You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.
Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.
Pray with me, if you will, as we get started.
Father, we're grateful for your love and your care for us, your people.
So, greedy and thankless as we can be, you showed us love that we can't fathom or imagine in your son, Jesus.
You chase us down in time and space and put us in a place like this, even this morning, to hear your word.
I pray that your Holy Spirit would be active and present among us individually and amongst us as a group
to illumine our hearts and minds to the truth that you want to show us today.
Pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts will be pleasing unto you
for the sake of your kingdom and in the name of King Jesus. Amen.
We're going to continue our break from the book of Luke today and we'll be in the book of 1 Thessalonians.
So, if you have your Bibles, you're welcome to turn there. I'll start out in chapter 1.
Paul's relationship to the Thessalonians is a really interesting and wonderful story.
Paul went there and ministered to them.
And as I was telling the children earlier, he came to Thessalonica, which is a metropolitan city in Macedonia.
And he showed up to the synagogue and he started preaching Jesus in the synagogue.
And they let him do it for three weeks in a row.
And then people got sick of hearing about this Jesus.
And they kicked him out.
And it didn't stop him.
Paul continued to preach about this Jesus on the streets to the Gentiles that were around.
And there was great response, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.
And many people turned to Jesus in ways that were miraculous and powerful
and can only happen because of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
As was wont to happen to Paul, a lot of people were really upset by it as well.
And the Jewish people who were in some kind of power petitioned the Romans and the Greeks
and a lot of the people that were around and found some rabble-rousers.
And they began to form mobs and to persecute Paul heavily,
to persecute the converts heavily.
And things went really bad for them and continued to be really bad for them,
to the point that Paul had to leave just to try to lighten the tension on what was going on there.
And he writes a letter to them.
This letter will be in today, 1 Thessalonians, which is a little different for Paul.
Because Paul, if you read Romans, you know, this great diatribe theological masterpiece
that you can hang everything on.
Or he writes to the Corinthians because of all of the terrible things going on in their church
to guide them in back-and-forth communication on how to right the ship,
how to correct things, how to do things better.
And this letter to the Thessalonians is really unique
because Paul so wanted to know what was going on with him,
so he sent Timothy back to him.
And Timothy came to Paul with a report of a people who were remaining faithful.
who had some simple questions about life and theology that Paul hadn't answered.
And so this letter is actually the letter of a pastor
whose heart is broken for a people that he's led to Christ.
He's in wonder and awe of what the Holy Spirit is doing,
keeping them together, faithful,
even in the midst of rampant idolatry and wanton sexuality
and things like that that were just regular parts of everyday life
in a mixed culture like this.
And Paul is grieving for these people
and his heart is breaking for these people
as they continue in this persecution.
And he sends them a letter that's a love letter,
encouraging them how to stay faithful.
There are a couple of different parts to the letter,
but we're going to focus on the very beginning and the very end today.
So join me as I read 1 Thessalonians 1,
beginning in verse 1,
and we'll read through verse 10.
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
to the Church of the Thessalonians,
in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
grace to you and peace.
We give thanks to God always for all of you,
constantly mentioning you in our prayers,
remembering before our God and Father
your work of faith and labor of love
and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
For we know, brothers loved by God,
that he's chosen you.
Because our gospel came to you not only in word,
but also in power,
and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction,
you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord.
For you received the word in much affliction,
with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
so that you became an example to all the believers
in Macedonia and Achaia.
For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you,
in Macedonia and Achaia,
but your faith has gone forth everywhere,
so that we need not say anything.
For they themselves report concerning us
the kind of reception we had among you,
and how you turned to God for Midals
to serve the living and true God,
and to wait for his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead,
Jesus,
who delivers us from the wrath to come.
And for a couple chapters,
he goes on about how he wants to see them,
what's going on with him,
what his relationship is to them.
He encourages them to live lives
worthy of their calling.
They had a question,
because people were dying around them,
and their hearts were broken,
because it had almost been 20 years
since Jesus died,
and he was supposed to come back,
and these people were dead.
Are they going to be with us forever,
as you promised?
And he lovingly answered those questions.
And then he turns at the end of chapter 5,
beginning in verse 16,
from a focus on themselves
and a focus on human questions,
to a focus on God
and who he is.
Rejoice always.
Pray without ceasing.
Give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus for you.
One of the hardest moments
extended periods of time in my life,
certainly in my marriage,
began at the end of 2009,
as many dominoes began to fall,
and I lost my businesses
that up to that point
had been somewhat prospering.
And it took,
I've mentioned this in many forms,
I'm hopeful to give a more personal take
on it this time,
it took away from us
a sense of stability,
a sense of things
that we were building toward.
I had to sell our automobiles,
my bank account dwindled,
and then my savings account dwindled,
and then there was nothing.
I wasn't able to take a paycheck
for a long time,
I wasn't able to have any money coming in.
And most importantly,
what was happening to me
was the thing I had poured myself into
was going away,
was going away rapidly.
And my identity in that
began to show itself.
My identity was not steeped in
anything but that at the time.
As a person,
I was made to feel worthless.
And as a failure,
letting that many employees go,
letting my family down,
letting my pride issues
from business partners
and things like that
begin to affect my life.
As a husband,
I was unreliable.
My wife had decided,
my wife could do anything.
She's probably the most
incredible person I know.
And she decided she wanted
to stay home and have kids.
And my end of the bargain was,
okay,
I'll make that happen for you.
And so I became unreliable.
I was somebody that she
couldn't count on anymore
because I couldn't do
what I had promised to do.
I had two sons at the time,
and I was absent.
I was working 90, 100,
120 hours a week.
You kind of have to.
And it was taken away
by something that
a Monday morning quarterback
could have seen.
But really,
it was just a bigger fish
swam into my pond
and ate me.
There's nothing I could do about it.
It's business.
But at the time,
I didn't see it that way.
What I was doing was,
I was working so hard
at this business
to insulate myself
from suffering
and from want
and from the need
of anything else
that I couldn't supply
for myself,
that I was lost.
And I was in that moment.
And in April of 2011,
I closed my last business
and liquidated
the last set of items
that were there.
and there I was
with a house to pay for,
a family to raise,
and really feeling
completely destitute
because I was so wounded
and ashamed
that I didn't even want
to take another step forward
in life.
And I didn't know
how to do it.
There's a sense there
of true grief
and true human emotion
that needs to be engaged
and I need to walk through.
But there's also a sense there
of an unprepared,
immature Christian
who encountered
a hardship in life
and I didn't know
what to do with it.
I was so focused
on myself
and the things
that I was doing
that I'd lost focus
on God,
on my Heavenly Father
and the things
that He is doing
in the world.
We ought to do
what God's commanded us to do,
not because of some set
of rules that earns us
a righteous place
in His sight,
but because His Son
came for us
and gave us
His righteousness.
and rose again
to an eternal hope
for all of us.
The commands are a joy.
It allows us to live
as a taste
in the world
of His kingdom.
That's what we're seeing
from the Thessalonians.
They didn't know
what they were doing.
For a lot of these people,
this is a brand new thought.
And Paul comes along
and encourages them
in the way
that they should go,
how to focus on God
and not focus on themselves,
even in these difficult
times of trial.
And he did it in three ways there.
We see them.
He tells them to rejoice,
to pray,
and to give thanks.
If you see your outline,
that's as simple as it gets.
We're going to spend
the next few minutes
walking through those things.
The first thing he tells them
to do is rejoice.
I don't know how helpful
that is
to a group of people
who are
having their livelihoods destroyed.
Many of them have been
ostracized from their families.
We read of Jason
in Acts 17
who actually had to
pay the Romans.
Him and a lot of people
had to pay the Romans
to continue protecting them
because so many people
were coming after them.
And then people
are trying to kill them.
And every day
is a real life struggle
to do anything.
I don't think many of us
are thinking about
going to Publix
or to a restaurant
after church
or even going home
and considering,
well, what am I going to stumble upon
along the way?
But that's a real life
encounter for these people
who Paul says,
hey, rejoice always.
So what does rejoicing look like?
Why do they rejoice?
Because these circumstances
don't offer much room
for rejoicing.
So I went to the Psalms
and I pulled a few passages
out of the Psalms
to give us an idea
of what true rejoicing
might look like.
The first one is from Psalm 32.
It's verse 11.
Be glad in the Lord
and rejoice,
O righteous,
and shout for joy
all you who are upright in heart.
Why are you glad?
Why are they rejoicing?
Simply in the Lord.
It doesn't give us a context
of circumstance
or what's going on.
Psalm 92.4,
For you, O Lord,
have made me glad
by your work.
At the works of your hands
I rejoice.
Psalm 119,
I encourage all of you
to spend a lot of time
in Psalm 119
even though it seems daunting.
Psalm 119.162,
I rejoice at your word
like one who finds
a great spoil.
Rejoicing comes from
a gladness in the Lord,
a knowledge of his works,
his actual things happening
in time and in space
and at his word.
In the New Testament,
we hear Jesus talking about it
in Luke 10, verse 20.
One of us preached
a great sermon on this.
I don't remember
which one of us it was.
Do you not admit
that he sent out some people
and they came back to him
and they were amazed
at the power that they had
over the demons
and over the spirits
as they were going forth
in the name of Jesus.
And Jesus said,
wait a second,
don't rejoice in this
that the spirits
are subject to you.
Rejoice that your names
are written in heaven.
Philippians 4.4,
Paul writes,
the famous one, right?
Rejoice in the Lord always.
Again, I say rejoice.
Grace.
In Romans 5.2,
through Jesus,
we've obtained access
by faith into this grace
in which we stand.
We rejoice in the hope
of the glory of God.
All of this rejoicing
from the Psalms
and through the New Testament
has nothing to do
with our circumstances.
It has nothing to do
with us.
It has everything to do
with the perfection of God
and who he is
and what he's doing
in the world.
His constant faithfulness
to us.
The way he's shown us that.
Rejoicing is not
some cognitive
ascent to something.
Rejoicing is an emotion
that you can't control.
It's a gift.
I was about 10 or 9.
We would go every year
to my grandparents' house
in Charleston, South Carolina.
Well, Somerville,
for anybody that's actually
been there,
for Thanksgiving.
And while we were there,
we would do Thanksgiving,
of course.
And then we would do Christmas
because we didn't see
my grandparents all the time.
These are my fraternal
grandparents.
And man,
I loved my grandpa.
He and I had this
like super special
relationship
that I can't really
think about any other way.
It was just amazing.
He would call me.
He made me like the Braves
when they were terrible
and watch them.
He also saved
all his Kellogg's box tops
to get me the
worst to first t-shirt
when they won.
In this particular year,
I went and my brother
got some really cool
electronic gadget
from them of some sort.
My sister got something
really cool as well.
And I got
a giant pack
of Calvin Klein underwear.
and I turned
into the
most childish
child
I could possibly
be at the time.
And I remember
getting up
out of the room
that we were in
and angry crying.
You know,
I wasn't like,
oh, cute,
the kid's really sad crying.
It was like,
wow, what a brat crying.
And I got up
and I went into
the other room
and I continued
in my fit
and my poor grandfather
follows me
and he was a huge man
as well.
And he came in
and he was like,
buddy,
don't you want these?
Look,
they're Calvin Kleens.
They're really nice.
And I just continued
to persist
in my ways there
in my childishness.
About 15 years ago,
it will be 15 years
this coming May,
I had the opportunity
to sit with him
for about his last week
of hospice,
I guess the last
five days or so.
And
as sad as it was
to sit there
with my grandfather
who was this mountain
of a man
who'd wasted away
to nothing
to hold his hand
to see that he needed
everything done for him.
It was really incredible
just to be there
with my grandpa
and to
experience that
love
that I have
for him
and the relationship
that we had.
He was a good man.
He was a nice guy.
And he worked hard.
And he taught me
a lot of things.
And I was able
to be in that space
just simply rejoicing
over him
and his life
and who
he was,
who God
had made him to be.
And I feel like
that reflects
in
all of our stories
a little bit,
certainly in mine,
that
more often
than not
I do
the navel-gazing thing.
And I kick
and I scream
because the gift
I got
was a pair
of underwear
when the other people
around me
got bigger
and better stuff.
or because
the providential hand
handed me something
that I wasn't
wanting or expecting.
Whereas the people
around me
don't have
any problems.
And I picked
out six passages
but what we see
from the entire
corpus of scripture
is that that's
not what joy
is.
Joy
is the Holy
Spirit
given experience
of God's
fatherly love
for us
shown in
Jesus Christ.
It's an experience.
And rejoicing
is an expression
of what that
experience is.
This is my
definition.
This isn't a
concrete definition.
You're welcome
to try to tear it
apart at places
but I feel like
it's pretty solid.
And this rejoicing,
this recognition
of who Jesus is,
it's Holy Spirit
given.
It's not something
we can drum up
in and of
ourselves.
We can't do it.
When your mind
is illumined
to the reality
of who God is,
you can't help
but rejoice
in his character
and begin to dwell
more and more
there.
And you're not
expected to.
It's actually
a promise
that that's
what is going
to be given
to you.
The only thing
we can do
is dwell
on ourselves
more
and try to
thwart that
process.
And that's
not what God
would have for us.
That's not what
God would have
for us
in our lives
at all.
So Paul's
giving us
these three
things,
rejoicing,
prayer,
and thanksgiving
as a set
of building blocks
to go one
on top of
the other.
Because once
you're able
to rejoice,
then you're
able to
understand
prayer
and what
prayer should
be.
prayer to
us
and to
a lot
of
people.
I don't
know how
you pray
in your
home.
Perhaps
it's over
breakfast
as a meal.
Perhaps
it is
with your
kids as
you're
tucking
them in
at night.
Perhaps
you go
to lunch
with a
friend.
Maybe
you have
legit
quiet
times
in the
morning
as a
discipline.
Prayer
tends to be
pretty
ritualistic
for us.
And it
was certainly
no different
for the
Thessalonians,
especially a
lot of
them coming
out of a
pagan
background,
even a
Jewish
background.
You pray
when you're
supposed to
pray.
But it
feels like
this distant
thing that
we have to
work through
because we
don't know
how to do
it.
I'm
certainly
there.
I was
listening to
someone speak
the other
day and
they said,
you know,
I'm not
sure I know
how to
pray anymore.
I'm not
sure I
have the
words.
I
certainly
understand
that as
well.
But
prayer as
an activity
is not
really what
Paul's
talking about
here.
He's talking
about prayer
as a
posture.
Because he
says pray
always.
Pray
continually.
Don't
stop doing
it.
And he's
not saying
to these
people,
hey,
whatever you're
doing,
just stop
and you
be in
prayer all
the time.
That's not
it.
There's some
literary device
happening here.
This is
hyperbole.
But it's
speaking to
what your
relationship to
God is
supposed to
be based
upon prayer.
Because I
think for a
lot of us,
we don't have
a posture
that's
willing to
pray.
And so
Paul says,
have a
posture that
is willing
to pursue
communication.
The writer of
Hebrews said
this,
That's not
what he
says.
He says,
because he
who is
faithful has
promised it.
That's
why.
We have
this access
to God
that we
take for
granted.
I take
for granted.
It's not
intended to
be a
ritualistic,
cold thing.
It's
supposed to
be some
kind of
constant line
of communication.
And when we
forget that
Jesus actually
tore the
veil,
we're able
to go
before God
because Jesus
is intercessing
for us.
It should
change our
attitude toward
prayer at
all.
From a
willingness to
try to
something more
of a need
to try,
a need to
pursue this
communication.
Y'all,
I'm lost.
I know it.
I'm amazed
every single
day when I
consider who
I am.
My past,
my present,
the sins that
confront me all
around,
that I am
able to
do anything
that remotely
seems encouraging
to believers,
certainly not to
be a vocational
Christian.
And I can't
help but see
myself in some
of these verses
as I consider
my posture
needing to
pursue
communication.
Psalm 10
4,
this is me
and the pride
of his face,
the wicked
does not
seek him.
All his
thoughts are
there is no
God.
Maybe I
don't say
that out
loud,
but I
function that
way a lot.
Psalm 58
3,
the wicked
are estranged
from the
womb.
They go
astray from
birth speaking
lies.
The good
Calvinist in
me wants
to say that.
Romans 8
7,
the mind
that's set
on the
flesh is
hostile to
God.
It doesn't
submit to
God's law
and it
can't.
Then here's
the big
one and
a great
place to
start when
we consider
prayer and
its importance.
If we say
we have no
sin, we
deceive
ourselves and
the truth
isn't in
us.
But if we
confess our
sins, he's
faithful and
he's just to
forgive us of
our sins and
to cleanse us
from all
unrighteousness.
Because if we
say we haven't
sinned, we
make him a
liar and we
know that his
word is not
in us.
That's not
where we want
to be and
that's not
where Paul's
encouraging us
to be.
Believer, he's
saying, this
isn't you.
Jesus has
done something
in you that
you couldn't
earn and
that you
can't maintain.
And what
God wants
for you is
to continue
in prayer all
the time and
to have a
dialogue with
him that
recognizes that
and that
understands that.
So we go
from this
willing posture,
and I'm
talking about
sanctification as
I'm saying,
so we go from
this willing
posture,
to this
needing
posture,
and we
get to this
wanting
posture.
Jesus says
this great
thing in
Matthew 7,
a lot of
great things
in Matthew
7.
I'm going to
pick this
one.
7 verse
11,
if you then
who are evil
know how to
give good
gifts to your
children,
how much
more will
your father
who's in
heaven give
good gifts
and good
things to
those who
ask him?
That's our
relationship with
God.
That was
2005, I
was on a
job site in
West Ocean
City, Maryland,
the first time I
received a text
message on my
phone.
At the time, I
made a vow to
the people who
were around me
that I would
never again
receive a text
message or send
a text message.
I was going to
get rid of
whatever this
thing was
happening that
caused people to
not want to
pick up the
phone and call
each other
and not try
to sit there
and tap my
phone.
Youth in the
room, you
used to have to
tap every button
multiple times in
order to get a
letter to appear
and if you
missed it, you
had to do it
all over again
and you got the
numbers and the
symbols and
everything that
was associated
with it.
It was a very
frustrating process.
It wasn't very
long after that
that I saw that
this was going to
catch on and
so I showed some
kind of a
willingness to do
it because it
just made sense.
Two-way radios
are cumbersome.
Phone calls
became cumbersome.
Everything that
I'd ever believed
in my whole life
ever since the
first time I
turned a phone
was thrown out
the window for
text messaging.
And I see it
today a lot,
especially working
with youth.
The beauty of
your Galaxy S
and your iPhone
is that when you
do text messaging
it holds your
whole conversation
there, right?
So I went from
this willingness
to participate
to seeing this
need, this
technological need
to reach out
and be connected
to people,
not by calling
them or going
to visit them,
but by texting
them.
There's an absolute
need for it.
But when I can
open up my phone
and see every bit
of the conversation
that my wife
and I just had
and have had
over recent time,
I really want to
be texting my
wife and I want
to look back
at the funny
things we've
said to each
other, the
picture that
she sent me
of the boys
or the dogs
or whatever.
Friends that are
all around the
country, we can
have this
never-ending
conversation.
And we keep
ourselves locked
into this
ritualistic
communication with
the Heavenly
Father who sent
us a book about
His love for us
and chased us
down in time
and space
through His
works because
of who He is,
told us about
it in His
Word.
And I don't
want to
communicate with
God in that
way, the way
that I want to
communicate with
my wife.
Certainly it's
more than that.
Every metaphor
breaks at some
point.
But it's at
least that too.
That's the
wanting posture
Paul's talking
about, about
praying constantly.
It's this
constant attitude
of knowing
where you stand
with your
Heavenly Father.
It's a gift
to us.
You're rejoicing
in who He is.
Pray continually.
And that can
bring us to
the third thing
there, giving
thanks.
This is the
most unnatural
one, in my
opinion.
People who
have lived
through hard
times in our
country, understand
that it's not
easy to give
thanks.
I grew up in a
pretty privileged
generation, I
would say.
People behind me
are pretty privileged
as well.
And we live in
this place now, as I
said about me in
the intro.
My goal is to
insulate myself from
suffering because I
think it can't touch
me.
And so when even a
small thing happens
to me, the idea
of giving thanks is
not the first place
I rush.
Not by a long
shot.
And Paul's writing
to these Thessalonians.
These aren't unique
to the Thessalonians,
right?
If you look at
other books and
letters that Paul's
written, he gives
these commands to
everybody.
But especially to
this group of
people who he's
thankful for and
he's seen are
faithful and who
are living in this
time of constant
persecution.
Imagine just being
thrown out by your
family and figure it
out.
Your last dime's
paid so that
someone else can't
come and kill you,
but you might not
be able to work
because how are
you going to eat?
And Paul says
give thanks all
ways.
And as I shared
there, Paul,
with the kids,
Paul was stoned,
beaten, spent two
years of his life
on house arrest,
finally imprisoned
again in Rome and
killed by Nero.
And he still didn't
think he was worthy
of the call.
He is the worst
sinner of everybody
according to himself.
We don't know why.
Maybe there were some
sins that we don't
know about.
But I bet it was
more than rhetorical.
I think that that
was a real emotion
that he felt.
And yet he could
say things like he
says in Colossians
3.17,
whatever you do
in word or in deed,
do everything in the
name of the Lord
Jesus,
giving thanks to God
the Father through
him.
It's insanity.
I'm supposed to be
thankful watching my
grandfather die.
I'm supposed to be
thankful watching
friends die,
people around me
commit suicide,
my business fail,
heartache upon
heartache of people
around me from
miscarriage to
you name it.
bad diagnoses,
lost jobs,
giving thanks
always and in all
circumstances is
kind of a crazy
thing.
And we're usually
not very helpful to
each other, are we,
in that time?
We try to minimize
what's going on.
We try to minimize
the process that Paul
is actually walking
us through,
focusing on rejoicing
and who God is
because that'll let
you pray to him
about what he's
doing.
And ultimately,
that knowledge is
where we can sit in
a place of gratitude
and thanksgiving.
I don't know if
you've ever seen the
movie Shadowlands.
I like it a lot.
It stars Anthony
Hopkins as C.S.
Lewis' character
and basically goes
through the life
of the relationship
between C.S.
Lewis and his
wife Joy.
And spoiler alert,
Joy dies.
That wasn't meant
to be humorous.
That's where it's
leading and you know
it from the beginning.
And after Joy's
death,
C.S.
Lewis' character
named Jack.
I don't know
C.S.
Lewis, I didn't,
so I don't know if
Jack is what people
called him, but
that's what I believe
because the movie
told me so.
He brings himself
out of being a
recluse and finally
gets back around
his colleagues
and he enters a
cigar and brandy
kind of party
where people are
talking and
one of the people
you've seen
throughout the movie,
a guy named Harry,
walks up to him
and says,
well done,
Jack.
Life must go on.
Have you ever
said that to
somebody trying
to comfort them
and then immediately
wish you hadn't
opened your mouth?
You know,
I feel like I do
that because you
don't know what to
say but you want
to be comforting
or sometimes you're
really just frustrated
that people are
living in a place
that you've not
experienced or that
you didn't let God
work on your heart
and so you've
hardened yourself
to that situation
and they're not
allowed to exist
there either so I'm
going to push
them past that.
Well,
Jack responds,
well I don't know
if life must go on
but it does
and he kind of
sits there
broken hearted
for a little while
frustrated,
irritated and
eventually walks
out of the party
and there's several
scenes that lead
up to that
but we have
this expectation
from each other
that we take
these statements
in a vacuum
and for some
reason give thanks
is the place
that we rush to.
Oh, you lost
a kidney?
Give thanks that
you have another
one and they're
dialysis machines.
These things
might be true
and they might
be helpful in
time, it's
probably not
what someone
needs to hear
at the cusp
of a diagnosis.
Because of God
revealing himself
to us through
his spirit,
because of him
inviting us
into communion
and relationship
with him,
it has to alter
our minds
away from
ourselves,
away from who
we are
in and of
ourselves
and who he
is and what
he's doing.
And the only
way to be able
to give thanks
in a circumstance,
especially a really
dark circumstance,
for anything
is through an
acknowledgement of
God, who he is
and what he's doing
in the world,
the promises
he's made to us.
He's bringing
all things,
reconciling them
all to himself.
And this ability
to give thanks
is the ultimate
gift given
by the Holy
Spirit to
those who
have experienced
God's fatherly
love for us,
shown in Jesus.
Our Father
wouldn't bring
something like
this or allow
this to happen
unknowingly
or unwittingly
because it's
not who he is.
This isn't
the person
with whom
I have a
relationship.
If there's
a misunderstanding
in the party,
it's certainly
my misunderstanding.
It's not
God's
misunderstanding.
But we don't
practice that
very well.
I've heard a few
things recently
that I thought
were great.
Do you ever
sit down with
these types of
things and write
down five ways
that you could
rejoice over
God today?
Five little
prayers you
could have
said.
Five things
to be thankful
for.
It's a 60
degree day in
late November.
We're going to
drive out of here
one way or the
other on Carl T.
You're going to,
well, some of you
might go that way.
Sorry.
You're going to see
beautiful blue sky
and a sun and
green mountain and
all of this amazing
stuff.
And it's little,
it's really little,
but it's stuff that
we can look at and
go, man,
that's amazing.
Maybe it needs to
be a little more
simple than that.
You woke up this
morning.
We're breathing.
We're here.
We have ailments.
We have all sorts
of stuff going on
in life.
But we rush past
these things we're
supposed to be
thankful for.
And we rush to
what's wrong.
And that's my
heart's inclination
to be focused on
me, not to be
focused on God
and what he's
doing in the
world.
The end of my
story is I
became a pastor
at Southwood
Presbyterian Church
in Huntsville.
Again, that was a
spoiler alert.
But from April
through August of
that year, we had
no idea what we
were going to do.
And the
pettiness of
what was going
on has become
really evident to
me over time.
We lived in a
very progressive
state in Maryland.
I can assure you,
nobody in Maryland
who pursues it
will go hungry.
Nobody's kids will
go without health
care.
I had great
business relationships.
People were
offering me jobs.
You know, my
well-being was not
at stake as far
as personal care
in the world
goes.
And somehow God
brought us through
that process.
I would say me,
I won't speak for
Emily, kicking and
screaming.
Because I became
very content in
whatever was
happening next and I
didn't know what
was happening next.
And it didn't make
sense and people
would ask me and I
didn't give them a
great spiritual
platitude like,
well, I'm rejoicing in
who God is and I've
prayed about it
thoroughly so now I
give thanks for all
of my situations.
I didn't say things
like that.
I didn't know what
was going on.
I was a very wounded
and hurting person.
And all I knew was,
well, somehow this is
all going to be okay.
I have no idea
what's going to
happen.
And we moved to
St. Louis.
That was a miraculous
story again.
And we began to have
these little things
that we could write
down where we
didn't have to trust
in God's faithfulness
for other people.
We could see it in
our own lives.
And he led us to a
place now where we're
still working on all
of those things and
trying to understand
it.
But I'm kind of
headed back down into
that place of,
well, everything's okay
now.
And the danger for me
is that I can live
in self-sufficiency.
And I can return to
that place very easily.
And I heard somebody
say recently that the
reason you give thanks
in all of the small
things, it becomes
easier and it becomes
a habit to give thanks
in all of the small
things.
And when you can give
thanks in all of the
small things, whenever
a big thing hits you,
you're more prepared to
give thanks in that
situation as well.
And I thought, man,
pop psychology is
fantastic.
They must have read
what I've been
studying.
And then I realized,
man, that must be so
hopeless because it's
based on nothing.
If you have that hope
and your hope is not
in Jesus, it's not
hope.
Because all that's
waiting to happen is
for you to screw up
again and start
forgetting and then
everything goes back
in the toilet.
What Paul's given us
here, he's more Tony
Robbins than Tony
Robbins.
He says rejoice.
Always.
Pray constantly.
Give thanks in all
things.
This is the best
advice he could give
to people who are
going through trials
and tribulations.
It's the best advice
he can give to
privileged people in
South Huntsville.
Turn our minds from
ourselves.
And be patient and
aware that God is
working in the world.
He promised it.
God, thank you for
your love and your
care shown to us.
Thank you for your
word.
Thank you for the
ability to come
together without
persecution, worship
you and proclaim your
name.
And I pray that you
would equip us to see
you for who you are.
Be receptive to the
relationship that you
activate in us and
bring about in us.
I pray that we would
learn many different
ways to give thanks to
you.
That we would
understand that giving
thanks is indeed
your will for us.
Not your will because
you've sovereignly
said this is how you're
going to give thanks,
but because it's how you
want us to operate.
It's the way you
showed the Thessalonians
how to live in the
world and they became
a people that reeked
of you.
That were able to
encourage the other
people from around
their area to know
who you are.
To become renowned
not because of how
great they were, but
because of their
faithfulness to you.
I pray that you would
bring that about in us
in a powerful way
through the work of
the person of your
Holy Spirit, not by
accident.
And again, we pray
this for the sake of
your kingdom and in the
name of King Jesus.
Amen.
For more information,
visit us online at
southwood.org.
Thank you.