This coming Thursday is the Thanksgiving Day. It's the day that we all get together with our family, and we hope that the cops are not called. That must only happen in Little Havana. I'm sorry. I'm out of context. I'm in the 954. All right. Well, growing up in Little Havana, that was always a plus. If you gather with your family, and the cops weren't called, that's a big deal. All right? Thanksgiving Day is a distinctive holiday, and as we think about it, just days away again from the event, from gathering those we love, and enjoying a good time, and overdoing it, and committing the sin of gluttony, and just doing it ahead of time, and the Lord knows, and all that good stuff. All right? We're just days away from that. As I was getting ready for this morning, I came across this article, and I read it. It's titled, Thanksgiving 400 Years Later. 400 years later, it's actually from that first Thanksgiving in 1621. 400 years later, it's this Thanksgiving coming up. The author, in this article, presents the following question. How does Thanksgiving today relate to the one celebrated by the pilgrims in 1621? Just to think about it. This is a distinctive American holiday. Think about it. How does it relate? Well, according to the author, he answers this question under three headings. The first heading is, A Heavy Day. According to the author, the winter of 1621 was horrendous for the passengers and crew of the Mayflower. William Bradford's manuscript history of Plymouth was written several years after the early events at the plantation, but it provides a first-hand account. In addition to the pilgrims, the ship carried a large group of quote-unquote strangers, colonists who did not share the pilgrim's religious convictions. The term stranger was taken from scripture describing those who live temporarily or permanently among God's people, Exodus 12. One aspect of God's covenant is that strangers were to be treated justly and fairly. Strangers benefited from some aspects of the covenant even if they never joined and declared Israel's God to be their own. The strangers at Plymouth not only benefited from the blessings to the pilgrims but also were bound with them by the Mayflower Compact in a civil body politic for the general good of the colony. The winter of 1621 put the compact To the test, close quarter living combined with diseases and a limited food supply caused division among the settlers and claimed many lives. It is a hard heart that is not saddened by this tragic account of Plymouth's first winter. Among the pilgrims and strangers, there was a 50% mortality within about three months. and the crew suffered similar mortality sufficient to make make-flowers return voyage to England difficult due to a shortage of hands-on deck when it sailed in April. The problems of winter would only become further complicated when the common house burned down, forcing the colonists to seek other shelter. The situation is dismal as the winter of 1620-21 turns to spring. Is there any hope? The author answers this question under the second heading, a happy day, a happy day. Their hope was in the sovereign king of creation, the God who would not give a stone when bread is requested, nor a snake when fish is desired, Matthew 7, 9 and 10. A portion of God's answer came from a source not likely anticipated by the settlers. The colonists became acquainted with the Massasoit, the great leader of the Wampanoag Federation, along with Samoset and Squanto. and dearly valued their aid. For some time, the settlers' relationship with the Native Americans had been at a distance. Both groups were curious but reluctant to make contact. Once contact was made and trust developed, the natives were a help to the settlers, and they enjoyed good relations. The Lord answered their prayers and gave them good weather for an abundant harvest, culminating in a three-day feast." The author ends his article under the heading, A Thankful Day. We all know it's good to be thankful. But we do not always remember to thank God for His blessings. The pilgrims went through several hard months at Plymouth, but when autumn arrived, they could look back at what transpired and be thankful in godliness and contentment. Instead of thanking God for what He has graciously done, the tendency might be to ask for more. God enjoys hearing our requests, but they need to be appropriate and commensurate with the teaching of Scripture. We must not pray amiss, James chapter 4 verse 3. A word that occurs often in Scripture is remember. We need to remember the Lord's grace, not only during the good times, but the bad as well. And so as we approach Thanksgiving this year, consider counting your blessings, writing them out or typing them up on your phone as they come to mind each day. The last few years have been dominated by the pandemic, volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and raging fires, with many households suffering the loss of family members and property. Yet in the difficulties of life, the Christian enjoys blessings from God. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His loving kindness endures forever. Amen? See, just when you think life is tough, you read what was going on that first Thanksgiving. And the God that provided then is the God that provides today for His own. The God that watched over them. Can you imagine 50% mortality? That means if you and I embark here on this Mayflower building, that means that in three months, 50% of us will not be here. That includes our children. Includes our spouses, includes our parents, includes our loved ones. 50%. So just look, half of us are not here. It is very easy to focus on the negative and not see God at work. And that's what they chose to do, that first one. They saw that, give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His loving kindness endures forever. Let's keep that theme of loving kindness as we look at our Bibles to 1 John 2. 1 John 2, let's look at some other blessings that the Apostle John draws our attention to so we can enjoy some thanksgiving assurances. 1 John 2, verses 12-14. I'm going to read from the English Standard Version, you follow along. If you need a Bible, see one of the guys in the back. We've got a Bible you can use for today or you can keep. If you have a Bible app, even better. Either way, I'm hoping that you have God's Word at your disposal, all right? God didn't go out of His way to reveal Himself so you not do something with it. 1 John chapter 2, verses 12 through 14. I read, you follow. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His namesake. I'm writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I'm writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one. Stop there. One of the immediate tasks as you and I read, as you and I study this passage is, who's being addressed? I mean, if you open up any type of commentary, if you go online, one of the first tasks of you and I as students, you and I as expositors, you and I that want to know what God means by what He says, we have to determine, who's being addressed? What are you talking about here? Well, throughout the letter, 1 John, the apostle is challenging professing Christians, those who know how to speak it well, but live it bad. Nothing happened to you in the 21st century, right? But even in the 1st century, there was already those professing Christians. You and I, if we want to be really jerks, we would call them posers, right? The people who were saying, yes, yes, yes, Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Christ. I do believe in Him. But the reality is that their lives were from that. First John is a letter written to the faithful, to the child of God, so that that child of God would know that they have eternal life in Christ. and at the same time to challenge those who are making just professions outwardly and not living it inwardly. And the day we do study 1 John, and then might as well study 2 and 3, we'll get into that in detail. But for now, he's writing, and there's this reality that John is addressing those groups of people. Here, however, here he's talking to the child of God. And you see it there, he says, I'm talking to you, I'm writing to you, I'm writing to you, time and time again, I write to you, I write to you. Now he directs himself to Christians, to those who not only profess, but they also possess. And he's addressing them, he says, I want you to know certain things. And he calls them little children or children, calls them fathers and young men. And again, immediately with such labeling, imaginative labeling, you know that Bible commentators are going to spend a lot of ink and paper trying to defend a position. What does it mean? All commentators agree that Christians are being addressed. After all, no commentator believes that we're excluding women. Do you see there a mention of a woman? No. So what are we talking about? Are we talking about physical maturity? Are we talking about spiritual maturity? What or whom is John addressing here? with children and young men and fathers. I think the view, my view, would be the right view, all right, in saying that he's not addressing people marked by the calendar, but by the walk of the Lord. Okay? All of us are growing old. Not all of us are growing up. I'm going to say that one more time. Maybe someone will give me an amen. All of us are growing old. Just look at your baby picture. If you're married, look at the day you married. I'd rather not. My wife looks similar. I don't. I don't. Okay? Right? Not all of us who are growing old are growing up. I mean, we even have a classification, which did not exist when I was their age, of man-children. You know what a man-child was in my age? A bum. My dad kicked me so hard in the back, he kicked me until next week when he kicked me in the rear. He said, you're not going to grow up that way. You're not. I mean, it was simple. Today we have this category that we make exceptions for. No different than, and I'm going off the script here, I'm going off the reservation, but I might as well get it out. I got to get the wiggles out. No different than we call today teenagers. Do you understand that that's a fairly new classification of humanity? Do you understand that we got some Navy folks here. Do you understand that at age 17, there were admirals that were 17 years of age and they were in charge of ships. We've given our children 13 to 19 to figure it out. Try to place that somewhere in Africa, where they got to find clean water each and every day, 13 through 19. What are they going to do? Try to give a pass for a whole six ... Man, if you gave me a pass for seven years, oh my word. Honey, I need a pass for the next seven. I'm 55, catch up to me when I'm 65. You know what she'll do? That's why she's so quiet and just grinning. The reality though is that you and I, we understand that not everyone who grows old grows up and this is what John is dealing with. I'm talking to people now who are growing old in the faith, and there's different categories. There's the children, there's the young men, and then there's the fathers. One Bible commentator puts it this way, the little children are those newborn in Christ. The young men are more developed Christians, strong and victorious in spiritual warfare, while the fathers possess the depth and stability of ripe Christian experience. And you and I, we can arm wrestle back and forth. Who's the group and where am I? But listen, we're losing the forest for the trees. What is John trying to teach us? As he addresses these groups of people, these groups of Christians, what's he trying to convey? That's where I want to draw your attention to. Not where you fit in, though I would hope that the Spirit of God would tell you that. But what is being told, what are the truths behind these verses that you and I can rejoice over? Those are those thanksgiving assurances. And He writes, because you have, because you are, not so you can have. There's some certainty there. Turn to the Bible again. I'm writing to you, little children, because you're, because, because, not so they may, because. Verse 13, because you know. 13 again, because you have. Verse 14, because you know there's a certainty to the Christian life being addressed here, and that fuels our thanksgiving. The certainties. Living in a world that's so much uncertain, you and I can turn to God's Word and draw energy, draw strength from those certainties that God says here they are. And I want to just highlight three of those certainties or those assurances. In verse 12, the first one, we are forgiven for His namesake. I'm writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His namesake. Listen, it's a fact, not a feeling. We're not addressing whether or not you feel forgiven. We're addressing the fact that in Christ, you are forgiven. And let me tell you, child of God, when there's seasons in life where your obedience and your faithfulness to Christ is less than stellar, what you need to go back to, what you need to anchor yourself to, is the reality that you are forgiven, though you may not necessarily feel forgiven. Can I get an amen? See, this is where you and I need to anchor. our relationship. We need to anchor our reality. Yes, sin affects us. Yes, sin causes us to feel a certain way, and rightly so. But I dare not go with my feelings, which go up and down, and it depends on how I wake up some days. I anchor myself to the fact that we are forgiven. We're not longing for forgiveness. We are not uncertain about forgiveness. We have been forgiven. That's the beauty for the child of God here. You have been forgiven. God has taken care of the most difficult situation in your life. How to reconcile a holy God to sinful humanity. Now, you may not think you're a sinner, but just think about it this past week. Just think about this morning trying to get here. How many sins you committed? Maybe you didn't. You didn't speed on the way here. And I live two minutes away. I can break the speed limit from 103rd Terrace to the entrance of the church property. 42 in the span of a block. 30, I think, or 35. Not that any of you guys suffer from Leadfoot Syndrome, OK? But I do. So just come in here. So the thing is, the reality is that when you realize that that sin alone warrants a holy God to condemn me in an eternity of hell, a conscious place of torment. Now, we joke around because it's just speeding. But what happens in my Ledford syndrome, I spin out of control and I take you out on the way in. And Megan is left without Sam. because Lefferts syndrome here couldn't control it. Now all of a sudden that little thing, I was just like, dude, you cost me my husband's life. See, now all of a sudden, yeah, get him God. Well, without having to take out Sam, all right? You don't have to take out anybody. Listen, the reality that you offend God, I offend God with our thoughts life. You know how many people we send far away places? Just with our thoughts? Just this past week? Go to H-E double hockey sticks. Because we use the euphemism so we don't have to say the word. Oh, go fly a kite. Our thoughts alone would condemn us for an eternity before God. Our speech. Come on, we're South Floridians. Even y'all that moved from the North, you're already infected. You're already infected with South Floridian stuff. We don't know how to drive. Add some water, we're slippery when wet. We're done. And we just say stuff and then our actions. So God has taken that scenario, that rightful display of His holiness to come against you, to come against me in a righteous anger and discipline and say, no, you will not make a mockery of me, my character and who I am. I will, you will pay for an eternity. Well, He placed all that wrath on His Son, Jesus Christ. And on the cross he displays the power over sin as he absorbs the wrath and he displays power over death as he resurrects. And those of us who have trusted in his sacrifice then enjoy forgiveness of sin. And there's days when you and I wake up and we mess up. But that doesn't change the fact that we're forgiven. And that's what John is saying. This Thanksgiving, which should be your attitude of gratitude throughout the year, perpetual, not just seasonal. Remember, remember, child of God, when you're less than faithful, He is always faithful. When you're less than forgiving, He is forgiving. When you're less than patient, He is patient. When your love is less than perfect, because it's conditional, His love is perfect and unconditional. Child of God, we have been forgiven. The hymn says, my sin or the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. See, that's what you and I need to start with. We are forgiven, but we're not forgiven because we're good. Because we're all that in a bag of chips. Because gosh, look what God has now. You know, God was not God until Ronnie Wagner came to faith. Now He completed Him. Nah! It's for His name's sake, not for Ron Wagner's sake, not for Louis Acosta's sake, not for Marina Rodriguez's sake, not for Myrna Plano's sake. Not for Maribel's sake, for God's name's sake, on account of His name, we are forgiven. The big deal is that God went out of His way to forgive you and me and Christ, not because we were worth it. On the contrary, while we were yet sinners, Christ loved us. That's the beauty. That's the beauty. You and I are saved or rescued because God has a merciful nature to Himself. He could remain perfectly in wrath, condemn us for an eternity and still be God. still be perfect, still be loving, still be merciful, but because He has a merciful side to Him, and because His wrath has been dealt with at the cross, He extends forgiveness to repentant sinners. You and I are just simply the recipients of that. The Bible is clear. On the screen, Micah 7, 18 and 19. Who is a God like you who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us. You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl our iniquities into the depths of the sea. Writing through Isaiah chapter 43, God says of himself, I, even I, excuse me, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake. and remembers your sins no more. Stop there. You know that he can't not, he doesn't get some divine amnesia. I don't remember your sins no more. You know what that is? That's an act of choosing not to remember your sins, my sins no more. You see how you and I don't do that in our relationships? We like fishing. Newton and Carroll are over there, and Newton offends Carroll, not that he does. But he does something wrong, she says, I forgive you, but every so often he goes, let me just. You remember? You know when women get historical, not hysterical, historical. See, unlike any one of us, and men do it the same. Don't think we're any better. I know how to get historical myself. It's not that God forgets, like, what's your name? is he chooses not to remember. That's a whole lot of difference. That's a whole lot of difference there. He chooses not to remember. We're forgiven because of what he has done. Here's something for you to take with you on the screen. The truth of the gospel is that even though we deserve God's wrath, we have been extended mercy and grace through Jesus Christ. That's something to take, that's something to give thanks for. That's God going out of His way and saying, I am choosing to be merciful to you. I am choosing to be merciful to you. The truth of the gospel is, though we deserved worse, we got the best. Jesus gives His life to bring glory to God. The death of Christ, first and foremost, makes much of the Lord. Not necessarily you and me. The death of Jesus Christ is a big deal because of how God reconciles sinners unto himself at the price of his own son. That's the beauty of it. I am forgiven. I am going to heaven. Why? Not because we got some inflamed sense of goodness. No, because God has said, you deserving the worst, I have given you the best. So what can you be grateful for as you approach Thanksgiving, the event? Child of God, if you're here this morning, you've trusted in Christ. Listen, your walk with the Lord may be, you know, there's never this. If you ever think that your walk with the Lord is going to be like this, just skyrocketing like that, that may be in your mind. I'm a legend in my own mind too. But the reality is that our walk with the Lord is more like this, peaks and valleys. The beauty, though, is for those who have been rescued by the Lord is that our direction is toward Christ's likeness. And we may have peaks and valleys, but we're still heading toward Christ's likeness. It's not just this. It's this, and you may have a season here, and you come up, and you're writing, and then something hits. All of that experience is anchored in the reality that you have been forgiven for His namesake. Number two, you have overcome the evil one. We have overcome the evil one. Look at the end of verse 13. In the middle, I'm sorry, I write to you young men because you have overcome the evil one. Verse 14, I write to you young men because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one. You have overcome. And it's rightly that he addresses this group, this age, young men, young men, youth is commonly associated with strength. And because youth and strength are often linked, this is why you and I can look at it and say, here's the reality. You and I have overcome the evil one. Young person in the Lord You have overcome the evil one. This does not suggest physical strength. This is not about how much you can, you know, you can bench or squat or, you know, deadlift. That's nothing. Isaiah 40, 31 says, those who will hope in the Lord will renew the strength. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint. And how do you get doctrinally strong? How do you get to the point where you can overcome the evil one? You allow the Word of God to abide in you. It says it there. Verse 14, I write to you young men because you have overcome the evil one. Verse 13, I write to you young men because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you. Child of God, if that's you, if that's you, how well is the Word of God abiding in you? The only way you and I can live in victory is by allowing the Word of God to dwell in us. We shouldn't be walking around as defeated people. We're not defeated people. We don't fight to attain victory. We fight from victory. Big difference. Big difference. The war we wage against our sinful desires, the war we wage against the supernatural, the war we wage against what the world throws at us. We don't do this so we can become victorious. We do this because we are victorious. God has granted you and me anything and everything you and I need to live a victorious Christian life. I don't think we stop to give thanks for that. that the evil one, the evil one is defeated. Jesus, well, later on in 1 John 4, he says, as great as he was in you, that he was in the world. That's why you can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Jesus himself said, in this world you're going to have tribulations, you're going to have issues, you're going to have problems, you're going to have tough times, but take courage. I have overcome the world. There are going to be wounds. There's going to be pain. There's going to be trouble. There's going to be stuff that you and I don't want to go through. But the reality is, we are. We are. Generations of Christians have come before us and will come after us. They'll have to deal with some difficult stuff. And how do you... There's going to be setbacks, but you don't have to live in defeat. Now, what do we do so we don't live in defeat? Two things. Number one, on the screen there, stop making excuses. Stop making excuses. Well, it's just the way I am. No, no, no, that was the way you were. Behold, all things are made new in Christ. But that's just my upbringing, you don't understand. Little Havana, hey, what a way to need you. That's me, you don't get tiki-tiki, laka-laka, laka-laka, you know, I was left behind after everybody left in Cayocho. I mean, I can make a pity case for myself. When I moved into what's known today as Havana, I was the third Hispanic. They did not know what a brown-faced, dark, brown-skinned guy looked like. I was the third Hispanic. 100,000 Hispanics hit 1980 Miami? Gone. Everybody then looks like me. Nobody looks like Sandy. The Great White Flight, they called it. Last person, get the flag. You think the racial relations difficult, the ones that exist today in the 21st century? Give me a break. We just got so soft nowadays. Everybody has to develop a little bit of Teflon. Don't let it stick to you, man. You're not the first generation to deal with racism. You're not going to be the last generation. Why? Because racists are going to exist forever and ever, amen? So deal with it. Buckle up. Come on, buttercup. Let's go. Stop making excuses. And if we do it in the reality of earthly relations, we got to stop making excuses in the spiritual one. No, no, no. Why aren't you growing in Christ? Stop making excuses. Stop, no, because you know this. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Christ did not suffer on the cross so you can get soft on your bed. He calls you and me to represent Him. We are a holy nation. We are holy people rescued to represent. How are you and I representing? Stop making excuses for it. Stop making excuses. We have the power to overcome within us. That's the reality. You and I, oh, I just can't read, I can't this, I can't. Listen, the last time God heard that, He was hearing it from Moses. Oh, I stutter. And who made the people who stutter? Oh, I have a learning disability. And who do you think? Do you think that's news to me? Read history, read Christian history. Read those that face uphill battles like the one you're facing, and they overcame because they were overcomers to start off with. Stop making excuses. Child of God, it's enough is enough. 2021 is almost over. Where are you, you walk with the Lord? Where are you as January 2021 started? Are you any closer? Do you know him any better? Are you serving him greater? Or are you still busy making excuses? Because if it doesn't fit your comfort, you don't want to do it. Well, you think Jesus dying on a cross fit his comfort? I'm glad he got out of his comfort zone. Get out of yours. I need to get out of mine. So stop making excuses. And number two, we need to live in the strength of the Lord. We need to put that full armor on. So when the day of evil comes, the day of evil will come. the day of evil will come. It's not an if, it's when. So as you put the armor of God on, the evil day comes, you'll be able to stand Ephesians 6.13. You'll stand your ground. See, if you and I dare to trust the tools that God has given us, you and I would experience a lot more spiritual victory. The fact is that we don't. And you and I are called, you and I are called and said, listen, remember child of God, you have been forgiven for his namesake. That's basic. That's why he says children. That's basic. That's basic. You grow up a little more, you start getting doctrine. I want to know why behind a what. And the young person in the Lord fights, but they fight with the tools that God himself has granted them. The word of God. And what they know, they match it with how they live. They know God to be this way. A strong person says, my strength is found in the Lord and in his word. And lastly, this is the last one, verses 13 and 14, you have the fathers. We know God. We know God. Now, that's basic, you're right, we know God through Christ. But the implication here is that you know Him who is from the beginning. So it's not just knowledge, it's experience. It's having walked with the Lord, you've seen His grace. You've seen Him work on your behalf. We know the Lord. See, when we first begin the spiritual babies, we delight in the experience. And you'll run into that, Christians are, this is just about the experience and I gotta feel it. You don't want to just shut them down. Let them experience it. But we know that as we grow up, then the young men delight in their understanding. But fathers, those who are growing up in the Lord and have grown up in the Lord, they delight in God. See, when I started walking with the Lord, man, there were a lot of hills to die on, theologically. A lot of hills to die on. A few years later, there are a lot less hills to die on nowadays. A lot less. And as you and I grow in the Lord, you'll find that there's a lot less hills to die on. Why? Because relationships is what matters. And my relationship with the Lord is what matters. It's like if someone was to say something negative about one of your loved ones, you would turn around and go, no, no, no, no, that's not them. You just don't know them well. See, same thing happens with you and me in our walk with the Lord. When someone makes mockery out of God and says something out of the Lord, and you're like, no, no, no, no, no. That's not true about God. You know why? Because I know him to be this way. And I know him to be that way. I know him to be a provider. I know him to be the protector. I know him to be that heavenly father. I know him to be who he needs to be. And I've walked with him, so I know him. That cannot be true. And it's not true. See, those who delight in the Lord, they understand that relationship is what matters. That's why Paul was able to say, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I leave behind all of this, I'm a much better person? Now, that wasn't just a Christian escapism. I just want to get out. I'm going to get out of the game. No, no, no. It wasn't that I'm going to tap out. No, no. He just understood, what's the worst thing that this life can give me? It's death. And humanly speaking, it is. What's the worst thing that this life can give me? It's death. And even there, I win. Why? Because I know the Father. I know the Father. You see, the end is really only the beginning. C.S. Lewis writing in the Chronicles of Narnia, the last battle, he ends that writing, those classics, with the following. It'll be on the screen. The last day on earth was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world had only been the cover and the title page. Now at last, they were beginning chapter one of the great story, which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever, in which every chapter is better than the one before. Do you understand that, child of God? Do you understand what awaits you and me because we're His? Do you understand that when we read Revelation 21 and 22, when we read about the new earth and the new heavens, do you understand that we're all gonna probably exit this world with a bucket list left undone? But do you understand that all that left undone compared to an eternity of enjoying all that God has for me can't compare to the bucket list I'll never get to. Do you understand what awaits you and me? The last chapter is better than the one before. After 10,000 years, we sing, it'll be just about a day. After 10,000 years, you and I freak out about 100 years of life on planet Earth. Can you imagine a million zillion? Can you imagine the US debt in years? It's never ending. Because our debt is never-ending. This is the beauty. This is the beauty of what awaits you and me as children of God. It's the never-ending. Each chapter is better than the next one. You don't think, this is not the cotton now, you know, toilet paper commercial. You guys are, you and I are just sitting on some, some, you know, cloud just, we need it. No! God has, God has things for you and me prepared that we can't even think of. That's why he renews the entire earth and the entire heavens. You know why? So his kids can enjoy it. We don't keep the eye on the prize that way. We get so bogged down on the here and now that we forget that there's a coming day, the great story, that'll put this story to shame. We won't even miss it. If we have loved ones in heaven, Many of us do. Do you understand that even if they were given the opportunity to return, they wouldn't? My parents would not want to come back. And I miss them. And if they could miss me, they would miss me. But with King Jesus, there's no comparison. I wouldn't want them to come back. And the day you and I, children of God, will be with Jesus and our fellowship is complete, we won't want to come back. We won't. What can we take with us this morning? What can we take with us this morning? Listen, you count your blessings. You count your blessings. The Apostle John has reminded us of three of our richest blessings. On the screen there, we have been forgiven and granted eternal life due to the work of Christ. We're sure of victory over the devil because of our position in Christ. We no longer have to give in to the sin of the past. Lastly we have come to know the true and living God and no longer have to be driven by the things of this world That will not last our appetite is for the eternal How are you doing this Sunday before Thanksgiving talking about appetite Talk about appetite. I know we're getting hungry. I'm hungry How's our hunger for the Lord How's our hunger for the Lord See, these are important assurances. These are Thanksgiving assurances that set us free from defeat and bondage. They give us confidence no matter what the circumstance. So here's the questions that you and I need to consider. I'm going to read them. Will you applaud yourself or will you applaud the Lord this coming Thanksgiving? Will you surround yourself with those who tell you how good you are or will you seek the Lord who alone is worthy? Will Thanksgiving be one day on your calendar or will it be an orientation of your life? What if God began to treat us like we so often treat Him? What if God met our needs to the same extent that we give Him our lives? What if we never saw another flower bloom because we grumbled when God sent the rain? What if God stopped loving and caring for us because we failed to love and care for others? What if God took away His message because we wouldn't listen to His messenger? What if He wouldn't bless us today because we didn't thank Him yesterday? What if God answered our prayers the way we answer His call to service? What if God decided to stop eating us tomorrow because we didn't follow Him today? If you can't say an amen, you should be saying what? Ouch. See, we don't think that way, child of God. Again, my friend, here you are. Having enjoyed to this day the many blessings of God, you still reject, you still don't want to surrender to Christ as Lord. You actually still think that you're in control of your future. And you, my friend, have come through this much Sundays of the year, and God has been good to you. Has it been perfect? Of course not. We don't live in a perfect world. We have a perfect God. And he's been good to you. He's been good to your family. He's provided. He has protected. There's been losses along the year, along the way, but his goodness has been seen. Will you turn from your sin, from the worship of self, and surrender to Christ as Lord and Savior? Will you thank the Lord? Would you thank the Lord this morning for caring enough to offer you a way out of the eternity that awaits you outside of Jesus Christ? Child of God, where's your thanksgiving today? Where's your thanksgiving? Do we wait to this coming Thursday to be grateful? Or do we live lives that others would see magnified? They tell a big deal of the goodness of God. And when we have time to come together, we make it a big deal. Because I want to sing, I want to be amongst the people who have experienced the goodness of God, and I want that to rub off. Someone has described the kind of focus on Thanksgiving that you and I should have the following way. It's a poem, and we end this way on the screen. As we gather round our tables on this next Thanksgiving day, time would fail to count the blessings that have followed on our way. Grace sufficient, help and healing, prayer oft answered at our call, and the best of all our blessings, Christ himself, are all in all. While we love to count the blessings, grateful for the year that's gone, faith would sweep a wider vision, hope would gaze yet further on. For the signals all around us seem with one accord to say, Christ is coming soon to bring us Earth's last, best Thanksgiving day. That day gets close. Close each day I open my eyes. His return is that much closer. Earth best and last Thanksgiving Day is one day closer. Child of God, will you rejoice with me this morning? My friend, will you turn to Christ this morning so that last and best Thanksgiving Day is yours to enjoy? Let's bow our heads, let's close our eyes for just a moment. Would you just go before the Lord? Perhaps it's your first time. You don't know exactly what to do and how to do it. Just talk to God. Just talk to Him. If you need to turn, if you need to surrender to Christ, would you just say, Lord, I recognize that I've offended you. I surrender. I recognize that my thought life is offensive to you. I recognize that my speech is offensive. My actions are offensive. And that alone warrants you punishing me. But you are grace and mercy, have provided Christ. I surrender. Take over my life. Would you do that this morning? Would you prepare your life, your soul, your future for Earth's last and best Thanksgiving day? And child of God, where are you? Where are we this morning? God knows our imperfections. God knows how far we have fallen. And yet he smiles, and if we turn to him, If we've lost him, we go back right to where we lost him and we will find him there. Wanting to restore the relationship. Pick up right where you left him and go from there because we are forgiven for his namesake. Lord God, only you can do the work. I am not, I dare not begin to think what's behind every pair of eyes here. But we need vision today. We need the reality that you would be our vision, that you would help us see life through your eyes. For some, that demands a miracle, the new birth that grants vision. So they would see the ugliness of their sin and the beauty of the Savior. So we ask that you would give sight to those who are spiritually blind. For your own, that means that we're bold enough to look in the mirror of your word and see where we have fallen short and how you call us to be doers of your word. Help us now. Help us now. Be our vision. We love you and we trust you and we need you. In Jesus name and God's people said.