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Thessalonians chapter 5. 
I want to end tonight by giving 

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you a little bit of a challenge 
here, more of a reminder than 

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anything, but 3 verses that I 
want to look at this evening in 

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First Thessalonians chapter 5, 
and the Bible says this in verse

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#16 probably some of the 
shortest verses together in the 

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Bible. 
Obviously Jesus wept is the 

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shortest, but these are the next
shortest verse #16 says rejoice 

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evermore 17 pray without ceasing
18 in everything. 

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Give thanks for this is the will
of God in Christ Jesus 

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concerning you and you know I I 
know many of your situations 

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because you've you've obviously 
been here and and life is filled

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with a lot of circumstances. 
Some of them are joyful, some of

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them are difficult, some of them
are confusing. 

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Some of them are just downright 
painful. 

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But when Paul wrote to these 
believers here in First or in, 

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yeah, in First Thessalonians to 
the to the church there at 

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Thessalonica, he understood that
they were facing pressures. 

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They were, they were facing 
persecution. 

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They were, they were facing 
uncertainty. 

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They just, they didn't know what
was going to happen. 

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And there was a lot of a lot of 
things that they were dealing 

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with. 
And obviously the Apostle Paul 

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himself to be able to say 
rejoice evermore, pray without 

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ceasing in everything, give 
thanks. 

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That's a difficult thing to say 
in the middle of the 

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circumstances. 
Like what Paul was going through

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and like what the church at 
Thessalonica was going through. 

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And maybe like what you're going
through, it's, it's not always 

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easy to do those things. 
Paul didn't tell them to escape 

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their circumstances. 
He didn't tell them to wait 

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until life got easier. 
He gave him 3 commands, three 

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powerful commands, Rejoice 
evermore, pray without ceasing 

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in everything. 
Give thanks for this is the will

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of God in Christ Jesus 
concerning you. 

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I want to, I want to just walk 
through these truths for a 

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couple minutes with you tonight.
But I want to tell you a story 

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that I read that I thought was 
pretty interesting. 

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I feel like goes right along 
with this. 

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And there was a guy by the name 
of Captain Jonathan Harris and 

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he had spent 25 years as a 
commercial fisherman out in the 

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North Atlantic. 
And honestly, it's been so long 

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out there that the North, I 
mean, the, the, the ocean had 

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kind of shaped who he was. 
I mean, all of his, you know, 

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the, the, the beauty, the 
danger, the unpredictability. 

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He knew everything about the 
North Atlantic, the currents 

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and, and the weather patterns 
and, and where the fish were and

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what time, you know, what 
seasons that fish were in 

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certain places and all of those 
things. 

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He had spent all of the, the 
time on the ocean. 

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But there was one thing that he 
couldn't that he didn't 

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understand, and one thing that 
he couldn't fix. 

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And that was his anxious heart 
he just had. 

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He worried constantly and he 
knew that he had a problem with 

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that. 
But he worried about providing 

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for his family. 
He worried about the weather. 

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He worried about every time the 
the radio crackled. 

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He worried about things that he 
couldn't change. 

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And he had a very godly wife, 
thankfully. 

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And a godly wife is such a, such
a huge asset to any husband. 

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But she would remind him as as 
gently as possible that as these

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verses remind us, she would say,
John, the Bible says rejoice 

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evermore, pray without ceasing 
in everything, give thanks. 

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And she she told him, you know, 
you can have that. 

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You don't have to worry when you
go out on the boat. 

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You don't have to worry about 
all of those things. 

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Just give it to God. 
And he would always tell her 

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kind of the same thing, You 
know, hey, maybe when things 

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finally calm down, maybe I'll, 
maybe I'll try to do that a 

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little bit more. 
And he never really did it, 

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though, until one day when he 
decided that it was not decided 

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he was going out for, for a run 
like he always did. 

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And he checked the weather, the,
the radar and all of those 

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things, checked the maps. 
He knew exactly where he was 

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going. 
He knew exactly what he was 

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going to do. 
It's just going to be a quick 

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run. 
He, he and his crew were going 

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to jump in the the fishing boat,
go get a haul and come back. 

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And just about a few hours off 
the coast, everything started to

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change. 
The weather changed 

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dramatically. 
It was supposed to be calm seas.

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There was not supposed to be 
anything that they had to worry 

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about. 
But it's like ink rolled across 

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the sky, and the next thing you 
know, they were in the middle of

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a storm that he had never been 
in the middle of before. 

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And the ship was just being 
tossed around like a cork in the

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ocean. 
And the wind picked up at 1st 

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and then the waves started 
crashing around the boat and 

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the, they, they were caught in 
something very violent, 

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something very unpredictable, 
something very dangerous. 

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And he knew that and, and the 
crew knew that most of the crew 

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had been with him for a lot of 
those years, that he was a 

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captain of that boat. 
And the boat started pitching so

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violently that, that the men 
were thrown to their knees. 

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And they, you know, the, the 
crew members could barely hear 

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each other hollering over the 
sound of the wind and the waves.

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And he remembered what his wife 
had told him because she said it

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more than once. 
And for the first time in his 

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life, he actually felt more than
anxiety. 

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He felt actual fear. 
He was afraid for his life. 

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He did not know what was going 
to happen. 

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He had never been in a storm 
that violent before. 

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And he grabbed the radio and he 
called for help, but the storm 

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was so violent that the radio 
crackled and there was there was

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no signal. 
There was nobody else that could

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that he could call, nobody else 
that was going to bail them out 

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of this situation. 
And so, as he clung to the wheel

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for dear life, he started to 
fight the panic that was rising 

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inside of him. 
And in that moment, he 

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remembered what his wife had 
told him just a few days before.

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Rejoice evermore, pray without 
ceasing and everything give 

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thanks. 
And for the first time in a long

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time, he prayed right there, 
grasping that wheel with 

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trembling hands. 
Soaked, exhausted, he had 

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nowhere else to turn. 
And so he was a Christian man. 

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He had been in church most of 
his life as well, but he 

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whispered what he said was 
probably the first time he's 

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ever really prayed. 
And he said, Lord help us. 

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That's all he said. 
But as soon as he said that, he 

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started thinking about the 
second verse, pray without 

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ceasing. 
And then he thought about the 

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third verse and everything, give
thanks. 

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And that moment, the moment he 
said, Lord help us, he started 

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thinking, what can I thank God 
for in the middle of this? 

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Not what is there to thank God 
for? 

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He was genuinely thinking, what,
what can I thank God for in the 

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middle of this storm? 
And he started looking around 

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and he said, I'm, I'm thankful 
that I have a crew that's still 

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next to me and still fighting 
this storm. 

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I'm still thankful that I have 
breath in my lungs and not 

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water. 
I'm still thankful that the ship

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is upright. 
And the next thing he knew, he 

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even thanked God for the storm 
because it made him realize how 

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desperately he really needed the
Lord. 

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And something happened. 
Nothing changed on the outside. 

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The storm was still going on. 
But the storm was calmed inside 

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in his heart. 
And that calmness settled over 

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him. 
Not a physical calm, but a 

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spiritual calm. 
And his fear loosened its grip 

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on him. 
His mind cleared. 

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He made decisions with clarity 
that he had not made just a few 

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moments before that, and he 
later said it was like the storm

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was still screaming, but God 
gave my heart a quiet place to 

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stand. 
Hours later, after the storm had

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finally calmed down, the boat 
didn't sink and he had no idea 

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how the boat didn't sink, but 
they finally broke through the 

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worst of the storm. 
The wind weakened, the waves 

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calmed down a little bit. 
And actually, they were able to 

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call through. 
They, their ship had been 

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battered so bad they needed to 
be towed back by the Coast 

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Guard. 
And the Coast Guard was on their

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way. 
But Captain Harris was never the

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same. 
And a couple days later, when he

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walked up the driveway to his 
house, his wife met him. 

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And he was shaking, but he was 
still alive. 

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And as they embraced, as they 
hugged there in the driveway, he

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whispered to her, You were 
right. 

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Prayer doesn't change the storm,
but prayer changes the sailor. 

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And that's exactly what I 
believe this passage is all 

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about. 
He'd learned to rejoice not in 

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circumstances, but in the God 
who controlled those 

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circumstances. 
He had learned to pray not only 

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in crisis, but continually. 
He learned to give thanks not 

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not only for every situation, 
but in every situation. 

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And he gave his testimony at the
end of the testimony said this 

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The storm didn't destroy me. 
The storm discipled me and 

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that's exactly what we find 
here. 

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This, this, this, that story, I 
think, illustrates the command 

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that we're given here by the 
apostle Paul. 

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He says, first of all, rejoice 
evermore. 

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Now I think the order of that is
important. 

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Rejoice evermore, not because 
everything in is easy in life, 

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but because God is good and God 
holds everything in his hands. 

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Rejoice evermore. 
And rejoicing is not a feeling, 

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it's a choice that we make. 
If everything was going great 

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and that's the only time we 
rejoice, then we wouldn't 

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rejoice very often. 
It's nice when things go great, 

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but it seems like a lot of times
they go the opposite way. 

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In fact, we always are looking 
for the the the times that they 

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go the opposite way. 
But God is in control and Christ

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has already secured the final 
victory for us. 

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Circumstances may change, but 
God does not change and we can 

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rejoice in that. 
Paul isn't telling us to be 

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happy about every situation, 
He's telling us to be happy in 

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every situation, in everything. 
Give thanks. 

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Christian joy is not based on 
circumstances. 

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It's anchored in a person with a
capital P because it's only 

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found in Jesus Christ, God. 
God is still good. 

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Doesn't matter what you're going
through, God is still good. 

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God is still on the throne. 
God is still in charge and God 

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is still faithful. 
Rejoicing is not pretending that

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life is easy. 
Rejoicing is proclaiming that 

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God is enough. 
The second thing that Paul tells

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us here is to pray without 
ceasing. 

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See, when when rejoicing is the 
place that we start in prayer 

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becomes a very beautiful and a 
very easy next step. 

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If you're rejoicing even in the 
middle of a difficult 

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circumstance, it's going to be 
easy to come to God with 

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whatever you need to bring to 
him. 

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God loves you and he wants to 
hear your prayers. 

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Just like, I mean, we have 
examples of this all the way 

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throughout the Bible. 
But just like a loving father 

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wants to hear from his child, he
wants to take care of his child.

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He wants to give them things 
that they like. 

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The Lord wants us to pray to him
big little. 

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It doesn't matter to him. 
Bring them to him. 

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That's what it means by in 
everything. 

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Pray without ceasing. 
Pray without ceasing. 

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That doesn't mean that we have 
to be 24 hours a day on our 

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knees walking around and you 
know, our eyes closed and ignore

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the rest of life, but it means 
that we should be in a constant 

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state of prayer. 
When burdens hit, pray. 

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When fear hits, pray. 
When circumstances don't go the 

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way that you want them to go, 
pray. 

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That's what that's what pray 
without ceasing means. 

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And when the blessings come, 
pray that means. 

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Doesn't matter what happens to 
us in our lives, we should be 

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always praying. 
We should be always talking to 

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our Heavenly Father. 
Prayer is not a last resort. 

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It ought to be our first 
response. 

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That's the problem with most 
people is we get to that point 

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where, well, there's nothing 
left to do. 

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Now, I guess we, I guess we 
better pray, right? 

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People end up in that situation 
a lot. 

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We we get in that mindset a lot.
Well, there's nothing left to do

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but pray. 
That should have been the first 

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thing you did. 
Bring it to God and then go see 

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what you can do after that, but 
bring it to God, give it to him.

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Prayer doesn't doesn't remove 
the storm, but it removes the 

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panic in the middle of the 
storm, doesn't always stop the 

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waves, but it will calm your 
heart. 

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And that's what he's saying when
he says rejoice evermore. 

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Pray without ceasing. 
And lastly, then in everything, 

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give thanks. 
We're here for for Thanksgiving,

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and we're right around the 
corner from that. 

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Our founding fathers encouraged 
giving thanks. 

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President George Washington 
signed a presidential 

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proclamation that established 
the last Thursday in November as

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a day of giving thanks to God 
for his blessings for his divine

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Providence in the creation of 
our country. 

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Divine Providence is the way 
that they looked at it. 

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We have so much to be thankful 
for. 

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You know, he says in that verse 
#18 in everything, give thanks. 

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It doesn't mean that we have to 
give thanks for everything. 

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I remember reading a story about
Corey Tenboom and she and her 

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sister were in the concentration
camp there. 

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And obviously the situation was 
not good. 

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Corey Tenboom's sister ended up 
dying there. 

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In those in in that 
concentration camp, Corey is the

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only one that came out, but she 
came out talking about her 

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sister and how her sister was 
just so joyful in every 

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situation. 
In fact, she told Corey when 

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they were in those barracks and 
one of the things about the 

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barracks that they were in is 
they were just completely 

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infested with fleas. 
And obviously it's not a great 

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situation. 
But her sister said, Corey, we 

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ought to be thankful for the 
fleas because the guards won't 

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come in here. 
And it gives us an opportunity 

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to have a Bible study with the 
ladies that are in the in those 

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barracks. 
You can always find something to

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give thanks for in everything. 
You don't have to be thankful 

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that you have the fleas. 
You don't have to be thankful 

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that you're in a miserable 
situation, But you can be 

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thankful that no matter what's 
going on, God is there in that 

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situation. 
And there's always something 

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good to find in that situation 
if you're looking for it. 

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Thankful not necessarily for the
storm, but in the storm I can be

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thankful because God works all 
things out for his, for our good

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to them who love God, to them 
who are the called according to 

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his purpose. 
Because God never abandons his 

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children. 
Because God teaches us and 

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strengthens us through our 
trials. 

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Because God reveals himself most
clearly to us when we are in the

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middle of adversity. 
That's why we're thankful in 

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everything. 
We don't have to be thankful 

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necessarily that our life is 
hard. 

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We don't have to be thankful 
that our life is not going the 

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way that we want it to go or 
this circumstance is not exactly

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how I'd like it to be, but we 
can be thankful in those 

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circumstances. 
Thanksgiving is not a feeling. 

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It's a choice to trust God when 
life doesn't make sense. 

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Christians joy, as we find in 
verse 16. 

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A Christian's prayer as we find 
in verse 17. 

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A Christian's Thanksgiving, as 
we find in verse 18, is not tied

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to the weather of life. 
It's not tied to what we go 

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through. 
It's tied to the God who never 

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changes like like that. 
Captain Harris it's not tied to 

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how big the waves are. 
It's not tied to how difficult 

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the storm is. 
It's tied to the God who was 

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with us in the middle of that 
storm. 

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Thanksgiving is not just a 
response to our circumstances. 

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It's a response to, of gratitude
and humility and Thanksgiving to

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00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:19,760
God for his blessings, for his 
provisions, for his protections 

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00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:22,320
on our lives. 
And boy, we've, we've given 

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00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:24,680
thanks to God in a lot of 
different testimonies and a lot 

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00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:26,280
of us are thankful for the same 
things. 

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But boy, if you actually sat 
down and started to think 

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00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,720
through and list all of the 
things that God has done for you

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00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:37,000
and your life, you know, how 
often do you thank God for his 

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00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:41,560
protection? 
You know, many times we could 

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00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:46,040
have been in a wreck that killed
us or maimed us or took one of 

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00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:49,040
our family members and we had no
idea that God even protected us 

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00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:52,240
from it. 
You know, something happens and 

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00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:56,040
your car won't start and you 
missed the wreck by two minutes 

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00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:57,760
while you were trying to get 
that car going. 

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00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:00,800
You know, it's frustrating when 
you're dealing with things like 

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00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:03,040
that because it's not going the 
way that you want it to go. 

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00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:05,680
But you have no idea why God is 
doing the things that He's 

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00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:07,680
doing. 
He might be protecting you from 

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00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,480
something that would be a 
horrible disaster in your life 

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00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,440
and something that you saw as as
so horrible because I can't 

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00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:17,600
believe this happened. 
God was working it out for your 

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00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:21,640
good and for His glory. 
I don't know why things happen 

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00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:23,360
the way they do. 
If I had the answer to the 

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00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,080
reason why everything happens, I
would be a billionaire. 

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00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:28,920
I'd have an office right next to
the church building, and I'd 

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00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:31,320
charge for it. 
But I don't know why God does 

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00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:34,200
what He does. 
We can't answer that question, 

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00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,360
but I do know this. 
God's with us in the middle of 

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00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,400
those things. 
God's there when we need Him. 

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00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,280
And that's why we can rejoice 
evermore, why we can pray 

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00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,560
without ceasing, and why in 
everything we can give thanks. 

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00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:49,440
Things may not be exactly the 
way that you want Him to be this

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00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:52,680
year. 
Maybe you had a good year, maybe

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00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,440
you didn't. 
You may be struggling a little 

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00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:57,160
bit. 
But whatever the situation is, 

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00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:00,640
with God's help, we can choose 
to rejoice. 

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00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:04,800
We can choose to pray. 
We can choose to give thanks. 

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I want you to remember this as 
we close. 

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00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:12,760
Joy is possible because God is 
good. 

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00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:20,400
Prayer is possible because God 
is near and Thanksgiving is 

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00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,640
possible because God's in 
control. 

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00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:26,680
Joy is possible because God is 
good. 

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00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:29,920
Prayer is possible because God 
is near and Thanksgiving is 

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00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:32,320
possible because God's in 
control. 

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00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:34,200
All those things go hand in 
hand. 

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00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,480
Boy, that's something that that 
I try to remind you often. 

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00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,760
I try to think of it in January 
and February, in March and 

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00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:42,840
April, when they're, when we're 
in the exact opposite of the 

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00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,560
month of November where we're 
supposed to think about giving 

340
00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:47,880
thanks. 
Giving thanks is something that 

341
00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,840
we should do year round. 
It's a command. 

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00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:55,000
And it's not just here, it's all
the way throughout the Bible. 

343
00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:59,320
Rejoice evermore. 
Pray without ceasing in 

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00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:02,160
everything. 
Give thanks. 

345
00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:05,240
What a reminder. 
What a reminder. 

346
00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:08,760
Doesn't matter what your 
circumstances are, we can still 

347
00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:11,480
have that joy in the middle of 
those circumstances. 

348
00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:14,200
We can still pray in the middle 
of those circumstances. 

349
00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:17,080
We can still give thanks in the 
middle of those circumstances. 

350
00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,400
Maybe you're not going through 
one right now, a difficult time,

351
00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:24,680
but you will. 
You will because it's a part of 

352
00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:26,920
life. 
And I hope you remember those 

353
00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:29,760
things. 
Always, always, always in 

354
00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:32,720
everything, give thanks. 
We have so much to be thankful 

355
00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:34,000
for. 
Let's pray. 

356
00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:36,160
Father, again, we thank you so 
much for your goodness to us. 

357
00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:38,360
God, we thank you so much for 
the opportunity we have to be 

358
00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:41,680
here together tonight. 
May you help us to be reminded 

359
00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:46,040
always in every circumstance to 
rejoice, to pray, and to give 

360
00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:48,040
thanks. 
And especially around this time 

361
00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:50,000
of the year when we focus on it 
a little bit more. 

362
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:53,120
God, may you help us to be what 
you want us to be. 

363
00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:56,080
May you help us to be reminded 
that we don't necessarily have 

364
00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:58,200
to be thankful for the 
circumstance, but we can be 

365
00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:02,000
thankful in it because you're 
good and you're God, and we 

366
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,880
thank you for all that you do 
for us in Jesus name, Amen. 

367
00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:06,880
Go ahead and take your song 
books out one more time. 

368
00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:11,320
Let's turn to page 277. 
Brother Niton sent me this the 

369
00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:18,760
other day and I said I usually 
read that on the pie and praise 

370
00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:20,240
service, so I'm going to read 
it. 

371
00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:26,520
May your stuffing be tasty. 
May your Turkey be plump. 

372
00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:30,240
May your potatoes and gravy have
nary A lump. 

373
00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:34,840
May your yams be delicious and 
your pies take the prize. 

374
00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:38,600
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
stay off your thighs. 

375
00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:42,800
Phase 277 go and stand. 
We'll close with this chorus. 

376
00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:58,040
We'll sing it through twice. 
I love you Lord, and I lived my 

377
00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:09,680
boys to worship you. 
Oh my soul, rejoice. 

378
00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:22,520
Take joy, my king. 
And what you hear, maybe a 

379
00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:29,520
sweet, sweet sound in your ear. 
Let's. 

380
00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:39,680
Do that one more time. 
I love you all and I left my 

381
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:49,040
voice to worship you all. 
My soul. 

382
00:20:50,760 --> 00:21:01,120
Rejoice, take joy in my King and
what you give. 

383
00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:14,640
Hey, hey, hey. 
Hey man, I hope you have a good 

384
00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:16,600
Thanksgiving or dismissed.