Give Thanks
by Kevin Allen
November 19, 2023 · Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: John 6:1-15, John 6:23, Luke 22, 1 Corinthians 11:23, 1 Corinthians 10:31, 1 Timothy 4:4-5

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kevin-allen--give-thanks
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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We're going to go to the book of John today, John chapter 6, when we reading from the New Living translating. Going to be reading a story that's going to instantly be familiar to a lot of us in the room. It's a story that talks about Jesus feeding the 5000. And I'm going to draw from that a part where he gives thanks. Since it's Thanksgiving week, I thought I would talk about being thankful in our lives. I believe it's something that's very underrated. We should be more thankful in all that we do. So I'm going to talk about giving thanks, and why we should be thankful. And going to kind of give you the whole outline right now. we going to talk about that. Then, towards the end, I'm going to talk about situations that may lead some of you to struggle with being thankful. Could be hardship. Could be a season you're in right now. And maybe you desire to be thankful, but you're struggling because of a circumstance. So I'm going to talk about that today.

But John chapter 6, reading from verse one, it says: "says and, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. And a huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration. Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. And turning to Phillip, he asked, 'Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?' He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. Philip replied, 'Even if we work for months, we wouldn't have enough money to feed them!' Then Andrew, Simon's Peter's brother, spoke up. 'There's a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?'" Always good to have somebody that's just a Negative Nancy in it. you almost like, why did you even bring it up, if you didn't want to use it?

Verse 10: "'Tell everyone to sit down,' Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) and Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, 'Now gathered the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.' So they picked up the pieces and filled 12 baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves. When the people saw him do this miraculous s, they exclaimed, 'Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!' When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself."

God, I love you, and I'm so thankful for your word, that we get to read and draw the truth out of it. I pray for the next little while, God, that we would be open and sensitive to what it is you want to do. Anoint our minds and our hearts to receive your anointed word. In Jesus' name. Amen.

There was a lady who boarded a bus, and as she walked on, she was — cther had all her things in her hands. She had been shopping for the holiday season. And the bus was a little bit crowded. And she was looking to try to find some place to just sit, while she had all these things. And it didn't look like there was any place anywhere for her to take a seat. To which a man, seeing her situation, stood up, and said, "Ma'am, won't you please just sit here, and I'll stand? You seem to be carrying a whole lot." And out of that kindness, she fainted, dead away. Just fell out on the floor. So the man stoops down, and kind of shakes her a little bit, and revives her. And she said, "I'm sorry. I'm not used to such kindness. Thank you for being willing to give up your seat." To which the man then fainted, and passed out, or the fact that the woman said thank you.

Now, the point of this story was not to have any stones cast in me, but was to make a point: that in our world today, thankfulness seems to have gone away. In fact, I have — not that long ago, I had someone cuss me because I said, "Thank you." Didn't really know what to do with that. It's not often I'm with a lack of words. But I was taken back. I was thinking I was being kind. And it seems to be going around, that we shouldn't do nice things for each other. We shouldn't have thankful — there. But when I look to the scriptures, and look at the Bible, I feel like it's pretty apparent that we should be living a life of thanksgiving. Over 90 times, the phrase "give thanks" is used in the Bible. And I feel like that's there so that you and I are not just mindful of it, but that we live a life of thankfulness.

chassis and I were driving down the road, just a few days ago, talking about this subject matter. And how it is that we live a life of abundance around us. And often times, I feel like we take for granted how much we have available to us. And even the poorest in the room today, compared to the world standards, are pretty blessed people. But it's easy to just get overwhelmed in a moment, feeling like that someone else has more than I do, or things are not going according to my way, and become someone who's not thankful. The Bible says that we ought to give thanks unto the Lord, and call upon his name, and make his deeds known among the people. He is a good God. When we are thankful — when you and I live a life of thanksgiving, when it's demonstrated in what we do — we recognize that food and shelter, and the necessities we have in our life, were given to us because our God is good and faithful. It's thankfulness that turns our mind towards heaven. Thankfulness is one of the things that lifts us up above all of the rest of creation, that we can truly live out a life of thankfulness.

In the verses of scripture that we read for the sermon today, what we see here is: there's a crowd of at least 5,000 men was mentioned. And we knew that there were more — men and women and children were in the presence of what was going on. So there was a great group of people there. And they were drawn to Jesus, because he was meeting their needs. They had things going on in their life. Sicknesses and diseases, and other issues. And Jesus was able to take care, and minister to them. And that is sometimes a bit of a foreign concept for us, in our modern society, because we are blessed to have modern medicine available to us. Regardless of how you feel about the health care system — and I speak as one who worked in health care for a number of years, and I will tell you that the health care system is broken. But as broken as it is, I'm thankful for the fact that it's there. I'm glad that I have access to medicine. Anybody thankful for aspirin and Molin? Yeah. But do we live a life that demonstrates that we're thankful for what was there?

See, they were coming in, because they didn't have the ability to go down to the local Dollar General store, Walmart, or whatever the pharmacy would be, and pick up just the basics. Just having access to an antibiotic — something so simple, something that you and I take for granted in our world — they didn't have that ability. So when Jesus shows up, and he's performing these miraculous miracles — things that you and I take for granted on a daily basis — the crowd was drawn there. But beyond that, he was always sensing and seeing a need, even though his popularity had skyrocketed because of what he was doing. I think it's important that you and I, during this everyday life — as RJ had mentioned at the beginning of our service today, as he led us in prayer — we should be thankful every day. But it's especially thankful during a time when we are celebrating Thanksgiving.

Jesus and his giving of thanks is in fact a prominent part of this story, because in John's account — in chapter six of John, twice he refers to the fact that Jesus gave thanks, before he distributed anything he did. He said so in the account we read, verses 1-15. But in verse 23, he draws our attention back to scripture, when he says, "how be it they came other boats from
 tiberious 9 to the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks." It's reminding us not only of the miracle, but there was thanks that went up before the miracle took place. See, I feel like there's a connection there. There's a correlation between these two things, in reminding us that we should live this life.

So you may be saying, "What's the point of all this, Pastor Kevin?" The Bible clearly wants us to realize that Jesus was thankful. Now, maybe that doesn't really do much for you. But for me, when I stop and think about who he was, and the fact that he was still being thankful, it makes me all the more aware of how thankful I should be in my life. As if anybody should have been given a pass, I think Jesus probably could have been given a pass. But he didn't. He manifest the importance out loud, in front of all to see, that it's important that we live a life of thankfulness. It has to be a mindset. Better way to put it to you: it has to be a decision that you make.

We live in a society of abundance. I've been blessed in my life to have traveled to some countries outside the United States, both on trips just for enjoyment, and on mission trips. And I've been to places like Madagascar, and Guatemala, down in New Mexico, and South Africa. And I've seen firsthand the poverty that is there. How that people spend their entirety of every day trying to get enough food to simply survive. And how you and I, we live where we live. And don't get me wrong — I can complain with the best of us. But the truth of the matter is, we live really good lives. God has been really good to us. Yes, I have things I can complain about. I could come up with a list that maybe would even rival your list, because I'm a pretty creative guy. But the truth of the matter is, we're blessed people. We have a lot to be thankful for. And what I have discovered in my time of following after God — it makes all the difference in my attitude, and my outlook, and my ability, when I'm living a life of thankfulness. Especially when things aren't going good, that I still remind myself: I got a lot to be thankful for.

The story in front of us is not the only time where we see Jesus giving thanks. Another instance that I was drawn to, as I was putting this together, and begin to think about it, was in Luke 22, when we're told that Jesus took bread at the Last Supper, and gave thanks, before passing it around. Paul references this moment in First Corinthians 11, and he says this in verse 23: "For I have received of the Lord that which I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread: and when he had given thanks, he break it." We see here another instance where he is being thankful in his life. Now, most of us understand in this story what was taking place. Right after this account, he was going to go to the garden. He was going to pray. He was going to have a will alignment, as he said, "God, I don't want to do this, but nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done." That's taken place immediately after this encounter. But before he goes down the Via Delarosa, before he goes before Pilate, before he goes before Herod, and he gets convicted of all these things, wrongfully so, before they whip him, and beat him, and put a crown of thorns on his head, before he goes to the cross to die for all of humanity, so that you and I have a hope in this life — before any of that takes place, he knows full well what he's got to do, yet we find him being thankful in this moment. What do I do with that? What do you do with that? cuz I feel like we find too many opportunities in our life to be complainers, to complain, to air out our grievances.

See, I feel like part of the reason we need to live a life of thankfulness is because thankfulness shows the spiritual dimension of things. That's why I felt like Jesus did this. Why he was an individual who showed us to live a life of thankfulness, as he gave thanks. Because he could see beyond the material, into the spiritual. Too many of our emotions are tied into material things. Too many of our emotions are tied into stuff that's just temporary, that's just going to burn. Oh, I know that, Pastor Kevin. I know that, you know that. But you live a different way. Too many of you are possessed by your possessions. And your sum total of worth, and how you feel about life, based simply on your accolades, and your ability to acquire things that really matter to nothing in the kingdom of God. And you are less than thankful, when the truth of the matter is, you and I have every reason to get up every day, and spend the entirety of that day in praise and worship to a God who gave everything to us, so that we have an opportunity to live in this day, to enjoy his blessings. But we find all the reason to gripe and complain, because things aren't the way I want them to be, or because somebody else has something different than me. Shame on us. Shame on us. We should not live that way. We have every right and reason to be thankful, because of our good God, and his faithfulness in our life.

Jesus gave thanks because he could see beyond the bread and the fish. Because he understood the provision of the bread and the fish. To Jesus, even the smallest morsel of food was not trivial. But when it was pointed back to its Maker and it Giver, it became much more than it was ever intended to be, on the surface. "What are five loaves and two fish among so many people?" Because someone was caught up in only what they seen in the moment. But to the thankful person, he seen there was a God who provided that, which stands the reason that God could take that, and do much more with it. Oh, how much more our life could be blessed abundantly, if we could stop complaining about what little we have, and be thankful for the little that we have, that God gave it to us. With an understanding that he has much more than just what he entrusted to us in that moment, but he's a God who provides daily. That's what he was teaching the children of Israel, as he was marching them around out there in the desert. Through their own disobedience, through their own doubt, he still proved to them: "I can be faithful, and I can be trusted to you every day. I know exactly what you need, for every day and every moment. I'll give you just enough for the day. Why? Because I want you to believe and trust in me, that I can be trusted. That I can be trusted. That I can be trusted." For some of you in this room, you need to understand: what you're complaining about, you should be thankful for. He gave you provision for the day. He gave you provision for the day. He could have given you nothing, but he gave you something. He gave you provision for the day. He's proven to you: "You can trust me today, and you can trust me tomorrow, and you can trust me the day after that. I'm a God who is faithful."

By giving thanks, Jesus shows you and I the intimate connection between the spiritual and the material. Ladies and gentlemen, this is missing in our society today. We're living in a postchristian world now. For a generation that's in this room — not every — there's multiple generations represented in this room. But for a generation in this room, the older generation — the United States that you grew up in is not the United States of today. You grew up in a Christian society. That day longer exist. We can cry about it. We can complain about it. We can mourn it. But the reality is, we live in a postchristian world. Which means there's a lot of people that we encounter today, that we can't simply say, "Well, the word of God says —" just like Daniel was in the lions' and. They have no idea who Daniel is, and what lines then he was in. So we have to put to bed some ways of simply thinking people are going to understand this. But what I'm seeing going on in our world today, specifically when it comes to being thankful, is that people are missing the connection between the material and the spiritual. For example, many of our neighbors never see any connection between what they have, and the God who provided it. They simply see
 things as one-sided. They simply see that the material things that are there is because they went out and they acquired those things, never giving any consideration to the one who gave them the ability to acquire those things, who gave them the strength and the mental fortitude to make those things happen in their life. They don't make the connection. And it runs counter, that people put up a wall between the material and the spiritual. Their cars, and their houses, and their food, and all the stuff that's there, the technology — they feel like it's completely separated between religion and material stuff. Religion is religion, and it has no place out in my life. It simply needs to stay into a church. And they don't allow it to come into their personal life. But what God has always desired is for you and I to understand the blessing connection, why it's there, that it was God. That's why his word says, "Every good and perfect gift comes from above." That maybe you gave it to me, but God gave you the ability to give it to me. I'm constantly drawing myself back to the source of where it comes from. Because it's a powerful concept, when I'm understand that what comes into my life comes from a good God who loves me. It gives me the ability to be thankful.

Even the Babylonians, who — Daniel, I talked about a while ago, who he lived amongst — knew better than such foolishness. Because even before they meals, they offered food to gods first. They were establishing a connection. They had a misunderstanding of who God really was. But in the process of living life, in their influent society in Babylon, they were making a connection between what they had, and how it got to them. Where are we at today? Do we believe that there's a connection between the material and the spiritual in our lives?

So I think back to the words of the Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10:31: "Wherefore, whether you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God." Why? Because everything in my life is connected. And if I'll take the time to think about it, I'll see that I'm connected to God in every area of my life. Jesus takes the food in his hand, and by giving thanks, he announces to every one of those people around him, that this came from God. We need to be thankful for it. Before he ever distributed it, before he ever broke it, the first thing he did was to give thanks for it.

And I'm afraid — and I'll admit to this myself first, I'll be the first one to admit it to you today — there are times I go into automatic mode, even in my prayer over my food. And if you pressed me to be completely transparent, I would say, yes, there have been times when I have given words of thanksgiving, but my heart were not connected to the words. So I'm trying to speak even to the church today, to let you know: it's a mindset that I feel like is mandatory, that you and I live in. That we have a mindset of thankfulness that makes a difference, in this walk in life. If we are constantly being thankful for what God has given us, in every little aspect — thankfulness makes the ordinary sacred. they can take what somebody would be simply as the mundane, but to someone who has a heart of thanksgiving, they are so happy for what seems to be so little. But yet they've connected it back to God. They don't lose sight of the fact that he is good. If your sum total of thankfulness only comes in the amount of the blessing, then the blessing is not a blessing. The blessing has become a curse to you, because you're going to constantly desire more, and more, and more. And you're going to find yourself in a state of never being satisfied. But if you can develop a mindset of thankfulness, whether big or small, it doesn't change the aspect that he's a good and a faithful God.

No one wants a relationship that's solely based on what you provide. That you only have that friend because you keep giving them something. We don't want to go down the road — we don't like that concept oursel. Yet there are times we treat God no different. Why did Jesus do this? Why did he give things? Jesus was making the ordinary sacred. It wasn't just bread and fish in his hands. It was more than that. It was true provision, that he had. Later on this week, it's not going to just be turkey and dressing, or pean pie, or pecan pie, however you choose to say it. It's not just turkey on your fork. It's not just a computer on your desk, or a car in your garage. After you've given thanks, it becomes something different. It becomes sacred. It becomes a gift. becomes something much more than just material.

This truth is best stated by the Apostle Paul again, in his letter to Timothy, in 1 Timothy 4:4: "Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it, but receive it with thanks. For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God In prayer." So what does it mean to be sacred? In the Old Testament, anything that was sacred was dedicated to the service of God. Jericho was sacred. As God was marching his people into the promised land that was there for them, the first thing he did, from the very beginning, was saying, "What's first, always belongs to me." It's a principle of first fruits I don't. I don't have enough time in today's message, but on the app somewhere, there's a sermon I did on two masters, and I talked about the principles of the first fruit. If you're a part of this church, and you haven't heard that series, I encourage you to go listen to it. It's an important one. But you see this lived out, even at the very beginning. And it didn't have anything to do with money. God has always had something that was separate unto him. And he always wants it to be at the very beginning, because he's establishing a principle in life: "You can trust me. But I need you to trust me from the very beginning." So as they marched into Jericho, he told them, he said, "You're going to take down Jericho." We know — most of us know the story. They marched around every day. And the last time, they marched around seven times. They blew the trumpets, and the walls fell flat. It's a great study, to go look out how massive those walls were. But they simply crumbled to the ground. They went in, and they took care of what they needed to, and they wiped everybody out. But we know the sin of aen, the one man who didn't listen to God, and he took the sacred. And because of that, not only did he lose his life, but he lost the life of his family, too.

The ark of the covenant was sacred. That was why it was wrong for USI to reach out, and to steady it, to keep it from falling. I've always struggled with that story. It seems like he's a guy that's trying to do a good thing. But I'm going to tell you what happened: Uzziah became comfortable with the sacred. It was the house he grew up in. It was the house he lived in. And he was seeing the ark there. So when it went to fall, and went to shift on the cart that was there — even though we can point blame, and we can point fingers, and say they shouldn't have had it on a cart, it should have been on the backs of the priest — yes, you're right. Yes, you're right. Those are correct statements and answers. But the reality was this: it was Uzziah, who lost an understanding about the sacred, and reached out and touched what he was not supposed to touch. And God killed him. So I'm telling you, there's principles here that make a huge impact in your life, when you refuse to live a life of thankfulness, and understanding what is sacred, and what belongs to God.

The utensils of the temple were sacred. That's why they can never be used for the profane, ordinary use. In the New Testament, it's also true: anything that is sacred is dedicated to the service of God. You and I, we are God's holy people. We're dedicated to his service, and his honor, and his glory. As I've said before, and giving thanks for the bread and the fish, Jesus was making them holy. He was taking what was ordinary, and he was making it sacred. And giving thanks for the blessings in our life, we are making them holy, and we are dedicating them to the service of God, for his name's sake. Which means that we have the ability to follow after him. Every aspect of our life, not only we should be thankful for, but we should understand these are sacred gifts that are given from him. Because it keeps us in a right mindset. Our time, our money, our homes, our cars, our toys, our games, our furniture, our families — we should give thanks for them, and dedicate them to the glory of God. In this Thanksgiving season, we could be able to join the material world around us, and simply got caught up in the things that are there. Please don't misund understand me
 — I know that a lot of times, the kids, in this time, are focused on: it's Christmas, I'm going to do this, it's Christmas time. I'm a gift giver. Like, I love to give gifts. It's my favorite thing. I mean, I don't mind receiving gifts. But if you really want to know the truth, I would rather give a gift 10 times over, is to receive a gift. It just makes my heart happy. Especially to people that I love and care dearly for, to know that I found something that I know that they are going to be just like — that just brings me such joy and happiness. So I know during this time, a lot of focus does get put on material things. So I'm not saying do that — I'm not saying that at all. I'm just trying to direct your mind to what our hearts, and our minds, to really be focused on: that he's a good God, who's given us the ability to give those things, and to be thankful for them, no matter how big or small they are. To live inside that mindset of thankfulness. Because only in him do we live, and move, and have our being. Only in him do we have the ability to think, and to enjoy, and respond, and wonder. And only in him can I jump, and run, and play, and learn. Only him can I sleep, and love. And because of him, and his finished work of Calvary, have an opportunity for a life of hope beyond this world I live in. I have hope because of him. I have hope because of him. And that should be manifested in every area of my life, including my things.

How many of you are thankful for your health — beyond when you lose it? Yeah. You know something? When all of a sudden you can't do something, and then you're like, "Man, I took that for granted." When's the last time — this is meant to be convicting, push your toes out a little — when's the last time you thanked him for today, that he gave you a gift of another day? When's the last time that you were convicted, because of all the days you've wasted, that were gifts that he gave you? It makes a difference in how you look at life, when you understand that all around me, God gives me gifts. He gives me moments and opportunities. And how am I stewarding those things? And am I truly living a life of thankfulness?

God is a giver. He loves to lavish good gifts on his kids. And sometimes the best gifts, we don't really fully appreciate until we're in the last few years of our life. There are times when I know that we're all attempted to feel ungrateful. And at such times, it's good for you and I to contemplate the good things that God has done for us. I'm a big believer in that. I found the benefit in my life, from stopping sometimes, slowing way down, and simply taking a piece of paper, and writing down every reason I have to be thankful in that moment, especially when I have a spirit of complaint coming on me. Anybody ever had a spirit of complaint come on you? Some of you, it is your spiritual gifting.

When Robin Caruso was wrecked on his lonely island, he drew up two columns, in which he called "evil" and "good." He was cast on a des of an island. But he wrote, "I'm still alive." He didn't die like his crew mates. He was still there. He had no clothes, but all of a sudden he became aware that he was in a climate when he didn't really need them. He was a part from human society, but he was not starving. He was without any means of defense, but he saw that there were no wild beasts to defend himself from. He had no one to whom he could speak, but God had sent a ship so near that the shore, that he could get out of all the things — he was basically, could take care of his basic needs. See, sometimes it's necessary for you and I to be deliberate in our listing of God's blessings. Otherwise, we end up in a perpetual state of a pity party.

Now, I know that there are some in this room whose present circumstances make it difficult to be thankful. I get that. I've lived long enough now — at 40, 47 years old — to understand there's es and flows in life. And there are seasons when it's really easy to be thankful, and there are seasons when it's harder. But it doesn't take away the principle of living a thankful life. I was thinking about: how do you process this? How do you deal with the times when things aren't good? How do you deal when it's a law situation, or whatever the case may be? I'm not going to go down listen, because honestly, we can leave that blank, and you could fill in that blank right there with wherever you are. If you're in a tough time right now, you could insert whatever it is, right there. And I felt like the Lord actually brought me to this. was thinking about it. I begin to think about the Dead Sea. Begin to think about the Sea of Galilee, and the river that runs through, and how the river goes into the Sea of Galilee, and it's alive. And it's representation of life, and the good that is there. And sometimes, even in the good, there can be a storm. You know, we read that in the scriptures. But the Sea of Galilee was a good place. If you had to pick between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee, you would pick the Sea of Galilee. And out of the Sea of Galilee, it ran into the Dead Sea. And the reason it was the Dead Sea is because there's no outlet. It's there. It doesn't sustain life, because the water doesn't have a way to continue to flow. And then it hit me: that's actually not true. The Dead Sea does have somewhere it goes. Because if it didn't, eventually it would overflow its banks, and continue to spread. But it's contained. So where does it go? Think with me for just a minute. You know the answer, and it's so easily apparent. It goes up. You see, as the sun continues to shine on the Dead Sea, the water begins to evaporate, and it goes up. So even in the state where it seems like things are dead, you can still send up praise.

Now, this is where it gets really powerful. Because as I begin to think about this — and honestly, I'm not that smart, but every now and then these little things click in my mind, they're pretty powerful, and I dance around my desk — so to think about it, it goes up. So I got to diing around. I'm like, okay, I have to be right with this, because I remember science in high school, right? I remember studying how the water cycle is. It goes up. But then I found something even more powerful. Sister Kennedy — because as the praise goes up, it actually leaves something there. It leaves on the banks the stuff called pot Ash. It's the remnant left over, once the good rises, the bad that's there. And experts say — whoever experts are — experts say that, if you could scrape all the banks of the Dead Sea, there's enough fertilizer in the potash to cover all the entire surface of the earth with fertilizer. Fertilizer makes things grow. So even if you're in a season — and I'm wrapping up, musicians are going to come — even if you're in a season right now, where it's hard to be thankful — and those come, those come — my family just recently walked through one. It is hard. It's hard when you have it loss. It is. It's tough. But even in the tough times, even in the Dead Sea, you can let praise go up. And in the middle of praise going up, what God leaves there is fertilizer, to bring back life.

So I don't know who I'm speaking to this morning, in this place. For some, you just need a better understanding, that you're rotten — spoiled rotten — and you should be thankful. You should just be thankful. You honestly — you just — what have Grandma fingers to put at you, and say, "You know better. You should be more thankful for the blessings that God's given you in your life. You should be more thankful for the provision that you do have, instead of always focusing on what you don't." What if you just stop for a minute, and think about what you do have? Because I really believe, if you will, you'll find a whole lot of gratitude there in your life, that you simply have overlooked. Be thankful for what you have. But for those who are in a tough season — those that, maybe you're in a Dead Sea right now — I would encourage you today, to just try to send some praise up, and see what God will do with you. cuz the reality is, it has nowhere to go but up. If it's in the Dead Sea, there's no other outlet. It has to go up. So in that state, send it up, and see. And I know, because of my own life — I know, because of my own times in that Dead Sea — that he will make something beautiful come to life, when you start worshiping him in the lowest moments.

So I'm going to pray for you right now. And this altar is open. This altar is open for whatever need you may have. Whatever need — you need salvation, it's open. You need a you need a attitude adjustment, this altar is open. If you need help praising, because you're in the Dead Sea, this altar is open. If you're comfortable, would you mind just closing your eyes right now, and bowing your heads?

Jesus, God, in this moment we're in right now, I feel you close and near. God, I know that we're not the best at always finding the good in the moment. But I pray today, God, we would see that we are blessed people. We have a lot to thank you for. And I pray we would be better at living out a life of thankfulness. God, forgive us. Forgive us of taking things for granted. Forgive us for overlooking tremendous blessings every day in our life. Forgive us for always having this desire for more, when you are a good God, who provides what we need every day. Help us shift our focus back on you. L, I know also in this room there's hurt. I feel it. I feel the pain in this room today. I know there are a few who are in the middle of a Dead Sea. No outlet, seemingly no life. God, I pray that their boldness would come upon them — a boldness to praise you, to praise you in the middle of the dark, when it doesn't seem like there's any reason to praise. God, I pray that we would have the courage to praise you anyway. God, you would take the brokenness of what's left, and make something beautiful out of it. Bring back life, where there's only been death. In Jesus' name. It's prayer time. I think it would be good to find a place to pray. To find a moment to be thankful.