THANKSGIVING MESSAGE

#3: HOW TO BE UNTHANKFUL

MAIN IDEA
Let’s be honest. None of us are as thankful as we should be. We love to
complain, and our attention is usually on the negative. This sermon uses
humor to show us what causes us to become ungrateful. The goal is that
listeners can learn to cultivate a life of thanksgiving by rooting out ingratitude.

VERSE
“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may
be blameless and innocent, children of God without
blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation,
among whom you shine as lights in the world.”
–Philippians 2:14–15

SERMON OUTLINE
 Thanksgiving isn’t easy. Although the Bible tells us to do everything

without complaining, maybe maybe we just haven’t perfected it yet. Surely if

Paul knew how good of a complainer would could be, he’d change his tune.

These practices are guaranteed to make you an efficient complainer.

 Keep a journal. No matter how minute, keep track of everything that bugs

you. We all have pet peeves. If you write these annoyances down, you’ll keep
 track of them better. Try to write down three or four things that irritate you

daily. Regardless of how insignificant these issues are:

o Set aside time daily to ponder what other people do to bug you.

o Whenever you find yourself accidentally happy, take your journal

out and review all of your frustrations. Maybe even write these frustrations on

notecards and post them around your house.

 Use negative words whenever you can. The lives of grateful people aren’t

that different from yours, but they’re not realists like us. They simply need to

practice reciting their frustrations more. Language matters so be mindful of the

adjectives you use. The more strongly you label things, the better you’re going

to be able to cultivate a grumbling spirit. Use adjectives like:

o Horrible

o Bad

o Atrocious

o Irritating

o Stupid

 Be constantly distracted. Thankful people usually can’t (or refuse to)

remember the bad stuff that’s happened in the past. They don’t worry enough

about all the awful things that could happen in the future. If you want to be an

A+ complainer, you must be able to do both. Always, always, always

multitask. Don’t waste your time by simply enjoying a meal. Entertain yourself

constantly by looking at your phone and watching TV. If you give yourself too

much time to focus on the good stuff happening around you all the time, you’ll
 miss out on the potential threats on the horizon or bad stuff you’ve already

experienced.
 Focus on yourself when you pray. Use your prayer time to get what you

want. Praising God for who he is will waste your time. He already knows how

great he is. He doesn’t need you blabbering on about it. Instead remind him of

everything you want that you don’t have.

 Let your health deteriorate. Thanksgiving and physical health tend

to work together. Healthy people are usually grateful and positive. Then the

positivity tends to just lead to healthy decisions. It’s a vicious time-wasting

circle.
o Make sure you’re never getting all of the sleep you need. When

you’re tired, you get anxious. Anxiety is like steroids for complainers.
o Exercise is poison. You get endorphins when you exercise. Those

positive chemicals in your body prevent you from recognizing the awful

realities of the world. You can’t afford to let anything stand in the way of that.
 Of course, we don’t need help to become serious

complainers. Fortunately, you can reverse all the points in this sermon to show

what it looks like to be grateful and less of a Negative Nelly.