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Well, good morning, Forward. 
Happy 91st birthday Forward 

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Church. 
You're looking pretty good for 

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91 years old. 
I got to say, if you're new here

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today, I want to welcome you. 
We're thrilled that you've 

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joined us here today. 
This is a little family party 

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that we're having and we hope 
that you feel welcome and 

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joining the party with us. 
A couple things I want to just 

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say before we get into the 
message today. 

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First of all, the other day my 
wife said, Kirk, I know 

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Celebration Sunday is a big day,
so I bought you a brand new 

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shirt and I want you to wear it 
on Celebration Sunday. 

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Don't get excited yet, Andrew. 
It gets better. 

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It gets better. 
So I get here, I put on the 

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shirt like a good husband should
do when his wife tells him to. 

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And then I'm up here at before 
the service starts helping to 

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get things ready for the 
baptisms that are happening a 

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little bit later on. 
And I look over and I see 

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another guy who has the exact 
same shirt on. 

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And then I see another guy who 
has the exact same shirt on. 

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Then I discovered that the women
in my discipleship group lobby 

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together. 
Guys, stand up all the guys in 

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my discipleship group. 
So you can thank Katie Gibbons 

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for that. 2nd, we have a new 
member to welcome to the Forward

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Church family. 
Would you just join me in 

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welcoming Sandra Gouda as member
of our church? 

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And last, we have a ministry 
here in the church called the 

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Forward Leadership School. 
And this year we have several 

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people who have completed a 
three-year journey of walking 

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through our leadership school 
program, our second group to 

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graduate. 
Now not all of them are able to 

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be here today, but those of you 
who are here, if you would just 

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come on up. 
We have a few of them who are 

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here, and I just want to give 
them a gift and recognize them 

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for their three years here. 
So we have Jared and Lisa, and 

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there's Nick back there. 
No, you can go back down. 

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Jared. 
I know you don't want to. 

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Thank God, Lisa. 
Hey, Nick. 

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Thanks, man. 
All right. 

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Yeah, take your Bibles open up 
to Psalm 138. 

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That's page 547. 
If you're using one of the 

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Bibles in the seat around you, 
Psalm 138. 

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And just as you're opening 
there, I want to ask you this 

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question. 
What are the best celebrations 

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that you've ever been part of? 
Maybe you think about a cultural

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celebration. 
I, I live in Paris, and in Paris

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we have different cultural 
celebrations that happened. 

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The Paris Fair is the biggest 
waste of money that you will 

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ever have. 
We also have the Maple Syrup 

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Festival and I know some of our 
people I ran into at the Maple 

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Syrup Festival in Paris. 
It is like such a bizarre small 

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town thing. 
The Maple Syrup festival in 

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Paris had all these display 
booths out and all these food 

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trucks and two tables that 
actually had Maple syrup. 

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And so, yeah, we've got these 
cultural celebrations that that 

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we have. 
Maybe it's an individual 

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achievement in your life, maybe 
a graduation after finishing 

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school. 
I think that the best 

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celebrations are the 
celebrations where you share a 

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common passion with the other 
people who are in the room, 

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whether it's your family, when 
you celebrate Christmas or 

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birthdays together, whether it's
some type of a group 

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achievement. 
There's just something about 

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winning together as a group that
feels really special. 

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Well, over the last number of 
years here at Forward, we have 

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marked the end of June as 
Celebration Sunday, a time for 

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us to celebrate together as a 
church family. 

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But I I want to make something 
really clear right up front. 

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We are not here today to 
celebrate our achievements. 

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This is not a day for us to pat 
ourselves on the back and say 

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look how great Forward churches 
because everything that we are 

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seeking to celebrate today is 
simply because of the goodness 

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of God. 
The Bible tells us in James 

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chapter one that every good and 
perfect gift is from above, 

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coming down from the Father of 
lights who's who does not change

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like shifting shadows. 
Everything that is good about 

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this church family is because of
the goodness of God. 

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Every good gift we have received
is because of Him. 

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Now when you have a name like 
Forward Church, it's really easy

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to keep looking to the future 
and to say what's the next 

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thing? 
What's the next mountain to 

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climb? 
What's the next vision to 

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accomplish? 
What's the next ministry? 

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How can we meet the needs of 
more people and reach more 

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people with the good news of the
gospel? 

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But one of the most critical 
things that we can do as a 

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church is to have a habit of 
pausing and looking back and 

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enjoying what God has done 
amongst us. 

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Now, when someone's been good to
you, there's a lot of different 

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responses that you can have. 
You can sit there and go, well, 

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I did a lot of the work already.
They just kind of helped out a 

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bit. 
That would not be the right 

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response. 
With God, you, you can take it 

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for granted and you can just go,
well, of course, God's supposed 

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to be good. 
Of course he's going to be good 

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and show his goodness to us. 
And so you just learn to take it

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for granted. 
It's a little bit like when you 

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were a kid at Christmas and, 
and, and in the first early 

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years of Christmas, you get 
super excited at all the things 

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that you got at Christmas time. 
But then as time went on, you 

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started to go, it's Christmas 
and there's more presents at 

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Christmas and you just assume 
you're going to get more 

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presents at Christmas time and 
you start taking it for granted 

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that it's always going to be 
there. 

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Or maybe your response to 
someone's goodness to you is 

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just a polite thank you. 
It's like sitting at the dinner 

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table and, and saying thank you 
for supper because your mom or 

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your dad told you you need to 
say thank you for supper, right?

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You just, it's the polite thing 
to do. 

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Well, Psalm 138 gives us a 
really specific way to respond 

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to God's goodness. 
And it's this. 

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The goodness of God should 
compel us to thank Him with our 

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whole heart. 
Look at verse one of Psalm 138. 

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He says, I will give you thanks 
with all my heart. 

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I will sing your praise before 
the heavenly beings. 

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There is no polite nice thank 
you going on. 

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There's just this deep sense of 
gratitude and being thankful it 

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comes from the depths of his 
being to express his gratitude 

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to God. 
And I love this description 

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because it doesn't leave room 
for half hearted thank yous. 

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Like, I wonder how many of us 
have gotten so used to good 

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gifts from God, we've just 
started to take them for 

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granted. 
But I wonder how many of us 

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settle for a polite thank you 
instead of a wholehearted God. 

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I can't believe you've been so, 
so good to us. 

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When you understand that what 
makes a gift a gift is you don't

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deserve it. 
You can't help but be thankful 

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from the bottom of your heart. 
You know, I, I got to tell you, 

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I've grown up in church my 
entire life. 

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I've had the privilege of 
traveling across Canada and I've

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seen other churches up close. 
I've been in ministry for 30 

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years, over 30 years. 
Let me tell you, we should never

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take for granted the good gifts 
that God has given to this 

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church. 
We, we are a church family who 

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lives every single day in the 
goodness of God. 

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What? 
What God has blessed us with is 

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not always the story of other 
churches. 

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Now, are we a perfect church? 
Absolutely not. 

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No, we're not a perfect church. 
But our perfection isn't what 

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determines the goodness of God. 
The goodness of God just comes 

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from the character in the heart 
of who God is. 

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It's not about how well we've 
performed for God. 

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Have we made mistakes? 
Sure, we've made mistakes. 

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It's not about that. 
It's about His goodness, His 

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kindness towards us and for 
David, he just needs to he's 

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compelled to express in praise 
how thankful he is. 

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And it's not just his words. 
His actions also say it. 

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He he's so thankful. 
He says, I can't just stop 

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praising God. 
Verse one, I will sing your 

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praise before the heavenly 
beings. 

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So I have to sing about your 
goodness. 

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I got to tell you, like sitting 
up here at the front listening 

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to you worship and sing praises 
to God this morning was amazing 

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to listen to you. 
Some of us, we live in a state 

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of, hey, it's enough for me just
to be thankful on the inside. 

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I don't need to kind of say it 
too loudly and proudly. 

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That's not where David lands. 
He's like he lands in the space 

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of if you're wholeheartedly 
thankful, you cannot contain it 

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on the inside. 
You have to praise God. 

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But last Sunday I was in Brant, 
and man, it was just so cool 

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listening to the group of people
in that little room lifting up 

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their praises and worship to 
God. 

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And when we come together, we 
praise the one who's been so 

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good to us. 
But it's not limited to praising

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God when we're together as a 
church. 

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Notice the words. 
I will sing your praise before 

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the heavenly beings. 
Some Bible translations use the 

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word God's there. 
David praises the goodness of 

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God in the face of false gods. 
What David is saying is I don't 

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just praise God on Sunday when 
we're together as a church 

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family. 
I praise God all the time when 

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I'm out in the community, when 
I'm at work, when I'm with my 

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family, wherever I'm interacting
because there are false gods 

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everywhere and I'm just going to
go everywhere I can go and 

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proclaim how good God is in the 
face of the false gods. 

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To tell them you guys are 
useless compared to the one true

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almighty God. 
That's the kind of affection 

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that is stirred up inside of 
David. 

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He has to proclaim his praise of
God. 

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And it's not just how loud he 
sings and how loud he proclaims 

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it. 
He also says he has to bow down 

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and quietly give thanks to God. 
Verse 2 says I will bow down 

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toward your holy temple. 
Neither of these expressions of 

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praise are very Baptist. 
Now, for those of you who don't 

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know, forward is a Baptist 
Church. 

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That might shock some of you. 
We're a Baptist Church. 

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But neither of these expressions
of praise kind of land naturally

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for us as Baptists. 
A lot of us are like, I don't 

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know about that whole praising 
God out loud thing. 

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And a whole bunch of us are 
like, you want me to bow down, 

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get on my knees and worship 
before God. 

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That that feels like an 
expression that I don't feel 

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real comfortable with. 
They're not very Baptist, but 

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they are very biblical. 
See, I, I want to not only give 

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you permission to praise and 
worship God in this way, but I 

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want you to consider this. 
We're nothing without God. 

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We don't exist as a church 
community apart from Jesus. 

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Our salvation is in him alone. 
He's the one that has brought us

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together. 
He's the one that has rescued us

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from sins. 
He's the one that has saved us. 

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He's the one who says you're a 
church. 

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None of this exists apart from 
Jesus. 

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So gaze on the goodness of God 
and allow the depth of your 

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thankfulness to come out in your
actions. 

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Praise Him, be vocal about your 
praise, but also bow down before

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Him in humility because you 
don't deserve any of the 

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goodness that we've received. 
Now, I know we live in a fairly 

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individualistic society. 
We, we more easily see things 

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that are good for me before we 
see the things that are good for

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we. 
We, in other words, we more 

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easily celebrate when something 
good happens to ourselves or 

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within our immediate circle of 
friends. 

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But because we get caught up in 
our own world so often, 

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sometimes we miss the goodness 
of God in the collective group. 

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And so from this Psalm, I want 
to give you 4 reasons that we as

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a church family have to 
celebrate and to be thankful 

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with all of our hearts. 
First reason is we celebrate 

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God's faithful and constant love
in verse 2 that that's what 

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David says. 
I'll bow down towards your holy 

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temple and give thanks to your 
name for your constant love and 

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truth. 
You've exalted your name and 

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your promise above everything 
else. 

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David recognizes that God has 
shown his faithful love over and

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over again. 
And and I know that we talk a 

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lot about God's love 
hereforward, but I think 

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sometimes we talk and even as 
church family we talk. 

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Yeah, God loves us. 
God loves us, but we talk at 

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high at such a high level we 
don't know how to pay attention 

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to where's God showing up and 
showing his love for us in the 

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everyday of life. 
I got I'll be honest with you 

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and tell you that not everything
about this past year has felt 

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good or simple. 
There's been a lot of tough 

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things, a lot of tough things in
our church, a lot of tough 

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things and many of your own 
personal lives over this past 

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year. 
I'll say that for me personally,

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this was probably one of the 
most challenging years that I've

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had in ministry for all kinds of
reasons. 

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And I won't go into all the 
details, but I can tell you this

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over and over again, the 
goodness and faithfulness of God

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has shown up to protect this 
church and carry us through. 

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God's faithful love has shown up
time and time again. 

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I see the compassion of the Lord
so often in the course of a year

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in this church. 
We had 10 people who passed away

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part as part of our church 
family this year. 

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And as I went to each funeral, 
you know what I saw and I heard 

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over and over again from family 
members? 

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00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:43,320
They kept talking about how God 
was their comfort, how they were

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at peace and at rest because 
they were experiencing the 

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closeness of God in their grief 
and their sorrow. 

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I've heard so many stories of 
people who have told me about 

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00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:59,600
encountering God's love in our 
worship services or as they 

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study the Bible in discipleship 
groups or in sermons on Sunday. 

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A lot of times, God's faithful 
love is expressed through you as

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you serve. 
You are the hands and feet of 

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Jesus. 
Every person who's ever served 

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at a funeral in our church or 
brought help to a family in 

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00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:27,280
crisis, as you've experienced 
the goodness of God in your own 

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00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,480
life and you've served other 
people, you're helping them to 

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00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:34,440
experience the goodness of God. 
I see it in our seniors care 

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00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:39,280
team who visit and care so well 
for so many people, some of whom

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may never be able to come to 
church again because of their 

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health. 
It shows up as you invest in 

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00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:50,440
families in need through 
organizations like say Families.

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00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,960
It's shown up in our ESL program
that we have here in Cambridge. 

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00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,880
You know, when ESL first 
launched, it had really large 

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00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:01,160
numbers. 
And over the last year, the 

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00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:04,440
numbers have really kind of 
slowly dwindled and gotten 

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00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:06,000
smaller. 
But there's been a more 

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00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:08,960
consistent group of people that 
have been coming to ESL. 

269
00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:12,839
And as that group of people 
came, relationships, deeper 

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00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:15,640
relationships were being formed 
with the people who are serving 

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and leading in ESL, and we began
to see God working in ways that 

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00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:26,480
we could have never expected. 
Most of the attendees in ESL 

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came to Canada with a faith 
already, but basically nothing 

274
00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:35,680
else. 
They had nowhere to turn for 

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00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:38,800
practical needs to get settled 
in Canada. 

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00:17:39,360 --> 00:17:44,400
But this team stepped up and 
served these families in need in

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00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:48,360
the most practical ways and 
showed the goodness and kindness

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00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:52,400
of God to them. 
This team has used their 

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00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,240
knowledge and their circles of 
influence to provide practical 

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00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:57,800
assistance and to see lives 
change for the better. 

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00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:01,800
They've lived out the command in
the book of Deuteronomy to love 

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the resident alien amongst us. 
It's beautiful you as you serve.

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You are expressing the goodness 
and the constant and faithful 

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00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:14,160
love of God to others. 
We experience God's faithful 

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00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:16,920
love in our church as He 
consistently kept His promises 

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00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:20,760
towards us this year. 
God has provided for all of our 

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00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:24,800
needs as a church family. 
You know there is a sense of God

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00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,000
math that doesn't always make 
sense. 

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00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:33,200
As you know this year we started
2 brand new church sites. 

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00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:37,560
We sent out about 100 people 
from Cambridge to help start the

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00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:42,200
Branton Arabic sites. 
And you would think that would 

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00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:46,880
result in a drop in giving in 
Cambridge, but actually the 

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00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:51,280
opposite happened. 
Somehow God gave an increase in 

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00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:55,160
giving in Cambridge. 
See, God keeps providing for our

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00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:59,360
needs as a church family, 
showing his faithful love over 

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00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,760
and over again. 
God has been so good to us, but 

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00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:05,800
it doesn't end there. 
We also celebrate what he's done

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00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:08,960
in answering our prayers. 
Look at verse 3. 

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00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:12,480
David says, on the day I called,
you answered me. 

300
00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:14,600
You increased strength within 
me. 

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00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:18,880
He's recognizing that God is the
God who answers prayer. 

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00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:24,080
God has done the same for many 
of you over this year. 

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00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:27,880
I I know so many of you have 
experienced God's answer to 

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00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:29,760
prayers in your own personal 
life. 

305
00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:34,360
And it's so important when you 
experience God answering prayers

306
00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:36,760
that you don't just move on. 
It's important you stop and say 

307
00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:39,160
thank you to God. 
If you're going to ask Him to 

308
00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,560
show His goodness and His power 
in a situation, it's essential 

309
00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:46,400
that you stop and say thank you 
God, for showing up and for 

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00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:50,720
answering this prayer. 
Andrew Murray described answered

311
00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:53,400
prayers this way. 
He said answered prayer is the 

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00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:57,640
interchange of love between the 
Father and his child. 

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00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:02,840
You know, I think about all the 
ways that we pray together as a 

314
00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:05,240
church family. 
I think about our prayer and 

315
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:09,400
worship nights that we have 
together, this powerful moment 

316
00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:14,040
when we come together to pray 
for each other and for the needs

317
00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:17,560
of our church community. 
I I think about the prayers that

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00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:20,680
happen in discipleship groups or
when your ministry teams that 

319
00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:24,720
you're serving and come together
and you pray within friendships,

320
00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:28,080
watching people after church 
services, just standing around 

321
00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:31,200
in circles and praying for each 
other as you've experienced 

322
00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:34,000
different things. 
Every Sunday morning our elders 

323
00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,440
meet at 8:00 AM to pray for you 
as a church family. 

324
00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,760
Over 400 people receive our 
weekly prayer e-mail and pray 

325
00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:43,680
for different requests in our 
family. 

326
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,440
And every year there are 
hundreds and hundreds of prayer 

327
00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,000
requests that get brought to us 
as a church. 

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00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:54,840
And over and over again we see 
God answering those prayers. 

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00:20:55,360 --> 00:21:00,120
Just this week, a family who had
asked us to pray that God would 

330
00:21:00,120 --> 00:21:04,080
sustain their business through 
the spring reported back how God

331
00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,000
has answered that prayer and 
then some. 

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00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:14,040
So many of you, I look out in 
this room and as a pastor, I 

333
00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:18,320
know so many of your stories of 
things that you were desperately

334
00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:20,400
asking God to show up in 
situations. 

335
00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:26,360
I know so many of your stories 
where there were health 

336
00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:32,440
concerns, financial concerns, 
and relationship concerns. 

337
00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:39,640
I know that some of you, if we 
would have had this conversation

338
00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:41,920
three months and six months ago,
you might have said, I don't 

339
00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,280
even know if I'm going to make 
it to be alive on Celebration 

340
00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:47,800
Sunday. 
And here you are. 

341
00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:54,120
I look out and I just see the 
goodness of God in answering 

342
00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:58,120
prayers over and over and over 
again. 

343
00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,840
When you prayed for our Brant 
and Arabic congregations to 

344
00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,200
start, God has answered those 
prayers and we're seeing people 

345
00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:10,320
coming together and forming 
congregations and it's beautiful

346
00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:12,840
and it's powerful to see what 
God's doing. 

347
00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:17,600
You know, one of the things that
we pray for as pastors all the 

348
00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:20,440
time is that we would be a 
church who keeps growing to be 

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00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:24,960
more and more like Jesus. 
And we can see the ways that 

350
00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:30,840
God's answering those prayers. 
Over 1800 people are connected 

351
00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,520
somewhere in our discipleship 
ministries in the life of this 

352
00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:36,480
church. 
There's a hunger and a desire 

353
00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,600
for people who want to become 
more like Jesus. 

354
00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:44,160
We have almost 500 people who 
serve on a team somewhere in the

355
00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:47,520
life of our church. 
Like the fact that you are 

356
00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:51,280
willing to give of your time to 
serve Jesus and to serve others 

357
00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:54,360
and love others in that way is a
beautiful picture. 

358
00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,760
One of the things that our 
elders pray for all the time is 

359
00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:02,280
unity. 
And I am so deeply grateful to 

360
00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:06,760
be part of a church family where
we can agree to disagree on some

361
00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,280
things, but we can still be in 
unity with each other. 

362
00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:14,800
Like there is a difference 
between unity and uniformity. 

363
00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:18,560
We'll never be in uniformity 
because we're all different. 

364
00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:21,200
We all different ideas and 
thoughts and backgrounds and 

365
00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:23,600
expertise and everything else. 
We'll never be in uniformity, 

366
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,920
but we can always be in unity 
because we have one thing in 

367
00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:31,720
common and it's Jesus. 
It's his love for us and it's 

368
00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:33,840
His mission that He's called us 
to. 

369
00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:39,720
When I think about all the ways 
that God has answered prayers 

370
00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:45,360
for our church family over this 
past year, I cannot help but 

371
00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:52,480
look to the Lord and just say 
thank you, God, Thank you for 

372
00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:56,080
your faithfulness to us. 
Thank you for showing your power

373
00:23:56,080 --> 00:24:02,760
over and over and over again. 
Thank you for hearing our 

374
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:06,320
prayers and answering when we've
called out to you. 

375
00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:11,000
But His goodness doesn't end 
there. 

376
00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:15,360
We also celebrate His grace. 
The verse 4. 

377
00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:19,080
All the kings on earth will give
you thanks, Lord. 

378
00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:22,320
When they hear what you've 
promised, they will sing the 

379
00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:25,480
Lord's ways, for the Lord's 
glory is great. 

380
00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:31,000
Though the Lord is exalted, He 
takes note of the humble, but he

381
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:33,680
knows the haughty from a 
distance. 

382
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:39,240
In these verses, David talks 
about how even the mighty are 

383
00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,880
going to recognize their limits 
when they encounter the glory of

384
00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:46,640
God. 
The the eternal God, the all 

385
00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:49,960
powerful, all knowing Creator of
everything. 

386
00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:54,080
The one who put the oceans and 
the mountains in place. 

387
00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:58,240
The one who is capable of just 
simply saying a word and 

388
00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:00,560
speaking something into 
existence. 

389
00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:04,680
The one who judges anything that
falls short of his standard. 

390
00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:07,520
Who is wholly imperfect in every
way. 

391
00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:12,160
The one who is greater than your
mind can possibly fathom, whose 

392
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,880
ways and thoughts are so far 
beyond what you can imagine. 

393
00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:20,480
And frankly, his ways and 
thoughts are so far beyond what 

394
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:33,960
AI will ever be able to come up 
with that God loves you that 

395
00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:39,440
that God sees the brokenness of 
the world, the brokenness in 

396
00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:44,320
your life, in my life, the sin 
and the shame that we carry. 

397
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:50,200
And instead of running away, 
that God comes to rescue you. 

398
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:54,400
And not only does he come to 
rescue you, he comes to keep 

399
00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:58,200
walking with you and to be with 
you every moment of every day 

400
00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:04,320
for the rest of your life. 
He's a God who does not need you

401
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:09,000
in any way. 
But the evidence says he does 

402
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:13,000
want you to know him and to know
his love for you. 

403
00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:19,120
That's grace. 
That's the unmerited favor of 

404
00:26:19,120 --> 00:26:23,040
God. 
And Psalm 138 tells us in the 

405
00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,840
verses we just read that the 
Lord is exalted. 

406
00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:31,320
He takes note of the humble. 
Over this past year, we've seen 

407
00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:35,360
people encounter God's grace 
over and over and over again. 

408
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:41,400
We have seen people of all ages,
kids and youth and adults in all

409
00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:45,200
of our sites who've come to know
and believe in the goodness of 

410
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:47,080
God and have come to faith in 
Jesus. 

411
00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:49,760
That's God's grace showing up 
over and over again. 

412
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:54,760
We've seen 49 people baptized in
the past year between all of our

413
00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:58,080
sites, and today that number is 
going higher. 

414
00:27:04,450 --> 00:27:07,930
We have a bunch of people who 
are going to get baptized today 

415
00:27:08,490 --> 00:27:11,200
in the service. 
We've got at least 8 and there 

416
00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:13,360
are some of you who are going to
get baptized today and you 

417
00:27:13,360 --> 00:27:15,640
didn't even know you were going 
to get baptized today. 

418
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,320
Because what we're going to do 
is we're going to open up the 

419
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:24,360
baptism to anyone who is a 
believer and follower of Jesus 

420
00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:28,200
to be able to say today is the 
day where I'm going to go public

421
00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:31,000
and I'm going to say Jesus is my
Lord. 

422
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:33,080
I'm going to live in obedience 
to him. 

423
00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:37,160
Today is your opportunity for 
you to be baptized, even if you 

424
00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:43,240
weren't planning to be baptized.
We do this because we've 

425
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:45,040
encountered God's grace in our 
lives. 

426
00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:47,320
You see, baptism is just an act 
of obedience. 

427
00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:51,920
It's what Jesus has commanded us
to do as an outward sign to show

428
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:56,400
what is already true in our 
hearts, that we have experienced

429
00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:00,240
His grace and put our faith in 
Him for the forgiveness of our 

430
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:02,760
sins and the salvation of our 
lives. 

431
00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:05,680
And if you're a believer and 
follower of Jesus today and 

432
00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:08,720
you've never been baptized, I 
want to say today is your day. 

433
00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:12,840
And you're thinking, well, but 
do I just wear the clothes I 

434
00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:14,240
got? 
We got you. 

435
00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:17,120
We got clothes for you. 
We got towels for you. 

436
00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:21,200
We are taking away all your 
reasons to get back to not get 

437
00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:22,960
baptized today. 
All right. 

438
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:29,200
But grace is not something that 
just ends when we come to faith.

439
00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:31,760
Aren't you so glad that grace 
doesn't just end when we come to

440
00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:34,360
faith? 
We need the grace of God every 

441
00:28:34,360 --> 00:28:37,520
single day in our lives. 
You know, a few months ago, I 

442
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:40,320
had two different people come up
to me and say this about forward

443
00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:42,600
within like a week of each 
other. 

444
00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:45,920
It was really crazy. 
They said, I cannot believe how 

445
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:49,760
open and transparent people are 
in this church about the 

446
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:54,240
challenges that they're facing 
in life and about the sins that 

447
00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:57,200
they have. 
And they said this, it's like 

448
00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:00,280
this church lives like we know 
we all have problems. 

449
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:04,120
Indeed, a savior, man, if you're
going to be known for one thing,

450
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:06,480
isn't that a good thing to be 
known for? 

451
00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:09,600
Like we live like we know we all
have problems and need a Savior.

452
00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:15,840
That's our story. 
And can I just tell you that 

453
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:17,880
when I heard that, that's an 
answer to prayer too? 

454
00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:21,840
If you were to walk down the 
hallway where our staff offices 

455
00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:24,960
are, you would actually see a 
prayer request on the wall that 

456
00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:26,640
says this. 
Pray that. 

457
00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:31,080
Shame and secrecy would lose 
their power in Christians, and 

458
00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:35,240
we are seeing the Holy Spirit do
that work in our church family, 

459
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:39,920
and I praise God for that. 
In the video you saw earlier 

460
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,760
this morning, you saw stories of
people who walked through 

461
00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:46,600
Freedom Session, and every story
of freedom is a story of God's 

462
00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:49,960
grace amongst us. 
But I'm so glad that we're not a

463
00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:53,280
church that just keeps this good
news of grace to ourselves, that

464
00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:56,560
that we're a church that is 
committed to seeing the people 

465
00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:59,400
in our community and all around 
the world discover the same kind

466
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:03,640
of grace in every Alpha program,
every Youth Alpha in Kitchener, 

467
00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:07,040
community outreach events that 
we've done, community programs 

468
00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:10,880
that we run camp forward through
our global engagement partners. 

469
00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:14,360
And as you interact with people 
in your everyday life, God is 

470
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:19,120
using this church to help so 
many other people know that he's

471
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:22,520
a God of grace. 
And that's our story we have to 

472
00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:25,560
keep telling over and over and 
over again. 

473
00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,720
The goodness of God over this 
past year is everywhere. 

474
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:32,360
But there's still one more thing
for us to celebrate, and it's 

475
00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:34,520
this. 
We celebrate the future 

476
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:38,280
victories that He's already won.
Look at verse seven and eight. 

477
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:42,760
If I walk into the thick of 
danger, you will preserve my 

478
00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:45,280
life from the anger of my 
enemies. 

479
00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,520
You will extend your hand. 
Your right hand will save me. 

480
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:51,200
The Lord will fulfill His 
purpose for me. 

481
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:54,080
Lord, your faithful love endures
forever. 

482
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:58,040
Do not abandon the work of your 
hands. 

483
00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:03,120
David has this absolute 
confidence that because God has 

484
00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:07,320
been good, he's going to keep 
being good in the future, no 

485
00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:11,080
matter what might come. 
He says if I walk into the thick

486
00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:13,840
of danger, you will preserve my 
life. 

487
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:18,040
He says the Lord has a purpose 
for me, even when it feels like 

488
00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:21,760
life is uncertain. 
And if there's one thing that I 

489
00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:24,840
know to be true over the next 12
months, it's this. 

490
00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:28,160
I have no idea what's going to 
happen in the next 12 months, 

491
00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:34,720
but here's what I do know. 
The God who has been good for 

492
00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:38,240
the past 12 months is not going 
to stop being good for the next 

493
00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:43,800
12 months. 
No matter what comes, God is 

494
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:47,640
still good. 
There are so many more victories

495
00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:51,200
and moments of experiencing His 
goodness that are waiting for 

496
00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:52,880
us. 
We just need to pay attention 

497
00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:56,000
for them. 
And if you haven't heard one 

498
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,040
thing I said today, I want you 
to hear this. 

499
00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:00,720
No matter which site you are a 
part of. 

500
00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:05,240
The best days of Forward Church 
can still be ahead of us. 

501
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:11,680
Not because we're great, but 
because His faithful love 

502
00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:17,600
endures forever. 
That's why and that promise and 

503
00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:21,960
that hope should never lead us 
to any sense of arrogance or 

504
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,680
entitlement. 
It actually should move us in 

505
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,280
the opposite direction to 
complete dependence. 

506
00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:32,960
It should move us to a place of 
how David ends this Psalm. 

507
00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:37,280
He says he praises the God who 
is faithful and good, but then 

508
00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:39,600
he says, God, please don't 
abandoned the work. 

509
00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:44,040
You've already started a 
complete dependence on God. 

510
00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:50,480
I am confident in the goodness 
of God, but I also know we are 

511
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:54,200
nothing unless He continues to 
show His goodness to us as a 

512
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:58,000
church. 
And So what do we do with that? 

513
00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:02,560
Well, for David, there's only 
one thing you do with the 

514
00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:07,040
goodness of God. 
You praise him and you worship 

515
00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:09,520
him. 
That's what you do. 

516
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:15,600
We fix our eyes on the one who 
has rescued us from our sins, 

517
00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:19,840
who has saved us, and we 
celebrate his goodness amongst 

518
00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:22,280
us. 
We're going to sing a couple of 

519
00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:26,680
songs, one to praise God, one to
really reflect and worship God. 

520
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:31,680
And as we're singing these songs
today, if you are here today and

521
00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:33,960
you've never been baptized 
before, but you are a believer 

522
00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,840
in Jesus, then I want to 
challenge you as we're singing 

523
00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:39,240
these songs, here's what you 
need to do. 

524
00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:42,360
You need to just get up and go 
out the doors on this side. 

525
00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:44,560
If you're up in the balcony, go 
out the door on this side as 

526
00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:46,320
well. 
And we have some people from our

527
00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:49,440
team who are going to meet with 
you and help you get ready for 

528
00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:51,280
your baptism. 
Today is your day. 

529
00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:55,000
Don't let fear get in the way of
you saying yes to Jesus. 

530
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:58,320
If you're here today and you've 
never put your faith in Jesus 

531
00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:02,640
before, man, I can't think of 
the better moment for you than 

532
00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:05,520
right now. 
He's a God who loves you, who 

533
00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:09,239
sent his Son Jesus to die on a 
cross for your sins in your 

534
00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:13,159
place so that you could have the
gift of eternal life, that you 

535
00:34:13,159 --> 00:34:15,920
could have the gift of calling 
this godfather. 

536
00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:20,760
And what you just need to do is 
turn to him in faith and say, 

537
00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:22,560
Jesus, would you come and 
forgive me of my sins? 

538
00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:26,520
And I place my faith on you. 
And when you place your faith in

539
00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:30,920
Jesus, God says he gives you the
gift of eternal life, not 

540
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:33,400
because of anything you've done,
but because of how good he is. 

541
00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:36,280
And guess what? 
If you pray that prayer right 

542
00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:38,840
now and say, I want to come to 
faith in Jesus, you can get 

543
00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:44,000
baptized right now too. 
We'd love to be able to do that.

544
00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:47,960
So as we sing these songs, just 
get up and lead to the back 

545
00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:50,800
doors over on this side and our 
team will meet with you if you 

546
00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:54,320
want to get baptized today. 
Church, let's stand together. 

547
00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:57,480
We have so much to praise the 
Lord for. 

548
00:34:57,480 --> 00:34:59,840
We have so much to worship our 
God for. 

549
00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:02,480
Let's do that over these next 
couple of songs. 

550
00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:12,520
All right, church, let's praise 
God together and the spirit of 

551
00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:14,960
spontaneity. 
If you want to dance like David 

552
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:17,560
or cry out before the Lord, come
up here.