We come together today with thankful hearts of
praise to God. Good morning and welcome to Grace
Church Roseville. May I remind you that at 6
o 'clock tonight we conclude this Lord's Day
together in worship in addition to music and
testimonies which we will share. We will conclude
tonight the message started last Sunday night
on the supremacy of Jesus Christ from Ephesians
chapter 1. We invite you to be back and urge
you to be here. as a part of making Sunday special
in your life for the Lord Jesus Christ. Today
is Thanksgiving Sunday, and as a part of that
we are receiving a Thanksgiving offering. If
you have an envelope set, there is a Thanksgiving
envelope that you should be using. If you did
not bring it or you don't have a Thanksgiving
envelope, you may designate your gift by writing
on it that it's for the Thanksgiving offering.
because that amount will be sent to the relief
effort in El Salvador that we have talked a little
bit about. There's more about it on the back
of our newsletter today. I trust that we'll give
generously and be able to help in a significant
way those who are working with those who are
disadvantaged in El Salvador because of the earthquake.
We'd like to take a moment right now to welcome
those who are visiting. If you are a guest today
and don't normally come to Grace Church Roseville,
We're glad you're here for this special Thanksgiving
Sunday. Our ushers have a brochure about our
ministry and a visitor's card we'd like to place
into your hands. Would you be kind enough to
lift your hand so we can see where you are? Receive
one of these and then complete the card, the
visitor's card that is, and put it in the offering
plate when it's passed later in the service.
Lift your hand right now if you will as they
work their way back down the aisles. Be sure
they get to see you. Thank you. The missionary
prayer display will be removed tonight from the
lobby so if you have not yet had the opportunity
or taken the opportunity to fill out one of these
prayer forms, committing to pray for one of our
missionaries, today is your last opportunity
to do that so that we can notify them who their
prayer supporters are in our fellowship. We have
through tonight to take care of that detail.
The two roses on the organ today are in honor
of two Jennifers born this last week. One, Jennifer,
to Mr. and Mrs. Mark Kraus, and another one to
Mr. and Mrs. Brian Graves. We congratulate them
on this joyful occasion in their lives. There
will be a clothing collection on December the
6th, that's a Saturday, to benefit our clothing
closet ministry as a church. The details about
that will be coming shortly, but I want you to
be aware of it so that you can be looking at
those. Articles that you no longer have use for
would like to share with somebody else. That
will be on December the 6th. Church directories
are available for those in our church, both members
and attenders. They are available in the lobby.
We encourage you to pick up one to the family.
Please do remember that these directories are
not for some commercial use, but are for the
private use of our church. Next Sunday in the
evening we will have another of our fifth Sunday
forums. We have not done this since last spring
because the schedule simply didn't work out that
we could. But what it is is a question answer
time during the evening service and you have
the opportunity to ask the questions regarding
Bible doctrines, questions concerning the Christian
life. If you have a question you'd like to ask
the panel, and please remember this is not stumped
the panel, this is asked the panel. Feel free
to write it out. You may even want to use the
back of your worship folder this morning to write
it, and then leave it by placing it at the information
desk when you leave. That will give our panel
some time to study up on the question that you'd
like to ask. That's next Sunday night, the fifth
Sunday forum. Let's prepare ourselves to worship,
and as we prepare to observe the Lord's table
in our worship this morning, let us remember
Jesus. that as we do this to remember Him. Let's
do that together right now. Let us, as we drink
the cupless cup. As you gave yourself Help us
to live As you gave your life Help us to live
Let us worship you As we humbly bow of sin. Remember
Him always, till Christ comes again. Come, let
holy Christ then feed us as we Touch us with
thy peace in hand on every common day As you
gave yourself, help us to live. As you gave your
life, help us to live. Let us worship you. We
remember our hearts reflecting upon that upper
room 2000 years ago where Jesus met with his
disciples and there they sang in the Jewish custom
from the Psalms and partook of a meal together.
Jesus then took two of those elements and from
them established an ordinance for this age which
we call communion or the Lord's table. We remember
him this morning on this day of thanksgiving,
for he is God's indescribable gift for the salvation
of our souls. The Lord Jesus on that night in
which he was betrayed took bread and gave thanks
for it. Let us give thanks too for the bread
which represents his broken body for us. Let's
bow together. Our Lord, as we contemplate that
event so many hundreds of years ago, we recognize
its relevance for us today, on this day in 1986.
For that sacrifice of your body for sins was
for all time. We thank you that your body was
broken for our sakes. And we receive today this
bread with gratitude because of what it represents
to us, your willingness to give yourself even
to the death of the cross, that you might do
the Father's will. Lord, as we partake of it,
we humble ourselves too, and we eat it with an
attitude of being willing to do whatever the
Father's will. is for us. Jesus said, this is
my body. It is for you. Do this in remembrance
of me. Would you sing with me? Sing Alleluia
to the Lord. Sing Alleluia. Sing Alleluia. Sing
Alleluia to the Lord. And then he took the cup
and gave thanks. Our Lord, we give thanks to
you for your precious blood shed for the propitiation
of sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins
of the whole world. Lord, as we partake of this
cup this morning, may we remember that this blood
has been shed for those who have yet to hear
the story. and impress upon our hearts the urgency
of getting this glorious gospel to them, that
they may hear and believe upon you. And as we
partake, may we remember as well that we are
a purchased people, that we are not our own,
that we've been bought with a price. Amen. Jesus
said this is the blood of the new covenant do
this as often as you drink it in remembrance
of me Would you please take your worship folder
and look at the congregational reading If you
wish you may put your cup on the floor and then
you can take it with you when we leave and we'll
dispose of them at that time. Let's read together
as a congregation as it instructs us responsibly.
We have welcomed Christ into our lives and during
the past weeks of the fall spiritual adventure
We have opened our homes to Jesus. We acknowledge
His presence. We acknowledge His majesty. We
recognize that He is above all and deserving
of our worship. We are experiencing the joy of
His abundance in our lives. We have recognized
our tendency toward self -worship. We all have
trials and have suffered. We rejoice through
participation in the great joy that Christ brings
to all of life. We celebrate Christ. The Lord
is risen. you beside us to guide us, our God,
with us joining, ordaining, maintaining, O 'er
the ramparts we watched, O 'er the ramparts we
watched Indeed, thanks be to God. I'm glad to
report this morning that at the present time
we have faith promises totaling 690 ,000. This
week you'll be receiving a letter from our elders
with a brief overview of our 1987 ministry plan
budget. The figure is above that, and for several
reasons. A couple of them. First place, our faith
promises for next year are coming in about $100
,000 under what our projected income is. for
this year. So we know that there are quite a
number yet who have not participated in faith
promise for one reason or another. So don't be
surprised when you see the difference involved
there. Be praying with us that God will give
us faith to trust him for the opportunities that
are before us. Next Sunday night after the evening
service there will be a detailed explanation
of the ministry plan for the congregation. We
encourage you to plan to stay for that. Then
a week later on December 7th after the evening
service a vote on it along with a vote on the
sale of the Lake Minerva property Which was donated
to us three years ago and has now been sold or
as in has been The price has been offered to
us and you have to vote to sell it it has to
be a congregation vote to do that So it's not
really sold yet till after you vote on December
the 7th. Let's bow together in prayer Father,
we have very much to give thanks for today for
the eternal salvation you have given to us freely
through the awful price that you paid in the
death of your son. What kind of thanks can we
give that is enough? So we give you ourselves
as living sacrifices. and pray that all of our
days upon the earth we may walk with you in fellowship
and bring your heart joy. And ask too that we
may be a people filled with faith to believe
you for great things. I pray that you will not
allow us to be content with small things or things
that are mediocre. But may we reach out for all
that you enable us to do. Make us a people of
faith, so that like those of old, you may not
be ashamed to be called our God. In Jesus' name,
amen. you Please join together in singing number
118. The text I imagine will be new to many of
you. The hymn itself, the hymn tune should be
familiar. Number 118, we'll sing together all
four standards. Please stand. every generation.
The fire divine, their steps that bled, still
goeth bright before us. The heavenly shield around
them spread, is still a hallel o 'er us. The
strength, those weaklings that renewed, Doth
vanquish, doth restore us. Their joy unto their
Lord we bring, Their song to us descendeth, The
Spirit who in them did sing, To us is new. Is
it high we send it on, The sun that never ended?
Ye saints to come, take up the strain, The saints
we demon differ, Unbroken be the golden chain,
Keep on the song. Please be seated. sure that
is a new text to most of us here this morning
and it speaks very eloquently of the unbroken
chain of generations that have known and served
God upon the earth. We are one generation. Others
have gone before us and we dare not forget the
greatness of their faith in trusting God and
the importance of our preparing future generations
to walk with Him as well. Would you open your
Bible with me please to the book of Hebrews and
we will look today in the 13th chapter. We conclude
today the Fall Spiritual Adventure. This is our
eighth Sunday when we have focused on a particular
theme related to Jesus Christ coming to stay
in our homes as a guest. Today's theme is the
guest stays on. I suppose that all of us have
joked at one time or another about a friend who
came to stay for a little while and ended up
staying a little bit too long. There's a Portuguese
proverb that says, visits always give pleasure,
if not the coming, then the going. Benjamin Franklin
stated it a little more plainly though when he
said, fish and visitors stink after three days.
Don't you like that? Such reaction may occasionally
be true regarding a human guest, but never of
our heavenly guest that we've been thinking about.
Indeed, the joy and the sense of privilege that
is ours because Christ is in our homes can be
permanent, for indeed his stay is permanent.
Please don't forget that he's there. Please don't
take for granted the privilege of his abiding
presence with you. Seek to build an increasing
sense of wonder and appreciation that he has
promised to stay. As he says at the end of the
fifth verse in this chapter, I will never desert
you, nor will I ever forsake you. What a wonderful
decree from our royal guest. The sovereign, the
king who has been staying with us says, I will
never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.
Isn't that a blessed promise? Talk about something
for which we can give thanks on this Thanksgiving
Sunday. Think with me, if you will, about the
consequences of such a promise. What are they?
As we look at Hebrews chapter 13, we can number
several of them. Because our guest has decreed
what he has in verse 5, we can be content with
what we have. Will you notice that that is actually
the context of that verse? The first part of
verse 5 says, let your character be free from
the love of money, being content with what you
have for he himself has said. Isn't that interesting?
Because he has said this, we need not be characterized
by love of money or selfishness of possessions.
We cannot escape the teaching of our Christ and
our King that we cannot serve or worship Him
and our material things at the same time. That
puts us in our culture in a great dilemma because
we are by nature materialists. We worship the
things, the possessions, the money that we have.
But our Jesus has said to us, you cannot worship
that and worship me at the same time. Now the
reason is that one will inevitably dominate us.
There is no compromise between the two. One or
the other will be the dominator, the Lord of
our life. That is why I think the ownership prayer
has so effectively stated the petition from many
of us. Indeed, the prayer that should arise from
the heart of all of us when it says, Your Majesty,
thank you for what you have entrusted to me to
manage on your behalf. These possessions, these
resources, these gifts are not mine, but yours.
Give me the wisdom I need to make them available
for the work of your kingdom. I am honored to
be your subject. But someone asked, what if I'm
treated unjustly? What if someone seizes or steals
my earthly goods? Don't I have a right to be
anxious about that? Well, verse 6 seems to answer
the question. He says that we should be free
from the love of money, being content because
of what Jesus said, so that we can also confidently
say, the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid.
What shall man do to me? You say, well, a man
can take my earthly goods. Someone may break
into my home and steal my things while I'm at
church. Therefore, I stay home. We worry about
those things, don't we? We don't have to be afraid.
The Lord's our helper. What is the worst that
another human being can do to you or to me? The
worst they could do is kill us. And all they've
done then is liberate us to go to be with the
Lord, which is far better. So because our King
has decreed what he has, we need not fear what
man might do to us. The Lord is our helper. We
have to ask ourselves the question, what fills
our thoughts more? Our desire for money? Our
fear of losing the things we have? our planning
to increase it, or how we might be able to get
by on less, how we might invest more wisely in
the Lord's work and send our treasures on ahead,
how we can meet the genuine needs of others around
us. Which describes the thought pattern of your
life? To be content with what we possess is the
greatest of all riches, isn't it? Again, our
friend Benjamin Franklin put it this way, contentment
makes poor men rich. Discontentment makes rich
men poor. Every person lives in one of two tents,
either content or discontent. Which one do you
live in? Contentment is found in declaring that
God is the true owner of all that we have and
that we ourselves are but the stewards. When
we can come to that point, then we can be content.
Our King has said, I'll never leave you. I will
never forsake you. Therefore, we can be content
with what we have. And what we have, we can invest
in His work. Because He is permanently present
with us, we can also show loving hospitality
to others. By the way, you're going to notice
that in Hebrews chapter 13, we have a remarkable
summary of all of our false spiritual adventure.
Because He is present with us, we can show loving
hospitality to others, making it a priority to
serve those who cannot repay us. Look at verse
2. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.
This was one of the bonus disciplines that some
of our church family accepted during these weeks
of our adventure. They looked for special ways
in which to serve the King, to share their abundance
with those who could not in any means repay them.
You know, recognizing our King's presence, we
want to be as spontaneous and generous as he
himself is. Because He is here, we want to be
selfless because that is what characterizes Him.
Jesus was selfless in His countless interruptions.
Why, He even fed thousands of people without
any preparation. He took time to talk and to
touch those who were considered outcasts because
of illness. Sinful lifestyle. or discrimination.
To them He showed His kindness. Our Lord wants
to keep reaching out to people too. Even though
He is now bodily and gloriously in heaven, it
is His desire to reach out through His present
earthly body, you and me, to touch and to love
people who are in need. Because He is permanently
present in us, We should graciously show hospitality
and loving kindness by our actions to others.
Because he has promised never to leave, we can
expect to see his working in our lives in unexpected
ways. Look at the end of verse 2. He says, By
this, that is by their hospitality, some have
entertained angels without knowing it. You see,
when angels appear, they don't come always dressed
in shining robes. They certainly don't come flapping
into your room with wings. Angels have the capacity
to appear in a glorious form or in a merely human
form. And what is said here in a rather amazing
statement is that angels have been entertained
by some of the believers in that early church.
What is he talking about? Well, he tells us earlier
in the first chapter of this book that angels
are sent to minister to those who shall be the
heirs of salvation. Who of you can know that
you have not been ministered to by angels at
some time in your life? When there was some stranger
who intervened on your behalf and perhaps you
did not even notice the intervention. But it
was there. Because our Lord has promised never
to leave us, we can expect to continue seeing
His working in our lives in ways that we might
not expect. One of the disciplines we've talked
about during these weeks is the God hunt. And
the little phrase, I spy, has become commonly
used amongst us. We have asked God to open our
eyes that we might perceive His working. Do you
recall the disciples in Luke 24 who said that
their hearts burned, but they didn't know why
until Jesus revealed Himself to them. And then
they understood. I pray that we might have this
kind of heavenly heartburn. That we might see
His hand working every day. And even though the
adventure is over, Officially, may the adventure
go on as we notice our Lord's working in His
daily involvement with us, in special encouragements
He gives, in specific answers to prayer, in unusual
timing that He brings together in our lives.
And then I would hope that we would feel free
to share these things even as we have the opportunity
to do tonight in the service. Because that will
evidence to others that our God is alive and
well and working. in the world today. Number
four, because his presence is abiding and he
has said what he has, we can show proper respect
for each other. Because he is here and abides
with us, our words will be more carefully chosen
because he is listening. He is evaluating our
statements. The way those words and actions strike
others is the way that he perceives them. Because
we recognize his presence, proper respect will
characterize us. There's a discipline we've used
during these weeks called words of affirmation.
We have sought with specific people to use our
tongues as tools to build and not as weapons
to destroy like we are so prone to do. Let's
continue, seeking to make our words sweet and
cool water rather than bitter and salty poison.
In Hebrews 13, there are several directions suggested
for our respect. In verse 3, he tells us that
we should remember the prisoners, those who are
ill -treated, for Christ's sake. There should
be a proper respect in our part for them who
are suffering persecution for the sake of our
Lord. We should show proper respect, he says
in verse 4, for marriage. Let marriage be held
in honor among all. Let the marriage bed be undefiled
fornicators and adulterers. God will judge. We
should have proper respect for our marriage partners.
And by extension, for our families, parents for
children and children for parents. You see, this
is all in the context of the Word of God in Hebrews
13, showing proper respect for each other. Then
once more in verse 7, he says, Remember those
who led you, who spoke the Word of God to you,
considering the result of their conduct, imitate
their faith. And again in verse 17, obey your
leaders and submit to them, for they watch over
your souls. as those who will give and account.
And so we are to show proper respect towards
spiritual leaders within the fellowship of our
church. Because of His abiding presence, we can
and should show proper respect for each other,
for He is here. Therefore, discourtesy, thoughtlessness,
rebellion, and harshness. Why, these things would
surely bring us embarrassment if we realized
that Jesus was next to us. And in fact, He is.
And fifthly, because Jesus is here, we can participate
in public worship with a sense of its importance
to our lives. Because Jesus Christ is literally
in His body. That's why in verses 15 and 16 it
says, Through Him then let us continually offer
up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the
fruit of our lips that give thanks to His name.
And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for
with such sacrifices God is well pleased. These
would seem to tie together with what we looked
at before in chapter 10, verses 24 and 25, when
he says, let us consider how to stimulate one
another to love and good deeds. That is, we are
to stimulate each other in offering up these
sacrifices to God. And he says, not forsaking
our own assembling together, as is the habit
of some. but encouraging one another and all
the more as you see the day drawing near. The
discipline of making Sunday special has meant
something to a few of us. We have sought to include
a special action in the week to show the Lord
that Sunday is the high point of it all. Maybe
it was being here on time. Maybe it was reading
through the scriptures as you come in and sit
down the scripture that's going to be taught
that morning. Maybe it was praying for the pastor
or for other small church leaders or for the
ushers or choir members before you came to church.
But something was done, I trust, to show to the
Lord that Sunday is in fact what he says it is,
the high point of the week, that special day
that in some sense corresponds to the Sabbath
of the Old Testament. in that it's a day set
apart to worship the Lord as a congregation of
people, because He is here. Because He is here,
we can come and participate gladly and willingly
and enthusiastically in the public worship of
our congregation. And finally, because our King
will never forsake us, because He will never
leave us. We can face crises without fear of
personal collapse due to foundation failure.
We talked about this last week. Crisis is a part
of the life of every one of us. We're either
going through one or there's one on either horizon,
coming or going. It's a part of life. Not everything
that happens is a crisis, but there are crises
that we face. Because He is here, we can face
those without fear. We need to make sure that
the foundation is solid though. What did Jesus
say makes a rock foundation? Is it just hearing?
No. Is it hearing and appreciating? No. Is it
hearing and quoting what He has to say? No. Is
it hearing and admiring His teachings? No. It's
hearing and what? taking action, hearing and
doing what he tells us to do. That's why in Hebrews
13 we're warned in verse 9, do not be carried
away by varied and strange teachings. You see,
that's a flood that comes against some. That's
a crisis that approaches indeed many. in this
day in which we live, when there are demonic
doctrines that are floating everywhere. Faults
and varied and strange teachings that come. He
says, don't be carried away by them. It's good
for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not
by foods. He's talking there about the legalistic
rules of Judaism, through which those who were
thus occupied were not benefited. He's saying
they were busy looking after all the rules, the
legalistic things that had been set up regarding
their diet. It didn't benefit them at all. They
were carried away. They collapsed. But he says,
let your heart be strengthened by grace. Then
in verses 12 and 13, he tells us that Jesus also,
that he might sanctify the people through his
own blood, suffered outside the gate. What gate
is that? Well, the gate of Jerusalem. But symbolically
it means that he suffered outside of Judaism.
He was rejected by the Jews, turned out by them.
This is not our king. We reject him. And so outside
the gate he suffered. And it says, hence let
us go out to him outside the camp bearing his
reproach. The camp here being the camp of Judaism
in the context of that day. Today, I think we
can say it in a number of ways, including this.
We have to go outside the camp of popular religion
and bear his reproach. There are some not willing
to pass through that crisis for the sake of pleasing
family or pleasing those at work or pleasing
the community. They maintain ties with popular
religion, unwilling to identify with the Lord
Jesus Christ, and their lives collapse. I don't
know what crisis you may be under today. Maybe
it's a religious crisis. Maybe it's one with
a strange doctrine that's been introduced to
you and you're not quite sure how to handle it.
It may be a personal crisis of some loss or fear.
It may be jealousy. It may be uncertain in your
life. You don't know what is going on around
you. Whatever it is, you need not fear that crisis
because Jesus has said, I will never leave you.
I will never forsake you. Let your heart be established
with that grace. Through the last weeks, we have
been daily disciplining ourselves, observing
in scripture a variety of different kinds of
crises. And we've observed how people in the
scriptures handle them, or how we were told to
handle them. And I hope that we've learned from
that. That God allows crises to come to us for
a purpose, but He doesn't leave us without a
word as to what to do. It's here. And He's with
us. And it is not His will that we collapse.
So build a firm foundation. Now from these things
that we pointed out, do you see why we are privileged
to have Christ stay on with us? While we've talked
about inviting Him into our homes for these days,
He will be here to stay. He is the guest who
stays on. And we can be glad about that because
of the positive difference that He makes in our
homes, in our lives because of it. Could I ask
you to do something this week? that I hope would
be meaningful to you and would encourage somebody
else. I want you to write two notes. The first
one is to Jesus. You may want to keep it in your
Bible or in your personal diary, but write a
note to Jesus telling Him what the last few weeks
have meant to you, honestly. And then thank Him
for the fact that He's staying on with you. And
for what reasons you're grateful. And then write
a second note, if you would. I'd like you to
address it to the chapel of the air, or if you
wish to make it a person, to David Maynes. In
fact, if you have one of the adventure journals,
there's a back page that you may have seen from
this morning which allows you to fill out the
page that's right there. And then I'd like for
you to mail that. either directly to the chapel
of the air or here to the church office and we'll
collect them. I would enjoy reading them if you
don't mind. And then we can send them in a bundle
to them. To let them know that we appreciate
the fact that they've organized the adventure
that we've been able to participate in. For we
have cooperated with them in it. It's been our
adventure but on the other hand they are the
ones who provided the materials for us. And I
think it would be appropriate for us at this
Thanksgiving season to give thanks to whom it
is due. But I wonder if right now you would be
willing to bow your head with me and consider
just what you want to say to Jesus. Would you
do that? I would hope that he's not a visitor
who has overstayed That you don't feel it's time
for him to leave because of discomfort. Would
you right now in your heart say, Lord Jesus,
I thank you for these last weeks of the spiritual
discipline because of, then name a couple of
things to him right now, would you? And then
would you say, Lord Jesus, I thank you that you're
staying with me. Never to leave will forsake
me. And these are the reasons that I'm thankful
for that. Name two or three of them for him right
now. Talk to him. And then I wonder, as you think
through the past weeks, if there's some area
where you feel that you haven't been able to
accomplish what you wanted spiritually, would
you like to say to the Lord that you're going
to continue working in a specific area of your
life and ask His help? Maybe it's one of the
disciplines. Tell Him about it right now and
what your commitment to Him is. I love you, Lord,
and I lift my voice to worship you. Oh, my soul,
rejoice. Take joy, my King. Lord, we do love
you, and we are grateful, and we pray that our
gratitude would establish our hearts in grace.
May this Thanksgiving season be a rich one for
us as a congregation, rich because we recognize
your presence and have the benefits that we've
talked about this morning. May we be a people
who serve you with gratitude, who worship you
with gratitude. and who treat others differently
with gratitude. Thank you for the sacrifice which
you gave on our behalf at the cross. May the
shadow of the cross lie across each one of us
in our walk this week that we might remember
what you've done for us and be willing to take
up our own cross. and follow you. We pray this
in your blessed and holy name. Amen. Thank you
for being in worship with us this morning. God
bless you.