Welcome to the Susquehanna Valley Baptist Pulpit, preaching a life worth living, abundant life in Christ. And now the message. I don't know if much is being said or done about this, but I noted this week that this year, particularly this week, marks the 400th anniversary to the exact year since the first Thanksgiving was commemorated in Plymouth so many years ago. Since that time, of course, as history has dictated, various colonies and later, as they became these United States, states and communities engaged in Thanksgiving Day observations, but it wasn't until 1863 when President Lincoln marked specifically this particular Thursday of this particular week as being a day of national proclamation. I would know that many today seek to secularize Thanksgiving. I was listening to some interviews this week. That's what somebody was going to say, well, what does Thanksgiving mean to you? And you know, if you really, you want to really get a sense of where our society is, listen to the young adult population. I would say that's me, but I'm a geriatric millennial, you know, I'm at the top of that. and maybe don't have as good a grasp on it. But listen to these young adults, and they described it as so many different things. I have a couple of them here. Some described it as it was simply a time off work that they could spend with family and friends. Some described it as a time of public sanctioned feasting. Turkey, a couple of them. One fellow said biscuits. It reminds me of biscuits. He must have been from down south, I guess. That's what it reminds me of. Others said it's really just a time to enjoy sports. And they begin to talk about all the sporting events that will occur. And of course, maybe this one would have been at the top of some people's list. Thanksgiving is a day of preparation for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. You know those two, number one, number two, largest shopping days. So I'm just conveying that to you. Some, when they look at Thanksgiving today, has seen it as being kind of a completely secular activity. But 400 years ago, this year, in 1621, was the first Thanksgiving ever to be held on these shores. And it was quite a bit different than any Thanksgiving that's ever been had since. I would note the first Thanksgiving, 1621, but actually the pilgrims set sail in September of 1620. There were 102 passengers on board. They were split onto two ships, the Mayflower and the Speedwell. During that journey across the North Atlantic early on, the Speedwell proved to be unseaworthy. And so from thence, the ones that were able were able to get on the Mayflower and it headed across packed on its journey. In fact, it took them 66 days to cross the Atlantic. You want to know how fast the world travels today. You can cross the Atlantic today and be home by supper. How much it's really changed. 102 passengers. Most of them were separatist and they were actually heading to a colony in Virginia called the Jamestown Colony so that they could practice freely their freedoms of religion specifically as it pertained to the Word of God. Sixty-six days of traveling and they landed in the wrong spot. They landed and as Bradford, one of the first governors, William Bradford would describe in his diary as a terribly desolate place. Some would say that New England is still a terribly desolate place, but I speak out of turn. They landed near Cape Cod. After deeming it too dangerous to continue their journey south to link up with Jamestown, they established a village at Plymouth. The land, as Bradford described it, being desolate and dangerous. He continues in his journals and he lists about the number of difficulties that they had and I think in keeping as you're thinking about Thanksgiving and how much it's changed in the eyes of some, it's worth noting what he penned. In fact, not him alone, but many of them highly literate individuals that were diary keepers, they wrote this stuff in their diaries. Thickets abounded. wild animals everywhere. Keep in mind that many of these separatists that were coming over were not necessarily the old country guys. That wasn't their background. I would say they probably knew how to do more now than some do, but they were greatly ill-prepared for what awaited them. And you and I would be too. If you prepared to be in a colony that had already been established for 13 years, you would bring such implements and tools different than if you knew you were going to be facing a harsh winter and brought few provisions to boot. There were constant raiding Indians, devastating cold and sickness. Scurvy was a big one. During the winter months of 1620 into 1621, specifically I'll speak of December, January, and February, and portion of March, an average of nine or more died of those colonists every month. In fact, by the time you get to spring, 44, excuse me, 68, of the original 102 passengers had perished. There were only 44 of the original 102 remaining. And in that spring morning, into this little village of Plymouth, walked a local chieftain called Samoset. It was later in that same year in November of 1621 that the first Thanksgiving was held Massasoit, an area chieftain and his people were invited to this great harvest, the first Thanksgiving. 1622, there would be no Thanksgiving. So in 1623, they would have the second Thanksgiving. This one was marked by a conclusion to one of the greatest and most severe droughts that the Massachusetts Bay Colony would have experienced. It prompted Governor Bradford that before just having a Thanksgiving feast in 1621, that they should in fact in 1623 have a religious fast. My how things have changed. As you look into the Bible, there's no command for us today to have a Thanksgiving ceremony custom in the regards as they would have had in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. That being said, the word thanks is used throughout the scriptures in a number of passages. Let me convey some of them to you. In Leviticus chapter 7 and verses 12 through 15, you have the Mosaic command of the Thanksgiving offering. And for Bible students, you'll remember that each chapter of Leviticus is actually, each chapter is designated and describing certain type offerings that were to be given to God. I think chapter 5 is the peace offering. And I think chapter 6, the free will offering. You get to chapter 7, you get other offerings, and among that is a passage on the Thanksgiving offering. You come to chapter 8, you have the descriptions on how the Levites were to handle those offerings and prepare themselves, primarily the sons of Aaron, to minister in the priesthood. But in Leviticus chapter 7 and verse 12, a Thanksgiving offering. In 2 Chronicles chapter 31, I think it's in verse 39, you have the marking of the time of Hezekiah. They have been surrounded by great difficulty. They have been nearly squeezed, as it were, out of a nation and carried away into captivity by the Assyrians. But upon praying, God providentially saved them. The scripture says that it was recorded to Hezekiah that God would save them for his servant David's sake. And as such, God would send an angel, and he would destroy a great host of men. And in 2 Chronicles chapter 31, Hezekiah instructs the reestablishment of a thanks offering. The psalmist mentions much about thanks and thanksgiving. In Psalm 92 and verse 2, 95 and verse 2, in Psalms 104 and also in 147 and verse 7, the psalmist states clearly and unequivocally that we are to come before his presence with thanksgiving. In Philippians chapter 4 and Colossians chapter 2 and chapter 4, there is an instruction about our prayers, by application our prayers, that we are in our prayers to thank God. In Philippians chapter four, he says, he says, with supplication and thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. In 1 Timothy chapter four, you'll appreciate this one, it's commanded in scriptures that we give thanks for our food. Now I would note, in 1 Thessalonians or 1 Timothy chapter four, the apostle Paul writes under inspiration, that every meat may be consumed if it first be received with thanksgiving. One old preacher wrote in a commentary that that right there is a biblical license to eat a turkey buzzard as long as you pray first. I hope that's not what's on your meal Thursday, but nonetheless. In Ephesians chapter five, verse 20, we're admonished to give thanks one for another. In Psalm 107 and 22 and 116 and verse 17 and Amos chapter number four, we're told to have a sacrifice of sacrifices of thanksgiving. In 1 Thessalonians chapter five and verse 18, we're commanded to give thanks for everything. And then of course, I think of Hebrews chapter 12. and I'll read it to you in totality. By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifices of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. As we look at these scriptures just briefly, it brings to our mind a direct question from all of these passages. Really, the question really is one, it's why. Why is the scripture so replete with illustrations, examples, and even commands for thanksgiving? Why do I need to give thanks? That's really the essence of it. I mean, it's not simply broad-based. It's specific to believers. So without getting ahead of myself, what I'm actually conveying is this work of sanctification that is done in the life of a believer. And sanctification is the process by which I change from being a ungodly enemy of Christ into what is to be the very son of God in a practical sense. That's what sanctification is. At the moment of salvation, I am positionally transferred from the kingdom of darkness into his marvelous light. The moment of salvation, I am changed from an old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lust, and I'm now a new man created in Christ of Christ Jesus. I'm now one of those, Titus chapter 3, that is hateful and full of envying, and now through salvation, I'm a son of God. That's positionally. When I speak of sanctification, it's not a way of earning our salvation, but sanctification is manward. is what man can seize. When God looks on you, he sees the righteousness of salvation, which is by faith. God looks on you, though you're not in your glorified body, though you're still under the curse of sin, though you abide in a world that is at enmity with God. When God looks at a saved individual, a saint of God, he sees the righteousness of his son on them. When the world looks at that same individual, they can't see that. At the moment of salvation, I didn't grow hair. At the moment of salvation, a little, what do they call those little gold circle things on cartoons? You know what it is, yeah. I didn't have a halo, I didn't sprout a halo, and I certainly didn't sprout wings. None of that happened. Somebody ask you, what is the world looking at when they see me? Well, the moment after salvation, nothing dramatically has changed outwardly, is there? What does God see? That's an immense change. So sanctification really is manward. It's outward. It's what those out now see upon me and sanctification therefore is described in scriptures as progressive. Meaning it changes and grows in the life of a believer. And it's a process of putting off and putting on. of ultimately being conformed to the very image of Christ, as Paul says in chapter four of Ephesians, that I would walk worthy of the vocation of my calling. Having be saved now, I should live every day closer to the resemblance of Jesus Christ in my life. And part of that process of sanctification life of believer is learning to be thankful. Now, Let me go off script a moment. Hold your place here in Timothy. I put a ribbon there. Put a ribbon there. You put a ribbon there if you want. Flip over to Philippians. We do have a problem. The problem is I'm not in my glorified body. The problem is I still have a sinful mind. The problem is I still have sinful desires. And the problem is the moment I got saved, I didn't go to be with Jesus. John chapter 17, I say not take them out of the world, but they would be in the world. I'm living in a world system that accepts anything that is antithetical to the Almighty God. Meaning, if it defies and is contrary to the revealed Word of God, the world readily embraces it. That's why the Muslim faith is embraced by the world. That's why if you have a hot dog religion, like you do in Southern California, that can be embraced by the world. But if you believe in the word of God and take it at its literal expression, otherwise indicated, and embrace it and build your life around it, the world says you're nuts. Why? Because it's a spiritual thing. The God that saved you is the same God that created Judas Iscariot. He didn't condemn Judas Iscariot to that, but Judas chose his condemnation. We've got a problem. Look over in Philippians. You're holding your place, and I want you to look at Philippians. I'll show you just a passage here to think about the problem. Now, Paul's writing from prison. There's approximately three dozen references he's gonna make to joy, rejoicing, or joy. And he's going to highlight a problem that the Philippian believers have, and one by application that we'll see later on this morning, and by experience we experience regularly. And that is this, that we're in a world system that hates God. Now, as you begin looking at this, I want you to drop your eyes down to verse number 15. And we're going to go to verse 15 and then move upward. Note here, he says that you may be blameless and harmless. I'm in chapter two and verse 15. The sons of God, without rebuke, and I want you to notice this phrase, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. That word crooked, I'll give you a good picture of it. The Greek word is actually the medical word that we get for scoliosis. That's the world system that Paul's describing. He said, I understand that you're in a society that is crooked and perverse. Might I say the world has always been crooked and perverse? I'm slightly ahead of where I'm going in a moment, but I want you to note that. Sometimes we think that the world used to be a better place. And in reference of experience, that can be true. But there's never been a time where the world has said, oh, we want to be followers of Christ. And the reason why is because men love darkness rather than light, John chapter 3, why? Evil deeds, why? Evil heart, why? Curse of sin. Romans chapter 5, not only did we have by the sin of one man that brought sin into the world and death passed upon all men, but why did that death pass upon all men? For all have sinned. I was made with a sinful engine. Part of the problem in my life is I was given that sinful engine at birth, and guess what that engine likes to do? Sin. We call that the Adamic nature. Now, you look at a world without Jesus Christ, how did the apostle Paul, through inspiration, crooked and perverse, and now you've got a personal command, among whom ye are to do what? You're to do what? Shine. The idea, a luminary. It's the idea of walking into a dark room. You ever been out? We don't get terribly many of these because of, well, I don't because living in suburbia, but you ever walked out on a dark, dark night? Maybe it's a new moon. It's a cloudy night. There's just no heavenly light to be had. There's no headlights going down the street. Your neighbors turned the light out. All the lights were out. The closest I got to this was this summer. This summer, twice, I lost my power. Not my spiritual kind, I mean the physical kind, and really began to think about investing in a Generac generator. But all the power went out on my block. Come late in that summer night, it was the early part of the month, there was no moonlight, it was cloudy, it was humid. And I'm walking around the block, and my neighbors, and I knew them, or at least have a familiarity with, they're sitting out on their lawn because it was cooler outside than inside because of the humidity. One o'clock in the morning, no light. Walking around and you hear voices. Neighbor said, hey fella, how you doing? Fine, but you're just talking kind of in direction, not focused at them. I went down to one road, there's a fella that moved in and we had struck up a conversation earlier in the week He had put some stuff in his house and worked on, and I was admiring his handiwork. As I walked by, I heard a voice, but I couldn't tell from whence this voice came, other than it was just ahead and to my right, maybe. And it was loud, piercing through the night, because it was so late, no cars on the road, no light. And about this time, I heard this gruff fellow, voice I did not know. Well, we'll just have to see how it works. And I heard a click. And when he turned, that light hit me. blinded me. I've walked that strip of sidewalks a thousand times and I'm falling all over the place. Here it was a PPNL guy there to work on it and he was trying just to talk to whoever was out and let them know he's working on it and he had approached them sometime earlier and clicked his button and his light went off because it'd be rude to talk to them with his light on and he's communicating with them and their chatters and we're talking and everything and when he had finished with them he turned and not knowing I'm coming up behind him, he hit that light, guess what? He might as well blow me down. That's what the idea of this verse is. You got a world, if I can use a theological term, that is embraced in darkness. John put it this way in 1 John, the whole world lieth in wickedness, and therefore it lies in darkness. What are you as a child of God supposed to do? Turn your lights on. Because only the child of God can. In John chapter three, he instructs that men love darkness rather than light, their deeds are evil, but any man that cometh to the light, his deeds will be reproved. You shine your light. Now, jump back to verse 14. He's going to showcase a problem that a Christian has. The first problem, you're in a world full of darkness. So if you're waiting for the world to incentivize and instruct you on why you should live for God, you're never ever gonna get it. It's never gonna come because the whole world is stumbling over themselves and following their theological and philosophical direction to the pit of hell. The Lord said there's a broad way that leadeth to destruction and many there be that go that way. So if you're waiting to get your theological instruction and your feel-goods or however that might be from the world that exists, from academia, from the politics of this life, you're never gonna have it. You're all blind men stammering and following and guessing your way to doom and destruction. But the counsel of scripture is there's another one, whom you shine as lights in the world. That word shine, it has the idea like a heavenly light. that fella turned on one of these LED that's what it was that's the clicking I heard he had a click and that thing went I mean it wasn't like a CFL bulb those things have to warm up that would have been nice or an LED I mean this thing like boom 10 billion lumens you know good morning that's what the gospel and the sanctifying process of the Word of God does in a line of a believer And they're still in the world, but what are they doing? They're shining forth that. But we also have a second problem. First problem, we're in a world of darkness. The second problem, we still have a sinful flesh. Look at the admonition in verse 14. Whole world lies in darkness. Verse 15, it's crooked and perverse. Oh, absolutely, preacher, yes. You're to shine as lights in this dark world, to be luminaries of the Almighty God. But there's a danger in verse four. Let do rather all things without what? Murmurings and disputings. Ruh-roh. If I was going to preach from this particular passage, I would perhaps call this hindrances to Thanksgiving. What does the world care for? Hint, hint. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and what's that last one? It's what they care for. So then what happens when they, lust of the flesh, don't get what their body wants? What do they do? I know we're not in Sunday school, but you can participate. What do they do? Whine, complain. Years ago, I managed a little department store, children's and toys and stuff like that. It was around this time of year, a mom had brought her, it might have even been a grandmother, but they brought this child in to see what he wanted. Now, at that time, I didn't have children. So I would have innocently opined that there are other ways to do this than to bring a child in a store where you know what they're gonna say, everything. That's what they wanted. What can you get them? Not everything. Can you foresee the problem? That took a lot of discernment there. She brought this child in there. And there was a couple of toys that just really struck his fancy. Boy loved it. I don't know what the toy was. It's irrelevant. But it was time to go. When it's time to go, the mom's ready to go. But what about that child? And so immediately that child turned to the mother and said, dear mother, I'm so thankful that you brought me here to see those blessings that you will one day give me. And I am so content and happy to wait until your good graces have dictated the time in which I shall receive that thing graciously given. That's exactly what that child said. Do you believe that? Newton. Ma, I don't want to go. I want it now. And in that child's voice, crescendoed louder and louder and louder and it was amazing as the child's voice is crescendoing I don't know what the opposite of it is you musical folks can help me the mom's voice got lower and lower and lower personally speaking the inverse would have worked better but again I did not have children and I just I got ten minutes of free entertainment At about that time, the child, did you know a five-year-old child disappointed over something does not have the physical ability to stand on their own two feet? Did you know that? Immediately paralysis hit that child. Legs, arms, screaming. What's mom going to do? I would have walked away. She's tugging on this and tugging on this and everybody around there is going, That child is expressing what adults do all the time. Murmur, murmur, complain. We just get more academic about it. We're better at hiding it. We're stating facts. It's a hindrance to Thanksgiving, is it not? murmur and complaining. What's in the world? Lusty eyes. I want it. I want it. I gotta have it. Lust the flesh. I need it. I need it. I need it. You know, the irony about all this in one sense, watching that little child and no, I didn't give any advice. I didn't help. I just witnessed. But I think about this. Less of the less the eyes, less the flesh. Think about this moment. in a year. Maybe two, but probably a year. The same circumstance can come through, and you know what? The toy that grabbed the child's fancy at five likely will not be the same toy when they're six. Did you know that? And certainly, by the time they're 12, will not be the same toy. By the way, the toy that grabbed your fancy when you were eight doesn't probably grab your fancy when you're 38. See, the danger about the lust of the eyes is, what pleases the eyes of scripture says this, that beauty is in the eye of the, what is it? That's why, let me just park here a minute. That's why it's such a silly, stupid thing for people to give themselves, specifically ladies do this. I know I'm treading, but give me a moment to tread. It's such a silly and stupid thing for a woman to consider herself beautiful in the eyes of a world. They have Photoshop. They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in plastic surgery. putting stuff in and taking stuff out. And you want to know what? At the end of the day, they're still not pleased. And here comes some young gal, young Christian woman. And they somehow think that beauty, their beauty will be appreciated if their beauty is dynamically like they have seen in the latest whatever on the latest TV show. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And here's the thing. It changes. It's dangerous. And that's what the world's after. And they'll always be the latest and greatest thing for you to pursue. By the way, I must conclude the second half of this. While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the Lord has that thing which he says is beautiful. It's a great price. He says it's a meek and quiet spirit. Isn't that different? Because the world doesn't have that. the world preaches stand up for yourself and let your rights be known and God says be at peace among yourselves God says has a quiet and meek spirit that's having your emotions under control that's not having a need to riot riotous is never biblical you might quote-unquote protest something in a sense of have a civic disobedience or disagreement, you might protest something. But a Christian never has the right to riot. It's ungodly. It's wicked. But they're the victims. I'm off topic. Let me get back on. That's the point of it. It's a crooked and perverse generation. Their values are not going to be your values. And be careful, because the direction they're going, because of Jesus Christ, is not the direction you're going. But our response to events of life is often the same. I mean, I'll be honest with you. Some folks haven't been happy since before the election. And I don't mean this fall. I mean two falls or one fall or whatever it is. Can I tell you something? Not much in life has really changed. You're still a child of God, aren't you? You still have a calling to be more like Christ, don't you? Everybody's planning to have a turkey that's not supposed to be there on Thursday, right? Except for our vegan friends, and you need to read 1 Timothy chapter 4, but we love you. What's really changed? Did God lose? See, that's a danger of doing exactly what the world does, of vesting all of our hope and all of our well-being and all of our emotion in the basket of humanity. That's what the world does. And when their political candidate loses, the world's ended. And how silly is it for some Christian to think because their political candidate won, yay, world's right now, because guess what's going to happen in the next cycle? You got a bunch of finicky Americans They're gonna vote a different way next time. So are you gonna be caught in the pitch and tumult of that emotional seesaw? There's a thousand things, look how the world responds to it. What's a Christian supposed to be? A light that doesn't murmur and dispute. You know what dispute is? full of argument. That's our great problem. I suppose that if we were to stop right now and say, well, give me all those things which you're truly thankful for, we'd go through about 10, and then we have done with all the easy ones. I mean, it's always prudent for a child to say they're thankful for their mom. You're never going to really hear a child say, man, I'm glad when my mom disciplined me. You're not going to hear that. I'm glad for the time my parents made me do more work around the house. We don't really consider that until later in life when we value it. So generally, our Thanksgiving is I'm thankful for food. I'm thankful for clothes. I'm thankful for a house. I'm thankful for a car, I'm thankful for America, I'm thankful for this, and then once it gets past the service, the surface stuff, what do we got? We ran out of things. By the way, that's how the world is gonna give thanks this week. But not the child of God. There's a present tense. I'm to always shine. I'm to always do things without murmurings and disputing. What happens when they don't go my way? I mean, what's going to happen when I don't have food to eat? Let me ask you this. This is in the news. And I'm not really following my notes. Say it in the news, well, there's going to be a turkey shortage. I don't know. But what if there were no more turkeys? Could you go an entire Thanksgiving thanking God and not murmuring because you didn't get your bird? Do you see my point? What if you lost an opportunity to take a dream job? Can you still give thanks to God? What if you had grand expectations and this happens to everybody at some level? What if you had a grand expectation? You're going to get married. You're going to have children. Those are pretty high. There could be a thousand of them. And you watch that foiled. It's not going to happen. Could you still give thanks? Could you still praise God, but you don't know how much it hurts, preacher? I might have a little taste about it. Paul is writing this from prison. You go back to chapter one, he's writing it from prison, and there's actually people intentionally doing things so that he'll get a more severe prison sentence. May I, let me show you that. Look over in chapter one. Listen to what he says. Many of the brethren, I'm in chapter one of verse 14, waxing confident in my bonds, by my bonds rather, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. They've seen God protect me, and they're preaching. Despite the fact that they know they might be in trouble, they're confident. Going back to, hearkening back to verse six perhaps. Verse 15, some indeed preach Christ, even of envy and strife. and some of goodwill. So some are contentious, some are envious, and some are goodwill. Verse 16, the one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to do what? Well, that's not a good thing, Paul. His flesh didn't want to be in prison. His eyes didn't want to be in prison. Bless the eyes. It's not a pride of life thing to write on your resume, went to prison. Notice what he says in verse 18. What then, question mark? Notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense or in truth, what happens? Christ is preached. And what's his response to Christ being preached? I therein do rejoice. Yea, and he's speaking of his mind, which is also a theme in Philippians. He said, I have focused my mind on this, I will rejoice. That's really what I'm asking. What's your hindrances to thanksgiving? I know what the world says, but what about God? And the focus of our heart and mind When your world's upside down, chapter two and verse 14, you should still be able to do all things, even give thanks without murmurings and disputings. This is a distinction. Truly only Christians are truly equipped to give a thanksgiving to God. But yet we are equally hindered by the fact that we have innately within us a sinful man that we so often forget. has been overcome by Jesus Christ. And we contend, listen, people do this in their marriage all the time. You married each other and you love each other and she was your sweetie pie and you were your, I don't know the opposite of sweetie pie, teddy bear, I don't know. And all things were sweet and lovely until they weren't. And now you're both old and don't like each other. It's interesting that Proverbs says about dwelling and loving and cherishing the wife of thy youth. That means despite the passing of years, there can still be a deep abiding thanks and love. I didn't say there will be. I said there should be. People complain all the time about how much they hate their jobs. It's almost like you have a job and you always want another job. I'm not saying people shouldn't change jobs or whatever. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is it's all about your attitude. People leave a job and get another job and complain about the job that they said they were going to love like the job they hated only to redo the vicious cycle. Can I tell you there's always going to be aspects of your job that you're not going to like? We do that about people too. we do it about our churches? You remember, first time you came into a church, the preacher just preached a message, and you were like, wow, this is what I haven't had in a while. This is what I'm longing for. Somebody shook your hand and said how much they loved you, and they smiled at you, and you're like, yes, this is a loving church. This is a sound church. And then you give it a little bit of time, and then they didn't shake your hand anymore, because you're not the new person. and the preacher preached a series of boring messages, and all of a sudden what happens? The thanksgiving's out the window and guess what's in its place? Murmuring and disputing. If I can add something else to this, one follows the other. Start murmuring and it's always going to lead to arguing, disputing. If we're thankful, it will stave off. It's the natural antidote to murmuring and disputing. You don't even need a shot for it. If you'll expose yourself like Paul did in chapter one when he says here in do I rejoice and will rejoice, if you'll make up your mind you're gonna thank God whether you got a turkey or whether you're eating dried out five day old rabbit, it'll prevent murmuring and disputing. If you'll get up in the morning and look at your dear wife and you say, wife, I love you and I'm thankful for you, I'm gonna promise you, it'll keep some of the disputing down. You come into church with a prayer of thanksgiving and thanking God for the privilege that we have to sit and to hear the preaching of the word of God, it makes a whole lot of those superficial things not matter so much. But when we can't be content with what God has given us, all those superficial things in life become massive elements and we can't get past them in life. It's a choice, really. murmur and dispute like the world does, or have thanks and shine in a dark generation like God wants us to. In all things give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Let's stand. Thank you for listening. If you would like to contact us, please write us at P.O. Box 126-541 Harrisburg, PA 17112 and visit our website at www.svbcpa.org. Until next time!