Dear God, we do cherish that cross that You laid down Your life on for each one of us.
And Lord, we look forward to that day when we can exchange it for the crown of glory
that we can dwell with You forever and ever.
In Your name we pray, amen.
So the year was about 1620, and there was a group of people in England.
And first they went and took refuge across the English Channel in the Netherlands.
And after a time they came back to England.
And then in 1620 they boarded a ship known as the Mayflower, and they sailed across the
Atlantic Ocean.
This group of people we refer to often as the Pilgrims.
And they came to this continent, they came to this place seeking after religious freedom,
wanting to worship God in the way that they saw fit, a little bit different than others
were doing in England at that time.
And they initially were hoping to come to Virginia, but they missed.
And they ended up in Massachusetts of all places at the beginning of winter.
And you can go to a little town called Plymouth in Massachusetts, and there's a grand structure
there with columns and a beautiful structure.
And if you go into this structure, there is something that reminds people of that group
of explorers that came to that place.
Plymouth Rock.
Has anybody seen Plymouth Rock in person?
I never have, but I understand it's one of the most underwhelming things you can see,
because you think Plymouth Rock, and yet it's a nice structure, but inside it's a rock,
but not a huge rock.
But it stands there as a reminder of that group of people who risked their life to come
to a place so that they could worship God in the way that they wanted.
And of course, one year later, after that first winter where about half of those people
passed away from sickness and starvation, it was that next year that they learned how
to plant the crops and with help from the Native Americans, how to hunt and fish and
different things.
And that next fall in 1621 is that event that we look back on as the first Thanksgiving.
But that reminder is a rock, is a Plymouth Rock stands there as a memorial to that settlement
of the pilgrims.
Let's go to Luke chapter 19 as we get started today.
This is where our scripture reading was.
Luke chapter 19.
We're going to pick up the story, and this is the triumphal entry.
We might refer to this as Palm Sunday if we were to look back on it.
And Jesus is making his way into Jerusalem.
Before this week is over, the mob is going to turn on him and Jesus is going to be hanging
on a cross.
Jesus is going to give his life for each one of us.
But on this particular day, the crowd is there and the crowd is rejoicing and the crowd is
excited about him.
So let's look at verse 37.
It says, then as he, Jesus, was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives.
So he's coming down this Mount of Olives approaching overlooking Jerusalem.
And it says, the whole multitude of the disciples begun to rejoice and praise God with a loud
voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying, Blessed is the King who comes in the
name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest.
So they're praising God and it says they're praising him because of the mighty works they
had seen.
So we could pause and we could remember what were some of the mighty works that Jesus had
done that these people had seen.
They had seen people that were unable to walk.
When Jesus touches them or speaks a word, suddenly they're able to rise up and take their bed
and walk.
Or people that were excluded from the community because of a disease like leprosy.
Jesus was able to touch them and their skin was healed and they were able to come back
into the family, into the community again.
And I don't know this for sure, but I like to picture at least one person who we know
their name.
Because if you go back to chapter 18, at the very end of chapter 18, Jesus is near Jericho
and he's walking through and there's a blind man who begins to call out, Jesus, son of
David, have mercy on me.
And we know this gentleman's name was Bartimaeus and he was blind and the people told him,
be quiet, shh, you're making too much noise, be quiet.
But Bartimaeus says, called out all the louder.
And Jesus came to blind Bartimaeus and he said, your faith has saved you, your faith
has healed you.
And Bartimaeus says in chapter 18 verse 43, it says, immediately he received his sight
and he followed him, glorifying God.
Now so this gentleman was blind and now he sees and he follows Jesus.
And Jesus went from Jericho and he went to Jerusalem.
So I don't know, but I like to imagine that maybe Bartimaeus followed Jesus all the way
to Jerusalem and maybe he is in this crowd praising God with a loud voice.
Now this mob is making a lot of noise and some people don't like it, don't appreciate
it.
Notice verse 39 of chapter 19.
So Luke 19 verse 39, it says, some of the Pharisees called to him from the crowd.
So these religious leaders are talking to Jesus and it says, teacher, rebuke your disciples.
They're making too much noise.
Rebuke your disciples.
Tell them to pipe down just a little bit.
They're being too loud.
But notice what Jesus says in verse 40, he answered and said to them, I tell you that
if these should keep silence, the stones would immediately cry out.
If this group of people is not praising me today, Jesus says, nature is going to praise
me.
The stones are going to cry out.
The stones are going to lift up their voices and praise.
That's a fascinating statement.
You know, there's a song that young people used to sing.
I'm not sure if they sing it anymore.
It's not quite grammatically correct, but it goes like this.
It says, there ain't no rock going to sing in my place.
As long as I'm alive, I'm going to glorify his holy name.
So ain't no rock.
I don't need a rock to sing in my place is what that song is saying.
As long as I'm alive, I'm going to be the one that praises Jesus.
I don't need a rock to sing for me because the song says I'm going to be loud enough.
I'm going to sing in my place.
But I wonder, has anyone ever told us, told me, told you to be quiet, that you're praising
God too much?
That's not usually what we're told to be quiet about.
We may be told to be quiet about something.
Maybe we're talking too much.
Maybe we're telling some lame jokes or something.
Oh, just be quiet.
Or you know, no, now's the time not to talk.
But it's not usual that we're told, that I'm told to stop praising God.
You're praising God too much.
You need to be quiet.
But that's what these Pharisees are saying to this group.
Most of us are not disrupting other people because we're giving thanks to God.
We have things to help us remember.
Do we have things to help us to remember what God has done for us?
Do we have things to remember what we can give thanks for?
Like Plymouth Rock is a reminder, a rock that reminds people.
You know, in our home, and I imagine many of your homes, if you take pictures at a family
gathering, perhaps you could put those in an album.
Maybe there's some shelf in your home, some bookshelf, and you can pull off that bookshelf
and it's got pictures of your family, you know, pictures of your kids when they were
babies.
And the first kid has a whole bunch of pictures.
And the second child has some pictures.
And the third are following children.
You know, you're just lucky that they're still there.
And you probably have one or two pictures.
But that's something we don't have as much anymore because we take pictures on our phone.
We don't usually print out pictures.
My wife, if we go on a trip or something, she'll take those pictures that we take and
upload them to some site like Shutterfly.
And they'll send you a little book with all the pictures from that trip that they'll print
out.
And so we can have something to remember that event or that trip that we went on.
Do we have things to help us to remember the things that God has done in our life?
We're going to look at some stories in the Bible about how God's people set up reminders
of God at work in their life to help them to remember.
So we're going to go to the Old Testament here.
And just like Jesus said, the rocks are going to cry out.
These stories we look at are going to involve rocks.
So let's look at Genesis chapter 28.
Genesis chapter 28.
This is the story of Jacob.
And Jacob had a brother named Esau.
And they didn't always get along.
And Jacob's name, his name is Deceiver, that he was not always the most honest guy.
And he would trick people.
In fact, he tricked his brother out of the birthright.
He even lied to his dad and pretended to be his brother so that he could get a special
prayer of blessing.
And when it came time for Jacob to be married, his mom was like, why don't you go back to
the land that I'm from?
Maybe to keep him safe from his angry brother or to find some people who at least had some
similar beliefs.
And so Jacob is going on that journey.
Perhaps he's running away.
Perhaps he's worried about what is behind him.
But as Jacob is making this journey, he lays down at night to go to sleep.
You could say he's cowboy camping.
He's got no tent.
He's got no structure.
He's just out there under the stars.
But as we often lay down, you know, you want something under your head or you're going
to get some kind of crick in your neck.
And so what did Jacob use for a pillow?
He used a rock.
Seems like an odd choice for a pillow, but that's what he used just to lift his head
up.
And we're going to read the story in verse 16.
It says, then Jacob awoke from his sleep.
Now as he was sleeping with this rock on his pillow, Jacob had a dream.
And we sometimes sing songs about this dream.
I am climbing Jacob's ladder.
He had a dream of a ladder that stretched from earth to heaven.
And later Jesus actually referenced this and said that he is that bridge between heaven
and earth in the early chapter of John.
But when Jacob wakes up, he says in verse 16, he awoke from his sleep and said, surely
the Lord is in this place.
And I did not know it.
Because in this dream, he saw this ladder extending to heaven and he got assurance from
God that God was going to be with him even though he was leaving, that God would bring
him back to this place.
And it says in verse 17, he was afraid and said, how awesome is this place?
This is none other than the house of God.
This is the gate of heaven.
Then Jacob arose early in the morning and he took the stone that he had put at his head,
set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.
And then it says he called the name of that place Beth-el, Bethel.
Anytime you see a name in the Bible that ends in E-el, that's a word for God.
You see names like that, Daniel, God is my judge.
And so this is something about God.
Now that first word, Beth, means house.
So he's saying this is the house of God.
I've been sleeping here and this is the house of God.
And it says he set up that rock in some way as a pillar and he anointed it, he poured
oil on it so that he could remember his experience here.
He could remember that God met him here even at a time in his life when there was much
uncertainty.
This is the place.
This is the house of God.
That was a way for him to remember what God had done, how God had met him.
Let's turn over just a page or two to Genesis chapter 31.
Still talking about Jacob, but it's about 20 years later.
Jacob has gone to the other land, he got married, he got married again, he worked for his father
in law for about 14 years to earn the dowry for his wives and he continued working and
he began to get more and more flocks and different things and finally he recognized that it was
time for him to return back to the place of his family.
And again, his name is Deceiver and so he kind of, he pulled a fast one on his father
in law.
He left, he took off, headed for the homeland.
And it was a few days later that his father in law realized that Jacob had taken his daughters
and his grandchildren and he wasn't very happy about that.
And so Laban set off in pursuit and he was going to, we're not sure exactly what, but
take his daughters back home.
And just before Laban caught up to Jacob, Laban had a dream from God and it was like,
don't mess with Jacob.
I'm protecting Jacob.
And so when he caught up to Jacob, instead of going to battle or going to war or having
some sort of conflict, instead they made a treaty.
They had a treaty that took place and they wanted to remember this event.
And so we see in Genesis 31 verse 45, it says, so Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.
So again, another rock pillar here.
And Jacob said to his brothers, gather stones.
And they took stones and made a heap and they ate there at the heap.
So they had a lunch meeting there at this heap of rocks.
And it says Laban called it something and Jacob called it Gilead.
And Laban said, this heap is a witness between you and me this day.
This is a witness.
This is a witness of a treaty that we have.
Therefore, its name was called Gilead and also Mizpah or watch tower, because he said,
may the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from another.
So there's another rock, a pillar, some stones, a heap of stones.
And they said, this is a place where we had a treaty that took place.
We had peace instead of battle.
And God is going to be a witness to this.
And verse 49 is one of the first verses that I have a clear memory of where I memorized
that verse.
Because from grades one to three, I went to Knoxville Adventist School.
It was Knoxville Junior Academy at the time.
But I had a little teacher.
Her name was Mrs. Bunch.
And she was a sweet teacher, but she could swing a ruler if need be and tap those knuckles
from time to time.
But each day for three years at the end of the school day, we would stand up behind our
desk, push our little chairs in, and we would end the day by reciting the Mizpah.
That would be our closing prayer of the day.
May the Lord watch between me and thee while we're absent one from another.
Amen.
So I'm sure I had known some Bible verses before that, but that is one that I know exactly
the process that took place for me to ingrain that into my head.
And so once again, there's a rock, a pile of rocks remembering what God had done, remembering
how God had protected Jacob and had brought a treaty between these two people.
Let's go forward.
Let's go to Joshua, Joshua chapter 40.
Another event here.
God's people have spent now 40 years in the wilderness.
God had delivered them from Egypt.
He had brought them through the Red Sea.
They had come to Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments.
They had turned their backs on what God wanted them to do.
But now after 40 years in the wilderness, they are once again on the borders of the
promised land.
And they're about to go into the place that they had been searching for for all this time.
But there was a barrier between where they were and the promised land.
What was the barrier?
The Jordan River.
And so they had to get across the Jordan River.
And so God told them a plan.
They were supposed to, well, the priests were supposed to pick up the Ark of the Covenant
on the long sticks that they could carry this with.
And they walked to the banks of the Jordan River.
And then what were the priests supposed to do?
They were supposed to keep going.
They were supposed to step right into the water.
And when the priests stepped into the water, somehow miraculously the river dried up.
And so then these people, by the thousands, were able to cross over the Jordan River,
to go from the wilderness and to make it into the land that God had promised them.
And as they were going, God had given some additional instructions about what they were
supposed to do.
They were supposed to choose one person from each of the 12 tribes.
And as they were going through the water, that person was supposed to pick up a rock,
pick up a stone from the middle of this riverbed.
And they were supposed to carry it across.
And we don't know exactly how that looked, but I just picture dudes today.
So the first person picks up a rock.
And that second guy in my head, I picture it, I can get a bigger rock than that guy
can.
And so he makes sure he gets a little bit bigger rock.
And then the third guy, oh, I think I can get a bigger rock than that.
And so the last guy I picture got this giant rock.
But there's this heap of stones on the other side.
Why?
Joshua 4 and verse 20, it says, Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, when your
children ask their fathers in time to come.
So years from now, families are walking by, little children, daddy, what's that pile of
stones there?
When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, what are these stones?
Then you shall let your children know, saying, Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land.
There's a river right there.
But we crossed over, our forefathers crossed over on dry land.
For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed
over, just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up before us until
we had crossed over, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord,
that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.
So they said, we want to remember that God worked a miracle here, just like he did at
the Red Sea.
But you know what, most of these people were not at the Red Sea, because most of those
people who had crossed the Red Sea, they had died because they had disobeyed and they spent
that time in the wilderness.
But they could remember the power of God at work at both the Red Sea and the Jordan River.
And the purpose of this pile of rocks was to pass on to the next generation what God
had done.
And I think we need to make sure that we pass on to the next generation in our families,
the next generation in our church, in our community, we need to pass on what God has
done in our life.
Are we talking about the things that God has done for us?
Our children listen to us as we talk.
Do they hear us talking about God in our conversations?
Let's look at one more story, 1 Samuel chapter 7.
First Samuel chapter 7.
Now they're in the promised land, but this is the days when Samuel is leading the people.
So this is before King David.
This is even before King Saul.
And they've gathered together, the children of Israel have come to this place for a time
of prayer and to confess their sins and recommit themselves to God.
And Samuel has gathered them in this place, but the enemy, the Philistines have heard
that these people are here.
And they're like, you know what, we beat them in that same place before.
That's where we went and we took their ark.
We took the ark of the covenant.
We didn't get to keep it very long, but we took it in battle.
Let's go and fight them again.
Let's go and have another conflict, another fight.
And so this group of Israelites hear that the enemy is approaching and they cry out
to God.
And it says that God, in verse 10, it says, God thundered with a loud thunder upon the
Philistines that day and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel.
And the armies of Israel went out and pursued and pushed back the enemy.
But then notice verse 12, it says Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizba and Sheen.
Here's Mizba again.
And called its name Ebenezer, saying thus far the Lord has helped us.
So they set up another rock and said, this is where God brought us a victory.
And they called its name, kind of a strange name for us, Ebenezer.
We sing a song sometimes.
It says, come now fount of every blessing.
I think it's about the third verse where one of the lines says, here I raise my Ebenezer.
If you're not familiar with this story, you may be thinking it's talking about, you know,
Scrooge or something like that.
But this is what it's talking about, raising up a stone, a reminder that God has helped
in the past.
And so we can have assurance that God will help us in the future.
And so God took this place that had been a place of defeat and he turned it into a place
of victory.
This is where God is at work.
And I wonder, as you look back over this week, this month, this year, 2024 is almost over,
believe it or not.
As you look back, where have you seen God at work?
Have you seen God doing things for you?
I want to look at two more verses.
One is in Psalm 103, the 103rd Psalm, because we need to remember what God is doing for
us.
We need to remember all that God does.
In Psalm 103, it says, bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me.
Bless his holy name.
And then verse two says, forget not all of his benefits.
Don't forget the benefits.
Don't forget what God has done for you.
And then it lists some off here.
It says, who forgives all your iniquities.
What a huge benefit that is that God has given us.
Who heals all your diseases.
You know somebody who's in need of healing?
I think we do.
Who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender
mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things so that your youth is renewed like
the eagles.
Anybody need any youth renewed in your life today?
We may not get that physical youth renewed at any time on this side of heaven, but we
have a promise that one day soon that glory of heaven will create us as a new creation,
will turn us into what God has intended for us.
I want to look at Psalm 150.
Psalm 150 and verse six.
The 150th Psalm, the very last verse of this book of songs.
Psalm 150 talks about lots of different ways to praise, but then the very last verse says,
let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
What was that song?
Ain't no rock going to sing in my place.
As long as I'm alive, I'm going to glorify his holy name.
So what can you do?
What can we do to remember some of these things?
Remember what God's blessings are.
I don't think we need to necessarily set up a rock, but I would say first of all, just
notice what God does for you.
God does so many things, and we don't always recognize it when it happens, but some people
like to write things down.
Some people have a journal, a Thanksgiving journal, and every day at the end of the day
they'll write down at least one thing that they're thankful for or three things that
you can be thankful for, and it kind of forces you to observe and to pay attention.
I've also heard of a thing called a Thanksgiving jar, and so people will take strips of paper,
and when they think of something, when they notice something, they will write down the
date, like November 23, Asian lunch was wonderful, so something to be thankful for, and they'll
put that in the jar.
As the year goes on, that jar will get more and more pieces of paper in there, and then
so maybe once a year, maybe at Thanksgiving time or at New Year's, you open up that jar
and you can read through and remember all the things, all the things that God has done
for you, and as you're noticing things, as you're writing things down, tell somebody,
tell somebody what God has done for you, because they may not see God at work in their life,
but if you tell them how you had some kind of miracle, even a small one, that can bring
some encouragement to somebody else.
And then one final thing, after you've noticed things, after you've written it down, after
you've told somebody else, or maybe even before, say thank you.
We teach our kids to say please and to say thank you.
When they get a present, when they get something, what do you say?
Say thank you.
We need to make sure that we are saying thank you to God as well.
We learn a song way back in kindergarten class, and we sometimes forget it, but it goes something
like this, praise Him, praise Him.
Sing with me here.
Turn it over.
Praise Him, praise Him, all ye little children.
God is love, God is love.
Praise Him, praise Him, all ye little children.
God is love, God is love.
So notice what God has done for you.
Tell somebody else, and then praise Him.
Say thank you.
Let's not forget that lesson that we taught our children long ago.
Let's bow our heads for a prayer.
Dear God, we thank you so much for all that you do for us.
And Lord, forgive us, because we forget.
We get busy, and we don't notice.
But God, help us not just this week of thanksgiving, but as we come to the end of a year, as we
go into a new calendar year, help us to notice so many benefits and blessings that you pour
out on our life each and every day.
Help us to remember to say thank you.
In your name we pray.
Amen.