1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,100 One of the things I love about the Summer of Psalms series, and this was just something 2 00:00:07,100 --> 00:00:12,300 I wanted to try out now five summers ago with the first book of Psalms, because the book 3 00:00:12,300 --> 00:00:18,020 of Psalms is written in five kind of chapters or five books to follow the eminimic the Torah, 4 00:00:18,020 --> 00:00:21,860 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. 5 00:00:21,860 --> 00:00:26,820 And it also gives 150 if you're counting Psalm 119, which Mike and I think planned out will 6 00:00:26,820 --> 00:00:29,220 take us a whole summer to get through. 7 00:00:29,220 --> 00:00:33,560 It gives you many, many, many, many years of sermon material for the summers. 8 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:37,960 And it's also a great way to have guest preachers come in, resident preachers like we had James 9 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:43,760 Kostlik over the years, to give them a Psalm and say, go with it, follow the Spirit and 10 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,240 lead and preach. 11 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:54,040 But what's been transforming for me, hopefully it's been for you, is every summer the Psalms 12 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:58,200 literally meet me where I need it to be. 13 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:02,080 I remember three years ago when my sister was dying of cancer in the summer of Psalms 14 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:04,200 journey, we had that everything. 15 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:08,400 I mean, I don't think I cried that much in sermons ever up to that point, because these 16 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,560 Psalms meet us exactly where we need to be met. 17 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:14,200 And that's the beautiful thing about Psalms. 18 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:20,600 These songs, this poetry, these words are written from a heart, written from the heart 19 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:23,960 of an artist or a group of artists. 20 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:29,600 And if you guys are at all musical, you understand that music evokes emotion, right? 21 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:35,680 That we have emotional responses to songs, right? 22 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:43,280 And whether we know it or not, we kind of digest these songs and some songs get us super 23 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:45,680 excited about life, right? 24 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:49,200 Some songs that when you hear it, you think, oh, I remember when I heard that song, or 25 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:53,720 that song represents for you a time of life. 26 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:58,680 How many of you remember the first song that you danced to at your wedding reception? 27 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,840 If it's appropriate, yell out what they were. 28 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:05,840 Unforgettable. 29 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:10,480 Guy gave me, oh, that's so cute. 30 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:13,360 You and I. 31 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:14,360 The Macarena? 32 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:15,360 What? 33 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:19,000 Yeah, you and Lisa had the Macarena as your first one. 34 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:20,000 That tracks. 35 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:21,000 Good job. 36 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:22,000 Yep, that's on brand. 37 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:23,000 No, what was yours? 38 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,280 Lisa, I'm going to ask you. 39 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:27,200 I crossed my heart, right? 40 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:31,800 Carrie, we were I'll Be by Edmund McCain, one of his only hit. 41 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:34,440 But yeah, any others? 42 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:35,640 May I have this dance? 43 00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:38,640 And she's going to do whatever you say anyway, so that's great. 44 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:44,960 So that we can go back and think about all of those things and it evokes emotions. 45 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:50,280 I could give you a laundry list of songs that when I hear those, some I will instantly 46 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:52,280 start crying, right? 47 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:58,120 It is well with my soul or a piece like a river for a lot of us, right? 48 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:00,440 That song brings up emotion. 49 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,000 Hero by Mariah Carey, right? 50 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,760 For me will always remind me of my mom. 51 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,120 I cannot believe I'm going to start crying just bringing it up. 52 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:12,040 That's a special song for me and my mom. 53 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:15,000 But these songs should do similar things. 54 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:20,600 They should evoke emotion and the emotion for the closing of this sermon series is one 55 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:27,960 that we should all really dive into this week is thankfulness. 56 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:29,480 It's a church word, right? 57 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:34,120 It's giving thanks for things, having gratitude for things. 58 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:36,800 But when I, this is a Psalm of Thanksgiving. 59 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:39,680 When I say Thanksgiving, what comes to mind? 60 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,280 If you're new, I ask questions and we interact a bit. 61 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:43,680 I like to have fun with that. 62 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,280 But when I say the word Thanksgiving, what comes to mind? 63 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:53,120 Turkey, thank you, got that out of the way? 64 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:54,920 Family, okay? 65 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:59,000 Others, singing. 66 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,840 That baby has a good one too, crying out to God. 67 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:02,840 Absolutely. 68 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:04,560 I heard one over here. 69 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:06,880 Stuffing, thank you, okay? 70 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:11,280 Let's just insert all Thanksgiving holiday foods now. 71 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:13,080 Football, okay? 72 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:14,080 Now we're devolving. 73 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:15,080 All right. 74 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:23,480 The understanding of Thanksgiving biblically is a recognition of to who we give thanks. 75 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:28,320 And I thought about that this week that one of the things that when your parents, you 76 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:34,520 remind your kids over and over is to say please and thank you. 77 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:40,120 Because inevitably sin gets into our kids and they just start to demand things, right? 78 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:41,840 Jim's shaking his head, yes, right? 79 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:44,240 They just start to demand things. 80 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:49,400 And in some ways we sometimes give into that because we do the same things. 81 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:53,640 I don't know how many times I've actually said please go to your room. 82 00:04:53,640 --> 00:05:02,320 No, because if it's a punishment, I'm going to say get your butt in that room. 83 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:07,080 But this understanding of teaching our kids to be thankful is something that they learn 84 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:11,680 by teaching, but they also learn by example. 85 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:12,960 And that's really the heart of the sermon. 86 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:19,800 I could be done in the next two minutes by saying our lives should be an example to the 87 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,880 world of thankfulness. 88 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:27,760 But I'm not going to preach for four weeks so you're not that lucky. 89 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:29,200 That is your life. 90 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:33,000 If someone were to see your life, and this isn't the first time I've asked this question, 91 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,960 but if someone were to see your life, do they see a life of, I'm going to use a different 92 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:40,640 word, but it's a synonym, gratitude. 93 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,640 And for many different things in your life. 94 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:50,640 And what the psalm that starts off with today is gratitude for interceding when life got 95 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:51,640 really hard. 96 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:55,760 So let's go to Psalm 116 starting with verse one. 97 00:05:55,760 --> 00:06:02,360 I love the Lord because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy because He inclined 98 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:04,480 His ear to me. 99 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:07,040 Therefore I call on Him as long as I live. 100 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:12,280 The snares of death encompass me, the pangs of shale laid hold on me. 101 00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:17,800 I suffer, I suffer distress and anguish that I called on the name of the Lord. 102 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,960 Oh Lord, I pray deliver my soul. 103 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:23,440 Let's keep going. 104 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:29,720 Gracious is the Lord and righteous our God is merciful. 105 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,120 The Lord preserves the simple. 106 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,440 When I was brought low, He saved me. 107 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:40,760 Turn, oh soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. 108 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:47,480 For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. 109 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:51,120 I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. 110 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,000 Let's stop there Hannah, go back. 111 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,520 So it's very personal. 112 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:01,840 And you can tell when someone is earnest about their thanks, right? 113 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:05,920 There's just something about saying thank you in different ways or with a different 114 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:12,080 spirit or with different tonality that means something different. 115 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:19,600 To me as a parent and I've heard a lot of you, a non-asked thanks from your kids is 116 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,720 wonderful, right? 117 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,720 When you have to remind your kids, you know, what do you say? 118 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:26,720 Thank you. 119 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,720 It means a little different than unprovoked, your kid comes up and says, you know what? 120 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:34,040 Thanks for that or thank you because of this. 121 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:39,480 But one of the things that we have to recognize in the beginning of this Psalm is that this 122 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:45,760 is almost sounds like a transactional relationship that if God does this, I will thank Him. 123 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:48,920 But that's not how we should look at it, ever. 124 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:53,840 That's how the world wants you to think of it because the world wants you to believe 125 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,680 that God is a genie in the bottle. 126 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,480 Aladdin had to ask genie for his wishes. 127 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:02,360 He wasn't assumed. 128 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:03,800 That's not how God is. 129 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:12,920 The Creator, Sustainer, Sovereign God does not move just because you ask him to. 130 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:16,840 He promises things. 131 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:22,680 He foretells of things that we will go through in life that before you were born, Jesus said, 132 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:29,680 I will be with you always to the very end of the age, and He says it to you, and it's 133 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:31,840 not, I'll be with you always to the very end of the age. 134 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:36,200 If you go to church every Sunday, if you jump into senior high youth of your female, if 135 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,640 you fill out the lighthouse position, then I will be with you. 136 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:42,640 God's not transactional in the way we believe. 137 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:50,760 God is faithful and our life should be just that, faithful and thankful, living lives of 138 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:52,040 gratitude. 139 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:59,320 But it cuts, and it's hard, especially when things get hard, when life gets rough, when 140 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:05,720 life gets tragic, when life feels impossible. 141 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:08,040 Friend God is still faithful. 142 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:10,640 He is still planning to deliver you. 143 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:13,080 He is still planning to heal your wounds. 144 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,080 He's still planning to pick you up when you stumble. 145 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:22,360 He's still planning to dry your eyes that have been mournful and tearful for however 146 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:23,360 long. 147 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:29,960 He's still planning to do that, yet our thankfulness gets somewhat cut up or nonexistent when 148 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:34,320 it's not done when we want it done. 149 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:38,320 But our demands on God's time has nothing to do with His faithfulness. 150 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:42,800 His faithfulness will stay forever and ever. 151 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:49,000 So when you get up there, when we get to heaven and we're face to face, I think I can guarantee 152 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:54,600 the fact that you're not going to ask God, where were you when I was having marriage 153 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:55,760 issues? 154 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:58,840 Where were you when I was preparing to go into surgery? 155 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,000 Where were you when I was in the lowest of my low? 156 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:07,200 Where were you when I was in the pit? 157 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:11,960 Because if I was God, now that's never going to happen, and this is just a sermon illustration, 158 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:17,640 I'd probably just step back and just let you see heaven. 159 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,720 Because friend, that's God's end game for you. 160 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:25,520 God plays the long game to us all the time. 161 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:26,520 How do I know? 162 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:28,480 Because we're sinners and we need it. 163 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:33,040 We need someone that's going to be patient with us. 164 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:39,640 Think about the patience that Carrie's going to need for the next rest of her life after 165 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:45,000 this week, that I have to learn to use different voices. 166 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:49,600 And not like Muppets, don't make it weird, but I have to use different tonalities so 167 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:51,680 we don't run into this again. 168 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:54,800 But I won't be able to talk for seven days. 169 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:59,420 Now some of you are like, that's an answer to prayer. 170 00:10:59,420 --> 00:11:05,360 My wife doesn't feel that way 100%, but understand that there's going to be patience that needs 171 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:08,200 to be extended on both ends. 172 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:14,680 I was creating, I bought an app that's text to talk so my phone can talk for you. 173 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:17,880 And I said some of this to you last week, I had to stop and check my heart because the 174 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:22,120 first 15 things I recorded was grounding my boys. 175 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:24,640 Joey, go to your room. 176 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:27,080 Teddy, go to your room. 177 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:28,080 Empty the... 178 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:30,440 I had to stop and go, no, I do love my kids. 179 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:32,560 And so I made sure we had our nighttime prayer in there. 180 00:11:32,560 --> 00:11:36,440 I told them, I have them, I love you, I'll do it with some funny voice. 181 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:39,640 But there's going to be patience. 182 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:44,160 So one of the things that I think we have to tie into a life of gratefulness and a life 183 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:48,380 of gratitude and thanksgiving is patience. 184 00:11:48,380 --> 00:11:54,320 That when we are impatient, our recognition of God's faithfulness goes way down, hits 185 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:57,120 rock bottom really. 186 00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:01,840 That when we aren't patient with each other, when we're not patient with God, and we do 187 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:02,840 that. 188 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,920 We kind of look at God and go, hey, I'm here. 189 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:09,080 Why aren't you doing anything? 190 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:14,120 Much like when our kids do it to us, there's a bigger plan at play, a plan that our kids 191 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:15,520 don't always understand. 192 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:18,640 It's the same for us and God. 193 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:22,080 There are times we don't get the perspective right away. 194 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:26,640 We don't get the answer as to why I have this ailment or why did I go through this season 195 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:32,280 or why I'm still in the pit, I have yet to be lifted out. 196 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:39,480 All of that attacks our life of being thankful, of saying thank you, of showing a life of 197 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:41,920 gratitude. 198 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:47,040 But the theme of deliverance now comes in because this is one of the ways this Psalm 199 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:52,120 shows us why we should be thankful, how we should be thankful. 200 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,920 So let's continue. 201 00:12:54,920 --> 00:13:00,600 I believed even when I spoke, I am greatly afflicted, and I said in my alarm, all mankind 202 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:02,240 are liars. 203 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:05,000 First shall I render to the Lord for all of His benefits to me. 204 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:08,480 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. 205 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:13,480 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of His people. 206 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:16,520 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. 207 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:18,480 Oh Lord, I am Your servant. 208 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,720 I am Your servant, the Son of Your maidservant. 209 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:23,640 You have loosed my bonds. 210 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:28,400 I will offer to you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. 211 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:32,680 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all of His people, in the courts of the 212 00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:34,440 house of the Lord, in your midst. 213 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:36,200 Oh Jerusalem, praise the Lord. 214 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:37,600 Stop there. 215 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:39,240 This is huge. 216 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,000 I am Your servant, the Son of Your maidservant. 217 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,800 You have loosened my bonds. 218 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:50,720 So that means I no longer change to whatever sin or situation I find myself as I'm calling 219 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:51,720 out. 220 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,560 And what I love is you've loosened it now what? 221 00:13:55,560 --> 00:14:01,560 Because that's one of the biggest frustrations I have pastorally that you probably have spiritually 222 00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:08,480 is that when we are delivered and we say thank you, for some of us we just fall right back 223 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:10,360 into it the next week. 224 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,360 That we don't learn from Him. 225 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,200 We don't learn from these experiences. 226 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:24,880 When we give thanks to God for delivering us, our life should be different. 227 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:28,000 The Holy Spirit brought faith into your life. 228 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,280 And if you are here this morning and you have made your profession of faith or maybe you 229 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:38,720 prayed a salvation prayer or however salvation came to you, you are no longer the same. 230 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:43,640 If you find that you are the same, let's make an appointment for the end of August and talk 231 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:45,920 that out. 232 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:53,520 Because salvation in the one true God should not leave you the same as before you were saved. 233 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:57,520 But salvation is the difference. 234 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:01,040 A life made right and whole in Christ. 235 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:03,160 There is a difference. 236 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:05,560 There is a different level of thankfulness. 237 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:10,040 There is a different level of gratitude before. 238 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:18,920 Before I was a Christian, my gratitude was of earthly things, of following the rules, 239 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:21,160 of not going to jail. 240 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:23,480 Those are the things that bind us culturally. 241 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:28,640 But when we become a Christian, our gratitude is every day. 242 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:34,360 Every hour we need these, we are just saying for communion. 243 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:39,200 So are we living lives of gratitude for the everyday things? 244 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:46,360 Are we saying thanks to God for giving us the opportunity to witness at work? 245 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:51,760 Are we giving God thanks and gratitude for the opportunity to sit with someone who is 246 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:58,360 struggling, not always having the answers, but sitting in the pit with them, do we give 247 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:00,680 thanks to God for that? 248 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:01,680 For that opportunity. 249 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:06,440 Because he's loosed your bonds, he will loose other people's bonds. 250 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:08,120 And then I love what the Psalmist says. 251 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:16,560 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving. 252 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:18,760 What does that mean? 253 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:26,120 I will offer to you a sacrifice of thanksgiving. 254 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:30,360 What do you think that means? 255 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:32,720 This isn't a sacrifice of praise. 256 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:36,280 This isn't the sacrifice of a bull or a lamb or a goat. 257 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,080 This isn't a sacrifice of the sacrificial system. 258 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:41,560 This is something different. 259 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:44,720 A sacrifice of thanksgiving. 260 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:50,400 Anyone want to take a stab at it? 261 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,560 That's part of it. 262 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:56,240 To walk the talk, combine those together. 263 00:16:56,240 --> 00:17:02,240 A sacrifice of thanksgiving is showing the world that I am accountable. 264 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:06,920 It's showing the world that there's a standard that I live in. 265 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:13,960 It's founded God's word and in an active relationship with Christ and hear me and his church. 266 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:20,760 Now, I know as a pastor that's kind of a sales job on my end that you should be in church, 267 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:22,080 so I have a job. 268 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:23,400 That's not it at all. 269 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:28,720 But our life and our sacrifice of thanksgiving is that accountability piece giving thanks 270 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:37,160 to God that we have commandments to follow. 271 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:39,200 Joey is about to turn 11. 272 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:40,520 Teddy's about to turn 9. 273 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:44,160 Jack's about to turn 7. 274 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:46,800 And I have yet to hear from them. 275 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,040 Take notes, Joey. 276 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:50,040 God's... 277 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:51,760 Don't ever call me that. 278 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,640 Dad, thank you for punishing me. 279 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,600 Thank you for setting me straight. 280 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:01,680 Now I know I wasn't like that as a kid. 281 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:03,880 I bet you weren't like that as a kid. 282 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:08,880 And if you were like that as a kid, you were weird. 283 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:11,400 Because we don't fully understand. 284 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:15,440 When people come to make profession of faith with me and then with the elders and in front 285 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:21,440 of the church, it's not just acknowledging the good news of the gospel, but it's recognizing 286 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:24,080 the bad news of your sin. 287 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,120 Your sin, not my sin. 288 00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:27,120 Right? 289 00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:30,840 I've never had someone go, I want to make profession of faith because Jesus saved you, 290 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:32,120 pastor. 291 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:34,840 It's a recognition of my sin. 292 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:37,800 And what are you thankful for in life? 293 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:41,200 First and foremost, it's salvation. 294 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:44,240 It's deliverance from the pit. 295 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:49,160 In order to thank God, this may be awkward and uncomfortable, but in order to thank God 296 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:55,840 for delivering yourself from the pit is a recognition that you were in a pit. 297 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:58,200 It's just like AA and NA. 298 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:02,000 It's recognizing there is a problem. 299 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:06,800 And in there lies a problem with the church and the problem with Christians. 300 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:10,880 We don't want to look at our sin first. 301 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:15,120 This song, this is not talking about anybody else. 302 00:19:15,120 --> 00:19:22,160 Grace is a mono a mano conversation of Thanksgiving with his creator, her creator. 303 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:24,040 This isn't a group. 304 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:25,440 This is an individual. 305 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:29,320 You didn't come and take communion today as a group, though you did. 306 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:30,320 Right? 307 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:34,520 I'm not receiving grace for Jesse. 308 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:37,200 I'm receiving grace because I need grace. 309 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:39,600 Jesse, you need grace too though, right? 310 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:40,600 Absolutely. 311 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:42,560 And Jesse got grace. 312 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:43,560 You get grace. 313 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:45,040 His mercies are new every morning. 314 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:50,840 His grace is available to us always, and we should live lives of thankfulness because 315 00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:53,480 of it. 316 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,040 Precious in the sight of Lord is the death of his... Oh, we already read that. 317 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:58,520 Go to the next one. 318 00:19:58,520 --> 00:19:59,520 That's it. 319 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:00,520 Okay. 320 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:04,200 So understand, go back to that last line. 321 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:08,440 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people. 322 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:13,560 In the courts of the house of the Lord in your midst, O Jerusalem, praise the Lord. 323 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:14,560 Here we go. 324 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:17,840 It's a bit weird. 325 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,760 Part of living a life of thankfulness is coming to church. 326 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:25,520 Now, I understand church virtual, and that is a thing, and it's something, especially 327 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:31,440 during kind of the COVID season, that's something we relied on, and that's great, is being with 328 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:39,840 God's people is in some way showing that church trumps things. 329 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:43,320 I can't stand... I got to find a new word for that because unfortunately that word means 330 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:49,760 something different today, but church is one of our ways to show and acknowledge the thankfulness 331 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:54,440 we have in our life. 332 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:59,360 If people know that you're a believer because you go to church, fantastic, but watch out. 333 00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:05,360 That's a double-edged sword because when you go to church and people know you go to church, 334 00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:09,400 people know that you go to a monster church, it's not just your name that you're living 335 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:10,760 out. 336 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:15,400 It's the person sitting to your right, sitting to your left, so as much as it's individualized, 337 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,160 it's also corporate. 338 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:24,320 That we are the church because it's our way of saying thank you to God for the sacrifice 339 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:32,200 of Jesus Christ and the salvation made available to me, to my wife, to my kids, to the covenant 340 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:38,760 family, because friends, there are people out in the world that are not a part of that, 341 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:45,160 and we don't dangle it like a carrot, we don't judge it, we don't say, ooh, we don't need 342 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:48,520 those kind of people here. 343 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:52,200 The minute you do that, you're not thankful because you're putting conditions on God's 344 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:53,200 faithfulness. 345 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:56,000 It's not our place. 346 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,040 It will never be our place. 347 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:03,560 It's our place to live a life of thankfulness before the presence of all His people and 348 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:08,920 the precious is at the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. 349 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:11,040 Oh Lord, I am Your servant. 350 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:14,120 I am Your servant, the Son of Your made servant. 351 00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:15,600 You have loosened my bonds. 352 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:23,040 I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on Your name. 353 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,920 When's the last time You've called on the name of the Lord and You walked out being 354 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:35,320 in God's presence, and I will pay my vow to the Lord in the presence of all His people, 355 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:40,960 in the courts of the house of praise of the Lord, in Your midst, O Jerusalem, praise the 356 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:42,960 Lord. 357 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:48,640 I live a life of thankfulness in my quiet time, in that intimate time with me and God. 358 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:52,760 I live out a life of thankfulness for my wife and for my children. 359 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:56,560 I live a life of thankfulness for my inner circle, my people that I trust. 360 00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:01,840 I live a life of thankfulness for my elders and my deacons and my council, and I live 361 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:05,040 a life of thankfulness for Munster Church. 362 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:09,920 And we love to stop there, but we can't. 363 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:13,900 If we keep it all in here, we've missed it. 364 00:23:13,900 --> 00:23:18,240 We also need to live a life of thankfulness outside of this place. 365 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:29,400 So as I close, and we don't talk again for another month, let me ask a couple questions. 366 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:34,120 What are you thankful for in your relationship with Jesus? 367 00:23:34,120 --> 00:23:40,280 What are you thankful for about the family God has placed you in, whether that's a married 368 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:44,840 family, a single and extended family, whatever that looks like? 369 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:52,120 What are you thankful for about the family of God that God has brought you to? 370 00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:57,800 And what and when are you thankful to God for when you get to bring the message out 371 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:02,160 to the world that desperately needs it? 372 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:07,720 If I were to line up 10 of your closest friends and ask to so and so, I'll just use me, does 373 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:12,400 Jim Holland owner live a life of thankfulness? 374 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,560 My hope is they'd all say yes, but I don't know. 375 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:22,600 It's an everyday check of my heart, of my spirit, of my relationship with God. 376 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:28,320 By the Psalm, this also says in another Psalm of Thanksgiving, creating me a clean heart, 377 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:30,120 oh God, a life of thankfulness. 378 00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:36,100 We're gonna do a right spirit within me, cast me not away from my enemies, but uplift me 379 00:24:36,100 --> 00:24:37,960 by your spirit. 380 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:42,360 When we ask for him to come do that, thankfulness is gonna be part of it, because it's a recognition 381 00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:45,000 of his faithfulness. 382 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:48,640 So I close with this. 383 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:52,600 How are you being faithful to God? 384 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:55,760 How are you being faithful to the gifts he has given you? 385 00:24:55,760 --> 00:25:13,640 And how are you being faithful to your church and the world that needs to...