My Thanksgiving List - Pastor Brad DeLong

need to remind somebody that your thanks and praise to him is not dependent on your greatness or how great you feel. It rests solely on his greatness. I wonder if you'd reflect on the greatness of God right now and whatever praise wells up in your heart and and in your mind, would you just offer that freely? Would you do that? And here uh before we move any further, Lord, we recognize that you are great and you are greatly to be praised. We thank you for your presence.

We thank you for your closeness. We thank you for your greatness that's in this room and every life that's in this room. We recognize and acknowledge you in worship and in praise and in thanksgiving. Jesus, we praise you, Lord. We praise you, Jesus. We praise you. I want us just to agree together that we're going to be comfortable offering that praise and thanksgiving. This is who we are. But for the remainder of this service, don't hide away your praise or your thanks. Put it on a shelf while the preaching's happening.

But I wonder if you just keep that praise and thanksgiving top of mind and just right there on your tongue. Is that all right, everybody? I'll just let you know up front. We're going to be doing a lot of thanks and giving thanks and praise today. Is that okay? All right. It is okay. I I because you all have agreed to it. because of his greatness. It's more that's what we were created to do was glorify and praise the Lord. His presence is here in a wonderful and powerful way and we're responding to that.

We're going to turn to his word together. First Chronicles 16:7. While you do that, I want to say how thankful we are to have every guest with us at Apostolic Pentecostal Church. We honor you. Thank you for coming. We do not take for granted in the slightest that you have chosen to come and to worship the Lord along with us. And we want you to and we believe that you will be an awesome part of this church family. One that I intend to celebrate in a few moments.

This is a phenomenal community of believers. You're biased, pastor. Yeah, I am. But it's still true. We share a mission to connect with the Lord and with others to love him with all of our hearts, souls, and strength. We're glad that you would join us in that pursuit. I believe it's the same pursuit that David had when he authored this declaration in 1 Chronicles 16. He's just brought the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem. The people celebrated what I call their own iteration of thanksgiving at that time.

David provides some bread and cakes and and meat, their version of rolls and apple pie and turkey. I guess he blesses the people. They praise the Lord together that the ark and the presence of the Lord truly resides in their midst and in their city. If they got that excited about the presence of God, I think we are warranted to get excited about the glory in the presence of God. They host this celebration like we're going to do this week. And David offers a psalm to the musicians and singers, a list of praises.

I'm just calling David's Thanksgiving list. He shares it with the people. He doesn't just celebrate in his home or by himself, but he's intentional about listing and sharing with others what the Lord has done. I want to read this to you this morning. We're going to read a lengthy passage for which I will not apologize. It's powerful. It's wonderful. And let me just invite you to this. If something I read strikes a chord, just start to offer a praise. All right? I don't imagine that they waited till he was done to offer praise.

But if we're reading together and something just, you know what, I need to praise the Lord for that. Just go ahead and do it. All right. 1st Chronicles 16. On that day, David first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaf to his brethren to thank the Lord. He says, "Oh, give thanks to the Lord. Call upon his name. Make known his deeds among the people. Sing to him. Sing songs to him. Talk of all his wondrous works. Glory in his holy name. Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord.

Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face ever more. Remember, people of God, his marvelous works which he has done, his wonders and the judgments of his mouth. Oh seed of Israel, a servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the earth. Remember his covenant forever, the word which he commanded for a thousand generations. Verse 23, we read along with me. Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations, his wonder among all the peoples. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He also is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and gladness are in his place. Give to the Lord, oh families of all the people. Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory. Do his name. Bring an offering. Come before him.

Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Tremble before him all the earth. The world is firmly established. It shall not be moved. Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad. And let them say among the nations that the Lord reigns. Let the sea roar in all its fullness. Let the field rejoice and all that's in it. Then the trees and the wood shall rejoice before the Lord for he is coming to judge the earth. Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good.

His mercy endures forever. His mercy endures forever. He ends it. Blessed be the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. And all the people said, "Amen." And praise the Lord. And all the people said, "Amen." And praise the Lord. And all the people, you get it. Praise the Lord. Oh, don't let protocol stop you. We've got every reason to give him thanks. Hallelujah. Oh, hallelujah. Oh, we praise you. Oh, we praise you. Oh, why don't you unbridle that praise? Let that praise go right now, child of God.

Offer thanksgiving. Let's do his name for the Lord is great. The Lord is great. All right, we're warmed up. Let's just get comfortable praising the Lord. It's what we're going to do. I'm going to teach a little bit. I'm going to share a testimony. I'm going to share with you today my thanksgiving list. Keep yours in your heart and mine because there's something about thanksgiving that's powerful. You feel it in the room right now. The power of our praise and thanksgiving. Before we're seated, would you start your own list by lifting your hands to heaven and thanking the Lord for whatever comes to your mind.

whatever comes to your heart. Oh God, I'm so thankful that you're here. I'm so thankful that you're in our midst, oh Lord, that we have the honor and privilege of being in the presence of the most high. Oh, you truly are great and greatly be praised. And I thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. Amen. You can be seated. I've alluded to this, but this will be slightly unorthodox today. But Apostolic Pentecostal Church is pretty unorthodox, especially when it comes to our praise. We'll break out in the middle of a sermon, and that's all right.

That's the kind of services we like. So, it's okay to be unorthodox as we talk about Thanksgiving. And I'll tell you the backstory. on our Wednesday night service a few weeks ago, Bishop was teaching on thanksgiving and that praise and thanksgiving rose to the surface in this room as I was listening to him teaching and the Lord began to pour this day and and this uh this sermon into my spirit. You see, thanksgiving, I believe, is powerful and it's effectual. And thanksgiving is far more beneficial than we might realize.

It's it's more than the name of a holiday that we celebrate on the fourth Thursday of November. Thanksgiving has been around a lot longer than that. Has been used by the people of God along with their worship and praise to acknowledge their God, to celebrate their God for millennia. It's going to be used today to celebrate our God and will continue to be used into eternity to celebrate our God. Thanksgiving defined as the expression of gratitude especially to God which I love. Thanksgiving has been a practice.

It's been a posture and a lifestyle of the people of God from ages past. It has a propensity to unlock the supernatural both within us and around us. Almost more than any other thing. Thanksgiving has been documented both in the Bible and even in academic circles and and the medical field to to literally and in some cases psychologically change the hearts and change the mind, the perspective, the emotions of whoever is intentional enough to look to the heavens and to offer it. There is something about thanksgiving, especially to God, that changes us.

This may be part of the reason why the people of God are commanded no less than 70 times in the word of God in scripture to give thanks and and why we find over 150 scriptures in in the word on thanksgiving alone or how to offer it. This may also be why as bishop taught so powerfully about it. I I felt the presence of the Lord come in that room and and felt strongly to convey this message to you today. one about a practice and one about a discipline that has changed my life and I believe is already unlocking the power of God in your life today as well.

You see, it was during a time of great difficulty in recent years, a time of weightiness, a time of struggle and discouragement that this scriptural admonition came rising to the surface in my life. I want to share part of this testimony with you today because I recall a season like some of you are facing right now. A season of overwhelming trial and storms. One in which I would awake each morning and I was just immediately overwhelmed. And I I recognize that I was discouraged and even anxious.

And I know it's Thanksgiving week and I know we could punch our time clock today and say, "Yep, we went to church and and we could go home the same." But that's not what we're about around here. And there are people in this room who are desperate and who I believe need the word of God. And I'm so thankful that you are ready to hear that word. If I could be vulnerable, I'll tell you that I had a couple consecutive months of consistent discouragement, consistent dread again like some of you have faced here of late.

And and every morning I awoke to what I thought were giants, some of which we may still face. But the difference was they looked a lot more like giants then than they do now. This is because somewhere along the line I felt compelled to do what David did and to thank the Lord and to encourage myself in the Lord and and it was thanksgiving of all things and the God in which it was placed that I believe brought me out of that time. Thanksgiving can taste like vinegar when you're going through a storm that tries to suppress it.

Some of you might have a hard time offering it today. Could I just encourage you? offer it anyway. Push that thanksgiving out of your heart and through those vocal cords and offer it to God. It can seem out of place, I know, when you're down and out and when you're discouraged. And praise and worship might seem a little outlandish when you're in a prison cell like Paul and Silas were, but I would contend it is perhaps more or most effectual and beneficial when you're in a place like that.

And I say that because of the pattern of scripture and because of my own personal experience. Paul said this in Philippians 4 writing from a jail cell. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I will say it, rejoice. Rejoice always. And I'm going to tell it to you again. Rejoice. He told the Thessalonians who were grieving people in their church who they had just lost. Precious brother and sisters. He says this in 1 Thessalonians 5. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything, in everything. Give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

You couple these with the words of the psalmist and it reminds us there is not a single moment in time in which praise and thanksgiving are not warranted. The psalmist says I will bless the Lord at all times and his praise shall continually be in my mouth. took all of this to heart as you should today. And having tried any number of other disciplines and any number of other distractions, I I decide in that season, I'm going to try Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving may be the last thing on your mind when you're troubled and you're discouraged.

But we ought to try it and we ought to move it to the top of our list if it's not already. This is what I did. I recall sitting down that morning. It was a discouraging day and I made a list in the presence of my enemies. I did what that psalmist described. Sat in the presence of my enemies and I started to thank the Lord and I felt anointing come over me and my cup started to be filled and started to run over and I looked up to see goodness and mercy that were following me all along.

And they were standing with their master, the only one worthy of praise in thanksgiving. And I will declare in detail the contents of the list in a moment. Let me pause and say first I believe someone hear me. I believe thanksgiving is an antidote for your anxiety. We don't like to talk about that. It's off it's off limits. Only the clinicians can. No, no, no, no. The Bible talks about it. There's a reason Paul puts these together in Philippians. Be anxious for nothing. How? How? But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known.

And to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will be a guard for your heart and mind through who? Christ Jesus. I've known thanksgiving to displace anxiety. I've known thanksgiving to overwhelm what's overwhelming me. I've even known thanksgiving to displace discouragement and depression. Bishop read the article about Thanksgiving's antidote to depression the other night. And I I've heard personally an awardwinning counselor offer Thanksgiving as a remedy to the same. There's something about it that just cuts through the clouds and allows the sun and the light of the Lord to shine through.

Even if you adhere to this, Harvard Health offers this. I love this. Thanksgiving can lift the spirits. And I quote, they say that psychologists have found that gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, build strong relationships. And I love the title of the article. It says, "Giving thanks can make you happier." Go figure. I would say it would induce joy in your life. I can say from experience it works.

Psalm 69 would concur. It starts off maybe like some of your days and mornings have started recently. David is credited with a psalm. He says, "Save me, oh God, for the waters have come up to my neck." We're not just talking about coming in on a Sunday and thank the Lord and all my troubles vanish away. No, no. He was in some real deep trouble. They're up to my neck. I sink in deep mire. There's no standing. I can't even find my foot. says, "I I've come into deep waters where floods overflow me.

I'm weary with my crying. My my throat is dry. My eyes fail while I wait for my God." He presents his case and dilemma before the Lord. But then he lands on thanksgiving near the end of the psalm. But I'm poor and sorrowful. Let your salvation, oh God, set me up on high. I will praise the name of God with a song. I will magnify him with thanksgiving. In other words, when it's all said and done, I'm going to confront sorrow and the storm and the weariness and anxiety and the depression.

I'm going to confront it with thanksgiving and I'm just going to see what happens. I'm just going to start to praise and thank the Lord and see what he does in the aftermath. And his experience and mine would tell me you can do the very same thing here today. As I told you earlier, this is the same pattern I follow. I know different circumstances, all the things, all the caveats, but I'm teaching and talking about the power of thanksgiving today. I recall waking up that morning.

I was overwhelmed again. I repeated my pattern of prayer and morning devotions. And according to my notes that day, the Lord helped me and he reassured me. And I felt inspired to sit down and to write a short list of the things that I was most thankful for. It did not take me long before I had a list of some of the most important things in my life. things I was most thankful for. But it also didn't take long for a true sense of thanksgiving to start to well up in my spirit and for me to realize, you know what, I am blessed.

I am fortunate. I am alive. I am victorious. I am going to make it. I can do this with Christ's help. Not by my might, not by my power, but by his spirit. I can make it. This is what thanksgiving does. helps us get our heart and mind and vision off the things we don't have and off the things that are coming against us and place them on what we do have and on the one who is for us. This may be why the Psalms are chalk full of thanksgiving in the middle of chaos.

It changed me that morning. I determined that day that every day I woke up overwhelmed and every day I woke up discouraged, I was going to start the day by thanking the Lord and calling to mind all the wonderful things he's done. before I checked the news, before I got on any apps, I was just sort of start thanking the Lord and my filter for that day. And everything I viewed was going to be through the lens of thanksgiving. I know I could either sit in despair or I could thank the Lord and see what happens.

This may be someone's option today. You can sit there in despair and I don't belittle you and I don't diminish what you're facing and you may need additional help and you can talk to us and we can get you but you can also offer thanksgiving in the meantime. I decided to test this thanksgiving thing and give Paul and David's words a try. And as you'll see I started with the big ones and worked my way down from there. I distilled thanks down to the things I considered most important.

Let me tell you what the first thing on my list was first on the list. sat there and I said, "Lord, I'm so thankful that I know you." Oh, yeah. Let that go. That's all right. I'm thankful that I know you. I'm glad I know the name of Jesus. Oh, I'm so thankful that I know your voice and I know what your presence feels like. I'm so thankful that I know you. That ought to lift someone out of a fog right then and there this morning.

that you know who Jesus is. You know his name, you know his presence, you know the voice of your shepherd, you know his peace, and you know his joy. Oh, you're thankful just to know Jesus today. It's where I started church. That first Thanksgiving point alone usually just sends a spark into my soul. David said it like this. For you will light my lamp. The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. This is the word of truth today. For by you, I can run against a troop.

By my God, I can leap over a wall. Things I wouldn't normally be able to do on my own. As for God, his way is perfect. The word of the Lord is proven. He's a shield to all who trust in him. For who is God except the Lord? Who is a rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and he makes my way perfect. Psalm 118 says, "Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good for his mercy endures forever. Verse 5 says, "I called on the Lord in distress.

He answered me and he set me in a broad place. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can mere man do to me?" One chapter later in 119, blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity, for they walk in his way. Just to know Jesus, that's thanksgiving enough. Just to walk with him, that song says, is everything to me.

I was sitting out in the woods or in the field yesterday. If you're not a hunter, I won't go into that. If you don't like hunting, I was just watching. If you were into hunting, I wasn't watching. I started my day with Thanksgiving. Bishop, I didn't make it past that first point. I know you, Lord. I know your name. I felt the glory of the Lord come out there. I might not have seen any deer, but I felt the glory of God there. I know Jesus.

I know that he died for me. We had my friend John came. He flew in from Sweden one day. He sat right over there. He told us he grew up in Afghanistan under strict rule and oppression. He said, "I never knew who Jesus was. We didn't talk about Jesus. I didn't know his name." He said, "But when I was 9 years old, I saw a bright light in a dream." And he said, "I heard a name spoken to me." And that name was Jesus. That's the name we baptized him in in that baptismal t.

Are you thankful you know his name? I know Jesus. friend of mine's in an Access Challenge nation. They don't let him openly teach and preach Jesus. He said he had a woman come to him. She said, "I had a dream." This happens all over the Muslim world. Said, "I had a dream." She said, "In my dream, I was in a cage. I couldn't get out." She said, "I looked out of that cage to see who looked to be the prophet Muhammad." And I looked at him.

I said, "Well, please get me out of here. Get me out of this cage." In her dream, he looked back at her and he said, "I don't have the keys for that cage. only he does. He pointed. She said, "I knew in my dream it was Jesus. Jesus was the one who could get me." You know who Jesus is. Oh, that ought to sight of praise in us. Jesus has brought you out. Jesus has set you free. And if he hasn't yet, he can today. You can repent of your sins.

You can be baptized in his name. You can be filled with the gift of the Holy Ghost if you're thankful to know Jesus. Why don't you offer him praise right now all across this place? Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I praise you. Oh, I'm thankful. I know the name that's above every other name. I'm thankful. I know who you are. I praise you, Jesus. I praise you, Jesus. There's about a million sub points under that point of thanksgiving alone, but we don't have all day. I'll move on to the next.

My next one, again, I encourage maybe you just write some of these down. We'll have the chance at the end to do that. My next one is, Lord, I'm so thankful for my family. I'm thankful for my marriage, thankful for my kids. I I don't want to alienate anybody in this room that isn't in a relationship like mine. But I think it ought to be said, and ought to resonate with us, that a man who finds a wife finds a good thing. I think every spouse in this room should thank God for their other spouse.

And I thank the Lord for healthy marriages. And I thank the Lord for marriages that are on their way to health. I want to say it loud and proud today. I'm so thankful for this wonderful lady who loves the Lord. And I'm thankful for those babies. They prayed for me the other night. I said, "Y'all, will you pray for me? I wasn't feeling well." And I said, "Pray that dad would have wisdom." And they started praying. My goodness, they prayed. Selena had her head down. She looked up about every 5 seconds.

She pray look back. Pray. She's the prayer police at the house. We had over 65 kids in service a couple weeks ago. They're learning the word of truth. So thankful for moms and dads teaching truth. I'm thankful for Sunday school teachers teaching. I'm thankful for nursery workers corraling those kids. Sister Caleb children are a heritage of the Lord. They're a blessing. And I thank the Lord for a family today. If you have someone in your life that loves you, you ought to thank the Lord. If you have one person in your life that loves you, I've come across a couple that come to our door asking for help.

They have nobody. I was thanking the Lord yesterday for the people in my life that love me, family and extended family. I wonder if we just stop right now and maybe maybe your life isn't perfect and your family isn't perfect. Why don't you thank the Lord for the health you do have and the family you have. Would you just lift your hands right now across this place and would you thank the Lord? I need to tell you, Lord, how thankful I am. Oh, this Thanksgiving, when I realize what I've got, when I realize who I've got in my life, you and my family, it it brings a praise out of me.

Lord, I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful for the people that love me, the people that I get to love. I'm thankful for every healthy relationship in this room, every healthy marriage in this room. Lord, I'm thankful, Jesus, for every family unit in this room, oh God, and for the ones who have family. We thank you, Lord. Distill it down. Your thanks. When you really think about it, the most important things are people and the health of those people. That's the next one on my list. We'll see how much of my notes I use.

Thank the Lord for health. Maybe you don't have perfect health. Maybe you can't thank the Lord for the absence of any and all pain in your body, but you have breath. Let everything that has breath. Praise the Lord. If you are here today, you ought to thank the Lord. If you made it here on your own strength today, you can thank the Lord. If you made it here on someone else's strength, you ought to thank the Lord for their strength and their health. Psalm 95 tells us it's good to give thanks to the Lord.

I believe it's healthy if you can sit alone with your own thoughts for more than 10 minutes. You might be in the minority and you ought to thank the Lord for a sound mind. If you're someone today that you don't have the health, you can thank the Lord in advance for it. If you're someone here today, and I just felt this point throughout the week, if you're someone here today doesn't have those little blessings running around at home, and the Lord hasn't gifted those yet, you can thank the Lord for what he will do.

You can thank the Lord in advance. And those persons in the room, I want you to know that we see you and that God sees you. Thank the Lord that he sees you. We're going to praise the Lord on the day that he gives you that gift. If you've got health in your body, any semblance of it, if you've got vitality, if you can see me right now, would you just start to thank the Lord again? We're just going to thank the Lord until something happens in this room.

Thank you, Jesus, that I have health. Thank you, Lord, that I can walk. Thank you, Jesus, for a sound mind. I thank you, Lord, oh, for health in our hearts and minds. Oh, God. I thank you for the health, Lord, that you brought some of us through. I thank you that there are people in this room that you brought through in this year alone, oh God. It wouldn't be in this room without your grace and your mercy. Thank you, Lord, in advance for your healing. Thank you, Lord, in advance for your help, oh God.

Thank you, Lord, for help. Thank you, Jesus. Psalmist said, "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me." And eventually, he says, "Forget not his benefits." I'm just trying to remind somebody in the room the benefits that you have. Like the Lord's reminded me, he heals all my diseases. He forgives my iniquities. These are the blessings we have to thank the Lord for. The basic benefits of my life are enough to fill this day, Thanksgiving Day, and every day. I thank the Lord for a roof over my head.

food in the pantry. I know some of these things I take them for granted, church, I'm telling you. But a 100 years ago, these weren't guarantees for car to drive. We were in that office when COVID shutdown happened. Bishop was pastor at the time. He's trying to navigate us through what's this look like? It's the Monday after the shutdown. I don't even want to bring that day up, but I will. He didn't know it. I confess to you, Bishop. I was panicking. We were supposed to go on a trip that week.

We had next to no groceries in the house. I'm thinking, "How am I going to take care of Mariah? How am I going to take care of my kids?" I didn't know my dad was buying 400 lb of rice the same day, but you know, he was handing that out. That's what the body does. It is. I was on walmart.com, Bishop, trying to keep my face calm. All the shelves are empty. We took a break and I remember washing my hands because that's what we did at CO.

Hopefully, you still do. I remember the Holy Ghost breaking in in that moment. I looked in the mirror and the Lord asked me, "Who takes care of you? Who takes care of you, child of God? I said, 'You do. He said, then why are you afraid? Would you pull up Matthew 6 for me, Sister Megan? I'm jumping all around. Thank you for following me. He said, "Birds of the air, they don't gather. They don't They don't build barns. And yet, their heavenly father takes care of them." How much more value are you than than they?

And then the liies of the field. Even Solomon didn't wasn't a raid like these. Solomon didn't look as good as these. They don't toil. They don't spin. Your heavenly father takes care. Why wouldn't he take care of you? I felt this earlier in the week. Someone that's been worried about a paycheck, worried about some bills, worried about some expenses. Why don't you start thanking the Lord? You may not even see it in your It may not even come in the way you think, but why don't you start?

Why don't we all start thanking the Lord and joining those who need to thank him right now and need God's help. Would you thank the Lord Jesus? You're the one who takes care of us. You've taken care of me, Lord. Oh, I thank you that I have a provision. Thank you that I have a home. Thank you, Lord, that I have food. Thank you, Jesus, for every good thing you've given to me, every good and perfect gift which are from above. Oh, I thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Lord, that you're so good to us. and you take care of us, oh God. Thank you, Lord. I've heard three financial miracles in the last 10 days. You are not the exception. I am not the exception. God's going to take care of you. He's going to take care of you. So that morning, I began to thank the Lord that September morning. Thank the Lord that I knew him. Thank the Lord for my relationships, my family, my friends. Thank the Lord for health in my body and for his provision.

And among other things, as we come to a close this morning, I thank the Lord for you. Try not to overpersonalize this day, but hopefully we all can relate. Apostolic Pentecostal Church has been such a family to me and a strength to me and my family. Whether you've been here all your life or you've been here 10 minutes, I hope you know this to be true and find it to be true. This church family is the bride of Christ. We love one another deeply. Yeah. Thank the Lord.

Thank the Lord. We will never claim to be perfect. In fact, brother Gleason wrote in his book, these are his words, not mine. He said, "If you find the perfect church, don't stay." He said, "You'll ruin it." His words, not mine. I'm thankful for you. Yeah. It's true though. We are a hospital. We're a hospital. Mom got cancer when I was a teenager. I've shared this story. It meant so much. I think I was standing about right here. Precious saint came to me and said, I became the family spokesperson in that moment.

He said, "What would you all like to eat?" We got meals coming. I said, "We like pasta." They said, "Like lasagna?" And I said, "Yeah, we like lasagna." We ate lasagna for three months and we loved it. We loved it. This is the church family that took in my dad. This is the church family that my mom came to when she was a young adult to help raise her. This is the church family that helped them raise three wild kids and one angel. Nicole. Nicole. Sorry, Michelle.

You, too. Yeah. Mom got cancer and they someone got her a pager supposed to go off every time someone was praying for her. It went off. over and over again. I don't know if we'd have made it without you. Even more recently, Mariah had delivery complications a couple years ago. Our life was hanging by a thread. I looked up after the dust had settled. They took her to the operating room, looked up to see my family, and just over their shoulder, APC family. I cannot express how thankful I am.

I failed to tell somebody who's been hurt. Maybe you're wanting to give up on the bride in this local church bride. Don't give up on the bride of Christ. She's not spotless yet. But this church family has been a part of my healing over and over and over again. Couple weeks ago, musicians, you can come. I stood over in that corner. I do this regularly. You might see me on a Sunday morning. You can call me out if I'm doing it. Stand over by that door.

It gives me a great vantage point just to scan the body. And in that moment, I felt such a love and a thanksgiving overcome me. We got home. I told Mariah, I said, "I had this moment in service. I could hardly contain it. I was just so thankful for the church." She was playing the keys that day. She said she had the same moment during worship set, might have been simultaneous. She said, "I looked up from those keys to see the people of God." And I'm convinced.

I've seen some pretty awesome pictures. I've seen some awesome sunsets. I've seen some mountains and oceans. There are far few things that are more beautiful than a Sunday morning with you all in this room with your hands lifted worshiping the Lord. I say again to someone who's been hurt, don't you give up on the bride. It may have been someone in the body who stepped out of the body to hurt you. But the bride of Christ, he's coming back for us. And this bride, I believe, will be part of your healing.

If you've ever experienced the help of the church, I wonder if you'd stand right now and begin to thank the Lord. You offer the Lord thanksgiving. I feel his holy presence in this room and it may be that someone is discouraged and they're depressed and God will bring you out through this praise and thanksgiving. You'll start to see the sun again. I wonder if you now have you lift your hands across this place and you begin to thank the Lord. Doesn't have to be loud or obnoxious.

You just start to thank the Lord in spirit and in truth and worship him in sincerity. Thank you for every brother and every sister. Thank you for every sin you've washed away. Thank you for every encouraging text and prayer. Oh God, I thank you for the bride of Christ, this wonderful, beautiful, imperfect church family and body that you've given to me. Lord, I thank you that there's no other family of which I'd want to be a part and this one right here. And we bless you.

And we thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Here's the simple appeal today. We're going to come and we're going to thank the Lord. We've got papers, few moments we're going to hand out once you've spent some time in thanksgiving. You start making your own list because it's not just going to be used this week. There going to be some other mornings when you feel like your world's crashing in. You're going to read that list. You're going to thank the Lord and you're going to realize that your world's actually right side up.

This happened the Wednesday night. It's happened in the word of God. There's a pattern of it. But we're going to come. We're going to thank the Lord. And I believe there's going to be a lifting that happens. If you've come in low and discouraged, even depressed today, like I said, it might be that you need the additional help of the body, and we're here to offer it. But this thanksgiving can only help. And I believe the Lord can lift you out of that. So before we take a moment and we write lifts, if you want to thank the Lord for anything and everything, would you just step out of where you are right now and come?

They're going to sing. Just lift your hands and spend as long as you feel like you need thanking the Lord for his goodness, thanking the Lord for your family, thanking the Lord for every sin he's washed away. Thank him for his word that you have access to it, that you know it. Someone down and discouraged, someone anxious today, come and start thanking the Lord. And I'm believing with you that anxiety will start to wash away. Oh, not because of some formula or protocol, but because of the presence and the goodness of God.

I thank you, Jesus. All my life you have been so so good with every breath that I am able. I will sing of the goodness of God. All my life you have been faithful. All my life you have been so so good. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God. All my life you have been faithful. All my life you have been so so good. Every breath that I am made, I will sing of the goodness of God.

I love you, Lord. For your mercy never fails me. All my days I've been held in your hand. From the moment that I wake up until I lay my head, I will sing of the goodness of God. All my life you have been faithful. All my life you have been so so good. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God. I love your voice. You have led me through the fire in darkest nights. You are close like no other.

I've known you as a father. I've known you as a friend. I have lived in the goodness of God. All my life you have been faithful. And all my life you have been so so good. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God. Your goodness is running after. is running after me. Your goodness is running after. Is running after me. With my life laid down, I surrender now. I give you everything. Your goodness is running after. It's running after me.

Your goodness is running after. It's running after me. Your goodness is running after. It's running after me. With my life laid down, I surrender now. I give you everything. Your goodness is running after. is running after me. All my life you have been faithful. Thank you, Jesus. All my life you have been so so good. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God. You take a moment right now. Find somebody that you're thankful for in this body. One, would you express it?

And then would you take some time thanking the Lord for them right alongside them? just go right now. I'm wondering if everybody I know we got some guests in the room and maybe you don't know anyone just yet, but I'm going to ask that we just try to make it to where nobody's alone. All right, if you just find somebody, bring them in your group, tell them you're thankful for him.