Give Thanks

The good that was, that is, and so on. He gets into a lot of stuff there in detail. Here we are, I don't know, I didn't calculate it, but it must be about two hundred and two years later, our own President George Bush said, and this was quoted in the Pittsburgh Press, from the moment it was conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, our nation has enjoyed the mercy and protection of Almighty God. Thus, when we join with family and friends on Thanksgiving, we celebrate not only the many blessings that we have received as individuals, including the gift of life itself, but also our great fortune as one nation under God. On this occasion, Americans of every race, creed, and walk of life are united by a profound sense of gratitude and duty. He goes on and also elaborates reasons why we should give our thanks, especially this one paragraph, time and again. Scripture describes our Creator's special love for the poor. As the psalmist wrote, he pours contempt upon princes, yet sets the poor on high from affliction. In this great nation, we have a special obligation to care for the ill and the destitute. Therefore, recalling that much will be asked of those to whom much has been given, let us resolve to make every effort to relieve the suffering of those in need. Well, I introduce my brief message tonight with those two quotes because I believe, children listen, what we're doing here tonight isn't something we just made up in our church. It's not something that's been around for a few years. It's been around for over 200 years. We are part of a very important tradition that our nation was founded, you heard me say it, under God. And even though many forces out there today would want you to think that that's not true and would want to remove from our view remembrances of Almighty God and of His Son, Jesus Christ, I want you to know tonight, we have come to give thanks to God. We have come tonight to acknowledge that it's God's blessings and God's goodness and God's benefits that have brought us where we are. We're not here just to, you know, some safe blanket comment. We're here to say God has done these things for us. And children and adults, let's remember that. This is a nation that we can fight for. This is a nation that was established for us to grow in our respect, knowledge, and understanding of Almighty God. Likewise, we have the opportunity to continue that tradition through all generations. And that's why I'm so blessed tonight that so many of you took the time to make that statement of faith for yourself. I wanted to share with you just one other scripture tonight before we have our communion time. And it's found in 1 Corinthians 10. And you might want to turn there if you have your Bible. Why not? If you don't, here's what it says. 1 Corinthians 10.14. Therefore, my dear friends, flee from adultery. Not adultery, idolatry. I speak to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body. For we all partake of one loaf. In just a few minutes, I'm going to take this cup and this small loaf of bread. And we're going to then bless it and break it and symbolically distribute it among all of us here tonight. Why is it that Paul, along with Jesus, seemed to be so intensely concerned about one thing in the scriptures? More than power, more than miracles, more than signs and wonders, more than great fiery preaching. What was the one thing that they continued to reiterate? Jesus, just before he was crucified, talked about it. Paul mentions it over and over and over again. That one thing that they were concerned about was the unity of the body of Christ. They were deeply concerned that forces would enter in and drive a wedge between believers and cause division and thereby discredit the testimony of Christ. Jesus prayed to his Father and said, Lord, that they would be one, even as you and I are one. And Paul, as you just read, appeals to us to see ourselves as members of one body. Just like members of one loaf would be. Now listen carefully, those of you who are regular members of our church. You know that there have been some tough circumstances here this past year. Some unseen things that have applied some stress to our unity. Some have even wavered in their commitments. Others have left to go other places. There's been a number of staff changes. We have three services, and lest you think that doesn't matter, it's very difficult for you to feel a sense of unity with people you don't even know, that you never see. How many of you come Saturday night? And how many of you come the second service on Sunday? And how many the first service? You see, it's very likely that you don't even know a lot of these other people. And yet, here we all are tonight. And this is just around maybe a little bit more than half of our people. And so unity is difficult to not only maintain, but to encourage when we're not together as much as we would like to be. We've also had to endure some criticism from without. And some positive things which have stretched us, like the new church planting that's taking place out in the West Hills area in the West Coast Christian community. But I want to say we've come through all of that. And we're coming through, I believe, stronger than ever in our unity. And I'm thankful tonight for what God is doing to help us grow in character, so that we can emerge more and more like Christ as a body. And I want to just pour out my heart to you on this Thanksgiving Eve and say, Let's not let go of the good thing that God has begun with us. Let's not give one inch to the enemy who would want to come in and steal, kill, and destroy the great thing that Jesus is doing among us. Before we share communion together tonight, before we break the one loaf and participate together, I want to share with you just very quickly five things about you for which I'm thankful. Here they are. First of all, number one, I'm thankful that you collectively as a church have made Jesus Christ the one and only focal point of this church. The Lord Jesus is number one. He is the head of this body. It's Jesus Christ. It's not prophecy or healing or tongues. It's not miracles or cell groups or missions. It's not methodologies that we focus on. The number one thing here in our church is that Jesus Christ is Lord. And you can say, Amen. Now, some people haven't really thought that was the right thing. They'd rather have an emphasis or a focus of some other kind. Jack Hayford, 20 years ago, taught me this. He said, Jesus will never build his church on an emphasis. And I believe that's right. And I'm thankful that you're a people that put Jesus as the center of this church. Number two, I'm thankful that you've not forgotten that prayer is the basis of power. Do you know that there's not been a week in the last 10 years that we haven't had morning prayer in our church? I'm sorry to say that times have come and seasons have come when we wax and wane. And there's times when it's more difficult than others. But we've maintained a prayer vigil in our church. And I'm very excited. Let me just give you a little clue. Starting in January, the Lord's given me a new vision that I believe is going to incorporate hundreds, maybe more than a thousand of us on a regular basis praying. There's a little bit about it in your North Way Observer. I'm excited because I think it's going to revolutionize what's happening among us. I'm thankful for your prayer commitment. Number three, I'm thankful that we've conducted ourselves with integrity. Dear ones, Romans 12, 9 says, Let your love be without hypocrisy. And I love you all for the fact that you let your walk match your talk. Oh yeah, there are times when we fail each other. There are times when we get mad. There's times when we disappoint. But as long as I've been here, there's never been a time when we've pretended. And that's very important. There's never been a time when we've tried to deceive someone or manipulate them. And I rejoice in a place where you know that what you see is what you get. I'll tell you, there are not many fakes. In fact, I don't know any fakes in our church. If they come and fake, they don't last long. Because there's a spirit of integrity here. And it's through our relationships. It's in our finances. It's in our church. And I'm thankful that you've brought that spirit with you. Number four, I'm thankful that we've not formed too high of an opinion of ourselves. Romans 12, 3 says, Think soberly about yourself. Listen, we have seen some great things happen in our church. Do you know that? God has used our church to touch lots more people than you imagine. Our Christmas banquet, our Christmas food outreaches, all those kinds of things. We've had an impact in this city. And yet, we're still not too proud to partner with someone else and serve with others. And even, oftentimes, to serve without getting any credit. And I'm thankful to be part of a church like that. And we're still open, by the way, to new people. We're not so, think so importantly of ourselves that we don't want anyone else to mess us up. We want new people, don't we? We want people that God would send to us, to add to us. And finally, number five, I'm thankful tonight that we have a vision. For without a vision, what happens? How about in the back, what do they do? They perish. They perish everywhere. I want you to know, there's a vision in you people. And because of your prayers, there's a vision amongst the leaders. There's a vision for this church. I want you to know, we're multiplying. I sat in a worship experience on Sunday night with about 120 people out in Westridge. It just seemed like having a baby. It was the same thing I did right here 10 years ago. And it felt really weird. And I said, God, thank you so much that it's Tom. Thank you, Lord. Thank you that it's not me. God's given us a vision. We're expanding. I don't think it takes a lot of, you know, real brilliance to realize that we need a larger facility. Not just for the people that are here, but for the many who aren't here, who God has yet to send to us. We're adding ministry. We're adding to our singles. We're adding to our handicap ministry. We're adding adult education. And we're eager to grow. For those five reasons, can we put them all up? For those five reasons, and I could go on tonight, but I won't. And many, many more, I'm thankful for you. I'm thankful for this church. Dear ones, can I say this? I don't want to be anywhere else, and I pray you don't either. I pray you feel that you're right where God wants you, and that even with our faults, even with our weaknesses, even with the times when we disappoint, where we lack faith, where we're not hearing exactly the way we want to hear, that God isn't finished with us yet. I'm thankful for that, too. He's going to keep growing us together. Let's stand for a word of prayer, shall we? If the ushers will prepare for communion, please. You know, that image to me, one loaf, is such a powerful image. Tonight you may feel like the soft-hearted center of this loaf, or your heart might be as hard as the outer crust. Can I say to you tonight, the Holy Spirit wanted you to be here, whoever you might be. He wanted you to share in the experience of God's people, and He wanted you to share in the sacrifice of His body, and the shedding of His blood. That's how much He loves you. We're not here to just celebrate a ritual or a tradition. We're here, the Bible says, to partake of the grace of God. If you're here tonight and you're discouraged and down, if you've, in your own life, fallen into some kind of sin or compromise, if you're far from God, in just a moment, you're going to take communion as an expression of repentance, coming back to God and saying, God, I want my life to be pleasing to you. And there'll be power. There'll be power to break habits and addictions. There'll be power to reconcile brokenness. There'll be power to give new dreams and new vision to your life. Would you pray right now? Let's all bow our heads, shall we? Pray right now for God to touch your life as you receive communion together, and pray specifically for that one thing that you need to see. Go ahead. Heads bowed, please. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Now, Lord, we set apart this bread and this cup. And, Lord, we ask you, by the power that raised Jesus from the dead, O God, help us to have the courage to repent tonight, Lord. Help us have the courage, Lord, to turn away from our slander, our negativity, all the things that we've doubted, Lord, and help us to embrace the love and power and grace of Jesus Christ for our lives. And the Lord Jesus, you can look up, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he'd given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. This is how much he loved you. He let his body be broken for you. Receive his body by faith. Let's be seated. If you'll come, please. Everyone will be served. Let's just remain quiet until all are served, and then we'll participate together. And, Lord, we thank you for your amazing love for us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Lord, we thank you that you did not spare your own son, but gave him up for us all. Will you not give us all things with him? So, Lord, we thank you for the promise inherent in this body tonight. And we pray, Lord, that you'd make us one in Christ's name. Let's share together now the body of Christ. As the deacons and the servants come to serve you the cup, Paul writes and says, Is it not the blood of Christ in which we participate? The word participate means not just drink. It means to share in or have fellowship with the blood of Christ. And what that means is, tonight, everyone, listen, that the life of God is coursing through your veins. It's not just your blood, but the life of God. The Bible says the life is in the blood. Tonight, if you're sick, listen carefully, some of you are very sick tonight. Some of you just have common coughs and colds. Some of you are very sick. Tonight, the Bible says that by his stripes we are healed. And as you participate in communion, just a moment ago, the Lord prompted me that I was to call forth healing, as some of you participated in the cup. You say, Well, it's just communion. But don't you see that the blood of Jesus Christ has not lost its power? And that when you apply faith to what I'm saying just now, faith to the promises of God, you will be healed. You will be healed. You say, Well, don't I have to come forward? No, Lord, it doesn't. Does someone have to say something to me? Your faith is sufficient. You believe God. And right now, let's all bow our heads once again. I sense that some are kind of struggling with, Well, is this for me? Just right now, ask God. Is he speaking to you for healing just now? Go ahead. Heads bowed, please. As you're served, just go ahead and take your cup and hold it. Lord, I thank you for healing. Lord, I thank you for bronchitis, which is going to be healed by faith right now, Lord. And pleurisy, Father, in the name of Jesus. Lord, thank you for arthritis that's going to vanish in just a moment, Lord. Praise your name, Lord. Thank you, Father God. Lord, thank you for sinus pressure that's about to melt away, Father God. In the name of Jesus, Lord. Lord, thank you for a painful knee that you are just about to touch, Lord, and bring healing. Oh, Jesus. Oh, Lord. Lord, thank you right now for the people who will not need surgery. It's something that they thought was going to cause them to have surgery is going to be healed, Lord, and surgery will not be required. Right now, Father, I believe that that's what you're going to do for some people. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Now, Lord, we take together the cup of salvation and we lift it. Shall we? The blood of Christ.