Thank you for tuning into Life Mission Church. If you're interested in connecting with us, please visit our website at Life Mission dot church slash connect. You can also watch sermons on the media tab of our Life Mission app, or by visiting Life Mission dot church slash watch. We hope you enjoy this inspiring message.
We could see you guys really, really glad that you're here. I want to mention just a couple of things. First of all, I want to tell you how grateful I am to be able to serve Jesus with you and just be a part of this family. You guys have stepped up in such an incredible way and just acts of generosity whether it was our blessing tree ministry, which helped give Christmas to almost 200 kids, incredible minister in single parent homes, and then also what's going on with a Thanksgiving drive this week.
I'm just so grateful for you guys on the regular. I'll be pulling the property. I just can't believe I get to do this. It really is such an incredible honor.
Second thing I want to tell you guys is I'm really looking forward to being together. A week from today, it's going to be on that Sunday night. My daughter, my oldest, was on the video. They put that documentary together about Israel.
And I'd really just highly recommend coming to be a part of it. I do want you to know it's pretty intense. And so at a minimum, it's PG-13 up to ours. I mean, it's pretty graphic.
It's not, you know, so are a lot of movies, right? But this is real. So I want you to think about that with your kids. OK, I wouldn't recommend bringing small kids, teenagers.
Absolutely. I think they need to see that. So if you want to know, kind of, I'm going to give you that perspective there. But it's going to be a solid time.
And we're going to pray for this generation. We're going to pray for Israel after the documentaries over as well. All right. You guys love the word?
All right. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you today for your word, and it's true. Let me thank you that seasons change.
People change. You never change. You're a faithful, steady, strong. Let me think of your word, that it's living and active.
And as we allow your word to get on the inside of us, you change us. That you transform our minds and our perspectives. And you change us and you bring freedom. And when we know the truth, as we continue in your word, then we experience true freedom.
We invite that today in Jesus' name. And by said, I'm continuing a short little series. I began last week. I'm calling this with thankful hearts.
I began last week in Colossians 3, which is a letter to the church in Colossians. We're going to actually look at a different letter today in the book of Philippians. But I want to begin back in Colossians. This is really the foundation for the series.
And it's Colossians 3. He begins, he says, since you've been raised in your life with Christ, set your sight on the realities of heaven. The New King James says, set your mind on things above. He goes on to say, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand.
Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life and your real life is hidden with Christ and God. Now we looked at that in detail last week. Let me just summarize it and say this, that Paul was saying, live as citizens of heaven.
We are just passing through like this is not our home, amen? We've been blood-bought, born again, invited into another family. And we get a new citizenship. We're a part of the kingdom of God.
So regardless of what's happening around us, we can be so heavenly minded that we can actually be earthly good. You've heard the thing, don't be so heavenly minded, you're no earthly good, the reality is the more heavenly minded we are, the more we can reveal the goodness of God in and through our lives. We'll fast forward verse 15, I've read all of this, but all 20 verses or whatever it was. Let me just pick up verse 15, it says, and let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your heart.
So there's a lot of things trying to rule in our hearts. We said, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts as members of one body or family. You are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
I say, always be thankful. Turn to your neighbor. Say he's talking to you. Please be thankful.
Let the message of Christ in all its richness fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom that he gives. Sing songs and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. There's the title of our series with thankful.
I don't know, we cannot have not just thankful words, but we can actually have thankful hearts. As a matter of fact, I would submit this to you that if you struggle with thankfulness, go ahead and let your words be thankful even if you're already hadn't caught up yet. Just speaking of speak out words of thanksgiving. It's amazing the power of declaring thankfulness.
And he says, and whatever you say, do it as a representative of Jesus giving thanks. So three times in a couple of verses, Paul talks about the power of a thankful heart. My three points last week I'll give him to you real quick because we're really going to build on them today is a thankful heart opens our eyes. So we're going to be thankful and opens our eyes.
We're going to see life differently. We're going to see relationships differently, priorities, all the things. It opens our eyes to what God has done and what he is doing in our lives. Having thankful hearts shifts our perspective from stress to blast, from fear to faith.
We can do that all day. He changes our perspective. We get the mind of Christ. We get renewed by the renewing of the word, all the things.
The second thing is we saw that a thankful heart shapes our attitudes and our actions both. Both attitudes and actions and finally our thankful heart alters our perspective and our priorities. I said this and I think it's key and this is really going to set the stage for where I want to go today. And it's this spiritual maturity and moral strength come from gratitude.
And the opposite's also true. If we're unthankful, we're really not spiritually mature. Because spiritual maturity is based on the reality that God is God and God is good, right? And he wants to be good in my life.
And when he says something's good, it's good. When he says something's bad, it's bad. And when I move my priorities, he is. Now I experience his grace in my life when I begin to grow.
Can I get an amen? All right. So we're going to move forward today and I'm going to read another 20 verses. You guys love the Bible.
You said you did. Some's going to keep reading it. There's 20 verses. We're going to read the first 20 verses of Philippians chapter four.
And we could spend weeks just on this chapter. There's so much in here. But as we do, we're going to really zoom in on the same theme of having thankful hearts, what it looks like to live thankful lives. So the interesting thing about Philippians is it's a book that was written to a church.
A group of people, it's heard that actually Paul had helped plant. He had helped found this church. And he had a lot of affection for them. You'll see that right at the beginning of what we're reading today.
But he's also, so in some ways this letter is kind of like a thank you card or thank you letter. But it also is a letter of instruction and encouragement and clarification. He clarifies. He says, this is right.
This is wrong. Don't forget what God's already done. That's true in a lot of his letters. Another thing that's really interesting about the book of Philippians is that the apostle Paul wrote it from a prison cell.
So when you hear the words he's about to say, remember, he's incarcerated. He is because of his decision to put Jesus first in a culture that was contrary to that. He had to ask permission to do whatever he could do. He was in captivity.
And yet he was living in freedom. And I really believe this is a window for us to realize no matter what's happening circumstantially, what's going on in the outside, what's really important is what's happening on the inside. Amen. So let's read it.
It says, in Philippians 4, he says, therefore, dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you. My dear friends, for you are my joy and crown I receive from my work. I love this.
Just these first three verses here. He's just reminding them how much he loves them. He has a genuine affection for them. He was there when many of them were born again.
He's walked through it. He's a pastor to them. And now he's in prison, but he's pastorally writing this letter and encouraging them. And then he says this, I appeal to you, you, you, you, I can always butcher her name.
Two ladies, these two words here are two ladies names. And let me see if I can do this. You, O Dia, I think that's how you say it. And the other one is really easy.
It's sin-twitching. So anyway, forget all that. I did take Greek, but you know it didn't take. So these two ladies, he says, now appeal to you, please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement.
You know, we could stop right here and talk about this all day. Paul's talking to the three people of God, and she's talking to these two ladies, and apparently he's heard they've got issues. There's a little drama in the camp, right? And he says to them, from afar, from a prison cell, look, come on, figure it out.
Jesus gave us Matthew 18. Could you go ahead and just walk that out now? And then he says, I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they have worked hard with me in telling others the good news. So these are women of God.
They're having some tension, some struggle. And that happens in family, doesn't it? Like we don't always agree. Thanksgivings next week.
Let's remind you of that. Just take this with you. This message, come on, because we're part of the family of God, let's love each other. Can I get a name in?
It says, they worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers whose names were written in the book of life. So I read that. That's really not our key text today, but I want to read it because it just kind of reminds us that these are real people living real life, and Paul's speaking to those real circumstances. I also want to really highlight the fact that he makes it clear these two ladies were vital members of the ministry team.
They ministered to people that says they worked hard alongside us. So I want to honor them for them. It goes on to say this, always, be full of the joy of the Lord. I say it again, rejoice.
Everybody say rejoice. You know what rejoice means? Reset your joy. That's all it means.
Rejoice means to remember why you have joy. Remember what he's done, what he is doing, what he's going to do, remember what he said, remember his promises. That's what he says, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice, right?
Reset the joy. Where's joy found? It's in his presence and standing on his promises. So let everyone see that you are considerate in all that you do.
You can translate that word, consider it as intentional and loving. Remember the Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything. You can preach on that all week, right?
Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all that he's done. Then you'll experience God's peace which exceeds anything we can understand. One of the translations says surpasses our understanding.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing, fix your thoughts. Set your mind on what? On what is true? We live in a world full of lies.
We live in a world full of distractions. And he said, no, no, no, fix your thoughts. Establish what you're going to focus on, what you're going to meditate on, what you're going to think about. You have fixed your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right and pure and loving and admirable.
Reset the algorithm of your mind on these things. Can I get any amen? Think about these things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all that you've learned and received from me.
Everything you've heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you always have been concerned about me, but you didn't have a chance to help me.
Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or within everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is a full stomach or an empty with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.
We all know that verse. Philippians 4, 13, did you know it was in the context of the Apostle Paul saying, look, we can live in abundance or in need and we can do it with a thankfulness in our hearts. He said, even so, you have done well to share with me and my present difficulty. As we know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought to you the good news and then traveled to Macedonia.
No other church did this. Even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent help more than once. I don't say this because I want to get from you. Rather, I want you to receive the reward for your kindness.
What you said, this isn't a support letter. I'm not in need. I want you to know I'm grateful for your generosity. You've taken care of me.
You've sent me goods when I'm in prison. You've taken care of me. I just want to thank you for that. So thank you, louder, from the Apostle Paul to a church that he helped to plan.
He said, at this moment, I have all that I need and more. That sounds like a song we've been reading, singing lately. I have all that I need. I am generously supplied with the gifts that you sent.
I'm not going to butcher the name. They are all sweet, smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. And this saying, God, who takes care of me, will supply all your needs from his glorious riches which you have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Now all glory to God, our Father, forever and ever, amen.
I just read 20 verses. I know we could spend weeks on each one of those verses. There's so much in there. But I want to focus today on this idea, this powerful truth of what it looks like to have thankful hearts, what it looks like to follow Jesus with thankful hearts.
Look back at verses 6 and 7. He says, don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Is there anything in your life that you ought not pray about?
No, everything. Everything. There's nothing in our lives. So is your parenting man having to be praying, right?
As we're loving our spouse. They're making just, you know, I saw somebody over here like, oh Lord, yeah. Now those are the obvious ones. Paying bills, all those things.
But if you ever thought about the things that maybe don't seem like you ought to pray about them, you think that's a little weird. You ever thought that, you know, people are really weird. They pray about everything. Pulsive, positive, pray about everything.
I think you ought to pray about a parking spot when you're going to the grocery store. And what I mean by that is say, Lord, you want me to park in the back of the parking lock because I need the steps and somebody else needs that spot, right? As you walk into the grocery store, ask the Lord, say, is there somebody here that I need to minister to. And we pray about everything.
We actually position ourselves for incredible encounters with the Lord. The more we pray, the more or less of what we're doing, we're inviting Him into that situation. That's powerful right there. So pray about everything.
And then He goes on to say this. He said, don't worry about anything. He said that first. I think a lot of us don't pray because we're so busy worrying.
And if we prayed more, we'd worry less. Amen? Tell God what you need and thank Him for all that He's done. There's that thankfulness.
Then when? Then you will experience God's peace. When you experience God's peace, when you begin to pray about everything and you thank Him for what He's done. Amen?
And it says, the peace, his peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ. I've got four points today. I've got to get moving. If you take a note, the first one is a thankful heart experiences peace.
A thankful heart will experience peace. Did they get that? Is it up there? No?
We don't have points. Talk into the media team, my friends. There it is. A thankful heart experiences peace.
How do we experience peace? We experience it when we have thankful hearts. And if your heart's not thankful, then start with thankful words. If you're struggling with gratitude, if you find yourself angsty and frustrated, begin to do, I'm going to give you a secret sauce right now.
You're having Thanksgiving this week. You want to know what kind of gravy you need to put on all the food that is your life. You want to just cover your life with the promises of God. Begin to declare the promises of God.
You say, where do I find those? Open to the book of Psalms. Open to the red letters in the New Testament. Those are two good places to start.
If you want to begin to hold the promises of God, look at any of these epistles, letters that were written to the early church. But let me tell you, a thankful heart will experience peace, but not just any peace, not the peace that the world offers. No, a peace that comes from God. And Paul connects gratitude to God's peace.
So what is peace? Look at the Old Testament. The word for peace. The primary word is the word Shalom.
I should love that word. I say Shalom. Peace, wholeness, completeness, soundness, welfare. It's strong.
It's number 7965. But this is in the New Testament. The New Testament word is really similar. And in this word, I can actually pronounce this word.
It's like Irene or Irene. I learned that in Greek. I remember that. And it's strong.
Number 15, 15. And here's what it means. Tranquility, security, safety, prosperity. And it's another word for salvation.
When we get born again, it actually we make peace with God, right? We experience that peace. But I love this. The first few words here.
Tranquility, security, safety. Those are powerful things. How do we experience those? He told us.
We're not everything. Don't worry about anything and thank him for what he's done. That's what we saw there in the text, right? So we can thank him for what he's done.
Anything in our life that we're dealing with. That matter what it is going to paint the bills. We got Christmas coming up. I've got a bad report from the doctor.
Whatever the things are that we're tempted to worry about. Instead, we worship God. We thank him for what he's done. And we bring them to him.
And then we remind him of his promises. I thank you today that I have all that I need in you. Amen. All those things.
I read, I was reading the commentary on peace this week on this word peace and it said this. A tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ. and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is. A tranquil state of the soul, that's assured of its salvation.
See, because we're born again, because we're children of God, because our identity isn't him, we don't have anything to fear. What's the worst thing that can happen? We could die and go to heaven and be with Jesus, right? So we live that way, that changes the game.
I've given you this definition, this is a kind of a definition that I chose out there in Bible college. Here's what I brought up, biblical peace is an inner freedom from God which produces strength and confidence. Regardless of what's happening around us. That's that tranquil soul that he talked about there.
And the Bible says we can have this kind of peace. You know who the source of it is, Jesus? Prophecy about Jesus in Micah chapter five says, he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord's strength talking about the Messiah. In the majesty of his name, the Lord, his God, and his people will live there undisturbed and he will be highly honored around the world and he will be the source of peace.
Jesus is the source of peace, not your 401k, not your job, not your relationships, the source of God's peace is Jesus himself. Jesus said this in John 16, I've told you this that you will have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, I've overcome the world.
So Jesus makes it really clear, regardless of what's happening out here we can have peace on the inside. Jesus said in John 14, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives, do I give to you, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. I love this in the new living, it says I am leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and heart. I've got some of that.
That's a gift worth opening. How do we get there? We told us, don't worry about anything, pray about everything and thank him for what he's done. I told you I have four points, we are going to move in, right?
So the first one is a thankful heart is experience his peace. The second one we're going to find right here in Philippians 4, pick him in verse 11, it says not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation that I am to be content. And he goes on to say, I know what it means to a bound or to be in want. My second point is that a thankful heart is content.
A thankful heart experiences a level of contentment that doesn't have anything to do with circumstances. It's a steadiness that's like that tranquility of soul. And Paul says I have learned, I've got this is something we learn. I have learned to be content, not in the comfort of this world, but in Christ, not in the things of this world, but in the kingdom of God.
We've been singing the song, I just love the song, we just sang it today. It says I have all that I need. I got the lyrics here, it says you are my portion, I don't want to sing it because that would really be not good. But it says you are my great reward, you are my inheritance, I have all that I need.
That's just a declaration of contentment. The Psalmist said it this way, in Psalm 16 he said, oh Lord, you are my portion of my inheritance and my cup, you maintain my lot. The lines have fallen from me in pleasant places and I have a good inheritance. This comes out of the heart of contentment.
A thankful heart, check this out, a thankful heart rejects the I deserve better mentality and embraces I've been given so much. That's a game changer right there. But if I want you to think about this, this is key, stick with me here, this is really important. Whether you've been following Jesus for a few minutes now, you prayed about 15, 20 minutes ago, or you've been following Jesus for decades, I want you to catch this truth.
I want you to think about how much frustration, rebellion, sand pain and regret could be avoided if we just began to have thankful hearts. So, the key to contentment is the opposite of lust, and greed, and selfish ambition, and violence, all the things. So, you think about all the frustration, rebellion, sand and pain and regret that had been caused by a lack of thankful hearts. So, somebody said this, gratitude makes enough feel like abundance.
So, when you realize that, and this is really hard for us in the Western, well, in our generation, because we live in a consumer culture and we're just told all day, every day, we need more. I'm gonna get told that today, when I get home and watch the Chiefs game, I'm gonna get told I need pizza, I need a new car, I need a new credit card, I need insurance, I need to take some drugs that I don't even know, those side effects, I'm like, no, I don't want that, right? I'm gonna get told I need all those things, and I don't need any of those things. I have a beautiful bride, and she's gonna make me food that will not send me to my grave, come on now, right?
So, we have to realize God is good, and he's blessed to us, and we're gonna live out of that contentment. Having a thankful heart shifts our mindset from lack to abundance, and to an appreciation of the goodness of God and our lives. Instead of focusing on what we lack, we begin to recognize and value the blessings we already have. Which really makes us candidates for more.
First Timothy says this is another letter from the Apostle Paul, he said, true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. You know, ambition and greed and covetousness are traps of the enemy. In our society, the algorithms in your phone capitalize on that. You need this, you need that.
But I'm gonna tell you, there's great power, great wealth the Bible says in contentment. Let's keep going, I'm not gonna read it, but in verses 14 through 18, the Apostle Paul was talking about the generosity of the church in Philippi, and that's my third point today, the thankful heart is generous. The thankful heart thinks about the needs of others, the desires of others, and sees opportunities to be a giver, that's what generosity looks like. Somebody said this, generosity is an overflow of peace and contentment.
It's an overflow of that shalom peace, and that contentment that we just talked about. As we receive these things out of grateful hearts, we will wanna bless others. Proverbs 11 says that generous soul is made rich and he who waters will also be watered himself. There's just incredible, and you have a vicious cycle, but you'd also have a victorious cycle.
You receive the blessing of God, you become a blesser, and as you do that, you know what happens, you receive more. It's a beautiful thing that God calls us and invites us into. Somebody said this, generosity is gratitude in motion. I like that.
It's the boots that gratitude wears. It's the gloves that are willing to get down and work, and listen, gratitude's not just about finances. Gradually, I mean, I'm sorry, generosity's not just about finances. Generosity's about a lifestyle that is willing to serve others.
It's willing to meet needs, whatever that is. Being willing to help. We were putting up our Christmas lights last week. I said, say, my sons, we're putting up our Christmas lights last week, and we need a ladder.
So whatever we do, we ask our neighbor, they got everything. People know and demand, they have. And they are generous. They let us use their ladder.
Come on, somebody on. That was a generous act. I'm so grateful. Now when they go on trips, they let me know, hey, Amazon's going to drop off 14 packages.
Make sure you pick those up. And so I generously go over there and start, I have to empty my shed. I'm just kidding. Generosity comes out of a heart of wearing this together.
We're neighbors. We're family. We're friends. All those things, right?
That's what generosity looks like. And a thankful heart produces generous hands. Thankful hearts don't say what can I get. They say what can I give?
Thankful hearts will no longer fear lack, but we have confidence in the abundance of God. In other words, we move from a closed economy that's all about me and what I can do and how much I can get, how much I can hoard. And we step over into an abundant economy that says, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. And he's been gracious enough to give me some things.
And I want to be a part of a blessing others. Amen? So that's what that looks like. At least on my last point today, which is this.
Thankful heart trusts in God. A thankful heart lives a lifestyle of trust. Look what he said here in verse 19. He said, in this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, right?
So we begin to live a lifestyle of trusting God. Gratitude declares that God has us covered. One of my favorite psalms, and that's saying something because I love the psalms. Psalm 37 says, trust in the Lord and do good.
See, we begin trusting God. You know it's going to move us to action. And do good to dwell on the land and feed on his faithfulness. I don't know when you feed on his faithfulness, you're not going to be as hungry for McDonald's.
Come on now. I'm not a fan of McDonald's. I don't know if I've made that clear, but I really, really like Minsky. So anyway, just confessing my sin that I might be forgiven, right?
It says, delight yourself and the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. So I have to ask ourselves, what am I delighting in? We live in a world that wants us to delight in this, delight in that, but thankful hearts, we learn today, number one, thankful heart experiences peace. A peace that surpasses understanding.
A thankful heart is content. It doesn't live in this ongoing, uncontrollable angst. I need more, I deserve more, I want more, no, it's content. And that in and of itself is great strength.
You think about how much pain and how much just regret has been caused by lack of being content. I had a father that was very on content about everything. I remember as a kid watching his life, as a little kid, I was the, I endured pain because of my dad's lack of content. He bounced from woman to woman, he bounced from, I'm gonna try this, I'm gonna, he just was like, squirrel all the time.
He was never content. I don't remember really until his latter days, which is crazy, cause he was living off a feeding tube in a tiny little house, dying of cancer. First time I can remember, he started to have some level of contentment. And I don't know if it was contentment or he just was resigned to this is it.
That's a sad way to go. I have determined I'm not gonna go that way. Amen. I'm not gonna be sitting alone in a house on a feeding tube.
Why? Because you know what, when we live lives with contentment, it actually opens the door to all these incredible blessings of God in their lives. A thankful heart is generous. And a thankful heart trusts in God.
Now I mean, there's so much more I wanted to say. I told the worship team, if I don't get to the story about the ranch, just come on out anyway. And there they are. I'm gonna close with this though.
I'm just gonna tell to you real quick. I've told the story before. When I was a new believer, I lived on a horse ranch for a while. It was supposed to be a boy's ranch.
There were no boys there, but there were a bunch of horses. It's a whole different story. But I was there and I kind of got tricked into this by the Lord used some other people to trick me into this. So I end up on this boy's ranch and I'm living in my van down by the barn.
And I worked for this man that was in his 80s and he'd been working with horses since the 1800s or whatever. And I can just tell you all these stories. I mean, it's just crazy. And maybe next week, maybe I should just do this next week.
If I tell this story next week, will you come back, how many guys will come back next week? And I'll tell this story. Okay, I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna do that.
That's what we're gonna do. We're gonna tell that story next week. I wrote this on my notes. A thankful heart is really seeing life clearly.
Every breath that I breathe is a gift. Every day that I live is the Lord's. This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it, amen?
Every ability I have is a gift from God that I steward. Everything I have is a gift. That's a beautiful way to live your life. I'm gonna have you just bow your heads for me if you would close your eyes for a moment.
I just want you to be real. Are we living on this thankful heart side of life or are we buying into the lives of the enemy and the values of our culture? Somebody said, if you struggle with gratitude, check your pulse and thank God you have one. I gave you an assignment last week.
I said, I want you to take some time right down. Things you're thankful for. And I want to encourage you to begin. This homework assignment is continuing, by the way.
I want you to do it again this week. And I want you to add to whatever list you started. If you didn't start one, start now. And I encourage you to begin by things with things God's done for you.
And that can be detailed things. And write these down. Whether you write them in hand or put them on your phone or your computer or however you document things. Write down what you're thankful for and begin with things he's done for you.
You can give a lot of detail, specific things like for me I can talk about. The things he forgave me of, the things he delivered me from. I can talk about my beautiful bride and he brought it into my life, all the things, my kids. You write those things down.
But then move on from that. You can begin to think of what the promises he's made in the scripture. Then get practical. Think about things he's done this year.
And then you can move on and you can think about just other things you're thankful for. Relationships. You've heard the counter blessings one by one, right? Just begin to do that.
Begin to thank him. This is the week, this is Thanksgiving. I know that's the holiday we do this. But I think it really, we ought to do it every day.
And so I'm just kind of challenging you today as a shepherd. This is where we're at. We're going to park here at least one more week. I'm going to tell a story about a ranch next week and just found that out.
And less prep this week for next week's sermon. Praise the Lord, right? But I want to encourage you to write that down. Have you guys all do that?
Raise your hand if you're right. Some things you're thankful for down. So you guys are like, no way I am out. I'm not doing that.
I'm going to stew in my lack of gratitude. Have you guys are going to write down some things you're thankful for? Some of you are holding out and you're growling at me while you do it. All right, if you want to live there, I don't know about you.
I'm going to live with a great full heart. Anybody with me? I want to, listen, listen, I want to experience peace and contentment, amen. I want to experience those things.
I want to live a generous life and I want to live my life trusting and God. And we just read in the scripture that it begins with a thankful heart. All those things. So let me pray for you.
Father, I thank you today that you're not done with us yet, that you're working in our lives. And we say, bring it on. Continue the work you've begun Lord. We thank you today for what you have done, for what you are doing and we embrace what you want to do.
I want to invite our prayer team to come forward at this time. We are here to pray because we know that we have a God who answers prayer. He hears, he listens, he meets us. Says in his word, we're two or three, or gathered in my name, there I am.
If two or three agree touching anything, it shall be done. So we're going to pray according to his will in this place and this house today. You know, one thing I'm really grateful for, ever since I had kind of a crisis with my eye and had to have some surgery and for his time wasn't able to read. I love the word of God.
Me and God have lots of talks about that. My eyesight reads well right now. And I'm so grateful. So just even that, like just remember one thing that always floods me, it floods me with the mercy of God that I can read.
So Father, we just thank you. I thank you for eyesight. And we ask as a family that you would give us eyesight that we could see with spiritual eyes. All that you want to show us this week, pray that each one would take the time to write the things, to open their eyes in a deeper measure to see.
The beauty that surrounds us every day, from the sun rises to the sun sets like lesser people, to be a people that notice that see, that taste and see that you are good every day. I bless that Lord. May your accountants be upon them. May your peace be upon them.
May your joy and contentment be upon them because they trust in you. In Jesus' name. Be blessed. Thank you for tuning in to Life Mission Church.
If you're interested in connecting with us, please visit our website at lifemission.church.com. You can also watch sermons on the media tab of our Life Mission app or by visiting lifemission.church.com.