[0:00] Good morning. Welcome to the house of the Lord this morning. It's good to see us come together to worship on this Thanksgiving program.
[0:12] ! And so like I mentioned last Sunday, we're having it a week later, which is today. So we're going to have a theme of Thanksgiving and then followed by the potluck after.
[0:30] After I'm done here. It's an interesting passage to use for Thanksgiving service, but we're going to use that as a backdrop for that.
[0:44] So the message this morning, redemption is the root of thankfulness. Redemption, the root of thankfulness. Is being thankful a result of our emotions or of our will?
[1:08] Of our will? Okay. I agree, Peter.
[1:21] If it's a result of our emotions, then today I feel like being thankful because I already smell what's coming.
[1:34] And we have to endure for another hour. But tomorrow, I might be unthankful because my emotions aren't lined up. Right?
[1:47] And so Scripture treats it as a commandment. We are to be thankful. It's a commandment.
[1:59] It's a condition of our heart. Our attitude is what he brings out here. So as we start this morning, I want to start with some of the children.
[2:16] What are we thankful for? For food? For our parents? For your mom?
[2:34] Didn't quite hear that. For God? Dog. Okay, sorry. I'm getting up there, you know, in age.
[2:48] There was another hand over there. What are we thankful for? Go ahead. For our dads?
[3:01] The Bible? A place to worship. Right on. And a couple more hands. Okay, for Jesus?
[3:17] For food, yeah. Okay, and so the list goes on. Nathan, you had one more? For clothes, yeah. How about our young adults?
[3:29] What are we thankful for? Vehicles. Okay. Yep.
[3:40] Especially after Bible study last night, right? Right? Anyone else? Anyone else? Freedom?
[3:50] Freedom? Okay. It does us good to express, to bring it out.
[4:02] What are we thankful for? Because all the adults know that I'm going to pick on them next. All right. So for the rest of us, what are some thoughts?
[4:16] Why are we thankful? For salvation? For salvation? For salvation? For health?
[4:28] And over there? Eternal life? For children? For my wife? For your wife? For your wife? For family and friends?
[4:45] Work? For strength? Yeah. Okay. For older generation?
[4:55] Yeah. An example for us? God's love portrayed to us through others.
[5:09] So the family of God. You know, the list is endless.
[5:20] Right? And each one of us could keep going. If we just stop and think, what am I really thankful for? And the message title gives away the root of thankfulness, which is redemption.
[5:41] And anything less than the understanding that I am redeemed, that I have died to self, and I have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
[6:00] Anything less than that awareness results in a slipping into unthankfulness. And so then, as God's children, we need to live day in and day out with an awareness that I am redeemed.
[6:27] That God has a future for me. So let's reverse this. What are some things or circumstances that tend to get us to slip into unthankfulness?
[6:45] Ouch. Right? What are some things? Being negative?
[6:58] Yeah. But what causes being negative? Being negative. Being unthankful. Okay. Okay.
[7:12] Troubles. Yeah. When George's vehicle breaks down. Yeah. Pain. Okay. So physical pain.
[7:25] Mm-hmm. Yeah. Sorrow. Sorrow. Yeah, absolutely. See, all of the things that are listed are circumstances in our life.
[7:44] Whether it's outward, physical, material things. Or whether it's our bodies that are suffering.
[7:57] And when we get up in the morning and some of us feel Uncle Arthur at work in our muscles, right?
[8:07] We can choose. We can choose. We can choose to murmur. Or we can thank God for what He has given us.
[8:18] It's a choice. And out of our relationship with God stems the strength to choose to be positive and to thank Him for the blessings, instead of dwelling on the negative.
[8:36] People that are negative and grumblers, are they fun to be around? They aren't.
[8:48] And we, as God's children, need to make sure we're not one of them. Because we have an ability to speak into people's lives just by being thankful and by showing that positive attitude.
[9:06] Because all of us face life circumstances that are less than ideal. They're painful.
[9:18] We live in a fallen world. And God has called us to rise above.
[9:32] To be a light. And out of that, the hope of eternity where all of this will be erased. So thankfulness then stems from that.
[9:48] I'm going to ask the ushers. I'm not sure where Igor is sitting at. But, yeah.
[9:58] I'm going to ask them to hand out little sticky notes. And we've done this before. And during the service, as you listen, I would like each individual that's able to write, to write down in very short form something that you're thankful for.
[10:21] Or if you have a prayer request, put that on there. And then at the end of the service, as we close and we file out, we're going to stick them up on that whiteboard up front.
[10:33] And it's one way where everybody can participate in just sharing what's on my heart. And so I would encourage young and old, everyone, if you're able to write, take advantage of it.
[10:50] So through the service, they'll be passing out little sticky notes and some pencils. I'll share them and so on. And I'll try not to let it disrupt me. We'll keep going with the message.
[11:14] I'm going to start by looking at a few Scripture verses, or a number of them, that command being thankful.
[11:24] If you have your Bibles, turn with me. And we're going to start with Psalm 100. Psalm 100.
[11:36] It's going to be quite rapid. So Psalm 100, verse 4. Okay, Psalm 100, verse 4 says, Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.
[12:05] Be thankful to Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.
[12:15] So as we've entered His gates this morning, did we come with thanksgiving? And are we willing to bless His name, to give thanks unto His name?
[12:30] And I trust as we jot something down, we are. We are willing to follow this command. So it's a psalm of thanksgiving. Let's turn to the book of Colossians.
[12:47] Colossians chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2, 6 and 7.
[13:06] Colossians chapter 2, 6 and 7. Okay, another command. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.
[13:22] So walk in Him. Rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith as you've been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
[13:34] So we are commanded, as we've accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, to now become rooted and built up and divirtled.
[13:50] Rooted in Jesus Christ in the faith. And then we are to abound in that faith with thankfulness. And so it's the thankfulness that spills over that others see.
[14:07] It's our attitude. And so that's a command in Scripture. We turn to Colossians chapter 4, verse 2.
[14:21] He says, continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant, in it with thanksgiving.
[14:33] So command to keep praying, to not give up, but we are to pray with a thankful heart.
[14:43] And by the way, is it easy to pray to God with a grumbling attitude?
[14:59] Generally, if we're unthankful, we struggle to pray. And I liken it unto, if we, if somebody has hurt us, and we forgive them, we're able to pray for them.
[15:19] And it's a test. And if, if I can't pray for someone who's hurt me, it's likely a sign I'm struggling with forgiveness or unforgiveness.
[15:31] And so here too, our prayer life is to, is to reflect a thankful heart. It's rooted in Jesus Christ.
[15:43] Philippians, Philippians, turning back a book, Philippians 4, verse 6. This is a nice one.
[15:57] Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
[16:12] So instead of worrying, being anxiety about, about things, circumstances that are beyond our control, we are to come to God with those requests, with a thankful, thankful heart.
[16:29] and when we, when we can go to God in prayer with something that's overwhelming us and thank Him, it spells out that I've chosen to trust Him.
[16:46] that's, that's what it equals. I've chosen to trust Him. So instead of being anxious, I'll bring it to God, trusting He will deal with it.
[17:04] And I'm thankful for God like that. 1 Thessalonians 5.18 These are all short ones.
[17:27] 1 Thessalonians 5.18 I'll back up one verse. Pray without ceasing. without letting up or without giving up.
[17:41] In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. In some things give thanks in everything.
[17:56] Why? This is the will of God for your life. So as we walk with Him, day in, day out, the reflection of that relationship is a thankful heart.
[18:17] Amen? That is reality. And one more. This one was brought up by the children. 1 Timothy 4.3.
[18:45] 1 Timothy 4.3 and 4. It's talking about bad doctrines. Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God created excuse me, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
[19:08] For every creature of God is good and nothing is to be refused if it's received with thanksgiving. And so this too relates to everyday life.
[19:24] That instead of grumbling or being fussy about our food, being a little bit macklich, we are to receive it with thanksgiving.
[19:37] to recognize God provided. And he says all creatures are provided for that purpose. So there's a few verses that I chose.
[19:52] I did a search and the word thanks and thankfulness comes up almost a hundred times in Scripture. So it's a theme throughout Old Testament and New as well.
[20:07] And so it's just centered on God. All right. So let's go back to our passage or let's go to our passage.
[20:18] 1 Corinthians 11. And we're going to go through it very rapidly. And Paul begins in verse 17 regarding communion by the way what is communion?
[20:44] What is communion? Nobody knows?
[21:00] Relationship? Okay. What does the word commune mean? It's another word to fellowship. Right?
[21:13] It's fellowshipping. And we have communion to gather together in unity to first commemorate to remember that the Lord Jesus Christ hung on that cross to set me free.
[21:36] And that I have communion with him and with fellow man. And the two commandments that Jesus gave us were or the two commandments he gave us.
[22:01] Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. You see, the second one flows out of the first one.
[22:15] And when we love the Lord our God with everything, then we can love each other. And Jesus says, this is the new commandment, love your brothers and sisters.
[22:31] And so communion then is a show of unity of love. And here Paul is writing and addressing the church in Corinth, and he says, regarding communion, I cannot praise you.
[22:47] I cannot praise you. Let's read. Now, in giving these instructions, I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better, but for the worse.
[23:03] For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part, I believe it. For there must also be factions or divisions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.
[23:24] So he says, when you come together as a church in Corinth, you're coming together split into little groups. And one group lifts themselves up above this group and so on.
[23:39] And he says, I cannot praise you. You have missed the mark of the fellowship of Jesus Christ. And he says in verse 19, that there must be factions among you, those divisions, that those who are approved may be recognized.
[24:03] And that can be taken two ways. It can be taken first, that those who have elevated themselves, and in Corinth, there was that issue of Gnosticism or higher knowledge, understanding, a deeper knowledge, and those that felt they had that elevated themselves, were better than the other guys.
[24:30] And so it would bring out who are these people. But the other side of it is that those who are approved, may be recognized, is that these groups reveal who are the true Christians.
[24:47] And I would lean toward that second one more. That when there's divisions, the true believers will be revealed.
[24:59] They're sifting out. And it's evident. You know, in their culture, a percentage of the church in Corinth were slaves.
[25:17] And today, when we think of slaves, while in our society, it's employees, it's more than that. We're almost all employees here, if not all.
[25:28] But here it's slaves who are owned property. They own nothing. nothing. They have nothing. They work for a master who owns them.
[25:43] And they come to church, and they're poor. And they have nothing to give. And so it causes divisions.
[25:58] If we don't have Jesus Christ as center, center of our hearts, it causes divisions. And so as they came together for the Lord's Supper, their practice was what they would call a love feast.
[26:19] This morning we call it a potluck, a Thanksgiving meal together at church. And they would have a full meal, and at the end they would break bread, and take of the cup.
[26:36] But Paul says that when you come together in verse 20, in one place it's not to eat the Lord's Supper, so you're not worried about communion, you're rather worried about self.
[26:51] And in eating each one takes his own supper ahead of others. One is hungry, another is drunk. drunk. How Christian does this sound?
[27:10] If this morning, after the service, we go downstairs, and the first ones down, they go and grab plates and head for the food trough, we wouldn't be very impressed, would we?
[27:25] we do this as an act of unity. We wait for one another. There's order. Here, in Corinth, they all brought their own food.
[27:41] One goes hungry, and it's likely a reference to the slaves. They had nothing to bring, or very little. The masters, they were getting drunk, literally.
[27:55] They were having too much alcohol at a church service. Paul says, I do not praise you.
[28:07] You have missed the mark. This is not what it's about. And then verse 22, he reprimands them. What? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in?
[28:19] Do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? how do the poor feel?
[28:32] You're mocking them. What shall I say? Shall I praise you? I do not praise you. And so very strong rebuke.
[28:47] Very strong rebuke. And this would be a common get-together for them, not just a couple times a year, but this would be a regular occurrence.
[29:01] Paul then goes on to correct. And this is the heart of thanksgiving. Verse 23, for I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the same night when she was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you, do this in remembrance of me.
[29:29] In the same manner, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, this do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.
[29:42] He's teaching, he's teaching proper communion as the Lord himself taught it, as Jesus himself taught it.
[29:56] And those verses that I just read, they're focused on Jesus Christ, the Corinthians practice was focused on me, me first.
[30:13] And so he teaches them, he said, it's not about food and drink, you can do that at home, but you gather together, you gather together to take of the bread, and to take part of the cup, to remember the root of your thankfulness, Jesus Christ.
[30:38] And this marks the true believer as we concentrate and focus on that. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes.
[30:57] And so it symbolizes that we are anticipating Jesus is coming back. And he's coming back for me. He has a home for me.
[31:13] And so this is the hope, the joy, the peace, the thankfulness that we have in our hearts.
[31:23] and then the last section, I'm going to touch into that as well, and it's regarding judgment.
[31:35] It's regarding judgment. Verse 27, Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
[31:51] It's like we do not respect or appreciate or are unthankful for what the Lord has done for me. That's what he's saying here.
[32:04] We're not recognizing the death on the cross. But let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
[32:18] So we are to live every day with this appreciation of Jesus Christ. This fellowship with him.
[32:32] It dominates, it leads my life. And that's what brings out a heart of thankfulness. So we are to examine ourselves and coming together as a church in disunity means there's an issue not only with brothers but with me and the Lord.
[33:00] That's where it points to. It's an unthankful heart. And so he says let a man examine himself, correct, correct our attitudes, and then let us gather.
[33:23] For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
[33:36] You know, the Lord's body was given that sin might be done away with. Not run rampant in our lives.
[33:49] So we're not discerning the Lord's body if we come unworthily, ungrateful, and without the Lord on the throne of our lives.
[34:06] And so drinks judgment to himself. I'll reread verse 29. for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
[34:20] We are inviting our Heavenly Father to judge us, to discipline us, to chastise us, here on earth, right now, in our lives.
[34:33] Paul says, I would rather that you would examine yourselves privately, that you would align yourselves with Christ on your own.
[34:50] But if you refuse to, I will. God says, I will. And the next verse, verse 30, is very, very direct and somewhat harsh.
[35:08] And he says to the Corinthians, for this reason, many are weak, sick, and many sleep or have died.
[35:27] That is the Lord's judgment. judgment. You know, we don't go around saying every time someone has the sniffles, that, is there sin in your life?
[35:41] Because you would have asked that of me the last two weeks. But, but there is such a thing that the Lord brings about weakness and sickness, and there is such a thing as the Lord takes us home prematurely.
[36:03] Because we are not giving in to his chastisement, to his correction. And often, the way the Lord takes his children home is through a disease, or an accident, or whatever.
[36:31] This is still real today. Not only in the time of Paul, or Corinth. It's still today.
[36:44] And so, having said it this way, I don't want us to be anxious, and to overthink every time I get something, uh-oh, am I in trouble with the Lord?
[36:56] Because we do live in a fallen world, a sin controlled world, where diseases, and illnesses, and flus, and so on, are rampant.
[37:08] And Christians will catch it, even though there's not sin hidden in my heart. And all of us, I trust, have been there. But anyway, Paul is admonishing them, examine yourselves.
[37:23] If not, the Lord will. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
[37:39] So those that are weak and sick, and have died, Paul says, God has judged them, so that they may not be condemned with the world, and go to hell.
[37:53] But I've taken them home, prematurely, because of their behavior. So let's just keep that straight.
[38:08] So these are loved ones, these are children of God, that he's talking about here. And then he closes, therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another, but if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment, and the rest I will eat in order when I come.
[38:32] And that's why I had breakfast this morning. it's important that we understand the teaching here that the purpose of the church gathering in unity is to make Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, the object of our worship, not self.
[39:01] I'm going to close with that. I trust that even though this was a bit of a different kind of message, that we're getting the point that without Jesus Christ as central in my life, I will struggle with being thankful.
[39:23] And that is what this is about. So after the closing song, when Julius dismisses us, we'll get maybe from the front rows to come by and post their sticker and just make our way row after row and then we can go down for our Thanksgiving.
[39:45] So let's close in prayer. Father, we have much to be thankful for.
[39:58] From the spiritual side, salvation, salvation, the fruit of the Spirit. Lord, so many blessings.
[40:13] On the physical side, so many blessings. As you promise to provide for our needs. And Lord, you keep your promises.
[40:25] We are truly blessed. blessed. And this morning, Father, we are blessed that we can gather like this. We are blessed that we anticipate to go down for a Thanksgiving meal.
[40:39] So Lord, we want to honor you. We want to thank you for your provisions. May you be lifted up in each one of our hearts.
[40:51] May all the glory go to Jesus Christ. Amen.