The Power of Gratitude
Craig Smith
Luke 19:11
I. Introduction
Welcome to Mission Hills. However you're joining us...at a campus, online or listening to a podcast, I'm really honored to have you with us today. It's the weekend before Thanksgiving, so probably no one is going to be surprised if I tell you that our topic for today is giving thanks, gratitude. Anybody surprised.
Probably not, but understand: we're not talking about gratitude today because it's appropriate. We're talking about gratitude because it's powerful. In fact, let me just be honest with you: I have come to believe that one of the reasons I'm personally not experiencing the power of God as fully as I could be is because I'm not as grateful as I should be.
Now, just to be clear: the reason I'm not as grateful as I should be isn't that I'm ungrateful by nature or that I'm entitled or oblivious. I have one big obstacle to gratitude in my life, particularly, that we'll get to in a little bit...but before we talk about the obstacles to gratitude, I want to show you why I say that gratitude is so powerful.
Why don't you go ahead and grab a bible and start making your way to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 17.
Today we're going to take a look at a story from Jesus' life that demonstrates the power of gratitude.
II. Main Body
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. (Luke 19:11)
Now what you need to know is that Galilee was Jewish territory and Samaria was non-Jewish territory.
As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. (Luke 17:12)
Ok, so leprosy is a terrible disease. It involves a lot of open sores and over time, people with leprosy lose fingers and toes to the disease. And that's just the physical side, but the effect of leprosy on a person's life went way beyond the physical stuff. In Jewish society, having leprosy meant that you were ''unclean'' so you couldn't hang out with people. You coul ...
Craig Smith
Luke 19:11
I. Introduction
Welcome to Mission Hills. However you're joining us...at a campus, online or listening to a podcast, I'm really honored to have you with us today. It's the weekend before Thanksgiving, so probably no one is going to be surprised if I tell you that our topic for today is giving thanks, gratitude. Anybody surprised.
Probably not, but understand: we're not talking about gratitude today because it's appropriate. We're talking about gratitude because it's powerful. In fact, let me just be honest with you: I have come to believe that one of the reasons I'm personally not experiencing the power of God as fully as I could be is because I'm not as grateful as I should be.
Now, just to be clear: the reason I'm not as grateful as I should be isn't that I'm ungrateful by nature or that I'm entitled or oblivious. I have one big obstacle to gratitude in my life, particularly, that we'll get to in a little bit...but before we talk about the obstacles to gratitude, I want to show you why I say that gratitude is so powerful.
Why don't you go ahead and grab a bible and start making your way to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 17.
Today we're going to take a look at a story from Jesus' life that demonstrates the power of gratitude.
II. Main Body
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. (Luke 19:11)
Now what you need to know is that Galilee was Jewish territory and Samaria was non-Jewish territory.
As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. (Luke 17:12)
Ok, so leprosy is a terrible disease. It involves a lot of open sores and over time, people with leprosy lose fingers and toes to the disease. And that's just the physical side, but the effect of leprosy on a person's life went way beyond the physical stuff. In Jewish society, having leprosy meant that you were ''unclean'' so you couldn't hang out with people. You coul ...
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