♪ Great is Thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Great is Thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Morning by morning new mercies I see ♪ ♪ All I have needed Thy hand hath provided ♪ Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto Thee. I know you want to say it. Say it. Amen. Have a sit. Thanksgiving Day is less than three weeks away. Can you believe that? Less than three weeks away. It's a little early this year. It happens to be one of my favorite holidays. It happens to be one of my favorite holidays for a variety of reasons. Although these days it's been reduced to just a few, I call them the four F's. There's food, and of course that's turkey and dressing and pumpkin pie. And then of course we have football. Detroit and Dallas, who cares, right? And then there's fun, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Personally, I'd like to see the parade instead of all the acts that they put on display. But then, of course, the final F is frenzy with Black Friday. And so, it's been reduced to that in a lot of people's minds. But the reality is, it was originally founded, Thanksgiving Day, was originally founded by God-fearing people as a time to remember God's goodness. The growing Christian should be marked by gratitude. Every day, as I said in my prayer, should be Thanksgiving Day. Every day. Not just one day in November. Over in Colossians chapter 2, the Apostle Paul writes that we are to be firmly rooted, built up in Christ, established in our faith, just as you've been instructed, overflowing with gratitude, overflowing with gratitude. Thanksgiving is a birthmark of a born-again follower of Jesus Christ. I have birthmarks. You know, birthmarks are these little imperfections that you're born with. I think the most famous birthmark probably in recent years have been Gorbachev. Remember, he had that birthmark on his head. I have one on my right knee. I have one on my left knee. I have one at my waist. I have one in the middle of my back. So if you ever need to identify my body, I don't mean to be gruesome, but just look for those birthmarks. You'll find me. The birthmark of a born-again follower of Jesus should be Thanksgiving. An attitude of gratitude. And this morning a couple of thoughts to get us thinking rightly about Thanksgiving. Now there's an outline provided for you so if you want to take some notes I would encourage you to do that. Our first point would be simply this. What I call the Jesus principle. The Jesus principle. And then secondly the Paul principle. The Paul principle. And so all of this to get us ready for communion this morning because there's probably no greater event that should prompt us to be a thankful people than this event, that event, the cross of Jesus Christ. And so this morning I trust that you'll be motivated to give thanks because actually during the passing of the elements we're going to have some roaming microphones and we're going to invite you and I'll give you some very specific direction to just share with us a word of thanksgiving about who God is and secondly what he's done for you. And so you start thinking along those lines and I hope what I have to say this morning will kind of Gotta feed that fire so that you're well-prepared to share once those elements start being passed. Over in Matthew chapter 7, verses 15 through 20, we actually have what I call this morning the Jesus Principles. So, turn over to the Gospel of Matthew. It's the first of the four Gospels in the New Testament. And if you go to chapter 7, look at verse 15 through verse 20 with me. Now there's a context here, this is the Sermon on the Mount, this is Jesus preaching to thousands of people, and he's talking about false prophets. So that's the context. He's talking about false prophets. And this is what he says about them. He says, beware of the false prophets. So he gives them a warning. He says, be alert, look out, pay attention, because there are those out there who identify as prophets, but he said, they're false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing and inwardly are ravenous wolves. Sheep's clothing, speaking of how they appear to be harmless, but the reality is inside they are destructive. He uses a very graphic phrase, they are ravenous wolves. He goes on, and you will know them, you will know these false prophets by their fruits, that is by their deeds, by their actions, by their words, by their preaching, by their teaching. He says, grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? A little bit of humor there, I think, by Jesus to make a very important point. You want grapes? You go to the grapevine. You want figs? You go to the fig tree. You're not going to find figs with thistles and you're not going to find grapes on a thorn. So every good tree, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree, the diseased tree, bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. He means there's judgment awaiting the false one. And then he once again says, so then you will know them by their fruits. So the Lord Jesus establishes a basic premise here, and the basic premise is this. There are external marks that clearly identify the heart and allegiance of men and women. Let me say that one more time. There are external marks that clearly identify the heart and the allegiance of all men and women. A lack of gratitude is one of the marks of a lost person. How do I know that? Well, let me take you to a couple of places. Romans chapter 1 to begin with. The Apostle Paul is writing about the ungodly and the unrighteous and he says this of them in verse 21, for even though they, the ungodly and the unrighteous, they knew God, that is they intellectually were aware of who He is, he said they didn't honor Him as God or give thanks, or give thanks. Just as Thanksgiving should be the birthmark of a saved follower of Jesus, so a lack of gratitude, a lack of a thankful spirit is indicative of the heart of someone who truly doesn't know God. There's another place where this is spoken of. It's found in 2 Timothy chapter 3. where once again Paul writes to Timothy, this pastor, and he says to him in 2 Timothy 3, 1 and 2, And by the way, we're in the last days. The last days began a couple of thousand years ago. We're in the last days. Now note what will characterize the last days. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogance, revilers, disobedient to parents. Here it comes. Ungrateful. Ungrateful. The prevailing attitude today is characterized by the following. First of all, there is no God. You know why people don't want to believe there's a God? Because they don't want to be held accountable. They want to go do their thing. But if you acknowledge there's a God, and He's the Creator, and He's established the rules, then you have to understand that you're then accountable to that God. So the prevailing mindset today in our culture, not just here in America, around the world, is there is no God. Man's the founder of all of his own benefits. He's the one responsible for the good he has. And therefore, there's no need to thank God because he doesn't exist. That's one mindset that we see circulating today. A second related to it is this. Because of man's self-righteous estimation of his worth, he feels he's entitled. He's deserving of any and all good things. Therefore, there's no need to be thankful. It's just what's right. I remember years ago, I was not a watcher of the Simpsons for obvious reasons, but I do recall one little segment. I think it was about Thanksgiving Day, and Bart's gonna pray before they have their meal, or maybe he was just praying at a meal, and this was his prayer. Thanks, God, for nothing. It's just this mindset that's out there. There's no God. I don't have to thank a God because there is no God. What I have, I have accumulated on my own. I have, through and in and of who I am, mustered what it is I have. Tragically, the reality is just the opposite. And it's not a pretty picture, and it's not a complimentary picture. First of all, Scripture categorically teaches, as does nature, there is a God who exists. As a matter of fact, in Genesis 1-1, the first verse of the Bible, it says, in the beginning, God. Moses, who wrote that, just assumed God existed. He didn't take time to prove his existence. He assumed his existence. But can God's existence be proven? Oh, yes. Just open your eyes and look at the world in which we live. Over in Romans chapter 1 and in Psalm 19, the psalmist and the apostle Paul said, look at nature because it screams God exists. There is a God. Because there's a God, we must also understand something. He's a holy God. He's a holy God. In the Old Testament, we find a number of scriptures that emphasize His holiness. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses writes these words, quoting God, "'Be holy, for I am holy.'" That was not Moses saying he was holy. He was writing, quoting God, "'Be holy, for I am holy.'" As a matter of fact, Peter, in our study in 1 Peter, Peter quotes that very same verse, where he admonishes the Christians who were scattered throughout Turkey, and he says, "'Be holy, even as God is holy.'" So there is a God. He's a holy God, and that creates a bit of a problem for us because we're not. We're not. We can't measure up. The Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That's the reality of humanity, past, present, and future. That is who we are apart from God. I find an interesting verse at the end of Matthew chapter 5, it's once again the Sermon on the Mount, and in that verse Jesus says to his listeners, thousands of Jewish men and women, many of them who thought they were right with God because they did the right works, and he says to them, be perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect. If you were in the midst of that crowd, what would have been your response to that? Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. Well, if you have a contrite and humble heart, you recognize, I can't, because I'm imperfect. I'm, another word for it, unholy. I'm ungodly. I'm unrighteous. God does exist. He is holy. We are not. Therefore, there's a need for a rescuer. And here comes the good news. There is a rescuer. Jesus of Nazareth, he is the rescuer. We can't save ourselves, for by grace are you saved through faith and that, not of yourselves. It's, what? The gift of God, lest any man should boast. And so we recognize we can't do this ourselves. But I love all those other verses like John 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him will never perish but have everlasting life. So God says though I'm holy and you're unholy and we have an irreconcilable difference between us I'm going to make the provision so that we can be reconciled and we can have a relationship. therefore he sent his son Christ willingly came Christ lived perfectly he went to a cross as a perfect sacrifice he died his blood was shed and the shedding of that blood is why God is able to forgive us now because that was a perfect absolutely perfect sacrifice Christ's righteousness has now been charged to our spiritual account when we repent and believe the gospel and He got our unrighteousness and paid for it. And when we, by faith, trust in the Lord Jesus as Savior, we get robed in some brand new clothes. Thank you. It's the righteousness of Jesus Christ. So now when He looks at me, He doesn't see my filthy rags. He sees the robes of righteous Christ. And therefore I've been reconciled with Him. And He's able to do that because He did something for us. Jesus, on the cross, became sin. He didn't become a sinner. He became sin. All of the sin of all of humanity, past, present, and future, was laid upon Him. He died, his blood was shed. God, as a result, will forgive the sins of sinners like me when we repent and believe the gospel. That is the reality. This morning, before we go any further in my sermon, I want us to just pause for a second. I don't know where all of you are in your relationship with God, but there is somebody who does know where you are. and that's God Himself. And right now you may be here maybe thinking you're a Christian because you go to church, because you were raised in a Christian family, because you went to a Christian school, because you're a really nice person, but the reality is none of that is true. That's just a lie of the enemy. The reality is for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That's the guy talking to you, and that's you as well. But the gospel is this wonderful news that he's made provision through the person of the Lord Jesus, perfect God in the body of a man who died, and God accepted that in complete payment for our sin, our debt which is owed to God because we're sinners. And this morning, I wanna invite you to put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus right now. So in just a few moments, you can join us at this table for the very first time. You can join us at this table and you can eat the bread, drink the cup, which are just symbols of what Christ did on that cross. He sacrificed his life and you can do it for the very first time as a follower of Jesus, along with the rest of us. And we invite you to join us. But first one must know Jesus as Savior. This doesn't save you. You're eating the bread, drinking the juice. It does not save you. Those are symbols. They're pictures of what Jesus did to save you and me. That's all they are. And so I want us all to bow our heads, close our eyes, and Christian, you pray for that soul that might be present today, who needs Jesus, that right now, Jesus would reveal himself to them. And for those of you who might be here, and you just don't know if you're a Christian, but you have felt the tug of the Spirit of God this morning, drawing you to trust Christ, just right now, let me encourage you to do something like this. Just in your heart of hearts, to the God of heaven, say something like this, I am a sinner. I need a Savior. And I believe that Savior is Jesus. And I believe He died for me. And He rose again to prove He was God. And right now, I am trusting Him. and Him alone to save my soul. And that begins this new life that He wants for each and every one of us to have. But it begins only there, trusting the Lord Jesus as Savior. I'm gonna give you a moment to take care of business right now. Sometimes it's called a come to Jesus moment. Is that you this morning? If it is, come to Jesus. You can do what I just encourage you to do. Father, I just pray that a moment ago, there were individuals across this room, maybe a child, maybe a young man or woman, an adult, who really for the first time had their eyes open, their ears open, their heart open to the reality of their sinners. They need a Savior in Christ. Is that Savior? And now the fruit that will be demonstrated in their life will be a reflection of this new life they have in Christ. And I pray that before they leave this place, they would talk to me, talk to one of our other pastors, the elders who will be down front after service, maybe the friend who brought them today, maybe that spouse who brought them today. but they tell somebody what they did, so we can come alongside of them and help them now grow in their newfound relationship with you. Lord, there's more that you want to say to us this morning, and so we give you the balance of this time. Help us to listen carefully to what it is you have to say. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. So that's the Jesus principle. The idea that you'll know them by their fruits. Just this idea there will be external demonstrations of their heart and their allegiances. Now let's talk about our second point. This is the Paul principle, as identified here this morning. It was read to us in Ephesians 5, verses 18 through 20. And just as the loss are marked by the absence of thanksgiving, so the believer, as I've been saying over and over this morning, should be marked by thanksgiving, gratitude, an attitude of gratitude, as it sometimes is said. Let me give you the context of these verses, which we'll unpack here just in a moment. So if you go back to Ephesians chapter Let me just establish what's going on in this text. So the first half of Ephesians is theology. It's doctrine. It's biblical truth about our salvation. And this was the pattern of the Apostle Paul. He would build his case theologically through the first half of the book, and then the second half of the book he would challenge his readers what to do with it practically. And that's what we're going to look at here, because that's the section we're in here in Ephesians. We're in Ephesians 5, so 1 through 3 theology. And now we're looking at chapter 5, which is in the midst of 4, 5, and 6. This is the practical application of that theology. So look at verse 15. He says, Therefore be careful how you walk. So he's admonishing his readers to be alert and to be careful and to pay attention to how they walk. And the Greek word there is para pateo, para, around, pateo, to walk. So literally, he is saying, when it comes to your walking about on planet Earth, in other words, your lives, he says, you should be constantly paying attention to how you walk. And he gets real specific now. Don't walk as unwise, but walk as wise. Let me put it to you another way. Don't walk like a fool. Don't walk like an empty-headed person. That's kind of the idea behind foolishness in the Old and New Testament, is the idea of there's nothing between the ears. You take a gourd, okay, this is the fall, and there's all kinds of gourds, we have a bunch of them up here, although I think they're fake, but if they were real, you could take that gourd, and as it dries out, you can shake it, and you hear something rolling around in there. That's kind of the idea here. Don't be one of those people. They shake, they can hear your brain bouncing off the inside of your cranium, because you're just not smart. Not smart in the sense of getting A's, but smart in the sense of how you live. That's what he's talking about. He says live like a wise person, live like a prudent person. Most people associate wisdom with information. Now it's true, you gotta have some information to be a wise person, but it's way more than information. I know a lot of people have a lot of information, but I also know that they're not very wise. Biblical wisdom, both in Old and New Testament, is the idea of right application of what you know. So he has just laid this theological foundation, and he said, now that you know these truths, now I'm challenging you to live wisely. Take that truth and act on it. Live it out. Let it influence you. Let it change you. And then he gets very specific about what that looks like. What does a wise man or woman look like? First of all, he says, you make the most of your time. Literally in the Greek, you buy it up. You redeem it. You seize on every moment. And time here isn't calendar time. You know, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, etc. Time here is season. Okay, we're in the fall, right? And in just a few months, we'll move into winter. And then from winter, we'll move into spring. And then we'll eventually move into summer. And we all recognize in those respective seasons, there are things we can and cannot do. So the idea is, if it's winter and I want to ski, then I have to take advantage of that time. I've got to buy it up by getting in the car with my skiing equipment, drive up to Tahoe, and drop whatever it costs for a lift ticket these days. which is, I understand, a lot of money, and I'm going to seize the opportunity and I'm going to ski. But you can't really do that come summer. But you can do it in the winter. The idea behind this word, redeem, is to seize the moment. So he says, here's how a wise man or woman lives. They recognize the days are evil and they seize the moment to live righteously. They seize the moment to live righteously. And then he goes on and he says, okay, here's what that looks like. You don't get drunk with wine in which is excess, meaning you don't get drunk and ruin your life. That is not living wisely. That's living foolishly. But then he goes on and says, a wise person will be filled with the Spirit. So instead of being intoxicated with liquor, he says, be intoxicated with the Holy Spirit. Instead of letting liquor control you, let the Spirit of God control you. That's the idea of filled. It's the idea, it's plerao. It means to be controlled by an outside agent. The word was used to describe a ship being propelled with its sail bellowing with wind, and the wind fills, this word, fills that sail, propelling the ship. He says, let the Spirit of God propel your life. Let the Spirit of God propel you spiritually as you live out your life. That's a wise man. That's a wise woman. That's seizing the moment. Now, for the next several verses, he goes on and says, now here's what that person looks like who's got that sail filled with the Spirit of God. Figuratively speaking, he says, first of all, the worshippers speak to one another in hymns, spiritual songs, singing, making melody with your heart to the Lord, okay? But did you notice what verse 20 says? Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. That's why I call Thanksgiving a birthmark of every true believer. Because the Spirit will produce that. When we're walking in the Spirit, the Spirit will produce thanksgiving. And we demonstrate it in our life, giving thanks. It's the Greek word, interesting enough, eucharisteo, and sometimes this table is called the what? The eucharist. So it comes from the Greek word that just means to give thanks. And it's a present tense which means continually give thanks. And what's the point of that? He's saying it should be the Christian's habit to express gratitude for who God is and what God has done. Just the opposite of the pagan who denies there's a God, therefore I'm not accountable to him and whatever it is I've got, I've got because I accumulated it. I'm responsible for it. I'm the founder of it. No, this person whose spirit controlled continually, habitually gives thanks to God for who he is and what he's done. Then he says how often to do it, always. There's no limit on when to give thanks. Over in 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 18, Paul similarly says, in everything give thanks for this is the will of God. In everything give thanks for this is the will of God. You see, Thanksgiving is not just one day a year, right? Thanksgiving is a daily event in the Christian life. Because we believe there is a God, we believe He's a good God, we believe He blesses us with goodness in so many different ways, physically, materially, spiritually. We can't help but be a thankful people. I am grateful on this November the 4th of 2018 that he mercifully and graciously saved my soul as a college freshman. I am so grateful for that. I have no idea where I would be today. He says, always, not just one day a year, It's a birthmark of a Christian. Every day we should be a thankful people. And then he says three words that none of us like to hear. For all things. You see, there's no limit when it comes to Thanksgiving on the extent of it. It's a comprehensive thing. Whether it's a hard day or an easy day, he says, be thankful for it. I don't have time to expound Ecclesiastes 7, verses 13 and 14, but I can tell you what it says in summary form. He says, in the day of prosperity, be happy. You know, a lot of Christian people run around feeling guilty because God has been good to them. What in the world is wrong with you? He's been good to you because He chose to. And what's the response? He wants you to be happy, rejoice in it. And then He says in the day of adversity, hard days, tough days, difficult days, He says, consider. The word means to investigate. The idea being, become a student, a learner, because God is teaching in those days. Are we paying attention? Are we tuned in to the professor? Are we daydreaming or sleeping? We're just not interested. And then he goes on in the next verse and says, God has made the one as well as the other. He's the author of both. That's why he says, I want you to be thankful for all things, whether it's a hard day or an easy day. This might help us as we think of, how can I be thankful in the hard days? You just remember who he is. You just remember who he is. You know, so many people today, they don't really know our God. Because, you know, the first sign of trouble, the first sign of pain and heartache, immediately, who do they start blaming? Who do they start pointing the finger at? Oh God, if you were a loving God, you wouldn't let this happen. It's because He's a loving God, He's allowed it to happen. Because maybe you need to give Him your attention and you haven't been listening. And maybe this catastrophe suddenly startles you into reality. There is a God and I need to know how to have a relationship with Him. Instead of grousing and griping and complaining. And that goes for all of us as followers of Jesus. Maybe you haven't been listening. Maybe I haven't been listening and it's time to start paying attention. So God says, I know how to get your attention. But let's remember this about our God. Psalm 1830 says, as for God, His way is perfect. It's blameless. Or in Mark chapter 10, verse 18, Jesus says, there's only one good being, and that good being is God. Or remembering this, 1 John 4, 8, God is love. I don't care what the pagan says, God is love. Or how about Romans 11.33 where Paul writes these incredible words, O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his ways and unfathomable his judgments. That means that God's wise. And over in Ephesians 1.11, a few chapters before the verses we're looking at here in Ephesians, I love this verse. He, excuse me, we have attained an inheritance having been predestined according to his purpose who, referring to God, works all things after the counsel of his will. Those truths and so many more, if we remember them, they can help us when we have the hard days. But he says even in the hard days or whether it's a good day or a bad day, I want you to thank me because there's purpose behind whatever's taking place. And he says, we should do this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father, meaning our position in Christ, a result of being saved, gives us access to God the Father. I love this idea. Christ opens the ears of the Father so He hears our prayers. We could spend volumes of time on that truth. I don't have time this morning to do that. You see, the Father is deserving of the believer's words of thanks because He is the source of all blessings. He's the one behind what's transpired in our lives. John the Baptist in John 3.27 said, we only have because God has given. And the one verse I've always liked is James 117. Every good gift, every perfect gift, comes down from above from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. God is the author of our blessings, whether it's in the midst of a hard day or an easy day. And he therefore says, as a spirit-controlled man or woman, you should give thanks. It's the birthmark of every Christian. Did you know that the old Anglo-Saxon word for thankful is thinkful? Because to be thankful is to remember what you have and who has ultimately given it to you. It's to think about what you have and not what you don't have. To think about what you have, not what you don't have. It is to move from seeking God's gifts to savoring his person. It's delighting in the benefits God gives and delighting in the beauty of God's character. It's remembering we have not earned or deserve God's blessings of relationship or provision because we only have because God has given. In a few minutes, I'm going to invite you to give thanks. So as I mentioned at the introduction, start thinking. In Psalm 92, in verse 1, all it says is, it is good to thank the Lord. So we're going to give you opportunity to do that as the elements are passed. And a couple of our pastors will roam through the auditorium with some mic-ing. You know, there's no greater reason to be a thankful people than remembering our Lord's rescue act, right? The crucifixion, the cross. I like what Spurgeon said years ago. He said, you stand before God as if you were Christ because Christ stood before God as if he were you. What an exchange. That ought to prompt you to be pretty thankful this morning. And communion is our way of vividly remembering Christ's death for our sins. So I want to invite you who are Christians to prepare your heart. We know that's important before we come to the table. There's a sense in which we wash our hands like a child would wash their hands before they eat, right? Moms and dads, you're saying to your little kids all the time, you know, wash your hands, you've been outside playing, you've been touching stuff. So I want you to wash your hands. Well, we've been outside in the world touching stuff, right? So it's time for us to wash our hands. And you wash your hand First John 1, 9, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Christian, let's confess and then we'll share it together. Lord, we have so much we need to be thankful for, and yet we allow the enemy to distract us sometimes. He distracts using the very elements that you're using to bless us. We're grateful for those days, Lord, when it's a good day. It's a good day because we're pain free. It's a good day because I have. It's a good day because I'm loved. It's a good day because I'm alive. I have food. I have clothes. I have a house. I have a job. People love me. People care for me. But Lord, Nothing has changed who you are, even though our day changes and becomes, from our perspective, not such a good day. It's a hard day. It's a painful day. It seemingly is without hope. And all of a sudden, our attitudes change. It's easy to be thankful when it's a good day, not so much when it's a bad day. and yet you're still the same God. Your purposes are still the same. And maybe that day that gets hard is a day in which you're trying to get our attention and get us closer to you. Draw us back into a deep, meaningful relationship with you. Maybe there's stuff that needs to be jettisoned from our lives. We need to get rid of it. But we know this, your love is enduring. We know this, your love is never affected by our obedience or by our disobedience, because you love us with all the love you have. And you demonstrate it day in and day out. These elements, Lord, remind us of, frankly, the greatest act of love ever, ever. engaged in. And that is your death on the cross for us. So Lord bless these elements to our remembrance of this act and may it prompt us to give thanks. We ask this in Jesus name, amen. We'll ask the men to stand past the bread, and as the bread's being passed, we want to hear from you. This is Thanksgiving month. We're not going to have a Thanksgiving service, per se, this year, so this is your opportunity, with your brothers and sisters in Christ, to give a word of thanks. A few ground rules. Don't preach a sermon. Okay? That's my job. but I would love for us to just hear briefly from you. Thank you. A word of thanks. And I want you to think about God, and what is it about God that you're particularly grateful for? And so we've got Josh on this side, we have Brent on this side. So get their attention, stand up, wave your hand, and they'll bring the mic to you. Looks like Lisa's gonna start us off here. My name is Lisa Brown, and I'm thankful that we live in a democracy where we can choose who we vote for on November the 6th. Amen, thank you. Somebody else, yeah, back there, Josh. We'll stay fair, so we'll bounce back and forth. Hi, my name is Cecile, and I'm grateful that God gave us his word, and I'm also grateful that this church has never changed its name, because for me, when I came to Santa Rosa, I was looking for some place that preached the Bible, And there's churches in the area that have changed their name, and now they've got a one-word name. And I just am glad that we're known as the Bible Church, and that's a big deal for us. And it's a big deal for me, and it's a big deal for God. So I praise God for that. Thank you. Jess. Yes, I'm thankful for God's sovereignty, that He's in charge of every detail of my life. And that, if you think about it, it It's very reassuring and comforting. Amen. Thank you. Someone else? Yeah, right over here. Run, Josh. Run like the wind. He's not going to do it. I'm thankful that though we live in turbulent times, and I can get caught up with the ups and downs of what's happening in the world, that I serve a God that I can trust. He provides the North Star, which is Jesus Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. He provides the the models of the men and women of scripture who've gone through different times and knew how to respond. But the bottom line is it's not what is happening out there, but Jesus Christ's character and values revealed in his word that allows me to represent him to a people that are looking for life, for light. Amen. So, thank you. Thank you, Santiago. Yeah, right here, Doug. I'm Doug, and I'm grateful that Jesus Christ has taken my sins and leads me. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, brother. See, someone's standing in the back there. Josh is walking fast back there. He's older now, so he doesn't quite have the spring in his step that he used to have. Yes, ma'am. I thank you for my brothers and sisters in Christ. But I'm thankful that in Christ we always have hope and that we know his love. Amen. Thank you. All right. Somebody else? Where? Someone's pointing. There's a glare, so I don't see it. OK. We got it right here. OK. Good morning, everyone. Good morning. I'm thankful to God for life and preservation. My kids and I moved out to Santa Rosa four months ago. And during the transition, I got a moving company to move us out here. Unfortunately, they changed the contract on me. I paid $8,000 to this company, and they added an extra $3,800 that I needed to pay, and I didn't have that to give to them. So they auctioned my entire household. But I'm thankful to God that I have my children. We live in an empty house right now, but we have life. That's most important. Amen. Thank you so much. Yes, Deborah. and then we'll serve the minute. My name's Deborah Boyan, and I'm grateful for the peace that we can get in the name of Jesus Christ. If we just call out to him at any time, whether we're afraid or having a nightmare or a bad day, all we have to do is say the name of Jesus and ask for his peace right now. And I'm grateful for the new life. And I think of when babies are born and come into this world. Corey and I are about to have our first granddaughter born in January. And we're so grateful and rejoicing for our son and new daughter-in-law. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, Deborah. Well, let's eat this together. Psalm 86 5 says, For you, Lord, are good and you're ready to forgive abundant and loving kindness to all who call upon you. Let's eat this remembering that. invite the men to stand, we'll pass the cup, and continue to provide you with some opportunity here for words of thanks. So wherever you might be, just stand up and get the attention of these men. They'll bring a microphone to you. Yes, sir? My name is Harold Duncan, and I'm very thankful for being a first-time visitor to this church today. Welcome. And one of the things that I've opened my Bible back and forth today during service, and I come to Psalm 118, which is the very center chapter of the Bible. There's 1188 chapters in the Bible. 118 is chapter 594. I'm very thankful to be able to read, oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercies endure forever. And I also want to say that the very center verse of the Bible is in this chapter. And it says, it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. And I'm very thankful to be able to say that to all of you today. Amen. Thank you, brother. Somebody else? See, you're out of habit. We haven't done this very often. Just a word of thanks for who God is. Yeah, Ann. My kids would say, you can always count on me for a word of thanks. It's like, I'm just so thankful God's, his faithfulness and that his mercies are new every morning. Amen, amen. And those verses are found right in the midst of such a depressing book, the book of lamentations, a book of sadness. And yet in the midst of it, he's reminding Israel, even though you're gonna experience some bad days, There'll be new mercies every day because I'm a faithful God. Yeah, Kurt. I'm thankful that we serve a God that is unchanging and that he told us that there's nothing on this earth and no power that could take us out of his hands and that we are secure in him. Amen. Amen. Yeah, right down front here. Oh, we got one back there, John. John Egger, just give thanks for Awana on Wednesday night, where a fourth grade boy received Christ for the first time. Amen. Amen. That's why we do it. Yes. My name is Casey, and I lost my house in the fires last year, and I'm just grateful that God uses Trials like that to build us up and to make us more like him rather than to punish us or destroy us Amen Thank you. Thank you As the men come let's grab another one or two here My name is Lori Banks, and I'm thankful that in this out of control world, we know that our God is in control. Amen. Amen. Sovereignly sits on that throne. My name is Annette, and I'm so grateful as As the hymn that we sang earlier this morning, Great is thy faithfulness for all that God does for us. Morning by morning, as Anne mentioned, each day he brings blessings. And I want to specifically thank this congregation for all their prayers, for my continued being here. Even my doctor, a couple weeks ago was saying he had concerns about my surviving my heart failure last year. And I just praise the Lord that he has given me each day and that he's given me what I need each day. I thank you again for all those prayers. Amen. Thank you, Annette. Well, let's drink the cup with this thought in mind from Psalm 86, verse 15. The psalmist says, but you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth. Let's drink it together. Let me pray and then we're going to sing a song to bring our service to a close this morning. Would you stand with me? And as you leave today, I believe the ushers will be back at the back doors to take up the Hello, there we are. The ushers will be at the back doors to take up the benevolent offering, but let me pray and then we're gonna sing. Father, thank you for this morning, and there's just so much we could say to you about who you are. We just are grateful that you are who you are. And there's so much we could say to you about all the good things you've blessed us with, But again, we just are grateful that you have blessed us with those many things. We come to you this morning truly grateful for the greatest gift you ever bestowed upon us, our precious savior, his crucifixion, his resurrection. And through that act, you have reconciled us when we repent and believe that gospel to yourself. But Lord, the story doesn't end there. We have a life to live, and one of the birthmarks of how we live our lives as followers of Jesus is to be a thankful people, a grateful people. So grant us grace to remember that, to express that, and people who are around us, want to be around us because they see this joy and they see this attitude of gratitude and they want to know the God that's been responsible for that in our lives. So give us opportunities to do that. Lord, as we go through this month where we're focused expressly upon Thanksgiving because of the holiday we have as a nation, Help us, Lord, to kinda set the pace for others so they would see that you're a great God, an awesome God, deserving of every word of thanks. We pray, Father, as we bring our service to a close with a song of praise that you'll find it pleasing because each one of us is now gonna sing it from a heart that truly is thankful. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. This message has been brought to you by the Santa Rosa Bible Church. Our mission is to see the lost reached and believers transformed by Jesus. You can find out more information about us at our website at srbible.org. Or you can visit us in person at 4575 Badger Road in Santa Rosa, California. You can also reach us by phone at 707-538-2385.