1 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:15,520 I had a thought about tonight and I'm like, well, I'm gonna go 2 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:17,000 pray. So I took off and went and 3 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,320 prayed for a little bit longer and then came back and then 4 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:21,400 Marshall, like, what do you have? 5 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:23,560 And I'm like, we'll see, you know? 6 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:27,520 Amen. And then I told her it's thought 7 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:28,440 I have. She says, you know, I was 8 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:30,400 thinking that, too. Well, you know, she's thinking 9 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:32,840 that, too, that I'm thinking, hmm, that might be a good 10 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:35,640 thought then. Not because my wife's the Holy 11 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:38,480 Ghost for me, but sometimes she will, you know, kind of near, 12 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,800 you know, navigate some things that she senses, too. 13 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:44,600 And as a result of that, you're like, yeah, I could do that. 14 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,360 Now, it's not like I haven't talked about this earlier this 15 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:52,280 week because it kind of came up in my spirit on Monday, but I'm 16 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:54,800 going to expound a little bit more here tonight and I am going 17 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:56,320 to talk about thankfulness, Amen. 18 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:01,320 I mean, tomorrow you understand that the the national holiday 19 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:05,480 for the United States for Thanksgiving was originally, who 20 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:12,320 was it, Anila that did this? 1789 George Washington. 21 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,600 George Washington, six months into his presidency, declared a 22 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,120 national day of Thanksgiving. Now, this is what it looked like 23 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:23,560 in its original intent, prayer and fasting. 24 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:33,880 So somewhere between 17 what, 89 to 2024 we went from no food and 25 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:45,480 prayer. To food, more food and more 26 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:51,000 food, right. And the the prayer is typically 27 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:55,520 father, thank you for this food that we're about to receive all 28 00:01:55,520 --> 00:02:00,000 of this stretch my stomach today because it is the one day that 29 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,720 you allow it in the calendar, right, everybody all right, but 30 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:06,880 that was the original intent. You know, a lot of times, you 31 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:08,880 know, when you don't go back again, there's another little 32 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,680 thing that, you know, it's a joke, but not a joke, right. 33 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,160 Just about traditions is that this one particular lady, you 34 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:19,240 know, she went and cut her Turkey in half, you know, and 35 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:21,640 put it in two pans and put it in the oven. 36 00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:23,360 They're like, you know, why are you splitting away? 37 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,200 Well, my, you know, grandmother, you know, our family did all the 38 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:29,000 time. So they are well, the the ovens 39 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,160 were smaller back then. The Turkey couldn't go in. 40 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:32,520 So that's why they had to cut in half. 41 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:35,320 But they're larger today, so you don't have to do that. 42 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,400 So they were keeping a tradition, not knowing why, 43 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:44,000 right? And so sometimes what we do is, 44 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:46,640 again, with us an original intent concerning the Word of 45 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:49,400 God is that a lot of times, you know, the word can move in a 46 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:51,960 direction sometimes. And if we're not in it, you 47 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:56,840 know, from Genesis 11 to Revelations 2221, then we can 48 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,480 see things in a particular light that it was never intended to be 49 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,920 seen. So it's very important for us to 50 00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:06,760 stay with the word. And again, if we were actually, 51 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,200 you know, celebrating Thanksgiving Day in the United 52 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:14,200 States, says George Washington, our first president desired, 53 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,440 then Thursday would have been a no mill day. 54 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:22,160 Now that doesn't mean Friday wouldn't be open season right? 55 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:24,440 And it's not like we don't get both days anyway. 56 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:28,520 So we could bring it back and do prayer and fasting on Thursday 57 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:30,920 and then show up on Wednesday. The good news is the food would 58 00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:34,880 be our be cheaper on Friday to buy for that meal. 59 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:40,280 OK, are y'all y'all are in food comatose right now. 60 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,800 Now I, I will leave early tonight if you Amen will. 61 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,120 And let me just say this way, the only reason I preach as long 62 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:57,160 as I do is because you do not talk back, you know, because if 63 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,200 I think you're not getting it, we're going to do another 64 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:05,640 example, you know, and I've got at least have at least 25% to 65 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:12,960 get it before I leave. Now you know the secret, the pot 66 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:15,120 game we played last night. Now, I'm not talking about 67 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:17,880 smoking pot. I was talking about a different 68 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,560 game that had a pot that was part of it and you had to figure 69 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:25,760 out the pot game. And you know, I didn't do very 70 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:28,800 good, Mackenzie. I mean, well, Mackenzie didn't 71 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:30,240 either. She didn't do very good either. 72 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:33,840 Neither did Macy, but I think Macy figured it out before I 73 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:35,840 did. Or at least someone told her 74 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:39,360 because she was it often and didn't know why. 75 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:41,480 All right. And I'm like, why? 76 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:44,680 But now I know why. It's obvious why. 77 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:55,120 OK, see, this is how it works. Turn over to Ephesians chapter 78 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,840 5, verse 20. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 20. 79 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:01,840 You know, I mean, obviously there's quite a few churches 80 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:03,600 that don't even do service on Wednesday night. 81 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:07,400 And so let me just help set the record straight for anyone who 82 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:10,240 says I don't understand why Pastor Earl always does service. 83 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:13,800 Well, you understand, the Bible is very clear that those who are 84 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:16,240 my family are those who do the will of the Father. 85 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:21,160 And there are people within our congregation that actually do 86 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:24,880 not have any natural family. All they have is their spiritual 87 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:28,080 family. And so you know #1 it would be a 88 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,240 disservice to my family if I didn't want to assemble with 89 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:35,600 them #1 #2 it'll be a disservice to not want to assemble with my 90 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,480 father when he has called us to do so right now. 91 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:49,000 At the end of the day, oh man, we've missed that. 92 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:53,520 We should have recorded it. That was awesome. 93 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:56,520 Richie's in the house, Miss Davies in the house. 94 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:02,840 We're so excited they're here, but but that's why we do that. 95 00:06:02,840 --> 00:06:07,800 You know, again, there's just family members that this is 96 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,520 their gathering. And so we do that. 97 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:12,560 That's why we choose to do it. We love the Lord. 98 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,560 You know, I don't, you know, for those that don't, they don't, I 99 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:19,240 don't care, doesn't bother me, but that's why I do it. 100 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,920 It's because of the relationship that I have on my father and 101 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,440 them with the church. And so that's our purpose for 102 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:27,680 doing that. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 20 103 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,560 says this. Always giving thanks for all 104 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:35,640 things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the 105 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,800 Father. So notice we should always be 106 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,600 giving thanks. How about how often or when 107 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:48,040 always giving thanks for how many things, for all things, 108 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,840 even the trials and tribulations, Sure, because they 109 00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:52,800 just make you stronger anyway, right? 110 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:55,240 Because it's just the season. It's just something you're going 111 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:57,800 to go through in the 1st place. Now they don't feel good, but 112 00:06:57,800 --> 00:06:59,320 ultimately you're going to pass through. 113 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:01,840 Always give me thanks for all things in the name of the Lord 114 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:04,720 Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. 115 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:07,720 So we need to be people that are of Thanksgiving and again 116 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:10,920 tomorrow, you know, we take time with our natural family or 117 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:13,840 wherever you're celebrating this per SE. 118 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:17,440 You know, it would behoove us to stop long enough to say, hey, 119 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,920 you know, let's give some thanks concerning the things God has 120 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,360 done for us. All right, First Thessalonians 121 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,560 516 to 18 says this. Rejoice always. 122 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,000 These are challenging things that at different stages of our 123 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,480 life, obviously, but rejoice always, pray without ceasing in 124 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:35,720 everything. Give. 125 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:38,480 Give what? Give thanks for. 126 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:43,120 This is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 127 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:44,760 Well, I don't know God's will for my life. 128 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:47,400 Give thanks. Pray without ceasing. 129 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:50,720 Rejoice always. Well, let's start there if we 130 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,160 can get those down now, can you literally pray without ceasing? 131 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:56,600 It just means to be in an attitude of prayer or 132 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,720 conversation with the Lord. Obviously you cannot just talk 133 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:02,880 to God and never talk to anyone else because that's not how you 134 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:04,160 wouldn't be effective in the earth. 135 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:07,840 OK, But you can always have an attitude of open communication 136 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:10,480 with the Father, much like your text threads with people that 137 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:14,480 you're talking to now. OK, rejoicing always, because 138 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:17,920 again I say rejoice. Paul reminds us of this. 139 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,880 We want to be because really, no matter what we're going through, 140 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:24,880 it's not bad compared to those that are outside the Kingdom 141 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:28,960 because we have hope. So all those things should put 142 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:33,360 us in a position where we are always in a constant attitude of 143 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:36,559 Thanksgiving. OK Philippians chapter 4, verse 144 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:40,120 six and seven says this. Be anxious for nothing or no 145 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:44,039 thing, right? But in everything by prayer and 146 00:08:44,039 --> 00:08:49,400 supplication with Thanksgiving, let your request be known, be 147 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,440 made known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all 148 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,040 comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ 149 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:57,280 Jesus. I took this 2 verses here with 150 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:01,680 our staff Monday and asked a series of questions or ask them 151 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:04,040 to share things they were thankful for. 152 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:07,640 First thing I asked is what are you thankful concerning God, 153 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:10,040 Just God? And then I said what are you 154 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,840 thankful concerning the vision God placed you in, which is 155 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:15,440 Anchor Faith Church, their own staff? 156 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:18,160 What is that? OK and so we went around the 157 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:21,120 table, you know, and people expressed that, but I want you 158 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:23,680 to see something here. It says be anxious for nothing. 159 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:28,880 So we shouldn't be anxious or worried, OK, but in everything 160 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:34,040 by prayer and supplication. How with Thanksgiving Now I 161 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:39,480 think a lot of times people do verse 6 this way, be anxious for 162 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:42,160 nothing. Well, let's go back, be anxious 163 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:46,120 and in everything by prayer and supplication, let your request 164 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,040 be known to God. I think that's how a lot of 165 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:52,600 people pray. Now we know the world prays that 166 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:57,040 way, but there are there can be a lot of believers that can pray 167 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:00,680 this way can be where they're anxious because you can just 168 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:02,960 hear it in the conversation. They're anxious or they're 169 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,480 worried about something, worried what's going on in their life, 170 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:06,760 all that. And what do they do? 171 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:09,360 They're and they're worried. They're praying. 172 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:13,920 So in their worry, they are praying. 173 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:18,000 Now, I'm not going to tell you that you can't have anxiety or 174 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,960 that you couldn't sense, you know, worry. 175 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:23,520 However, you have to capture that. 176 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:27,320 You have to take captive those things, OK? 177 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:31,400 These are things that come against us to try to hinder the 178 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:36,160 effectiveness of our prayers or to eliminate our faith. 179 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:39,640 OK. And so he says, listen, we are 180 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:42,160 not to be anxious, which means we shouldn't be in a state of 181 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:48,800 worry when we pray. All right? 182 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:51,600 I guess we're staying a little bit longer. 183 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:58,000 Joe, if you found yourself worried about a situation and 184 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:02,120 you go to God in prayer, you're already positionally wrong. 185 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:08,720 Now you say, well, I wasn't God and God is a merciful God. 186 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:14,680 He's merciful. So there are things when I was 187 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:21,840 obeyed that God did for me out of his kindness, not because I 188 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:28,280 was strictly in faith or strictly doing it in Revelation 189 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:31,440 knowledge. Let me give you a case in point. 190 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:34,520 The one guy comes to Jesus and says Jesus, if you're willing, 191 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:37,320 you can heal me. And the Lord says I am. 192 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:41,400 Now he didn't come in faith, He came really asking a question. 193 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,240 He had doubts and the Lord, what did he do? 194 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:48,160 Answered his doubts, says I am and healed him. 195 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:51,760 OK. Now from there that can become a 196 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:56,440 learning point for this person to know God is and I can be 197 00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:00,080 confident that He is. So if I ever come up with any 198 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:06,040 symptoms or have some challenges physically again, God's will is 199 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:08,840 to heal me and my position when I come to Him. 200 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:13,000 Now changes from this set of doubt initially to now more 201 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:17,160 confidence. So you understand an initial way 202 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:22,520 in our, as we grow in the things of God that we did initially, 203 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,320 God because he's such a good father. 204 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:29,120 Just like in the natural, we change our children's diapers, 205 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:33,880 we feed them, we dress them, We do this for a season because we 206 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:36,800 love them. We are showing kindness, we have 207 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:40,520 compassion because they're not yet able to do it themselves, 208 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:45,680 but we're training them to ultimately be able to do it. 209 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:50,600 And when they do it, we rejoice more because they have learned 210 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:53,760 something. And if they go backwards and 211 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:57,840 come at 7 years old and say, would you change my clothes for 212 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:02,760 me, we would be like, go change your own clothes, OK? 213 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:07,960 We would say this is not normal. So we would never expect a child 214 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:12,200 of what we do for them as a baby to stay with them at 25. 215 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,280 So the Lord is progressing us and He's teaching us that there 216 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:19,400 are things that we are to grow and do. 217 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:23,120 And so just because it worked one way in the beginning doesn't 218 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:27,720 mean that's God's way of doing it successfully for the one 219 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:32,880 that's maturing. It's really important because a 220 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:36,680 lot of times people will have an experience with God in their 221 00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:41,840 infancy and try to carry that same experience to maturity. 222 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:49,920 But God doesn't. He's teaching you now that 223 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:52,400 you're mature, this is how it's done. 224 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:55,640 So again, you may have been extremely worried about a 225 00:13:55,640 --> 00:14:00,360 situation, prayed to God, you know, cried out for him, and in 226 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:06,000 his compassion He can extend an answer. 227 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:11,040 All the while training you on how you can come out of those 228 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:17,800 emotional States and seeming helplessness in a moment to 229 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:22,680 where you can come boldly before the throne of grace in a time of 230 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:34,720 need and ask without worry. Because then believers can get 231 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:38,800 frustrated as God is trying to take them from infancy over to 232 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:40,760 maturity. And they're like, but when I 233 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:43,800 was, you know, first got pointed, this is how it worked. 234 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:48,840 Well, God expects you to be in his word, to continue to grow so 235 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:52,040 that you can learn how it actually does work. 236 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:55,120 And then you can walk in the light of that. 237 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:59,560 Hallelujah. OK, I'll give you another quick 238 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:02,760 example again. He fed the Israelites in the 239 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:09,720 wilderness with manas, not because they were hungry, but 240 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:13,320 they were hungry. But that was not why. 241 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:19,600 It tells us why I gave you mana, so that you would learn that man 242 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:25,520 shall not eat or live by bread alone, but out of every word 243 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:27,360 that proceeds out of the mouth of God. 244 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:31,360 And when they crossed into the promised land and ate the fruit 245 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:37,760 that was there, manna stopped. Now if that whole group would 246 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:41,680 have come in and say, where's the manna, we're going to starve 247 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:42,480 to death. No, man. 248 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:49,200 And the Lord's like the fruit is before you go get it, you're not 249 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:53,480 living that way anymore. So we we can't have manna 250 00:15:53,480 --> 00:16:02,480 prayers when the man is gone. OK, So he says be anxious for 251 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:04,680 nothing. So the position we are to take 252 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:07,280 when we go to prayer is to not be anxious. 253 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:09,560 We need to settle, get the worry out. 254 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:12,680 And I'm going to show you how to get the worry out. 255 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:16,240 And it says, so be anxious for nothing, right? 256 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:20,720 It goes on to say, but in everything by prayer and 257 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:21,960 supplication. And here it is. 258 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:26,760 This is how you get the worry out with Thanksgiving because 259 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:33,800 the minute you start thanking the Lord and you understand 260 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:35,880 there's a lot to be thankful for. 261 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:40,720 I mean we just start with thank you Lord, that you saved me 262 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:46,560 'cause I was destined for eternal separation. 263 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:49,760 Oh, thank you Lord. Thank you Lord. 264 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:53,800 I mean just start there. Then you can thank you that 265 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:56,760 you've helped get my mind it. Thank you If just say if you had 266 00:16:56,760 --> 00:16:59,640 addictions, I mean anything that he has already. 267 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:01,640 Thank you that you have delivered me. 268 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:04,119 I mean there are so many things now. 269 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:07,079 Then let's get off you and say thank you for the air that we 270 00:17:07,079 --> 00:17:08,200 breathe. I don't know. 271 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:10,599 I do not even have to think about oxygen. 272 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:15,280 You have provided it. Wow, you are amazing. 273 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:18,119 Thank you. Thank you for the sun in the 274 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:19,800 sky. Thank you for the moon. 275 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:22,480 I mean that you could just start talking about creation. 276 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:26,119 I mean, there's so many things you could start thanking him 277 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:29,320 for. And when you do, then worry 278 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:33,720 starts to dissipate. When I was praying today, I, I 279 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,720 decided, OK, let me check and see where the ocean is because 280 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:39,200 there's a lot of sand on our current beach right now. 281 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:42,480 Because where I live, there's a lot of the coquina rock and 282 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,120 sometimes it's only rock and then other times it's sand. 283 00:17:45,120 --> 00:17:46,840 It's like it just changes every day. 284 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:49,040 You, you just never know what you're going to get when you get 285 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:51,320 down there. And so I went out, the tide was 286 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:53,040 out enough. We had a lot of sand. 287 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:55,440 I could actually walk on it like it was a beach kind of cool. 288 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,880 And so I'm like, I'm going to do my prayer walk on ocean because 289 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:02,240 it looked like it almost looked like the Keys at least like 290 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:04,280 Jupiter a little bit. It was pretty clear. 291 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,040 Not a lot of Sam was I'm like, man, this is nice. 292 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:11,200 But then you just kind of look out and then my prayer like, 293 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:14,280 thank you, Lord, that you're bigger than this ocean. 294 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:19,520 Think about that. I mean, it's just some simple 295 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:21,960 thing. What am I going to worry about? 296 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,240 By your words, you said stop here. 297 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:32,040 That's pretty amazing. I mean, I'm thankful that you 298 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,400 put a boundary here. I'm thankful. 299 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:38,280 I mean, it doesn't take long. And what am I going to worry 300 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:41,160 about? I mean, this is just one planet 301 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:49,120 out of the universe, right? It's like, wow, how amazing is 302 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:52,040 this? So with Thanksgiving, it 303 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:55,880 eliminates your anxiousness so that when you're in prayer, 304 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:59,360 you're letting your requesting to be made known to God. 305 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,560 And notice, thankfulness is something really powerful 306 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:08,640 because it will cause verse 7 to kick in because if you're only 307 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,440 anxious when you pray and ask God, you're not going to have 308 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:17,440 verse 7 because there's many people that come to work still 309 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:21,880 full of worry, anxiety, stressing about stuff. 310 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:23,800 And you're like, what's wrong? Well, you know, did you? 311 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:25,600 Well, yeah, I've been praying to God. 312 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:31,640 Well, then why is the peace of God not in manifestation? 313 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:35,960 Well, I just don't know how it's going to happen. 314 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:39,400 Well, this peace goes beyond all comprehension. 315 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,760 You'll get over the peace that you don't care. 316 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:49,160 It's like whatever, he's got it because I've made the request. 317 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:51,560 I've only given him his word back. 318 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,520 I've only sung cocainus to him that he told me to say in the 319 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:57,040 1st place he's got to do it right. 320 00:19:57,520 --> 00:19:59,480 And so it surpasses all comprehension. 321 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:01,760 Then guess what would the guess what the peace of God will do 322 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:05,400 then it's going to guard your heart and your mind. 323 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:08,520 That means your mom won't dip back in to worry. 324 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:13,040 Because you know, you have what you, you have prayed for, 325 00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:16,000 because you've prayed for in faith, without, without 326 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:19,360 anxiousness, without unbelief, without doubt, without wavering, 327 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:22,560 you know, right. So Thanksgiving is a real 328 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:28,080 powerful thing, very powerful. So much so that it's dangerous 329 00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:35,520 to not be thankful. Now let's just be honest and 330 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:39,400 I'll be honest with myself. I'm like man, I I should do 331 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:45,240 better at having a regiment of just thankfulness conversations 332 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:49,920 with God or I just like because it says enter into his courts 333 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,240 right. Is that right is that may it may 334 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:58,600 not be a house into his gates with Thanksgiving his course 335 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:03,440 with praise. OK, so Thanksgiving because 336 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:05,800 you'll praise him when you, when you're full of Thanksgiving 337 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:07,800 because you're, you're acknowledging all these things 338 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:12,400 he's done because #1 he's not forgotten you, He cares for you. 339 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:14,560 He'll said he'll never leave you nor forsake you. 340 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:20,880 How awesome's that OK, but there's a danger for not giving 341 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:22,320 thanks. We can see this in Romans 342 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:26,400 chapter 1, verses 20 and 21. It says this for since the 343 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:29,360 creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his 344 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,440 eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen. 345 00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:38,280 So this is not even like, I mean, it's it's, it manifests, 346 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:41,120 it's seen. I mean, this is so the world 347 00:21:41,120 --> 00:21:47,440 knows people cut off from God. Their spirit man is is dead to 348 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:51,960 God, you know. So for them moving to faith 349 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:55,680 should be easy because they get to move to faith-based upon what 350 00:21:55,680 --> 00:22:01,560 they see. So it says for the sense of 351 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:03,720 creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his 352 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,120 eternal power, divine nature have been clearly seen being 353 00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:09,480 understood through what has been made so that they are without 354 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:13,600 they're without excuse. Look at verse 21 for even though 355 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:19,520 they they what they knew now that doesn't necessarily imply 356 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:24,880 that they were born of God. It could, but it doesn't 357 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:27,440 necessarily but they acknowledge there is a God. 358 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:31,880 Again, the guys that discovered the DNA strand, when they saw 359 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,080 the complexity, they're like, there's no way, no way. 360 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:38,960 They immediately abandoned that we came through evolution. 361 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:42,360 They abandoned it. Now, they did not go to Jesus 362 00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:45,680 Christ, the Son of God, and give their lives to him, but they 363 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:51,880 knew there had had to be an outside force, something else. 364 00:22:52,400 --> 00:23:00,120 There's no way this could ever come to pass by chance cannot do 365 00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:03,840 it. OK, so they had to acknowledge 366 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:08,480 there's some kind of God, higher power, something. 367 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:12,800 So again, for they for even though they knew God, they did 368 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:23,200 not what honor him as God or or what give thanks or give thanks. 369 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:27,080 So honor and giving thanks kind of go hand in hand because when 370 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:29,640 you honor somebody, you'll be thankful. 371 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:37,920 Notice if people aren't being thankful for you, they're 372 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:50,550 probably not honoring you when they lose their 373 00:23:50,550 --> 00:23:54,310 thankfulness. This is why Paul wrote in many 374 00:23:54,310 --> 00:24:00,030 of his letters he says I'm thankful for you, I'm thankful 375 00:24:00,030 --> 00:24:03,350 for you. And I think it would do us all 376 00:24:03,350 --> 00:24:07,430 good here in Saint Augustine to make sure we do that for each 377 00:24:07,430 --> 00:24:11,440 other more then when you see, you know what? 378 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:14,360 I just wanted you to know I'm thankful for you. 379 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:19,240 I'm thankful for you when you picked your children up tonight. 380 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:22,280 I just, I just want you to know I'm thankful for you. 381 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:27,320 I'm thankful 'cause aren't we thankful? 382 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,000 You know, when you go to pick up your teenager, I just want you 383 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:35,280 to know I'm thankful for you. Thankful, right? 384 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,160 Because if you can't be thankful for someone, that means you're 385 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:42,960 losing honor for something. So they didn't honor God, and as 386 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:49,280 a result of no honor, then they don't think Hallelujah. 387 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:55,080 So what happened then when they lost the honor and quit 388 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:57,440 thanking? It says they became futile in 389 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,360 their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened. 390 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,080 That's that's pretty rough. Look at the amplified classic of 391 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:08,760 verse 21 says because they they knew or I'm going to read it to 392 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:12,160 you because they knew and recognize him as God. 393 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:16,880 They did not honor and glorify him as God or give him thanks, 394 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:20,600 But instead they became futile and godless in their thinking 395 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:24,800 with vain imaginations, a foolish reasonings and stupid 396 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:27,840 speculations and their senseless minds were darkened. 397 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:32,280 So what's that tell us? The minute we lose thankfulness, 398 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:43,790 we can start losing our mind. You start losing your mom when 399 00:25:43,790 --> 00:25:48,350 you start losing your thankfulness, right? 400 00:25:50,470 --> 00:25:53,710 Hallelujah. You know, and, and have you been 401 00:25:53,710 --> 00:25:56,310 around individuals? I'm sure you've not done this. 402 00:25:56,310 --> 00:25:57,510 You know, we're like, man, that's stupid. 403 00:25:58,270 --> 00:26:01,030 But anyone that's called someone stupid and you've been around 404 00:26:01,030 --> 00:26:04,160 them that have called them stupid, see whether or not the 405 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,360 people they're calling stupid are thankful people. 406 00:26:13,250 --> 00:26:18,050 Because the minute you do not recognize that there's something 407 00:26:18,850 --> 00:26:24,970 others out there that are there to help and support you and you 408 00:26:24,970 --> 00:26:28,810 remain thankful for it, then you're going to think you're the 409 00:26:28,810 --> 00:26:32,850 only one. And you'll become the victim of 410 00:26:32,850 --> 00:26:36,680 everything. And then you'll complain about 411 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:41,000 everybody. Hallelujah. 412 00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:47,720 And then they'll only turn their thankfulness to money, say Amen 413 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:51,720 anyway. All right, Colossians chapter 3, 414 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:55,120 verse 15 to 17. Let's just be thankful. 415 00:26:55,360 --> 00:26:59,480 So let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts again. 416 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,760 Do we want, how do we have this peace is because number one, 417 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,360 we're not worried. We have no anxiety. 418 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:08,880 We have no anxiety because we know we can go to God with our 419 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:10,520 prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving. 420 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:12,960 We're thanking Him, we acknowledge him, we understand 421 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:15,240 who he is. We are super thankful for him. 422 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:17,560 I'm thankful that He hears me when I pray. 423 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:22,040 And you know what, I love some of the greatest times of my 424 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,000 prayer time and Him hearing me is when he hears me and he says, 425 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:27,440 don't think you're going to be able to ask that way. 426 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:31,920 When he gives me course correction in my thinking on how 427 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:35,800 to navigate. That's good. 428 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:37,840 Now, Laura, how do you want me to handle this situation 'cause 429 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:43,160 you know, in your scripture, based upon some scenarios, we 430 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,640 could go this way or that way. And he said, well, I want you to 431 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:48,640 go this way. And I said, well, thank you for 432 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:52,240 letting me know. Because then when you know, you 433 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,240 know you're doing it his way, which is the righteous way, 434 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:59,800 right, Man, that's good. And man, at the end of the day, 435 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,200 you just want to be righteous. You want to be doing 436 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:05,720 righteousness. Hallelujah. 437 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,280 Now, that doesn't mean you're not already the righteousness of 438 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:10,280 God in Christ. I'm saying you're handling the 439 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:12,960 situation the way God says to do it. 440 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,960 And that is the righteous way. He says seek first the Kingdom 441 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:21,160 of God and his righteousness. It's his way of doing it. 442 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:24,960 Holla. When I do it his way, then I can 443 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,760 get his result. I may not get everyone out, 444 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:31,800 there's acknowledgement of that, but I will get his ultimate 445 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:33,480 result because I'm doing it his way. 446 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:35,560 All right. So let the peace of Christ rule 447 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:38,800 in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and 448 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:42,320 be, be. What are you thankful for the 449 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:46,400 body you're in? You know, I, I would surmise 450 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:51,360 that many people have, have come out of the assembling of the 451 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:56,880 church and the, and, and the first step towards exiting is 452 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:05,800 they quit being thankful 'cause I mean, I could walk around this 453 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:12,160 room real easy and say, tell me about the first time you came 454 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:16,080 because I hear those conversations because people 455 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:22,560 usually come, right, Pastor, I'm so thankful for the word here or 456 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:26,160 I'm so thankful for, you know, this, the, the worship or I'm so 457 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,480 thankful for and that, you know, so and so that's here at this 458 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,200 church And, and I'm so thankful that we do Dada and there's all 459 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:37,880 that. But the minute they quit being 460 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:42,520 thankful, well, then all of a sudden it, it becomes less 461 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:52,270 necessary. And it's really just a, a matter 462 00:29:52,270 --> 00:29:56,270 of just let me stop and think of all that God's done. 463 00:29:56,270 --> 00:30:00,230 But then when you do that, you're like, man, I'm thankful. 464 00:30:01,430 --> 00:30:03,870 Now, that doesn't mean God cannot call you to another 465 00:30:03,870 --> 00:30:06,390 assembly or God can't move you on to other things. 466 00:30:06,390 --> 00:30:08,390 I mean, God's God, he can do whatever he wants to do with 467 00:30:08,390 --> 00:30:09,790 you. You're his children. 468 00:30:09,950 --> 00:30:12,110 But the point is, is that you should never lose your 469 00:30:12,110 --> 00:30:16,480 thankfulness. And a lot of people who are 470 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:20,240 disconnected have technically lost their thing because when 471 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:24,440 you talk to them about church or the local body and assembling 472 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:27,560 and being active, most of the time they're not thankful. 473 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:33,800 They're critical, complaining and hurt by the church. 474 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:40,320 But that hurt could have been self-inflicted because they lost 475 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:46,760 their thankfulness. So I said, let the peace of 476 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:50,040 Christ rule in your hearts to which you were called in one 477 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:52,400 body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly 478 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,160 dwell within you with all wisdom, teaching and admonishing 479 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:57,800 one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, 480 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:01,240 singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 481 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,920 Now this one, may you know, you know, touch some, some people 482 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:08,560 here when I say this. But if you have a hard time 483 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:16,040 singing during praise time, could we have lost our 484 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:26,560 thankfulness? Because we are all to sing, 485 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:31,160 right? We're to sing. 486 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,080 We're to sing praises. And again, I don't care if you 487 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:38,920 don't sound good. See, you can sing where it 488 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:44,200 comes, where you can hear it enough, and we know the Lord 489 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:46,440 hears it, but there's power in your words. 490 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,440 You know, praises are not thoughts. 491 00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:55,000 Praises are released sound waves. 492 00:31:56,560 --> 00:31:59,760 Amen. Aren't you glad that on the day, 493 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:03,280 on the 7th day, the seventh time around, that when they blew the 494 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:06,840 trumpet, the Israelites didn't say, well, I don't shout really. 495 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:09,320 Well, I'll just, we'll think it, we'll think loud. 496 00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:11,000 We'll, we'll scream loud in our heads. 497 00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:14,120 Let's try that together. Everybody just scream real loud 498 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:17,040 in your head. I can hear Brittany now. 499 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:20,040 I'm kidding, I'm kidding, you know I'm kidding. 500 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,920 I can pick on Brittany though. So when I get when Brittany and 501 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:29,760 Todd get to the house, it's next level, right 'cause they feed 502 00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:32,520 off each other's sound waves. It's like Brittany and start 503 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:36,680 talking and Todd will eat her sound waves and then echo them 504 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:40,160 out at a higher volume and then Brittany will eat his sound 505 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:44,720 waves and then reciprocate it. Now I'm going to be honest with 506 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,240 you. I think Todd usually is the 507 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:52,880 loudest. Now Caius is going to be the 508 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,240 next one. He's a pretty big champion. 509 00:32:55,800 --> 00:33:00,880 So do you see what I'm saying? I mean, you do not have the 510 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:05,960 title. It's over here with the 511 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:11,800 Fouchaise, their next level. All right, My point is this 512 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:14,280 thankfulness. I mean, I don't sing great. 513 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:16,440 I've said this for years to Marcus. 514 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:19,520 I said, I said, man, Marcus makes me sound good. 515 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:23,520 I sound really good with Marcus. It's true. 516 00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:26,960 Now when I sing by myself, I don't sound great. 517 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:32,960 But when he sing and I sing, bro, I don't know why that is, 518 00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:37,680 but I sound better. It's so true, it was true. 519 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,800 Now we have a lot of females up here and I'm, you know, kind of 520 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:43,160 dying to be honest with you because y'all are at a next 521 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:45,720 level, you know, and I don't sing that high so I'm having to 522 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:49,320 get low, but I still sing nonetheless. 523 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:52,920 Amen. I still sing nonetheless. 524 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:56,320 All right, so we have to be thankful. 525 00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:59,120 Then verse 17, whatever you do in Word and deed do all in the 526 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:04,280 name of the Lord Jesus giving through him to God the Father. 527 00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:06,440 So Thanksgiving should be something we're doing every day, 528 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:09,520 not just around November, right? They get even though I'm 529 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:11,440 ministering it at this particular time, I think it 530 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:15,639 maybe it can make an impression in US so that we are more apt to 531 00:34:15,639 --> 00:34:18,400 move that forward. And here's the thing, if we are 532 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:21,639 going to care for one another in the body, because again, 533 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:25,120 Colossians says in verse 16 that we with all wisdom teaching and 534 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:27,239 admonishing 1 and admonishing one another. 535 00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:29,440 Do you understand? I'm going to minister on this 536 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:31,440 next year. I've told my wife multiple times 537 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:36,760 I'm going to minister on a negative mind because in our 538 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:42,120 world, most people's minds are negative, which means anything 539 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:44,760 happening, they filter it through a negative lens. 540 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:47,440 Am I in trouble? Why? 541 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:48,600 Why do you think you're in trouble? 542 00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:53,400 Why does that come out that way? You know what's your why do you 543 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:56,040 think I have a problem? Why are you wired that way? 544 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:58,680 Why are you taking every piece of information as if it's 545 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:01,960 negative? First, we need to fix that. 546 00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:08,280 OK, so, but it says to admonish. OK, we understand. 547 00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:13,280 And an admonishment is trying to make sure you don't get in the 548 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:16,560 wrong place. So if you're having a negative 549 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:21,360 confession about something, you're not ending with the Lord. 550 00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:26,280 If you're just talking about your situation and never come 551 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:29,200 but the Lord. I mean, I don't care if you give 552 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:31,840 me the facts, but give me a but somewhere. 553 00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:37,440 And if you're not giving me a but God and a real but God, not 554 00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:40,440 like but God and you don't really mean but God, but you're 555 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:43,080 saying that religiously because you don't want to hear me now, 556 00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:48,480 But I want to monish you because I would much rather you admonish 557 00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:52,520 me that if I was only saying things negative or in a 558 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:57,760 complaint or or with no hope or only what I'm going through. 559 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:00,520 Because I really what happens when people get in that 560 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:02,600 position? They just want you to sympathize 561 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:08,040 with them and while they're in there, the pity party we could 562 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:09,480 call that I don't like pity parties. 563 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:12,280 Those are not fun parties. Those parties are never fun. 564 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:17,040 OK, so you know you want to be able to modest and say hey, but 565 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:20,000 the Lord and say things that are and don't take that as a 566 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,880 negative. Take that as praise God. 567 00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:27,200 He's put family around me that wants to, wants me to speak 568 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:35,120 life. Hallelujah. 569 00:36:36,240 --> 00:36:39,360 You know, the reason why we failed to remain thankful is 570 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:41,400 because we failed to keep big pictures. 571 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:47,160 We failed to keep the big picture. 572 00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:51,680 I mean, David Mackie and I, we've been together for how many 573 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:56,440 years now, 16 years. And we've had challenges. 574 00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:58,760 Now, not technically, personally, but there's things 575 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:00,760 that have been associated with our lives that have been 576 00:37:00,760 --> 00:37:04,680 challenges. But there's one thing we keep 577 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:14,240 big picture, big picture. He knows me big picture, not 578 00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:19,040 from an isolated situation. And same thing I know David, big 579 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:22,920 picture, big picture. So when he's dealing with stuff, 580 00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:25,400 when things are going on in his life or things happening in my 581 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:27,840 life, if I'm hearing about his life and he's hearing about my 582 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:30,680 life, you know, when people lie about his life, just like people 583 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:32,840 lie about my life. But we know each other on a big 584 00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:35,640 picture. And because we know each other 585 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:40,720 on big picture, it allows us to maintain thankfulness and then 586 00:37:40,720 --> 00:37:43,320 encourage each other through those times. 587 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:50,920 But yet we can also be honest enough to say you doing all 588 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:58,200 right and honest enough say, look, I'm praying for you. 589 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:03,080 I know you got it because it's big picture, because we're 590 00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:05,560 genuinely thankful for the relationship we have. 591 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:15,400 Amen For the Lord and my part, OK, Amen. 592 00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:20,720 But we're thankful, you know, and the enemy always wants to 593 00:38:20,720 --> 00:38:24,480 come in and get you to focus on the wrong stuff and rob you of 594 00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:29,120 your thankfulness, Rob you of that. 595 00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:32,720 But man, if you always say thankful, then I don't care what 596 00:38:32,720 --> 00:38:35,120 you go through. I don't care what opposition can 597 00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:39,480 come, especially ones that you may esteem and realize, wait a 598 00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:41,600 minute, how are they? Why are they treating me like 599 00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:42,880 this? Why are they acting like that? 600 00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:44,960 But if you maintain thankfulness, then you'll even 601 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:48,200 come through that. No problem, No problem. 602 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:50,200 It's easy. OK. 603 00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:52,360 So again, we want to admonish one another. 604 00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:55,720 One way we admonish each other. And thankfulness is that, you 605 00:38:55,720 --> 00:38:58,760 know, we encourage you to, hey, you can, whatever the case may 606 00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:00,400 be. And what should we say is 607 00:39:00,520 --> 00:39:02,960 thanks. Thank you. 608 00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:07,160 Thank you for stopping me from being in this position. 609 00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:12,520 Thank you for acknowledging. Thank you for being honest. 610 00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:15,280 Enough with me. Let me evaluate. 611 00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:19,840 Amen. All right, last set of 612 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:21,440 Scripture, we're doing pretty good. 613 00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:25,440 First Corinthians 1/4 through 9 says it this way. 614 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:31,360 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which 615 00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:37,640 was given you in Christ Jesus. And man, I could say that about 616 00:39:37,640 --> 00:39:39,000 everyone here at Anchor Faith Church. 617 00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:46,400 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which 618 00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:49,240 was given you in Christ Jesus. Now, here's the thing about the 619 00:39:49,240 --> 00:39:53,200 grace of God-given you. You have to activate it by 620 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:56,400 faith. Without faith, grace is not 621 00:39:56,400 --> 00:39:59,560 activated. But here's the thing, you have 622 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:05,800 grace, you have grace, you have grace. 623 00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:10,960 I'm thankful that the Lord always lets me see you in 624 00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:16,320 Christ. I'm thankful for that. 625 00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:22,160 Because anytime I speak to anyone in the church or know 626 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:24,760 anything about a situation, about what's going on in their 627 00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:28,360 lives, I only see them one way in Christ. 628 00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:32,360 Because even in the situation they may be in, and it could be 629 00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:36,640 in the flesh, well, that can change and be back in Christ. 630 00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:46,280 Hallelujah, I said. Hallelujah, verse five, that in 631 00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:49,720 everything you are enriched in Him, in all speech and all 632 00:40:49,720 --> 00:40:53,320 knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed 633 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:58,360 in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting 634 00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:03,360 eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also 635 00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:06,320 confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord 636 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:08,520 Jesus Christ. Look at this progression here. 637 00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:13,160 God is faithful through whom you were called into fellowship with 638 00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:16,960 his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. So notice Paul is saying, look, 639 00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:21,240 I'm thankful to God for the grace of God in your life. 640 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:26,720 And because of that, know this, you're enriched in him and all 641 00:41:26,720 --> 00:41:29,560 speech and knowledge. The testimony of Christ is 642 00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:33,560 confirmed in you. I mean, it's obvious to see the 643 00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:35,360 grace of God in all of your lives. 644 00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:41,520 And God is showing you to our community, to your families this 645 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:46,080 weekend, to extended family, the grace of God in your life. 646 00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:48,880 And aren't you glad for the grace? 647 00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:52,800 The grace is amazing. The grace will cause you to 648 00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:55,880 function and operate in ways that you never could do in the 649 00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:59,760 natural never. That empowering grace He gives 650 00:41:59,760 --> 00:42:03,480 you #1 after you're born again, the undeserved grace just to get 651 00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:06,640 you into the Kingdom, then the empowering grace to keep you out 652 00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:10,440 of, keep you to keep, to keep sin at Bay. 653 00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:14,880 Because now you do. You can avoid it or stop it at 654 00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:19,080 temptations door. You can't stop temptation from 655 00:42:19,080 --> 00:42:22,800 coming, but you can stop it from becoming sin and crossing the 656 00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:26,040 threshold of temptation because grace has empowered you to do 657 00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:29,040 that. Then the grace on your life with 658 00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:32,720 the anointing that God's called you in the body, the fit that 659 00:42:32,720 --> 00:42:35,920 you are. So you understand, it's not 660 00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:43,360 novel words when we say, man, thanks for serving there because 661 00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:48,120 we have the awareness of how much better the ministry is 662 00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:51,760 because of the grace in your life, in its deployment in that 663 00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:56,840 area. And don't ever sell out or take 664 00:42:56,840 --> 00:43:00,280 the thought in your own mind of what you're doing is menial. 665 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:05,400 Never do that. Let me tell you this. 666 00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:10,440 It's not even menial to be in the body and not yet deployed 667 00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:15,000 somewhere because God is, is strengthening you and growing 668 00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:19,640 you for deployment. I mean, we just, you know, did a 669 00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:24,520 Veteran's Day a few weeks ago. And you understand, you can, in 670 00:43:24,520 --> 00:43:28,080 fact, Hannah has enlisted in the Marines. 671 00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:33,600 She's in delay entry, OK. And so she's going to go off to 672 00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:38,440 basic training. But before, at this point, if we 673 00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:46,360 go to war, I technically do not want Hannah with me now because 674 00:43:46,360 --> 00:43:55,000 she's not yet been trained. She's in, but she's not trained. 675 00:43:56,000 --> 00:44:01,680 And any of our veterans who've gone into war, you don't want 676 00:44:01,680 --> 00:44:05,080 someone who just raised their hand and has never picked up a 677 00:44:05,080 --> 00:44:11,280 weapon. I mean, technically you're in 678 00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:18,440 our unit, but you have not been. That's that's tough. 679 00:44:18,960 --> 00:44:23,040 I mean, yes, you may have owned the uniform, you may have sworn 680 00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:28,040 in, you may be Uncle Sam's, but you are not yet trained for 681 00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:30,600 battle. Right now you are biggest 682 00:44:30,600 --> 00:44:35,200 liability. Now you get offended at that. 683 00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:39,920 And it'd be like who you think you are talking to me, right? 684 00:44:40,200 --> 00:44:45,400 Well, I'm talking to an untrained Marine right now, but 685 00:44:45,400 --> 00:44:50,920 training's coming so you don't don't ever be unthankful for 686 00:44:50,920 --> 00:44:54,960 your training because your training is what makes you 687 00:44:55,160 --> 00:44:59,280 equipped for when we get in to certain battles. 688 00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:03,440 But then also it gets you trained for the assignment of 689 00:45:03,440 --> 00:45:07,760 your deployment. Hallelujah. 690 00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:11,160 And you know, I remember when I was in AIT, I was ready to 691 00:45:11,160 --> 00:45:13,320 leave, but you know, training was still in process. 692 00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:16,200 Doesn't matter what I wanted to do, you're in. 693 00:45:16,520 --> 00:45:18,920 You have to finish the course. And I'm glad you finished the 694 00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:20,840 course because when you finish the course, then the next 695 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:23,760 assignment can take place. And then and the reality is 696 00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:28,560 different aspects of what God's asking us to do has different 697 00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:32,480 layers of training. I mean, the MOSI was in, had an 698 00:45:32,480 --> 00:45:34,160 extension. I thought it went into 699 00:45:34,240 --> 00:45:36,720 linguistics. Is that right how you say that? 700 00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:41,560 Which is languages? I had tested well enough to do 701 00:45:41,560 --> 00:45:44,520 so well, but I didn't pick that one. 702 00:45:44,520 --> 00:45:48,920 But that was a two year school, a lot longer than my, you know, 703 00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:52,800 6 month AIT. The electronic training wasn't 704 00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:57,280 that long, so the requirement was different. 705 00:45:58,480 --> 00:46:02,520 Hallelujah. So we're thankful for the grace 706 00:46:02,520 --> 00:46:04,600 of God concerning you. Amen. 707 00:46:05,440 --> 00:46:06,280 Are you thankful?