the kids are dismissed and the big kids will stay with me if you turn your Bibles to Colossians chapter 3 Colossians chapter 3 if you have your Bible and your phones and your iPads and paper however you have it let's look at chapter 3 of the book of Colossians and if you want to know it's before Thessalonians and after Philippians alright Colossians chapter 3 in the New Testament, let's look at verse 15. And the Bible says in 16 and 17, the Bible says, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts. to the which also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. And those who have a ye do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. Shall we pray heavily, Father? Thank you, Lord, for this passage of Scripture. Thank you, Lord, Father, that you put in our hearts to be thankful, to be grateful for what you have done for us. Lord, when you left heaven, you went to Calvary's cross. You shed your blood so we could get salvation. Lord, we are grateful people. I pray, Father, that if there's someone here They never really received Jesus as their personal Savior. May today they will see the goodness of the Lord by receiving you as Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. You may be seated. So, learn to be thankful. It says right here in verse 15, it says, and be ye thankful. And again in verse 17 it says, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. So this morning we're going to look a little bit on the subject of thankfulness. Now, are you thankful? Oh, that was not very convincing. Are you thankful? Yes, I'm thankful. Thankful. Yes. How was that breakfast this morning? It was okay. I'm grateful. How was the donut? It's full of sugar. Be thankful. You know, by nature, we're not very thankful. We're very selfish. We learn, you know, thankfulness is a learning behavior. All right. You go to work, somebody opens the door for you or leaves the door open for you, and you walk right in. Typical New England. Thank you for opening the door. That goes a long way, doesn't it? If somebody brings you a plate of food, thank you. Somebody lifts himself up from the seat and gives you a place to sit, thank you. It goes a long way. Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. You see, we learn to be thankful. Thankfulness goes a long way. Don't we teach the kids to be thankful? What do you say? What do you say? Thank you. May we not be like that. Thank you. Thank you. My son was like this when he wanted something. Hey, Dad. Can I have that? What did you say? Say thank you. So this morning we have read a portion here, of course, of this passage right here of scripture. Paul talks about thankfulness here and learn to be thankful. You know, you and I need to learn to be thankful because thankfulness is a learned behavior. Listen. I'm thankful for my home. I'm thankful for my car. I'm thankful for the people that put the gasoline in the pump so I can pump gas to my car. I'm thankful for the person who will come serve me at the table and I eat. You follow? There's so many things to be thankful. Here's the thing, are we expressing gratitude? I'm thankful I have a place to do it. I can come and worship. I'm thankful I have the Bible, the Word of God. You see, so many things to be thankful, the thing is, are we thankful? I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful for my God. I'm thankful for my friends. I'm thankful for you. You see, Paul says right here, look what he says again in verse 15. He says, let the peace of God rule in your hearts. to that which also you are called in one body, look what it says, and be thankful. And verse 16 said, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. And it says in verse 17, giving thanks to God. Let's give thanks to God because it is a wonderful thing to let them know that we are grateful. that we let them know that we are thankful for what God has done for us. I want to consider the advantage of the believer revealing this text here today, this morning, thinking about learning to be thankful. There are many similar struggles that we have, we go all together in our world, but we too are blessed beyond measure and have much to be thankful for. Let's look at this from several points. We see the comfort of the believer in verse 15. Let the peace of God rule in your hearts. Folks, let me put it this way. If you are a Christian here this morning, you have a peace in your heart that the world does not understand. And I hope you do and I hope you understand what is the peace of God. You have made peace with God at the moment of salvation because you are an enemy of God. You have made peace of God. Now let that peace rule and reign in your hearts. Listen folks, we think this world is at peace. It's not. If you begin to understand the lives of people, people live in so much turmoil. Many people, most people. We have the peace of God that rules in our hearts. And Paul said, let that peace rule in your heart to be part of you. To the witch also said, you are called in one body and be thankful. By our very nature, none of us is very thankful. If we observe little kids, You agree with me with this one. They have to be thought, from early age, to be thankful. Or else they will grow to be selfish and unthankful. They think they deserve. Folks, we live in a society today where they think they deserve everything. All right? Go to work. They don't want to work. I'm not saying all of them. Most of them. And you're like, you go there, and they're like, we're supposed to be there. I don't know. I tell you folks, I see this in my workplace, I see this in many other places, they don't want to work. Listen, honest day work for honest day pay. That's the way it should be. You know, you go there, you go there to work, so let's work. See, if we don't teach our kids to be thankful, they will be ungrateful and selfish. And listen, our world is already very selfish by nature. we live in a very selfish world may we be people of peace may they see the peace of God rule in our hearts and also that we are thankful and grateful in the midst of this very selfish world so what we do some people do something to us thank you some people talk bad about the job you say I'm grateful for this job you say you don't understand no I do understand That's how I pay my bills. That's why I eat. That's why, you know. Oh, but the job is no good. Yeah, well, when God is done with this one, he will provide me another one. But I'm grateful. You know, I think these people today, they're feeling their minds. They deserve to be paid. Just to show up at work. They show up, I deserve to be paid. You know, there's a study done in some secular colleges that most students, You can look this up if you want. Most students expect to be just for being there. What about hard work and hard study? Expect to be just being in class? Okay, so let's learn to be thankful. We need to teach our children to be grateful, to be thankful. Thankfulness is a learned behavior. discomfort is a threefold notice. Number one, the letter A, they see our peace. There are so many people in this world who live, whose lives is nothing more but turmoil. They search for peace and they want peace, but they continually look for peace in the wrong places, folks. Folks, let me tell you this. Your bad friends won't give you peace. The local bar won't give you peace. You follow that, it will give you turmoil. I can go on with all kinds of examples that you cannot find peace. You know where we find peace? A peace that stays, a peace that will control your life is when you find God. When we find God, we find peace because what God says in His word is not to hurt us, it's to better us. God wants you to be truthful. God doesn't want you to be a thief. God wants you to be peaceful with yourself. God doesn't want you to be a liar. You know what? It's all in his word. He wants to teach you so you can be a better person. And when you'll be a better person, you'll be a better person in society. You'll be a better person to other people as well. I prefer being with thankful people than selfish people. Don't you agree with that? I wouldn't want to be around selfish people or prideful people. I want to be with people that are humble and are thankful. Because I can learn something from them. You see, there are many people who live in this world full of turmoil. They search for peace, they can't find peace. So real peace is only found in a person of Jesus Christ. I encourage you today to make peace with Jesus if you never did. Paul speaks of the peace the believer has through God in our relationship with the Lord Jesus. This is an encouraging peace. Peace literally has the idea of being bound, joined and woven together. I need point out that Paul spoke of the peace of God that's different than the peace of God okay let me put this way again I need to point out that Paul spoke of the peace of God and this is different than peace with God okay the peace of God comes at the moment of salvation peace with God is our continual living with Him in fellowship you follow that When we were saved, we experienced peace with God. As we live and walk in fellowship with Christ, we enjoy the peace of God. Isn't that amazing when you really consider this? As your relationship with the Lord grows, we literally become woven together with Him. I know that we are adopted into the family the moment we are saved, but our relationship with God can't grow until it seems as if we are one with Him. Look at what John 14 27 says actually go there to John chapter 14 verse 27 if you have your bible I want to see this because sometimes this even some denominations teach this in a way that we don't understand but look what it says here Jesus speaking right here says peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you now as the world give it I give unto you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid he says jesus said i give my peace i leave my peace with you you see jesus in the midst of storm what was he doing he was at peace peace be still what were the apostles doing turmoil they forgot the savior was in the boat they forgot the one who could come the stone was in the boat let me forward it this way folks when we have peace with god the storms of life we face it with peace Oh pastor, how you say that? How you do that? We trust God. We say, Lord, I don't know what this storm is taking me. This is a raging storm. Lord, please help me. See, we have peace with God. We trust in Him. The apostles at that moment, they forgot the one that could come, the storm was in the boat. It's easy for us to do that. When you're in the middle of turmoil and troubles of life, because we all face it, we need to remember that we have the God of peace in our hearts. He can give us peace to go through the storms. Let now your heart be troubled neither let be afraid. Ephesians 2 14 says for he is our peace who had made both one and had broken down the middle wall and partition between us. Quickly notice also that we are to let the peace of God rule in our hearts. This means that we have to completely surrender unto that peace. This has the idea of acting as an empire right here to control, govern and guide. When God's peace controls our lives, we can truly enjoy peace that passes all understanding. You know what? It's not like we are ignorant to the facts of life. It's not what I'm trying to say here. You know what? We know the problems of life. We face the problems of life. We deal with the problems of life, but we deal with the peace of God that is in our hearts. Because otherwise, we deal with the peace of this world, which is total turmoil. Oh, I'm going to do this. Oh, I'm going to fall down. And we keep going, going, going, going. And we forget that God says, please be still. We will resolve it. That would be our position. Look what it says in verse 15 of our text. This must have been a special comforting to the Colossian church right here. They were surrounded by those who scoffed their faith. They live in a city that was viewed as inferior to other surrounding cities. It may have appeared to many that they were outcasts living beneath the norm of society. Paul encouraged them to lift up their heads and rejoice because they were part of the body of Christ, the living Lord. And let me tell you, folks, sometimes it seems that way to us don't be ashamed of who you are who are you i'm a christian i'm a child of the king yeah sometimes i mess up but god loves me and forgives me you know i'm not listen let me put it this way sometimes we all mess up But God loves me. Don't be ashamed to say, I'm a Christian. Don't be ashamed to buy your hat in a restaurant somewhere and pray to the God of heaven to bless your food. Don't be ashamed of that. Don't be ashamed to say to people, I'm going to church. Are you going to church? Yeah, I'm going to church. Say that with a joyful heart. You're going to church on Sunday when you should do double time? Yes, I am. You see our position. Paul encouraged them to lift up their heads and rejoice because they were part of the body of Christ. If you are saved here today, if you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are part of the body of Christ. We too may feel out of the loop sometimes. We may look down upon from by other people and be criticized for our faith. The world simply doesn't understand why we live and behave the way we do. Why you talk about Jesus all the time? Why are you talking about Bible all the time? Because that's what's in my heart. Why are you singing songs of God in the workplace? It's not church here. Why are you doing that? Because it's in my heart. The peace of God reigns in my heart and I sing it out because I'm rejoicing in it. You know, sometimes you have days that you have a song that comes to your mind and never goes away. You have those days, and you find yourself singing, and before you know it, you're singing again. Before you know it, you're singing it again, and the next day, you can't remember the song. You ever been there? Or just me? Oh, goodness. Friday, I was singing a song all day at church, and the next day, I tried to tell somebody the song that I'm singing. What song was that? I still can't remember the song. But anyway, but let me tell you this. we may never receive much recognition or respect in this life but the saved belongs to the Lord we are among the redeemed headed towards an eternal rest with Christ our Lord we have made peace with God and we can experience the peace of God in our lives now let us see you see our perception look it says look it says the verse 15 and be thankful the world would never know or understand, but the Colossian believers had much to be thankful for. They enjoyed the peace of God, something that the world could not claim. They were part of the body of Christ, enjoying all the benefits associated with the Father. Life may have been hard, but they had been blessed. Their physical existence may not have been all that they desired, but they were safe and secure in the hands of the Lord. They just needed a reminder of all they had received. And let me tell you this morning, I wanted to remind you of that, that you have received, you have made peace with God, you are at peace with God. Live that peace. Let the peace of God reign in your hearts. Each and every day. November is a month, I say a month of thanksgiving. But for us Christians, we have to be grateful every single day, isn't it? Every day. Thank you, Lord. You give me one more day. Some people might say, well, that's why I have life insurance for. Well, life insurance is for the living, not for the dead. When you pass out of this life, you know, that's not for us. You know, every day, Lord, thank you for another day. Thank you for this coffee. Thank you for this meal. Thank you for the people that came in contact with me today. Thank you for my family. Thank you for my friends. You see, we have so much to be grateful for. Thank you for the birds, Lord. Thank you for the trees. Thank you for the leaves in the floor, the ground. They give me a lot of work. Thank you, Lord. You see, the expressions of thankfulness keeps on going. and in the end of the day we say as we lay our heads whatever we lay our heads we say thank you lord for this day you see that we have so much to be grateful and thankful for so number one we see the comfort of the believer number two we see the confident of the believer look at verse 16 let the word of christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom what a wonderful word right there not only the where the believers in Colossae comforted with the peace of God but they had a great reason to be confident in their faith. Paul speaks of three of their confidence here they should remember. Number one, they had the word of Christ. They were surrounded by all kinds of philosophies and false teachings of the day. But Paul reminded them of what they had received of the Lord. Folks, let me put it this way. If you are saved here today, it's not a difference, it's the same world today. Let me tell you, our world is full of false prophets and false teachers. And they will deceive you, they will spit you out, they will use you as much as they can because they only think about themselves and their pockets. But let me tell you, God left His Word so we can get wisdom. Don't get the wisdom from the cesspools of the world. Get wisdom from the Word of God. You say, but you know what? No, listen, listen. The Word of God is forever new. Let me put it this way. You can buy a book brand new today in a bookstore. Buy any book. Two or three years from now, go read that book and you're going to say, that's an old book. Buy the Bible today and go read it three years from now. You're going to say, ooh, always fresh, always new. It actually is the best selling book in the world, in all history, is the Bible. Isn't it amazing? Many people don't care about it, but it's the most selling book in the world, is the Bible. Wow! So they had the Word of Christ, so do we. We have the Word of God. Let's be grateful that we have a Bible. We have the Word of God. Let's be grateful that we have liberty to preach the Word of God and teach the Word of God. Let's be thankful that we can go in the streets and tell somebody about the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's be thankful that we can actually live the Christian life. They had the Word of Christ in a very unchrist-like society, so do we. Let it be, they had the witness teaching and admonish one another in Psalms and spiritual songs. Many in that day sought an intellectual challenge. They were always open to new ideas and different interpretation. They were like many in our day and that truth was believed to be relative. Paul encouraged the believers that they need not worry about the truth of God's word because we have the truth. Listen folks, I want to grow in God's Word. I know about God. Read your Bible. Oh, but only if I listen to this speaker and that speaker. Read your Bible. That's where you get the truth from God's Word. Because when you know the truth of God's Word, when they open their mouth, you can tell if they're telling the truth. Unfortunately, the pulpits of America became a place of jokes and political nonsense. The house of God should be a place where God's Word is preached and proclaimed. It should be a house of prayer, not a social club, not a comedy club. If you look at the Gospels, when Jesus enters in the synagogues, when he enters there, he picks up the Scriptures. He read the Scriptures. Paul encouraged the believers that they need not worry about the truth of God's word because they have God's word. They could stand upon with a full assurance. In fact, they would manage to share the word with others and to encourage them through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. In a sense, they were to share their faith in full assurance with a world that desperately needs to hear the truth. We need to embrace the challenge as well today, folks. We live in a culture that needs to hear the truth. There's so much being shared today that is not truth. And I tell you what, internet is a wonderful tool, but internet is destroying a lot of people too. Be careful what you watch, be careful what you're reading, be careful what you expose yourself to. Let me tell you this, study God's words, And when you study God's Word and apply God's Word, it's going to be much different when you look at those false teachers on the internet. They are deceiving people. We need to be careful. We have the Word of Truth. We have the Word of God. We have the glorious privilege of sharing the truth of our faith with a world that needs the gospel. Luke says in Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 6, And these words which I commended thee this day shall be in thy heart, and I shall teach them diligently unto thy children, and I shall talk with them when thou sittest in thy house, when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, when thou raisest up. You know the priority of all of us is to know God's words. and to be grateful that we know God's Word. You know, one of the things that we should do on Thanksgiving Day, more than anything, I know the food is good. The time of the season is good. Everything is wonderful. The Pillsbury Doughboys are so nice and warm and good and cozy when you eat it. And then, you know, the cranberry sauce, you know, I like the dark part of the turkey, you know, all that stuff. You know what? But ultimately, Don't forget to give thanks to God. Thank you, Lord, that I have a Bible. Thank you, Lord, that I have your word. Thank you, Lord, that I'm still here. Let us see. They had worship. Look what it says. Singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. This was a culture that was easily swayed. The allegiance was not to the one God, but to many gods. All it took was a smooth talker, a cunning word to influence their thinking. The church of Colossae could rejoice because they had been delivered from such an ungodly influence. They had put their faith and trust in the risen Lord and in a true living God. Let me tell you something. It's the same thing this way, folks. We have to be on guard all the time that worldly philosophies don't peek and slide inside the church. Why? Because we don't want that. We want to glorify God, not glorify men. Listen folks, we come here, when we're in the house of God, we encourage one another. Agree with me? We encourage one another in the Lord because we all live in this world. But ultimately, when we walk in a church house, the one thing we have to do there is to glorify God. To God be the glory. It's for the audience of one. So worldly philosophies and worldly things doesn't bring glory to the Lord. If we only think about that. Listen, when Cain and Abel offer offerings to the Lord, Cain was, the Lord was happy with one and he was discontent with the other. And one caused one brother to kill the other brother. Instead of turning around and look at the guy and say, okay, let me change my ways the way I give thanks to you, the way I worship you. No, he put on his brother and killed his brother. Folks, there is one way to worship God. And we worship the Lord the way He wants to be worshipped. And we should be grateful for that. The other way, God is not thankful. He's not pleased with us. You follow that? Even God says to him, why don't you change your ways? He didn't. He blamed his brother. So number one here in our passage here, we have the comfort of the believer. Number two, the confidence of the believer. And number three, the consistency of the believer. Look at verse 17. So you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father for him. So as those believers live in a society so easily swayed and prone to change, Paul encouraged the believers to be steadfast in their faith and consistent in their walk with the Lord. Let me tell you this one. Isn't that wonderful? It happened to me many times. I had many people through the years that have criticized me. But years later, you see them turning around and coming back and come to you for counseling. And I say to the Lord, thank you, Lord, for keeping me steadfast, unmovable. Because people do change. and philosophies do change and they sometimes associate themselves all kinds of things but they come back and then when they think of you they know that you as you are steadfast you are unmovable thank you you know i praise the lord for that i'm not trying to put myself up right here what i'm saying it is good for all of us to be steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the lord you know what perfect knowing not none of us is perfect but steadfast unmovable always serving the Lord you know Paul commends them for that you know for being look what it says and verse 17 and whatsoever you do in word or deeds he said do it all in the name of Jesus he said you know everything we do do it in the name of Jesus now think about it what you do every day do it in the name of Jesus you go to work for your family do in the name of Jesus You help your neighbor doing the name of Jesus. You follow what I'm saying here? In a workplace you help a co-worker doing the name of Jesus. It makes us look at life much differently. You know, sometimes a person comes to me in a workplace. I mean, I'll put it this way. I arrive on Monday, Tuesday, I'm at work. And soon as I walk at work, it's like it was all day long. Oh, hey, I'm glad to see you. Good to see you. How's vacation? Good. I need I need you. Oh, I need you all day long. In the next day, same thing. You know what? What do you do? Leave me alone. I was on vacation. I know. What do you do? You do it in the name of Jesus. You show kindness. You show kindness to them. You know why? Because what goes around comes around. You show kindness to them when you need them, they'll show kindness to you. Treat others the way you have them treating you, right? So, letter A, we see our potential. And whatsoever ye do in the word of thee, do all in the name of Jesus. The church of Colossae living in an environment of scrutiny. The motives and philosophies of men were carefully watched there. The church had a wonderful opportunity to be an effective witness for the Lord. They could remain committed to honoring the Lord by their words and by their deeds. And listen, folks, we do the same thing. We have a tremendous opportunity as Christians to do what is right and what was good in the name of Jesus and let God be glorified. Not just in our local church, but our own individual lives. so people can say that's unmovable that's a steadfast person right there that person loves God you know what again let me put it this way not perfect none of us is perfect all of us have flaws but steadfast unmovable you know always willing to ask God forgiveness for what we do but also let people see that we are honest truthful good people that like to go out of our way to help them listen in the name of Jesus You know what we do with our food pantry here? We do it in the name of Jesus. And I like when yesterday when we had the Thanksgiving baskets giveaway, one of our church people said to me, some pastor, are we putting John and Romans there? Are we putting invitation? I was like, yes, definitely. Because we do it in the name of Jesus, not given forgiven. To God be the glory, isn't it? Listen, folks, we live in a society that needs to hear about Jesus, that needs to understand that we are the children of God and everything we do, we do in the name of Jesus. You know, there's nothing wrong with somebody doing something good to you and you say, thank you, Jesus. You say, well, it's out of place. No, it's not out of place. It's the expression of our hearts, how we feel about it. Let it be, we see our purpose. look up first how a purpose did verse 17 and whatsoever he do in word or deed do all that word all means all paul admonished them to do all in the name of jesus they were to honor christ and represent him in every aspect of life. This was not reserved for Sunday service at church but every day in every way. The world needs to see the evidence of a changed life. They need to see the difference in saving faith in Christ and the hopeless doctrine of this world. They need to see that we are truthful, that we are sincere, that we live and we give honor to the one who saved us. We must assure that our lives reflect the Lord in all we do. Whether it is in a church and whether it is in our private lives, they need to see that. Listen, and we don't do just for doing. For an example, my mother, love my mom, but my mom had a museum in her house. Her house was spotless. Nobody could sit in those things because just in case somebody come over. I said, mom, mom, mom, mom, we don't live to impress people. You cannot convince her. She died with that. You know, that was her thing. You just, just, just amuse him right here. So just in case somebody comes over. Listen, we should never live to impress anybody. Live your life for the glory of God. You know, live your life for the glory of God. Give honor to the Lord. Let, let your life be a reflection of the gratefulness of your heart towards him. What he have done for you. You see, let us see our praise. Verse 17, given thanks to God and the Father by Him. So Thanksgiving is a time or a day on which we stop and take a look at the goodness of our God and what He has done for us. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving in America became a day of eating and football. Let's see what we're going to get for Black Friday. It comes up tomorrow. And you know, and people already at the Thanksgiving will be going, oh, I don't like that gift. I don't want this gift. That's ungratefulness. I tell them, one day I should go to the, well, I said, the store like you buy everything for $1. And then just give everybody $1 gift. See if everybody would be grateful with that. You know, my mom said, you better not do that to me. Well, you know what? Listen. How many people are so ungrateful, they receive a gift at Christmas, and you know what they do with the gift? They repack the gift and give to somebody the next Christmas. I think it's a bit more honest to go to the person and say, I am so grateful that you thought of me, that you give me this gift, but I already have one. Can I? Can I? without offending you, go and exchange and get something else. You see the gratitude? So given thanks to God and the Father for him. So, Paul urged the church to offer their thanksgiving unto God of heaven. He alone had redeemed them and he alone is worthy of their praise and honor. Let me put it this way, like I said, and express gratitude to Him beyond praise and glory in the day of thanksgiving. Many in Colossae were looking for the gods of this world or their latest philosophy to find guidance and enrichment. Now God's people, listen folks, we should never go with the ways of the world but always go with our God. You see, Let me get myself here a little bit. I wrote something here early that I wanted to share with you. Here it is. Thanksgiving is a time on which many families and friends get together over a meal. But I go a little further than that. I think I like to look at the whole month of November and think it is a month of Thanksgiving. Maybe this Thanksgiving express gratitude and thankfulness to the one who saved us from our sin. May we express thanksgiving to the one who offers and made heaven possible for us. May we express thanksgiving to the one who continually loves us. May we express thanksgiving to the one who continues to take care of us. May we express thanksgiving for the one who continually provides for us. May we express gratitude and thanksgiving to our God, our Maker, our Provider, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Shepherd, our Great I Am. To Him be praise and honor and glory. Don't you know that gratitude is an attitude of the heart? We either make a choice to be grateful and thankful, or we make a choice to be ungrateful. We have a choice. In life, there will always be those who think that we can accomplish, that we can accomplish, complain about, complain, I'm sorry, in life there's always those things we can complain about, but there will also be much to be thankful for. I think actually, and I close with this, I think there's so many things, more things that we can give thanks to God for than things that we can complain about. Actually, I put it this way, if you were Christian here this morning, we have nothing to complain about. Nothing. Okay. What are you going to complain about? Tell me. I didn't like the cold weather this morning. It was just too cold. Okay. God gave you clothes bundle up. Okay. I didn't like the car I drive this morning, you know? Okay. Be thankful for the car you have. I just have a hard time getting my dress on this morning because I got so many dresses. Be grateful. You see? We have nothing to complain about. We have everything to be grateful for. I don't like turkey. I don't even like him. Eat mashed potatoes and be grateful. I don't like green beans. We eat corn. You see, I love black eyed peas. I don't. We see, we Christians, we have everything to be grateful for. We have a wonderful God that loves us and cares about us. And Paul says, be thankful. I hope that all of us are thankful this morning. You say, pastor, you don't know about my life. No, but God knows. you don't know what I'm going through I know I don't but God knows and God sees he sees where you are he sees what you do and you know what the Apostle Paul was in prison chained to wood things and have a soldier next to him he didn't have even freedom to be alone and he says to the Colossi church be thankful He actually says in the book of Philippians, I learned how to abase and to abound in all things. May we learn in this world to be thankful for all that we have and the God that we serve. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, so much for this church, the Colossae Church, the example they were. And Lord, may we too be an example to others of gratefulness and thankfulness. Lord, I pray this morning for someone here that never received Jesus as Savior. May today, Lord, He look upon you for salvation. And for us Christians, Lord, help us to be grateful and thankful in all things. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. If you could stand, please. We're gonna sing a song of invitation. It's called Face to Face. page 417 face to face one day we will see the Lord face to face and those of us who are saved we're gonna say it was worth it it was worth it face to face Face to face with Christ my Saviour Face to face what will it be When with rapture I behold Him Jesus Christ who died for me Face to face I shall behold Let me remind you something this morning. One day, all of us here, and you online too, you will see Jesus face to face. You will see him as your great Lord and Savior, the great I am, who will say to you, welcome home, you good and faithful servants, or you will see him as a judge, which say to you, depart from me, you work of iniquity, I never knew you. You have a life to live, you have a choice to make. Are you saved here today? What I'm saying, if you would die today, you're going to heaven because you have put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, believe in his word, confess your sins and call on him to be your savior. Or you say, I'll take care of myself when I die. Well, if that's you, I'll feel sorry for you. You know why? Because what's waiting for you is not heaven, but hell, a place of eternal torment. You say, well, that's not true. Well, then read the Bible. It's right there. Very clear what it says. There's no middle ground that is heaven or hell. We make the choice. God said, I did it all for you. I went to Calvary. I pray for the, I pay, I pay for the sins of the, I pay everything. I shed my blood for you. I did it all. Salvation is full and free. You choose. Do you want to go on your way or you want my way? This morning you're making a choice. Oh, I can do it next week. You're making a choice. I can do it before I die. You're making a choice. You're making a choice. You might die before tomorrow. You might die before you get old. And you made your choice. No one can say to God one day, I never heard. I never see. I have no excuse. You should have put me to heaven. No, God says everyone is without excuse. even creation speaks loud of a creator even creation tells the human race you know what it is one who created all who created you and you need him face to face with christ my savior let's sing one more verse is our last verse Only faintly now I see Him With the darkly veil between But a blessed day is coming When as glory shines Him far beyond the starry sky, face to face in all His glory. what a wonderful thing to be grateful and thankful isn't it you know it is good to be thankful it is good when people say to you thank you does it make you feel good people say you do something for them and they go thank you and sometimes you know it's the only thing they can say is thank you you do some maybe some big job for them some big thing and you know they can't even afford to pay you and they say thank you it blesses your heart what a blessing we do that in the name of Jesus they say you know what when they say that we say well praise the Lord praise Jesus for that I was able to help you well Today we have a wonderful time. We're going to partake of bread and partake of Thanksgiving. You know what? We're going to open that door right there and invite everybody. Just go over there, form a line, be patient, okay? Take what you want. Go in the back. There's plenty of seating in the back. Let's sit down, enjoy, break bread together, and give thanks to God for what He has done on this Thanksgiving. Okay, let's pray for our food, and we will go and have lunch together. Heavenly Father, thank You, Lord, for Your goodness, for Your love, for Your mercy, Lord. Thank You, Father, for what You have done for us. Lord, help us to be grateful and thankful for the life that You give us, for our salvation, Lord, for living the Christian life. Help us, Lord, to be grateful for everything and all things. Father, I pray for the food. Bless the food, Lord, the fellowship. May everything we do and say bring honor and glory to your name. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.