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Gratitude · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

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Isaiah 45 eight is the theme verse that we have begun the
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year with, with this idea of God opening up the heavens and
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raining righteousness upon us so that salvation and righteousness
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would sprout up. It says it like this shower, oh
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heavens from above, let the clean the clouds rain down
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righteousness, let the earth open that salvation and
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righteousness may bear fruit. Let the earth 'cause them both
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to sprout. I, the Lord have caused it.
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This is what we want. We want the righteousness of God
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manifested in our lives and then through our lives in the lives
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of other people. We want in our city, we want in
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our county, we want the righteousness of God in our
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community and businesses and the streets and homes and stores and
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marriages and schools and beyond all the places we do art,
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entertainment and recreation. We want the righteousness of God
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to sprout up God to shower it down and for it to produce fruit
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for God's glory. One of the ways that we've been
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seeing that and one of the reasons why we're taking 4 words
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in January is because of the work that God's been doing in
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the schools and the the County School specifically that I
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exposed you to last week as I interviewed Dr. Clint Terza.
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As they've taken 4 words right out really of the one another
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subscription and they're training them to every student,
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every teacher and every administrator. 4 things the
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Bible says human beings need to flourish.
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Those 4 words we're actually taking one at a time on Sunday
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mornings because they're manifestations.
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They're ways that if righteousness was going to rain
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in our city, you know what it sound like?
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It sound like kindness, and it'd sound like gratitude, and it'd
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sound like hope, and it'd sound like forgiveness.
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And then guess who is going into these schools to do the training
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for all these people on these biblical things?
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Pastors of local churches. Unbelievable, right?
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I mean, my goodness, if God was going to give an opportunity for
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righteousness to reign, that's partly how it would look, no
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doubt. But God wants to do this even in
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more and more ways. But we're just taking a moment
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to remind ourselves, starting off the year, if this is our
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trajectory in focus, if this is what we're praying for, what we
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want, then how should this practically actually look in our
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lives? And so the word for today, right
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out of Scripture is the word gratitude.
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All right, I love Christian biography.
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If you don't read stories of fateful Saints, let me just tell
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you, you ought to It will bolster your faith.
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I think people can disciple us from the grave If you'll read
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what they wrote and how they follow Jesus by faith.
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If you'll read their stories. One of the stories biographies
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you should read is the titled The Hiding Place by Corey
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Tenboom. All right.
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She was the daughter of a Dutch watchmaker during the early
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well, the years of World War 2 when Nazi Germany was seeking to
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overtake and they were rounding up and confiscating the Jews and
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of course the the horrors that took place during that time.
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But many people like Corey and her sister Betsy and her father
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were part of what they called the resistance where they
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realized what was going on. And they actually to the risk of
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their own health and safety and lives went out of their way to
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provide name of the book a hiding place for people that are
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being hunted by the government so they could hide and escape
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with their lives. By the way, you'll read in the
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home of how that father read the word of God to his family every
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day. I mean, they're just little
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things you'll pick up by reading about faithful Saints.
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So guess what they were ready to do when evil came because they
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were bolstered by the word of God.
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They were ready. They were ready as weapons of
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righteousness. And so they began to put their
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lives on the line for others. And as you read the story,
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you're going to find out that both the father and Betsy and
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Corey are eventually taken into custody for what they were
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doing. And they were put into
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concentration camps. And as you can imagine, they
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suffered horrendous horrors at the circumstances they endured
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for the decision to operate righteously in the face of evil.
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They were imprisoned at Ravensbrook concentration camp
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and there their barracks were overcrowded.
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The ladies, Betsy and Corey, had food that was poor and meager.
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When they got food, their accommodations were filthy.
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One of the most unbearable elements that they endured in
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these barracks was a was a flea manifestation where Betsy
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arrived and she got in her bunk and she said the lights went off
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and all the sudden she felt her whole body being bitten by
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something and they knew immediately.
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What it was, what they suffered, was unbelievable.
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And yet Corey had stuffed and hidden a copy of the word of
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God, and on her it was never discovered.
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And while behind bars and in these barracks, these two ladies
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would lead a Bible study. It would start from one end and
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it'd be translated and Polish and Hungarian and other
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languages. As it made it, it made its way
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down the barracks as the word of God was translated softly under
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their breath so the guards wouldn't hear outside.
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And they led countless ladies to Christ.
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But as they did this, one of the things that they felt led to do
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was what 1st Corinthians 518 says.
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When Betsy was lying on her bed being bitten by fleece, she said
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she felt like the Lord told her what the word of God says.
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Give thanks in all circumstances, she whispered to
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Corey. They ought to give thanks, to
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which Corey said, Uh, uh, I'm not thanking God for the fleets.
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There's no way, there's no way God could have anything good
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going on because of these fleas. I can't imagine thanking God.
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And yet Corey was eventually persuaded by her sister to obey
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the word of God. They began to thank God even in
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the circumstances and situation of being man, of being infested
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with fleas, where the Bible study went on and countless
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ladies went confessed Christ as a result.
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And of course, Corey ends up surviving.
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Betsy eventually finds out later on the reason why they were able
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to have the Bible study and lead so many to Christ is because the
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guards would not enter the barracks.
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And do you know why the guards would never enter the barracks?
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Because of the fleas that Betsy said.
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You know what we ought to thank God for?
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Without the fleas, there may have been no Bible study.
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Maybe nobody led to Christ and they thank God even.
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Even for the fleece, the Bible says to give thanks in all
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circumstances. Our word that we're going to
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look from the Scripture at today is gratitude.
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One of the ways God wants to reign righteousness in our lives
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and through our lives is through a life lived out of gratitude
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grounded in the gospel. Gratitude.
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What is it y'all? Gratitude is a way of seeing the
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world. I want you to listen to a verse
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of Scripture that ought to be an anchor point of our worldview as
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believers. James 117 says every good.
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Gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the
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Father of lights with whom there's no variation or shadow
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due to change. All gratitude is a worldview
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that says life owes me nothing and everything I do have that's
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good is a gift. And every gift is from God.
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It's a worldview. The life owes me nothing, and
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every good gift I have I've received, and I've received it
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ultimately from God. This is what gratitude is.
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Let's define it this way if you're follow along in your
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notes. Gratitude is appreciating every
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good gift in life and recognizing that it all
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ultimately comes from God. No one should be more grateful
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than a Christian. Let me give you a few reasons
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why. A few reminders this morning for
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us as believers. Second Corinthians 915 says
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thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift.
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Don't you think about that descriptor there of gift?
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What gift have we been given and received as believers?
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It's our salvation through Jesus Christ.
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It's a gift that's inexpressible.
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You can't fully put into words just how wonderful, just how
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magnificent, just how breathtaking the fact that God
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would love us so much in our sin and rebellion and ingratitude
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towards Him. That He would send His one and
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only Son to live a sinless life in our place.
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To die and pay for our sin debt on the cross.
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To be buried in a tomb tasting death and by the power of God go
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victorious over death by walking out alive, never to die again.
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Offering us forgiveness and life and eternity with Him.
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If only we would believe by faith that He did it for us out
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of His love. Unbelievable.
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Inexpressible, right? This is why Christians ought to
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be the most grateful people on the planet.
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We've received what we could have never earned or deserved in
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the Gospel. Let's keep going.
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First Corinthians 1556 and 57 says this the sting of death is
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sin. The power of sin is the law.
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But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord
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Jesus Christ. We haven't yet seen Christ face
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to face when he returns as we're going to do right now.
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We're battling sin. We're battling the the forces of
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darkness and the evil one who's got an agenda that's opposing in
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opposition to God and every day is a good fight of faith as we
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walk against the forces against us and yet we've been given the
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victory through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12/28.
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Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a a Kingdom that
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cannot be shaken. You know, we got a future coming
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that we cannot even put into works.
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A new heavens and a new earth, The presence of God, life,
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eternal life. I mean, try to wrap your mind
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around this this afternoon. It'll blow your mind to keep you
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awake during your nap. Forever, Forever with God.
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Forever with God, with no more death, no more pain, no more
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tears, no more struggle. Forever with God.
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Life forever y'all. Gratitude ought to be the ground
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we walk as Christians. It's our response daily as
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children of God. It's our posture because of the
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gospel. It is our attitude as followers
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of Christ. Gratitude is the is the reality
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of appreciating every good gift and recognizing it's all coming
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from God. I just want to stop before I go
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any further and ask you to ask yourself the question between
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you and God. Have you received the
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inexpressible gift of salvation through Jesus Christ?
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Listen, that's where real gratitude begins.
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When you realize what God has done for you that you couldn't
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do for yourself. That changes everything.
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And, and, and if you say I pastor God, I'm not, I'm not
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sure that's happened for me. Then listen, right now what you
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need to understand is what I told you earlier, what Jesus has
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done for you, living for you, dying for you, and defeating
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death for you. And the Bible says all who call
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on the name of the Lord will be saved.
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It's a matter of believing that Jesus is who he is.
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He's done what he said he did as the Bible says so clearly, and
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it's asking him for forgiveness to be your Lord and Savior and
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giving your life to him as he's given his life for you.
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You can call on him even now and receive salvation if you by
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faith will receive it #2 Gratitude, y'all is a command
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for all Christians in all. Circumstances to go back to that
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First Thessalonians 518 give thanks in all circumstances for
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this is the will of God for you in Jesus Christ.
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Paul doesn't say notice he doesn't say give thanks for all
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circumstances. What does he say?
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Give thanks in prepositions matter.
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That's a big difference between for all circumstances and in all
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circumstances, there's a difference, right?
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Some things we're going to experience in life are evil.
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They are wicked, they are confusing and they're not of
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God. And yet God is in control.
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But even he allows us to experience things that are that
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that are not good, that we that we obviously wouldn't want that
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are evil and not of him. And yet he calls us through this
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command to, even when we're walking through things in life
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that we wouldn't want, that are painful and difficult to look
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for God's presence, His promises, and his purpose that
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he's working through these things in our lives.
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And This is why no matter what we're going through, we can, by
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the power of the Holy Spirit, actually give thanks to God.
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No matter what the circumstances are, we can give thanks in all
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circumstances. And like we put last week, do
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you remember when we said that kindness is a spiritual weapon?
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Gratitude is also a weapon of war.
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In spiritual warfare. Gratitude is a response to
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wickedness and the lies of the enemy that allows us to strike
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back with the truth of God. Listen to how the lies of the
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enemy will come your way. They're going to come in the
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form of entitlement. There's going to be days the
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devil whispers in your ear. You deserve better.
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You deserve more. He's going to whisper to you,
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you know, God's been better through comparison.
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God's been better to him. God's been better to her.
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God's holding out on you. And entitlement will creep in
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and comparison will creep in. And this is the spiritual
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warfare of the enemy. And then cynicism will kick in
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and then you're going to think, well, it doesn't matter anymore.
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God's checked out on me. I might as well check out on
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him. And the lives of entitlement and
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comparison and cynicism and gratitude is like a sword of the
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truth of the Word of God, which you stand on the promises of
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God, and you wield the truth back in the face of the enemy.
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And you fight back by faith, by walking in gratitude based on
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the promises of God, looking for His presence, seeing His purpose
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and understanding, even when you don't know everything and
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understand everything and can't see the destination.
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God's right there with you. He's not left you nor forsaken
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you. And so this is gratitude.
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Gratitude is an act of war against unbelief.
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Have you learned by the power of the Holy Spirit within you, to
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give thanks in all circumstances?
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I say by the power of the Holy Spirit, because you're not going
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to do it in your power. You know a lot.
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Of times we think the manifestation and work of the
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Holy Spirit in our lives should be kind of like fireworks going
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off. And that's usually not the way
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it happens. The Holy Spirit wants to allow
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you to do the ordinary mundane things that Scripture tells you
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to do that you can't do without his help.
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Where you just going to have to say, Lord, I don't see it, I
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don't understand it, but I believe you.
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And I'm going to trust your word just like Betsy and Corey and
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Corey 10 Boom did while they were being bitten by fleas and
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say, God, I don't know what these fleas are accomplishing.
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But you know, the whole time God could see it, God could see it.
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The whole time they couldn't see it, God could see it.
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They trusted by faith. And that faith allowed them
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eventually to see that God had a purpose even when they couldn't
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see it. The great Bible commentator
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Doctor Matthew Henry was once robbed.
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As he walked along the highway Afterwards, his friends said
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that there were four things that he said to them through being
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robbed, that he was going to give thanks anyway.
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Listen to this, he said. First, he was grateful that he
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had never been robbed before. Second, though they took all my
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money, he said, they didn't take very much.
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Praise God. Third, though they took my,
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though they took my money, they did not take my life.
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Thank you, Lord. Finally, he said, I'm thankful
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that it was I who was robbed and not I that robbed.
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Got to think on that one for a second.
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That's a little example, little insight.
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What does it mean to give thanks in all?
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Can you give thanks even when you've been mugged along the
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highway? Yes, he did an example of just
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that. This is someone who's learned to
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give thanks in all circumstances.
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Again, this is going to make you look and sound weird to
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everybody else around you. They're not going to understand
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you start living gratitude. You're going to start raining
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righteousness. Salt and light is going to be
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put in the wounds of people that are hard hearted toward God and
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wondering what is that healing agent I'm being exposed to that
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is radically different than living how I live.
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Then you got an opportunity to give an answer for the hope that
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you have. By the way, no matter what
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situation or trial, there's always a reason to give thanks.
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If Romans 828 is true and it is that for those who know God and
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who love God and are called according to His purpose, all
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things work together for what? For good for those who love Him
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and are called according to His purpose.
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And then furthermore, scripture shows us that practicing
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gratitude is like an antidote to our anxiety.
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Listen to Philippians 4-6 and seven.
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Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and
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supplication with a little small ingredient here we often we
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think we can substitute that ingredient with something else.
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Sometimes y'all try to cook like that.
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Sometimes I have put a different ingredient in there than what it
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calls for. God says it calls for
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Thanksgiving, which Sir. And then let your request be
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made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses what
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human understanding it can't be explained.
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It's supernatural, it's of the Holy Spirit, it's provided by
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God, it's from heaven, it's not from earth, it's not in peel
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form, it's not in person form. You can't go buy it on a shelf
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form. It's from God form because it
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passes all human understanding with not peace which passes
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understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus
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shall the truth is right. So many, so many professing
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Christians, including you and me, we struggle with often times
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perpetually being pulled back into a cycle of living stressed
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out of living, worried of living anxious of living in fear of
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living insecure of living with a nervousness maybe about us and
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what could happen and what if this or what if that what if and
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God didn't design us to live that way.
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And God says, you bring, you bring your stuff to me and you
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bring it with an attitude of faith because you're not going
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to give thanks. You're not going to give thanks
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unless you believe God's good and then he can be trusted.
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So it's that little ingredient that's got to come with it.
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You bring your stuff to me and you bring it with Thanksgiving
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and who I am. And you let me give you a way to
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do life, that when Jesus has come to me, all who are weary
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and have you late and I'll give you rest.
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There's a way to do life that's abundant when we abide in
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Christ. There's an antidote to our
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anxiety. It's God's goodness and our
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gratitude. How do you, how do you grow in
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gratitude? Well, let me give you just three
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simple things that I think are really easy to overlook.
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Number one is to notice. Let me give you a, a verse that
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should anchor how we notice the goodness of God and his goodness
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is in our life. John 116 says from his fullness,
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that's the fullness of Jesus Christ.
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We've all received what grace upon grace the Bible doesn't
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say. God drips grace like a dropper,
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like from a eyedropper bottle. God says grace.
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God flows in our lives wave after wave after wave, like the
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ocean continuing to crash on the beach.
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It just constant. It never stops.
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The tide of God's grace is always in our lives and it is
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always wave after wave. Grace upon grace of the kindness
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and goodness of God. One man said gratitude begins
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when a man stops treating grace is rare and starts recognizing
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it as reality. The more clearly you see his
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that's God's fullness, the more naturally thank you becomes the
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posture of your soul. So we first must just notice
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like the wake up and realize man, I need to notice the grace
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and wave upon grace of God in my life.
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That's all around me #2 is to think.
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Once you notice, think about. Consider the source of
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everything good in your life. Think about their origins.
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Spend time remembering The Who, the what, the why, the how.
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It's been said that gratitude is simply the art of paying
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attention. And the more we pay attention,
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the more we see what has always been true.
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Our lives are soaked in grace. The third notice.
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Think and think. Think, actually express
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gratitude. Live by a habit of saying thank
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you verbally, tangibly. Thank you notes and showing up
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and blessing God. Waking up and writing down thank
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you over and over for what God's given you in your prayer
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journal. Waking up and smiling and living
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with a grateful heart because of all the wave after wave after
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wave of grace in the smallest of things in your life.
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I'm going to show you a short video.
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I know it's Christmas themed, but I think it's going to give
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you a visual of what did. What would it be like to
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actually notice and think about and thank?
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For all the. Small things, like ordinary
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things in our lives. Watch this.
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I'm alive. I'm alive.
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Yeah. Hey, Christy, you're here too.
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I love you. I know.
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What's happening? Hunting.
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The power works. It's going.
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It goes on and off. Whatever we want.
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We've got clean water. That's great.
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Look at that. I bet I know what this does.
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Bring down the glorious water shoes.
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Oh, what do we got here, guys? Food.
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I love soup. What a a booth please.
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Will you not have work just for something?
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Come on. Listen here, Dee.
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Do what, Jack? Be careful.
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I have. A.
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Car. Did you guys see this?
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You have a car. A car.
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And don't forget your coffee. You're the best.
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That's pretty eye opening, isn't it?
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I mean, you may be like, well, if somebody provided my
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breakfast that way and handed me my keys and, you know, brought
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me my briefcase and, I mean, handed me my coffee, I could
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wake up like that every day too. And maybe so, right, be a little
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bit easier, but just all the basic things of life.
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I mean down to the very breath and our lungs is provided and
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sustained by God. And This is why our lives are
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wave after wave soaked in God's grace in all kinds of ordinary
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and extraordinary ways. Famous author by the name of GK
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Chesterton once wrote you say grace and what he means is by
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saying thank you, praying before meals, you say grace before
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meals. But I say grace before the
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concert and the opera and the sporting event, before I open a
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book, before I dip my pen in the ink.
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What is he saying? He's saying listen.
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Yeah, you may have the habit of stopping and saying thank you at
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meal time. But listen, saying thank you
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should be the habit and posture of a Christian at every time,
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because everything that we experience, not just the food in
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our mouths or on our plates, is a gift from God.
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This is ought to be a way of life in which we live.
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To live grateful is to live awake to the grace of God #3 I
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want to point this out. Ingratitude.
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Ingratitude is one of the worst of sins.
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It's one of the worst of sins. Doctor HA Ironside, well known
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preacher, theologian and writer of yesteryear had dinner at a
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restaurant by himself and after he found his seat and he had
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ordered his meal, a gentleman walked up to him and said,
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Doctor Ironside, would you mind if I sat down with you?
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To which he said, no, go right ahead, that's that's just fine.
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Once his food arrived, Doctor Ironside bowed his head as was
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his custom and silently prayed a prayer of thanks over his food,
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to which the guest that had joined him looked at him and
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asked the question. Doctor Ironside, do you have a
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headache? No, I'm.
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I'm fine. I feel fine.
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I don't have a headache. Well, do you feel sick?
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No. I, I I don't feel sick.
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Is there something wrong with your food?
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No, no, not that I can tell. Nothing's wrong with my food, he
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said. Well I saw you sitting there and
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then bow your head, I thought you must be sick.
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Something that must be wrong with your food.
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Something must be off. To which Doctor Ironside said,
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no, I'm simply returning thanks to God, which is my habit every
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time before I eat. To which this gentleman then
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responded. Oh, you're one of those are you?
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He said in response. I want you to know, Doctor
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Ironside, that I never give thanks.
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I earn my own money by the sweat of my own brow.
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I don't have to give thanks to anybody when I eat, I just start
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right in to witch. Doctor Ironside looked him in
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the eye and said Yep, you're just like my dog.
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He does the exact same thing. Now here's the non funny truth,
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you ready? Many dogs and men act the exact
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same towards God. Many dogs and men act the exact
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same. The ones created in the image of
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God, the ones that God sent his one and only Son for, often act
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the same way as irrational animals towards the one who
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sustains the molecules of oxygen in their blood.
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It ought not be the sin of ingratitude.
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You all actually started in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve
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said, God, what you've given us is not enough.
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We want more. We're ungrateful, God, for your
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provisions that you've given us, we want more.
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They rebelled against God. Sin entered the world.
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The rest is history. Obviously one of the other
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places in Scripture I want to show you just real quick that is
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really one of the most powerful illustrations of the ugliness of
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the sin of ingratitude comes out of Luke 17 as Luke records an
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incident in the life of Jesus that goes like this beginning in
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verse 11 on the way to Jerusalem.
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He that's Jesus was passing along between Samaria and
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Galilee and as he entered a village he was met by 10 lepers
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who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices saying
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Jesus Master have mercy on us. And when we saw them he said to
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them go and show yourselves to the priest and as they went they
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were cleansed. Then one of them when he saw
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that he was healed turned back praising God with a loud voice
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and he fell on his face at Jesus's feet giving him thanks.
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Now he was a Samaritan and then Jesus answered, we're not ten
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cleansed. Where are the 9 was no one found
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to return and give praise to God except this foreigner and he
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said to him, rise and go your way.
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Your faith has made you well. Now this is fascinating, right?
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To be a leper was to be someone who had a disease that was so
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contagious and without cure that you were cut off from your
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entire family, from your friends, from society.
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You lived off in a commune with other lepers and you did not get
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to participate in the normal walk of life of society.
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You lived a totally different, cut off, separated, pretty
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miserable life. There was no hope physically for
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a leper. When they see Jesus, they don't
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get close. They know kind of the social
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custom not to get too close, but they call out.
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They know this one has the power to heal.
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They've heard they want help. They cry out in faith.
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Jesus tells them to do something.
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That sounds odd, right? He says go and show yourselves
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to the priest. And that sounds weird, but
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during the Old Testament days, the law prescribed if you were
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healed, if you thought you were healed, you would go and show
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yourself to the priest who would inspect and see and then declare
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you clean if you were in fact healed.
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Know what's odd about this is Jesus tells them to go show
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themselves before they're before they're healed.
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They got to exercise. Some faith and start walking and
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they do. And guess what happens on the
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way? They look down and their flesh
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is completely restored, and yet they do what mankind generally
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does in light of all the goodness of God.
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In general, mankind does not return thanks to God, and the
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story illustrates that. How many out of 10/1?
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And this one? Not the one you would have
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expected. This one was a Samaritan one
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that was hated by Jews and hated Jews in return.
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Ethnically, there were some differences that caused the two
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to hate each other in ways they didn't even pass by or go
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through one another's regions. And this Samaritan came to
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Jesus, a Jew, the one you'd least expect to give thanks,
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while 90% of them didn't, just went about their lives as if
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Jesus had never done anything for them.
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This is the ugliness of the sin of ingratitude, in fact.
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The Bible in this story, you would think, well, that's
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certainly that's not like typical.
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That's not typical of mankind. No, it's in the Bible because
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Jesus wants us to know that is typical of mankind.
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In fact, the Bible reinforces it in other places like Romans
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chapter one, verse 21. For even though they they're
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he's talking about Paul's talking about mankind in general
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and at large, although they knew God, they didn't honor him as
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God or give what or give thanks. The majority of mankind has
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chosen to act like a dog towards God and act like he hadn't given
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him anything. Ingratitude is a sin, y'all?
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That characterizes the lives. Of the lost, the don't know
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Jesus, Second Timothy 3 one through 3 says.
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But understand this, that this, that in the last days, as we get
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closer to the return of Christ, there will come times of
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difficulty. For people will be lovers of
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self. Listen to this description and
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ask yourself, is this not a description of the world we live
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in? For people will be lovers of
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self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient
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to their parents, ungrateful. I mean, of all the sins you
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would think are listed right there, you wouldn't think that'd
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be one of them. Like maybe that doesn't sound
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like a big deal, but when it's toward God, it colors the whole
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deal. Ungrateful, unholy, heartless,
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unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal,
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not loving, good, ingratitude. God's word says it's going to
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only grow in the last days. This response towards God is not
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going to decrease, it's going to increase.
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Believers are called to live just the opposite.
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Just the opposite. And in this way we reign
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righteousness. In our lives, by the power of
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the Holy Spirit, in the lives of others, y'all, it's been said
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that we could actually do a measure, You could actually do a
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measure of your spiritual health this morning by the single
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criteria of gratitude. And here's how I'm about to list
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off a bunch of things that are not going to be in your life,
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that are not going to be healthy in your life, that are not going
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to flourish in your life unless gratitude has been put in first.
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Unless gratitude is in the foundation you ready So here's
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just a list of things that they're not going to be true in
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your life unless gratitude is happening.
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Number one, you're not going to be a positive person unless
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gratitude is in your life. You're not going to be a person
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aware of God's presence unless gratitude is in your life.
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You're not going to be a humble person unless gratitude is in
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you're going to be like I earned my money by the sweat of my own
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brow. God's got nothing to do with it.
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You're not going to be peaceful because you're not going to be
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bringing your stuff to God with Thanksgiving.
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If gratitude is not, you're not going to have, you're not going
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to be thoughtful of others without gratitude.
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You're not going to be generous, you're not grateful, you're not
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going to be unselfish, you're not going to be evangelistic,
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You're not got you're not going to add an overflow of a love for
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Jesus and love for God based on what he's done for you in the
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gospel. Share with anybody else, unless
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you're first grateful for what God has done for you in the
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gospel, you're not going to be friendly, you're not going to be
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contagious. You're not going to be
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motivated, servant hearted, faithful, fruitful, or joyful.
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And that's just a sample list of what's impacted in your life if
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gratitude is not flowing from being grounded in the gospel of
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Jesus Christ because of what He's done for you.
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But we're not. This is something so simple, but
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I'm telling you the tributaries of righteousness it produces are
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pervasive in your life or not, depending on I came across this
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statement. This guy's not even a believer
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and yet he recognized the truth of a man by the name you'll
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recognize of Cicero. But he said gratitude is the
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mother of all virtues. You know, sometimes even a lost
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person can speak the truth of God when they see it for
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themselves. Y'all, when we struggle for
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gratitude, we ought to examine the cause.
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What I'm about to do next is list a few things that could be
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could be a cause of a lack of gratitude in your life.
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This list is not exhaustive, but this list is meant to be
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introspective so that you can maybe just, hey, bounce these
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off your heart. Bounce these off your mind, see
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if you might be stuck or struggling in any of them and,
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and, and, and you may have a decision to make #1 You might be
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lacking gratitude because you might not be saved.
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Doctor Richard Blackaby, son of Henry Blackaby, spoke to our
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Bartow Baptist Minister ministerial association for
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lunch on Wednesday. He made a statement when he was
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talking out of John 3. When Jesus looks at Nicodemus
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and says you must be born again, he says, listen, many people
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have prayed A sinner's prayer that have not been truly born
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again. You know, sometimes it's
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possible to do something you think you should do or your
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parents want you to do, or the church says you should do, or
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you think the pastor thinks you should do, but it's not really.
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It's not really from you, in the depths of your heart and your
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soul with your faith in Jesus, not yours.
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It may be something you did to please others or to do because
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you thought it was the right thing, but prayed a prayer but
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never been really changed by the love of God.
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Calling out with all your heart and soul to be saved and
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forgiven may not be saved #2 You might be dealing with doubt and
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unbelief in the goodness and power of God.
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You know how easy it is to begin doubting the power and goodness
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of God when you're hurting. You start wondering, don't you,
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God? Why God?
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What God? What if all the sudden doubt and
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unbelief to creep in #3 you could be infected with some
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selfishness and worldliness, right?
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It's not hard to go out into the world and see the world pursuing
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what everything they think makes a human being happy.
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More stuff, more pleasure, more me, more mine, more success,
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more earthly things. It's pretty easy to get caught
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up in that current, But if you do, you'll never actually be
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satisfied. Somebody's always ahead of you
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with a little bit more that can infect our hearts #4 we may have
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contracted a critical spirit. You know what a critical spirit
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is? It's what happens to a human
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being when typically they've been hurt in the past and
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they've never really fully healed from that hurt.
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Don't you hate when a rock hits your windshield?
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My kids keep asking me when am I going to replace my windshield?
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Like, well, when I actually can't see through it or it
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really becomes a problem. Kind of at the bottom.
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It's not in my line of sight. So there you go.
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I'm just being transparent right here, NSF.
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You know, what happens is in life, we can be hit by rocks and
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sometimes we refuse to have our windshield changed.
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And So what happens is we can't see life outside of the the hurt
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that we've experienced. And it colors everything we see.
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It colors everything we say. It colors everything we do.
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And then what happens is we're fearful it'll happen again.
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So we exercise control. We got to control everything.
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Or we're critical of others because you know what?
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There's no way to see a positive outlook on life when my
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windshield is cracked. Don't y'all know rocks fly
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around here? You're going to get hit.
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We fail to realize. Listen, God's in the business of
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replacing windshields by His grace, but we just maybe haven't
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let Him replace ours. Rob, you I.
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Don't rob you of gratitude #5. We might be spiritually.
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Lukewarm. You've kind of lost.
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Your first love and joy in. Jesus, your zeal for God, your
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passion and prayer and worship, love for the Word, gotten an
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appetite for things of the world, and it's killing your
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gratitude. Number six, we might be in
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rebellion against God. This was the most extreme,
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right? When you actually say God, I'm
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going to turn my back on you. I'm going to raise my fist at
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you, maybe even worse because God, I'm angry at you.
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And that one will kill. Will kill gratitude y'all.
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The truth is, thankfulness is a choice and it's a choice by
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faith. You can only choose by the power
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of the Holy Spirit and sometimes.
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You got to pray, God. I don't want.
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To be thankful. But God, I know you can make me
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thankful. You can change my heart.
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And God, I want to wage war on ungrateful ingratitude.
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In my life. And all the things that are of
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the enemy. And I want you to flow out of me
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the fruit of what righteousness would bring in my life if I
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chose gratitude. 4th And finally, let me just show you
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this. Let me just be honest.
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This is not Bible for what I'm about to tell you.
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But I bring it up even just quickly because I want you to
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recognize that even people who don't believe the Bible are
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recognizing how good what the Bible says is true and what it
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does in our lives. All right, so listen to this.
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Practicing gratitude actually blesses every area of our lives,
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even recognized by those who are not followers of Christ, people
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that study this kind of thing. Studies show that gratitude
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reduces stress, anxiety, and depression.
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Gratitude improves sleep, strengthens our immune system,
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lowers blood pressure and heart rate and relationships.
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Gratitude strengthens connections with other people
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and improves our overall well-being.
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If you could go to the doctor and they could put that in pure
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form, it would be called a miracle drug and we couldn't.
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Afford it? They'd ask.
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You to pay that much? God says listen, you just come.
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To me, all you who are what weary and heavy laden, I'll
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give. You.
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I got a way to do life that's life giving.
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I want to reign righteousness in your life and through your life
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to others. But you got to choose by faith,
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even when life's hard, to say that God is good and I will obey
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even when I don't understand, so that God.
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Can do what he's promised. To do.
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In your life I. Want you to do something right
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now, John and Priest seem. About to come out now.
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The first service I don't think really wanted to do this, so I
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need y'all to do a little better.
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You ready? I need you to pull out your
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phone, all right, because I'm asking.
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You to send a text message. In the next 30 seconds.
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So if I know you're looking at me.
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You're not obeying what I'm asking to do, all right?
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So you can't use your thumbs and look at me at the same time.
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I want you to just say I. Want you to just practice
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gratitude right now. Send a send a text to somebody
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saying thank you for some. Reason now if you get a text
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back that says what's going. On don't tell them.
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Pastor Kyle told me to do. It all right, just said I was
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led. It could have been your pastor,
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could have been the Holy Spirit I was led to.
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Just couldn't help but say thank you.
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Tell them thankful. For something they've done.
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Maybe for who they are, tell somebody thank you and when you
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get done with that. I want you to put.
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Your phone aside and. I want you to bow your head and
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close your eyes because I want to go from texting somebody to
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talking to God. Our prayer time before we
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observe. The Lord's Supper.
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Together, which, by the way, is one of the greatest acts not
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just of remembrance, but of gratitude for what God has done
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for us. I want us to simply have a
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chance to voice out loud some things we're grateful to God
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for. Maybe one sentence, prayers,
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God, I'm grateful for this or for that.
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Maybe something related to what we're about to celebrate in the
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supper. For the gift of Jesus, His body,
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his blood, his suffering, and His sacrifice for something
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God's provided you. I want us to just simply enter a
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time of expressing gratitude before we partake and remind
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ourselves of the greatness of God's love for us.
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So if you sent your text, I want you to bow your head, close your
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eyes right now and somebody's going to start us.
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Somebody's going to say something.
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They're. Grateful for and I just want to
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give us a couple minutes to do this and I'll finish this so
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somebody start tell God something you're grateful for
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somebody follow that and let's just voice our gratitude to God
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right now somebody start father everything we.
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Have is from you and. We say thank you.
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God, I want. To ask that you would allow us
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to live. Out every day that gratitude
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because of Jesus and because of the power of the Holy Spirit in
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US and Father as. We come to a time where we.
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Come to the table that you've prepared before us, sending your
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Son to take on human flesh, to actually live sinlessly, to pay
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for the price of our sin on the cross, to suffer, to experience
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the depth of the pain of He who knew no sin becoming sin for us,
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that we might become the righteousness of God, That he
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would go to the grave, that he would taste death, that he would
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walk out alive by the power of God.
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Lord Jesus, we rejoice. We rejoice in you by the gift of
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your Son. And I pray that as we move into
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a chance, Lord, now, to even physically participate in the
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bread and the cup reminding us of the broken body and the shed
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blood, that God, you'd flood us with gratitude for your
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goodness. Lord, this would be what we live
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out of. This would be the roots of our
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lives. This would touch everything else
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we do and say. And God, I pray.
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That if we're struggling for any.
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Reason for gratitude we would be willing to say, God have your
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way. We surrender ours, change our
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windshield, heal our hearts. God, we trust you even when the
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fleas are biting. We trust that you're good.
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I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.