Mercy Church Colorado
Mercy Church Colorado
Thanksliving. | Sunday Series.
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Join Pastor Chance as he talks about what it means to live our lives with an attitude of thankfulness.
Check us out at www.wearemercy.church
So, how many of you have a job that helps you pay your bills? Amen.
SPEAKER_00Yeah?
SPEAKER_02Okay. How many of you have a car that got you here today?
SPEAKER_00Amen.
SPEAKER_02Or were able to afford to get an Uber or use Greeley Change and only pay $3 for the drive here. How many of you? Amen. Oh, so all of you have something you can be thankful for, right? And sometimes we have to search for that thing. Sometimes we have to look for that thing. And that's okay because the thing is you still want to find where God has moved in your life. And you want to be able to mark and you want to be able to share. The most powerful testimony is your story. Amen. That is the most powerful testimony that people will ever hear is your story. And so the main thing I want us to leave with today is thankfulness leads us into the presence of God. Okay, and so our main text is going to be from Luke 17. So if you brought a Bible, you can turn there. We'll get there later, but at least you'll have it open, you'll be ready. It's an amazing story. And so if you don't know, in the United States, Thanksgiving was actually just regional first, like the pilgrims came and it was kind of like on the coast. And then Abraham Lincoln declared it a national Thanksgiving day in 1863. But God's desire for us is that we would live a lifestyle of Thanksgiving. And so there's a blog that I read from time to time, Leader Connection blog, and it it said, excuse me, this last month, Thanksgiving really should be Thanksgiving, a way of life, day in, day out, morning, noon, and night. Continually, forever giving thanks to the Lord. And the Bible tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 through 18, rejoice always. That's not easy. Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. People are always asking, I don't know what God wants me to do. What is his will for my life? It just told you. Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. The Greek word used there for will is thelema, which means desire, wish, purpose, will, or intent. And so we are to give thanks in all circumstances. But notice it doesn't say to give thanks for all circumstances. It says in all circumstances. So evil, injustice, and cruelty exist every single day in this world. Scripture never tells us to give thanks for the wicked, the immoral, or sinful circumstances, but to give thanks in those circumstances, right? And so as followers of Jesus, you should know by now we're all old enough to have experienced hard times in our life. We just had some shared. And so we are not immune to hard times. Or not. Trials, pains, difficulties, sufferings of life. What we'll find out is life can actually be kind of brutal. I don't know if maybe maybe just me. Okay, I'm the only one. And so it can be extremely difficult sometimes in those situations to give thanks. Right? It's hard to find how do I give thanks in this, right? And so through the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in us, we can give thanks in all circumstances for several reasons. So I want to give you three brief ones, and then we're gonna kind of break down our main passage. The first thing that we can remember or we need to understand is that God is always with us. Even in the darkest times. His name is Emmanuel, which means God with us. Right? He has many names. Deuteronomy 31, 6.8 says, Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or terrified because of them. For the Lord your God goes with you, he will never leave you nor forsake you. And if you really thought you're carrying around Jesus with you, your day would look different, right? I actually was at at home Friday night or Friday afternoon working on this, and I don't have that statement anywhere, but the thought literally popped in my head like if Jesus was sitting here, would it change anything about my life? Would it make a difference in my life? Like you would feel uncomfortable to watch certain movies, you would feel uncomfortable to listen to certain music, right? You would feel uncomfortable to go to certain places or to whatever, right? It would make your life different. So giving thanks is an act of faith rather than walking by sight.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And so we have to see beyond our circumstances and look to Jesus. The second thing that we need to know is that Jesus understands what we are going through. Hebrews 4 15, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are. Yet he did not sin. So Jesus was fully man, fully God. And the beauty of that is people say, Oh, well, that's why he had so much strength. Well, here's the beauty: he denied the ability to use that supernatural power and just experience life the way that we do.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02He went through life the same way you did, full flesh. Yeah, he experienced hurt. He cried, it says Jesus wept in the New Testament. Why did he weep? Because they didn't understand and hurt him. I've been with you so long, I've poured out my life and giving you my love, giving you my heart, and you still don't get it. Yeah. And he wept. He experienced emotions and things that we do. And so in his life on earth and death on the cross, Jesus went through tremendous pain, tremendous suffering, and he understands how we feel. And then finally, the Holy Spirit is in us, comforting, encouraging, and strengthening us. 2 Corinthians 1, verse 3 and 4. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. The Holy Spirit ministers to us in the midst of our pain. But did you notice the end of that scripture, verse 4 there? Who comforts us in all our troubles? He comforts us, he's there for you first. Why? There's a reason so that then you can go and comfort those that you love, your friends, your family, your co-workers, right? Why? Because you've already experienced his love. You've already experienced his freedom, so now you're able to pass and share that on with those around you, those that you come in contact with. So God is always with us. Jesus understands what we're going through, and the Holy Spirit comforts and strengthens us. But we all have that default setting, right? We think we should only thank God when we get a promotion or when the lab results come back clean, right? It's kind of like when you think about dessert, it's only for special occasions, right? Jelly Roll has that dumb song, I only talk to God when I need a favor. And so, but that's how the world approaches it, right? Yeah, even unbelievers, non-believers, even atheists, which I don't believe exist, even atheists pray to God. Why? Because they know deep down inside of them there is something out there that we don't fully comprehend or understand. They just don't know what it is. But they do believe in a mighty God. They all believe because I know atheists that have prayed. I know atheists that have asked me to pray with them. Well, who are we praying to, man? It's a great conversation started. Are we praying to different people or what? Right? 1 Thessalonians 5.18, the second part of that was give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. It doesn't say give thanks for the good circumstances. It says in all circumstances. And that's a completely different instruction, right? Because why would God ask us to do that? The reason is because when you pivot, when you say thank you, God, in the middle of a tight spot, in the middle of a storm, when you're confused, when you feel lost, you are making a strategic, disciplined move. Right? You're saying, I'm not going to allow this temporary problem, this confusing outcome, or this painful season to change the fact that you are still God and you are still good. It's the ultimate way to refuse to let your circumstance define your confidence in God. It's a declaration of trust, not just a feeling of happiness. So I want to get into our main story here. If you haven't read this story, it's Luke chapter 17, starts in verse 11. This is a really crazy story because because Jesus does an amazing thing here, but the way he goes about it is kind of cool. And so we're going to start with the verse 11. On the way to Jerusalem, he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. When he saw them, he said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priest. And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. And he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? And he said to him, Rise and go your way, your faith has made you well. So Jesus is in heading to Jerusalem and comes across ten lepers. When they saw Jesus, they cried for mercy from a distance. The reason they cried for a distance from a distance, because it was law that if you were a leper that you had to announce yourself that you were coming in public. They were forced to live on the outskirts of town, right? Kind of hidden and taken away. So when you come in, you kind of announce yourself, everybody freaks out, right? And so they couldn't interact with others and had to alert everybody. And Jesus instructed them to show themselves to the priest. He didn't go, come here, let me lay hands on you. He said, Okay, you can stay there, and now go show yourselves to the priests. And on their way, they were healed. They followed his instructions, and as they went, they were healed. We don't know how far it took it, how long it took or how far they went before they were healed. Right? It doesn't say that. But only one of the ten returned, who is actually a Samaritan, so he was not even Jewish. He was not someone who would regularly just jump out and follow, you know, a rabbi. And so only one returned to Jesus. And as he returned, he was it says he was worshiping God with a loud voice. Right? And then it says that as he reached Jesus, he threw himself at the feet of Jesus and he thanked him. So here's what we can learn a thankful heart brings us close to God. Wow. Thankfulness will always lead you to the presence of God. Thankfulness will also keep you in the presence of God. Which would mean the alternate would also ring true, right? Unthankfulness, what? Removes you from the presence. That's right. Takes you away. Right? And so we can give thanks, and here's the deal the Bible tells us to give thanks to God with our whole heart. Psalm 9 1, I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart. I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. When you are truly thankful, you don't keep it to yourself. Right? You don't keep it to yourself. No. When something amazing happens, you don't just go, wow. And then 10 years later, somebody goes, Have you always had that car? Oh, did I not tell you? Yeah, I got a new car 10 years ago. It was cool. It was pretty cool. Amazing. Right, you don't. You tell everybody.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02As you should. And that's the whole thing that he's saying here. Right? But it it it sounds great, but what does that look like for us like during the week on a Tuesday afternoon, on a Wednesday afternoon? Because sometimes gratitude can just become a feeling that shows up when good things happen. When we get that promotion, when something goes exactly perfect, which would mean exactly perfect in your mind. When it goes just the way you would like it to go. Right? And so the real command, the real opportunity is to actually make it intentional. I am not a proponent of fake it till you make it, but I am of declaring the promises of God.
SPEAKER_00Amen.
SPEAKER_02So prophesying, prophecy would be declaring things that you might not be walking out right now. Yeah. Right? I had I had a guy that he had no idea we went to this conference. We met in California and we met him on Wednesday, on Friday night. We hung out with them throughout Wednesday through Friday. Thursday was like all day conference. Friday was all day conference. And at like three, they break up, and then you got two hours and you have a night session. And Brooke was like, I am beat, man. I am like exhausted. We had our stepdad had passed away, so we'd been traveling for like two, three weeks, and it was just we were just physically, like emotionally, mentally journeyed. And so we were there, we were taking notes, but I I pretty much had told myself, I'll process this when I read the notes next week when I get home. Like, because right now I'm just not I'm just not getting it, man. And so we were there, we were going and trying to go through the motions, and and I just felt you need to be there tonight. I was like, ugh. And it's just you need to be there tonight. And so she's like, would it be bad if we didn't go tonight? It's like, yeah. We need we need to be there tonight. We're gonna go. She didn't question she didn't say, okay, he obviously needed to be there. It's just me. And so we go, and they they they open up service and they start talking and just hey, here's what we want to happen tonight. Here's where the direction we're going for tonight. And they started worship, and this guy that we had been hanging out with, he he was sitting way up in the front. We sat way up in the back so we could ski dad as soon as it was over. And you know those people, and so we're all those people, right? And so that's what we did, and out of out of nowhere, this guy must have seen me right when he walked in. Here he comes, and I'm like, there's that dude. We're looking at each other. What why did I look at him? That was a horrible decision, and he comes right up to me. He has no idea what's going on in my life, he does not know me from anyone. We've only met two days before, and he goes, Hey man, God just wants me to tell you that he's gonna pour out his word on you. Awesome. So I have to read more. I've read more now than I've read my entire life. Apparently, that's not enough. And I was like, Oh, I received that.
SPEAKER_00That's thanks.
SPEAKER_02And he he puts his hand on my heart, a little bit of dude, puts his hand on my heart, and he's like, I want to pray for you. Let's go. He starts praying, he goes, No, no, no. I think I I think I was wrong. What what do you mean? He wants to open up and pour out a river. It's gonna be so much that it won't be able to deny it's the word of God directly speaking to you. Well, for six months I've been praying, God I want to hear your voice. Yeah, but he's I didn't tell him that. He doesn't know that. But God used somebody to say, Hey, hey, I hear you, bud. Yeah, because you've been consistent and because you've been thankful for what I've given you so far, right? Sometimes we need to dig deep. Our society has gotten so soft, and I'll just be really honest, and I'm not trying to hurt anyone's feelings. If anything, I'm talking to myself the most, but the church has become so stinking soft. Men need to be men. They need to take their place as men and stand up and speak their mind. That's what a man does, right? You're supposed it literally says be strong and courageous. It doesn't say exist. Yeah, hang out, get all you can. We don't hear any of those words. Be strong. Why? Because you're gonna need to be. It's a warning.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, right?
SPEAKER_02The word says over and over and over in Ephesians, be alert. Stand firm, stand your ground, stay in your post. Right? We have to, even in those minutes, where those moments where sometimes we have to be tougher than we've ever been, we still have to be thankful. Right? It's about carving out specific time in your life and building specific practices that force you to stop and say, Okay, God, I know you are the source of this. And I see you as my provider. Right? We just don't hope to be grateful, we decide to be grateful.
SPEAKER_00That's right.
SPEAKER_02Right? Sometimes when it's really hard, it says, in all circumstances, right? You don't go, oh, thank you, God, this car is on top of me right now. No, no, no. That just that that doesn't make any sense. Right? That would be dumb. But you could say, thank you, God, for finding an escape. Thank you, God, for finding helping me find a way out of this. Thank you, God, for protecting me, right? Because we're thanking him in the circumstance, not for the circumstance. So you set aside a deliberate time, a dedicated moment, and you verbalize, you write down or you sit silently and you acknowledge. I was talking to my oldest son the other day, and he has a really hectic schedule. And it's really crazy because I've shared this with five people over this year in particular. I I don't know why. God keeps bringing people to me and like, I'm just like tired, and I just can't find space to rest. And I'm like, oh cool. So I'm doing this new thing. Can I like can I tell you what I'm doing? Yeah, maybe. So here's what I do. God says that rest is very important, so much so that even he rested. So I mean, if if if God needs, not needs, but chose to rest, it was an example of like, hey, so you need some rest, right? And so filling your schedule is is is not intelligent. Finding ways to rest, and so here's the thing I find in every single day a moment to rest.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I might not go on a vacation this weekend, I might not get to go to the golf course or the gym or or wherever I go and get that kind of mental break, right? That breather. I might not get those moments, but if you do take those moments, that's your rest, right? It's okay to still be moving your body and getting rest, right? Because that's something you you unplug and you do. But what about all week long? When all the stress is hit, and then by Friday you're so overwhelmed, your blood pressure is bad, your stress, like stress is the number one killer, right? So, so what do we do? Two things. I saw this video. This is not spiritual, but I'm gonna share it anyway. Navy SEALs. I love watching Navy SEALs movies, documentaries. I've if it's out there, I've seen it. Right? If you want to know about them, I can tell you. I was like this close to joining, and then I was like, what am I doing? I've lost your mind, right? And so uh they had me. I was at the table. I was like, I gotta get out. And so one of the things they do is a box technique right before they go into battle, right before they breach the door, right? They stick the C4 on there and they go, one in the hole before they push blow, they all go four seconds in, you hold it for four seconds, and four seconds out. And it just slows your entire everything down. But more importantly, what I also do is I take literally little spots of like two minutes and I do nothing. And I don't mean I scroll, I mean my eyes are closed, I'm just there. And I'm asking God, do you have anything for me? He might not. It might I might hear nothing but complete silence, but I quiet with the breathing technique, I quiet my my mind. But with the doing nothing technique, I quiet my spirit.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02So I'm available to hear him speak to him. Right? So we have to find little moments in that. So I've encouraged a couple people this year, hey, write down your schedule. And throughout that schedule, go Monday, I'm not doing anything from two to three. I can take five minutes. Maybe I'll correct the Bible, right? Maybe I'll listen to the Bible and just have his word wash over me. Maybe I'll just pray. Maybe I'll just sit. But take moments throughout your week and be thankful.
SPEAKER_01Amen.
SPEAKER_02Create deliberate times, right? It's an active discipline, and that's how you live out the truth of giving him thanks with your whole heart. You have to commit to it. And you can't do it looking at everybody else's life, which is a waste of time anyway, because that's their life, not your life. If you want to live their life, go move in with them and live their life, right? But you're living a separate life, so live it for you. What God has set out, created, carved out just for you. It does not have to look like anyone else. So, this story about the ten lepers, it's a pretty sobering story. Jesus just delivers this miracle to ten guys, and this is an absolute life sentence disease, leprosy. It's pretty much you're dead. We don't know when you're gonna die, but you're dead. You're kind of walking dead, right? That's how they see you. And so they are instantly and perfectly healed, which means they're giving back their lives, right? They can go home to their families, right? They can go back to their jobs. It's amazing, life-altering gift that Jesus gives. But here's the kicker only one of them comes back to say thank you. And here's the crazy part he points out he's a Samaritan, which would imply the other ones are Jews. All the Jews received the same blessing, they were all healed. But the foreigner, the Samaritan, which is, if you don't know, is a big deal because Samaritans and Jews didn't get along. Jews were kind of prejudiced. So they were the Samaritans were like the low of the low of the dirt. But yet that one came back, returned to Jesus, and gave thanks, right? Worshiped him. And so Jesus asked the question that should pierce every single one of us. Where are the other nine? And we don't know the answer. Right? Maybe they were running to the priest so they can show them they're clean. Maybe they were so excited they ran home to their wives and kids who they haven't seen at home for quite a while. Or maybe they were just ready to get back to their regular lives because they're just so excited. But here's the principle that it establishes for us it is incredibly easy to receive the blessing of God and then immediately run past the presence of God. Right? And the other nine were clean, but they were not grateful. And here's the danger for us ungratefulness will always lead you away from God's presence. And so you can be blessed and still be distant. You can be healed and still be running in the wrong direction. Right? Their physical bodies were restored, but their hearts were unchanged. Their hearts were unchanged. Don't let your excitement about what God did for you cause you to miss the God who did it.
SPEAKER_00Mercy.
SPEAKER_02Stop, turn around, and give thanks. That's how you stay. You remain in his presence. Romans 1, 21. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. But their thinging became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. So thanksgiving, the word thanksgiving by definition means you're giving credit to someone other than you. And contentment comes from changed priorities or perspective. When it comes to how you spend your day, what are you placing first? God's kingdom or something else? So I read this story the other day. I thought it was hilarious. So I'm going to share it with you. Pastor was preaching a sermon. He thought it was a pretty good one. And he noticed his wife in the front row, just fiercely taking notes. So he's, you know, probably pumped them up pretty good. And then after church, you know, he was so excited, he's like, I gotta see what she wrote down. And so he asked her, Hey, you know, what'd you think about the message? She goes, Oh, well, I didn't really notice. What what? I saw you were like writing down notes. Oh, that no, no, no. That was the grocery list for later. Right? Like complete deflator. And so here's the thing I took away from that is often it seems that we approach worship and even our lives of faith with partial attention. We're not really fully engaged. Yeah. Right? It it's really become this thing about church where I'm really only engaged when I need something from you.
SPEAKER_00Oh, mercy.
SPEAKER_02Right. That's that's when I'm here. And a lot of people in the in the South, and in particular, and I'm just speaking about people I know. I don't, I'm not speaking for everybody, but people I know. Some people are just going to church for status to check off the box because well, that's what we did when we were growing up.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Right? But they're not, they're not there to worship, offer their worship, offer their time to God, commit their time, sacrifice their time. Right? We we hear all the time when we ask, tell people, they ask us what we do, and it's your fault you asked. And so we tell them, and then of course we invite them. And when they oh, that's the only I sleep in on that day. Well, don't. Then go home and take a nap. It's not rocket science. Yeah. Like, how hard is it? You still get it's not till 10. Like, like, how late do you sleep in, man? And so it often seems we approach worship with with just our partial attention. And contentment is a type of strength. It's inner peace. When you meet a person who is is is just joyous, is just happy, they have inner peace. They are content with their place, their status, their quality of life. Doesn't mean their life is perfect. That's right. Doesn't mean that when I was going to Bible college, I had this one dude. He used to drive me crazy until he invited me to lunch, and I felt really bad for him. He's every day, brother, brother, brother, I got a word for you. Where's the dang, he got me? What's up, man? What you got? And he would share the same word like every month. I'm like, we did this three weeks ago. Yeah, praise the Lord. I received that word, and and he just always upbeat and just ready and just so excited about what God's doing and what he's learning at Bible college, and all this. I'm like, ugh, I gotta go to work, man. Like, I'm gonna, oh, it's gonna be a long day. And then he's like, Do you have time for for lunch? Let's next week you and me go to lunch. I can barely do three minutes with you, man. I gotta do a whole 45. I was like, he's been consistent. I'll give him lunch. That's it. And then we never talk again. And so we went to lunch. Well, I walked out to his car. My whole time I thought, this guy comes from a big church. His parents are probably pastors, he's loaded. Everything's easy for this guy. That's why he's so stinking happy. His back window was busted out. He had tape on the side window. None of the other windows went up or down. I mean, the car looked like it's gonna blow if we turn it on, right? And we're walking up and like, hey, I can drive, brother. No, no, no, no, no, I got it. I don't want you to spend anything. I got you. Like, mmm, do do you are we gonna make it? And he just we went to lunch and he just wanted to know everything. Where are you from? Where are your parents like? You got brothers and sisters? Oh, that's really cool. What are you gonna do when you get down to Bible college? What have you done with your life? Oh my gosh, that's so everything's amazing. I'm like, brother, I've just seen you for the last 45 minutes. You stribbling, but you wouldn't know it. Yeah, yeah. You wouldn't know it because he lives a life way bigger than him. Yeah, way bigger. His mission, his purpose is to be so thankful that everybody sees God is a mighty God and He's a good God, even with what He's going through. And so we see that contentment can be a type of strength. We don't want to spend our time thinking about what we're gonna go eat after, even though I'm hungry. After church, we want to be committed and we want to be engaged. And so Jesus taught about the necessity of changing our priorities when it comes to our daily life. And in one of the most famous portions of scripture, I think, one of my favorites is the Sermon on the Mount. And the crazy thing about Sermon on the Mount is they're pretty poignant, blunt points that Jesus makes to Jewish people who already decided this is what life looks like.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We've read the Torah, we've studied the Torah, our whole life is the Torah. We know everything Moses said and we do it perfectly. And he just goes, let me tweak that a little bit. I'm gonna I'm gonna kind of go against your system here, right? So he's got, you gotta imagine an audience is like, mmm, who is this guy? He doesn't show up in the scene and tell us that what we've been doing is wrong. And and Matthew 6, starting in verse 25, therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to the span of his life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you? O you of little faith. Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Another another translation says, Tomorrow has enough problems of its own. So don't worry about it now. Right? And so what we have to come to is the point that we understand that God is the source of all blessing in our lives, and he is worthy of our things. He is worthy of our praise, he is worthy of our worship. And by giving thanks, we're saying that God is sovereign, which means he is the supreme ruler of the universe, he is the absolute power, he is the final authority and not us. We all probably could quote it, but Philippians 4 13, the I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. We all know that, right? We've seen it on a cup, we've seen it on a shirt, maybe even a hat, and we've seen it so many times. It's like background noise. But the problem with these becoming famous is they lose their context. You forget what was said around it and what the purpose was. When you read just the quotes, the memes, you miss what Paul was really saying to the church in Philippi. The whole point was there were two sisters that were fighting, and he's pleading with the church at Philippi. Come alongside them. For they've been great ministers beside me. They've done a great work in the body of Christ. Now, you, body of Christ, lift them up. Let's be the whole body. And his charge was to this church, right? And so when he he hits them with this series of commands, rejoice, pray, be thankful. He's not just trying to use catchy phrases. He's giving them a radical, Christ-centered strategy for dealing with their life. It's a spiritual discipline, a direct action plan that forces you to take your focus off the drama, off the disappointment, and put it squarely back on God. And so, Philippians 4, 1 through 6, therefore, my beloved and long for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved. I implore Eodiah and I implore Syntiche to be of the same mind in the Lord. And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your request be made known to God with thanksgiving. Supplication is in desperation. Right? It's when you're on the ropes. It means you're in a state of need. And so when you're praying, God, I don't know what I how I'm going to pay this bill, or I don't know how this relationship is going to survive, what do you do? Give thanks. You give thanks that you serve a mighty God, a good God who sees you and is walking out his plan. You give thanks. It forces you to remember who is who. Right? Because the moment you stop being thankful, the moment you begin to feel entitled to what you have or entitled to what you're paying for, that's the moment you slide into idolatry. You start putting yourself, your effort, or other temporary things above God. Right? And so when you pray with Thanksgiving, you're doing more than just being polite, you're making a declaration. And so here's the challenge. I love how that blog, set at leaders blog, it's not just Thanksgiving, it's Thanks Living Day in, day out, right? Don't just feel grateful, be intentional. Set aside a moment every single day, maybe before you check your phone, before you eat a meal, and say out loud or in your heart, everything good in my life is a gift from God.
SPEAKER_00Amen.
SPEAKER_02And as we we get into our holiday, as people all over celebrate Thanksgiving and think about what they're thankful for, I want to challenge you. Does the kingdom of God make that list? Do God's ideas, God's wants for you, do they make that list? Right? Are you spending more time thinking about the necessities of life, food, clothes, or is it a list of wants? A vacation, a better car, right? Where does serving God or helping to grow the kingdom fit in your list? I have a friend, he drives me crazy, he's a New Yorker, he's very loud, and it doesn't matter if you're on the phone or in front of him, he's the same volume. It's it's insane. Sometimes I can't, I I have no idea what you said. You look really excited, but I don't know what you're saying because you're screaming into the phone right now. But he's always man, let's go and make heaven crowded. That's the goal. Yeah, yeah. That's the mission. The mission is not have a nice, comfortable life. That's only you, and that's only serving you. Yeah, that serves no one else. And I really don't want to offend anyone, so please hear me. That does not serve God. Yeah, it only serves you. You are called to be set apart. Set apart means look different than the rest of the world.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02It doesn't mean better, it doesn't mean worse, it means look different. And the difference is I'm able to be thankful no matter what circumstance I'm in. In every circumstance we give things. So when you sit down, if you don't sit down as a family, I would challenge you to try to do it. If it's just you and your spouse, that's fine too. And just what are we thankful for? And let man truly, truly, truly put God in there. Put his kingdom in there. We don't just come to church to get something. That's only a part of it. You come to church to offer your worship. You're sacrificing, you are consecrating yourself to God for what purpose, so that then you can go out and change the world. Not so you can go out and change your world. So you can go out and change the world. That's who we're called to be leaders. We're called to be strong and courageous. Why? Because the world is not. They're weak and they're soft. We cannot be just like the world. Strong people pick the weak people up. They take them along with them, sometimes when they even don't want to. Sometimes when that person is super annoying, but he really needs it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_02Right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We are called to be world changers. We're not called to be consumers, world changers. Yeah? So here's what I want to do. We're gonna, if you didn't know, there was a communion items on your chair. And so I'd like us to take communion together. That's just a just a remembrance. When we're giving thanks, I strongly believe that to give thanks, you have to completely shift your mind. Right? And so when we give thanks, what we do is we're taking a moment and we're remembering who God is, what God has done, yes, what God is doing, what God is gonna do. But the most important thing about communion is remember Jesus. Now, there is a thing in 1 Corinthians 11 that talks about the order of communion, and I just share this because I think it's challenging. 1 Corinthians 11, 27 through 31. So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you're eating and drinking God's judgment upon yourself. That is why many of you are weak and sick, and some have even died. But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way. So, in other words, is there anything I need forgiveness for? Is there anything I need to clear my mind of before I go? And this is supposed to be a really, really significant, important symbol. Jesus' body and Jesus' blood. His blood is the blood that the covenant that we stand on that we have salvation, that we have a connection to God. It's because of his blood. His blood atoned for all of our sins. His body was broken so that we could be forgiven. So, what I want to do before we actually take is I would like us just to take a second. Take a second and in your heart, in your mind, examine yourself. Is there anything? And now I want to read Jesus' own words instituting communion to the disciples. Matthew 26, verse 26. Now, as they were eating, Jesus took the bread and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, Take, eat. This is my body. You may partake of the wafer. Verse 27, and he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. You may drink. That you looked way into the future and saw your future children and said, I need to make a way that I can atone for their sins, so that I can have eternal relationship with them, so that I can welcome them into my family. Man, we're so thankful. So thankful, Jesus, for that sacrifice, for walking the earth as a man and enduring what you endured and being willing to finish. And we thank you that you've given us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, to give us power to live, to remind us of your word, to produce fruit in us, Father God. We thank you for what this holiday is, but also just for us to be able to consecrate ourselves to you, Lord, and take a time and just set ourselves apart to be grateful for the many things you've done for each and every single one of us. We love you with all of our hearts. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.