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We've all been hurt.

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We all carry scars.

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We can all overcome these things and be healed through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

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Let's build that relationship together right here.

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Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.

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Hey everybody, welcome back to the sanctuary.

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It is so good to have you with us as always.

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And for those of you who are joining us for the very first time, let me just say welcome.

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Now, of course, next Thursday is going to be Thanksgiving here in the US.

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We are on the road to it.

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I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to having some turkey that I don't

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have to cook.

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Alright, the family is doing it.

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Very blessed with that this year.

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Very grateful.

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I actually get out of cooking.

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Not to say I don't have to take something to the table.

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I'll probably take a dessert or something, but from my understanding, talking to my brother

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and all, is everything has already been taken care of.

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So I hope all of you are just as blessed as we are in this respect.

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Now with that said, a little bit of a rabbit trail there to start of course.

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I know a lot of pastors out there this time of year.

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They have their annual go-tos, their sermons about gratitude and friends giving and thanks

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and giving.

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I know, a lot of originality there, right?

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Especially that last one.

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Now don't get me wrong, I am not knocking them.

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I am not.

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There are a lot of great messages out there.

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And plenty of people who are hearing those messages for the first time.

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However, it's because of that, I did some prayer as I always do, but because of that

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I've been led in a different direction this year.

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Imagine that, right?

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So I'm going to, I have a bit of a Thanksgiving message, but we're going to do something a

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little different here.

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So bear with me.

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We're going to start off here, much like our message this week is different, the way we're

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going to start this week is different as well.

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Alright so, I'm sure everyone, for the most part, is familiar with the old nursery rhyme

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Mary's Lamb.

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You know, that's that one that goes, Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb,

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you know, and so on and so forth, and its fleece was white as snow, all that.

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This of course, is just a modernized version that slightly deviates a bit from the original

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poem.

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Cute right?

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So with that said, turn with me to the book of John, we're going to go to John chapter

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10 verse 11.

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So John chapter 10 verse 11, Jesus says, I am the good shepherd.

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The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

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Now, much like the little girl in the poem, shepherds don't just watch their flock, they

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love them.

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It's not just a job for them, you know, some nine to five thing or a chore, you know, but

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something that they truly want and look forward to doing, you know, tending to their flock,

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this is something absolutely awesome, right?

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And not only that, but they'll protect their flocks from the various dangers that are out

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there, knowing it may well be at the cost of their own life.

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You know, there's a lot of dangers out there.

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You know, it's not just guiding the sheep, you know, to and fro, making sure they get

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to their pens and all that kind of stuff, maybe shear them once in a while, you know,

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but a lot of things out there, you know, the occasional lamb wanders off, there's a lot

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of, you know, predators out there.

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If you live in an area like mine, we got coyotes, we have wolves, you know, if you get too far

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away, heck, even here in the city, certain times of the year, you know, bear and cougars

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and stuff wander in, you know, we do have farmland just right there with sheep and goats

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and stuff.

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So, you know, the shepherds, they do a lot, they're very involved in the life of their

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sheep and Jesus, who is the good shepherd, he loves us and his love for us is so great

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that he laid down his life for us.

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We are his flock.

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Now, that being said, and being the history loving guy that I am, we're going to take

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a little bit of a trip down history lane here.

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Most of us grew up in school hearing about the first quote unquote Thanksgiving, right?

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You know, it's that Thanksgiving that we were all told was had between the Mayflower Pilgrims

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who had just recently landed in the Wampanoag's and, you know, that they'd befriended and

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they came together and they had this magnificent feast over, you know, a couple days to celebrate

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the food harvest and their new friendship.

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Now was there a feast?

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Yes.

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The fact is there's very little truly recorded about this event and there was no date given

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based on the English fall harvest celebrations that the pilgrims knew in their own, you know,

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in their old country, they brought those with them.

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So it could be assumed that based on those old celebrations that this feast would have

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happened in the fall time.

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And while there were various festivals and celebrations after that, it wasn't quote unquote

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Thanksgiving.

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You know, many were those legalistic traditions that, you know, that they just had to hold

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on to and they brought them over from, you know, the old countries, you know, various

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settlers did, you know, as more and more from different areas came, you know.

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So it's safe to say we were a little misled to believe that Thanksgiving was a holiday

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that started all the way back then and has been celebrated ever since.

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Now while there are some roots, it was not what we see moving into more modern times.

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Matter of fact, let's move up just a couple hundred years to the actual proclamation of

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Thanksgiving.

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What?

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A proclamation?

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What is this?

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Yeah, there was a proclamation made here in the U.S. that declared Thanksgiving a holiday.

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We're going to talk, we're going to look at that here before we go into the rest of our

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message here.

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Okay.

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So the actual proclamation, it came about during the Civil War.

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There was a woman, her name was Sarah Josepha Hale, and she petitioned President Lincoln

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quite rigorously, and her argument was that to have a holiday like this could possibly

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heal many of the wounds from the war.

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Now of course she wasn't necessarily talking about the physical, she was talking about

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those mental, emotional, and spiritual wounds.

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And with this argument and her constant petitioning, she struck a court.

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Hey, you know what?

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This lady, she has a point.

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Something's going on here.

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And because of this, this led up to President Lincoln making a proclamation in October of

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1863 that Thanksgiving would be had the following month and would become an annual celebration

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moving forward.

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Now I'm going to read to you just a part of this proclamation.

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We're not going to go through the whole thing, but we're going to go through part of it.

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And this really is the meat and potatoes of it.

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No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things.

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They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for

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our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

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It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully

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acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people.

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I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also

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those who are at sea and those who are in sojourning and foreign lands, to set apart

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and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to

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our Beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

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And I recommend to them that while offering up the Ascriptions justfully due to Him for

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such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national

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perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become

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widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are

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unavoidably engaged.

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Fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation

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and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment

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of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.

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It's quite a bit there, isn't it?

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Beautiful.

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Now, of course, Sarah Josephina Hale, excuse me, Sarah Josephina Hale, you could say she

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was a woman of some influence, not only then but today.

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You see, she was an activist, she was a poet, and she was an author.

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And you're probably, most likely, familiar with at least a little bit of her work.

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Because not only has she been referred to as the Mother of Thanksgiving, she's also

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the author of Mary's Lamb.

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Right about here is where Paul Harvey would be wrapping things up and be saying, and now

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you know the rest of the story, right?

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Well, we're not done yet.

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All right.

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So while President Lincoln, he didn't write the proclamation, however, he, like the person

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who wrote it for him, did recognize where God stood in the lives of everyone in our

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nation.

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They were at war.

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Your country was literally and figuratively being ripped apart all the way down through

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the family level.

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Healing was exactly what was needed.

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So Ms. Hale, she was 100% correct that healing was needed.

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And God was exactly who they needed for it.

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Just like He is who we need for our own.

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There's a contrast in the times, though.

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Let's take a look at that real quick.

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See, here, President Lincoln was calling out to the nation to look to the Father.

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Fast forward to today, and our nation's leadership has really done everything they can to try

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to remove him from so many places.

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You know, we need to make sure that we're praying for our nation's leader.

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That's biblical.

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We also need to be praying for our nation.

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Really, we need to be praying for the entire world.

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Thanksgiving.

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You know, this is a time to come together and to give thanks.

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Yeah, it absolutely is.

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But to whom?

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See that's the part that's left out these days.

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Like so many other holidays, which is really, you know, holy days, you know, it's become

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very commercialized.

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The overall meaning is gone.

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You know, and I bring this up because at a time when we should be recognizing what God

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has done in our lives and praising Him for it, we're seeing something entirely different.

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Turn on the TV, turn on the radio, pick up a newspaper or a magazine.

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Heck, what comes the day after Thanksgiving?

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Black Friday.

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Which is so aptly named, isn't it?

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We're going to see people standing out in the cold starting on Thanksgiving.

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Just to be able to start shopping as soon as the doors open the next day.

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You know, and it turns into a mosh pit.

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People lose their minds.

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They're not civil.

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A tempers flare.

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And here's the thing, it carries over to the next day.

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Small business Saturday is what it's referred to now.

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And it goes really all the way through, you know, people kind of take Sunday to stay home

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and rest.

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And then what happens Monday?

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Cyber Monday, right?

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They're right back to shopping.

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You know, that night, the next day, you know, sporting events are going to be sold out through

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the weekend.

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But the most important place any one of us can be.

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The single most important place.

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Coming together as the church in worship.

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Those places of worship, those houses of worship, they're going to have some of their lowest

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attendance of the entire year.

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Many will be virtually empty.

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Virtually empty.

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You know, if that sounds, you know, distasteful, think about it.

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It is.

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The weekend that set aside for us to praise God and thank him for all the blessings in

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our life.

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We don't even put him in the back seat.

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We kick him out the door entirely and drive on down the road.

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That's something that we all need to think about.

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Proverbs chapter three, verse six.

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So Proverbs three, verse six, the Bible says, and all your ways acknowledge him and he will

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make straight your paths.

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You know, worshiping sporting idols, sports idols, I should say, you know, athletes or,

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you know, movie stars and so on and all the shopping that goes on and, you know, that,

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you know, the fights and the tempers that make, you know, hockey look very mild.

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You know, it's a far cry from it, isn't it?

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I mean, how are we acknowledging him?

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Now I'm not saying, you know, going out shopping and, you know, enjoying sporting events and,

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you know, and that kind of stuff is bad in and of themselves because in and of themselves

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they're not.

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It's when these things get placed before God that they become an issue, when they become

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idols.

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And that's exactly what they become for so many people, so many self professing Christians.

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They have all the time and energy for all these things of the world.

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But then when it comes time for God, when it come together as a church, they're drained.

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They don't have the energy, you know, or they can't or won't make the time to spend in worship.

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Like I said, the meaning behind the holiday is gone.

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First Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 18, the Bible says, in giving thanks for this is the

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will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

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Let me read that again.

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In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

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But those who say they're his children can't be bothered to make the time.

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He's not asking for a lot, he's just asking for a little.

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It only takes a moment to say thanks and a few moments to come together with others and

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worship and praise.

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And you think of all the stuff that's going on, not just in our country but around the

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world.

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Healing is needed.

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But we push the healer out.

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You see, as a country we've become very ungrateful.

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We sin regularly.

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We forget to acknowledge God.

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And in general, we've become very selfish.

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In pro wrestling, there's a character who's been around for decades called Chris Jericho.

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And during one of his runs, his character kept a list.

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Here he is, he was the healer, he was the bad guy, he was very comedic.

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He was very funny.

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And this list is a list of the names of people who had wronged him in some way or had done

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something that he didn't like.

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It didn't matter how minor it was, if it was something that he didn't approve of, guess

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what, you made that list.

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Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

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We all know someone who's keeping notes, keeping tabs on all the ways they've been wronged

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by all the people who have wronged them.

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You might be keeping lists.

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Not even realize it.

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Because it's called a grudge.

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You might be holding that grudge.

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I say a lot of people have grudges, they don't even realize it.

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In Genesis chapter 50 verse 20, the Bible says, but as for you, you meant evil against

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me, but God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many

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people alive.

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So while these lists were made to be like a naughty list, when you think about it in

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this context, they're actually attributed to sorts because it's these things that develop

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your character, these events that taught you right from wrong, these people who helped

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you to find the meaning in your own life.

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Because that's how, that's what God used.

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They were the tools that God used to help you to find it.

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They're the various things that, they were hardships at the time, but these were tools

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being used by God to mold you and to guide you on your path to Him.

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Romans chapter 8 verse 28, the Bible says, and we know that in all things God works for

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the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

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You know, let that sink in for a moment.

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All those things that are, those hardships, and we've talked about this before, where

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entire nations have been wiped away, you know, those bad things, but they were used for good

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by the Lord, and our lives individually are no different.

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We see a lot of ugly hurtful things, but you know what?

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They're there for a reason, to lead us to God.

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And on that, you know, on that token here, we're talking about Thanksgiving, right?

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This is a holiday that, you know, a lot of food is eaten, right?

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This is a foodie day.

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Not just a holiday, but a foodie day.

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And because it's a foodie day, it goes all in on that food.

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Let's take a look at that too.

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Turn with me to Numbers chapter 11.

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So in Numbers chapter 11, the first nine verses, so Numbers 11 verses one through nine, the

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Bible says, now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord.

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And when he heard then, his anger was aroused.

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Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the

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camp.

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When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died down.

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So that place was called Teberah because fire from the Lord had burned among them.

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The rabble with them began to crave other food.

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And again Israelite started wailing and said, if only we had some meat to eat.

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We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost, also the cucumbers, the melons, the

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leeks, onions, and garlic.

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But now we have lost our appetite.

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We never see anything but this manna.

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The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin.

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The people went around gathering it and then ground it in a hand mill or crushed it in

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a mortar.

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They cooked it in a pot or made it into loaves.

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And it tasted like something made with olive oil.

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When the dew settled on the camp, at night the manna also came down.

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So the people had been taken care of.

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God was providing for them.

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Every night they'd be able to lay down, go to bed, and wake up and they'd have a fresh

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supply of manna.

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They didn't have to worry about starving.

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I tend to look at this picture that's painted for us here, kind of like that scene in Forrest

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Gump when they're talking about all the ways to prepare the tuna.

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You have manna sausage, manna burgers, manna pie, manna cake, manna salad, manna smoothies,

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manna pizza, and so on and so forth.

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Point is they had plenty to eat.

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Plenty.

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God had blessed them.

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And when they first entered the wilderness to go to the promised land, they were grateful

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for it.

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Grateful.

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Just like today with us, after a while they stopped seeing it that way.

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They got tired of it.

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So they began to complain.

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They began to grumble.

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Just like most of our culture today.

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Why?

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Why wasn't it good enough?

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Well, it's because they weren't seeing God in it.

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They weren't seeing it as a blessing anymore, a gift.

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Instead of praying to the Father, they complained.

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They grumbled.

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They moaned.

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They developed a, you know, it's right there, the rabble, right?

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Some of them developed this strong desire for other things that they didn't have.

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You know, and they're talking about the meat there.

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You know, they took this blessing, this gift from God, and they started taking it for granted.

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The very thing that was sustaining them and carrying them through until they could reach

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the promised land, suddenly wasn't good enough.

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And you think about it.

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They didn't have to hunt.

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They didn't have to tend to crops.

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They didn't have to trade for it.

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They didn't have to do anything.

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It was provided for them.

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They just had to pick it up and cook it.

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And it goes to show that some people don't appreciate the things that they're given.

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You know, we see that a lot, don't we?

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People don't appreciate things unless they have to earn it for themselves.

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You know, when you have to earn something, it means something a lot different, doesn't

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it?

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You know, suddenly instead of just being this thing that was handed to you, it means a lot

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to you.

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You're going to take better care of it.

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You're going to appreciate it a lot more, right?

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God took notice though.

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He absolutely did.

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It didn't go unnoticed at all.

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Numbers 11, verses 18 through 20, the Bible says, tell the people, consecrate yourselves

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in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat.

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The Lord heard you when you wailed.

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If only we had meat to eat, we were better off in Egypt.

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Now the Lord will give you meat and you will eat it.

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You will not eat it for just one day or two days or five or 10 or 20 days, but for a whole

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month until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it because you have rejected

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the Lord who is among you and have wailed before him saying, why did we ever leave Egypt?

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You see what happened here is that the people weren't looking to God, much like our politicians

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today, much like our people in our country.

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They're just looking to their leaders and expecting them to handle anything and everything,

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just like we do.

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Meanwhile, they sat back and complained about everything.

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They didn't contribute anything to help resolve their situation or anything.

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They didn't have volunteer ideas, how about if we did this, how about if we did that?

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They just sat there and complained like, hey, Moses, what are you going to do?

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Much like us, we put people in seats that are supposed to be doing our will.

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They could care less and we don't hold them to it, but we expect them to answer us when

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we say, hey, what are you going to do?

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What they should have been doing is the same thing that we should be doing as a nation,

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praying.

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You see, even though this was a temporary measure to get them through until they reached

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the promised land, it wasn't satisfactory to people.

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They wanted more.

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That sound familiar yet?

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Because we're living out the same thing.

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I'll tell you what, the military, if you're out in the field and everything, we all have

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our MREs and they don't do great things to the body.

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I'll tell you that much.

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Our MRE is great.

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Sometimes they're wonderful, other times they were the most hideous thing you ever tasted,

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but there comes a point where you're just grateful to have that to eat.

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You know it's not forever.

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It's just while you're there, you're going to get back and you're going to get to have

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a nice good meal eventually, but you learn to appreciate things.

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Coming with me to numbers 11, we're going to go back to verses 33 and 34 now.

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The Bible says, but while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be

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consumed, the anger of the Lord burned against the people and he struck them with a severe

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plague.

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For the place was named Kibroth, Hatzavah, because there they buried the people who had

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craved other food.

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People had a hole in themselves.

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They had this space that needed filling, this void.

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And again, the problem was they didn't pray about it.

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They didn't go to the Father.

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That's where they went wrong.

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That's where we go wrong.

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See, they didn't pray about it and they ended up falling into sin, craving more stuff, trying

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to compare the times that they were into the good old days.

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They became greedy.

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Instead of taking their needs to God, they obsessed over what they didn't have.

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Instead of being happy with the very things that they did have, the good that was in their

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lives.

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They had gotten free from Pharaoh.

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They were no longer slaves.

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They were on their way to the promised land.

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They didn't have to worry about food.

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The Lord was with them and was providing for them, but instead they got bitter.

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They made a list of what they didn't have.

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They made a list of what was wrong.

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All their grievances, not their blessings.

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Instead of focusing on the Father and His will for them, where He had them headed, they

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were focused on the world around them in themselves.

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They were selfish.

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We see the same thing, people wallowing away in a bottle of booze or trying to fill that

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void in themselves with relationships.

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We see it in men and women.

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Then they get angry and depressed when things don't work out, but they never included the

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... The Father was not put first.

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They go out and they find these adrenaline rushes, you get those adrenaline junkies out

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there looking for that next high, so much more.

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Drugs.

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Some will say, oh, I went to God, but He didn't answer.

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But they never stop to think about their own actions.

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It's always someone or something else.

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Sometimes we have to go to God more than once about things as well.

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Sometimes we get those answers, but we don't listen.

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Like when we go headstrong in the jobs or relationships that we know we're not a good

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fit to begin with, and yet we expect God to make it work out anyways.

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It doesn't work like that, people.

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Anything and everything in our lives, God needs to be first and foremost.

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As a country, we need to remember this.

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We need to start putting Him back into places that He's been removed from.

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Government, jobs, school, so on and so forth.

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Our families, our families depend on Him.

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Philippians chapter four verse six, the Bible says, do not worry about anything, but pray

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and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks.

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Meaning we need to go to God with everything in our lives, the good and the bad.

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When something is wrong, we need to go to God right away.

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When something is good, we need to go to God right away in praise.

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In this season of Thanksgiving, we all need to take a step back.

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We all need to re-center and we need to focus on what the holiday should be.

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We need to put the meaning back into Thanksgiving and show it to others so that they can see

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the light of Jesus Christ in our lives.

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This is a great time to take notice of all the things that you do have and to give thanks,

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all the blessings.

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Take out of all the things that you've been able to overcome because of God's grace and

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give thanks.

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To be grateful for the things that you have and not focused on the things that you don't.

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Look back to Sarah Hale, Sarah Joseph Hale, and take to heart what Thanksgiving should

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be about.

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Healing, healing.

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And there is no better place and no better person to go to than the great physician himself.

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Remember, you are loved.

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Now go and be the light.

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Go and be the church.

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Thank you all for joining us here today at Healing Scars with Pastor Burton.

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Please like, subscribe, and share our podcast on any platform it is that you tune into us

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00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:45,920
on.

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00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:53,400
If you do have any questions, any prayer requests, or would like to know more about our ministry,

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00:36:53,400 --> 00:37:03,520
you can find us on our website at BeTheLightSanctuary.org or on Facebook at BeTheLightSanctuary.

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00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:08,640
You can also find how to contact us there whether it's direct message or email.

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We look forward to hearing from you all.

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God bless.