Thanks Be to God


On this Thanksgiving Day, I want to share a little outline I used Sunday night at The Donelson Fellowship.  Recently I discovered that the phrase “Thanks be to God” occurs exactly five times in the Bible, and only in the consecutive books of Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians. There are five blessings that make us want to exclaim, “Thanks be to God!”

1. Thanks Be to God for Setting Us Free:  “Thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.  You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:16-17).

2.  Thanks Be to God for Victory over Sin:  “What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?   Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:21-25).

3.  Thanks Be to God for Victory over Death:  “For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed… Thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:47-57).

4.  Thanks Be to God Who Spreads His Message Through Us:  “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him” (2 Corinthians 2:12-17).

5.  Thanks Be to God for Jesus:  “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion…  Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

And so today we say:  Thanks be to God!

PS-This is the outline for my sermon of last Sunday night.  The entire message is posted at www.donelson.org/pocket/pp-081123pm.html.