1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:19,000 God is holy, bound to me. Oh, how strange and divine I can see. All is mine, yet not I, but through Christ in me. 2 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:56,000 The night is dark, but I am not forsaken. For by my side the Savior He will stay. I labor on in weakness and rejoicing. For in my need His power is displayed. 3 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:24,000 As I hold, my shepherd will defend me. Through the deepest valley of me. Oh, the night has been won, and I shall overcome. Yet not I, but to Christ in me. 4 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:52,000 Good morning. We are glad to be here this morning. Testing a couple of things. We switched out a computer in the sound room, so absolutely nothing can go wrong. I'm very certain. We will see. 5 00:01:52,000 --> 00:02:09,000 So I'm going to go ahead and have a word of prayer, and then we will begin our time together. Father in heaven, we thank you so much for your goodness. We thank you so much for your provision, especially for the provision of your Son. 6 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:20,000 We thank you that you have equipped us with your Spirit, and we ask that you will guide us and strengthen us this morning as we gather to worship together. 7 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:28,000 To not take you for granted, to keep our eyes fixed on you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 8 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:35,000 Throughout my life, I've heard in a lot of ways, I think maybe starting in high school, that people learn differently. 9 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:49,000 Like some people are auditory, some people are visual. I think, and I had never heard this category while in high school, but I think my category of learning is what is known as the hard way. 10 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:55,000 I mean, I think universally, the best way that I learn is doing it the hard way. 11 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:02,000 Now there are, I think, some things in life that we learn best when we learn them the hard way. 12 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:15,000 So today, as we gather, we are learning, and I think this is one of those things that we learn sometimes in a difficult way, that we are called to give thanks. 13 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:23,000 And in Scripture, thankfulness is more than just sort of polite words or a seasonal feeling or some great fall-themed decor. 14 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:30,000 It's a way of seeing the world. It's a way of walking with God, and it is a way of worship. 15 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:39,000 And so when we give thanks, we step out of the shadows of sin and self-reliance and onto the path that God has laid before us. 16 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:49,000 And when we give thanks, God strengthens our feet in the midst of the wilderness, in those places of life that feel uncertain or heavy. 17 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:57,000 And when we give thanks, it lifts our eyes, not to the gifts themselves, but to the giver, the one who is faithful in all things. 18 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:02,000 So we want to begin this morning by letting God's Word shape our gratitude. 19 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:10,000 So if you would stand with me, we're going to read the entirety of the 100th Psalm together. 20 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:14,000 And so we're going to begin not with a psalm for giving thanks, but with make a joyful noise. 21 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:16,000 So if you would read with me. 22 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:20,000 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. 23 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,000 Serve the Lord with gladness. 24 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,000 Come into His presence with singing. 25 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:30,000 Know that the Lord, He is God. 26 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:34,000 It is He who made us, and we are His. 27 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:39,000 We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. 28 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:44,000 Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. 29 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,000 Give thanks to Him. 30 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,000 Bless His name. 31 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:50,000 For the Lord is good. 32 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:58,000 His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations. 33 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:00,000 This is God's Word. 34 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:06,000 And we're going to start this morning by singing "10,000 Reasons, Bless the Lord." 35 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:18,000 And that's not the right song. 36 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,000 And you're dismissed! 37 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:46,000 Bless the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul, worship his holy name. 38 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:56,000 Sing like never before, oh my soul, I worship your holy name. 39 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:24,000 The sun comes up, it's a new day dawning. It's time to sing your song again. Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when these days are coming. 40 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:52,000 I'll be singing when the evening comes. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul. Worship His holy name. Sin like never before, O my soul. 41 00:06:52,000 --> 00:07:20,000 I'll worship Your holy name. You're rich in love, and You're slow to anger. Your name is great, and Your heart is kind. For all Your goodness, I will keep on singing. 42 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:48,000 Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find. Bless the Lord, O my soul. O my soul. Worship His holy name. Sin like never before. O my soul. 43 00:07:48,000 --> 00:08:16,000 O my soul. I'll worship Your holy name. And on that day when my strength is failing, the end draws me and my time has come. Still my soul will sing Your praise. 44 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:44,000 Sing Your praise unending. Ten thousand years and then forever more. Bless the Lord, O my soul. O my soul. Worship His holy name. Sin I've 45 00:08:44,000 --> 00:09:08,000 never before. O my soul. Yes, I will worship Your holy name. Lord, I'll worship Your holy name. 46 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:37,000 Lord, I'll worship Your holy name. Lord, I'll worship Your holy name. Lord, I will worship Your holy name. 47 00:09:37,000 --> 00:10:06,520 Come, Thou fount of every blessing. Tune my heart to see Thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing. Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet of flaming tongues. 48 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:18,040 The mountain fixed upon it, mount of the redeeming love. 49 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:50,200 Here I raise my Ebenezer, here by thy great help I've come. And I hope of thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home. 50 00:10:50,200 --> 00:11:09,800 Jesus saw me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God. He too has kept me from a stranger, interposed his precious blood. 51 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:49,160 Oh, to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to thee. That thy goodness, like a fatter, by my wandering heart to thee, prone to wonder what I'm feeling, prone to evil, 52 00:11:49,160 --> 00:12:01,400 but I've got a love. Here's my heart, Lord. Take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above. 53 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:36,600 One of the things that Scripture makes very clear to us is that failing to give thanks is not a small thing, but it is the first step away from God. 54 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:48,920 When our hearts begin to grow proud or entitled or forgetful of His mercy, we begin to move away from the goodness of God. 55 00:12:48,920 --> 00:13:04,920 And in Romans 1 verse 21, it says this, "For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened." 56 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:18,680 One of the things that thankfulness does for us is it directs us for away from the darkness of worshiping all of these other things that vie for our attention, and it directs us 57 00:13:18,680 --> 00:13:41,920 to the goodness of God. And so at this part of our service, we want to come with honesty. We want to confess where we have relied upon ourselves, where we have complained instead of trusted, and where we have looked to our own strength and our own goodness instead of the goodness of God. So would you join me in prayer? 58 00:13:41,920 --> 00:14:11,900 Father in heaven, we ask for forgiveness, for oftentimes, instead of being a thankful people, we are a complaining people. And so we ask that by your grace, you would restore our hearts, that you would help us to be able to see your blessings so clearly, and that they would be so unmistakable 59 00:14:11,900 --> 00:14:30,900 in our vision, that we would give thanks to you joyfully and gratefully and freely, because you are the giver of all good things. And so we ask for strength, we ask for forgiveness, and we ask for peace. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 60 00:14:30,900 --> 00:14:50,900 If you would, read with me from 1 Thessalonians chapter 15. Let's read together. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 61 00:14:50,900 --> 00:14:57,900 We're going to move into our time of communion by singing "O Praise the Name." 62 00:15:00,900 --> 00:15:02,900 Amen. 63 00:15:30,900 --> 00:15:32,900 Amen. 64 00:16:00,900 --> 00:16:02,900 Amen. 65 00:17:00,900 --> 00:17:29,580 Oh, praise the name of the Lord our God. Oh, praise His name forevermore. For endless days we will sing Your praise, O Lord, O Lord our God. 66 00:17:30,900 --> 00:17:57,580 You shall return in robes of white The blazing sun shall pierce the night And I will rise among the saints My gaze transfixed on Jesus' face 67 00:18:00,900 --> 00:18:25,900 O praise the name of the Lord our God O praise His name forevermore For endless days we will sing Your praise O Lord, O Lord our God 68 00:18:25,900 --> 00:18:50,900 O praise the name of the Lord our God O praise His name forevermore For endless days we will sing Your praise O Lord, O Lord our God 69 00:18:50,900 --> 00:19:00,900 O Lord, O Lord our God 70 00:19:00,900 --> 00:19:18,900 One of the remarkable things as you begin to read through the ministry of Jesus, there is so much that is wonderful and good, and there is one thing that almost seems like it is too simple. 71 00:19:18,900 --> 00:19:36,900 And it's just simply this: Jesus was thankful. Not just once, not just in the good moments, but all through his ministry and in some places where it seems strange that Jesus would give thanks. 72 00:19:36,900 --> 00:19:46,900 In John chapter 6, surrounded by hungry crowds with only five loaves and a few fish, Jesus, it will say, gave thanks and broke bread. 73 00:19:46,900 --> 00:19:56,900 Now we know how the story ends, is that a miracle happens and there is enough to feed 5,000 people. Baskets of leftovers are picked up. 74 00:19:56,900 --> 00:20:07,900 But I know my heart, looking at the amount of food and the amount of people, will go, "I don't know if I can give thanks for this because it doesn't seem like enough." 75 00:20:07,900 --> 00:20:18,900 But Jesus shows us in His giving thanks that thankfulness often shows us and is a promise of God's provision. 76 00:20:18,900 --> 00:20:27,900 Jesus also gave thanks in the midst of grief. In John chapter 11, before anything had changed, before Lazarus had been raised from the dead, 77 00:20:27,900 --> 00:20:32,900 right after that, the shortest verse in the New Testament, but also I think one of the most powerful, 78 00:20:32,900 --> 00:20:39,900 because in it we see Jesus' humanity followed almost immediately by a powerful demonstration of His deity. 79 00:20:39,900 --> 00:20:51,900 Jesus weeps, and He comes to the tomb of His friend, and He prays, "Father, I thank You that You have heard me." 80 00:20:51,900 --> 00:20:59,900 And He trusts in His Father and gives thanks even in the midst of grief. 81 00:20:59,900 --> 00:21:06,900 And at the Last Supper, hours away from the cross, Luke 22 says, 82 00:21:06,900 --> 00:21:11,900 He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it. 83 00:21:11,900 --> 00:21:17,900 And He'll take the cup again, and He will give thanks. 84 00:21:17,900 --> 00:21:22,900 And I want you to consider that for just a moment. 85 00:21:22,900 --> 00:21:26,900 Jesus gives thanks for this bread and this cup, 86 00:21:26,900 --> 00:21:29,900 knowing the suffering that was coming. 87 00:21:29,900 --> 00:21:33,900 He gives thanks knowing the cost He was about to pay for our salvation. 88 00:21:33,900 --> 00:21:38,900 He gave thanks knowing that He was about to drink the cup of God's wrath 89 00:21:38,900 --> 00:21:45,900 so that you and I could drink of the cup of God's mercy and grace and redemption. 90 00:21:45,900 --> 00:21:49,900 And that means when you and I partake of this bread and this cup, 91 00:21:49,900 --> 00:21:59,900 we are remembering His sacrifice, but we are also in part following His example of thankfulness. 92 00:21:59,900 --> 00:22:04,900 You see, we come to this table and we look back on what He does, 93 00:22:04,900 --> 00:22:11,900 but it also shapes us into a people, a people who are transformed by the good news of the gospel, 94 00:22:11,900 --> 00:22:26,900 people who can say to our Father that I thank You in abundance, I thank You in grief, and I thank You in the shadow and the difficulty of the trials of life. 95 00:22:26,900 --> 00:22:34,900 One of the remarkable things that the cross shows us is that our thankfulness is not just sort of this good time, shallow optimism. 96 00:22:34,900 --> 00:22:40,900 It's trust in the goodness of God, even when the path is hard and difficult. 97 00:22:40,900 --> 00:22:48,900 And so as we take this bread and this cup, we ask that we will be led into a place of thankfulness. 98 00:22:48,900 --> 00:22:56,900 As we give thanks for His body that was broken for us, as we give thanks for the cup that was poured out for the forgiveness of sins, 99 00:22:56,900 --> 00:23:09,900 our prayer is that our hearts will be shaped and transformed and strengthened by this meal, and our eyes will be lifted to the One who saved us. Let's pray. 100 00:23:09,900 --> 00:23:28,900 Father in heaven, our sin has been nailed to the cross, and we thank You that we no longer bear that weight because Your Son stood in our place and bore it for us. 101 00:23:28,900 --> 00:23:38,900 We thank You that in the midst, maybe seeming like things aren't enough, or in the midst of grief, or in the midst 102 00:23:38,900 --> 00:23:48,900 of those dark trials where You've called us to take up our cross and follow You, that we can have peace and hope and thankfulness because You 103 00:23:48,900 --> 00:23:59,900 are with us and have provided for us and care for us. May the gospel not just simply be something that we think about in terms of 104 00:23:59,900 --> 00:24:12,900 facts, but may it be transformational. May we grab hold of Your goodness. May You surround us in Your love. May You show us the depth of Your 105 00:24:12,900 --> 00:24:23,900 grace. And as we break this bread and as we drink this cup, may we proclaim in thankfulness Your Son until He comes again. We ask that You 106 00:24:23,900 --> 00:24:33,900 bless this bread and this cup. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If you would partake of the bread that Jesus blessed and gave 107 00:24:33,900 --> 00:24:52,900 for us. In the same way, we take the new covenant in the blood of Jesus with great thankfulness. Father, we thank You 108 00:24:52,900 --> 00:24:59,900 for all the things that You have done. All the things that You have promised. All the hope that we have in 109 00:24:59,900 --> 00:25:07,900 Christ. All the power of the work of Your Spirit at work within us. And may You strengthen us for what lies ahead. May 110 00:25:07,900 --> 00:25:13,900 You direct us to Your mercy and grace. May we spread this wonderful message to the world. It's in Jesus' name 111 00:25:13,900 --> 00:25:21,900 we pray. Amen. This time, the children can be dismissed to Children's Church. We pray that God 112 00:25:21,900 --> 00:25:26,900 blesses you as you learn and grow in God's Word. And also this time... 113 00:25:51,900 --> 00:25:53,900 you're welcome. 114 00:26:21,900 --> 00:26:23,900 You're welcome. 115 00:26:51,900 --> 00:26:53,900 Let's pray. 116 00:27:21,900 --> 00:27:23,900 Let's pray. 117 00:27:51,900 --> 00:27:53,900 Let's pray. 118 00:40:51,900 --> 00:41:21,880 Before we spend a little bit of time taking a look at thankfulness, we want to sing a song. I think we've played the video in kind of our prelude a while back for probably four or five weeks, but we have not sung it. It's not a hard song to pick up, but it is a new song. 119 00:41:21,900 --> 00:41:38,900 And so we want to specifically direct your attention to the chorus, "I hold my hope is only Jesus." And so we're going to go ahead and listen and sing if you want as you pick it up. You're welcome to just join in. 120 00:41:51,900 --> 00:42:21,880 The gift of grace is Jesus my Redeemer. There is no hope for you now to be saved. He is my joy, my righteousness and freedom, my steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace. To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus my Redeemer. 121 00:42:21,900 --> 00:42:51,880 For my life is wholly bound to peace. Oh, how strange and divine I can see. All is mine, yet not I, but through Christ in me. 122 00:42:51,900 --> 00:43:12,900 The night is dark, but I am not forsaken. For by my side the Savior He will save. I labor on in weakness and for joy. 123 00:43:12,900 --> 00:43:33,900 I need His power is displayed. To this I hold. My shepherd will defend me. Through the deepest valley He will lead. 124 00:43:33,900 --> 00:43:46,900 Oh, the night has been won, and I shall overcome. Yet not I, but through Christ in me. 125 00:43:57,900 --> 00:44:23,900 No fate I dread, I know I am forgiven. The future's sure, the price it has been paid. For Jesus bled and suffered for my pardon. And He was raised to overthrow the grave. 126 00:44:23,900 --> 00:44:49,900 To this I hold, my sin has been defeated. Jesus, I'll end every day. All that chains are released, I can see. I am free, and not I, but through Christ in me. 127 00:44:53,900 --> 00:45:00,900 Let's pray. 128 00:45:00,900 --> 00:45:13,900 With every breath, I want to follow Jesus. For He has said that He will bring me home. And day by day, I know He will renew me. Until I stand with you, He will bring me home. 129 00:45:13,900 --> 00:45:40,900 And day by day, I know He will renew me. Until I stand with joy before the throne. To this I hold. My hope is only Jesus. Lord and glory evermore to me. 130 00:45:40,900 --> 00:46:07,900 When the race is complete to my lips, shall it be yet my life goes to Christ in me. To this I hold. My hope is only Jesus. All the glory evermore to me. 131 00:46:07,900 --> 00:46:20,900 When the race is complete to my lips, shall it be yet my life goes to Christ in me. 132 00:46:20,900 --> 00:46:34,900 When the race is complete to my lips, shall it be yet my life goes to Christ in me. 133 00:46:34,900 --> 00:46:47,900 Yet not I, but through Christ in me. Yet not I, but through Christ in me. 134 00:47:04,900 --> 00:47:06,900 Amen. 135 00:47:34,900 --> 00:47:36,900 Amen. 136 00:47:36,900 --> 00:47:38,900 Amen. 137 00:48:34,900 --> 00:49:04,880 How about now? There it goes. It may feel, when we think about thankfulness, that it is unimportant, right? I know this, you know this. Why do we need to talk about thankfulness? 138 00:49:04,880 --> 00:49:34,860 But the other struggle we come to with thankfulness beyond its simplicity or the fact that we overlook the importance is that when we come in those times in life where we are hurting or facing difficulty, thankfulness can feel, in some cases, a little bit unrealistic. What do I have to be thankful for? Some cases it might feel dishonest, like we are hiding 139 00:49:34,860 --> 00:50:04,840 our feelings by talking about how thankful we are rather than acknowledging our struggles. What we find about biblical thankfulness is that it's not the ordinary thank you for the mashed potatoes. It's not simply a sentimental response. It's not a seasonal attitude or decor. And biblically, it's not optional. Biblically, thankfulness is incredibly important. 140 00:50:04,840 --> 00:50:34,820 It's an incredibly important, not just outward picture, but it is incredibly important spiritually. It'll transform our worship, our struggles, our direction. And as we come to the week before Thanksgiving and one Sunday before Advent, I want us to think about thankfulness not as something that's nice and polite, but rather as something that is necessary. 141 00:50:34,820 --> 00:51:04,800 Thankfulness transforms our life. And first of all, I want us to see this morning that thankfulness brings light into the darkness. Now, the interesting thing, if you take a look throughout the Word of God at the idea of darkness, darkness can symbolize a lot of things. In some cases, it can symbolize the chaos of the world before creation. The darkness was over the face of the deep. Sometimes darkness can picture sin and brokenness and 142 00:51:04,800 --> 00:51:34,780 rebellion. Sometimes it can picture struggle and difficulty. Sometimes it can picture a lack of hope. But what all of these have in common, darkness in the Bible, is that it exists when people are far from the presence of God. That God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. And one of the things that thankfulness 143 00:51:34,780 --> 00:52:04,760 does, whether it's the darkness of sin or the darkness of struggle, it directs us to the light of God. And darkness can be scary, right? It seems to make everything worse. It makes everything seem bigger, more difficult. I was thinking about it this week because I left the church one night at like one in the morning. It makes you look suspicious. If I'm fiddling around with the church doors at 10 in the morning, right, nobody's thinking anything about that, but the guy driving by at one and I'm over 144 00:52:04,760 --> 00:52:34,740 here with the door and the keys, right? That looks very, very different. And so thankfulness, and one of the wonderful things that it does is that it lights up our path. And I want to see how it lights up our path in two different ways. First of all, thankfulness shows us a path away from the brokenness of sin. And we referenced this verse earlier from Romans chapter one, "For although they knew God, 145 00:52:34,740 --> 00:53:04,720 they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened." And so notice the picture and the process that happens in this verse. And if you read the larger surrounding context, you see the glory and the power of God through the creation that He has made, that He has revealed Himself, and that mankind knows God who reveals Himself, but rather than honoring Him, 146 00:53:04,720 --> 00:53:34,700 and giving thanks to Him, they became futile, and we became futile in our thinking, and our foolish hearts were darkened. You see, thankfulness has an impact that I think so often we frequently overlook. It's the thing that guards us from idolatry, and when we say idolatry, we mean worshiping anything other than God. And in doing so, by guarding us, thankfulness keeps us from darkened hearts, in part because it directs us 147 00:53:34,700 --> 00:54:04,680 to God. And one of the reasons that we find ourselves so often in the darkness of sin, Paul will say in Romans 1:21, is because we stopped being thankful. If you want to run from sin, if you want to fight sin, if you want the path through sin, that path is lit by thankfulness. Now, it would be simple and very easy here to simply say, "Be thankful," and you won't struggle with sin in the same way, but I'd rather just sort of show you in three 148 00:54:04,680 --> 00:54:34,660 ways how this practically works. So we'll start here. In our selfishness, thankfulness directs us to generosity as we see God's generosity. Think about what selfishness says to our heart. And if you've ever seen Finding Nemo and you've got the seagulls, perhaps the realist portrayal of a seagull in any movie, right, they're just going, "Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine." And if you've ever eaten french fries at the beach, right, you know exactly 149 00:54:34,660 --> 00:55:04,640 how that works. There's a flock of seagulls, and they're all going, "I want that. Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine." And our hearts frequently and selfishly do the same thing. I deserve this. I've worked for it. It's mine. And in that struggle of selfishness, look what happens when we become thankful. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. Coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is 150 00:55:04,640 --> 00:55:34,620 no variation or shadow due to change. What thankfulness does, as we begin to see the giver and the maker of gifts, but that God is, that every gift that is good and perfect comes from Him, it begins to loosen the grip of our heart on that word, "mine." And we begin to say, "His." And I realize that the things that I'm so selfishly holding on to 151 00:55:34,620 --> 00:56:04,600 are not mine, but they're the gifts of God. And what you begin to see is it begins to reverse that picture in Romans 1, where that darkness of selfishness and chasing my own desires and my own wants, in the light of thankfulness, begins to direct me to God. Very closely related in our desires and cravings, thankfulness directs us to contentment as we see God's goodness. 152 00:56:04,600 --> 00:56:34,580 We think about how we need more or what we have isn't enough. And in fact, isn't this the lie that has been very much since the beginning? To Adam and Eve in the garden, as the serpent speaks to Eve, it's like, yeah, God's given you a lot of things, but he hasn't given you this tree. That God hasn't given you enough. Look how good it looks. Look how bad. I bet it tastes great. It's going to make you wise. And this lie since the very beginning is that here's something 153 00:56:34,580 --> 00:57:04,560 You want it. You don't have it. You should go get it. And thankfulness cuts through that lie of the desire of sin. And it does so like this. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. In that moment of desire, and instead of giving into the worship of something else, which is what happens when we chase our desires, that this is what's going to 154 00:57:04,560 --> 00:57:34,540 make me happy. This is what's going to make me whole. We trust God's timing. We trust God's generosity. And we forget not all of his benefits. You see, pride shines a path through our selfishness, through our sinful desires. And in our pride, thankfulness directs us to humility as we see God's greatness. Thankfulness begins to change that pride. Look at how great I am to humility. 155 00:57:34,540 --> 00:58:04,520 Paul says this to the Corinthian church who was struggling, "I'm better than you because of who taught me about Jesus. I'm better than you because of my spiritual gifts. I'm better than you because I believe this about this other thing. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you have received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?" You see, what thankfulness does is it takes us away from the false worship of self and it directs 156 00:58:04,520 --> 00:58:34,500 us to God. It lights the way to realign our path with the God who gives and provides and sustains. It brings light into the darkness. It brings us to worship and away from sin. What you see is that as thankfulness shows us a path away from sin, it also shows us a path that goes through darkness and despair. And it does so by 157 00:58:34,500 --> 00:58:49,500 directing us to God's goodness. So in the same way that thankfulness takes us away from pride by showing us God's goodness, thankfulness brings us through those dark valleys by showing us God's goodness as well. Listen to these words in Habakkuk chapter 3. 158 00:58:49,500 --> 00:59:04,480 "Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. 159 00:59:04,480 --> 00:59:34,460 joy in the God of my salvation. God the Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the deer. He makes me tread on the high places." And I want you to hear what is happening in these verses. First of all, what we see in verse 17 is that everything is falling apart. Ancient Israel is an agricultural or agrarian society, and things are not going well. If you reference back to verse 17, what you find is those sort of permanent, 160 00:59:34,460 --> 01:00:04,440 every year type crops, the trees and the vines, the olives and the grapes, they're not blossoming, they're not producing fruit, and they're failing. And then the annual crops, they get planted every year, the essentials. They're yielding no food, which means, in this case, grain, which was the primary survival food of the ancient world. If you had bread, you would stay alive. 161 01:00:04,440 --> 01:00:17,440 As he goes to the widow, and he says, "Hey, can I stay with you?" And she says, "I've got enough bread for one last meal, then we're gonna die." And then God miraculously keeps the flour and keeps the oil going. 162 01:00:17,440 --> 01:00:27,440 They're annual crops, the ones they depend on for survival. The trees and the vines are luxuries. This is survival. They don't have that. 163 01:00:27,440 --> 01:00:34,420 But then verse 17 goes even a little further, that livestock, there's no flocks in the field, there's no herds in the stall. 164 01:00:34,420 --> 01:00:42,420 The trees and vines can be replanted. They may take some time to regrow, but they can be replanted. Your fields can be restarted. 165 01:00:42,420 --> 01:00:50,420 But what happens when you lose all your livestock? And your neighbor loses all his livestock. And throughout the land, all of the livestock are dead. 166 01:00:50,420 --> 01:00:56,420 You have to buy more, but you've lost all your livestock. And you've lost all your fields, and you've lost all your trees. 167 01:00:56,420 --> 01:01:04,400 The reality in this text, in verse 17, is not just hard times, but devastating times. And if you consider how often we respond 168 01:01:04,400 --> 01:01:15,400 in those times, it's right bitterness and blame. Maybe we give up. And what we find is, I don't think this is ultimately about food, 169 01:01:15,400 --> 01:01:25,400 although it is a picture of famine in that time, but it is a picture of those times in life for us where life has been devastated. 170 01:01:25,400 --> 01:01:34,380 And look at how Habakkuk responds. He responds by praising God specifically for his salvation and goodness 171 01:01:34,380 --> 01:01:43,380 not after the devastation, but in the midst of it. And then he has a deliberate declaration of hope. 172 01:01:43,380 --> 01:01:50,380 He says, "God is the one who gives strength and stability, and he leads his people." 173 01:01:50,380 --> 01:01:55,380 You say, "Well, what does all this have to do with thankfulness?" 174 01:01:55,380 --> 01:02:04,360 Right, what Habakkuk is saying is, "Look at what God has done so far, and he is going to continue to lead me, and continue to guide me, 175 01:02:04,360 --> 01:02:11,360 and continue to give me strength." Much like when we sing Amazing Grace, and we sing that line, "Grace has brought me safe this far. 176 01:02:11,360 --> 01:02:19,360 Grace will bring me home." Right, thankfulness is the light that shows us a path through the darkness of despair. 177 01:02:19,360 --> 01:02:27,360 The path of hope that God has promised, and that he has done it, and that he will continue to do it. 178 01:02:27,360 --> 01:02:34,340 And our path, directed by God, is not always away from suffering, but it is through it. 179 01:02:34,340 --> 01:02:40,340 One of the things that thankfulness does in our life is it shines a light and shows us how to avoid sin, 180 01:02:40,340 --> 01:02:48,340 how to bring us through trials by directing our attention in both of those situations on the greatness of God. 181 01:02:48,340 --> 01:02:59,340 Next, I want you to see how thankfulness strengthens our feet. And I want to do so by taking a look at Exodus 15, 16, and 17. 182 01:02:59,340 --> 01:03:04,320 And I want you to see how God is in control of all things. 183 01:03:04,320 --> 01:03:10,320 God has done some amazing things for Israel. He's brought them out. He's raised up a leader. He's heard their prayers. 184 01:03:10,320 --> 01:03:17,320 He's raised up a leader. He's brought plagues upon the Egyptians. They've been released. They're carrying with them the riches of Egypt. 185 01:03:17,320 --> 01:03:24,320 He has split the Dead Sea or the Red Sea in half. And Moses and the people are going to sing this song, "I will sing to the Lord, 186 01:03:24,320 --> 01:03:31,320 for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider has been thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song. 187 01:03:31,320 --> 01:03:38,320 He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him. My Father's God, and I will exalt him." 188 01:03:38,320 --> 01:03:43,320 And at the end of this song, you bring them in, speaking of God's people, and plant them on your own mountain. 189 01:03:43,320 --> 01:03:49,320 The place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode. The sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. 190 01:03:49,320 --> 01:03:59,320 The Lord will reign forever and ever. This wonderful song of praise, which ends in verse 18. 191 01:03:59,320 --> 01:04:06,320 So exactly six verses later, you find this: 192 01:04:06,320 --> 01:04:11,320 The people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" 193 01:04:11,320 --> 01:04:13,320 A few verses after this: 194 01:04:13,320 --> 01:04:18,320 The whole congregation of people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 195 01:04:18,320 --> 01:04:22,320 And the people of Israel said, "Would that we have died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, 196 01:04:22,320 --> 01:04:27,320 when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into the wilderness 197 01:04:27,320 --> 01:04:31,320 to kill this whole assembly with hunger?" 198 01:04:31,320 --> 01:04:36,320 And then in chapter 17, we're back to that picture of water. 199 01:04:36,320 --> 01:04:41,320 But the people have thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, 200 01:04:41,320 --> 01:04:47,320 "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" 201 01:04:47,320 --> 01:04:51,320 Consider what God has done for the people. At every turn, He has answered their prayer. 202 01:04:51,320 --> 01:04:55,320 He hears their cries in Egypt. He raises up a deliverer. 203 01:04:55,320 --> 01:04:58,320 Pharaoh says, "I won't let you go." 204 01:04:58,320 --> 01:05:09,320 So God, in essentially a spiritual battle against Pharaoh and his picture as the God of all of Egypt and the gods they worship. 205 01:05:09,320 --> 01:05:14,320 Ten plagues come. People are released. The sea is split in half. 206 01:05:14,320 --> 01:05:20,320 They sing praises, and almost immediately they begin to grumble about water, and God gives them water. 207 01:05:20,320 --> 01:05:24,320 And they grumble about food, and God gives them food, and they grumble again about water. 208 01:05:24,320 --> 01:05:33,320 And God gives them water, and in every place where they stop and they grumble, their progress stops. 209 01:05:33,320 --> 01:05:36,320 And in part, I think it's because they cease to be thankful. 210 01:05:36,320 --> 01:05:43,320 Because if they are approaching this as thankful people, God has brought us out of Egypt, and we're thankful, and I'm thirsty. 211 01:05:43,320 --> 01:05:47,320 And the God who brought me through the sea can certainly provide me water. 212 01:05:47,320 --> 01:05:51,320 And the God who provided me water can certainly provide me food. 213 01:05:51,320 --> 01:05:56,320 And the God who's already provided me deliverance, water, and food can certainly provide me water again. 214 01:05:56,320 --> 01:06:06,320 You see, thankfulness changes how you see things, and it moves you from grumbling to faith in God, which allows you to keep walking in the midst of the wilderness. 215 01:06:06,320 --> 01:06:15,320 But also, notice this. When we stop being thankful, when we become ungrateful, we start to rewrite the past. 216 01:06:15,320 --> 01:06:29,320 In that passage in Exodus chapter 16 that we just read, as the people are hungry, and they go, "You know, back in Egypt we sat by pots filled with meat, and we had all the bread we wanted." Absolutely not true. 217 01:06:29,320 --> 01:06:41,320 You are a slave, and you're getting the bare minimum of sustenance, and you're going out and working from dawn to dusk, eating just enough to stay alive, falling asleep, and waking up and doing it all over again. 218 01:06:41,320 --> 01:06:47,320 But in your ungratefulness, you begin to look back to that slavery and say, "Wasn't it wonderful?" 219 01:06:47,320 --> 01:06:55,320 You see, when we become ungrateful, we begin to long for a past that, interestingly enough, in most places did not exist. 220 01:06:55,320 --> 01:07:01,320 And what happens is the lack of thankfulness brings them to a stop, and it will for you. 221 01:07:01,320 --> 01:07:06,320 And in part, the reason it brings us to a stop is because now all the burden falls on our shoulders. 222 01:07:06,320 --> 01:07:11,320 How will I do this? How will I get water? How will I get food? But in thankfulness, 223 01:07:11,320 --> 01:07:15,320 we see the God who provides their water and provides their food. 224 01:07:15,320 --> 01:07:21,320 And what you find is that thankfulness ultimately sends us forward with joy. 225 01:07:21,320 --> 01:07:26,320 Think about their situation and what God has done. 226 01:07:26,320 --> 01:07:31,320 You said instead of being stopped by complaints and grumbling, we should be propelled forward in joy. 227 01:07:31,320 --> 01:07:40,320 Just one quick example from Acts chapter 16. And I love this beginning of the church in Philippi because you see God calling to himself. 228 01:07:40,320 --> 01:07:47,320 People from every social walk. You have rich, very poor, somewhere in the middle. 229 01:07:47,320 --> 01:07:56,320 You have men, you have women, you have slave, you have free. And Paul has run afoul of the authorities. 230 01:07:56,320 --> 01:08:06,320 He and Silas have been beaten. They've been thrown into the stocks, and they are in the darkest, worst part of the prison. 231 01:08:06,320 --> 01:08:11,320 And they were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 232 01:08:11,320 --> 01:08:21,320 And maybe they're singing with tears in their eyes, but you find that in their knowledge of God, their joy goes deeper than superficial happiness. 233 01:08:21,320 --> 01:08:26,320 And what happens when God gives them an opportunity in just a verse later. 234 01:08:26,320 --> 01:08:38,320 They not only respond by doing the right thing, but they respond in a way that brings the gospel not just to the guy who runs the jail, but to his entire household. 235 01:08:38,320 --> 01:08:47,320 And as we get ready next week to step into the season of Advent, part of Advent is a season of waiting. 236 01:08:47,320 --> 01:08:58,320 And one of the things that keeps us moving is this gratitude and this praise and this worship, even through the tears and the difficult situations that God is in control, right? 237 01:08:58,320 --> 01:09:05,320 Thankfulness gives us a path away from sin, through difficulty. It keeps us moving in the desert. 238 01:09:05,320 --> 01:09:15,320 And I think most importantly of all, it lifts us, lifts our eyes to the one who gives us all things. 239 01:09:15,320 --> 01:09:20,320 Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 9, this passage of generosity. 240 01:09:20,320 --> 01:09:24,320 He says, "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift." 241 01:09:24,320 --> 01:09:30,320 At the end of his exposition of both the gospel and the defense of the resurrection, he says this, 242 01:09:30,320 --> 01:09:35,320 "But thanks be to God who gives us the victory for our Lord Jesus Christ." 243 01:09:35,320 --> 01:09:43,320 And as we referenced this morning, when he took bread and he had given thanks, he broke it, this is Jesus, and gave it to them, 244 01:09:43,320 --> 01:09:49,320 saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 245 01:09:49,320 --> 01:09:55,320 And Jesus, as he does this, it's thankfulness before his suffering. 246 01:09:55,320 --> 01:09:58,320 Thankfulness before the deliverance. 247 01:09:58,320 --> 01:10:03,320 Thankfulness where joy, we will see, will be found on the other side. 248 01:10:03,320 --> 01:10:09,320 And I want to just zoom in on this picture of Jesus being thankful in this moment for the bread and for the cup. 249 01:10:09,320 --> 01:10:15,320 The Passover meal is celebrating the remembrance of the promises of God. 250 01:10:15,320 --> 01:10:17,320 Four big promises. 251 01:10:17,320 --> 01:10:21,320 The first is, "I will bring you out from under the burden of the Egyptians." 252 01:10:21,320 --> 01:10:24,320 The second is, "I will deliver you from slavery to them." 253 01:10:24,320 --> 01:10:30,320 The third is this, "I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment." 254 01:10:30,320 --> 01:10:36,320 And the fourth promise is, "I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God." 255 01:10:36,320 --> 01:10:46,320 And as Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper, He does so in remembrance, in that point in the Passover meal, of this third promise out of four. 256 01:10:46,320 --> 01:10:51,320 "I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment." 257 01:10:51,320 --> 01:10:58,320 And God says to His people in the wilderness, "I am coming, and I am going to stretch out my arm in power." 258 01:10:58,320 --> 01:11:03,320 And in judgment, I will defeat your enemies." 259 01:11:03,320 --> 01:11:08,320 And then here comes Jesus. 260 01:11:08,320 --> 01:11:13,320 And He's going to fulfill this promise in a different way. 261 01:11:13,320 --> 01:11:19,320 He's going to redeem us with His arms stretched out upon the cross. 262 01:11:19,320 --> 01:11:25,320 And the great act of judgment will be our sin upon His shoulders. 263 01:11:25,320 --> 01:11:30,320 And because of that, we can be taken to be the people of God. 264 01:11:30,320 --> 01:11:36,320 And so when Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper, and He says, "I'm thankful for this bread, which is my body. 265 01:11:36,320 --> 01:11:39,320 I'm thankful for this cup, which is the new covenant." 266 01:11:39,320 --> 01:11:51,320 He's pointing us toward something more wonderful, that there is deliverance, there is joy, but it is found in the goodness of God. 267 01:11:51,320 --> 01:11:57,320 You see, we've talked about thankfulness in the darkness of sin and in hopelessness and in the wilderness. 268 01:11:57,320 --> 01:12:05,320 And here we come to Jesus, the One who comes to sinners in darkness with light, and He comes to the hopeless with hope, 269 01:12:05,320 --> 01:12:10,320 and He comes to the thirsty, and to the hungry, and to the fearful people in the wilderness. 270 01:12:10,320 --> 01:12:20,320 And thankfulness ultimately isn't about the stuff. It's the One who comes close, and who loves, and who saves, and who is one day coming again. 271 01:12:20,320 --> 01:12:25,320 We give thanks, not because our circumstances are easy, but because God is faithful. 272 01:12:25,320 --> 01:12:31,320 Not because the wilderness is comfortable, but because God walks with us through it. 273 01:12:31,320 --> 01:12:40,320 Not because all of those things that we want are fulfilled, but because of Christ, the indescribable gift has come. 274 01:12:40,320 --> 01:12:51,320 And so as we celebrate Thanksgiving on a day, the prayer is that it would not simply be a day, but a life for us. 275 01:12:51,320 --> 01:12:58,320 And as we prepare to enter the season of Advent, my prayer is that thankfulness would light our way, 276 01:12:58,320 --> 01:13:08,320 not just with the candles, but our thanksgiving for the gift of Christ would show us the way away from sin, 277 01:13:08,320 --> 01:13:12,320 that it would show us the way through the darkness and give us hopeful vision, 278 01:13:12,320 --> 01:13:16,320 that it will strengthen our feet to help us walk in the wilderness without stopping, 279 01:13:16,320 --> 01:13:21,320 and that it will most of all lift our eyes to the Son of God, 280 01:13:21,320 --> 01:13:26,320 fixing our hearts and our minds on Christ our Savior. 281 01:13:26,320 --> 01:13:31,320 So it's my prayer this morning that God prepares us to see Jesus, 282 01:13:31,320 --> 01:13:37,320 whether in the longing or the waiting or in the wilderness of our lives. Let's pray. 283 01:13:37,320 --> 01:13:45,320 Father in heaven, turn our eyes away from the frivolous and the perishing, 284 01:13:45,320 --> 01:13:53,320 and the brokenness and the hopelessness of this world, and may you fix them on your glory. 285 01:13:53,320 --> 01:13:56,320 And that we might live for your glory. 286 01:13:56,320 --> 01:14:02,320 We may sing and pray and read your Scriptures to glorify you in the midst of a dark world. 287 01:14:02,320 --> 01:14:08,320 May we be little lights that reflect your great light into this world. 288 01:14:08,320 --> 01:14:12,320 Help us to be thankful. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 289 01:14:12,320 --> 01:14:17,320 And if you would go ahead and be standing. We're going to sing "Turn Your Eyes." 290 01:14:42,320 --> 01:15:12,300 Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of Jesus. 291 01:15:12,320 --> 01:15:42,300 And the light of His glory and grace. Turn your eyes to that hillside where justice and mercy embrace. There the Son of God gave His life for us. 292 01:15:42,320 --> 01:16:12,300 And our measureless death was erased. Jesus, to You we lift our eyes. Jesus, our glory and our Christ. We adore You, behold You, our Savior ever true. 293 01:16:12,320 --> 01:16:42,300 O Jesus, we turn our eyes to You. Turn your eyes to the morning and see Christ the light in us. 294 01:16:42,320 --> 01:16:59,320 What a glorious dawn. Fear of death is gone, for we carry His life in our veins. 295 01:16:59,320 --> 01:17:12,300 To You we lift our rise. Jesus, our glory and our prize. 296 01:17:12,300 --> 01:17:42,280 We adore You. We hold You. We are true. Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes to You. 297 01:17:42,280 --> 01:18:12,260 Jesus, we lift our eyes. Jesus, our glory and our God. 298 01:18:12,260 --> 01:18:42,240 We adore You, behold You, our Savior ever true. Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes to You. 299 01:18:42,240 --> 01:19:12,220 We adore You, behold You, our Savior ever true. Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes to You. Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes to You. 300 01:19:12,220 --> 01:19:42,200 We are so thankful that you are here with us this morning. A couple of announcements. There will be no Wednesday evening Bible study. This week, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, also if you need an address or details for George's service, we can 301 01:19:42,200 --> 01:20:12,180 pass those along to you. You can either see me or mom and dad after church. Next Sunday, we are beginning the first Sunday of Advent. We're doing something a little different with our devotions. We will have some devotional booklets. You can also get those as a PDF on our website later this week. But we have some blocks that I've been laser engraving downstairs. Thankfully, we have not set very many 302 01:20:12,180 --> 01:20:42,160 fires yet in the church, but they match up with a little bit of a symbol to give us a visual representation that symbolizes sort of the theme for that day and a devotion that goes along with that. So you can sort of set them down, sort of counting up to Christmas and sort of walk through that. That way, if you don't want to use that, I know sometimes the kids like to sort of do that. You can also just use the devotions. So those will be available 303 01:20:42,160 --> 01:21:12,140 next week, or next Sunday as well. We'll also have some done later this week, and I might have one set of blocks in addition to our demonstration ones already made. So that's what's happening next week. So we'll have some candles next week, some children with fire, which they look forward to every year as we walk toward Advent. There's also a little bit of a summary of where we're going and what we're doing over the next several weeks as well. 304 01:21:12,140 --> 01:21:42,120 we'll read from this psalm, Psalm 33, and then we will be dismissed. Father in heaven, thank you for your goodness and for your grace and for how you have watched over us and how you have saved us. Be with us as we walk through this week. May you give us strength. May you help us in the midst of temptation to lift our eyes to you, and in the midst of darkness lift our eyes to you, that in those times when we're tempted to complain, in those times when we struggle, that we would see your goodness in 305 01:21:42,120 --> 01:22:12,100 that we would be thankful. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield, for our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. And so as we go, may the Lord be your help and be your shield. May He fill your heart with gladness, and hopefully some pumpkin pie as 306 01:22:12,100 --> 01:22:27,100 as well. May you trust in His holy name. May His steadfast love rest upon you. May He strengthen your steps, lift your eyes, and fill you with a living hope in Jesus Christ our Lord. 307 01:22:27,100 --> 01:22:42,080 We're trying. 308 01:22:42,080 --> 01:23:12,060 Let's pray. 309 01:23:12,060 --> 01:23:42,040 Let's pray. 310 01:23:42,060 --> 01:24:12,040 Let's pray.