Let's meet the first Thessalonians chapter 5 16 to 18. We're going to take a break just to prepare us for the Thanksgiving week that's coming up. First Thessalonians 5 16 to 18. Okay. Reading from verse 16 to 18. Rejoice always pray without seizing in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father we thank you so much for this morning. We thank you Lord God that even in the midst of chaos around the world that we know that our peace is with you. That as long as you are faithful as long as you are gracious Lord God that we know that we are safe and we pray father that we would not respond to all the turmoil like the rest of the world that we know that this is not our home and it's just a constant reminder to us Lord God of the spiritual warfare that we're in.

So help us to remain sober help us Lord God to seek the eternal things Lord not temporary safety and we pray father God that our worship may simply be an overflow of all that you have given us in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Merry Christmas. All right. I mean sarcastic.

Every year it seems like Thanksgiving is just disappearing. You know especially this year and I've been saying this for the last few years but this year in particular I don't see Thanksgiving at all. You know it's almost like whenever we talk about Thanksgiving it's about the sale that's coming.

Is this you're going to buy it online or you're going to go to the store. You know what stores are going to be open what kind of sales you have outside of that the idea of Thanksgiving is almost disappearing in this country. We have three major Christian holidays at least in the United States.

We have Christmas we have Easter and we have Thanksgiving. Christmas is it wasn't really started by Christians it was a pagan holiday that the Christians decided to convert into Christian theme saying that this is when Jesus was born. Actuality Jesus probably was not born in the winter. He probably was born sometime in spring.

But again the Christians when they were in power they they decided to well let's let's convert this to a Christian theme. And then Easter obviously again was not a Christian holiday. It was a celebration of some some Persian goddess named Ishtar and that turned into a celebration of Jesus's resurrection.

Thanksgiving is a unique Christian holiday because it was started by Christians for the purpose of worshiping God. And I think this is one true holiday that that the secular world really doesn't know what to do with. You can't change the name you can't change the meaning because it's embedded into it.

So it's almost kind of like the way that Thanksgiving is being attacked instead of focusing on families getting together and having worship and thanking God it's turned into a shopping day you know. And that's pretty much all it's become now. I mean you don't see it online. I mean I you know we don't watch television so I don't know what the commercials are but on Facebook you just don't see much of it.

You know in fact this year right after Halloween we started seeing Christmas decorations going up you know in the stores and people's houses already. It's almost kind of like okay the shopping day is coming you know and then when that happens and then we focus on Christmas. Thanksgiving really ought to be a day that we are deliberate among all the other days because Thanksgiving is really at the core of what it means to be a Christian.

And I know this how Thanksgiving the day only comes once a year but really if we examine the scriptures carefully you'll realize that without Thanksgiving you don't have Christianity you don't have worship. It's not just about the family gathering together. Thanksgiving is really at the heart and the core of why you and I are here.

What worship is ultimately about. The text that we looked at in 1 Thessalonians 5 16 to 18 he doesn't just say rejoice he says rejoice always. He doesn't just say pray he says pray without ceasing constantly and then he says to give thanks in all things rejoice and pray and give thanks in all things for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

This is the will of God. I know there's probably many of you sitting in here who are wrestling with the will of God. Maybe you just had you know DTR with somebody and DTR is determining the relationship. OK. Those of you who are not hip. So that's what DTR means.

So maybe some of you guys are wrestling with the idea of should I marry this guy should I get into a relationship with this guy. Maybe you're in the process of finding a new job. Is this the will of God. Should I go on this or that. Maybe some of you college students are praying about which field to get into.

What is the will of God. Well the Bible is not clear about your vocation. You know no matter how much you search you're not going to have somebody says God says you should do this because it's not clear. Right. There's no mention about you being a lawyer or doctor as the will of God.

But there are some things that the Bible says is absolutely crystal clear and every Christian ought to know. Our salvation God's election of us is the will of God. Worshiping glorifying God that is the will of God. Our sanctification that we live in such a way that we glorify and honor God is his will.

All the other stuff are things that we need to discern. How does being a businessman affect my sanctification. How does me coming to a relationship with this person or that person. How does that affect glorifying God. So everything else that we determine has to fit in under the larger umbrella of what is clearly stated as his will.

So the text that we're looking at clearly says one of the primary things that God desires and wills for us is that we are thankful. We are thankful. Now it says to be thankful for everything. If he just said be thankful we can sit here and say well what are you thankful for.

And I'm sure during this Thanksgiving season you're going to be asked that question a lot. Especially if you're a Christian. What are you thankful for. Right. You sit there thinking maybe some of you guys got a new job. You know I'm thankful for that. You started a business and it's really taken off.

I'm thankful for that. You know I was sick and God answered my prayer and I'm no longer sick. And I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for my family. Thank you for the health of my children. And we can think about all of these things. But if you look at the context in which Paul is commanding, not suggesting, but commanding the Thessalonians to be thankful, we kind of get a better perspective of what Paul is really getting at.

You have to remember that the Gospel when it came into Thessalonica it was met with much opposition. In fact the persecution was so intense that they went out looking for Paul and his companions. And because they couldn't find him they ended up going to one of his, one of the key men who became a Christian and they went after him and his family.

And in Acts chapter 17, 4-6 it says they actually dragged Jason out of his house and his family, take him to the Roman court and basically saying that these guys are ruining our culture. These guys are coming in, they're rocking the world. We need to do something about this and maybe put them in jail, maybe whip them, maybe even stone them.

Because it wasn't uncommon at that time to stone people. Paul himself says in 1 Thessalonians 1-6, he says the reason why I know that your faith is genuine, that in the midst of much opposition that you became followers of Jesus Christ. Think how contrary that is to our culture and the way that we plant churches, the way that we supposedly bear fruit.

We want to make it as easy as possible to get as many people to come to church, to have as many people to be serving in the church. But here it says despite. I know your faith is genuine, but despite persecution that you came. You know again when we talk about persecution it's not like persecution that you and I face today.

You know and I don't think that's something that we should be praying to God, you know bring persecution. I'm thankful that we live in a free country. I'm thankful that my children, that I don't have to worry about my children being stoned going to school just because they're praying for their meal.

But the persecution that we're talking about in the early church looked a lot like what we see on television in the Middle East. Because of what they're saying, a lot of them were stoned to death. At minimum they had a very difficult time earning money, income. So imagine today you know it's hard enough to get a job, but because your confession of faith in Jesus Christ that they was just straight out you know to tell you you're a Christian we don't want you.

You know another businessman maybe you're in the middle of this huge contract and find out you're a Christian and they said no I don't want to do business with a Christian. And that's at that's the minimum trials that they had. Most people face that kind of trial in the early church.

But in this particular church the persecution was so intense you rarely see Apostle Paul packing up his bag and leaving his city. Do you remember in Lystra he gets stoned, dragged out? He goes back in, preaches the gospel. The second missionary journey he comes around he preaches the gospel in that city.

So we're not talking about a man who was afraid to die. But the persecution in Thessalonica was so intense and he was concerned that not only him but the people converted were all may also get stoned. So he actually packs up his bag and then he leaves Thessalonica. And then remember where he goes?

He goes to Berea. Right? So I don't think humanly speaking Berea was one of the cities that he was targeting. It just happened that because of persecution he ended up going to Berea. The Thessalonians were so angry about the spread of Christianity they actually follow him to Berea and then he ends up running from there to another city.

That's how intense the persecution was in Thessalonica. And the whole reason why he's even writing this letter is because he had to take off and he was concerned that the persecution would have squashed this church. And so he gets the report back and realizes not only were they not squashed, they're thriving and they become the model church in Macedonia.

And so it is in this context, in the context of this intense persecution, people having a hard time living, possibly some maybe even stoning, that he's writing to them. He says, "Rejoice always." I mean rejoice always. You can't get a job. You may be having a hard time feeding your kids.

It's in that context he's saying this. Pray without ceasing. Be thankful. Be thankful for everything. So think about if we were to use our modern paradigm, even among Christians, about what we are thankful for, that we're thankful for a job, we're thankful for safety, we're thankful for health. If you look at the church that he is commanding to be thankful for everything, humanly speaking, what could they be thankful for?

But he commands it. And he commands in everything he says. Now what is he referring to? I believe what Paul is saying, and not only here but all throughout the New Testament, the command to be thankful is not simply about our circumstance. He's not saying that because of this, you know, greater things are going to come.

He's saying be thankful. Be thankful ultimately for what? Because they've been saved. That even if they are stoned, even if they can't eat, even if they're being dragged into prison and their children are having a hard time going to school, despite all of that, that you are favored by God.

That God has sovereignly chosen you for salvation. That because of your faith, you may be suffering, but in the midst of that, don't forget, you have become a child of God. When was the last time that we were truly thankful for our salvation? You know, I know we talk about it, we sing about it, we balk to Scripture, we share our testimonies to one another, but let's be frank and honest with ourselves.

When was the last time you were really thankful for our salvation? We have a tendency, if we're not careful, to trivialize what is fantastic. And then we try to magnify what is trivial. What gift have you received that is better than your salvation? What kind of raise did you get that was better than what God has given you?

What is it possibly that you are desiring with all your heart that comes even close to the love of God? And if you really soberly take a step back and think about it, everything that we are hopeful for, everything that we are thankful for, everything that we are frustrated with in the context of our salvation, it is trivial.

But again, you and I have a tendency to trivialize what's fantastic. And then we take what is trivial and we try to dress it up and make it fantastic. You know, every time I travel outside the country and people ask me where I live and I say California, most people know where California is even outside the country.

They say California is big. You know, we're talking about 15, 16 hours of driving from one end to the other. So usually the way I would describe where I live, I would tell them I'm near Disneyland. Right? That's usually what I say. I'm near Disneyland. And they say, whoa, Disneyland, where?

I'm about 15 minutes away from Disneyland. You know, and if they've heard about it, you know, the next question is what's it like? I say, it's crowded. You know, the food is ridiculously expensive. You know, like one churro is like five bucks. You can get it for, so what's a churro?

I say, don't worry about it. It's like, you live 10 minutes from Disneyland. So, you know, we can become so accustomed. I mean, this is Disneyland, right? That every child that knows about this thinks like, oh, one of these days, you know, if God is gracious enough, I'm going to go to Disneyland, go to California, go to Disneyland.

You know, some of you guys have annual passes. You've been there so many times you're sick of it. Right? You know, we're at Disneyland and it's like, oh, how was Disneyland? You know, and all we know is that it's crowded. There's a lot of obnoxious people. I hate those people with selfie sticks.

Man, selfie sticks. I hate it. And instead of talking about what Disneyland is about, you talk about what you don't like. Food is expensive. People with selfie sticks. The teenagers making out in the line. Like all the stuff that you can't stand about Disneyland. Like that's what's filled your head.

That's what's filled your heart. And the thing, the amazing part of us even being near there and being, you know, able to go and being in a free country, having the money and the time to be able to enjoy this stuff that 99% of the world can only dream of.

See, that's what tends to happen with our faith. The fact that you and I have the freedom to be able to be in this room with air conditioning, with the Bible translation. I mean, we do this even with Bible translations. We study the ESVs. Like, ESVs, you know, out of whack.

You know, don't study this Bible, that Bible. We have like 15 different translations to even have the Bible. Which again, majority of the world doesn't even have access to this. And we can get so caught up in the trivial things in life that we forget what it is that we have in Christ.

See, real worship is not, you know, God gave me certain things. And again, you know, next Sunday, if we're caught up like the rest of the world, you may come back next Sunday ready to worship because you found the best deals. And you think, "What are you thankful for?

Oh, there was a sale on iPod Touch. Or there was a sale and iPhone 7 came out and I was first in line. Lord, you're so good. You're so good. You're so good. And you get in line and somebody cuts and you didn't get it and you know, you couldn't get the color you want.

You know what I mean? You got the gray one instead of the pink one? Why, Lord? Why?" As trivial as that is, think about all the things that frustrate us. And considering what it is that you and I are doing this morning, we have access to God. We have access to God.

God of the universe. Imagine how you feel when you didn't expect it and all of a sudden somebody remembers your birthday. I remember so specifically, I think it was, I'm pretty sure it was my 19th birthday. And I was working full time as a janitor, working from 5 to 2 and then during the day I was going to school so I didn't have any human contact.

And then my birthday came around in February and I was already feeling like isolated and lonely and I was just like, "Okay, this is one of those, you know, it's going to be one of those hard birthdays that I'm just going to walk through the whole day and no one's going to know." And I was walking by and this guy that I knew in high school from two years ago, I haven't seen him in over two years.

Somehow I ran into him and I didn't even have a direct conversation with him. I saw him maybe about a hundred yards away. He recognized me. He said, "Hey Peter!" And I said, "Hey, hey, how you doing?" And he looked at me and he's like, "Hey, happy birthday!" And then he walked in.

I remember that to this day. There's a little man tear on the side that was walking by. "Somebody remember?" It was just a passing thing. I was like, "How did he remember?" You know? Something as trivial as that has that kind of effect on me even to this day.

What about God? I mean, He stepped off His throne. I mean, we say this all the time. We sing about this. We exposit this. And you weren't even neutral. You weren't even a friend. The Bible says while we were yet hostile to Him, blaspheming His name, we had no concern for Him.

And He remembered us. And He cried out and He pursued us. And He gave up everything so that you and I can be here and listen to His Word and understand that what is happening here didn't just happen. It's because the Son of God gave up everything so that you and I could be an adopted child into His kingdom.

And yet, if we're not careful, we can say, "Wow, you know, yes, Jesus died for me, but, you know, I've been praying for this bike, but God's not giving me this bike. Yeah, what about, what about this?" Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. I mean, of course, I'm a Christian.

I believe that. Yeah, but I've been praying for a bike, though. And He didn't give me a bike. Like, what are you thankful for? Yeah, I'm thankful for salvation, but I didn't get my bike. How trivial the things that we complain about, things that fill our hearts. See, in 2 Timothy 3, 1 and 2, it says, Paul says, "But mark this, there will be terrible times in the last days." Now, I want you to understand this.

When Paul is writing this to Timothy, his last letter, he's writing to Timothy to prepare him to be a pastor at the Church of Ephesus. When he talks about the condition of the last days, he's not talking about non-Christians. He's talking about the condition of the Church. And he says, and you guys remember at the end when Paul says, "To preach the Word in season and out of season." There's going to come a time when people are not going to put up with sound doctrine, but in order to tickle their ears, they're going to gather around them many teachers.

But you, preach the Word in season and out of season. He's not talking about the world. He's talking about in the Church. And in the Church, he says, "Mark this, there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful and unholy." Ungrateful.

One of the characteristics of the last days, when their hearts become cold, when they begin to drift away from God, one of the characteristics is they're ungrateful. A constant repetition of what they are dissatisfied with. In Romans chapter 1, 21, the wrath of God is being revealed. He said, "For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him.

But their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." If Jesus is only an avenue for a fulfillment, some sort of blessing in this life, your thankful heart will fluctuate depending on the trivial things that happen or don't happen in life. If Jesus is just an avenue that you pray to in order for Him to get you a good job or good friends or a certain environment, certain community, whatever that may be, when you get it, you're worshiping, you're thankful.

When you don't get it, you're not. If that's all He is. But when Paul commands them to be thankful, he's not talking about based upon our trivial circumstances. That despite the persecution, despite the hardships, despite maybe even the possibility of physical harm, he says, "Be thankful for everything." You know in Romans when it says that all things work together for good for those who have been called according to His purpose?

You know we can take that out of context and apply it and say, "You know what? The hardship that you have right now, God is preparing you for something greater." And so we can misapply it and think that, "You know what? These bad things happened when I was young in order for good things to happen when I'm older.

Bad things happened in January so that God can prepare us for good things in December." If you look at the context of Roman 8, He's not talking about a peaceful, quiet, healthy, wealthy life. He's talking about in the context that all of these things that is happening all over the world and possibly even in your life, God has worked for what purpose?

What is the good that He is talking about? Your salvation and the salvation of the world. So all the things that He's talking about and all of that leading to what is good, He's referring to salvation. That even if you're being stung, consider it pure joy because that God has ordained to bring salvation.

That all the persecution in the early church and many of them even losing their life, He said all of that, who have been called according to His purpose, is for the purpose of salvation. It is not good because, you know what? Sometimes God causes us to suffer because He has a greater thing awaiting for us.

My business went bankrupt today so that I can have a multi-million dollar company tomorrow. My relationships went sour today so that I can have better relationships in the future. See that's a worldly thinking. The thing that He's talking about that even in death, even in death, God is absolutely sovereign.

That He who began a good work in you will carry it unto completion until the day of Christ. Until you die and come to Christ. So He has you. What can possibly separate you from the love of Christ? Why thankfulness is so important. You know the story in Luke chapter 17, 11-19.

You don't need to turn your Bibles there. You know that's the story of the 10 lepers. Where you know that the lepers at that time, that the illustration of leprosy is the closest thing that we can think of of what sin is like. If you had leprosy, it wasn't just that you were sick and you were miserable.

You were shunned in society. You couldn't go into worship. You had to tell everybody and just coming into contact with you would make them unclean. So it wasn't simply, I mean they were miserable as it was just physically. But in every way they were shunned from society. And people just assumed if you have leprosy it's because you did something wrong or your parents did something wrong.

So you must have deserved that. Jesus tells a story about, or Luke tells a story about when Jesus is going through a part of Samaria. These lepers come running to Him and they stood at a distance because they were required to stand at a distance. And called out in a loud voice, "Jesus Master have pity on us." See this is a picture of sin.

This is a picture of every single person who doesn't know Christ, whose sins haven't been forgiven. That we are not allowed, we cannot get in the presence of this God. He says they cry out, "Have pity on us." When He saw them He said, "Go show yourself to the priests." And the reason why they had to go show themselves to the priests is because according to Old Testament law, the priest had to confirm that the disease was gone.

In order for them to enter into the temple, to be able to walk among the society, He says go show them so that they can be confirmed that a miracle did take place. Well verse 15 says, "One of them when he saw he was healed came back praising God in a loud voice." One of them.

"He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him and he was a Samaritan." So Luke goes out of his way to describe that this was out of all the lepers, of all the Jews who had all the privileges, of people who saw the miracles and had the prophets and had the Torah, among all of them only the Samaritan recognizes who Jesus is.

Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then He said to him, "Rise and go. Your faith has made you well." Now all ten of them were healed. So why does He say to the one, "Your faith has made you well?" See his gratitude and his thanksgiving was evidence of his faith.

Was evidence that something great happened. It wasn't just about his physical healing. He recognized who Jesus is and he comes and he gives thanks. And he says because of the thankful attitude, he recognizes that there was not only a physical healing but a spiritual healing that takes place in him.

See our biggest issue and our biggest problem living in a rich country is that whatever we have it's almost never enough. And it's almost embedded, it's almost embedded into our culture to not to be satisfied about something. You know? Anytime do an experiment on Facebook. You know when you have good news put it on Facebook and see what kind of response you get.

You'll get congratulations, it's good and whatever. You know but it doesn't go viral. You put something nasty up on there, oh man it goes, it's wildfire. It goes pretty bad. Say something controversial or you have some juicy news about somebody negative. I mean it has a tendency because it's kind of embedded into our culture.

Right? You talk about marriage and you talk about how great marriage is, it's kind of like oh my god, what a sap. You know? It's almost like weird to talk about marriage in a positive light. To be in a rich country we kind of again have a tendency to point out because you know we're spoiled.

See that was a tendency with the nation of Israel. So Deuteronomy is a three separate collection of Moses' basically speech or presentation or sermon if you will to the nation of Israel as they are preparing to go into the promised land. So the word Deuteronomy, the direct translation of that is the second law.

And what Moses is doing is reminding them what was already taught and causing them to remember. So the theme of Deuteronomy is to cause them to remember. Remember the law of God and remember who He is and what He has done so that they would give praise and live in obedience when they get into the promised land.

So over and over again in Deuteronomy it says to remember. Deuteronomy 5.15, "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm." Deuteronomy 8.18, "But remember the Lord your God for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth." Deuteronomy 15.15, "Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you." And Deuteronomy 16.3, He actually says to put aside a day out of the year, the Passover, and go through this whole ritual for the purpose of remembering what God has done.

In fact when we get to Nehemiah, Nehemiah prophesies, he says, "The reason why the nation of Israel is the way that they are," he says in Nehemiah 9.17, "They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles that you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed leaders in order to return to their slavery.

They followed the ways of the nations instead of remembering who their God is." Have you forgotten, maybe some of us have forgotten the preciousness of the gift that we have in Christ. Maybe some of you have forgotten what it was like before you met Christ, when you were in your sin.

Maybe some of you were suicidal before you met Christ. Maybe some of you were lonely, maybe some of you were lost, and you didn't know what the reason was, why you need to go on. But for whatever it was, every Christian knows, every Christian has to know, who were you before you met Christ, what happened when you met Christ, what happened after you met Christ.

Because that testimony is your story of salvation. So if you don't have that testimony, we question, was there salvation? Because salvation means that we were once this way, and then we met Christ, and now we have a new life. Have you forgotten what it was like when you were in your sins?

Maybe you've forgotten what it felt like to have God in the universe, care about you. Maybe you are more moved by a few of your friends taking you out to dinner, than you are with the sovereign God, who've elected you in the midst of your sins. Maybe you are more thankful about a trivial gift that you may have received, or maybe a promise of a raise from your boss, than you are about the God of the universe knowing your name, and He hears your prayers.

And what it is that we're doing now has become so mundane and trivial. Because we do it every Sunday. We do it every Sunday. Some of you have been doing this for 10, 15 plus years. And so now it has become mundane. It's something to do and get done.

So when we think about what we're thankful for, that's not the first thing that comes to mind. You see, when the spectacular becomes mundane, and we try so hard to make the mundane spectacular, we are no longer worshipping God. And that's the temptation, that's the danger of where you and I are.

That we get excited over trivial things, you know. "Oh, I found 20 bucks in my pocket. Oh, I got a sale. There's a sale going on. I'm going to stand in line. There's a new movie coming in December. Get the tickets, get in line, get the people. We're going to fellowship." It's not sin, but we have a tendency to forget what it is that we have in Christ.

And something, worship is something to be done. And that's where we find life somewhere else. Church is something that I must do. Worship is something I have to do because I'm a Christian. But when was the last time that we recognized the gift that we have, and the privilege that you and I have to be to come and call the God of the universe our Abba Father.

Our Abba Father. An ungrateful heart leads to all kinds of other sins. A complaining heart does not have room for love for others. A complaining heart does not have room to glorify God. An ungrateful heart causes us to feel frustrated and bitter. Someone with an ungrateful heart will be unforgiving to others.

Remember in Matthew 18, 22, 35, Peter asked Jesus, "How many times should I forgive my brother?" Seven times? I don't think Peter was asking a hypothetical question. I don't think Peter was saying, "You know what, I have this good question." I was just thinking, I was just in my room thinking one day, and I was thinking, "How many times I should forgive?" I think somebody was annoying Peter.

You know, I can think of a few people among that group that might be annoying Peter. Peter is a go-getter, right? He's a go-getter. So anybody who gets in his way is going to be annoying to him. You know who was the primary guy? You know, it's usually the bean counters.

I'm talking about the tax collector. Peter is not into details. Peter is like, "Let's do it! Is that you, Jesus? Call me out!" That's Peter. And I bet you Matthew is in the back, he's like, "Foolish, foolish." And you probably say, "Why is he doing that? What's he doing?" You know?

He's like, "Yes, you know, let's do it! We're going to conquer!" And takes out a sword, about to fight. You know? Matthew is like, "Oh my gosh, it's this guy. We're outnumbered." You know, and this guy is getting, I can think of a few people. Judas, remember? You know, every time they use money, he's like, "That could be used for the poor." Liar.

Right? But you could tell, you know, I mean, think about the 12 disciples that they had. They had some interesting characters. I mean, you had a zealot in there with a tax collector. I mean, zealot, one of the first people that he would have killed was a tax collector.

Think about it. Because he considered Matthew a traitor. And that's worse than the Romans. This guy sold us out. And so he put them together. Right? He put Judas, and you had these guys. If you left James and John alone, they would have been mass murderers. They were in Samaria.

"Hey, these guys won't accept us. You want fire to come down and consume all these people because these three guys wouldn't help us?" You know what I mean? And so you have those 12 people. I think when Peter was asking the question seven times, I think, I have a feeling that he already did it seven times.

So Jesus said seven times, like, "Yes! This is the eighth time. Now I'm going to get this guy." Right? So Peter asked him seven times, and Jesus said, "Seven times seventy." Like, "Oh my gosh. That's going to take forever." And obviously you know the point that Jesus is trying to get to.

And then it's in that context he tells this illustration. He tells a story about a servant who owed all this money. And the money that he describes is 10,000 talents. One talent is equivalent at that time to 15 years of labor. 15 years of labor. We're talking about 150,000 years of labor.

Now, Jesus was exaggerating. You know, you could have said, "Oh, he owed a couple million." He said, "He owed trillions of dollars." Who lent him this money? I don't know. But you know what he's describing here, right? When he's describing the money that he lent, he's describing sin. Right?

He's describing sin. He's saying this guy was forgiven 150,000 years of labor, and then he is let go, and then there's another servant. His servant comes around, and he owed 100 denarii. A hundred denarii was worth about 18 days. $18 a day for about 100 days. So we're talking about maybe 3, 4, 5 months or something like that of labor.

And it was trivial compared to. So there's a reason why he exaggerates the amount the first one owed versus the second one. Because the exact point that he was trying to get at is, "You were forgiven this much sin, and yet for a few months' worth of salary, you're willing to beat him and put him in prison?" And so he said, "Then the master called the servant in, 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all the debt yours because you begged me to.

Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?' In anger, his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed, which is absolutely impossible. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.'" Now you know who he was talking to?

Peter. Peter was saying seven times, he said, "Peter, if you don't forgive your brother, this is who you are. You are the wicked servant. Considering what you have been forgiven, and you refuse to forgive, what is trivial?" See, an unthankful heart will be unforgiving because we have forgotten what it is that we have been given.

I think this is a good illustration of our perspective of why we should be thankful. He said, "I am thankful for the taxes that I pay because it means I am employed. I am thankful for the clothes that fit a little too snug because it means I have more than enough to eat.

I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home. I am thankful for the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot because it means I am capable of walking. I am thankful for my huge heating bill because it means I am warm.

I am thankful for all the complaining I hear about our government because it means we have freedom of speech. I am thankful for the person behind me in church who sings off-key because it means I can hear. I am thankful for piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby.

I am thankful for the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means that I'm alive." How much of our culture, how much of what we are thankful for, not thankful for, is because we have completely missed, because we've forgotten what it is that we have in Christ.

See, when we don't have a thankful heart, we can't worship God. We can't worship God. We can come in here and check off the list and you become more of an examiner than worshiper. You examine to see what's going on and you're never really able to give worship. You know, Thanksgiving, technically it said it happened 1621, but the Thanksgiving was really inspired by the event that happened 11 years prior in 1610.

409 settlers came to America and that first winter was so cold that only 60 people remained after that winter, out of 409. And so you would think that after majority of the people dying off, they would come at the other end saying, "God, we came here seeking religious freedom to worship you.

Why did you bring us here?" Instead, that was the beginning of Thanksgiving, that those who remained decided to thank God for his blessing, that they were able to live and have a harvest the next year. And that's the background behind Thanksgiving. That our Thanksgiving is not because we got a good job, because we have health, we have good things that happen just like the rest of the world.

That even if the worst possible thing can possibly happen in our life, that we have Christ. Even if the most wildest dream in this world happens, it is only temporary. And one day we're going to be with him. And so this Thanksgiving, again, is a reminder for us, is to get us realigned and get us refocused.

What causes Thanksgiving in you? What causes you to be worshipful to God? Trivial things or ultimately because God saved and loved you? In Psalm 145, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever.

His faithfulness continues through all generations." Would you join with me and take a minute to pray as we invite the praise team to come up? Let's take some time to not make a list of, "Here are the things that I'm thankful for," but just ask yourself, "When's the last time you really celebrated God's grace in your life?" Not just verbally, not just telling other people, but in your heart.

And until we remember the height that we have fallen, until we are celebrating the salvation that we have in Christ, all the other things that we're concerned about, all the other things that we're not satisfied with, are trivial. Let's make the spectacular spectacular and trivial trivial. Let's come before the Lord and take some time to pray as our worship team leads us.

(flames crackling)