We have just passed through a season when being
thankful is popular. But being thankful is always
proper as far as God is concerned. In everything
and for everything, the Word of God says, give
thanks. The psalmist said, serve the Lord with
thanksgiving. Israel was rebuked for her lack
of it. And the pagan world is characterized by
an absence of gratitude, which is a proper response
to God's providence and common grace extended
to all men. Indeed, in Romans 1 .21, we read
that the first step toward idolatry is actually
an attitude, an attitude of ingratitude toward
God. And we learn in 2 Timothy 3, 2 that ingratitude,
unthankfulness, will characterize the end times
as the traditionally Christian culture grows
increasingly apostate. In contrast to all of
that, however, the child of God is to be known
as a thankful person, always giving thanks for
all things. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
to God, even the Father, Ephesians chapter 5.
Be ye thankful, the Word of God instructs us.
In Hebrews 13, 15, it says, Let us continually
offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is,
the fruit of lips. Notice, not just an attitude
of heart, but the fruit of lips that give thanks
to His name. We can all find something for which
to be thankful and can learn to be the same in
everything. Someone has said giving thanks is
a course from which we never graduate. One fourth
grade class was asked by its teacher to write
a short paper on the subject, the things I am
most thankful for. One little boy put down first
his glasses. And he wrote an explanation after
it. They keep the boys from hitting me and the
girls from kissing me. That sounds like a fourth
grader. He'll change. Unfailing gratitude makes
a human magnet out of a common personality. A
person who may not have a whole lot going for
him if he's grateful. If he's the kind of person
who's thankful and gracious, that kind of a person
you want to be around. Perhaps that's one reason
that most Bible students are attracted to Paul
the Apostle. Paul suffered hardship. He endured
persecutions. He experienced beatings and savage
attacks of slander against his character. He
bore the burden of immature and carnal problems
in churches. You can read about it in 2 Corinthians
chapter 11. And yet his attitude was never one
of complaint. Inevitably, Paul was one who expressed
gratitude and praise to God. You and I can learn
to practice thanksgiving to God like Paul. Not
just one day a year, but every day of the year.
Look with me, if you will, at some of the reasons
for which we can always express thanks. We will
discover these in Paul's own handwriting. For
Paul liked to use a phrase, thanks be to God.
Let's trace some of the places where he wrote
those words. We'll begin in Romans chapter 6,
verses 17 and 18. First, we see that we can always,
as the children of God, Give thanks for deliverance
from sin. Romans 6, verse 17, But thanks be to
God, writes Paul, that though you were slaves
of sin, you became obedient from the heart to
that form of teaching to which you were committed.
And having been freed from sin, you became slaves
of righteousness. We can always be grateful to
God for our deliverance from sin. And that's
what Paul is talking about in our text. Notice
with me the facts as Paul points them out. Facts
related really to our position in Christ. First
of all, though, he points to our pre -conversion
condition in verse 17 by three words that he
puts together as a phrase. You were slaves of
sin. That is a terrific summation of an unregenerate
person. The non -Christian is one who is a slave
to sin. As Paul puts it in Ephesians 2 .2, we
all formerly, we Christians even, formerly lived
in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath. That describes every person
in his pre -conversion condition. Slaves of sin.
Sin said do this and we slaves did that. We had
no choice because we were sold into bondage under
sin. Sin was our master and a cruel master at
that. But then Paul goes on in verse 17 to use
another couple of phrases. which described for
us our conversion experience. He says, you became
obedient from the heart to that form of teaching
to which you were committed. Notice that he describes
our conversion really in two verb phrases. He
says, you became obedient and you were committed.
The words in between that form of teaching refer
to the gospel. The saving message of Christ's
death, burial, and resurrection. He says you
became obedient to that. That emphasizes man's
part in conversion. Becoming obedient to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
That is not an invitation. That is a command
from God. Believe. on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And when we believe, it means that we have become
obedient to that command. That's what Paul has
in view here. You became obedient. You believed
on the Lord Jesus Christ. That was your part.
But then he says regarding the gospel that we
were committed to it. Really, he says you were
handed over to it. It's passive. Rather than
our doing the acting, we were acted upon. He
says we were handed over to the gospel of Christ.
And here Paul has in mind God's part in conversion.
Salvation is of the Lord. It's the sovereign
work of the Holy Spirit that he has in view,
delivering us to the gospel. You were chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world,
Paul writes to the Ephesians. And what he's emphasizing
here is the Holy Spirit simply fulfilling God's
elective purpose. in handing us over to the gospel.
And so our conversion experience can be described
in human terms and in God's terms. In human terms,
it means you became obedient to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. In terms of God's work, it
is that He handed you over to the gospel. And
He says, thanks be to God for it. This same truth
is seen again in parallel in 2 Thessalonians
2. You may want to look at that because once
more we have another of Paul's thanks be to God
statements. In 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13
he says, But we should always give thanks to
God for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because
God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation.
Now how is God going to do that? Through sanctification
by the Spirit being handed over. Committed to
that message, that form of teaching. And, he
says, furthermore, by faith in the truth. That's
becoming obedient, as he says it back in chapter
6 of Romans. And in verse 14 he says, And it
was for this he called you through our gospel,
that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Notice again, by the way, in verse 14,
this great parallel truth. God called you, but
how did God do it? It was through the preaching
of the apostle Paul. You know, there are some
people who say, well, I believe in election so
strongly, I don't think we have to preach to
anybody. If they're going to get saved, they're
going to get saved. Paul believed in election
too, but he also believed in human responsibility.
And over and over again, you see those two in
balance in Paul's writing. In verse 13, it's
regarding salvation. In verse 14, it's regarding
his responsibility. He says, God called you,
but it was through our proclamation of the truth
to you. Well, thanks be to God, says Paul, that
you believed on Christ. You became obedient to
that form of teaching to which you were handed
over by the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit.
That's our conversion experience. Now going back
to Romans 6, he says in verse 18, In another
phrase, he describes our post -conversion condition.
He says, and having been freed from sin, you
became slaves of righteousness. Before we were
saved, we were called slaves to sin. Now we're
called slaves of righteousness. That's why he
says in verse 19, because that is true of us,
at the end of the verse, verse 19, he says, Now
present your members as slaves to righteousness,
resulting in sanctification. He says, here's
what God's called you to be. Here's what you
are. You are a slave to righteousness. Now live
like it. That's what he says. He says, you've
been freed from sin. Now live like you've been
freed from sin. Don't keep on sinning. You don't
have to sin. God has freed you from it. You're
no longer under that master. Present your members,
and there he has in mind not just the physical
members of our bodies, but our capacities, our
abilities, our potential. He says, present that
to God as a slave of righteousness, and as you
do, it will result in your sanctification. You're
becoming more like Christ. He says, thanks be
to God, you are freed. from sin. You are delivered
from it. But there's another fact that Paul lived
with and with which we live, and that is that
although we are delivered from sin, we still
do sin. We don't have to obey sin any longer
because it's no longer our master, but we can
obey sin, and the fact is that we do. There are
times when we choose to sin rather than obey
God. You say, did Paul really face that too?
Yes, look in chapter 7. Beginning in verse 15,
there is a marvelous autobiographical paragraph
from Paul. There are those who disagree with
that, but I think that the language here really
can be explained in no other way. Paul is writing
about himself, and not before he was saved, but
after he was saved. For no saved person, unsaved
person rather, could say what he does in verse
22. I joyfully concur with the law of God in
the inner man. No unregenerate person will ever
say that. But a Christian will. A Christian says,
I joyfully agree with God's law in my inner man.
But, verse 23, I see a different law in the members
of my body, waging war against the law of my
mind, making me a prisoner of the law of sin.
which is in my members, wretched man that I am,
who is writing this, an apostle. Paul himself
is writing this, calling himself a wretched man.
Do you ever feel wretched, you Christians? Do
you ever struggle with sin in you to the point
of feeling wretched about it? Paul did. So do
I. So do you. And yet Paul is the one who wrote,
thank God he delivered us from sin. The point
is that we in position are delivered from sin.
We need to begin living that way by presenting
ourselves to God. But recognizing that there
still will be a struggle that we will go through
every day of our lives in this world. Paul goes
on to say in verse 24, who will set me free from
the body of this death? He's talking there about
his humanness. His physical body, but more than
that, His whole humanness. Who will set me free
from this, He says. Thanks be to God. Notice
that phrase again. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now in chapter 6, Paul is pointing back to our
past deliverance from the guilt of sin. And he
goes on to talk about, in later verses, our deliverance
from the power of sin. Right now that we don't
have to obey it. We can present ourselves to
God. To obey Him. But here in chapter 7, he's
saying, thanks be to God, someday I'm going to
be delivered from even the very presence of sin.
And this body, this humanness about me that still
has sin indwelling it will be changed and no
more sin at that point. Thanks be to God. You
want to thank God for something? You thank God
that He's delivered you from the guilt of your
sin. You deserve hell. God's delivered you from
that. God is delivering you from the power of
sin right now in your life. If indeed you are
presenting your members to Him daily, seeking
to walk in obedience and by faith, and one day
God is certainly going to deliver you fully from
the very presence of sin, thanks be to God, this
struggle is not always going to be with us. We
won't always have to say, wretched man that I
am. we will one day say fully and completely,
blessed man that I am, my redemption has been
completed. Paul talks about this in chapter 8,
verse 23, where he says that right now we groan
within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption
as sons, the redemption of our body. Same subject,
same theme. Looking forward with groaning to
that day when His redemption will be consummated
and He is not only with Christ, but He is like
Christ in every respect. Thanks be to God. We
can learn every day to give thanks to God. Indeed,
we should give thanks to God for deliverance
from sin. Now turn with me to the book of 1 Corinthians
in the 15th chapter, and let's notice another
reason for which we should always give thanks
to God. Look in verse 54 of 1 Corinthians 15.
He says, when this perishable will have put on
the imperishable and this mortal will have put
on immortality, talking about when Christ comes,
then will come about the saying that is written,
death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where
is your victory? O death, where is your sting?
The sting of death is sin and the power of sin
is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul
is here in this chapter talking about giving
thanks to God for our victory over death. You
and I are born facing the grave. There is nothing
more certain than that we shall one day face
death personally. Except for that generation
of Christians who will be alive at the rapture,
every other person faces death. It is impossible
to elude this king of terrors, as the book of
Job calls death. In fact, death today is stalking
you, just as yesterday he was stalking Cary Grant
and got him. Today he's stalking you. It may
not be today that he gets you, but he's on the
prowl for you. Such a thought holds an unregenerate
person in absolute terror, who all their lifetime
are subject to bondage through the fear of death,
writes the writer of Hebrews. The fear of death,
not just the experience of dying, but what happens
to me after I die, that is a frightful thought.
to the unregenerate person. The Taliabu tribe
out there in the eastern part of the Indonesians
are caught up by that fear. How we need to be
praying for that missionary team that is working
there, the Linettis, the Palmers, the Campbells,
as they prepare as quickly as possible to present
the gospel to those people. Hopefully they'll
be able to begin teaching in January. and will
have laid enough foundation that by April, the
people there will have enough understanding to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Please pray
for that team. They're on the real battlefield
between light and darkness, life and death. Those
people have for generations feared death. And
as I shared with you a few weeks ago, when we
got off the plane there, the tribe met us at
the plane. About 50 of them, one of the Shaman
priests came up and kissed me three times on
his cheek and then said to me something in his
language. And I turned to Stephen Linetti and
asked what he had said. And he said, he has asked
you to grant him life, that he might live to
hear the message that we've come to tell him.
Well, you see, in their darkness, in their superstition,
they don't understand everything, but one thing
they do know, they die. And they fear that. One
of the old men died a few months ago. He was
the person actually who had welcomed the missionary
team there, and it just shattered the team when
this man died unexpectedly. He died lost. And
he had had a part in welcoming the team into
the tribe and helping them to get set up. And
after he had died, the son, who I would judge
to be in his 20s, I met him, came to the missionary
and said, where is my father now? How would you
answer that if you were a missionary? You see,
they fear death, and rightly so. That's why we
want to get the gospel to them, that they might
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the
victor of death, and who will deliver them from
the power of death. Because the child of God
does not need to fear this defeated enemy. He
may be able to claim our bodies, but old death
will never be able to claim our souls. We have
already been delivered from death to life. And
even our bodies will one day be released from
the death grip. Death can no more hold you as
a Christian in the grave. your body that is,
that it could hold the body of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He himself said, because I live, you
shall live also. Today our Savior stands with
his foot upon the neck of death as its victor.
You and I can thank God today that though we
may not exactly look forward to the experience
of dying, we don't have to fear the result of
it because Jesus has delivered us from that.
I'd like you to turn over a few more pages to
2 Corinthians 2, and let's look at the 14th verse.
And notice again that we can always give thanks
for this. Thanks be to God, who always leads
us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through
us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in
every place. I see here that we can thank God
for triumph in circumstances. Paul is saying
in verse 13, I had no rest in my spirit. He writes
about his circumstances at that point and how
his heart was troubled by his situation. He did
not know where Titus was and so on. And so he
pressed ahead to the next city. He writes out
of a heart that is troubled by his circumstances.
Do you ever feel troubled by your circumstances?
Well, notice that as Paul writes about his very
real -life human experience of being troubled,
he goes right on to say, but thanks be to God
who always leads us in triumph. The triumph there
is that triumphant march of the Roman general
coming back to the city as a conqueror. The equivalent
of our ticker tape parade in New York City today.
That victorious general would come into the city
with his victorious troops behind him, and there
at the end of the line, would come the prisoners
of war. Now to those soldiers, as they smelled
the incense going up in honor of this general,
incense going up to the Roman pagan gods, they
would feel wonderful. This was life unto life
to them. This was their victory. And they smelled
that incense. The aroma was wonderful. But to
the folks at the end of the line, the prisoners,
it wasn't so wonderful because that incense meant
their death. They were condemned to die in the
arena or by execution. To them, that aroma was
death. And here's what Paul is saying here, that
as God is working in our circumstances, He is
leading us in His triumph. And the aroma of God's
work in our life is like sweet incense that goes
up to God that He finds acceptable. Our circumstances
may be tough, but God's at work. And what He
is doing is pleasing Him. And to those believers
around us, those fellow soldiers of Christ, that
is a sweet aroma. It's life unto life. To the
pagans around us who cannot understand what God
is doing in our lives, who cannot understand
our attitude of gratitude in the midst of our
difficult circumstances, to them that aroma is
death. And Paul says, who's sufficient for that?
But his point is this for us today, that Jesus
Christ leads us in triumph in our circumstances.
God does not want us to be defeated. God wants
us to know victory in our circumstances. A Mr.
Bradford, who was a martyr ultimately, said of
Queen Mary, If the Queen be pleased to release
me, I will thank her. If she imprisoned me, I
will thank her. If she will burn me, I will thank
her. What do you do with a guy like that? No,
she burned him. And he thanked God because he
was triumphant in his circumstances. Notice that
Paul has this same theme in the 8th chapter of
Romans when he writes in verse 35 of some of
the circumstances that can overcome us. He says,
he talks there about tribulation. He talks about
distress. He talks about persecution. He mentions
famine and nakedness, not having enough clothing
to wear. He speaks about peril or dangers that
can confront us. He talks about the sword. Now
we may not literally be passing through any of
those today, but figuratively there are some
of you going through some real Famine experiences.
You know the meaning of stress. You know what
tribulation is. There is a sword in your heart
today. Life circumstances. But notice that Paul
goes on to say there in verse 37, In all these
things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him
who loved us. Jesus Christ leads us in triumph
in our circumstances. We can always be grateful
for our circumstances, even the tough ones. Dr.
Alexander White was a great preacher in Scotland,
in Edinburgh, in the last century. He was famous
for his pulpit prayers. It seemed as though he
always had something for which to give God thanks.
On a particularly stormy morning, one of his
members came into the church saying this, the
preacher will have nothing to thank God for on
this wretched morning. And so when the preacher
stood up to pray, he said this, We thank thee,
O God, that it is not always like this. Triumphant
in circumstances. And now turn over a page or
two to the 8th chapter of 2 Corinthians and notice
the 16th verse where Paul again says, Thanks
be to God who puts the same earnestness on your
behalf. in the heart of Titus. Seems like a rather
text to try to preach, but what is Paul actually
saying here? He is saying he thanks God that
Titus shares his heart for the Corinthians. God
has put into Titus the same earnestness on behalf
of the Corinthian church, and Paul thanks God
for that. Here's the way I would put it. Paul
tells us here that we too can thank God for success
in ministry. That's what Paul is pointing to
here. It is a success in his ministry. Now we
define ministry and we define success in very
strange ways, actually unbiblical ways. Sometimes
we define ministry as being up in front. Sometimes
ministry is being up in front, but most of the
time it's not. Or we define ministry as doing
things that other people notice. Sometimes they
do, sometimes they don't. It's not a very good
definition for it. There are those who define
success in ministry as becoming well -known or
having the biggest church or the biggest small
church. or having the fastest growing flock,
or Sunday school class, or whatever it may be.
All of those things are false definitions. I
think that Paul gives us here a good ministry
definition and a definition of success as well.
What is ministry? I think we can define ministry
very simply. Ministry is not becoming well -known.
It's not having the biggest anything. It's not
being the most active person necessarily, but
ministry is serving others with a view to God's
will being realized in their lives. Now you can
put that definition in a one -on -one relationship
or a one -to -ten -thousand relationship. It
is true whether you're an usher or a Sunday school
teacher, a choir member. or one who works in
a parking lot of a church directing traffic.
Ministry is serving others so that God's will
can be accomplished in their lives. You see somebody
who's helping park a car out there on a snowy
morning is trying to show that person the best
parking spot where he can get to the fastest
and get into the church where he can be ministered
to. He's serving him, that God's will can be
done in his life. The one who's teaching Sunday
school. is teaching that child so that God's
will can be done in that child's life. The one
who's singing in the choir, the one who's ushering,
the one who welcomes at the door. You name it.
Ministry is simply serving others so that God
can work in their lives. And success in ministry
then is transplanting your own vision, your own
burden, your own motive, or your teaching into
the heart of another person that you're discipling.
And again, that may be one person. It may be
a brief encounter. It may be a long -term discipleship.
It could be a church service like this. But success
is seeing God's will accomplished in the other
life. And it may be nothing that anyone on earth
will hear about, but heaven rejoices. God's will
is done in that other person's life. That's success.
Paul thanks God that as he's worked with Titus,
Titus has responded. And now Titus has caught
it. Titus has the same heart burden, the same
love as Paul himself had for the Corinthian people.
And he thanks God for that truth. Now, dear friend,
God has given you, if you're a Christian today,
gifts to employ in ministry. That means in serving
others. I don't know what capacity it may be,
but I know that God wants you to be involved
in ministry to other people. focusing on the
body, the local church. That's his plan, Ephesians
4. Are you ministering? And are you seeing success
in ministry? Remember, it's not numbers. It's
not the fastest growing this or that. Now, it
may be fast growing. There may be numbers, but
that's not the measurement of success. The measurement
of success is, is that person responding to the
Lord? Is the will of God being accomplished in
the other person's life? That's the measurement
that counts. And then one final text that we'll
look at, and it's found in the ninth chapter,
just over on the next page if you have a Bible
like mine, the 15th verse where Paul says, Thanks
be to God for His indescribable gift. And here
he thanks God for salvation in Christ. That gift
that he's talking about is the Lord Jesus himself.
For Christ is the gift given by the Father for
the salvation of the world. What does Isaiah
9, 6 say? For unto us a child is born. Unto us
a son is what? Given. A son is given. John 3,
16. For God so loved the world that he sent his
only... Begotten Son, no. It does say other places
the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the
world. But there it says that He so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son. Gave
Him as a gift. Romans 8 .32 says, He did not
spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us
all. Do you understand what a precious gift Jesus
is? Paul says there are no words to describe
it. Remember the Holy Spirit is inspiring Paul
as he writes these words. He is guiding him so
that he puts down the very words that God wants
him to write, the miracle of inspiration. And
the Holy Spirit comes to this word gift in verse
15 and he says indescribable. The Holy Spirit
cannot even use a human word to describe the
gift. that Jesus Christ is to us from the Father.
Notice where Paul is led by the Spirit again
to put this verse. It's right at the end of two
chapters on giving. Paul points to Jesus Christ
as a gift, as both a challenge and a charge to
us. In the first place, a challenge. Never to
forget what God has done for us. Never to forget
to thank God continually for this gift that is
without words to describe. And the charge is
to give ourselves as unsparingly as God has given
to us. You say, is there some measurement as
to how much I should give? One person asked me
one time, should I tithe on my gross or my net?
I said, do you want God's net blessings or God's
gross blessings? Not a really good answer, but...
I think I got a point across. Is there a measurement
for my giving? Yes, there is a measurement. It
is God's gift. If you feel that you've given
too much, then take out this yardstick and look
and see if you've given too much in light of
what God has given to us. That's Paul's point
here. God has given his gift, but the point is,
have you personally received it? There's a cartoon
done by Von Shoemaker a number of years ago now
that is often... reprinted on Christmas Day.
It's a cartoon of a simple Christmas tree, under
which is a gift that is beautifully wrapped,
and on the gift are the words, John 3, 16. And
down at the bottom is the caption for the cartoon,
and it simply says, The Untaken Gift. He came
unto his own, but his own received him not. But
to as many as received him, to them he gave the
authority to become the children of God, even
to them that believe on his name. Have you received
God's gift, my friend? You say, hey, I've heard
that message. I know about Jesus coming into
the world. Well, I grew up with Christmas and
Easter. I know that Jesus died. I've heard he
rose again. I know all about that. You see, the
point isn't how much we know. It's whether we've
received that gift that God has given. If you've
not received that gift in Jesus Christ, will
you open your heart today and reach out with
your faith and say, Lord, today I believe. Today
I receive your gift. of eternal life through
Jesus Christ, who died for me and rose again.
And those of us who have received that gift,
may we surely follow the Apostle Paul's example
and be grateful people. You know, that will revolutionize
our lives when we learn to be grateful and thankful.
What a sad testimony as a sour saint. and how
we should allow the Spirit of God to flood us
with gratitude to the Lord daily, even for the
thorns of life. George Matheson was another of
the great preachers of Scotland. He was blind.
This is what he prayed one time. My God, I have
never thanked thee for my thorn, my blindness.
I have thanked thee a thousand times for my roses,
but never once for my thorn. I have been looking
forward to a world where I shall get compensation
for my cross. Teach me the glory of my cross.
Teach me the value of my thorn. Show me that
I have climbed to thee by the path of pain. Show
me that my tears have made my rainbow. It may
be that there's a child of God here this morning
who has a thorn and it is dug deeply into your
life. You have thanked God many times for the
roses, but oh, that thorn, that thorn. I wonder
if right now you would bow your head and say,
Lord, thank you for the thorn. Let's bow together.
Thorns can make us bitter, angry, and sour people.
Don't allow your thorn to do that to you. But
by faith, child of God, I speak to you. By faith,
right now, there in the quietness of your heart,
whisper a prayer to the Father, thanking Him.
for the sting and the cut of that thorn. And
I wonder if there is one here as we, with bowed
heads and closed eyes, wait upon God, who would
say, Pastor Call, I have never yet received that
gift of Jesus Christ for myself. I no longer
want that gift to be unclaimed. Today I receive
Jesus Christ as my Savior. If that is the attitude
and prayer of your heart, I'd like you to lift
your hand right now where you're seated so that
I can pray for you. And let that be at least
one outward sign to God that you mean business.
That today you really are sincerely taking Christ
as your own. Would you lift your hand right now
and put it down? Is there one? Oh Lord, make
us today a grateful people. For then we shall
be a joyful people. Teach us what it is to give
thanks for the thorns as well as the roses of
life. May we reflect the gratitude that did Paul,
and may that attitude of gratitude cause our
lives and personalities to be attractive to,
attractive to bring other people to our Christ.
Deliver us from ingratitude and sourness. Deliver
us to be a people who enter your gates daily
with thanksgiving. In Jesus' name, amen.