(coughing) (gentle music) ♪ There's no one like you ♪ - All right, cool. Any other part of the set that you guys want to go over? Still have a few minutes. Going once, going twice. All right, cool. Then, yeah, we can end it here. Thanks, guys. (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) - More church family, happy Lord's Day.

We will now begin our service. (gentle music) (gentle music) Let's sing together, "As the Dear." ♪ As the dear Pantiphone ♪ ♪ The water soothed my soul long after thee ♪ ♪ To you alone are my heart's desire ♪ ♪ And I long to worship thee ♪ ♪ To you alone are my strength, my shield ♪ ♪ To you alone may my spirit give ♪ ♪ To you alone are my heart's desire ♪ ♪ And I long to worship thee ♪ ♪ To you alone are my heart's desire ♪ ♪ And I long to worship thee ♪ ♪ To you alone are my heart's desire ♪ ♪ You are my friend ♪ ♪ You're my friend and you are my brother ♪ ♪ Even though you are a king ♪ ♪ I love you more than any other ♪ ♪ Much more than any other ♪ ♪ You alone are my strength, my shield ♪ ♪ To you alone may my spirit give ♪ ♪ To you alone are my heart's desire ♪ ♪ And I long to worship thee ♪ I want you.

♪ I want you more than gold or silver ♪ ♪ Only you can satisfy ♪ ♪ You alone are the way ♪ ♪ You're given in the hour of my life ♪ ♪ Of my life ♪ ♪ You alone are my strength, my shield ♪ ♪ To you alone may my spirit give ♪ ♪ To you alone are my heart's desire ♪ ♪ And I long to worship thee ♪ You alone.

♪ You alone are my heart's desire ♪ ♪ And I long to worship thee ♪ - Amen, good morning, everybody. I wanna extend a warm welcome to you, especially if you're new. Welcome to our service, and please do join us at our welcome booth just right at the tip of the parking lot there.

You'll see our welcome team members with the blue vests, and I'd be happy to just direct you with any answers to questions you may have. Now, I'd like to highlight just a few of our announcements going on during this time. So, one, the BAM, which is our singles ministry, is having a Christmas party on December 14th.

That's gonna be at 5.30 here in the main sanctuary. Please make sure you sign up for that. And the logistics and team organizing that event has made a special request to please show up dressed festively, okay? So that means bright colors, red, green, all that kind of stuff, but come ready for fellowship, games, and a great time together.

Likewise, the family ministry is gonna be having their separate Christmas party here, again, in the main sanctuary, but that's gonna be on December 7th. Today is the last day to sign up for that, so please make sure you register. There is gonna be childcare, and then also, if you're having a tough time finding the link, et cetera, there's gonna be a table outside to make sure we capture everybody.

For the family members who are doing a performance, you are not automatically signed up because you're doing a performance, so please make sure you all register for that, okay? The last thing is going to be that our-- Oh, for that family Christmas party, they are looking for some babysitters, so if you are able to help out, lend a hand in taking care of the children during that event, please sign up for that as well.

The last announcement is that we have, for the sake of fellowship and bringing people together, our BBA season that's gonna start, our basketball season, so the league for the men and the women are gonna be taking place starting from January 5th, and so please make sure to sign up for that.

The requirement is, because it's a commitment of sequential weeks, the requirement for that is either you are a member or you are in the process of becoming a member at the church. So again, look out for the sign-up, and there will be a table outside for any questions that you may have.

All right, at this time, we'll go into time of offering. If you do have a physical check, there is a drop box right by the entrance as you come in. Otherwise, you can go ahead and give that online. Let's take a moment to pray. Heavenly Father, we are so grateful to you.

God, we want to lift up to you our heart of thanks, knowing, God, that every single thing we have, it comes, Lord God, through your mercy, your love, and the grace that you have poured out to us. So we thank you this morning and gather with appreciation and also gather with our offering.

Lord, the offering of our heart, our attention, also, Lord God, even our finances, and I pray, Lord, that the condition of our heart, Lord, would always be so trusting in you, so thankful and abiding in you, God, that all that we're doing is blessed by you. We thank you in Christ's name, amen.

(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Let us all rise, and let's spend a few moments just to greet the neighbors around us. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - There is an endless, there is an endless song that goes in my soul.

I hear the music ring. And though the storms may come, I am holding on to the rock I came. How could I keep, how could I keep from singing your praise? How could I ever say enough? How amazing is your love? How could I keep from shouting your name?

I know I am loved by the few, and it makes my heart want to sing. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Good morning once more.

And if you would please go ahead and take your Bibles and turn to Exodus chapter 15 verses one to three. Exodus chapter 15. And this morning we'll be, as we head into a week of Thanksgiving, meditating on a thankful heart of the people of God through many generations, designed for us also to have a deep-seated gratitude in our soul.

So let's take a moment to read this and it says, "Then Moses and the sons of Israel "sang this song to the Lord and said, "'I will sing to the Lord for he is highly exalted. "'The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. "'The Lord is my strength and song "'and he has become my salvation.

"'This is my God and I will praise him. "'My Father's God and I will extol him. "'The Lord is a warrior. "'The Lord is his name.'" Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you, God, for your grace. Lord, for generations and generations, you have continued to reveal yourself in all of your perfection, holiness, and love.

And I pray, Father God, that we as a people would not only see it with our eyes, but be amazed and be so filled with gratitude that we may know you. And what's more, God, that being known by you through Christ, Lord, that you provide for us, you take care of us, and you love us to the end.

We thank you so much, it's in Christ's name, amen. Well, as we think about the Thanksgiving season, it is tradition to get together as a family, tradition to get together and put on a big feast, tradition to, you know, bake the turkey, all that kind of stuff. And in our family, we try to make sure that, in many ways, we protect this tradition because it is such a sweet time for our worship to God and together as a family.

And one of the ways we protect it is say, "Hey, no premature Christmas song singing." We try to make sure that we don't just bypass Christmas. Obviously, we love Christmas carols, we love all the Christmas songs and festivities, but we try not to bypass it. What's more, my request is let's not call this season like Harvest Festival season because, as you know, Harvest Festival, that kind of thing, is practiced by almost every religion.

I mean, you just go back as long as mankind has ever planted a seed, they had some kind of annual festivities for Harvest Season, praying that it would be bountiful, praying that the gods would bless them. So Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Korean, they have Harvest Festivals, right? So obviously, we're not necessarily celebrating that as a tradition, but here in America, we celebrate what is typically known as, essentially, kind of the start of the country.

Looking back a little bit into history, I want to take a moment to go back and kind of appreciate what has happened. You guys know that on the Mayflower, 102 pilgrims came to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Unfortunately, they were actually headed to Virginia, and they landed way north, okay? Now, for a lot of people, this is a time when they just recall that they had a rough time trying to escape religious persecution.

They wanted religious freedoms. They came. They had the meal with-- I have the name of the tribe here-- the Wampanoag tribe, okay? And that they helped them. And so they had a feast together because they survived, right? But actually, when you look back into history, the Christian intent behind their endeavors to come was really, really explicit.

For example, this is going back now, like way back into your youthful education, that in the Mayflower Compact, this was the declaration that, "In the name of God," okay, amen, "we, whose names are underwritten, "have undertaken for the glory of God "and the advancement of the Christian faith "the honor of king and country, "a voyage to plant the first colony "in the northern parts of Virginia." They were praying and hoping that God would allow for them to have a constitution, a law, but a community and society governed by the principles of Scripture.

Now, in sharing you with this kind of history, I want to remind us that these people with great intentions came, but they were met with incredible, incredible hardship. A lot of the individuals actually died before ever setting foot on land. What's more, because they landed in the approaching winter, they didn't have food, they didn't have resources, and it was said that all but only three families, meaning every single family, buried somebody, whether it was their wife, their child.

By the time the winter was over and they were going into 1621, more than half of the entire ship, the people on the ship, had died. Okay, so take a moment to think about that, and what we're thinking about is actually the story is more of monumental loss. The story would have been seen as like, this is an epic failure.

When you have over 50% of your whole crew, of all the people who wanted to start this colony, pass away before even it's a full year, this is an incredible moment of crisis, sorrow, loss, and grief. But in the midst of that, as you know, a lot of these individuals started to write, "Praise and bless God, "because God has provided for us." So William Bradford, the first governor, so to speak, of the colony writes, "Praise be to the Lord for his provision." That is Christian faith.

Now, I'm not here to just kind of magnify or elevate the pilgrims, but to ask this question, we too, we should be able to give thanks in every single circumstance, amen? Now, praise God, right now, some of you guys may be going through individual hardships, and I don't want to diminish any of that.

But we live in an incredibly blessed time, right? We live in a time of incredible provision, incredible comfort, and luxury, to say the least. But whether the times are good or whether the times are bad, we're supposed to have such a strong foundation in God that we don't need to just simply say nice things or put on like a positive thinking facade, but rather that we would feel a deep-seated gratitude.

And the question is, how do we do that? How do we have such faith that, yes, when times are good, we should say, "Bless the Lord," because every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord, right? But when circumstances are so treacherous, and when circumstances are so bad, how do we give thanks to God?

And the reason why I read to you a passage in the book of Exodus because our roots of pilgrimage, so to speak, we too are just sojourners through this land. Our roots of going through uncharted territory and all that kind of stuff goes way back over 3,000 years to the generation of the Exodus.

And that is a generation where they were both wrought with all kinds of suffering, delivered by God, and praising the Lord in the desert. So, how do we have this kind of foundation to have thankfulness in our heart? First, we always have to remember how much we've been forgiven.

We always have to remember where it is we came from. We always have to remember the depths from which God has drawn us, the plight from which God has rescued us. And this is what the Scripture says, that we are so wrought with forgetfulness that God has embedded into both culture, the Word, the ordinances, future instruction, moments for us to remember.

And so, I appreciate times like this, seasons like this, near the end of the year when we've had so many things happen to start reflecting and say, "Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord." Now, the point that I'm going to make to you is this. God, I believe He knows us very well.

He knew that often we'd forget. And in the midst of forgetfulness, we would forget to be thankful. And so, I want to walk with you through certain portions of the book of Exodus to highlight how God has embedded times of remembrance for us to remember this very thing. How much has He forgiven?

What kind of situation did He save us from? So, first, if you go to Exodus 12, Exodus 12, verse 25, you'll see that the Passover was a massive, massive ordinance of God. He has said that this is a holy ordinance. This is an ordinance that He wanted His people to observe every single year, every generation, and for the times to come.

And He said this. I'm going to read to you Exodus 12, 25. It says, "When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite. So when your children ask and say to you, 'What does this rite mean to you?' you shall say, 'It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.'" You know that even to this very day in the Jewish community, if there was a pinnacle, if there was a highlight of the many festivals, the many religious observances that they do, this is at the pinnacle.

And embedded into that was even more. Did you know that there was such a feast called the Feast of Love and Bread bound within, attached to the Passover? And in Exodus 12, verse 14, it says, "Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations." You're to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance.

"Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on that first day, you shall remove leaven from your house, for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh, that person shall be cut off." Meaning it was serious. What I'm trying to highlight and help us appreciate is God was trying to make sure that people did not forget.

Now, to us, it's like, sometimes, honestly speaking, we judge that generation. How in the world could you forget? Like, so many of your people died under the hands of the Egyptians. You saw water turn to blood. You saw the sky turn black. You heard the screams of people who lost their firstborn.

And God told you that very day, "Don't wait for the bread to leaven." That was the whole point. Why? Because you were supposed to escape. How in the world would you forget this? Well, embedded into that even more, I'm just going to pass to the next portion, was another kind of observance called the redemption of the firstborn that the Jewish people still practice to this day.

In Exodus 13, so I'll turn over there, Exodus 13, verse 2, God said, "Sanctify to me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast. It belongs to me." Moses said to the people, "Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery, for by a powerful hand the Lord brought you out from this place." What is he referring to?

A lot of times the Jewish people, and we too forget, yes, they were being delivered. Yes, they were being rescued from the hands of the Egyptians. But the greatest thing they were rescued from was the wrath of God among the people, everybody. The firstborn of every single house died unless there was the blood of the sacrificial lamb on their home.

Right? Finally, within even this whole context of God preparing these people to move, they haven't left yet. They're just getting prepared. God wanted people to have phleracteries, man, that's a hard word to say. Teflon. In Exodus 13, verse 16, God said, "So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and as phleracteries on your forehead, for with a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt." If you just look it up on Google, you'll see even to this day there are people with small decorative boxes bound around their head, and what they have is little written scriptures in there to help them remember.

What is my point? Well, sometimes it is flabbergasting and a little bit, like, unbelievable, but literally within this one first generation, you know they will forget. It's convicting, isn't it? At the moment they step out of seeing God's incredible power, and with their eyes they see the desert, they see the chariots behind them, they see that they don't have water, they see that they don't have food.

Immediately they will forget. This is like us too, brothers and sisters. We have experienced incredible mercies by God. We have experienced lavishing love that we don't deserve. We've received forgiveness that sometimes it just baffles our mind, like, it's too easy. The sins that we've committed, how could you forgive us so freely?

And yet we turn around, something happens, and all of a sudden we forget. God knew. And that's why in Ephesians chapter 2, turn there, Ephesians chapter 2, verse 11, Scripture is calling to us, you know through the gospel that you were once dead. You walked among the sons of disobedience, but it was God's mercy.

So what you need to do is remember. In Ephesians chapter 2, verse 11, it says, "Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who were called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision, which is performed in the flesh by human hands, remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who were formerly so far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Amen. This is time for us to just remember. For us, even you know, just thinking how many years are we removed. Thinking that yes, we weren't part of the commonwealth of Israel.

We were strangers, we were far off, and yet brought near by the blood of Christ. Essentially, what is a killer of thanksgiving in our hearts is forgetfulness. Essentially, what is a killer of thankfulness in our hearts are getting so myopic to, "Oh my goodness, I have to do this, and I have to do that, and there are so many things going on." So preoccupied and consumed with whatever it is the agenda of your day that we're forgetting to thank the Lord.

But remember, there is this principle that Jesus said. Pastor Peter has been preaching through the book of Luke, and in Luke chapter 7, there is a woman who comes to anoint Jesus, and she is, according to the world, a defiled woman. She is, according to the world, an unworthy woman.

She shouldn't be even stepping foot in the house of the men who have gathered. But she comes, and she starts to pour out the oil, and Pastor Peter reminded us, "Do you have any idea how much that oil would have been worth to her?" And she starts crying and weeping and going down to his feet to kiss his feet.

And self-righteously, the men in the room look up and say, "Jesus is no prophet. "If he was a prophet, "he would know how dirty this woman is." And in the midst of that, Jesus asks Simon a question. He says, "I'm going to ask you a question. "Who would be more thankful, "one who's been forgiven a hundred "or one who's been forgiven thousands?" Easy answer, of course, the one who's been forgiven more.

And Jesus Christ gave us this principle, "Much forgiven, you will love much." So for us, the call is just simple. Do we feel the gravity and the weight? Do we feel the extent to which when we think about how far Christ came down to this earth to walk this dirty and perverse land, do we understand the depth to which God has reached to save?

Point two is simply this. God must truly be your all in all. In order to have this thankful, rejoicing sentiment in our heart that's not contingent upon the stuff we have, the people we have, and the kind of life we live, but rather it transcends all that to be much like the pilgrims, to be much like the generation.

God must truly be your all in all. In Exodus 15, I'm going to read to us the passage that I read earlier, and it says, "When Moses and the sons of Israel "sang this song to the Lord." So chapter 15 is immediately after the rescue. The incredible drama of running and then hitting the sea, and the chariots coming, and the sea splitting, this is immediately after that great, great deliverance by God.

And then so, singing to the Lord, it says, "I will sing to the Lord, "for he is highly exalted, "the horse and his rider he has hurled into the sea. "Lord is my strength and song, "and he has become my salvation. "This is my God." Pause there. If you take a moment to think about the beautiful verses within Scripture, we have everything describing so many things that God gives to us, and the Scripture actually says, what are we going to give in return to all the benefits that God gave to us?

I want you to think of sometimes the idiom, or maybe a cliche kind of phrase that is thrown around during Thanksgiving, which is, "Man, we really need to learn "to count our blessings." Especially, let's say, if you're kind of in a humbug attitude, and you're going across both Thanksgiving and Christmas season, and you're just like, "Oh, there's all this stuff I need to do." A lot of times, the idiom is just simply, "You need to count your blessings." Well, I will say, in one sense, it's absolutely right.

We, as Christians, should be able to list off, "This is how my God has been faithful. "This is everything that I have, "according to his grace and mercy." Amen? But you know that it's more than that, right? You know that it's so much more than that, because if you are talking to this generation, did the nation of Israel, did the God's people, did they come out of that completely unscathed?

Did they not lose people? Did they not suffer? Did they not, yes, they got delivered, but did they not have nothing with them but just what they could carry? Were they not looking into a barren desert? It's hard to just be like, "Hey, count your blessings," right? So my point is, we have to do so much more than that.

To say that God is my salvation is to know that I have God as my everything, that I have God as my warrior, I have God as my protection, I have God as my provision. And so this beautiful poem, a song that Moses wrote, it continues in verse 11.

So chapter 15, verse 11. "Who is like you among the gods, O Lord? "Who is like you, majestic in holiness, "awesome in praises, working wonders? "You stretched out your right hand. "The earth swallowed them, "and in your loving kindness, "you have led the people whom you have redeemed. "In your strength, you have guided them "to your holy habitation." Amen.

The thankfulness that we have moves us to see God as truly the source of everything. But now I want us to think, because how many times for you as a Christian, have you heard that, right? That you shouldn't love the gift, but you should be in deep, deep love with the gift giver, right?

That you shouldn't just want the temporary and the fleeting things of life, but that you should have God Almighty, who is your sufficient supply of everything. How many times as a Christian have you heard that, right? To not just see God as a cosmic vending machine, but rather to see Him as the one you love.

And maybe even more appropriate to our season now, nobody loves Jeff Bezos. For the people who don't know who he is, he is the founder of Amazon. Nobody loves Amazon. They just love the stuff that comes next day delivery. You get the analogies. You've heard the preaching before, that for us to just simply love the stuff and not the person who's giving, that doesn't actually equate to the kind of faith and the kind of sentiment of thanksgiving we should have.

But what I'm going to say now is, God Himself will put to the test the thanksgiving and the faith that we exercise. Okay? We know that God is supposed to be everything, but God will cause us to be tested in this. The people of this generation, immediately after, are walking.

And they start grumbling, saying, "Where is the food? I'm so hungry." And they grumble in such a way where it's absolutely offensive, and they start saying stuff like, "I wish we were back in Egypt. At least there we had stuff." Right? I mean, they were enslaved. They had people of their own kinsmen be just buried underneath the buildings.

And yet they say stuff like this. I want you to take a moment now to turn to the very next chapter, chapter 16, and see how quickly people turn to complaining. Okay? In Exodus 16, I'm going to read for us a little longer segment from verse 1 through 7.

Exodus 16, 1 through 7. It says, "They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin," which is between Elim and Sinai. "On the fifteenth day of the second month, after their departure from the land of Egypt." Okay? So this is only a month and a half.

Fifteenth day of the second month. Okay? "The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The sons of Israel said to them, 'With that we have died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt.'" What? What did they just say? That God himself would have just killed us there.

"When we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger? And the Lord said to Moses, 'Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you.'" Pause there. I mean, it wouldn't have been hard for us to be like, "And I will rain fire," right?

Instead of bread. And it says, "And the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day that I may test them." Huh. Did you ever think about that? Wait a minute. I thought the giving of the manna was just simply the blessing. It was God conceding to their grumbling.

Are you sad that you're here? Are you sad you don't have food? Well, then here, at least here's the bread, right? No. He says, "I'm going to test them whether or not they will walk by my instruction." And you know exactly what happens. It says, "On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.

So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, 'At evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, for here is your grumbling against the Lord. And what are we that you grumble against us?'" So in looking at that passage, I know I'm kind of making this point that God is using the provision of the manna as a means to test the people.

What do I mean by that? You know that God gave this stipulation. "I'm going to give you this sweet bread." Scripture says that it was like melting honey. And when the sun came out, it actually melted like honey, right? So essentially, you just have like sweet, I just imagine, you know, not 85 or anything like that, but it's something sweet, right?

Okay. But God's rule was you are only allowed to go out every day and pick up what is good for your family that day. And you know what's crazy? As God said, this bread is so miraculous that for those of you guys who can't pick up enough, you go to your house, you'll have enough.

Those of you guys who are a little greedy and you pick up too much, you go to your house, it's going to disappear. Right? That's what he said. It's magical bread. And then on the sixth day, there will be a double portion that rains down from heaven. It's going to be like dew on the ground.

And guess what? It's going to last two days. Why? Because on the seventh day, you're supposed to observe the Sabbath. And remember who? God, the creator. You're a deliverer. And you know exactly what they did. A lot of people started hoarding too much. And then so I started to think, like, dude, the killer of Thanksgiving in our heart is grumbling.

Grumbling that we don't have food. But the thing is, let me just take a moment to meditate together. You and I are way mature, too mature to just grumble about food. Right? I mean, how many of us would get sweet, sweet bread and be like, "Oh, bread." Right? We'd all just eat it.

I know I would. You guys know I love sweets. Right? Well, one, they grumbled because they didn't have meat. Okay? A lot of us, maybe we just can't eat the same food over and over again for months and months and months. You know, they actually ate this for 40 years.

They ate this for the whole generation. Okay? So then you kind of ask, what were they actually grumbling about? I started to think and meditate. I got to be honest with you, in my kind of self-righteous heart, I was getting frustrated with these people. How can you be grumbling?

Right? You straight up don't even need to work. You don't even need, like, imagine God said, "I want you to plant this magical seed," so that they had to go and till the ground. That would be so hard. But they were always moving. There would be more complaining. So God just gave them stuff they can pick up along the way.

And I'm sitting here self-righteously thinking, "What's wrong with you people? How can you complain to God?" Right? And then you realize, "Oh, wait a minute. I probably would have complained too." Because if I have to pick up stuff every single day, my first thought would have been like, the, you know, efficiency part of me.

I'd be like, "We could just gather everything and we don't have to do this every morning." And that's probably what the people did. And that, you know, you always have that person who's like, "Moses, Moses, I got an idea." You know? Maybe that would have been me. What's more, once you guys are parents in here, imagine giving this stuff to your children every single day.

Imagine you having to carry this and all that stuff, and you have to carry it to your family members, and your family members are complaining, you're dealing with this, and like, "Oh, how come we can't have that stuff?" My point is, you take a moment to imagine, you take a moment to drop that into their shoes, we're not very different.

If I was walking around aimlessly, it's hard to be thankful when you're thirsty. It's hard to be thankful when you start feeling like there's not going to be any change in your life. For those of you guys who are struggling with feeling like you're at, "Dude, this job is kind of dead end." Those of you guys who kind of feel like, "I don't have the best people around me." Those people who kind of feel like, "You know what, it would be so much better if..." And you have all these fantasies of, "If only certain things would happen, "this would be so much easier, so much better." We're not so different.

And so what am I saying? Well, quick question to you is, is there any grumbling, complaining in your heart about your lot in life? God has been testing you. God has been testing these people just with bread. Would you obey and follow? Would you be content with the provision that I give you?

There is a reason why God was teaching them that his provision for them was going to be sufficient for that day, and then he's teaching us to pray, "Give me my daily bread." Yes? But are we getting so caught up, getting so discontent, that we would raise a grumbling heart to the Lord?

What kills a thankful heart is grumbling. My final point attached to this is that a primary description of the depraved people are a thankless people. Now, that sounds so not in line with what I was saying. Like, how do you have a thankful heart? It's like, well, a primary thing of the unbelievers, essentially, is thanklessness.

And here's the point that I'm making, okay? Tying this together, if we have eyes of the flesh, we're going to be complaining all the time. Why? It makes sense. There's so much, so much in this world that is broken. There's so many things that are, like, not supposed to be, okay?

There's so much violence, wickedness, selfishness, evil, perversion. We completely, completely live in a depraved world. If you have eyes of flesh, when you complain, it makes sense. When you grumble, it's logical, right? I want you to take a moment to turn to Romans and walk down a passage with me.

What I'm going to say is this. There is a sensibility to the unsaved, to the depraved. Now, that's going to sound weird, but take a moment to think with me. Romans 1, verse 21. "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened." This is a primary description of the unbeliever, of the hardened of heart, that he sees God but can't give thanks to Him.

Is that just all nonsensical, complete blindness? Yes, but what I'm saying also is that's a practical decision. Look at verse 25, same chapter. Romans 1, 25. "For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever." Why?

Because they can see it. They can tangibly manipulate it. They can carry their gods with them. They can control it. There's a rationale to this, and it's almost practical. Romans 1, verse 28. "And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do the things which are not proper." There is this progression within Romans 1.

Essentially, they see God, and they kind of see Him, but they really don't, right? And it's not like the other gods where they can just go however they want. You understand that the people back in their time couldn't just approach God however they wanted. It was so much more convenient to have an idol in your house, right?

And what's more, they continued down this path of seeing and not really seeing, seeing and not really seeing. Who is Romans 1 primarily talking about, you think? It's the people of the past. It's the people who had the law. In verse 32, it says, "Although they knew the ordinance of God, but those who practiced such vile wickedness and they were worthy of death, they not only did the same, but also gave hearty approval to those who practiced it." Basically, it was the wilderness generation who were given the law.

And why do I say it this way? It's because the challenge for us is to have eyes not of practicality, not have eyes of efficiency, not have eyes of productivity, not have eyes that are fleshly in terms of what I can see, what I can touch and control, which is so the bent of every non-Christian.

In order for us to have a thankful heart, we have to have eyes of faith, amen? We have to see beyond what our eyes see and have trust. The great call and exhortation for the Christian is to walk not by sight, but by trust. By trust. There's a passage in Philippians 2, verse 13-15, I want to read to you.

And it says, "For it is God who is at work in you." Do you believe that? "For those of you who are very discontent "with where you are now, "and so your heart would complain "about just simply your own maturity, "do you believe and trust that God is working in you?" It says in Scripture here that He is working in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

"So do all things without grumbling or disputing "so that you will prove yourselves "to be blameless and innocent children of God, "above reproach in the midst of a crooked "and perverse generation, "among whom you appear as lights in the world." Brothers and sisters, it is God's will for us that we would be absolutely thankful.

In order to do this, I reminded us, remember. Remember deeply how much we have been forgiven, how desperate we were. Remember that we have to see God not simply as a source of things, but rather that He himself is our all in all. And what's more, in every circumstance and situation, we look up, not with pragmatic eyes, not with our own logical eyes, not with our own senses, but with absolute trust.

Let's take a moment to pray. Heavenly Father, we do want to take time to thank you. Our hearts are filled with gratitude. God, we do count our blessings. Lord, we take a moment to look at our lives in the grace that you've poured out. We take a look at our whole church, the people you have provided, the provisions, the teaching, the love, the grace, the fellowship, and more.

But ultimately, God, we know there is absolutely, God, no one like you, and to have you is everything. We know, Father God, we could lose the world. People can take it away. We could even lose our health. We could lose our own senses. And yet, to have you means we have it all.

And I pray then, Father God, from knowing this and from having faith and trusting in you, you would grant to us an overwhelming joy and peace in our lives. We thank you this in Christ's name. Amen. Let us all rise for the closing praise. (gentle music) ♪ There's no one like you, my Lord ♪ ♪ No one could take your place ♪ ♪ My heart beats to worship you ♪ ♪ I live just to see your face ♪ ♪ There's no one like you, my Lord ♪ ♪ No one could take your place ♪ ♪ There's no one like you, my Lord ♪ ♪ No one like you ♪ ♪ You are, you are my God ♪ ♪ You're everything to me ♪ ♪ There's no one like you, my Lord ♪ ♪ No one like you ♪ ♪ You are my God ♪ ♪ You're everything to me ♪ ♪ There's no one like you, my Lord ♪ ♪ No one like you ♪ ♪ There's no one like you, my Lord ♪ ♪ No one could take your place ♪ ♪ I long for your presence, Lord ♪ ♪ To serve you is my reward ♪ ♪ There's no one like you, my Lord ♪ ♪ No one could take your place ♪ ♪ There's no one like you, my Lord ♪ ♪ No one like you ♪ ♪ You are my God ♪ ♪ You're everything to me ♪ ♪ There's no one like you, my Lord ♪ ♪ No one like you ♪ ♪ You are my God ♪ ♪ You're everything to me ♪ ♪ There's no one like you, my Lord ♪ ♪ No one like you ♪ ♪ You are my God ♪ ♪ You are my God ♪ ♪ You're everything to me ♪ ♪ There's no one like you, my Lord ♪ ♪ No one like you ♪ ♪ You are my God ♪ ♪ You're everything to me ♪ ♪ There's no one like you, my Lord ♪ ♪ No one like you ♪ - Amen, let's pray.

Heavenly Father, as a congregation gathered, we lift to you our praises and our thanksgiving. God, we are so grateful for every single thing you have granted to us in life. We are so grateful, Father God, for all the common mercies, daily grace, everything God knew every morning from your hand.

But also, Lord God, we are so grateful just to have you. We want to say to you, Lord, I wish, Father God, that our faith will continue to grow in such a way where we can say, God, to the world, try it, take away anything. Take away the friends, take away the luxuries, take away all the provisions.

God, we are so secure in you. And I pray, Father God, that you would continue then to work in us in such a way that we are drawn so close, Father God, that we have all the hope and all the promise we need. We thank you again this day, Lord, it's in Christ's name.

Amen. (SINGING) God sent his son. They called him Jesus. He came to earth. He looked for pain. He lived and died. To buy my heart, an empty grave is there to hold. But save your lens, because immense I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future.

And life is worth the living just because he lives. Because he lives. The radiance of the Father before the dawn of time, you spoke and all creation came to be. The molecules and planets reveal your great design. And everyone was made so we could see. So we could see.

You are the glorious Christ, the greatest of all delights. Your power is unequal, your love beyond all heights. No greater sacrifice when you lay down your life. We join the song of angels who praise your day and night. Glorious Christ. You left the air of heaven to breathe the dust of earth and dwell among the outcast and poor.

You came-- Test, test, test. Thank you. All right. Let's try the last song, just the intro. So let's try it. It counts, and then come in all together. I think it sounds fine. Are you talking about, like, rhythmically, or like-- did you want to try playing something different? I mean, I think it sounds fine the way it is.

All right. One more time. There's no one like you. That's really good. I mean, I'm just-- for me, I'm just holding the D. I mean, I could do-- But it doesn't-- I mean, for me, it's fine. It doesn't sound right to you. I mean-- I mean, for me, like, my-- I was thinking for this to show up, it was going to be very, very sublime.

I mean, I would-- I didn't mean it to be something like that, but to, like, kind of-- Which other song do you want to do? Oh, chorus of the song? OK. Let's try that. Go. One, two. (SINGING) You are my God. You're everything to me. There's no one like you, my Lord.

No one like you. You are my God. You're everything to me. There's no one like you, my Lord. No one like you. I mean-- All right. Yeah, we'll create--