Well, this morning, we're going to be concluding
with the time of communion at the end of the
service. But I wanted to spend a few moments
on this Thanksgiving weekend out of Psalm 107.
You're going to want your Bible today. You might
want your notebook. As I was in Psalm 107, I
was struck by the beauty of the pattern. that
is seen. It was a continued pattern through the
first half of the chapter. And as we did that,
I'm like Psalm 107 just like wrote my sermon
for me. But I want to just begin by opening with
verses one and two. Give thanks to the Lord for
he is good. His love endures forever. Let the
redeemed of the Lord. Tell their story. That's
just what the girls were talking about. Let the
redeemed tell their story. Nobody else can tell
your story. Only you can tell your story. So
tell your story. And so Emerson said this. He
said that if the stars came out only once a year,
everybody would stay up all night to behold them.
We have seen the stars so often that we don't
bother to look at them anymore. We have grown
accustomed to our blessings. I had that thought
when a couple of weeks ago, Darren and I were
flying home from Texas, from Dallas. And we were
flying. Now, I typically don't want a window
seat. I can't look out the window because I get
sick. But I was doing pretty good because I had
my Dramamine in me. And so as we were coming
down into St. Louis, I thought it was so rude.
The lady in my row kept her window closed the
whole time, so I couldn't see anything. So I'm
looking out at somebody else's window, and it
was the peak fall colors. flying down over St.
Louis. It was a sea of colorful trees. And then
I start looking around the airplane, and I see
not one person looking out the window. They all
were on their phones and tablets. And I had the
thought, beyond just the fact that... We have
this sea of beauty outside our window. We've
grown so accustomed even to the idea of flying
that we don't look at what's outside our window.
We grow accustomed to our blessings. And so today
as we are reading through Psalm 107, I want us
to take a few moments on this Thanksgiving weekend,
and I want us to call to mind. The blessings
that he has given to us. The Israelites had this
problem themselves. They even in the wilderness
had grown accustomed to their blessings. They
were without food and they were longing for the
food of Egypt. And they begin to complain. They
begin to complain. And so what does God do? He
begins to feed them every morning with manna.
Every morning, I'm like, man, you don't even
got to cook. You don't got to do dishes. Right?
I have dishes I have to go home and wash today.
This is my reality. But if food, like, I don't
care. You have me to your house. I don't care
what you cook for me. I didn't have to cook it,
and I'm not cleaning it up. So I will take great
joy in that food. But the Israelites grew accustomed
to their blessing. And they got a bit of a complaining
spirit. And they said this, but now our whole
being is dried up. They're so dramatic. Our whole
being is dried up. There is nothing at all except
this manna before our eyes. I kind of feel this
way when Darren's in Petersburg. He hasn't been
there in like four months. So he's there today.
So I can again say whatever I want because he's
not here. I feel this way when I'm in the living
room and I can hear Darren roaming the kitchen.
And I hear the refrigerator being opened. And
I know he's just standing there staring at it.
And I'll call out suggestions. There's this in
there. There's this in there. There's this in
there. I'm going to go to Thornton's and get
a hot dog. Right? This is all we have in here,
healthy stuff. I'm drying up. I need a greasy
hot dog. Nothing but manna. They are experiencing
a miracle of God's provision every morning. And
they grew tired of it. How many of you remember
Keith Green? Some of you older ones. Darren and
I are big Keith Green. We read his book. I read
his book multiple times. Love Keith Green. And
so he wrote. How many of you remember his manna
song? Oh, yeah. Oh, no. Manna again? Manna waffles.
Manna burgers. Manna bagels? Filet of manna.
Manna patty? But manna bread. And then he goes
on to say this. We once complained for something
new to munch. The ground opened up and had some
of us for lunch. He had a way of really getting
to the heart of things. In Numbers 11, this is
what happened. God finally sends meat to them.
But in the sending of the meat, in the provision
of the meat, God gets exasperated with them.
And it says that they buried the people who had
been so greedy for meat. They called the place
graves for the greedy. Graves for the greedy.
I don't know about you, but I don't want my life
to be a grave of the greedy. I don't want to
become so accustomed to my blessings that I have
a complaining spirit and I forget to be thankful.
And so in Psalm 107, We're going to look here
in this rhythm of this psalm, the beauty of this
psalm. And we're going to, some of this is going
to apply. You're going to be like, ah, that was
me. That's who I was before Christ. Some of you
in here might say, that's me now. I need Christ.
But we're going to begin, we'll just begin from
the beginning once again in verse 1. Give thanks
to the Lord. For he is good, his love endures
forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their
story. Those who he redeemed from the hand of
the foe. Those he gathered from the lands, from
east and west and north and south. Some wandered
in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city
where they could settle. They were hungry. and
thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. This person
would be the distressed wanderer, and that might
have been some of you, wandering from this thing
to the next thing, hungry and thirsty, unable
to find anything that can satisfy, anything that
can settle your spirit to say, I'm home, I'm
at rest, I'm at peace, I'm content. You were
this desert wanderer, this distressed wanderer.
When we look, we see in the New Testament a wonderful
example of this, and Kathy was even referring
to it. In Luke 15, we have the account of the
prodigal. And when I read the account of the
prodigal, I see a distressed wanderer. He, in
verse 13, the younger son, it says he gathers
everything that he had, and he set off for a
distant country where he squandered his wealth
in wild living. He was going from one thing to
the next thing to the next thing, but nothing
could ever satisfy. Nothing could ever fill this
hunger he didn't know what it was for, this thirst
he didn't recognize why it was there. And so
it says, after he'd spent everything, there was
a severe famine in the country, and he began
to be in need. So he went and he hired himself
out to a citizen in the country who sent him
to his fields to feed the pigs. Let's remember,
you might think pigs are cute, and we'd certainly
enjoy eating pigs, but for him, this was an unclean
food. This was an unclean animal. It's bad enough
that he's going to take care of these pigs, but
for his culture, these are unclean animals. Verse
16, he longed to fill his stomach with the pods
that the pigs were eating. But no one gave him
anything. And then there's verse 17. And it says,
he came to his senses. I pray that over my kid.
He came to his senses. He said, how many of my
father's hired servants have food to spare? And
here I am starving to death. I will set out and
go back to my father and say, I've sinned against
heaven and you. I'm no longer worthy to be called
your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.
So he got up and he went to his father. What
did he do? He went back to the source. He went
back to that place that would satisfy the hunger,
that would satisfy the thirst, that would be
his resting, his home place. I am at rest here.
He was a distressed wanderer. And in Psalm 107,
verse 6, here's what the distressed wanderers
do. They eventually will cry out to the Lord
in their trouble. And he delivered them from
their distress. He led them by a straight way
to a city where they could settle. He brought
them home. They cried out to the Lord, and he
brought them home. If this is you today, you're
saying, I don't know, there's just this thing
I can't be satisfied. I can't seem to settle
into anything. Some people like this will go
from job to job to job to job, relationship to
relationship to relationship, church to church
to church, because they can't find in God what
they need. And so they search everywhere. Let
those, how many of you would say, that was me,
I was a distressed wanderer. I had a hunger and
a thirst and I didn't know how to satisfy it,
right? Many of you raising your hands. And so
those who were the distressed wanderer, if that
is you, verse 8 and 9, let them give thanks to
the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful
deeds for mankind. For he satisfies the thirsty,
and he fills the hungry with good things. How
many of you, God has done wondrous deeds on your
behalf. He has satisfied you. He has filled you
with good things. Give thanks today. Give praise
today. The distressed wanderer. In the next portion,
we see another. In verse 10, some sat in darkness,
in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron
chains because they rebelled against God's commands
and despised the plans of the Most High. So he
subjected them to bitter labor. They stumbled
and there was no one to help. Some of you came
out of the place of great darkness. The chains
of the kingdom of darkness were heavy around
your neck. And it wasn't until he came, and there's
a beautiful passage that says that he ushers
us out of the kingdom of darkness and into the
kingdom of light. Right? How many of you, that's
me. I was ushered in out of the darkness and
into the light. I read. the account of a young
lady named Sophia. This is a little lengthy,
but I think you're going to be blessed by her
testimony. It was printed in Christianity Today.
But she tells her story saying, my earliest memory
is of crying inside a locked supply room. My
mother had sold me as a child laborer, as she
often did. I was three. At four, my mother sold
me for $58 as a child laborer to the imam of
the neighborhood's Muslim community. I lived
in a locked room and by age 25 gave birth to
two girls, both taken from me immediately. At
this point, life became unbearable. It felt unbearable,
and when I began, it's when that unbearable moment
hit her. that she began to hear a gentle whisper
in her ear, it's okay, just stay alive. I didn't
know who or what this voice was, but it comforted
me. It was powerful yet gentle. One night, not
long after the birth of her second child, she
awoke at three in the morning to the voice telling
me to escape through the window. I was confused,
but the voice said, it's time. I bargained with
the voice. If I jump, you have to promise I'll
get back everything I have lost. It was a second
story window. Helped by a woman in the community,
she was sent to another town to work where a
U .S. Army officer began to pursue her romantically.
She followed him to Chicago. where it was not
the fresh start she had hoped for. During the
next six and a half years, the man abused me.
I tested positive for HIV, developed tuberculosis,
and landed in the hospital, wrecked with despair.
All the money I'd earned working in Chicago went
toward my medical bills. Soon I had nothing left,
and the officer sent me back to Bangkok. I never
saw him again. For three months, I languished
alone in a hospital bed. My legs became paralyzed,
and though I could hear what went on around me,
I could not move or see. I could not remember
my name or who I was. During this season of torment,
I silently called upon every God I knew, yet
nothing happened. An American friend visited
and talked about Jesus with me, asking, why don't
you ask Jesus to be your Savior? Unable to say
anything or acknowledge that I had heard, I cried
out to Jesus in my heart, if you are with me,
come save me. For three months, I languished
alone in a hospital bed. This season in that
torment, she called on Jesus, but nothing had
changed, right? She didn't see any change at
all. But what she did is what Psalm 107, verse
13 now says again. They cried out to the Lord
in their trouble, and he saved them from their
distress. He brought them out of darkness, the
utter darkness, and broke away their chains.
She didn't know it yet, but she had called on
Jesus, and he was at work bringing her out of
darkness and breaking her chains of bondage and
infirmity. Her story continues. After crying
out to Jesus, she went for six weeks without
food or medicine, only water. Yet strangely,
I never felt like I was alone, because the voice
that had spoken to me all those years ago spoke
again, live. That's all it takes, one word, live.
In that little house, I understood that it had
been Jesus' voice all along. And in his presence,
I slowly came back to life. My wounds healed.
My spirits lifted. And one day, it seemed as
if Jesus was telling me, come out. See, her family
had sequestered her in isolation in that little
room. And now Jesus is saying to her, come out.
I stumbled out of the wooden house like Lazarus.
My family, the villagers, and the doctors who
tried to heal me were all shocked. A pastor in
Bangkok had visited me while on my deathbed.
After my miraculous healing, he brought me to
a ministry called The Well to help me recuperate.
I told him I wanted to learn more about the voice
that had brought me back to life. And that's
when I gave my life to Jesus. The pastor helped
me enroll at a Baptist seminary in Bangkok where
I received my biblical studies certificate. Not
long after I graduated, I felt God calling me
back to return to the Muslim community I had
escaped. Only God can do this in a life. Go back,
God said. Learn to forgive and love them. The
community still had both my daughters, and they
didn't want to return them to me because I had
become a Christian. But I slowly reestablished
connections. I brought food and had meals with
people. I accompanied elderly women to the hospital
and shared how Jesus had befriended and saved
me. Eight years after I returned to the community,
The imam who had enslaved me called me on the
phone, was dying of cancer and wanted to see
me. I sat next to him and he asked me to forgive
him and said, can you give me bread and coffee?
I was stunned. He had locked me up for years.
Why should I forgive and serve him? What was
I even doing sitting there next to him? Then
I remembered Jesus and his command to forgive
and love my enemies. I took the bread. I believe
this is the table of the Lord. I took the bread
and I gave it to the imam. And the chains in
my heart broke. I felt true freedom at last from
this man and those terrible years. Later, right
before he died, the imam asked if I wanted to
have my daughters back. He didn't need to ask
twice. Today, my two daughters, 25 and 32, live
with me. When I jumped out of that window, I
asked God to give me everything back. He kept
his promise. He kept my daughters safe and returned
them to me. He has transformed my suffering into
an open door to minister to others in dire situations
in Thailand, including prostitutes, abandoned
children, and those who have been trafficked
or without homes. Listen, only God can bring
you out of that kind of darkness. Only God can
break those kind of chains of bitterness and
woundedness. Only God can do that. And for some
of you, you might say, well, my story isn't that.
Listen, it doesn't matter. Your darkness may
be different. Your chains may be different. They
may be of a lighter weight chain or maybe a heavier
chain. It doesn't matter. There's no chain that
is too heavy or too strong for the power of Jesus
Christ. Not one. There's no darkness that cannot
be lit up with the light of Christ. And so for
some of you, this was you. You were in the darkness.
You were captured by the chains. Maybe it's you
today. Maybe you're in a darkness. Maybe you
have chains. We have a great deliverer, Jesus
Christ, who's just waiting to shed light in your
darkness and break every chain. And so those
of you who were darkness dwellers, Psalm 107
verse 10 calls to you. Let them give thanks to
the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful
deeds for mankind. For he breaks down gates of
bronze and cuts through bars of iron. So give
praise, give thanks. Hallelujah. The next portion
of Psalm 107, the next person that we find in
this chapter, In verse 17, some became fools
through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction
because of their iniquities. They loathed all
food and drew near the gates of death. This next
person is the rebellious one. Israel, God's people
in the Old Testament, this is their story, isn't
it? Time and time again, they would rebel. Against
the Lord. In fact, in Isaiah 48, he gives a picture
of Israel. It's not a great picture. In fact,
he says, listen to this, you descendants of Jacob.
You who are called by the name of Israel. I knew
how stubborn you were. Your neck muscles were
iron. Your forehead was bronze. Some of you in
here were very stubborn in bowing to your Lord.
You came the hard way to bow before the Lord.
You had a neck of iron. Your forehead was bronze.
You could just like beat your head against the
wall. He goes on to say, I am the Lord your God
who teaches you what is best for you. This is
the thing about the stubborn, rebellious one
is they think they know what's best for themselves.
And God is saying, no, I'm the one that teaches
you what is best for you, who directs you in
the way you should go. This is my favorite passage.
Oh, if only, if only you had heeded. If only
you had heeded and paid attention to my commands,
you would have had peace. Your peace would have
been like a river. Your well -being like the
waves of the sea. How many of you, you were that
rebellious one. You came to the Lord the hard
way. Yeah. But there, just like all the others
in Psalm 107 and verse 19, the rebellious cried
out to the Lord in their trouble. The Israelites
knew how to do that. They often had to do that.
God brought them into captivity, and they would
have to begin to again cry out to the Lord. And
always he saved them from their distress. He
sent out his word and healed them. He rescued
them from the grave. Praise the Lord. The thing
is, is that God's even more stubborn. His will
is even stronger. And his will is to heal you.
His will is to bring you up out of the grave.
And so maybe that's you today. Some of you, that's
who you were. But maybe today you're saying,
I've been stubborn. I've been resisting the word
of God in my life. Today is your day to cry out
in trouble and receive healing. And so you today,
who were the rebellious ones, hear the call of
verses 21 and 22. Let them give thanks to the
Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful
deeds for mankind. Let them sacrifice, thank
offerings, and tell of his works with songs of
joy. Sing it out. Sing out his good works, you
who are the rebellious ones. All right, our next
group right here, this is the last one, are the
fearful ones. In verse 23, some went out on the
sea in ships. They were merchants on the mighty
waters. They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful
deeds in the deep. For he spoke and stirred up
a tempest that lifted high the waves. They mounted
up to the heavens and went down to the depths.
In their peril, their courage melted away. They
reeled and staggered like drunkards. They were
at their wit's end. I think these are ones that
started out as adventurers. They were going out
on adventurous things on the seas. But then when
things got a bit stormy, what happened? Fear
came in. And they became so fearful that they
staggered like drunkards at their wit's end.
If that's you, you know what? You're in keeping
here. You're in good company. Because as we look
at some people in the Bible, they are just like
you. They are just like you. Elijah had a great
victory in the mountaintop where he called down
fire from heaven, consuming the sacrifice over
all of the other false prophets. I mean, you'd
be like spiritually high that day. But then the
next thing you read, he's running in fear from
Jezebel. In fact, he has so much fear that he
just wants to die. But it says that the Lord
gave him food, gave him water, and gave him rest.
And after that, he got up and ran 40 days to
the cave, where in that moment in the cave, God's
glory, his presence passed before him. And it's
in that place that God says, I got a couple more
kings for you to anoint, and it's time for you
to go anoint Elisha to be raised up after you.
He wasn't done yet. He got into a fearful place.
Gideon was hiding out in the winepress from his
enemies, declaring to be the weakest of the weak,
when the angel comes and says, O mighty man of
valor, and calls him to do battle on behalf of
his people. And he brought peace to the land.
He was hiding in fear. And then the word of the
Lord came. Esther, she feared for her life when
called upon to intercede with the king for her
people. She didn't want to do it. Ultimately,
though, we know her famous saying, if I perish,
I perish. She went before the king and saved
her people. The disciples, following this great
miracle of multiplication of food for 5 ,000.
Again, a great spiritual high. Look at what God
has done. Yet they get in a boat and they face
a fierce storm. And they are in fear until Jesus
calms the storm. Peter. Peter walked on water
until he began to sink in fear. Peter declared
he would never deny Christ. And then you find
him three times denying him. Yet Peter was martyred
for Christ. There are many. They started out,
yes, in adventure, I'm going to do great things.
They ended in fear. But I want to say to you,
if you've had fear in your life, you've got to
do it. Psalm 107 says to do in verse 28. You
cry out to the Lord in your trouble. And he brought
them out of their distress. He stilled the storm
to a whisper. The waves of the sea were hushed.
They were glad when it grew calm. And he guided
them to their desired haven. For many of you,
this was you. You lived a life of fear until
you found safe harbor in Christ. Some of you
are here today, and you need safe harbor. Christ
is here for you to cry out to in trouble. And
so, I believe that courageous adventures are
hidden somewhere in every heart. So if that is
you, if you have been the fearful one that Jesus
brought out, we heed verse 31. Let them give
thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love. and
his wonderful deeds for mankind. Let them exalt
him in the assembly of the people and praise
him in the council of the elders. Isn't that
interesting? What an intimidating place. I remember
when I was being ordained, having to preach to
our presbytery and our superintendent. I was
so intimidated and fearful in that moment. And
I finally had to say, forget it. They need the
gospel just like everybody else, so I'm going
to preach it. I had to get rid of that intimidation
and that fear. And I think it's interesting here
that that's what this verse, it says, exalt him
in the assembly of the people and in the council
of the elders. You would never think that you
could do that. But you're not a person of fear
anymore. So you can declare and exalt the Lord.
And so today my question for you is what is your
trouble? What is your trouble? What was your
trouble? What did God do for you when you cried
out to him? We need to remember our blessings
today. We need to call to mind what God has done
for us. And maybe, just maybe, you need to cry
out to him today. Maybe today you're the distressed
wanderer, searching, hungry, and thirsty. Maybe
you're the darkness dweller. The darkness has
such a hold on you. Your chains have such a hold
on you. Can I say he wants to deliver you? You
don't have to walk out of here in darkness and
in chains. You can leave them at the feet of
Jesus today. Maybe you've been the rebellious
one needing to bow in humility to your Lord.
Maybe you're the fearful one needing to lift
your gaze to the one who does wondrous deeds
on behalf of man. Maybe, just maybe, it's you
today and you need to cry out. We're going to
be celebrating communion in a moment, the table
of the Lord. And we celebrate open communion.
As long as you profess Jesus to be Lord of your
life, you are welcome to participate in communion.
But before we take communion, I just want to
give a moment of opportunity for you. If this
is you and you're saying, today I need to make
that decision. Today I need to invite the Savior
into my life. We want to make room for you today.
And so here's what we're going to do. We're going
to take a moment and we're just going to all
of us bow our heads, close our eyes. I'm not
going to ask anybody to come up right now. But
I want us just for a moment to quietly before
the Lord. If this is what Christ has done for
you, I want you just to call to mind the beginning.
I want you to... Call to mind the glory of what
he has brought you out of. And if you need to
do that today, I want you just to begin to tell
the Lord, Lord, I need you. I'm crying out just
like in Psalm 107. They cried out to the Lord
in their time of distress. Today I'm calling
out, I'm crying out to you in my distress. And
if that's you, while everybody's got their heads
bowed, I want you just to lift your hand up so
I can pray with you this morning. Today is your
day to be courageous and to lift up that hand
and say yes to the Lord. I see one hand over
here. Anybody else before we move on? Maybe you're
saying he's done that for me once, but I've let
those old things back in my life. And I need
to renew my commitment. I need to renew that
relationship. Yeah, lift your hand in the back.
Others, here's what we're going to do today.
We're going to just all of us pray this prayer.
As one whole congregation, I want you just to
repeat after me. Heavenly Father, I come to you
as a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior
of the world. Today, I make Jesus Lord of my
life. I believe you died so I could be forgiven
and rose again to give me life. I receive this
new life. This is my new beginning. I am a child
of God. Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. Praise the
Lord. I'm just going to say this here. If you
still have chains that you are carrying and need
somebody to pray with you, don't leave this place
at the end of service. We have elders that would
love to pray with you this morning. And so today,
we're concluding with a time of communion. We've
got some of our leaders and our pastors that
are going to help us. And so if you guys would
head over to your stations. What we're doing,
our response time today, is this time of communion.
It's saying, I remember, I remember Christ, what
you have done for me. As we take this bread that
represents the body of Christ, I receive it remembering
that your body was broken for my brokenness.
I receive it knowing that I cannot sustain my
own life. I need the bread of life to sustain
me. And as we dip this bread in this cup, we're
acknowledging and we're remembering that it is
the blood of Jesus that has cleansed us and washed
us and set a new covenant in place, a covenant
of peace, a covenant of grace. And so as we move
toward communion this morning, I want you to
do it prayerfully. I want you to do it beginning
to give thanks to God for what he has brought
you out of. I want us to not take for granted
what he has given to us, the miraculous provision.
We don't want to be like the Israelites. We don't
want to be like manna again, God. We want to
say thank you, God. for your provision. Thank
you for what you have sustained me in life. We're
going to remember what the Lord has done. Our
lives aren't going to be the graves of the greedy,
right? They're going to be places full of thanksgiving
and gratitude, which is the language of the kingdom
of God. Gratitude and thankfulness. And so I'm
going to invite you to stand with me this morning.
The team is going to lead us in worship, and
as we do, I'm going to invite you to communion.
This here, Lila's going to start off this section.
You're going to go back to Dan and Linda. This
section, Gary's going to start you off over here,
and you'll make your way forward. You guys are
going to, your sections are going to come up
here. David, you're going to start them back
there to Dennis and Linda. And so as you do,
let's just worship the Lord. Receive your communion
and then find a place worshiping at the feet
of Jesus for a few moments this morning. Make
the declaration, I'm living my life at the feet
of Jesus. This is who I am. This is how I live,
full of gratitude and thankfulness. Amen? Amen.