Thanksgivings

We opened our worship time yesterday with a reminder of who we are and what we are to do with who are are from Psalm 100:3-4.

3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Who is He and who are we?  He is God, our Creator!  We are NOT!

We are His!  His!!  And we are sheep – His sheep in His pasture!

Be humbled!

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Come before Him with abounding thanks, praise, and blessings!

Then in the sermon this verse was considered, I Timothy 3:16.

And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.

That which was a mystery for centuries was revealed as Jesus and revealed to us – this  great mystery is a great revelation and truth – and we are in the know!

Oh, what a Savior, Lord, and Friend!!  All the confusion, evil, and wisdom of the world is trumped by the life and work of Jesus!  To Him be great thanks givings!

We closed out the day with a couple of verses. One is a verse the elders have been clinging to and God has been using with them – I Chronicles 19:13. (Last night I talked about 1912 being a better year as 1913 introduced the country to the tax burden that grows and haunts us in profound ways.)

Back to 1913 – what a great verse for such a time as this for GCC!  I Chronicles 19:13

Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God.  And may the Lord do what is good in His sight.

We can take courage in life’s issues.  Why?  God!

Our prayers need to always include God’s will be done.  We can ask for “this, that, and tuther”, but we are always gladly submissive to His way.  We are to always be thankful for His gracious protecting, leading and presence.

Last night we also cited Psalm 133:1, Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!  Amen!!!

Oh, how many ways God has moved us, carried us, helped us, encouraged us, used us, and touched us!!

To Him be the glory!

Thanks and Thanks be to our God!