Thanksgiving: More than a Meal

[0:00] Go ahead and take your Bibles this morning, and before you turn to the book of Mark, go to Colossians. We'll change things up a little bit this morning. We'll continue back in our series there in the book of Mark next week.

[0:13] But we're going to take a look here for a few moments here this morning. In the book of Colossians, chapter 3, here this morning, we're going to be talking about Thanksgiving and thankfulness for a moment here this morning, and just this understanding that, you know, it's really, it's more than a meal. Have you ever noticed that Thanksgiving, as you go through, oftentimes becomes focused around just the meal? The preparations, all the things involved with it, and, you know, it is a great day, what we celebrate this week. I think it's a wonderful holiday, because holidays are something that are there for us to remember, and to pay attention to. And I think it's great that we have a day that we actually stop, or at least supposed to stop, and consider thankfulness. To consider what that means, and what's surrounded around it, because the idea of a day of giving thanks is rooted really very firmly even in our nation. From the very beginning, it was a concept that many practiced, and on December 4th, 1619, was the first time that they said that they had a declaration that they can find in our nation, in America, in these shores, when 38 British settlers reached Berkeley on the bank of the Virginia's James River, and the first thing they did was proclaiming a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God. You know, they arrive, and what do they do?

[1:43] They proclaim a day of thanksgiving, a day to honor and just to thank the Lord. But often our roots of thanksgiving is placed around a meal celebrated in November of 1621, you know, when William Bradford declared a day of thanksgiving, inviting the Native American allies and those that would come, and they had a meal together. Actually, it was about a three-day meal. And when you read history, you know, it's something I think we would have had a good time at. You know, they did all sorts of things. They had games, and they had shooting events. They had all sorts of stuff that they did in the course of three days. They even went hunting. You know, when you read the accounts, they went hunting and got some deer, you know. It's like there's a lot of people who say, hey, that's my kind of a three-day event, you know, to get together and to do those things. But we know those things from history that often get promoted, but you know, the origins of thanksgiving go farther. They go a lot farther back in time. The idea of being thankful, you know, we find even those at the early settlers and later celebrations, they understood that what they were celebrating was not a current idea.

[2:59] It wasn't just about a meal. It wasn't about the activity. It was about what was it for? Because you find even in the Psalms, you'll find that many times, thanks, thanksgiving, thankfulness, you know, those terms, you know, Psalm 75 starts off, it says, unto thee, O God, do we give thanks. Unto thee do we give thanks.

[3:21] For that thy name is near, thy wondrous works declare. You know, you think about what the Word of God tells us in the focus upon thankfulness. And when you begin looking at thankfulness and this idea of gratitude, you'll find it recorded throughout Scripture. You know, the first time you really see the phrase is in Leviticus.

[3:43] But you know, if you go back and you read before that, you'll find that there's, it might not be phrased that way, it might not be called thankfulness or thanksgiving, but you see actions that demonstrate it.

[3:57] You know, because thankfulness is not just something we say. Thankfulness is something that involves what we do. How we handle those things.

[4:08] How do we walk through those things in life? And you can find that concept from the beginning. And we find that thankfulness is something that represents more than just a day or a meal that we often associate it with today.

[4:26] But I think we need to be encouraged to say it's not about the meal. The meal is a function that surrounds and lets us slow down and really consider what's important.

[4:37] And what is important is how we are thinking, how are we processing the things that we have? The things in life that go on around us.

[4:48] And it's a frame of mind, you might say, of how you interpret the world around you. You know, thankfulness goes beyond just words because it is a whole lens in which we see.

[5:03] And we're going to look at that this morning because Colossians brings out some of those things here this morning for us. It's something that doesn't just happen, but thankfulness needs to be a part of us.

[5:15] It needs to be part of who we are as an individual, to be thankful in that. And so if you found Colossians here this morning, chapter 3, let's stand together in honor of the reading of the Word of God.

[5:28] And we'll pick up here in verse 15 as you follow along. And you see here, and it says, let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body.

[5:40] And be ye thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

[5:55] And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.

[6:06] Let's pray. Heavenly Fathers, we come before you today. Lord, we pray just would have your hand upon each one here today. Lord, you know each soul. You know each individual. Lord, you know those who have called upon you.

[6:19] Lord, if there's one here today that's unsure or does not know what you've done, Lord, for them, or that we could truly be thankful. Lord, those that you've redeemed, that have called upon you, Lord, we have nothing but reason to be thankful for what you've done for us.

[6:35] But Lord, we pray just would stir our minds towards this idea of thankfulness here today and how it ought to not just be something that we say or do, even, but Lord, something that is a part of who we are in our daily life.

[6:49] And Lord, we just give you all the praise in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Because as we see here, to be thankful doesn't begin outwardly, but begins inwardly.

[7:02] You want something that's within an individual that comes out. And we can see it clearly. You know, Ephesians chapter 1 in verse 16 tells us this. It says, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.

[7:17] That was the Apostle Paul. He wasn't just thankful for what God had given to him. He was thankful for others that God put in his life. He was thankful even in the midst of trials and struggles.

[7:28] When things didn't go well, he says we need to be thankful. When things go well, we need to remember to be thankful. He says, no matter where you're at, you need to be thankful. To have an attitude, a spirit of thankfulness, because, you know, we can be thankful for others.

[7:45] Thankful begins with our attitude, though, towards God, because, you know, oftentimes we forget that God is the one, his provider. He is the one that gives everything, including our very life, to us.

[7:58] He is the giver of life. And we understand that thanksgiving is not centered in the words that are said, but in the spirit behind it. You know, when we understand what's happening, when we're instructed to be thankful, it is centered upon the fact that we have the peace of God in our heart.

[8:19] Now, take a look there in verse 15. Notice what it tells us here in our text. It says, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts. You know, one of the things, that if you're at peace with God and understand what God has done for you, it's going to change your perspective.

[8:36] It's going to change the way you think. It's going to change the way you see the things around us and the things going on. And when the peace of God, when we're at peace with God and experience the peace of God, because we're not going to get into detail about the difference between the two, but there is a difference.

[8:54] Because you can never have the peace of God in your life if you're not first at peace with God. And peace with God is when you recognize Him as your Savior and call upon Him.

[9:05] And the Bible says that we're no longer His enemy, but we're become part of His family. I mean, it's a totally transformational setting and dynamic that's represented.

[9:17] It's totally different. But to be thankful is centered upon that when we understand who God is and His presence and His peace that comes when you trust Christ and you know that your sins are forgiven and the guilt and shame is no longer upon you.

[9:35] And without the peace of God, we need to understand you can't have peace with God. And that's how we truly, the perspective and the lens that we understand thankfulness or gratitude.

[9:50] To understand what God has done for us and to understand to experience. Now I want you to understand, we need a lot of things about experience today, but I want you to understand when you get saved, there is an element of experience to it.

[10:06] You've been transformed. You've been changed. That's something you experience. Now not like people try to blow it up like any, you know, a lot of people blow things out of perspective, but you know, an experience just means something that happened to you.

[10:19] And when you get saved, there's something happened to you. The Bible says that you were dead in your sins and your trespasses and you were made alive in Christ. That's a big change. You experienced a new life in Christ.

[10:34] You know, you understand the reality of what's being said that is available to us and thankfulness and this disposition of gratitude are something that we ought to have when we understand what God has done for us.

[10:48] You know, because when we understand what God has done for us, it changes our perspective. It changes our understanding. It ought to change the lens through which we see things happening.

[11:02] Because thankfulness is that. It's almost a lens through which we see what's going on around us. To understand, he says, tells us to be ye thankful.

[11:13] Thankfulness and the importance of it, this disposition, extends to those around us and the situations of life. you know, when we know what's happening in life, I mean, life can be rough, but when we understand that God is the one that gives peace, he is the one that helps us to know and to understand those things in life to put them in the right perspective that we might be thankful.

[11:42] To have that right spirit of thankfulness. You know, 1 Corinthians 14.33 tells us this, it says, for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace as in all the churches of the saints.

[11:54] I want you to understand God's the author of peace and when we have peace with God and we experience his peace, we can have peace about things that are happening in life which makes it a lot different perspective to be thankful for the things of life.

[12:09] To understand what's happening. So, we might say, how do we get and understand this thing called thankfulness? How do we live thankfully? Well, that's a great question because you have to move it from concept to application.

[12:26] You know, have you ever noticed that concepts are easy? You know, they look good on paper, they sound good, but application is where the tough part comes.

[12:39] How do I take what I know and put it to use? How does it impact me? How does what I know impact what I do or how I live or what I say?

[12:53] And so, we're going to look at that because the first thing this morning is we need to change our thinking. We need to think thankfully. To have an idea and this gratitude begins in how we think.

[13:06] You know, look here at verse 15 here. It says, let the peace of God rule in your hearts and we need to understand if something's ruling in your heart, it has to do with how you're thinking, how you're processing those things.

[13:21] Our perspective should be one of appreciation and humility or it'll be one that's wholly opposite. Have you ever thought about this concept for a moment? If you're not thankful, what are you?

[13:32] Because there's a dichotomy here. You're either thankful and have gratitude or you're complaining or you're arguing. You might maybe it presents itself.

[13:43] If you're not thankful, you have a sense of entitlement. Thankfulness contrasts victimhood. Our thinking is important, isn't it? And we see this playing out of how we think and how we process these things.

[13:55] To be thankful is something that's tied to letting the peace of God rule in your heart. Now this word rule here, the concept here is that when we know and are governed by the peace of God in our heart, you know, one person, as I was preparing this, made a comment I was reading I thought was interesting.

[14:13] He put the word rule as being the umpire of things going on in your life. Let the peace of God be the umpire, the determining factor in how you perceive the things happening.

[14:26] I'm like, you know, that word rule kind of plays into that, doesn't it? It's the one who has control because whenever things happen in life, we have some choices to make. Are we going to complain and be miserable about it or are we going to say, God, I'm going to trust you and I'm thankful for the things that I do have.

[14:44] I'm thankful for what you've given to me that we have that we can experience your peace even in the midst of chaos. You know, that we can be saved, that we can be redeemed, that we can know we have eternal life, but you know, the reality is this, you can be saved and still be unthankful because that word rule implies something.

[15:04] It implies what's in charge. All of us allow something to be in charge in our decision making. Something is in charge of how we see or perceive the things going on around us.

[15:15] We know what we ought to do. Now, most people would agree, you know, it's a good thing to be thankful. I think you'd have a hard time finding somebody who says, I don't think it's a good thing to be thankful.

[15:28] And I say that because there's always that one in the crowd that's just antagonist. You know, if you tell them the sky is blue, they'll say it was red. You know, let's argue for the sake of arguing. But generally speaking, you won't find anybody that says thankfulness and this idea of thankfulness and the application of thankfulness is a bad thing.

[15:48] Because everybody knows that thankfulness is tied to appreciation. And who doesn't like to see somebody be appreciative? You know, we all like our labors to be appreciated.

[16:02] To be recognized and, you know, oftentimes, oh, I don't want to do it for you. But we still like people to recognize that it was done. It's an innate part within us to say, hey, somebody's paying attention, but I want you to know part of our thankfulness and our spirit is understanding God's paying attention.

[16:22] Whether men or women or anybody else gives you recognition, if you do what you ought to do, God's paying attention. God's paying attention to those things to be thankful and to let that rule in our life allow it to drive our response.

[16:40] When we let the peace of God rule, we'll let the word of God dwell within us. Because one of the things is understanding his promises. How can you be thankful for everything?

[16:51] But when we understand God's promises, and where do we find God's promises? In the scripture, in the Bible. It allows us to know God's promises.

[17:01] When we know his promises, when we dwell on what should drive our thinking, you know, oftentimes it's easier to dwell on our problems and woes more than the promises of God.

[17:17] You know, it's easy to get distracted by what's going on instead of saying, let's slow down and take a look at what God has given to us. You know, when we slow down and think that and we start processing it, it begins to change even how the problems come about.

[17:33] How we walk through the problems, how we're dealing with those things. Because consider some of God's promises to us. You know, just to name a few that he'll never leave you or forsake you.

[17:45] Is that not a good promise for when you're in the midst of problems? Even when you feel forsaken, God says, I haven't. God says, you can rest assured it doesn't depend on how you feel. I've said it and therefore I am.

[17:57] God declares he's going to be faithful. He's going to do his part. He says he's going to hear us and answer our prayers. You know, consider his process promise that he's going to hear us, that you're not just speaking up to the air.

[18:14] Consider that he promised to give wisdom when we need it. You know, how many of us need wisdom? I want to be truthful, you need wisdom every day. As we walk through the life and the things that come about, the things that go on, you know, wisdom, he promises to guide our steps.

[18:34] That's just, I mean, the list could go on, there's so many more, but how one thinks must be centered on the right things. Because remember, Peter says that in 2 Peter 1, verse 4, whereby we were given unto us exceedingly great and precious promises.

[18:52] You know, when we find and look at his promises and trust them, it's when his word dwells in us. And when his word dwells in us, it changes how we think.

[19:02] It changes how we process. It changes our perspective. You know, when we have his word dwell in us, it's an important concept that we see here in the scripture.

[19:17] Look down at verse 17. Or excuse me, look at verse 16. It says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. Thankfulness is tied to the word of Christ, the word of God, the scripture dwelling in us.

[19:36] You know, have you ever thought about something you can't claim a promise you don't know about? Something to think about for a moment. If you don't know what God said, how can you hold on to it? Sometimes we struggle because we don't realize that God's given us a promise that covers that area or situation of life to help us through.

[19:56] When we know that our trust is in his promises, it's shown when we make requests known to him in prayer. You know, prayer is simple. It is bringing to him the things of life, both good and bad.

[20:10] You know? Now, we're talking about a specific portion of prayer because I want you to understand prayer involves more than just asking. But part of our prayer is asking. That's an essential part as much as praising God and being thankful to God in prayer.

[20:26] Our asking is something he tells us that not only we have a ability to do, that we have a privilege to do. Matter of fact, I'll put it a little different.

[20:37] I believe God has an expectation from you for you to come to him. You know? That's a different way of looking. When was the last time that you said, God expects me to come to him?

[20:50] God has an expectation for you to pray. He's made everything available because prayer is really that simple. It's through his word we know that we can bring the things of life that we carry to him.

[21:05] You know, consider what Jesus said, Matthew chapter 11 verse 28 tells us this. It says, Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. What's Jesus commanding? He says, Come unto me and what's he want to do?

[21:17] What are you laboring over? What's the labor here? Life. Think about the things we carry. You know, the reality is this. Sometimes it's easier to do physical labor than it is mental labor.

[21:33] The labor that says, how do I walk through situations? How do I deal with family dynamics? How do I deal with employers and the grumpy neighbor? And, you know, how do you deal with all the situations that come up in life?

[21:45] That's a heavy labor, isn't it? You know what Jesus says? Come to me and I will give you rest. You know, consider in Philippians 4, 6. Notice what it says. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

[22:03] You know, to be able to be thankful even in the midst of struggle because often we struggle to be thankful when we labor to carry the burdens that He tells us that we ought to be bringing to Him.

[22:16] You know, consider some of the burdens that we carry. We carry those emotional burdens. How we feel about something, how we feel about someone, how even you feel about yourself.

[22:28] You need to understand God says that He wants us to bring those to Him. How about our hurts and wounds that happen in life? You know, sometimes, have you ever had that woe is me moment? Lord, why did you let this happen to me?

[22:39] And you can fill in the blank. I mean, the blank could be a multitude of different things that we measure. You know, why did this or that or whatever? But, you know, when we understand that these things oftentimes we carry, Lord, why did you allow others to do that to me?

[22:56] Why did you allow this to happen? Or, you have unfulfilled expectations of somebody that fall into this category. Why didn't they? You know, God says you can be thankful when you come with the right attitude to say, God, I don't understand but I need the wisdom and I need to trust You as I walk through these things.

[23:15] To understand the importance that knowing that He's going to help us walk through it. You know, consider 2 Corinthians 12, 9, where the Apostle Paul, he's going through a very difficult season.

[23:27] You know, one of the things that I think we do sometimes, we read in the Bible and you read about Paul and you read about all the great things that God did, but there's a lot of things also record about Paul's struggles.

[23:41] That things didn't go the way he thought or hoped they would go. In this particular case, we don't know what he was struggling with but we know it was a taxing burden emotionally and mentally upon him about what was happening.

[23:55] It was bearing him down, it was a burden and he kept going to the Lord and Lord, why aren't you dealing with it? And God's response was this, it says, my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

[24:09] You know, sometimes we forget that sometimes God allows things into our life to say, I want you to understand more who I am. That God says, I want you to draw closer to know that you can trust me more, that you can walk through those things.

[24:26] Because those situations of life are going to happen. And a right spirit, a right attitude, a right thinking about thankfulness is going to happen when we turn those things over to him as he walks with us through life.

[24:40] Because the next thing we'll find is when thankfulness and gratitude in our thinking, it'll automatically spill over in praise. You know, oftentimes people put praise at the top.

[24:53] But have you ever considered that if your heart and your mind isn't right towards God, praise doesn't mean anything? You know, have you ever had somebody come up and try to flatter you to get advantage? Have you considered that when we go to God with our wrong thinking and a wrong attitude and a wrong connection with him, and just come out and say, oh, great God is!

[25:10] Have you ever thought that maybe God's sitting up there going, what do you want? Because you can kind of read it as disingenuine. Somebody going through the actions. Somebody doing something to gain advantage.

[25:24] True praise to God isn't to gain an advantage from God. It's because of what God has already done for you. To consider praise.

[25:35] You know, we hear a lot about praise today, but biblically, I don't think you can truly praise the Lord until you're thankful for what God has done. Because thankfulness is always tied to praise.

[25:46] This idea, this thinking of thankfulness is tied to praise. You don't show up and play some music on Sunday and sing some songs and praise the Lord.

[25:58] Now, I want you to understand, praise and music are tied together, oftentimes in Scripture, but the function of them isn't near as important as what is driving them.

[26:11] The driving of it is important to understand and to think on those things properly. You know? Consider Philippians 4, verse 8.

[26:21] Think about this verse. It talks about what we think on, but notice this. It says, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.

[26:41] In other words, what's virtuous and praiseworthy is tied to what's right. And to thinking on the right things, because praise is that. It's more than just music or song.

[26:54] It's really centered on the substance of what's rolling off the tongue. Because that brings us to the next thing. We need to think, but we need to talk thankfully. To talk thankfully.

[27:05] Look at verse 17 here with me this morning. Back in our text, it says, Whatsoever you do in word. Now, the word there is not the Scripture.

[27:16] It's not talking here about the Scripture. It says, What you do in word is talking about you as an individual and what you say. The term used here is speech.

[27:29] What we do to talk thankfully. How do we express gratitude centers on two areas, and that's God and others. It's presented when we see the blessing and benefits of both.

[27:42] Because remember, it's what's on the inside already that comes out that makes a difference. To understand, Mark 7, 15 says this, There is nothing from without a man that enteth into a man that can defile him, but the thing which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

[28:01] That was Jesus telling them that, you know, what you say, what those things that come out, that what come forth, is what is a critical element of what is within.

[28:12] Because if we have the right spirit and the right attitude about it, it will impact what we say. Because how we talk is a reflection of the inside. Let's look at another verse.

[28:23] Look over to James chapter 3 for a moment. Because what we say can either have a spirit of thankfulness or can be destructive.

[28:33] Have you ever experienced destructive speech? somebody saying something that was destructive? You know, think about James chapter 3 here. It says, The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.

[28:45] So is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature and is set on fire of hell. I want you to understand that we can use what we say wrongly.

[28:58] You can use what you say correctly. But it's a matter of what's ruling because what you're thinking plays out, doesn't it?

[29:10] Those things connect in our life and to understand the importance of it, gratitude will not just be something said, but I want you to see here it's also something done.

[29:21] Because we don't want just a concept of thankfulness or just to give lip service to thankfulness. You know, those two things are oftentimes where it gets limited, isn't it?

[29:35] When we stop, we ought to act thankfully. To act thankfully. Look what it says again in verse 17. It says this, Whatsoever ye do in word, or what's that next one?

[29:46] Deed. Our deeds, our actions. You know, the display of gratitude is witnessed in what we do. You know, how we do correlates to how our words and our thinking are expressed.

[30:04] You know, have you ever heard somebody say something and by their body language you just say, I don't believe them? When it comes to thankfulness, it's simply this, when somebody says thank you, their body language and the things that they do, the things associated with it ought to confirm what was being said because it's what's being thought.

[30:23] There's that connection that we see. This display of gratitude is witnessed in what we do and we do it from thankfulness especially because of what Christ has done for us.

[30:35] Remember, to let the peace of God rule in your heart. To be truly thankful for those things. They're tied together. We are to do it in the name of the Lord Jesus.

[30:45] Notice here in verse 17 again. And what it says, it says, Whatsoever ye do and word or do you do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.

[30:59] That's that spirit of thankfulness that ought to encompass us in our life. The one that is the giver of this life and the one to come ought to be the focus of our attitude of thankfulness.

[31:14] You know, you say, well, how do we demonstrate thankfulness? Well, one of the things we do is we serve by the choices we make and part of our serving has to do with priority.

[31:26] How we prioritize. Because your priorities speak in those areas. You know, we can demonstrate gratitude by serving. Thankfulness is something that's witnessed in what we do both to others and for others.

[31:43] You know, 1 John 3.18 says this, My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

[31:54] Thankfulness involves truth. I want you to understand that in deed and in truth it's not word or in tongue, you know, just to love in word.

[32:05] Well, I love you. You know, it doesn't really mean anything. There's not something to back it up. We display those things by what we do. You know, we also demonstrate it by acknowledging who the Lord is.

[32:17] You know, consider Proverbs chapter 3. It should be a familiar verse to you. You know, think about this. It says, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy path.

[32:31] You know, it says, All thy ways do what? Acknowledge Him. You know, when we're acknowledging the Savior, it impacts how we not only see ourselves and the things happening in life, but it impacts how we see others.

[32:45] Thankfulness impacts even how we see others in our life as we acknowledge God. Because Thanksgiving, I want you to remember and to maybe jog our thinking because Thanksgiving is not just a day or a meal.

[33:03] Thanksgiving ought to be something that encompasses us throughout the year. You know, we get so caught up in calendar and function sometimes. I think that the meal has become Thanksgiving instead of why are we slowing down to do that?

[33:19] Because thankfulness and Thanksgiving is more than just a meal. Like anything in life, sometimes we need a reason to slow down. It gives us a purpose to slow down, to really consider what's important.

[33:34] To grab a hold of those things that are important to do those things is a reflection of our life. You know, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 in verse 18 tells us, it says, in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

[33:54] This spirit, this mindset, what ought to rule in our life is thankfulness. You'll see it throughout the Scripture.

[34:07] it's filled with this idea, this concept, and the application of thankfulness. In everything give thanks for this is the will of God for you.

[34:22] Thankfulness ought to be attached to what God has done. You know, today are you thankful because it's the season to be thankful? You know, oftentimes it's easy to do that, but Thanksgiving ought not just be a meal to celebrate.

[34:34] It ought to be a time to slow down and consider what God has done, what He's given, how to be thankful for all that He has, all that we have, all that we enjoy, that the peace of God that's available to everyone.

[34:50] Because the reality is this, when we truly have in concept, in understanding what Christ has done for us, it ought to make it a lot harder to be unthankful. It ought to make it easier for us to be thankful when we know Him as Savior.

[35:06] You know, this morning it starts, thankfulness starts with understanding what God has done for you. To understand that He is the one that came and died to provide a way that you might have the peace with God, that you might experience the peace of God.

[35:21] This morning it's important to know, do you know Him as Savior? Do you know Him? Have you ever moved past the fact of who He is to trusting in what He has done for you? You know, today we live in a nation, there's a lot of people even today that know a lot about who Jesus is.

[35:39] But the application goes beyond who He is to what He's done, what He's accomplished for each one. You know, today if you don't know Christ, I encourage you to make the day the day.

[35:53] If you know Christ as your Savior, I think we need to ask ourselves a question, are we living thankfully? Are we living? Do you need to bring some things to the Lord today or even this morning just to thank Him for who He is and what He's done for you?

[36:11] To think about His promises and the opportunity we have to practice the second part. We know that He will hear us, but to come and to make requests, make our requests known unto Him because it all sums up in the fact, are you thinking, talking, and acting thankfully, not just this week, but every week as we go through life?

[36:37] His heads are bowed and eyes are closed this morning. What about you today? As we take a moment to consider and contemplate on thankfulness, is it just a meal or is it part of who you are?

[36:51] Who you are in Christ. Heavenly Fathers, we come before you today, Lord, we just thank you and praise you. Lord, we're just stunned by all that you've given to us.

[37:04] Lord, that we can come boldly before you because of your promises and your provision for us. Lord, you know each heart, each life here today. Lord, we pray that you just work in each one in a mighty way.

[37:18] Lord, we just ask it all in your precious name. Amen. His heads are bowed and eyes are closed this morning. What about you?