THE HOLY ALPHABET
Colossians 1:9-20
Thanksgiving Service, 11/25/08
Beginning Reading- The last few months I have been praying for everyone in our church by working through the alphabet. Whether it is your first name or last name, you are remembered in my prayers. But there is another way to use the alphabet, and that is a poem that reminds us to be thankful. It is called “The Holy Alphabet.” You will find this reading in the outline in your bulletin….READ.
Although this poem is nice to read, and has many good thoughts that might have stood out to us as I read it, I would like to take a little time to break it down into 6 stanzas, and analyze a little deeper what it is saying to us!
I. A – D: (Colossians 1:12)-
Although things are not perfect, Because of trial or pain,
Continue in thanksgiving, Do not begin to blame.
This is how the poem starts. I think we all know that life is not perfect, and will never be. But that doesn’t mean that life isn’t good. Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be good. The important thing in life is to learn how to be thankful for the things we do have. All too often we get in the blame mode. But what that really does is sap our joy and bring us down; it keeps us from being able to enjoy what we do have.
Example- I’m sure most of you are familiar with the Lakers;
the professional basketball team (my favorite team!). For a number
of years they had had some incredible results, especially when
Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant played there together. They went
to the finals 4 times, winning three of them. Shaq and Kobe are two of the best
basketball players in the world. But there was a problem; they
didn’t like to share the glory. And so whenever they were upset
with each other or if something went wrong, they would blame
the other! This blame drove them and the team apart. Shaq was
subsequently traded to the Miami Heat (and later to the Phoenix Suns),
and the Lakers had a whole new look with Kobe. They were not as good as
they had been (although now they seem to be on top again; last year they went to the finals and lost to the Boston Celtics, and this year they are unbeaten so far!).
But as we look at the relationship between Shaq and Kobe, we realize that blame is never the way to go in life. We often try to blame our circumstances, or our inability to have certain opportunities, or we even try to blame others for our struggles and disappointments in life. But instead of blaming, we need to Learn to be thankful. As
Colossians 1:12 says: “giving thanks to the Father, who
has enabled you to share in the inheritance….”
II. E – H: (Colossians 1:16-18)-
We continue: Even when the times are hard, Fierce winds are bound to blow;
God is forever able, Hold on to what you know.
It is amazing to me when I talk to people, and hear about their lives. People live
incredibly complicated lives. Fierce winds do blow. Some people have lives that are very troublesome. Others have lives with great responsibility. Still others have lives with heavy demands. People are not sure what to do or what to believe or where to turn. That is why it is important to keep things in perspective. As we are told in
Colossians 1:16-18, “For in Christ all things in heaven and on
earth were created….all things have been created through Him
and for Him. He Himself is before all things, and in Him all things
hold together. He is the head of the church…”
We must understand that God, through the Son, created all things. And because of this God is able to watch over us. This is what we know, and if we hold on to this, this gives us foundation to keep us strong in difficult times. This helps to keep us centered, because we are focused on God and not our problems.
I want you to think for a moment of some difficult times: maybe it was (or is) financial, or with your health, or a conflict in the family. The possibilities are endless.
But the problem is that we dwell on these thoughts too much. We let them overwhelm us and cause us to worry and to be anxious over them. We make them bigger than they need to be and let them consume us. We think of them as “fierce winds” that can’t be overcome…But what makes everything better is knowing that the Lord of creation is able to get you through!
III. I – L: (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)-
The poem continues…Imagine life without His love, Joy would cease to be,
Keep thanking Him for all the things, Love imparts to thee.
Whether you realize it or not, the love of God is what keeps this world going. The love of God keeps God from destroying the world again as He did in the time of the flood. The love of God is what led God to come in human form, in Jesus Christ, so that He might die for our sins and open the door to forgiveness and eternal life. The love of God is what allows God to forgive us time and time again when we sin. The love of God is unconditional, not loving us for who we are or what we do, but loving us because we are God’s children. It is so important to be loved unconditionally! It is so important to know that God does love us deeply, and this love is here to stay. As we are told in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Story of Vietnam Soldier (e-mail from Jane Smith)
We need to learn to love like God does. There is tremendous power in love. Be thankful in the ways you are loved by God, and by the people God puts in your life to love you, and seek to find ways to love others unconditionally; not for who they are, or what they can do for you, or by what they look like. But because we all need to be loved!
IV. M – P: (Colossians 1:20)-
Moving to M through P, our poem continues…..Move out of “Camp Complaining,” No weapon that is known, On earth can yield the power, Praise can do alone.”
Why is it so easy to complain? What is it that complaining brings to our lives? I guess it goes back to blaming and passing the buck. It is easier to complain than to take responsibility or to seek to take care of our own problems. Somehow we think that feeling pity for ourselves gives us purpose. But all complaining does it take our focus away from what God can do through us, and takes our focus away from all the good in our lives.
You have heard the saying: “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” It is a trite saying, but there is some wisdom to it. Those people who are most successful in life are the ones who don’t let their troubles bring them down; they don’t let their troubles defeat them. They look for ways to overcome their problems.
The truth is, there is power in praise. As we give praise to God for His presence and strength in our lives, we build up our outlook, and we trust God more. We then put ourselves in a place where we can be victorious.
Remember what Colossians 1:20 says- “and through Him (Jesus)/ God was
pleased to reconcile to Himself all things…”
In Christ, even our troubles can be reconciled, taken care of, removed.
V. Q – T: (Matthew 6:34; 1 Thessalonians 5:18)-
Q through T then says: Quit looking at the future, Redeem the time at hand,
Start every day with worship, To “thank” is a command.
You might have heard the minister who asked one little girl, “Do you pray before meals.” To which the little girl responded: “Oh no, we don’t need to, my mommy is a good cook.”
Too often in life, we forget to say thank you to God, because we tend to go
to God when things are bad, not when they are good, and so our inclination isn’t to say thank you for the bad things in life. But another reason we forget to say thank you, is because we are busy thinking about the future, and forgetting to appreciate the present. God desires for us to not only focus on the present, as we are told in Matthew 6:34- “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” But we are to be thankful for all that today brings…
1 Thessalonians 5:18- “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God.” We are not to presume what our life should be, but be thankful for this day that God gives us, whatever it might bring.
VI. U – Z: (Philippians 3:14; Revelation 21:3 -4)-
And we finish the poem with U through Z….Until we see Him coming, Victorious in the sky, We’ll run the race with gratitude, Xalting God most high. Yes, there’ll be good times and yes some will be bad, but…Zion waits in glory…where none are ever sad!
Even though I just talked about not looking to the future, we do have to remember the hope that the future brings. Scripture is clear to us, that at some point, Jesus Christ will come again. When He comes, He will come on the clouds in the sky, for all to see. His second coming will be for the purpose of moving us into the new era, where the earth will be no more, and those who believe will live eternally in His loving presence. Those who don’t believe, will live eternally apart from Love itself.
Where is the thanksgiving in this? That those of us who believe, should be thankful for our eternal salvation. Those who don’t believe can be thankful that all have the opportunity to believe if they so choose. And we can be thankful that we have opportunities to tell those who don’t believe how they can believe!
So, we are to run the race with gratitude. As the apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:14- “I press on to the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” What is the prize? Eternally living with God in heaven. Having access to the inheritance of my Eternal Father. And knowing that in glory, we will never have to again deal with the pain of this life.
As we are told in Revelation 21:3-4, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them; He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”
Conclusion: Let us be thankful to God for all things and at all times, for God is forever with us, working in and through us. And remember, the next time you are stressed or feeling overwhelmed, the shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord, can stand up to anything. Amen.
Colossians 1:9-20
Thanksgiving Service, 11/25/08
Beginning Reading- The last few months I have been praying for everyone in our church by working through the alphabet. Whether it is your first name or last name, you are remembered in my prayers. But there is another way to use the alphabet, and that is a poem that reminds us to be thankful. It is called “The Holy Alphabet.” You will find this reading in the outline in your bulletin….READ.
Although this poem is nice to read, and has many good thoughts that might have stood out to us as I read it, I would like to take a little time to break it down into 6 stanzas, and analyze a little deeper what it is saying to us!
I. A – D: (Colossians 1:12)-
Although things are not perfect, Because of trial or pain,
Continue in thanksgiving, Do not begin to blame.
This is how the poem starts. I think we all know that life is not perfect, and will never be. But that doesn’t mean that life isn’t good. Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be good. The important thing in life is to learn how to be thankful for the things we do have. All too often we get in the blame mode. But what that really does is sap our joy and bring us down; it keeps us from being able to enjoy what we do have.
Example- I’m sure most of you are familiar with the Lakers;
the professional basketball team (my favorite team!). For a number
of years they had had some incredible results, especially when
Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant played there together. They went
to the finals 4 times, winning three of them. Shaq and Kobe are two of the best
basketball players in the world. But there was a problem; they
didn’t like to share the glory. And so whenever they were upset
with each other or if something went wrong, they would blame
the other! This blame drove them and the team apart. Shaq was
subsequently traded to the Miami Heat (and later to the Phoenix Suns),
and the Lakers had a whole new look with Kobe. They were not as good as
they had been (although now they seem to be on top again; last year they went to the finals and lost to the Boston Celtics, and this year they are unbeaten so far!).
But as we look at the relationship between Shaq and Kobe, we realize that blame is never the way to go in life. We often try to blame our circumstances, or our inability to have certain opportunities, or we even try to blame others for our struggles and disappointments in life. But instead of blaming, we need to Learn to be thankful. As
Colossians 1:12 says: “giving thanks to the Father, who
has enabled you to share in the inheritance….”
II. E – H: (Colossians 1:16-18)-
We continue: Even when the times are hard, Fierce winds are bound to blow;
God is forever able, Hold on to what you know.
It is amazing to me when I talk to people, and hear about their lives. People live
incredibly complicated lives. Fierce winds do blow. Some people have lives that are very troublesome. Others have lives with great responsibility. Still others have lives with heavy demands. People are not sure what to do or what to believe or where to turn. That is why it is important to keep things in perspective. As we are told in
Colossians 1:16-18, “For in Christ all things in heaven and on
earth were created….all things have been created through Him
and for Him. He Himself is before all things, and in Him all things
hold together. He is the head of the church…”
We must understand that God, through the Son, created all things. And because of this God is able to watch over us. This is what we know, and if we hold on to this, this gives us foundation to keep us strong in difficult times. This helps to keep us centered, because we are focused on God and not our problems.
I want you to think for a moment of some difficult times: maybe it was (or is) financial, or with your health, or a conflict in the family. The possibilities are endless.
But the problem is that we dwell on these thoughts too much. We let them overwhelm us and cause us to worry and to be anxious over them. We make them bigger than they need to be and let them consume us. We think of them as “fierce winds” that can’t be overcome…But what makes everything better is knowing that the Lord of creation is able to get you through!
III. I – L: (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)-
The poem continues…Imagine life without His love, Joy would cease to be,
Keep thanking Him for all the things, Love imparts to thee.
Whether you realize it or not, the love of God is what keeps this world going. The love of God keeps God from destroying the world again as He did in the time of the flood. The love of God is what led God to come in human form, in Jesus Christ, so that He might die for our sins and open the door to forgiveness and eternal life. The love of God is what allows God to forgive us time and time again when we sin. The love of God is unconditional, not loving us for who we are or what we do, but loving us because we are God’s children. It is so important to be loved unconditionally! It is so important to know that God does love us deeply, and this love is here to stay. As we are told in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Story of Vietnam Soldier (e-mail from Jane Smith)
We need to learn to love like God does. There is tremendous power in love. Be thankful in the ways you are loved by God, and by the people God puts in your life to love you, and seek to find ways to love others unconditionally; not for who they are, or what they can do for you, or by what they look like. But because we all need to be loved!
IV. M – P: (Colossians 1:20)-
Moving to M through P, our poem continues…..Move out of “Camp Complaining,” No weapon that is known, On earth can yield the power, Praise can do alone.”
Why is it so easy to complain? What is it that complaining brings to our lives? I guess it goes back to blaming and passing the buck. It is easier to complain than to take responsibility or to seek to take care of our own problems. Somehow we think that feeling pity for ourselves gives us purpose. But all complaining does it take our focus away from what God can do through us, and takes our focus away from all the good in our lives.
You have heard the saying: “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” It is a trite saying, but there is some wisdom to it. Those people who are most successful in life are the ones who don’t let their troubles bring them down; they don’t let their troubles defeat them. They look for ways to overcome their problems.
The truth is, there is power in praise. As we give praise to God for His presence and strength in our lives, we build up our outlook, and we trust God more. We then put ourselves in a place where we can be victorious.
Remember what Colossians 1:20 says- “and through Him (Jesus)/ God was
pleased to reconcile to Himself all things…”
In Christ, even our troubles can be reconciled, taken care of, removed.
V. Q – T: (Matthew 6:34; 1 Thessalonians 5:18)-
Q through T then says: Quit looking at the future, Redeem the time at hand,
Start every day with worship, To “thank” is a command.
You might have heard the minister who asked one little girl, “Do you pray before meals.” To which the little girl responded: “Oh no, we don’t need to, my mommy is a good cook.”
Too often in life, we forget to say thank you to God, because we tend to go
to God when things are bad, not when they are good, and so our inclination isn’t to say thank you for the bad things in life. But another reason we forget to say thank you, is because we are busy thinking about the future, and forgetting to appreciate the present. God desires for us to not only focus on the present, as we are told in Matthew 6:34- “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” But we are to be thankful for all that today brings…
1 Thessalonians 5:18- “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God.” We are not to presume what our life should be, but be thankful for this day that God gives us, whatever it might bring.
VI. U – Z: (Philippians 3:14; Revelation 21:3 -4)-
And we finish the poem with U through Z….Until we see Him coming, Victorious in the sky, We’ll run the race with gratitude, Xalting God most high. Yes, there’ll be good times and yes some will be bad, but…Zion waits in glory…where none are ever sad!
Even though I just talked about not looking to the future, we do have to remember the hope that the future brings. Scripture is clear to us, that at some point, Jesus Christ will come again. When He comes, He will come on the clouds in the sky, for all to see. His second coming will be for the purpose of moving us into the new era, where the earth will be no more, and those who believe will live eternally in His loving presence. Those who don’t believe, will live eternally apart from Love itself.
Where is the thanksgiving in this? That those of us who believe, should be thankful for our eternal salvation. Those who don’t believe can be thankful that all have the opportunity to believe if they so choose. And we can be thankful that we have opportunities to tell those who don’t believe how they can believe!
So, we are to run the race with gratitude. As the apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:14- “I press on to the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” What is the prize? Eternally living with God in heaven. Having access to the inheritance of my Eternal Father. And knowing that in glory, we will never have to again deal with the pain of this life.
As we are told in Revelation 21:3-4, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them; He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”
Conclusion: Let us be thankful to God for all things and at all times, for God is forever with us, working in and through us. And remember, the next time you are stressed or feeling overwhelmed, the shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord, can stand up to anything. Amen.
posted by Logan's Blog at 3:13 PM
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