. Not a lot between Americans. We're blessed beyond measure. God's been so good to us. It's good for us to be reminded. I would encourage you.

We do allow, I believe, juniors and seniors to go the medical mission trip. Every parent ought to make their kids go to one just to see how good they have it. We have it so good. Let's be a thankful people. A thankful people.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you and we thank you for all you've done for us. What a blessing it is to receive your benefits.

Lord, help us to be reminded of those things. The devil loves to get us off and get us thinking about all the negative.

But Lord, we know and we so thankful for all the great gifts you've given us as we sit around thanksgiving table. Lord, may we be a thankful people. May we be loving and kind and gracious to those around us. May we forbear one another. And Lord, may we lift you up.

We thank you and we love you. In Jesus name, amen. We're going to.

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