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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now, you know, I have been a follower of Jesus for 43
years.
And during that time, whenthings have gotten really tough,
I have found great wisdom in thewords of an old hymn that goes
like this.
When upon life's pillows, youare Tempest tossed.
(00:22):
When you are discouraged,thinking all is lost.
Counter many blessings, namethem one by one, and it will
surprise you what the Lord hasdone.
You know, the chorus, sing itwith me.
Count your blessings.
Name them one by one.
(00:42):
Come on, count your blessing.
See what God has done.
Count your blessings.
Name them one by one.
Count your many blessings.
See what God has done.
Hey, give yourselves a hand.
(01:04):
That was great.
That was good.
Okay.
Now I have learned from thewords of this song, uh, how
amazing it is that ourperspective changes when we take
our eyes off of our problems andwe put our eyes on all of God's
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blessings that he's given us.
And over the years, I have alist at home that I keep of all
the many blessings that God hasgiven to me, the things I'm
thankful for.
And I add things to that listfrom time to time.
And, uh, when I take that listout and I look over it, man, it
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just really lifts my heart.
It just really blesses my, mylife and it lifts my spirits.
And so I did that this week,Thanksgiving week.
And so decided that I wouldshare a few of the items on that
list with you today.
And so the title of the messagetoday is nine things I'm
(02:11):
thankful for this Thanksgivingweekend and you go nine.
You'll never make it.
Oh yeah.
Well watch.
Yes, I will.
Here we go.
Number one, I'm thankful.
First of all, that 43 years ago,I came to Jesus Christ at 43
years ago, I responded to God'sinvitation in the Bible.
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And here it is, revelation 2217.
Whoever is thirsty.
The Bible says, let him come.
And whoever wishes, let him takeof the water of life freely.
The Bible repeats thisinvitation in Isaiah 55.
All you who are thirsty, come tothe waters and you have no money
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come without money and withoutcost.
And in John chapter six, verse37, God makes us a wonderful
promise.
If we will come to him, Jesussays, whoever comes to me, I
will never cast out.
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You know, 43 years ago, I hadlong hair.
I had dirty clothes.
I had a dirty mouth.
I had a dirty mind.
I had a dirty life.
I was using dope.
I was pushing dope.
I had no morals.
I had no ethics.
I had no character.
And I had no honor.
I was a liar.
I was a cheater and I was athief.
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But you know what?
In spite of all of that, I wasstill a whoever.
And what is the promise of theBible?
Whoever comes to me, Jesus saidI will never cast out.
And I am so thankful that in1971 in chapel hill, North
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Carolina, the holy spiritremoved the blindness from my
eyes.
The holy spirit convicted meinto my heart of my need for
Jesus Christ.
The holy spirit brought me totrue repentance in my life.
And the spirit of God gave methe good sense to come to Jesus
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Christ and accept what he didfor me on the cross as final and
total payment for my sin.
And I'm so thankful that as aresult of that, the Lord Jesus
did what he said.
He didn't cast me out.
Amen.
I'm telling you, man, I'mthankful for that.
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And just let me say, if you'rehere, if you're here and you've
never come to Christ in thatway, I want you to listen to me.
God's offered to you is just asgood today as it was to me 43
years ago.
And God's promised that he willnever cast you out is just as
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good today as it was 43 yearsago.
And what God wants you to do isto come to him.
You don't need to fix yourselfup.
You don't need to dress yourselfup.
You don't need to clean yourselfup and you don't need to pick
yourself up.
You just need to come to thecross and accept the above the
sacrifice of Christ on thecross, as payment for your sin
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and come to Christ.
And the Bible says he will nevercast you out, friend.
I promise you, you do this.
And it will always be the treetopper on your list of things
that you are thankful for therest of your life.
Number two, I'm thankful.
Second of all that, because Icame to Jesus Christ.
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My eternal destiny is settled.
Jesus said, John chapter 10, mysheep hear my voice.
And I know them and they followme and I give them eternal life.
And they shell never perish norcan anyone snatch them.
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Out of my hand, the Bible says,first John five 11.
And this is the record that Godhas given us eternal life.
And this life is in his son.
He who has the son has eternallife.
I mean, how can you say it anysimpler than that?
When I accepted Christ into mylife, I got the son into my
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life.
And once the son of God was inmy life, I have eternal life and
all the eternal life I've evergoing to have.
I got right now, Jesus said myeternal destiny is settled
forever.
You know, um, when we were inIsrael a few years ago on a
tour, we arrived in Jerusalem ona Friday afternoon, Shabbat of
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course, Friday night for theJewish people.
And, uh, we had a couple ofpeople on the tour, uh, who said
where we were staying at a hotelright across the street from the
great synagogue in Jerusalem,one of the largest in the city.
And they said, Hey, we've neverbeen to a synagogue service
before, would you mind if we goover?
And I said, no, of course not.
And so they went across thestreet to the synagogue and when
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they came back for dinner, Isaid to them, you know, what'd
you think?
And they said, well, one mansaid it was, it was different.
You know, it's like they wentthrough all these road prayers
and all these ritualistic thingsthey did.
But like at the end of theservice, it's like nobody had
any greater idea what was goingto happen to them after they
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died than when they started.
And I said, bingo, man.
I said, bingo friends.
There are millions of people,not just Jewish people all
around the world today, goingthrough all kinds of religious
rituals and even non-religiousrituals.
And after it's all said anddone, they don't have the
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slightest clue.
What's going to happen to them.
On the other side of the grave.
I am so thankful that I haveJesus's promise that my eternal
destiny is settled for everpraise the Lord.
Number three.
I'm thankful that I, yeah, youcan clap for that.
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That's important.
I'm thankful.
Number three, that I have areason for living that
transcends the grave.
You know, we're smart enough toknow that everything, this world
system tells us to live forfame, money, power, notoriety,
pilot, up material stuff,friends, none of that's going
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beyond the grave with you andme.
I love what Colonel Sanders ofKentucky fried chicken fame
said.
He said, what good is it?
If you're the richest person inthe cemetery and he's right.
You know what?
I'm so glad that in JesusChrist, we get a reason for
living that transcends thecemetery.
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As followers of Christ, we areliving to serve all mighty God
every day.
As followers of Christ, we areliving to be ambassadors for
Jesus every single day.
And every Christ like action, wedo here on earth, generates
eternal rewards for us inheaven.
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This is why the, uh, the apostlePaul said, and we learned this
first, uh, we memorized ittogether earlier this summer,
first Corinthians 1558.
Therefore the steadfastimmovable always abounding in
the work of the Lord.
Say it with me for you know,that your work is not in vain in
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the Lord.
Why isn't our work in vain inthe Lord?
Well, it's because on the otherside of the grave, God's going
to reward our work.
On the other side of the grave.
God's gonna reward our livingfor him.
That's why waking up folks everyday to serve myself and pile up
junk for myself is a miserablereason to live, but waking up
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every day to serve the livingGod and to generate and pile up
treasure in heaven.
I want to tell you, now that'sworth getting up four in the
morning.
Number four, I'm thankful forththat God is in absolute control
of every detail in the universe.
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Jesus said, Matthew chapter 10are not two sparrows sold for a
penny.
Meaning they're not worth muchyet.
Not one of them falls to theground.
Apart from the will of yourheavenly father, God controls
the world down to that level.
Jesus said why even the veryhairs of your head are numbered.
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So don't be afraid.
And I am so thankful that Ihave.
God's absolute promise that I amnot the victim of some random
senseless universe.
No, but God is sures me that heis in absolute control of every
twist.
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Every turn, every event thatenters my life.
And more than that, that all ofthese twists and all of these
turns have already beenintegrated into a flawless plan
for my life and for my goodJeremiah 29 11, the Bible says
for, I know the plan I have foryou says the Lord a plan for
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good and not for, to give you afuture and a hope.
And I tell you the thing Ireally like about this is that
God doesn't make this plan up ashe goes along, you know, he
doesn't sit her up in heavennext to Gabriel and go, okay,
now this happened to George andthat happened to George.
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And this just happened toGeorge.
Hmm.
Gabriel, what do you think weought to do next for George?
No, no, no.
Psalm 1 39 says that all thedays ordained for me were
written in your book God's bookbefore there was one of them in
time and space friend, beforeyou ever breathe your first
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breath on this earth before youever came down the birth canal
and introduce yourself to yourmother before all of that
happened, God's plan for yourlife was already done.
Every detail down to the tiniestthing was already planned out
and everything that's happeningin this world is just fitting
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into that plan for good man.
Am I thankful for that?
Number five?
I'm thankful.
Number five, that God gave me aroadmap to show me how to live a
safe and healthy life.
We call it the BI BLE, the BiblePsalm 119 verse 1 0 5 says your
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word.
The Bible is a lamp to my feetand a light to my path.
It goes on to say your commandshave made me wiser than my
enemies, and I have more insightthan all my teachers, because I
meditate on your statutes.
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You know, in Israel, I don'tknow how much you know about the
politics of Israel, but up until1967 of the Golan Heights
overlooking the sea of Galileewas controlled by the Syrians.
And they used to shell artilleryshells down to the, uh, Israeli
communities down around the seaof Galilee.
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But in 1967, uh, the Israelisconquered the Golan Heights as
part of the six day war.
And, uh, they now control itwill every year when we go to
Israel, we go up on the GolanHeights to a place called Kersey
where Jesus cast the demons outof Legion, the demoniac.
But on the way up, we drive bythese fields that are all
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surrounded by barbed wire.
And they have big yellow signswhere it says in Arabic and
Hebrew and in English dangerminds, M I N E S minds.
And what they're talking aboutis landmines that were put in
these fields by the Syrians andthe Russians in the early
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sixties, when they control theGolan Heights.
And these signs are warningpeople don't go in this field.
There are live minds in here nowwithout exception every year, a
few cows and a few wild animalswander in there and get
themselves blown up.
You say, well, why don't theyjust go in there and clean these
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fields out?
Well, it's real simple friends.
They don't have a map of wherethe mines are in these fields.
There's road, no roadmap to walkthem through the field and say a
mines.
Here are mines.
Here are mines here.
And it's just way too dangerousto go in there, trying to find
those minds.
And every time we ride by one ofthese fields, I remind myself,
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you know what?
Lawn life is just like thatfield.
It is full of mines, all kindsof places that people step on
all the time and blow theirlives up.
How glad I am that God has givenus a roadmap through life.
And folks, if we follow thisroadmap, if when God says do
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this, do this, do this.
We do.
And when God says, don't dothis, don't do this.
Don't do this.
We don't, you know what?
You cannot step on a mine andblow yourself up.
It's impossible.
I need one of these to getthrough this life.
I don't know about you, but Ineed a roadmap and would to God,
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all of us listen to it more thanwe do.
All right.
Number six, I'm thankful.
Number six for God's promisethat in the end, true justice is
going to prevail in thisuniverse.
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Galatians six seven says, do notbe deceived.
Nobody makes a fool out of Godfor whatever, a person sows,
that's precisely what they'regoing to read.
And I think we understand whatGod's saying here.
Don't we, what God is saying isthat if you could sow
unrighteousness, injustice,evil, unkindness, and every kind
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of ungodly behavior, and thenreap blessing that God would be
a fool.
And God says, nobody's going tomake a fool out of me.
If you sow good things, honestthings, righteous things, just
things.
Yeah.
You're going to reap goodthings.
But if you so injustice andevil, you're going to reap the
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rewards of that.
And I'm going to see to it.
God says, because you're notmaking a fool out of me.
And I love how Jesus put this.
He said in Luke chapter 12,verse three, whatever you have
said in the dark shall be heardin the light.
And what you have whispered inthe inner room shall be shouted
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from the rooftops.
I was driving along, talking tomy wife, Brenda, about this
first.
And she said, you know, that'skind of a scary verse.
And I said, well, Brenda, it alldepends what you said in the
dark.
It all depends what you did andwhispered in the inner room.
If what we said in the dark andin the inner room are good
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things, righteous things, godlythings, holy things.
This verse isn't scary.
This verse is exciting becauseit's going to be seen publicly.
But if the things we did in theinner room are not so nice and
they're evil and they'rescheming and they're treacherous
then.
Yeah, it is a scary verse.
It's all about what we did inthe inner room.
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And you know, I got to tell youfolks that it really discourages
me sometimes here in Washington,DC, to see people do things that
are unkind, that are untrue,that are unfair, and then see
them get away with it.
Just because they got a lot ofmoney just because they got a
lot of influence and a lot ofpower.
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And it bothers me.
And I'm sure it does you to seeinjustice in our world and
unrighteousness in our world andsee people get away with this as
though they're never going to beheld accountable.
Ah, but let me say to yourfriend, this is just a temporary
situation because we have thepromise of God's word that when
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all the dust settles ineternity, every single thing is
going to be made, right?
Nobody is getting away withanything.
Boy, I tell you what I am sothankful for that.
Amen.
Amen.
All right.
Number seven.
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I'm thankful that God givessufficient grace for every day.
You know, Paul was talking tothe Lord in second Corinthians
12, about his thorn in theflesh.
We don't know exactly what thatwas, but it was some kind of
physical malady we think.
And Paul says three times, Ipleaded with the Lord to take it
away from me.
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And the Lord said, no.
He said, I'm not going to do it,Paul, but my grace is sufficient
for you.
I'm not going to take yourproblem away.
But what I'm going to do is I'mgoing to give you sufficient
Strang, sufficient stamina,sufficient grace, and wisdom, to
be able to walk through it.
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Boy, I'm sure, glad the Lordoffers to give that to us.
You know, this Thanksgivingweek, just this past week,
Brenda and I went down and spentthe week with my youngest son,
John and his wonderful wife,Kristen and Durham, North
Carolina, and our two youngestgrandchildren.
Natalie's two and Catherine isfour months old.
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And so we were there all week.
And uh, by the, by Thursday, youknow, by Thanksgiving day we had
played every game known to man.
We had colored every piece ofpaper in the house, uh, that we
had read every book in thehouse.
We had done it all.
And so then on Thanksgiving day,uh, as we were finishing the
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meal, my wife Brenda said toJohn and Kristen said, Hey, why
don't, y'all go out to a movietogether and lawn and I'll watch
the children.
I was like, what?
But I, you know, it was alreadylike out of her mouth, you know,
it was like, I couldn't get itback in.
So they said, oh great, sure.
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They put their coats on and out.
They went.
So I was like, oh, okay, well,there was one good thing about
it, Catherine.
The four month old was sleeping.
And so I thought, well, you knowwhat?
This won't be too bad.
We'll just kinda double teamNatalie.
And it'll be all right.
Honestly, can I, can I be honestwith you?
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Can I confession?
Yeah.
Honestly, what I really thoughtis that Brenda could watch
Natalie and I could lay on thecouch and watch football.
That's what I really thought.
But I didn't dare say that.
Well, anyway, 15 minutes afterthey were gone, guests who wakes
up.
Yeah.
And she woke up in a reallyrotten mood and she screamed.
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Katherine did for over an hournonstop, absolutely screaming
and nothing.
Nothing, nothing you could docould stop this baby from
screaming.
I tried everything.
Meanwhile, little Natalie'sgoing Mimi, can we draw a Mimi?
Can we play Mimi?
Can we get a piece of paper?
Mimi, can we call her Mimi?
Can you read to me?
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And she's doing that.
And I'm watching this baby.
And I tried everything with thisbaby.
I tried walking this baby.
I tried bouncing this baby.
I try holding this baby.
I tried to roll in this baby,you know, like on the floor, you
know, roll her over a little bitand maybe, you know, why nothing
else was working.
Come on.
I thought maybe she might justenjoy a little activity on the
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floor that no, that didn't work.
So we were about a half an hourinto this.
And Brenda says to me, how, howlong do you think the movie is?
I said, I don't know.
I'll look it up on the internet.
So I went to the internet andlooked it up.
This is a three hour movie.
Oh my gosh.
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Oh my gosh.
We just said, oh Lord, Jesusgive us strength.
When those people got home, wehanded one baby to one of them
and one baby to the other one,we said, let us pray with you
because it's time for us to go.
And that's right.
We did.
And we headed back to the hotel.
And as we were driving back tothe hotel for a moment, nobody
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said anything.
And finally I said to Brenda, Isaid, how did we do that?
You know, we had three boys.
And then we layered on top ofthat, my daughter with
disabilities and all of herneeds, how in the world did we
ever do that?
And I loved my wife's answer.
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She said, lawn, God gave usgrace.
And that's true.
God gave us grace when we neededthree hours of grace on Thursday
and we got it barely.
But we needed years of graceraising our family.
And you know what?
We look back now.
God gave it to us.
Some of us, you know, we're notout of all that yet.
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Some of us have raised ourchildren, but now we're
caregiving our parents or someother relative that really needs
care.
Some of us have special needschildren with disabilities that
we're going to be taking care ofthem and needing special grace.
All of our life.
Some of us have jobs where whenwe walk into that job, we need
the grace of God.
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When we walk into that job andfolks, let me just tell you the
thing I'm so thankful for isthat the grace of God is always
sufficient.
I don't care how big the needGod's.
Grace is bigger.
Amen is bigger.
And we had a, we have this, thewords of a hymn that we taped in
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our bathroom back in some of thetoughest days of, of our life.
And it's still there.
And here's what it says.
It says he give us more grace.
When our burdens grow greater,he send us more strength.
As our labors increase to addedafflictions, he added his mercy
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to multiply trials.
His multiplied peace.
When we have exhausted our storeof endurance, when our strength
has failed ear, the day is halfdone.
When we reach the end of ourhoarded resources, our father's
full giving is only begun.
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And the chorus says his love hasno limits.
His grace has no measure.
His power has no boundary knownunto men for out of his infinite
riches in Jesus.
He giveth and give this andgiveth again.
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Folks, no matter how great theneed God's grace is greater
depend on it.
And I'm thankful it's alwaysthere.
Number eight, I'm thankful.
Number eight for the privilegethat God has given me to lead
McLean Bible church for the last34 years.
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I'm thankful for you as a churchfamily for all you wonderful
people for having put up with meand having loved me in spite of
myself and having given me thetremendous privilege and honor
of leading this church for thelast three decades.
And I just want you to know, Ido not take this for granted.
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This has been one of thegreatest privileges in my life,
and I am so thankful for it.
So thank you for that very much.
I appreciate that.
Thank you.
Number nine.
And finally I told you I'd makeit.
I am so thankful for Brenda, mywife of 39 years and Proverbs
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1914 says houses and wealth areinherited from parents, but a
prudent wife is a gift from theLord.
And I want to tell you, 39 yearsago, when God gave me the gift
of Brenda, I had no idea what hewas really given me back then,
but I do now.
She has been a faithful, lovingwife and amazing mother, I think
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pretty much a near perfectpastor's wife.
And she has been true north forme for the last 39 years.
You know, I will come to her andI'm headed east or I'm headed
south, or I'm headed west.
I'm going in every direction.
And Brenda, without exception,whether it's fiscally or
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spiritually or just commonsense, she is always pointed
true north.
And she'll say no lawn.
No, that is not the way we oughtto do it.
And sometimes I hate thatbecause I want to go west or
south or east.
But no, that woman is always ontrue north.
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And what a blessing.
It has been in my life to have aperson like that on our, the
Israel trip this past fall, agentleman came up to Brendan
said, you know, Brenda, now thatI've gotten to know Lon better,
I'm going to really up mypraying for you.
That's what he said.
I'm serious.
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She thought that was great.
I wasn't all that thrilled aboutit, but she thought it was
wonderful.
But you know what?
I got to tell you.
I don't know how I got Brenda tomarry me, but I'm married over
my head, ladies and gentlemenand any smart man does.
Amen.
Fellas, fellas, wait a minute.
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The women are all clapping.
Wait a minute, fellas, fellas,I'm throwing you a softball.
Listen.
Any smart man does right?
There you go.
You guys are going to have amuch better afternoon.
Okay?
Now let's conclude.
What am I thankful for somethings that Thanksgiving number
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one, the 43 years ago, I came toJesus Christ.
Number two, that because I cameto Christ, my eternal destiny is
settled.
Number three, that in JesusChrist, God gives me a reason
for living every day thattranscends the grave.
I'm thankful number four, thatGod is an absolute control of
(29:51):
the universe and of every detailin my life.
Number five, I'm thankful thatGod gave me a roadmap.
The Bible to help me know how tolive a safe and healthy life.
Number six, I am thankful that Ihave God's promise that true
justice will prevail in the endin this universe.
(30:16):
Number seven, I'm thankful thatGod gives sufficient grace for
every day.
Number eight.
I'm thankful for the privilegeof being the pastor of this
church for 34 years.
And number nine, I am sothankful that God blessed me
with my wife, Brenda, for thelast 39 years.
(30:36):
And I want to suggest to everyone of us that we make a list
like this, your list may havesome of the things on it.
Mine does.
It may have some differentthings on it doesn't matter, but
sit down and go through thediscipline of saying, I'm
thankful for this.
I'm thankful for this.
God has blessed me with this.
(30:56):
You'll be able to write down alot more than you think once you
get started and friend, everytime you take that list out and
you read it, three things willhappen.
First of all, it'll lift yourspirits.
Second of all, it'll put youreveryday problems into much
better perspective.
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And finally, every time you readit, it'll cause you to break out
in Thanksgiving to God for allof his blessings, let's pray
together.
Heavenly father I'm reminded of,uh, the verse in Psalm 1 0 3
that says, bless the Lord on mysoul and forget none of his
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benefits and you know, Lord.
So often we do forget all of theblessings that you give us.
Lord, we have a tendency to takethem for granted.
And sometimes we're like thenine lepers that Jesus healed in
the new Testament, who evenafter they were healed, never
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came back to say, thank you.
So father indeed make us likethe one leper who, when he was
healed, turned around and ranback to Christ and fell at his
feet in Thanksgiving andappreciation.
Lord, forgive us for so oftentaking for granted what you do
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for us, help us to be moregrateful for all of your
goodness.
None of which we deserve.
Remind every one of us here thatyou are better to us every day
than we
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Deserve.
And Lord may that thankfulnessbe a constant, an everyday part
of our life.
Take the word of God andchallenge and uplift our hearts.
Today, we pray and we ask thesethings in Jesus name and what
God's people say, all of thatwas paltry.
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That was terrible.
What did God's people say?
All right now, have a greatThanksgiving weekend.
We'll see you guys.
Now, you know, I have been a follower of Jesus for 43
years.
And during that time, whenthings have gotten really tough,
I have found great wisdom in thewords of an old hymn that goes
like this.
When upon life's pillows, youare Tempest tossed.
(00:22):
When you are discouraged,thinking all is lost.
Counter many blessings, namethem one by one, and it will
surprise you what the Lord hasdone.
You know, the chorus, sing itwith me.
Count your blessings.
Name them one by one.
(00:42):
Come on, count your blessing.
See what God has done.
Count your blessings.
Name them one by one.
Count your many blessings.
See what God has done.
Hey, give yourselves a hand.
(01:04):
That was great.
That was good.
Okay.
Now I have learned from thewords of this song, uh, how
amazing it is that ourperspective changes when we take
our eyes off of our problems andwe put our eyes on all of God's
(01:27):
blessings that he's given us.
And over the years, I have alist at home that I keep of all
the many blessings that God hasgiven to me, the things I'm
thankful for.
And I add things to that listfrom time to time.
And, uh, when I take that listout and I look over it, man, it
(01:48):
just really lifts my heart.
It just really blesses my, mylife and it lifts my spirits.
And so I did that this week,Thanksgiving week.
And so decided that I wouldshare a few of the items on that
list with you today.
And so the title of the messagetoday is nine things I'm
(02:11):
thankful for this Thanksgivingweekend and you go nine.
You'll never make it.
Oh yeah.
Well watch.
Yes, I will.
Here we go.
Number one, I'm thankful.
First of all, that 43 years ago,I came to Jesus Christ at 43
years ago, I responded to God'sinvitation in the Bible.
(02:36):
And here it is, revelation 2217.
Whoever is thirsty.
The Bible says, let him come.
And whoever wishes, let him takeof the water of life freely.
The Bible repeats thisinvitation in Isaiah 55.
All you who are thirsty, come tothe waters and you have no money
(03:01):
come without money and withoutcost.
And in John chapter six, verse37, God makes us a wonderful
promise.
If we will come to him, Jesussays, whoever comes to me, I
will never cast out.
(03:21):
You know, 43 years ago, I hadlong hair.
I had dirty clothes.
I had a dirty mouth.
I had a dirty mind.
I had a dirty life.
I was using dope.
I was pushing dope.
I had no morals.
I had no ethics.
I had no character.
And I had no honor.
I was a liar.
I was a cheater and I was athief.
(03:44):
But you know what?
In spite of all of that, I wasstill a whoever.
And what is the promise of theBible?
Whoever comes to me, Jesus saidI will never cast out.
And I am so thankful that in1971 in chapel hill, North
(04:05):
Carolina, the holy spiritremoved the blindness from my
eyes.
The holy spirit convicted meinto my heart of my need for
Jesus Christ.
The holy spirit brought me totrue repentance in my life.
And the spirit of God gave methe good sense to come to Jesus
(04:25):
Christ and accept what he didfor me on the cross as final and
total payment for my sin.
And I'm so thankful that as aresult of that, the Lord Jesus
did what he said.
He didn't cast me out.
Amen.
I'm telling you, man, I'mthankful for that.
(04:46):
And just let me say, if you'rehere, if you're here and you've
never come to Christ in thatway, I want you to listen to me.
God's offered to you is just asgood today as it was to me 43
years ago.
And God's promised that he willnever cast you out is just as
(05:07):
good today as it was 43 yearsago.
And what God wants you to do isto come to him.
You don't need to fix yourselfup.
You don't need to dress yourselfup.
You don't need to clean yourselfup and you don't need to pick
yourself up.
You just need to come to thecross and accept the above the
sacrifice of Christ on thecross, as payment for your sin
(05:32):
and come to Christ.
And the Bible says he will nevercast you out, friend.
I promise you, you do this.
And it will always be the treetopper on your list of things
that you are thankful for therest of your life.
Number two, I'm thankful.
Second of all that, because Icame to Jesus Christ.
(05:56):
My eternal destiny is settled.
Jesus said, John chapter 10, mysheep hear my voice.
And I know them and they followme and I give them eternal life.
And they shell never perish norcan anyone snatch them.
(06:17):
Out of my hand, the Bible says,first John five 11.
And this is the record that Godhas given us eternal life.
And this life is in his son.
He who has the son has eternallife.
I mean, how can you say it anysimpler than that?
When I accepted Christ into mylife, I got the son into my
(06:40):
life.
And once the son of God was inmy life, I have eternal life and
all the eternal life I've evergoing to have.
I got right now, Jesus said myeternal destiny is settled
forever.
You know, um, when we were inIsrael a few years ago on a
tour, we arrived in Jerusalem ona Friday afternoon, Shabbat of
(07:02):
course, Friday night for theJewish people.
And, uh, we had a couple ofpeople on the tour, uh, who said
where we were staying at a hotelright across the street from the
great synagogue in Jerusalem,one of the largest in the city.
And they said, Hey, we've neverbeen to a synagogue service
before, would you mind if we goover?
And I said, no, of course not.
And so they went across thestreet to the synagogue and when
(07:25):
they came back for dinner, Isaid to them, you know, what'd
you think?
And they said, well, one mansaid it was, it was different.
You know, it's like they wentthrough all these road prayers
and all these ritualistic thingsthey did.
But like at the end of theservice, it's like nobody had
any greater idea what was goingto happen to them after they
(07:46):
died than when they started.
And I said, bingo, man.
I said, bingo friends.
There are millions of people,not just Jewish people all
around the world today, goingthrough all kinds of religious
rituals and even non-religiousrituals.
And after it's all said anddone, they don't have the
(08:07):
slightest clue.
What's going to happen to them.
On the other side of the grave.
I am so thankful that I haveJesus's promise that my eternal
destiny is settled for everpraise the Lord.
Number three.
I'm thankful that I, yeah, youcan clap for that.
(08:29):
That's important.
I'm thankful.
Number three, that I have areason for living that
transcends the grave.
You know, we're smart enough toknow that everything, this world
system tells us to live forfame, money, power, notoriety,
pilot, up material stuff,friends, none of that's going
(08:49):
beyond the grave with you andme.
I love what Colonel Sanders ofKentucky fried chicken fame
said.
He said, what good is it?
If you're the richest person inthe cemetery and he's right.
You know what?
I'm so glad that in JesusChrist, we get a reason for
living that transcends thecemetery.
(09:11):
As followers of Christ, we areliving to serve all mighty God
every day.
As followers of Christ, we areliving to be ambassadors for
Jesus every single day.
And every Christ like action, wedo here on earth, generates
eternal rewards for us inheaven.
(09:34):
This is why the, uh, the apostlePaul said, and we learned this
first, uh, we memorized ittogether earlier this summer,
first Corinthians 1558.
Therefore the steadfastimmovable always abounding in
the work of the Lord.
Say it with me for you know,that your work is not in vain in
(09:59):
the Lord.
Why isn't our work in vain inthe Lord?
Well, it's because on the otherside of the grave, God's going
to reward our work.
On the other side of the grave.
God's gonna reward our livingfor him.
That's why waking up folks everyday to serve myself and pile up
junk for myself is a miserablereason to live, but waking up
(10:22):
every day to serve the livingGod and to generate and pile up
treasure in heaven.
I want to tell you, now that'sworth getting up four in the
morning.
Number four, I'm thankful forththat God is in absolute control
of every detail in the universe.
(10:44):
Jesus said, Matthew chapter 10are not two sparrows sold for a
penny.
Meaning they're not worth muchyet.
Not one of them falls to theground.
Apart from the will of yourheavenly father, God controls
the world down to that level.
Jesus said why even the veryhairs of your head are numbered.
(11:06):
So don't be afraid.
And I am so thankful that Ihave.
God's absolute promise that I amnot the victim of some random
senseless universe.
No, but God is sures me that heis in absolute control of every
twist.
(11:26):
Every turn, every event thatenters my life.
And more than that, that all ofthese twists and all of these
turns have already beenintegrated into a flawless plan
for my life and for my goodJeremiah 29 11, the Bible says
for, I know the plan I have foryou says the Lord a plan for
(11:51):
good and not for, to give you afuture and a hope.
And I tell you the thing Ireally like about this is that
God doesn't make this plan up ashe goes along, you know, he
doesn't sit her up in heavennext to Gabriel and go, okay,
now this happened to George andthat happened to George.
(12:12):
And this just happened toGeorge.
Hmm.
Gabriel, what do you think weought to do next for George?
No, no, no.
Psalm 1 39 says that all thedays ordained for me were
written in your book God's bookbefore there was one of them in
time and space friend, beforeyou ever breathe your first
(12:34):
breath on this earth before youever came down the birth canal
and introduce yourself to yourmother before all of that
happened, God's plan for yourlife was already done.
Every detail down to the tiniestthing was already planned out
and everything that's happeningin this world is just fitting
(12:56):
into that plan for good man.
Am I thankful for that?
Number five?
I'm thankful.
Number five, that God gave me aroadmap to show me how to live a
safe and healthy life.
We call it the BI BLE, the BiblePsalm 119 verse 1 0 5 says your
(13:20):
word.
The Bible is a lamp to my feetand a light to my path.
It goes on to say your commandshave made me wiser than my
enemies, and I have more insightthan all my teachers, because I
meditate on your statutes.
(13:41):
You know, in Israel, I don'tknow how much you know about the
politics of Israel, but up until1967 of the Golan Heights
overlooking the sea of Galileewas controlled by the Syrians.
And they used to shell artilleryshells down to the, uh, Israeli
communities down around the seaof Galilee.
(14:01):
But in 1967, uh, the Israelisconquered the Golan Heights as
part of the six day war.
And, uh, they now control itwill every year when we go to
Israel, we go up on the GolanHeights to a place called Kersey
where Jesus cast the demons outof Legion, the demoniac.
But on the way up, we drive bythese fields that are all
(14:23):
surrounded by barbed wire.
And they have big yellow signswhere it says in Arabic and
Hebrew and in English dangerminds, M I N E S minds.
And what they're talking aboutis landmines that were put in
these fields by the Syrians andthe Russians in the early
(14:45):
sixties, when they control theGolan Heights.
And these signs are warningpeople don't go in this field.
There are live minds in here nowwithout exception every year, a
few cows and a few wild animalswander in there and get
themselves blown up.
You say, well, why don't theyjust go in there and clean these
(15:06):
fields out?
Well, it's real simple friends.
They don't have a map of wherethe mines are in these fields.
There's road, no roadmap to walkthem through the field and say a
mines.
Here are mines.
Here are mines here.
And it's just way too dangerousto go in there, trying to find
those minds.
And every time we ride by one ofthese fields, I remind myself,
(15:30):
you know what?
Lawn life is just like thatfield.
It is full of mines, all kindsof places that people step on
all the time and blow theirlives up.
How glad I am that God has givenus a roadmap through life.
And folks, if we follow thisroadmap, if when God says do
(15:52):
this, do this, do this.
We do.
And when God says, don't dothis, don't do this.
Don't do this.
We don't, you know what?
You cannot step on a mine andblow yourself up.
It's impossible.
I need one of these to getthrough this life.
I don't know about you, but Ineed a roadmap and would to God,
(16:15):
all of us listen to it more thanwe do.
All right.
Number six, I'm thankful.
Number six for God's promisethat in the end, true justice is
going to prevail in thisuniverse.
(16:36):
Galatians six seven says, do notbe deceived.
Nobody makes a fool out of Godfor whatever, a person sows,
that's precisely what they'regoing to read.
And I think we understand whatGod's saying here.
Don't we, what God is saying isthat if you could sow
unrighteousness, injustice,evil, unkindness, and every kind
(17:00):
of ungodly behavior, and thenreap blessing that God would be
a fool.
And God says, nobody's going tomake a fool out of me.
If you sow good things, honestthings, righteous things, just
things.
Yeah.
You're going to reap goodthings.
But if you so injustice andevil, you're going to reap the
(17:23):
rewards of that.
And I'm going to see to it.
God says, because you're notmaking a fool out of me.
And I love how Jesus put this.
He said in Luke chapter 12,verse three, whatever you have
said in the dark shall be heardin the light.
And what you have whispered inthe inner room shall be shouted
(17:44):
from the rooftops.
I was driving along, talking tomy wife, Brenda, about this
first.
And she said, you know, that'skind of a scary verse.
And I said, well, Brenda, it alldepends what you said in the
dark.
It all depends what you did andwhispered in the inner room.
If what we said in the dark andin the inner room are good
(18:05):
things, righteous things, godlythings, holy things.
This verse isn't scary.
This verse is exciting becauseit's going to be seen publicly.
But if the things we did in theinner room are not so nice and
they're evil and they'rescheming and they're treacherous
then.
Yeah, it is a scary verse.
It's all about what we did inthe inner room.
(18:26):
And you know, I got to tell youfolks that it really discourages
me sometimes here in Washington,DC, to see people do things that
are unkind, that are untrue,that are unfair, and then see
them get away with it.
Just because they got a lot ofmoney just because they got a
lot of influence and a lot ofpower.
(18:48):
And it bothers me.
And I'm sure it does you to seeinjustice in our world and
unrighteousness in our world andsee people get away with this as
though they're never going to beheld accountable.
Ah, but let me say to yourfriend, this is just a temporary
situation because we have thepromise of God's word that when
(19:11):
all the dust settles ineternity, every single thing is
going to be made, right?
Nobody is getting away withanything.
Boy, I tell you what I am sothankful for that.
Amen.
Amen.
All right.
Number seven.
(19:31):
I'm thankful that God givessufficient grace for every day.
You know, Paul was talking tothe Lord in second Corinthians
12, about his thorn in theflesh.
We don't know exactly what thatwas, but it was some kind of
physical malady we think.
And Paul says three times, Ipleaded with the Lord to take it
away from me.
(19:51):
And the Lord said, no.
He said, I'm not going to do it,Paul, but my grace is sufficient
for you.
I'm not going to take yourproblem away.
But what I'm going to do is I'mgoing to give you sufficient
Strang, sufficient stamina,sufficient grace, and wisdom, to
be able to walk through it.
(20:13):
Boy, I'm sure, glad the Lordoffers to give that to us.
You know, this Thanksgivingweek, just this past week,
Brenda and I went down and spentthe week with my youngest son,
John and his wonderful wife,Kristen and Durham, North
Carolina, and our two youngestgrandchildren.
Natalie's two and Catherine isfour months old.
(20:33):
And so we were there all week.
And uh, by the, by Thursday, youknow, by Thanksgiving day we had
played every game known to man.
We had colored every piece ofpaper in the house, uh, that we
had read every book in thehouse.
We had done it all.
And so then on Thanksgiving day,uh, as we were finishing the
(20:54):
meal, my wife Brenda said toJohn and Kristen said, Hey, why
don't, y'all go out to a movietogether and lawn and I'll watch
the children.
I was like, what?
But I, you know, it was alreadylike out of her mouth, you know,
it was like, I couldn't get itback in.
So they said, oh great, sure.
(21:14):
They put their coats on and out.
They went.
So I was like, oh, okay, well,there was one good thing about
it, Catherine.
The four month old was sleeping.
And so I thought, well, you knowwhat?
This won't be too bad.
We'll just kinda double teamNatalie.
And it'll be all right.
Honestly, can I, can I be honestwith you?
(21:35):
Can I confession?
Yeah.
Honestly, what I really thoughtis that Brenda could watch
Natalie and I could lay on thecouch and watch football.
That's what I really thought.
But I didn't dare say that.
Well, anyway, 15 minutes afterthey were gone, guests who wakes
up.
Yeah.
And she woke up in a reallyrotten mood and she screamed.
(22:00):
Katherine did for over an hournonstop, absolutely screaming
and nothing.
Nothing, nothing you could docould stop this baby from
screaming.
I tried everything.
Meanwhile, little Natalie'sgoing Mimi, can we draw a Mimi?
Can we play Mimi?
Can we get a piece of paper?
Mimi, can we call her Mimi?
Can you read to me?
(22:21):
And she's doing that.
And I'm watching this baby.
And I tried everything with thisbaby.
I tried walking this baby.
I tried bouncing this baby.
I try holding this baby.
I tried to roll in this baby,you know, like on the floor, you
know, roll her over a little bitand maybe, you know, why nothing
else was working.
Come on.
I thought maybe she might justenjoy a little activity on the
(22:43):
floor that no, that didn't work.
So we were about a half an hourinto this.
And Brenda says to me, how, howlong do you think the movie is?
I said, I don't know.
I'll look it up on the internet.
So I went to the internet andlooked it up.
This is a three hour movie.
Oh my gosh.
(23:05):
Oh my gosh.
We just said, oh Lord, Jesusgive us strength.
When those people got home, wehanded one baby to one of them
and one baby to the other one,we said, let us pray with you
because it's time for us to go.
And that's right.
We did.
And we headed back to the hotel.
And as we were driving back tothe hotel for a moment, nobody
(23:28):
said anything.
And finally I said to Brenda, Isaid, how did we do that?
You know, we had three boys.
And then we layered on top ofthat, my daughter with
disabilities and all of herneeds, how in the world did we
ever do that?
And I loved my wife's answer.
(23:48):
She said, lawn, God gave usgrace.
And that's true.
God gave us grace when we neededthree hours of grace on Thursday
and we got it barely.
But we needed years of graceraising our family.
And you know what?
We look back now.
God gave it to us.
Some of us, you know, we're notout of all that yet.
(24:11):
Some of us have raised ourchildren, but now we're
caregiving our parents or someother relative that really needs
care.
Some of us have special needschildren with disabilities that
we're going to be taking care ofthem and needing special grace.
All of our life.
Some of us have jobs where whenwe walk into that job, we need
the grace of God.
(24:32):
When we walk into that job andfolks, let me just tell you the
thing I'm so thankful for isthat the grace of God is always
sufficient.
I don't care how big the needGod's.
Grace is bigger.
Amen is bigger.
And we had a, we have this, thewords of a hymn that we taped in
(24:58):
our bathroom back in some of thetoughest days of, of our life.
And it's still there.
And here's what it says.
It says he give us more grace.
When our burdens grow greater,he send us more strength.
As our labors increase to addedafflictions, he added his mercy
(25:20):
to multiply trials.
His multiplied peace.
When we have exhausted our storeof endurance, when our strength
has failed ear, the day is halfdone.
When we reach the end of ourhoarded resources, our father's
full giving is only begun.
(25:44):
And the chorus says his love hasno limits.
His grace has no measure.
His power has no boundary knownunto men for out of his infinite
riches in Jesus.
He giveth and give this andgiveth again.
(26:05):
Folks, no matter how great theneed God's grace is greater
depend on it.
And I'm thankful it's alwaysthere.
Number eight, I'm thankful.
Number eight for the privilegethat God has given me to lead
McLean Bible church for the last34 years.
(26:26):
I'm thankful for you as a churchfamily for all you wonderful
people for having put up with meand having loved me in spite of
myself and having given me thetremendous privilege and honor
of leading this church for thelast three decades.
And I just want you to know, Ido not take this for granted.
(26:49):
This has been one of thegreatest privileges in my life,
and I am so thankful for it.
So thank you for that very much.
I appreciate that.
Thank you.
Number nine.
And finally I told you I'd makeit.
I am so thankful for Brenda, mywife of 39 years and Proverbs
(27:15):
1914 says houses and wealth areinherited from parents, but a
prudent wife is a gift from theLord.
And I want to tell you, 39 yearsago, when God gave me the gift
of Brenda, I had no idea what hewas really given me back then,
but I do now.
She has been a faithful, lovingwife and amazing mother, I think
(27:40):
pretty much a near perfectpastor's wife.
And she has been true north forme for the last 39 years.
You know, I will come to her andI'm headed east or I'm headed
south, or I'm headed west.
I'm going in every direction.
And Brenda, without exception,whether it's fiscally or
(28:00):
spiritually or just commonsense, she is always pointed
true north.
And she'll say no lawn.
No, that is not the way we oughtto do it.
And sometimes I hate thatbecause I want to go west or
south or east.
But no, that woman is always ontrue north.
(28:22):
And what a blessing.
It has been in my life to have aperson like that on our, the
Israel trip this past fall, agentleman came up to Brendan
said, you know, Brenda, now thatI've gotten to know Lon better,
I'm going to really up mypraying for you.
That's what he said.
I'm serious.
(28:43):
She thought that was great.
I wasn't all that thrilled aboutit, but she thought it was
wonderful.
But you know what?
I got to tell you.
I don't know how I got Brenda tomarry me, but I'm married over
my head, ladies and gentlemenand any smart man does.
Amen.
Fellas, fellas, wait a minute.
(29:06):
The women are all clapping.
Wait a minute, fellas, fellas,I'm throwing you a softball.
Listen.
Any smart man does right?
There you go.
You guys are going to have amuch better afternoon.
Okay?
Now let's conclude.
What am I thankful for somethings that Thanksgiving number
(29:28):
one, the 43 years ago, I came toJesus Christ.
Number two, that because I cameto Christ, my eternal destiny is
settled.
Number three, that in JesusChrist, God gives me a reason
for living every day thattranscends the grave.
I'm thankful number four, thatGod is an absolute control of
(29:51):
the universe and of every detailin my life.
Number five, I'm thankful thatGod gave me a roadmap.
The Bible to help me know how tolive a safe and healthy life.
Number six, I am thankful that Ihave God's promise that true
justice will prevail in the endin this universe.
(30:16):
Number seven, I'm thankful thatGod gives sufficient grace for
every day.
Number eight.
I'm thankful for the privilegeof being the pastor of this
church for 34 years.
And number nine, I am sothankful that God blessed me
with my wife, Brenda, for thelast 39 years.
(30:36):
And I want to suggest to everyone of us that we make a list
like this, your list may havesome of the things on it.
Mine does.
It may have some differentthings on it doesn't matter, but
sit down and go through thediscipline of saying, I'm
thankful for this.
I'm thankful for this.
God has blessed me with this.
(30:56):
You'll be able to write down alot more than you think once you
get started and friend, everytime you take that list out and
you read it, three things willhappen.
First of all, it'll lift yourspirits.
Second of all, it'll put youreveryday problems into much
better perspective.
(31:18):
And finally, every time you readit, it'll cause you to break out
in Thanksgiving to God for allof his blessings, let's pray
together.
Heavenly father I'm reminded of,uh, the verse in Psalm 1 0 3
that says, bless the Lord on mysoul and forget none of his
(31:42):
benefits and you know, Lord.
So often we do forget all of theblessings that you give us.
Lord, we have a tendency to takethem for granted.
And sometimes we're like thenine lepers that Jesus healed in
the new Testament, who evenafter they were healed, never
(32:03):
came back to say, thank you.
So father indeed make us likethe one leper who, when he was
healed, turned around and ranback to Christ and fell at his
feet in Thanksgiving andappreciation.
Lord, forgive us for so oftentaking for granted what you do
(32:24):
for us, help us to be moregrateful for all of your
goodness.
None of which we deserve.
Remind every one of us here thatyou are better to us every day
than we
Speaker 2 (32:39):
Deserve.
And Lord may that thankfulnessbe a constant, an everyday part
of our life.
Take the word of God andchallenge and uplift our hearts.
Today, we pray and we ask thesethings in Jesus name and what
God's people say, all of thatwas paltry.
(33:01):
That was terrible.
What did God's people say?
All right now, have a greatThanksgiving weekend.
We'll see you guys.
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The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The Olympics
Two Guys (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers). Five Rings (you know, from the Olympics logo). One essential podcast for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bowen Yang (SNL, Wicked) and Matt Rogers (Palm Royale, No Good Deed) of Las Culturistas are back for a second season of Two Guys, Five Rings, a collaboration with NBC Sports and iHeartRadio. In this 15-episode event, Bowen and Matt discuss the top storylines, obsess over Italian culture, and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village.