[0:00] Good morning. It is a beautiful morning to worship together, and especially as we have chosen as a church to have the celebration of Thanksgiving.
[0:19] So I want to welcome you to that and anticipate as we worship together, as we fellowship over lunch, and then follow through with communion that truly we will be blessed.
[0:35] And so just trusting God will lead us here this morning. On one of the announcements, the youth announcements, I just want to touch in on that briefly.
[0:50] And it's the third announcement there. Pastor Ken called me about a week ago about this.
[1:03] He is part of the Peace Recovery Center. It's a marriage retreat center north of Peace River. And they're having their last marriage sessions.
[1:16] And they wanted to end the season with a youth event. And so they're inviting youth from communities around to come and join in.
[1:29] And they're saying age is 14 and up. And so that would be the older junior youth and the older youth group, the young adult group, all of them would fall into that.
[1:42] And so it's a day to come and to take part. They will be teaching. John Elias, the counselor at the center, will be doing most of the teaching.
[1:55] And he'll cover topics like our walk with God as youth, dating, courting, according to Scripture, purity, God's heart or desire for our purity.
[2:17] And then they will have a session on finances for youth. And so all four topics are very applicable.
[2:29] And as parents, encourage our young people to go. And so as youth, think it through and maybe purpose that this is something to do.
[2:45] The church will try to stand behind this with transportation or even with the cost is by donation. And so as a church, we can help with that as well.
[2:58] But just encouraging that this is for our young people, for our next generation. And with that, feel free to invite a friend that maybe doesn't fellowship here or maybe that isn't in church.
[3:20] Feel free to invite and to bring others. So again, that's two weeks from yesterday. So it's on October 28th, I believe.
[3:34] Okay, so just a touch up on that. Thanksgiving.
[3:47] Are we a thankful people? A thought to open with?
[4:02] What does the atheist do when he feels grateful about something? He buys more.
[4:17] Do we understand the question? If there's no God, where do I turn to when I'm thankful?
[4:31] And we have to turn inwardly and buy more. Material happiness.
[4:45] Have you ever thought of it that way? He's in trouble, right? Right? Whom do we give thanks to?
[5:00] And was there an answer? Our Heavenly Father. This morning, as I do a Thanksgiving message, I want to encourage us to reflect through this morning, to reflect on this past year and what...
[5:30] what was my life like in regards to thankfulness? Not in any one moment, but as a whole, what characterized my life in this past year in regard to thankfulness?
[5:52] I'm going to ask the ushers to hand out sticky notes.
[6:03] We did this several years back. And I would again like each one of us throughout the service to write out a thankful note to the Lord reflecting your past year.
[6:22] Maybe it's a highlight, something the Lord has done for you. And then at the end of the service, we're going to stick them on that whiteboard and make a mosaic of what our church is thankful for.
[6:39] So with that, I'm going to ask the ushers to commence doing that. I know it's going to cause some minor disruptions. I'm going to keep going with the service. But they'll just pass down papers and pencils.
[6:54] And then throughout the service, jot down, as you think of, as you ask God to reveal to you, before the end of the service, jot down, what are you thankful for?
[7:06] And just one item. So this is open to children, youth, adults, everybody's encouraged that can write. As we, we'll have the ushers do that.
[7:20] I'll keep going. So as we celebrate Thanksgiving, and officially in Canada, it was last weekend, as a national holiday, in the United States, it's in November.
[7:34] And as a Thanksgiving holiday, why would any country set aside a day to be thankful?
[7:51] What's the root of that? Where did this all begin? And the answer is, God has been present in our leaders in the past.
[8:13] That we deemed it necessary and good that to set aside a day of Thanksgiving as a national holiday. God has to be in that equation.
[8:30] And so, we continue to have Thanksgiving weekend, but as a nation, are we celebrating it in truth?
[8:46] Or is it just a weekend to perhaps have a little extra? As a church, do we reflect accurately what this is supposed to be?
[9:03] And then, one step further, as an individual, do I celebrate Thanksgiving in my heart in truthfulness? These are maybe some questions to think of.
[9:19] When we think of Thanksgiving, it is always associated with the physical and God's provision in blessing us materially.
[9:37] And yet, behind that is the acknowledgement that it is by God's hand that I am blessed.
[9:50] And that is the key. And I believe that is what our psalmist is thinking as we focus this morning on Psalm 95.
[10:03] And thank you, Pedro, for reading that for us. Psalm 95. And we'll glean a few thoughts out of that.
[10:19] He begins and he says, O come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
[10:30] Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
[10:40] And so, He is introducing, I think, corporate worship. Worship together as a church.
[10:53] As a... in the context here. And so, He is giving that invitation, the exhortation, that we are to worship before the Lord.
[11:05] To shout joyfully and to come with thanksgiving. So, question for us this morning, can we separate worship and thankfulness?
[11:25] Can we worship in truth without being thankful? We can't, can we? If our heart isn't vibrating with thankfulness, I cannot worship my Creator, my God.
[11:45] And so, he is, the psalmist is inviting and he's putting weight. Let us gather, sing praises to our Lord. Let us come, come before Him with thanksgiving.
[11:58] And it's an attitude of the heart to acknowledge Him and to give Him praises. Now, in the New Testament, there is very little instruction on that kind of corporate worship.
[12:21] There is some that we are to gather and to sing spiritual songs and psalms and so on to build one another up. but two examples in the Old Testament to see how important this is to God, this aspect of being thankful in worship.
[12:43] 2 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, chapter 5, verses 11 through 14.
[12:57] So this is in Solomon's era.
[13:16] And he has just built the new temple and they are going to, they're having a service to ordain the temple, give it back to God and to initiate service in it.
[13:32] So verse 11 in chapter 5. And it came to pass when the priests came out of the most holy place for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves without keeping to their divisions.
[13:48] And the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Haman and Jaduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments, and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets.
[14:15] Indeed, when the trumpeters and the singers were as one to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voices with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music and praised the Lord saying, For He is good, for His mercy endures forever.
[14:39] That the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
[14:55] They had an immense music program. It's a full-fledged orchestra is what it is.
[15:06] And they have been appointed to minister before the Lord. This is their work. And there must have been very, very many of them.
[15:19] In fact, thousands of people dedicated to worship in Jerusalem, in Israel, in this setting. And ordained by God to do that.
[15:34] So having said that, we see God desires worship the thankfulness from our hearts.
[15:46] And yet, this, what I just read, is not a prescription necessarily for the church. We now have to have thousands of singers and so on, and cymbals and an orchestra.
[16:00] That comes with greater numbers, for one. But it's rather an example. this is God's heart desiring worship from His people.
[16:12] Let's turn also to Nehemiah, which is the two books down. Nehemiah chapter 7. Just to get another glimpse.
[16:25] Nehemiah 7, 66 and 67. And Nehemiah is recounting all the captives who have come back from Babylon.
[16:45] And Nehemiah was one of the leaders that brought people back from Babylon after 70 years of captivity. In verse 66, altogether, the whole assembly was 32,360.
[16:59] Besides, there are male and female servants of whom there were 7,337. And they had 245 men and women singers.
[17:17] So they've gathered back from Babylon and they are 42,000 strong plus their servants. Back in Solomon's day, they were several million in number.
[17:36] Israel. Now they've returned from captivity a remnant and they're 42,000. And as part of returning and organizing their worship service, it says that they have 200, 245 singers that they've appointed to lead worship.
[17:59] So again, we see that pattern. And I've turned a few pages to chapter 12, verse 46.
[18:11] And he says, for in the days of David and Asaph of old, there were chiefs of the singers and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.
[18:24] And in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah, all Israel gave the portions for the singers and the gatekeepers a portion for each day.
[18:36] And they also consecrated holy things for the Levites, and the Levites consecrated them for the children of Aaron. And so here we are told that the worship leaders are to live off of the tithe that the Levites got.
[18:56] They're part of the Levitical group, and so worship was supported by the church. church. And so we see God put this in priority.
[19:11] He made this very important in the Old Testament. And so again I want to say it's not a prescription necessarily for how we are to do today, but to keep the principle in mind, we are to worship, to give, to let our hearts sound forth with thanksgiving.
[19:34] I just thought I would just share that background from the Old Testament. So going back to our psalm, psalm 95, we'll continue there.
[19:48] We'll continue there. psalm 95, psalm 95, psalm 95, psalm 95, psalm 95, psalmist goes on to reveal the root of why worship, why be thankful.
[20:19] and it applies directly to each one of us this morning as well. And so the call to worship and then in verse 3 he changes gears and he says, for the Lord is great, he is the great God and the great King above all gods.
[20:42] The Lord alone is worthy of worship. In his hand are the deep places of the earth.
[20:55] The heights of the hills are his also. What is our creator? God is our creator.
[21:13] He has created everything. And he continues, the sea is his for he made it and his hands formed the dry land.
[21:27] O come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker. So it's that knowledge from the heart God is my creator and as my creator he then also is my sustainer.
[21:57] He keeps me every day. And that is the root of being thankful.
[22:08] if that root is not there then why would I lift up my heart to God?
[22:23] As we ponder on this as the psalmist did am I willing to kneel before my maker to acknowledge him as the one that controls my life that is in my life guiding the circumstances of it even when there are trials before us.
[23:03] And so from from very young from childhood through our youth years we need to learn this and to understand that I can go through life being thankful but only if God is in my life.
[23:30] And so parents this is something that you cannot teach if it's not in your life. You cannot model it if it's not there.
[23:48] And children will catch that by example much more than they will by teaching with words.
[24:00] Although that's necessary too. And so that's a challenge for us as adults to reflect is that what I'm modeling for my children.
[24:20] or for those around me. And because it's rooted in the very fact that God has created me. The acknowledgement that everything centers around God.
[24:36] You know, when we think of of God allowing us the freedom of choice and if you're honest we all make not so good choices sometimes.
[24:57] And God still works in our life and turns it out for His glory. to recognize God in all aspects even when we've made a bad decision and He wants to help us out of it.
[25:22] That He is still in the picture and that is the root of thankfulness. this psalm was in direct context written regarding the Jewish people and but definitely there's application for us this morning as God's people and as Brother Julius mentioned that many Jews many Jews do not believe and the rest of the psalm he says do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion as in the day of trial in the wilderness when your fathers tested me they tried me though they saw my work they saw for forty years the miracles God did in the wilderness how he brought the daily manna from heaven how he brought water gushing out of a rock to give water for several million people and animals how he provided meat for them how their feet did not tire or get sore their footwear did not wear out their enemies were destroyed all of this they saw and they hardened their hearts in unbelief and the psalmist is bringing a reflection of that he says for forty years
[27:09] I was grieved with that generation and said it is a people who go astray in their hearts and they do not know my ways so I swore in shall enter my rest Israel today is still here largely they are still looking for that rest as they have not acknowledged the Redeemer the Son of God and as the Bible teaches us as we're on most Sundays going through the end time series we know that the whole focus of the tribulation is to bring Israel to their knees to recognition that God is Lord and that
[28:09] Jesus is his son leaving Israel out of it now this morning for us for us as we live before God and as the Son of God has come and is coming again does my life reflect reflect that fact is he Lord and the alternative that I harden my heart against it you know when when we meet thankful people it is such a joy it's uplifting it's beautiful
[29:14] I want to be around those kind of people is that your thoughts as well yeah because it's attractive and it reflects the glory of God but when somebody is always negative unthankful ungrateful always finding the down in go away we'll maybe you know in passing greet them but I don't want to associate it brings me down it's a reflection God is not governing my heart and so maybe tonight ask your spouse about your heart not about hers or his but yours what do you see we look back in the past year might be a good time of intimacy of talking about these things we are the sheep of his pastor a little illustration a man a man had a habit of grumbling at the food his wife placed before him at family meals and then he would ask the blessing one day after his usual combination complaint and then prayer his little girl asked daddy does
[31:38] God hear us when we pray pray the man replied of course he says he hears us every time we pray and she paused on this a moment and asked does he hear everything we say the rest of the time a little girl recognizing the double sidedness and yeah unfortunate but but these things exist and but they shouldn't in the life of the believer just a neat little illustration of that as as we close up this morning let's turn to
[32:39] Hebrews 13 we'll pick up two verses there Hebrews 13 verses 15 and 16 verse 15 therefore by him by Jesus let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks excuse me giving thanks to his name but do not forget to do good and to share with such sacrifices God is well pleased so as a Christian as a believer we are commanded to to offer the sacrifice of praise to his name and that that is our very lifestyle that should be our voice and sometimes it's good to maybe jot it down
[34:05] I don't know if there's any diary people here that keep diaries I struggle with such but I think it's a good thing to write down a reflection of your heart each day and it would reflect whether we are thankful or not but to give thanks to his name and then a follow through in thanksgiving is to do good to share to recognize that whatever my lot in life what God is allowing to come my way I'm willing and wanting to share it with others it's a reflection of the heart and so hence for the this is what honors God and so as we as we perhaps reflect on this the rest of the day just give that some thought and where is my heart at in closing a couple quick short quotes the first one by
[35:16] Helen Keller a lady born blind and she says so much has been given to me that I have no time to ponder that which I don't have a lady born blind she was blind all her life so much has been given to me I don't have time to think on or ponder on what I don't have a heart of gratitude and the second one also a well known person Joni Erickson Tata she was a quadriplegic meaning all four of her limbs were paralyzed in an accident and she says giving thanks is not a matter of feeling thankful it's a matter of obedience that one kind of struck me giving thanks it's not a matter of feeling thankful but being obedient to
[36:30] God our feelings need to line up but they can't lead us so just very very powerful may may the Lord bless us as we take these words and let them vibrate in our hearts