back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 11/20/2022
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If you guys are here for the very first time, 00:19:13.300 |
to just find out more information about the church. 00:19:16.060 |
And we will connect you to people if you're interested 00:19:19.180 |
in just getting to learn more about our core values 00:19:25.820 |
before we actually continue with the service. 00:19:29.060 |
The first one is regarding Thanksgiving dinner. 00:19:43.220 |
with praise and with a short message from Pastor Peter. 00:19:46.740 |
And so it's imperative that if you guys are going 00:19:49.020 |
to the dinners, that you guys get there on time 00:19:54.020 |
and then you're done eating and you're ready to go 00:20:15.340 |
November 27th, which is two Sundays from now, 00:20:21.620 |
It's a community called the Jubilee Fellowship. 00:20:24.900 |
And so, and that's for our members and non-members 00:20:36.800 |
For the first time in like three years, I think, 00:20:40.060 |
we're gonna be having communion kind of back to how it was, 00:20:43.000 |
where we're actually coming up toward the front 00:21:08.000 |
So please do look at our app, look at our website, 00:21:31.460 |
please do so, and we do prioritize just the Zell. 00:21:48.100 |
to focus on all the reasons why we ought to give thanks. 00:21:52.100 |
And we pray that you would cause our hearts to be reflective, 00:21:57.440 |
that we would give you the worship that you are due. 00:21:59.660 |
And at this time, we are bringing you, Lord, our offerings, 00:22:09.820 |
and we're giving back to you what you called us to steward. 00:22:21.540 |
to know how to appropriate those well and wisely. 00:22:31.940 |
And we pray all of these things in Jesus' name. 00:23:16.640 |
Church family, let's all stand together as we worship. 00:31:38.240 |
♪ When this poor lisping, stammering tongue ♪ 00:33:19.840 |
that I look uncomfortable sometimes when I'm preaching, 00:33:21.680 |
and I realize, 'cause the pulpit's a little shorter for me. 00:33:28.680 |
and she said, "Yeah, but if you keep stooping down, 00:33:31.680 |
"the light's gonna be reflected off your head, 00:33:33.660 |
"and people are gonna know that you're going bald." 00:33:35.040 |
So I was like, okay, I gotta try something different. 00:33:44.340 |
but then there's a black streak across my manuscript, 00:33:46.840 |
so I'm just gonna go with the iPad, all right? 00:33:56.480 |
and then we're gonna just hear the word of the Lord. 00:34:03.080 |
Father, we ask this morning that you would speak, 00:34:08.560 |
that you would cause our hearts to be reflective, 00:34:15.320 |
really to know how to worship in spirit and in truth, 00:34:27.600 |
So I pray that you would feed your sheep this morning, 00:34:34.080 |
I pray all these things in Jesus' name, amen. 00:35:02.080 |
and it is he who has made us, and not we ourselves. 00:35:06.000 |
We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 00:35:18.880 |
For the Lord is good, his loving kindness is everlasting, 00:35:24.600 |
and his faithfulness to all generations, amen. 00:35:28.080 |
I'm going to spend a large chunk of this morning 00:35:33.920 |
but before I do that, I wanna take a little time 00:35:38.680 |
I find it appropriate, since we are about four days away 00:35:48.580 |
Thanksgiving Day is America's favorite holiday, 00:35:54.040 |
Christmas comes in second, and coincidentally, 00:36:07.460 |
For starters, you have at least a four-day weekend, 00:36:14.360 |
There is special food, and I'm not a big fan of turkey, 00:36:23.720 |
and I've always liked like the crispness of the air 00:36:29.880 |
and I feel like there's almost a smell of Thanksgiving, 00:36:38.640 |
and Thanksgiving weekend, for a lot of families, 00:36:40.880 |
is when the Christmas trees go up and the lights go up, 00:36:47.480 |
where you can find deals, and in our 10 years abroad, 00:36:53.320 |
that actually would cause some degree of homesickness. 00:37:10.680 |
especially during the time of the Revolutionary War. 00:37:13.880 |
So interestingly, for a large part of American history, 00:37:16.760 |
Thanksgiving was not a day of feasting, but of fasting, 00:37:21.540 |
and Thanksgiving, for the most part of American history, 00:37:50.840 |
that there are a lot of things that we're looking forward to 00:38:01.120 |
I don't think it's necessarily because we're like 00:38:14.320 |
In our culture, saying thank you is like good manners. 00:38:18.480 |
It's etiquette, and you don't have to really mean it. 00:38:23.880 |
We write thank you in them, and we give them out, 00:38:28.480 |
but oftentimes, we give them out more out of obligation 00:38:35.000 |
not to say thank you when someone meets your expectations, 00:38:43.720 |
We teach our kids to say please and thank you, 00:38:48.220 |
and we don't always tell them that they have to mean it. 00:39:03.040 |
When God meets an expectation, we say a polite thank you. 00:39:13.280 |
that God has taken care of us as he's supposed to. 00:39:17.380 |
So in many ways, ours has become a please and thank you 00:39:23.920 |
kind of Christianity with almost a spiritual entitlement 00:39:37.260 |
But more than that, a reading of scripture leads me 00:39:41.720 |
to conclude that innately, you and I are actually hostile 00:39:48.140 |
It's perhaps because a genuine posture of thanks 00:40:18.100 |
Real thankfulness often leaves us feeling inferior 00:40:27.680 |
When someone treats us out or does something significant 00:40:33.240 |
don't we feel like we need to repay that kindness? 00:40:57.840 |
Real thankfulness is offensive to the sin-corrupted heart 00:41:01.320 |
because the heart is forced to take a posture 00:41:06.160 |
and naturally, a genuinely thankful attitude, 00:41:18.280 |
I find that even amongst many of my church-going friends, 00:41:22.640 |
it seems like there's more and more grumbling 00:41:24.280 |
and less and less gratitude with each passing year, 00:41:31.500 |
that gratitude and thanksgiving are extremely important 00:41:45.540 |
And let me read 1 Thessalonians 5, 18 for us. 00:41:54.640 |
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 00:41:57.880 |
You wanna know what God's will is for your life? 00:42:00.240 |
He doesn't address career or a spouse or decisions. 00:42:17.880 |
therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, 00:42:23.280 |
having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him 00:42:40.000 |
that a person has received Christ Jesus as Lord. 00:42:47.840 |
they did not honor him as God or give thanks, 00:42:50.200 |
but they became futile in their speculations, 00:43:11.420 |
Lack of thanksgiving always leads to idolatry. 00:43:15.440 |
Idolatry always precludes the giving of thanks, 00:43:20.640 |
it's also evidence of a lack of regeneration. 00:43:51.620 |
and for many of us in this room, it starts tonight. 00:43:58.320 |
and the feasting and the time with loved ones, 00:44:06.000 |
will give to God an offering of real thanks, amen? 00:44:16.980 |
Some of your Bibles may even have the heading 00:44:20.680 |
A Psalm of Giving Thanks written above the psalm. 00:44:24.480 |
Psalm 100 is known as the Jubilate, J-U-B-I-L-A-T-E, 00:44:28.360 |
the Jubilate, which literally means, "Oh, be joyful." 00:44:46.960 |
and I'm gonna just walk you through Psalm 100 00:44:53.360 |
The first point, how do we express our thanksgiving? 00:45:17.720 |
And we're gonna have to jump out of Psalm 100 for that, 00:45:21.200 |
The first two questions will be answered in Psalm 100, 00:45:29.520 |
But Psalm 100 doesn't quite explain what it is. 00:45:34.600 |
And defining what thanksgiving is is of supreme importance, 00:45:41.200 |
and the New Testaments that the offerings of thanks 00:45:48.880 |
So someone goes and gives a thanksgiving offering, 00:45:55.980 |
We don't wanna say thank you to God and get a divine 00:46:06.480 |
So it's very important that we understand biblically 00:46:10.680 |
the Bible says that thanksgiving is God's will, 00:46:13.360 |
it's evidence of salvation, and the absence of it is sin. 00:46:17.060 |
So for this third question, we're gonna leave Psalm 100 00:46:20.920 |
and take a quick survey of the last four chapters 00:46:23.440 |
of Hebrews, and we're gonna see what biblical thanksgiving 00:46:29.940 |
So here's the first point and first question. 00:46:36.680 |
And I'm gonna take a look at Psalm 100 once again. 00:46:49.760 |
It is he who has made us and not we ourselves. 00:46:52.800 |
We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. 00:47:03.480 |
for the Lord is good, his loving kindness is everlasting, 00:47:08.240 |
and his faithfulness to all generations, amen. 00:47:14.180 |
We call them imperatives here in these four verses. 00:47:18.920 |
And they are listed in a kind of chiastic order. 00:47:23.000 |
A chi spelled C-H-I is the Greek equivalent of our ex. 00:47:28.000 |
So a chiastic structure is where there are parallels 00:47:41.360 |
It's a literary tool used in biblical writings. 00:47:45.640 |
And the emphasis and the highlight of every chiasm 00:47:48.640 |
falls right at the center, at the point, at the juncture. 00:47:56.180 |
is found in either the introduction or the conclusion, 00:47:58.240 |
the first or last sentence of every paragraph. 00:48:15.240 |
in chiastic structure from verses one through four. 00:48:18.520 |
And the imperative found in verse three is the main point, 00:48:22.540 |
the main emphasis and the hinge on which everything turns. 00:48:30.880 |
once again elaborating on the point of verse three, 00:48:35.620 |
and it's an exhortation for all of God's people 00:48:40.940 |
So notice also how most of the imperatives here 00:48:47.040 |
have an attitude or some kind of emotion attached to them. 00:48:53.200 |
We're trying to discern how we are to give thanks. 00:48:56.160 |
So Psalm 100 says that God's people are to shout joyfully, 00:49:07.200 |
we are to enter with thanksgiving and praise, 00:49:15.540 |
the instructions on how we are to give thanks. 00:49:18.300 |
And this giving of thanks is to be expressive, 00:49:27.840 |
are already like a little bit uncomfortable, right? 00:49:36.360 |
Think of your favorite stadium, sports arena, 00:49:41.720 |
and you're there, and you're watching your favorite team 00:49:53.520 |
The buzzer sounds, and your team has just won it all 00:50:00.080 |
So even if you've never been to something like that, 00:50:03.960 |
you can imagine the entire crowd erupting in loud cheers, 00:50:08.960 |
dancing in celebration, high-fiving complete strangers, 00:50:25.040 |
and the joy and the energy of it, it's not containable. 00:50:31.920 |
So God's people are to erupt into joyful shouting, 00:50:39.080 |
and to serve God in such a way that he is at the center, 00:50:45.240 |
So the joy and adulation and the praises and the shouts, 00:50:53.360 |
They're only a natural response of celebration 00:51:07.280 |
And that is the how God's people are to give thanks. 00:51:22.400 |
And my advice, which hopefully is not a contradiction 00:51:27.800 |
is that you should be careful not to be this expressive 00:51:33.760 |
It might unnecessarily weird some people out, 00:51:37.480 |
but take comfort in knowing that many read this psalm 00:51:43.460 |
Matthew Henry, a Bible commentator of the early 1700s, 00:51:49.680 |
This song of praise should be considered as a prophecy 00:51:56.760 |
and even used as a prayer for the coming of that time 00:52:00.400 |
when all people shall know that the Lord, he is God, 00:52:08.960 |
Great encouragement is given us in worshiping God 00:52:21.520 |
we have indeed abundant cause to bless his name. 00:52:30.060 |
Know ye what God is in himself and what he is to you, 00:52:37.800 |
and then you will be more close and constant, 00:52:46.480 |
but not all of our exuberance should be limited 00:52:54.040 |
Hopefully we get a little taste of it this week, 00:53:43.800 |
our knowledge of God is going to be imperfect. 00:53:47.040 |
It won't be a face-to-face kind of a knowledge. 00:53:58.500 |
and eternity spent knowing God has already started, 00:54:10.600 |
that have been filled with wonder, awe, and praise, 00:54:15.240 |
and you will have erupted in spontaneous worship. 00:54:20.640 |
not just for the material things that he has given you, 00:54:29.140 |
and you've been dumbfounded and utterly humbled 00:54:32.200 |
that this God of the universe would draw near to you, 00:54:46.920 |
That's the how, and this brings me to my second point. 00:55:06.540 |
Verse three, the knowing of God is the main point. 00:55:19.480 |
Okay, so I wanna read verse three and five for you again. 00:55:25.760 |
It is he who has made us and not we ourselves. 00:55:29.060 |
We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. 00:55:43.740 |
So there are basically six descriptions of God 00:55:47.200 |
which make up the reason why you and I are to give thanks. 00:55:52.480 |
So we find in verse three, three descriptions of who he is, 00:56:08.080 |
So he is God, he is creator, he is the shepherd, 00:56:32.920 |
The saint of God is to respond in exultant praise 00:56:36.200 |
and thanksgiving because of who he is and what he is like, 00:56:41.200 |
and that's what you and I have been created for. 00:56:56.560 |
That's the very purpose for which we have been created, 00:57:03.640 |
If I were to insert a Christian into Romans 121, 00:57:12.180 |
For because they knew God, they honored him as God 00:57:23.920 |
and the light of Christ shined brightly in their hearts. 00:57:33.720 |
that there is no call to respond to what he has given 00:57:49.880 |
is nowhere to be found in the thankful Christian heart. 00:58:01.640 |
He is creation, our creator, we are creation. 00:58:10.320 |
and we have been chosen to be called his people. 00:58:17.280 |
He is fearsome and terrifying and all-powerful 00:58:25.220 |
He is the good shepherd who lays down his life 00:58:32.440 |
even when it mathematically does not make sense. 00:58:47.840 |
He is eternally faithful, and his faithfulness to us 00:58:54.320 |
is absolutely not dependent on our faithfulness to him, 00:58:59.440 |
how much we've prayed, how much we've been giving 00:59:05.520 |
It is completely unrelated to our faithfulness. 00:59:10.360 |
Second Timothy 2.13 says that if we are faithless, 00:59:13.280 |
he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. 00:59:28.740 |
We are, of course, to give thanks for what he does for us. 00:59:32.320 |
But more than being thankful for what he does for us, 00:59:37.720 |
we're supposed to be thankful for who he is to us. 00:59:43.120 |
When I give my kids a gift, I don't get them a toy 00:59:52.400 |
that I know my kids will like 'cause I know them, 00:59:58.440 |
And when I get them a gift, I want them to enjoy it 01:00:12.480 |
But what gives me greater joy is when they say 01:00:32.540 |
But when they say, you're the best Daddy in the world, 01:00:38.040 |
what they're saying is, I love having you as my Daddy, 01:00:52.520 |
to enjoy all the good gifts that the Creator gives. 01:01:49.040 |
to love us, to serve us, and to do our bidding. 01:02:47.280 |
has intentionally chosen a wicked, unlovable, 01:02:50.980 |
and a faithless people to Himself for Himself. 01:03:04.720 |
targets of wrath, and He elevated us to adopted children, 01:03:14.680 |
If you understand that, how do you not give thanks? 01:03:19.860 |
He is a God who not only gives help and gives relief, 01:03:24.860 |
I mean, oftentimes we seek Him when we need help, right? 01:03:28.920 |
He is a God who not only changes our circumstances, 01:03:38.860 |
He takes a dead corpse and gives it newness of life. 01:03:47.140 |
Happiness and approval over a favorable change 01:03:52.140 |
of circumstance is not the same thing as thanksgiving. 01:03:58.820 |
Happiness and approval over a favorable change 01:04:04.100 |
of circumstance is not the same thing as thanksgiving. 01:04:12.220 |
and this story may be familiar with many of you. 01:04:45.540 |
"and as they were going, they were cleansed." 01:05:03.460 |
And remember, leprosy was an incurable disease. 01:05:07.940 |
It separated you from all your friends, all your family, 01:05:12.140 |
but most importantly, you felt separated from God 01:05:15.380 |
because many viewed leprosy as a punishment for some sin. 01:05:28.020 |
so they could be examined according to Levitical law, 01:05:31.580 |
and then socially accepted back into their communities, 01:05:34.900 |
back at their work, back amongst their friends, 01:05:37.760 |
and the text tells us that they were cleansed on the way. 01:06:08.620 |
'cause their lives are now improved drastically 01:06:17.360 |
Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, 01:06:21.660 |
turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, 01:06:46.440 |
Was no one found who returned to give glory to God 01:07:10.820 |
All 10 are made glad by the change of circumstance, 01:07:25.420 |
but it appears that only one had his nature changed. 01:07:29.280 |
All 10, I'm sure, were ecstatic to be made well, 01:07:37.060 |
but it appears that only one had been truly made whole, 01:07:43.380 |
being restored not just to his community and family, 01:07:49.980 |
And perhaps this man had an advantage as a Samaritan, 01:07:55.200 |
who believed themselves to be ethnically outside 01:08:25.140 |
'cause they had been told from the time that they were born 01:08:32.700 |
He would set everything straight for the Jews. 01:08:42.380 |
that all had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 01:09:00.060 |
There's a reason why Jesus has said in Luke 7 01:09:02.920 |
that those who have been forgiven much love much. 01:09:05.420 |
Maybe when we fail to remember how desperately rotten we are 01:09:11.420 |
we feel entitled to the kindness and favor of God. 01:09:34.240 |
And remember, that makes us incredibly uncomfortable 01:09:49.240 |
which is found in the very next chapter of Luke. 01:09:51.560 |
Jesus tells this parable, Luke 18, nine to 14. 01:10:04.520 |
that they were religious and viewed others with contempt. 01:10:12.080 |
one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 01:10:20.360 |
so they're like, "Okay, we should go to the temple." 01:10:24.500 |
The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself. 01:10:54.960 |
"But the tax collector, standing some distance away, 01:10:59.160 |
"was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, 01:11:08.520 |
"I tell you, this man went to his house justified, 01:11:15.700 |
"That man went home justified, rather than the other. 01:11:20.160 |
"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, 01:11:23.220 |
"but he who humbles himself will be exalted." 01:11:29.940 |
because it makes us feel indebted and helpless. 01:11:33.300 |
The text here says that the Pharisee gave thanks. 01:12:09.420 |
Maybe if we feel spiritually superior to those around us, 01:12:29.760 |
to kill gratitude, and in our culture, there's a lot of it. 01:12:37.960 |
Not primarily because he has given us good circumstances 01:12:43.540 |
not primarily because he's met all of our expectations, 01:12:49.320 |
not primarily because he made us better than other people. 01:12:53.440 |
We give thanks to God mainly because he is good, 01:12:59.020 |
he has been good, and he will continue to be good. 01:13:02.700 |
Luke 18, 19, if you keep going down the parable, 01:13:11.220 |
Do you know what sorts of people cannot give thanks to God? 01:13:17.820 |
Those who believe themselves to be worthy of God, 01:13:43.580 |
even if you are going through the gauntlet at the moment, 01:13:50.720 |
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 01:13:54.120 |
Third question, what then is biblical definition 01:14:11.340 |
I was mulling over Hebrews 10 to 13, all four chapters, 01:14:14.980 |
and I was just reading through it again and again, 01:14:17.940 |
and then I put together this definition of thanksgiving. 01:14:41.820 |
There's a bold confidence in approaching the throne 01:14:55.420 |
There is nothing looked forward to in this life, 01:15:07.820 |
We praise God not because he's good to us in this life, 01:15:37.020 |
so I narrowed it down to just like two lines. 01:15:43.740 |
because it could change a little bit tomorrow, 01:15:56.300 |
to his sovereignty and discipline, Hebrews 12, 01:16:06.460 |
in being brought near to his throne of grace. 01:16:13.740 |
And here's a summary verse, Hebrews 12, 28 to 29. 01:16:21.940 |
And I was debating between this and Hebrews 13, five, 01:16:28.060 |
because he has said, never will I leave you or forsake you, 01:16:31.100 |
but I felt like this one kind of captured it better. 01:16:49.260 |
an acceptable service with reverence and awe, 01:17:16.460 |
Because we're receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. 01:17:21.020 |
Everything on this side of eternity can easily be shaken. 01:17:43.420 |
you and I, we don't have to worry about none of that. 01:18:02.620 |
because we're inheriting a kingdom that cannot be shaken. 01:18:12.300 |
My definition of Thanksgiving may have been a mouthful 01:19:01.780 |
If you go to a baseball game or a basketball game 01:19:21.620 |
the PA announcer has to try and hype up the crowd. 01:19:25.740 |
You guys ever been to a game in the middle of a season? 01:19:58.180 |
to remind us that we need to, at the very least, 01:20:03.820 |
Every year, when things are kind of mundane and dry. 01:20:36.020 |
He's too busy jumping up and down and cheering himself. 01:20:44.900 |
He's a fan, and he's elated like everybody else. 01:21:03.580 |
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving week 01:21:12.900 |
for the Thanksgiving of all Thanksgivings, amen? 01:21:34.740 |
to give real thanks this morning, Romans 8, 31 to 39. 01:21:57.420 |
how will he not also with him freely give us all things? 01:22:10.300 |
Christ Jesus is he who died, yes, rather who was raised. 01:22:17.220 |
Who is also intercedes, present tense, for us. 01:22:21.300 |
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? 01:22:24.180 |
Will tribulation or distress, persecution or famine 01:22:31.220 |
all that is in Hebrews as well, just as it is written, 01:22:35.260 |
for your sake we are being put to death all day long. 01:22:39.260 |
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered, 01:22:45.020 |
we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us. 01:22:49.220 |
For I am convinced that neither death nor life 01:22:54.220 |
nor angels nor principalities nor things present 01:22:58.580 |
nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth 01:23:03.340 |
nor any other created thing will be able to separate us 01:23:08.340 |
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, 01:23:22.220 |
I wanna give you a minute to just answer that question, 01:23:29.560 |
And if you're having a hard time figuring out 01:23:42.180 |
My encouragement to you is that you ask the Lord 01:23:53.280 |
And if you've tasted the kindness and the goodness 01:24:03.820 |
not for what he gives, but for what he has done. 01:25:17.920 |
which has given us access to the throne of grace. 01:25:22.920 |
And help us to be a thankful people, a joyful people, 01:25:29.320 |
so that the world will know that you are a good God 01:25:40.920 |
Church family, let's go ahead and stand together