Latest / Voice of Rick warren / Thanksgiving Message to the Nation from Pastor Rick
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Happy Thanksgiving Day, everybody. I'm Rick Warren, founding pastor of
- 0:04Speaker 1: Saddleback Church in Southern California, author of The Purpose Driven Life,
- 0:08Speaker 1: teacher on the Daily Hope broadcast, and leader of the
- 0:11Speaker 1: Finishing the Task Coalition of mission agencies. Thank you for
- 0:15Speaker 1: listening to this brief word of encouragement that I wanted
- 0:17Speaker 1: to give to you on this Thanksgiving Day, 2020. Now,
- 0:22Speaker 1: you may be at home, alone watching or listening to this,
- 0:26Speaker 1: or you may be with a small group of people
- 0:28Speaker 1: this Thanksgiving, but we all know that this Thanksgiving is
- 0:32Speaker 1: different from any other we've ever experienced.
- 0:36Speaker 2: Now, even in.
- 0:37Speaker 1: Good times, Thanksgiving is not an easy holiday for many people.
- 0:41Speaker 1: How can you be thankful when your doctor says it's cancer?
- 0:45Speaker 1: How can you be grateful when someone you love just
- 0:47Speaker 1: walked out of your life? How can you be thankful
- 0:50Speaker 1: when you've been fired or your dream has collapsed? Now,
- 0:55Speaker 1: this year has been the worst year for millions of people.
- 0:59Speaker 1: How am I supposed to be thankful this Thanksgiving? Well,
- 1:05Speaker 1: it's true that this year our lives and our families
- 1:09Speaker 1: and our communities and our nation and the entire world
- 1:13Speaker 1: has been shaken by a series of storms. We've had
- 1:18Speaker 1: the global infirmity of COVID-19. We've had the resulting insecurity economically.
- 1:24Speaker 1: of millions of businesses closed and tens of millions of
- 1:27Speaker 1: people out of work. We've had social instability in our cities,
- 1:31Speaker 1: racial inequality and political incivility. All of these storms have
- 1:36Speaker 1: hit us hard this year in 2020. And many people
- 1:41Speaker 1: this Thanksgiving don't really feel very thankful. Instead, and maybe
- 1:45Speaker 1: you feel this way, you feel tapped out or shut
- 1:48Speaker 1: out or stressed out or worn out or wrung out,
- 1:52Speaker 1: down and out this Thanksgiving. And yet, God tells us many,
- 1:57Speaker 1: many times in the Bible that gratitude, thanksgiving, is the
- 2:02Speaker 1: healthiest single emotion to human beings. Gratitude and thanksgiving actually
- 2:09Speaker 1: relieve stress. Gratitude and thanksgiving increase happiness. Gratitude and thanksgiving
- 2:15Speaker 1: increase a sense of peace. Raise your spirits. And now
- 2:20Speaker 1: we know from multiple medical studies that gratitude is actually
- 2:24Speaker 1: good for your physical health. It actually increases your immunity.
- 2:29Speaker 1: Now the Bible says this in 1 Thessalonians 5, 18,
- 2:34Speaker 1: give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will
- 2:39Speaker 1: of God for you in Christ Jesus. Now, you know,
- 2:42Speaker 1: when you look at that verse for the first time,
- 2:44Speaker 1: it seems to be pretty cruel. Give thanks for everything?
- 2:49Speaker 1: It might even seem to be masochistic. Why should I
- 2:52Speaker 1: be thankful, grateful for all the bad things in my
- 2:55Speaker 1: life and in the world? Should I be grateful for cancer?
- 2:58Speaker 1: Should I be grateful for injustice? Should I be grateful
- 3:01Speaker 1: for this pandemic or should I be grateful for evil?
- 3:04Speaker 1: The answer is of course not. God does not expect
- 3:08Speaker 1: you to be grateful for what's wrong and evil and
- 3:11Speaker 1: bad and broken in this world. To understand this verse correctly,
- 3:18Speaker 1: You have to look closely at it. It doesn't say
- 3:21Speaker 1: for everything give thanks. It says in everything give thanks.
- 3:28Speaker 1: That's a big difference. To be thankful for everything would
- 3:33Speaker 1: be masochism, okay? But to be thankful in everything is maturity.
- 3:41Speaker 1: You know, A railroad runs on two rails. It has
- 3:45Speaker 1: to have both tracks to move forward. And life is
- 3:48Speaker 1: a lot like that. You get the good and the
- 3:51Speaker 1: bad at the same time. There will never be a
- 3:54Speaker 1: time in your life when everything is good and nothing
- 3:57Speaker 1: is bad. There'll never be a time like that. There
- 4:00Speaker 1: will never be a time in your life when everything
- 4:02Speaker 1: is bad and nothing is good in your life. You
- 4:06Speaker 1: get them both at the same time. That's called life.
- 4:08Speaker 1: That's why on the cover of Kay's book called Choose Joy,
- 4:12Speaker 1: is a picture of a railroad tracks. Because even in
- 4:15Speaker 1: bad times, there's still good things that I can be
- 4:19Speaker 1: grateful for. So let me just mention a couple of
- 4:22Speaker 1: things that God has done for you that you can
- 4:25Speaker 1: be grateful for this Thanksgiving. And you can be grateful
- 4:30Speaker 1: in the circumstances that are bad, not for what's bad,
- 4:34Speaker 1: but for the things that are good in your life.
- 4:36Speaker 1: Then I'll share with you a couple of ways that
- 4:37Speaker 1: you can express your thanks this Thanksgiving, even during the pandemic.
- 4:42Speaker 1: I believe, friends, and the reason I'm doing this video
- 4:45Speaker 1: is this could be the most meaningful Thanksgiving you've ever had.
- 4:52Speaker 1: It could be. If you remember some things and you
- 4:57Speaker 1: do some things, all right? What do I need to
- 4:59Speaker 1: remember and what do I need to do this Thanksgiving
- 5:02Speaker 1: in the middle of COVID-19 that could make it the
- 5:06Speaker 1: greatest Thanksgiving ever? Well, first, even in bad times, I
- 5:11Speaker 1: can always be grateful for the grace that God has
- 5:15Speaker 1: shown to me, for the grace that God has shown
- 5:18Speaker 1: to me. Let me read you what the Bible says.
- 5:20Speaker 1: Ephesians 2.8 says, you have been saved by grace through believing.
- 5:27Speaker 1: You didn't save yourselves. It was a gift from God.
- 5:30Speaker 1: What is grace? It's every gift God has given you.
- 5:35Speaker 1: It's what God gives us even though we don't deserve us.
- 5:37Speaker 1: God gives us what we need, not what we deserve.
- 5:40Speaker 1: If God gave us what we deserve, none of us
- 5:42Speaker 1: would be alive. But everything we have in our lives,
- 5:45Speaker 1: everything good in our lives is a gift of God. Everything,
- 5:48Speaker 1: the air, water, love, friendship, the sun. We would have
- 5:54Speaker 1: nothing if it weren't for God. It's all God's gift
- 5:57Speaker 1: to us. That's called grace. Psalm 101, two to 11 says,
- 6:02Speaker 1: I will not forget. the glorious things that God does
- 6:05Speaker 1: for me. He forgives all my sins. He heals me.
- 6:09Speaker 1: He ransoms me from hell. He surrounds me with love.
- 6:14Speaker 1: He fills my life with good things. He is merciful
- 6:18Speaker 1: and tender toward those who don't deserve it. He is
- 6:22Speaker 1: slow to get angry. I'm grateful for that. He never
- 6:25Speaker 1: bears a grudge. He does not punish us According as
- 6:29Speaker 1: we deserve for our sins. That's grace this Thanksgiving be
- 6:34Speaker 1: grateful for God's grace in your life Everything you have
- 6:37Speaker 1: good is a gift from God second this Thanksgiving I
- 6:42Speaker 1: need to remember that even in bad times I can
- 6:45Speaker 1: always be grateful for the plans that God has for
- 6:49Speaker 1: me the plans that God has for your life the
- 6:52Speaker 1: Bible says that God's plan is is a good plan.
- 6:56Speaker 1: It's not a bad plan. It's not an evil plan.
- 6:58Speaker 1: It's not a hurtful plan. If you seek God's plan
- 7:02Speaker 1: for your life and you stay in God's plan for
- 7:05Speaker 1: your life, good things will happen in your life. In
- 7:08Speaker 1: Jeremiah 29, 11, God says this, I have good plans
- 7:13Speaker 1: for you, says the Lord. I don't plan to hurt you.
- 7:17Speaker 1: I plan to give you a hope and a good future.
- 7:23Speaker 1: You know, Some of you this Thanksgiving are feeling so
- 7:26Speaker 1: down and so low, you've maybe even considered taking your life.
- 7:31Speaker 3: Please don't. Please don't.
- 7:33Speaker 1: Don't make a permanent decision on a temporary mood. We
- 7:38Speaker 1: need you here. You matter to God. You matter to us.
- 7:42Speaker 1: There's a national hotline called the Suicide National Hotline. You
- 7:46Speaker 1: can call if during this holiday you're feeling that low.
- 7:50Speaker 1: But I want you to know that God is not
- 7:54Speaker 1: finished with you. God's plan for your life is a
- 7:57Speaker 1: good plan, a plan to give you hope and a
- 8:00Speaker 1: plan to give you a future. You know, here's what
- 8:03Speaker 1: I've learned in my walk with God. I know I
- 8:06Speaker 1: look very young, but I've walked with God, had a
- 8:09Speaker 1: friendship with God for over 60 years. You know, here's
- 8:13Speaker 1: what I've learned. Although life is not always good, God
- 8:18Speaker 1: is always good. Although life is not always good, there's
- 8:22Speaker 1: a lot of bad in life. God is always good.
- 8:24Speaker 1: And I've learned that everything I go through, God sees it,
- 8:29Speaker 1: God cares about it, God grieves about the hard things
- 8:33Speaker 1: I go through. Do you know the Bible says God weeps?
- 8:37Speaker 1: And the truth of the matter is, no matter what
- 8:40Speaker 1: I go through, he's gonna go through it with me.
- 8:44Speaker 1: That gives me hope. That makes me grateful. Now, of course,
- 8:48Speaker 1: God doesn't plan the sins in your life or my life.
- 8:52Speaker 1: Sins are done by us as a matter of choice.
- 8:55Speaker 1: They're either done by you or they're done against you
- 8:59Speaker 1: by other people who make bad choices. We make our
- 9:01Speaker 1: own choices and God isn't responsible for that. And other
- 9:05Speaker 1: people make bad choices too that affect us. And God
- 9:09Speaker 1: isn't responsible for that. But here's the good news. In
- 9:13Speaker 1: God's good plan for your life, he includes even sin.
- 9:17Speaker 1: those bad choices to use them for good. God already
- 9:21Speaker 1: knew before you were born every dumb choice you'd ever
- 9:24Speaker 1: make and every dumb choice somebody else would make that
- 9:28Speaker 1: would hurt you. But because he's a good God and
- 9:31Speaker 1: he's a wise God, he says, you know what? I
- 9:33Speaker 1: can use that too. I can fit that in. I
- 9:36Speaker 1: can use the mistakes. I can even use the sins.
- 9:41Speaker 1: They're not good, but God says, I can even bring
- 9:44Speaker 1: good out of them. One of the reasons we can
- 9:46Speaker 1: be thankful in bad times, not for bad times, but
- 9:50Speaker 1: in bad times, is because the promise of Romans 8, 28.
- 9:54Speaker 1: We know that in all things, God works for the
- 9:58Speaker 1: good of those who love him. and have been called
- 10:01Speaker 1: according to his purpose. So I can be grateful for
- 10:04Speaker 1: the grace of God in my life and I can
- 10:07Speaker 1: be grateful and thankful to God for the good plan
- 10:11Speaker 1: he has for my life. And the third reason I
- 10:14Speaker 1: need to be grateful this Thanksgiving is to remember that
- 10:17Speaker 1: even in bad times, I can always be thankful for
- 10:21Speaker 1: the home that God is preparing for me in heaven.
- 10:25Speaker 1: I can be thankful for the hope of heaven. This
- 10:29Speaker 1: is not the end of the story. We may lose
- 10:33Speaker 1: some battles, but ultimate victory is ours. The final chapter
- 10:37Speaker 1: has yet to be written. And that is eternity with
- 10:41Speaker 1: God in a perfect place called heaven. You know, I
- 10:44Speaker 1: remember many years ago when Kay and I got engaged,
- 10:47Speaker 1: we began preparing a place for us to live. We
- 10:50Speaker 1: were decorating a new condo. It's all we could afford,
- 10:54Speaker 1: but we were using the best we could and being
- 10:56Speaker 1: creative to prepare a place for us to live. How
- 10:59Speaker 1: long has God been preparing heaven for you? For eternity.
- 11:05Speaker 1: Jesus said in John 14, verses two and three, I'm
- 11:08Speaker 1: going to prepare a place for you. And if I
- 11:12Speaker 1: go and prepare a place for you, I will come
- 11:13Speaker 1: back and take you to be with me one day
- 11:16Speaker 1: that you may be where I am. That's called heaven.
- 11:21Speaker 1: We can be grateful that this is not the end
- 11:23Speaker 1: of the story. What is heaven gonna be like? Well,
- 11:26Speaker 1: it'd be hard for me to explain it because heaven
- 11:29Speaker 1: has dimensions we can't even fathom. We live in a
- 11:31Speaker 1: three-dimensional world. But the Bible says, eye has not seen
- 11:36Speaker 1: and ear has not heard and no one has ever
- 11:37Speaker 1: even imagined the wonderful things that God has prepared for
- 11:41Speaker 1: those who love him. It's really indescribable. Think of the
- 11:46Speaker 1: most beautiful scenes you've seen on earth, sunsets, sunrises, beaches, mountains,
- 11:52Speaker 1: and God created this and this world's broken. Think how
- 11:54Speaker 1: perfect heaven is gonna be. Matthew 25, Jesus said this,
- 11:59Speaker 1: then the king will say, come you who are blessed
- 12:01Speaker 1: by my father and take your inheritance. Did you know
- 12:05Speaker 1: that you have an eternal inheritance in heaven? Take your inheritance,
- 12:08Speaker 1: the kingdom I prepared for you since the creation of
- 12:12Speaker 1: the world. God has been preparing heaven for you and
- 12:15Speaker 1: for me since before he created the world. The Bible
- 12:19Speaker 1: says in the book of 1 Peter 1, God has
- 12:22Speaker 1: reserved for his children the priceless gift of eternal life,
- 12:27Speaker 1: and it's kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled,
- 12:31Speaker 1: beyond reach of any change and decay. In other words,
- 12:34Speaker 1: COVID-19 can't get to heaven. And God in his mighty power,
- 12:38Speaker 1: it says, will make sure that you get there safely.
- 12:42Speaker 1: Did you hear that? God will make sure that you
- 12:44Speaker 1: get there safely to receive it. Why? Because you are
- 12:48Speaker 1: trusting him. So be truly glad and grateful, by the way.
- 12:57Speaker 1: There's a lot of pain in the world. There's a
- 12:59Speaker 1: lot of pain going on, particularly in 2020. And the
- 13:03Speaker 1: Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians chapter four, that we
- 13:06Speaker 1: often suffer, but we're never crushed. And even when we
- 13:10Speaker 1: don't know what to do, we never give up. And
- 13:13Speaker 1: in times of trouble, God is with us. And when
- 13:16Speaker 1: we get knocked down, we get up again. This is
- 13:20Speaker 1: all in the Bible. What I'm reading to you is scripture.
- 13:23Speaker 1: It says, we know that God raised the Lord back
- 13:25Speaker 1: to life. And just as he raised Jesus, he'll also
- 13:28Speaker 1: raise us back to life. And he'll bring us into
- 13:30Speaker 1: his presence together. So he says, we don't focus on
- 13:36Speaker 1: all the troubles we see right now. The pandemic, the insecurity,
- 13:40Speaker 1: the instability, the incivility. the inequality, all the things in
- 13:45Speaker 1: the world. He says, we don't focus on the troubles
- 13:47Speaker 1: we see right now. Instead, we look forward to what
- 13:49Speaker 1: we don't see yet. But the troubles that we see
- 13:53Speaker 1: right now are temporary. But the joys to come will
- 13:59Speaker 1: last forever. You know, it has been a great comfort
- 14:04Speaker 1: to me since my son died seven years ago. He
- 14:07Speaker 1: took his life. He struggled with mental illness all of
- 14:11Speaker 1: his life. He knew the Lord. But in a fit
- 14:13Speaker 1: of depression one day, he took his life. He loved
- 14:18Speaker 1: the Lord. I know Matthew is in heaven. And if
- 14:21Speaker 1: he could talk to me from heaven today, he would
- 14:23Speaker 1: say this, dad, it's far better than you explained it.
- 14:29Speaker 1: It's far, far better than you explained it. You know,
- 14:35Speaker 1: I am thankful that I won't have to live with
- 14:38Speaker 1: pain forever. And I'm thankful that you won't have to
- 14:41Speaker 1: live with pain and hurt forever. Because in heaven, there
- 14:45Speaker 1: will be no broken relationships, no broken minds, no broken bodies,
- 14:53Speaker 1: no broken dreams, no broken promises. That's something we have
- 14:58Speaker 1: to look forward to. And that's something I can be
- 15:00Speaker 1: grateful for on Thanksgiving day. The Bible says, God will
- 15:05Speaker 1: wipe away every tear from their eyes. and there will
- 15:10Speaker 1: be no more death and no more mourning and no
- 15:13Speaker 1: more crying and no more pain. That's an eternity. Have
- 15:18Speaker 1: you settled the issue of eternity yet in your life?
- 15:21Speaker 1: Are you certain that when you die, you'd go to heaven?
- 15:24Speaker 1: On what basis have you based that? The only basis
- 15:28Speaker 1: for getting into heaven is to accept the first gift
- 15:30Speaker 1: we talked about, the grace of God. I can't earn
- 15:33Speaker 1: my way to heaven. I can't work my way to heaven.
- 15:36Speaker 1: It's just a gift of God's grace. If you've never
- 15:40Speaker 1: done that, the thing you ought to do this Thanksgiving
- 15:43Speaker 1: is say, God, I receive the grace of Jesus Christ today.
- 15:48Speaker 1: I know I'm not worthy of it. I wanna put
- 15:50Speaker 1: my trust in your son you sent to be a savior.
- 15:54Speaker 1: I want you to do that today if you've never
- 15:56Speaker 1: done it.
- 15:59Speaker 2: Now, how?
- 16:00Speaker 1: How can I give thanks in all situations? Not for everything,
- 16:05Speaker 1: but in everything. And how can we give thanks this Thanksgiving? Well,
- 16:07Speaker 1: there are many, many ways. But let me just mention
- 16:10Speaker 1: a couple ways real quickly. I don't know that God
- 16:16Speaker 1: has given you these thanks, but the first way you
- 16:20Speaker 1: can give thanks, the first way I can give thanks
- 16:23Speaker 1: is thanksgiving, is by telling others what I'm grateful for.
- 16:28Speaker 1: Telling others what I'm grateful. The Bible calls this a testimony,
- 16:32Speaker 1: giving a testimony. I wanna suggest you give a testimony
- 16:36Speaker 1: to somebody to tell somebody what you're grateful for. Your
- 16:40Speaker 1: simple expression with your words of what you're grateful to
- 16:43Speaker 1: God for. The Bible says in Psalm 97, verse 12,
- 16:46Speaker 1: remember what your holy God has done for you and
- 16:49Speaker 1: give thanks to him. Psalm 50, 23, giving thanks, God says,
- 16:55Speaker 1: is a sacrifice that truly honors me. Did you know
- 16:58Speaker 1: that when you say thank you, God, you're giving a
- 17:01Speaker 1: sacrifice to God? I wanna encourage you today to take
- 17:04Speaker 1: some time to jot down on a list of reasons
- 17:08Speaker 1: to be grateful. in the middle of all the problem,
- 17:11Speaker 1: the pain and the pandemic, I want you to encourage
- 17:14Speaker 1: your family members to do the same and take some
- 17:16Speaker 1: time to share with them one way or another today,
- 17:21Speaker 1: whether it's around a table with your masks on or
- 17:26Speaker 1: by email or by phone, or by video conferencing or
- 17:30Speaker 1: do a Zoom call. I hope that sometime today you
- 17:34Speaker 1: will sit down with your family or friends or outside
- 17:38Speaker 1: socially distant, or as I said, on a Zoom call
- 17:43Speaker 1: or social media, that you'll spend some time publicly expressing
- 17:47Speaker 1: your thanks to God for the things you're thankful for.
- 17:51Speaker 1: You know, that could become a meaningful tradition with your
- 17:53Speaker 1: family and your friends. This could be actually a thanksgiving
- 17:57Speaker 1: that you, spend more time thanking God than eating and
- 18:02Speaker 1: watching football. Sometimes the only thing we don't do on
- 18:05Speaker 1: Thanksgiving is take time to give thanks. Second way to
- 18:10Speaker 1: give thanks. First, talk about it. You know, tell your testimony.
- 18:14Speaker 1: Tell other people what you're thankful for. Second way to
- 18:16Speaker 1: give thanks is by singing. You say, Rick, I can't sing. Well,
- 18:20Speaker 1: the Bible says make a joyful noise. Anybody can do that, okay?
- 18:23Speaker 1: Just make a joyful noise. You don't have to carry
- 18:26Speaker 1: a tune. The Bible says in Psalm 95, let us
- 18:30Speaker 1: come to God with thanksgiving, singing songs of thanks to him.
- 18:37Speaker 1: Here's what I want you to do. At the end
- 18:39Speaker 1: of this video, I've asked our Saddleback team to share
- 18:42Speaker 1: a medley of thanksgiving songs. I want you to watch
- 18:46Speaker 1: it by yourself or with your family. these songs of Thanksgiving.
- 18:55Speaker 1: I urge you to go to the Daily Hope website
- 19:00Speaker 1: sometime today on this Thanksgiving day and watch this brief
- 19:04Speaker 1: medley by yourself, as I said, or with somebody you're
- 19:07Speaker 1: having Thanksgiving with. Third way that you can express your
- 19:10Speaker 1: thanks to God this Thanksgiving is by looking for a
- 19:13Speaker 1: way to be generous, giving back to somebody else. You know,
- 19:18Speaker 1: thanks and giving go together. That's why we call it Thanksgiving.
- 19:24Speaker 1: We give thanks at Thanksgiving by giving. Psalm 116 verse
- 19:31Speaker 1: 17 says, I will give you an offering to show
- 19:35Speaker 1: my thanks to you. Do you know what Kay and
- 19:37Speaker 1: I did today? We wrote out a check to give
- 19:40Speaker 1: a thanks, a large check that we could just to
- 19:43Speaker 1: show our expression to God of our Thanksgiving. Do you
- 19:47Speaker 1: know that 4,000 years before Thanksgiving was established by the pilgrims,
- 19:55Speaker 1: there was another day of Thanksgiving called the Feast of Weeks. 4,000
- 19:59Speaker 1: years before the pilgrims established Thanksgiving. In Deuteronomy 16, verse 10,
- 20:04Speaker 1: it says this. You are to celebrate a harvest festival Okay,
- 20:10Speaker 1: what's that mean? Fall. You were to celebrate a harvest
- 20:13Speaker 1: festival to honor the Lord by bringing him a freewill
- 20:17Speaker 1: offering in proportion to the blessing he's given you in
- 20:20Speaker 1: the past year. So just find a way to be
- 20:23Speaker 1: generous today, okay? Figure out a way to be generous,
- 20:27Speaker 1: to give yourself away, give your time away, give some
- 20:29Speaker 1: money away. If you don't have a place to give,
- 20:32Speaker 1: a Thanksgiving offering, you can help us. You can help
- 20:35Speaker 1: us feed the people who are out of work by
- 20:38Speaker 1: going online to saddleback.com slash give. You can give a
- 20:41Speaker 1: Thanksgiving offering there. But you don't have to do that.
- 20:44Speaker 1: You just give it to help somebody. Give a Thanksgiving
- 20:48Speaker 1: offering that will be used to feed people out of
- 20:51Speaker 1: work during COVID-19. You know, here at Saddleback, we've already
- 20:55Speaker 1: fed over 500,000 families and people this year. Over 13,000
- 21:01Speaker 1: Saddleback members have volunteered to give away literally millions of
- 21:05Speaker 1: pounds of food because of your giving. Finally, let me
- 21:10Speaker 1: just say a personal word to our Saddleback Church family.
- 21:15Speaker 1: As your pastor, I am so honored to be your pastor.
- 21:20Speaker 1: You know this past year has been a very difficult year.
- 21:25Speaker 1: And I just want to say thank you, thank you,
- 21:28Speaker 1: thank you, thank you. from the bottom of my heart.
- 21:31Speaker 1: I thank God for your maturity in a very difficult year.
- 21:36Speaker 1: I thank God for your joy. I thank God for
- 21:40Speaker 1: your patience while we have waited to restart worship services publicly.
- 21:45Speaker 1: I thank God for your love, for your prayers. I
- 21:51Speaker 1: thank God for your trust in my leadership. I want
- 21:56Speaker 1: you to know that I have been sustained this entire
- 21:59Speaker 1: year by the kind letters and the kind notes that
- 22:04Speaker 1: you have written to me during the year. You can guess,
- 22:08Speaker 1: it wouldn't take much wisdom to figure out that I've
- 22:12Speaker 1: had a lot of pressure this year from a lot
- 22:15Speaker 1: of outside sources. One is to reopen public worship before
- 22:19Speaker 1: it was safe and I'm just not gonna do it.
- 22:22Speaker 1: I'm more concerned about your safety than I am me
- 22:25Speaker 1: having a live audience to speak to. but there's been
- 22:28Speaker 1: pressure to reopen before it was safe. There was pressure
- 22:31Speaker 1: on me all year to support one candidate or another
- 22:35Speaker 1: during the election, and I just wouldn't do it. There
- 22:38Speaker 1: was pressure to ignore the racial inequality in our society.
- 22:42Speaker 1: There was pressure to focus on ourselves instead of the
- 22:45Speaker 1: pain of others. But because of your trust and because
- 22:49Speaker 1: of your love and because of your faithfulness, we have
- 22:53Speaker 1: moved ahead doing what we know to be the will
- 22:56Speaker 1: of God. doing what God wants us to do. And
- 22:59Speaker 1: as we end this year, you're safe. And I want
- 23:03Speaker 1: you to know, I love you so, so much. I'd
- 23:07Speaker 1: like to close by praying for you and your family.
- 23:10Speaker 1: And then I wanna ask you to watch this Thanksgiving
- 23:13Speaker 1: medley of music. Let me pray for you. Father, I
- 23:16Speaker 1: thank you for every person watching this video at Thanksgiving day.
- 23:21Speaker 1: And I ask your blessing on them. Bless them in
- 23:24Speaker 1: every area of their lives. as we express our gratitude
- 23:28Speaker 1: to you, bless them physically with good help. Keep them
- 23:32Speaker 1: safe from COVID-19 and from other things. Keep them physically healthy,
- 23:38Speaker 1: particularly as there'll be more time spent indoors as we
- 23:41Speaker 1: move into the winter months. Keep them safe financially. Lord,
- 23:47Speaker 1: those who are out of work and don't know where
- 23:49Speaker 1: their income's gonna come from, would you miraculously provide for them?
- 23:54Speaker 1: Would you use us, our church, to be an instrument
- 23:58Speaker 1: of answering prayers for people who don't have food. I
- 24:03Speaker 1: pray that you protect their relationships. When everybody's at home
- 24:07Speaker 1: and kids are at home during the day and there's tensions,
- 24:11Speaker 1: I pray that you would protect them from conflict and
- 24:14Speaker 1: from anger and irritations. And Lord, it's so easy to
- 24:20Speaker 1: get irritable. Protect them financially, protect them physically, spiritually, emotionally,
- 24:28Speaker 1: protect their relationships. And I pray that as we have
- 24:32Speaker 1: the attitude of gratitude, the healthiest emotion, that you would
- 24:38Speaker 1: bless us continually as we bless you and bless others
- 24:44Speaker 1: with our joy and our faith. And I pray this
- 24:48Speaker 1: Thanksgiving prayer in Jesus' name.
- 24:51Speaker 3: Amen.
- 24:52Speaker 1: God bless you, everybody. Happy Thanksgiving.
- 25:52Speaker 4: Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee.
- 26:02Speaker 2: How great Thou art.
- 26:05Speaker 4: How great Thou art. Then sings my soul, my.
- 26:16Speaker 2: Savior God, to Thee.
- 26:22Speaker 5: How great Thou art How great Thou art.
- 26:32Speaker 4: O Lord my God.
- 26:37Speaker 6: When I in awesome wonder Consider all The worlds Thy
- 26:48Speaker 6: hands have made.
- 26:52Speaker 4: I see the stars, I.
- 26:58Speaker 7: Hear the rolling.
- 27:00Speaker 4: Thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul,
- 27:16Speaker 4: my Savior God to Thee.
- 27:20Speaker 2: How great Thou art. How great Thou art.
- 27:33Speaker 4: Sings my soul my Savior God.
- 27:39Speaker 2: To thee how great thou.
- 27:46Speaker 5: Art how great thou.
- 27:51Speaker 2: Art how great thou.
- 27:58Speaker 5: How great Thou art.
- 28:05Speaker 8: I'll raise a hallelujah.
- 28:10Speaker 9: With everything inside of me I'll raise a hallelujah I
- 28:23Speaker 9: will watch the darkness flee.
- 28:26Speaker 7: Yes I raise a hallelujah in the middle of the mysteries.
- 28:40Speaker 7: I raise a hallelujah. Fear you lost your hold on me.
- 28:50Speaker 2: I'm going. The King is alive.
- 28:57Speaker 5: I raise a I raise my.
- 29:32Speaker 8: Hallelujah We thank you.
- 29:40Speaker 4: You.
- 29:41Speaker 2: Every song we sing.
- 29:44Speaker 8: Say thank you. For every breath you give, we thank you.
- 29:53Speaker 2: For every broken heart, Let.
- 30:05Speaker 8: Every song we sing say thank you. For every breath you.
- 30:15Speaker 2: Give, we thank you.
- 30:18Speaker 5: For every broken heart, you make new. For every life restored,
- 30:25Speaker 5: we thank you.
- 30:29Speaker 2: For your goodness.
- 30:32Speaker 10: For your love, you never failed us You are enough
- 30:41Speaker 10: for your goodness.
- 30:50Speaker 2: Your promises will.
- 30:51Speaker 11: Always be more than enough for me.
- 30:56Speaker 8: We thank you You will always be more than enough
- 31:00Speaker 8: for me We thank you.
- 31:03Speaker 11: Cause nothing's gonna stop the plans you've made Nothing's gonna
- 31:08Speaker 11: take your love away You will always be more than
- 31:12Speaker 11: enough for me.
- 31:15Speaker 5: You will always be more than enough for me.
- 31:19Speaker 2: You will always be enough for me.
- 31:21Speaker 5: You will always be more than enough for me. You're
- 31:26Speaker 5: more than enough for me, Lord. Nothing's gonna stop the
- 31:29Speaker 5: plans you've made. Nothing's gonna take.
- 31:32Speaker 2: Your love away.
- 31:32Speaker 5: You will always be more than enough for me.
- 31:35Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. It doesn't matter what I feel.
- 31:43Speaker 10: It doesn't matter what I see.
- 31:47Speaker 2: My hope will always be in your promises to me.
- 31:52Speaker 2: I'm casting out all fear. You set me free.
- 31:57Speaker 5: My hope will.
- 32:00Speaker 2: Always be in your promises.
- 32:08Speaker 5: I am strong let the poor say I am rich
- 32:18Speaker 5: because of what the Lord has done for us give
- 32:28Speaker 5: thanks with a grateful heart give thanks Give thanks to
- 32:37Speaker 5: the Holy One. Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ
- 32:48Speaker 5: His Son. Give thanks with a grateful heart. Give thanks
- 33:00Speaker 5: to the Holy One. Because he's given Jesus Christ his
- 33:13Speaker 5: son And now Let the poor say I am rich
- 33:30Speaker 5: because of what the Lord has done for us. And
- 33:40Speaker 5: now let the weak say I am strong.
- 33:48Speaker 2: Let the poor say.
- 33:54Speaker 5: Because of what the Lord has done for us Give thanks,
- 34:10Speaker 5: give thanks.
- 34:13Speaker 2: Oh Lord.
- 34:20Speaker 3: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
- 34:24Speaker 2: His faithful love endures forever.
- 34:27Speaker 3: Give thanks to the God of gods.
- 34:29Speaker 5: His faithful love endures forever.
- 34:32Speaker 3: Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
- 34:35Speaker 2: His faithful love endures forever.
- 34:38Speaker 3: Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles.
- 34:41Speaker 2: His faithful love endures forever.
- 34:44Speaker 3: Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully.
- 34:48Speaker 2: His faithful love endures forever.
- 34:51Speaker 3: Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters.
- 34:55Speaker 2: His faithful love endures forever.
- 34:58Speaker 3: He remembers us in our weakness.
- 35:00Speaker 5: His faithful love endures forever.
- 35:03Speaker 3: Give thanks to the God of heaven.
- 35:06Speaker 2: His faithful love endures forever.
- 35:19Speaker 5: Lord of all, to thee we raise. This our hymn
- 35:28Speaker 5: of grateful praise. The Lord our.
- 35:33Speaker 2: God is with thee.
- 35:36Speaker 12: Ever faithful, never changing, through the ages.
- 35:46Speaker 5: From this darkness, you will lead us. And forever we
- 35:55Speaker 5: will say, you're the Lord our God.
- 36:07Speaker 2: We will say.
- 36:10Speaker 5: You're the Lord.
- 36:16Speaker 2: Our God Lord.
- 36:18Speaker 5: Of all to thee we.
- 36:20Speaker 2: Raise this our hymn.
- 36:25Speaker 5: Of grateful for the beauty of the earth.
- 36:35Speaker 2: For the.
- 36:40Speaker 5: For the love which from above Over.
- 36:51Speaker 2: And around us lies.
- 36:54Speaker 5: Lord of all to thee we raise This our hymn
- 37:05Speaker 5: of grace.
- 37:16Speaker 13: Our hymn of grateful praise How.
- 37:28Speaker 8: Could I say thanks For the things.
- 37:36Speaker 13: You have done for me.
- 37:40Speaker 14: Things so undeserved.
- 37:46Speaker 8: Yet you came to.
- 37:49Speaker 5: Prove your love for me.
- 37:52Speaker 14: And the voices of a million angels could not express
- 38:02Speaker 14: my gratitude.
- 38:04Speaker 2: Oh, no, no.
- 38:08Speaker 8: All that I am and never hope to be yours.
- 38:16Speaker 4: I owe it all to thee.
- 38:18Speaker 2: So God, be the glory.
- 38:23Speaker 5: So God, be the glory. So God, be the glory forever.
- 38:49Speaker 2: His blood, he has saved me.
- 38:56Speaker 12: With his power, he has raised me. So God, be
- 39:06Speaker 12: the glory.
- 39:09Speaker 5: For the things he has done.
- 39:36Speaker 2: For the things he has done.
- 40:20Speaker 5: For the things He has done