Title: Life of Gratitude (2)
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6 This is the saying, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7 Let each one do just as he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that you, having always had all sufficiency in all things, abound to every good work.
9 As it is written, He scattered and gave to the poor, and his righteousness endures forever.
10 He who gives seed and bread to the sower will give and prosper what you sow, and increase the fruit of your righteousness.
11 You are savvy in all things, so that they give thanks to God through us.
12 This ministry not only made up for the needs of the saints, but overflowed because of the many thanksgivings that men give to God.
13 With the witness of this ministry, to the glory of God for your sincere faith in and obedience to the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in service to them and to all men,
14 And they intercede for you, and they long for you because of the exceeding grace that God has given you.
15 I thank God for his indescribable gift (2 Corinthians 9:6-15).
Among our church members, there are church members who have suffered from serious illness for the past year, but have recovered and are now offering a service of thanksgiving. We thank the doctors and medicines for our own physical health, but beyond that, we believe and thank God for all of this. In addition to the worship service of thanksgiving, we offer our bodies as a sacrifice of thanksgiving with the determination to offer our bodies for the Lord's will. And I hope that this view of life can be passed down not only to us but also to our descendants.
Some of our young alumni today are engaged and married, and some have received cute sons and daughters as a gift from God. These church members thank God for the grace they have received, and today, along with the gift of thanksgiving, are offering a worship service of thanks to God. It seems that we humans live as humans meet and form relationships and give birth to sons and daughters, but behind the scenes, God's invisible hand is hidden, working, caring for, and guiding us through the power of grace. It is living and doing. Our church members who realize this and know that everything is a blessing from God, and now we worship God while offering a gift of thanks. We hope that these beliefs and lifestyles will be passed down to our descendants.
Among our alumni, those who have been living in a distant country for the past year or have suffered hardships due to being sent to a barren place for business, or who have traveled to Vietnam and other regions in Korea and returned safely to God with a grateful heart. There are also If you look at the number of traffic accidents these days, it is indeed a great blessing if those who went out in the morning return safely in the evening, and the risk is even greater in long-distance travel. Nevertheless, it is truly the grace of God that I am thankful for to have safely completed my trip and returned to my country, my hometown, and the arms of my family. We may think of this only as the grace of pilots and drivers and the grace of modern precision scientific machines, but in the end, we believers cannot help but appreciate God's protection working behind it. In order to thank God for this precious grace, we come here with the gift of thanks and offer a worship service of thanks to God. We hope that this way of thinking becomes the rule that governs our entire lives.
We don't know how many times a day we wander through life and death, but behind us, our invisible hand protects us so that we can breathe and move like this today, and come before God and even give thanks. I don't know if it happened. Indeed, when I come to this place of thanksgiving and sit face to face with God, I cannot help but confess, one verse of the hymn poet El Nathan, "Oh, I don't know why God's grace redeems this useless one."
Today, if there is any cause that has allowed us to know the depth of life a little more, to grasp the assurance of salvation more clearly, and to be able to establish a more clear mental attitude in life, it is what we have learned from living happily and peacefully. Rather, it is the experiences that most of us have learned in the midst of hardships, hardships, and hardships that we cannot bear in life. Suffering is something you avoid because it is hard to bear at the time you experience it, not because it is not worth it. It is also through suffering that makes life deeper and faith more true, as the medicine is bitter. Now, we give thanks to God together for the fact that our church members have honed in the furnace of suffering, honed new and valuable faith, developed character, and deepened their experiences.
Some of our alumni may have had a difficult year that could not be regarded as a blessing. Moreover, it may have been a series of sins and transgressions. However, we come here to know that the path of salvation that even sinners like me and I can accept before God is opened through the cross of the Lord is a greater and wonderful grace than any other grace. It is a bar to take.
Today, we, who have become disciples of the Lord, come to God and give thanks for the blessings we know and do not know. Now, what is our thanksgiving offering? We today give thanks to God for some of our material possessions. Originally, in the Old Testament, the original meaning of the ceremony of offering offerings on the Sabbath, Jubilee, or Thanksgiving was to dictate all things from God and then give them back to God for the first time. Therefore, according to Jewish thought, personal possession of fundamental material is not permitted. It has great economic and social significance not only for religious significance, but also for economic and social significance to be used again after giving it back. We too, no matter how many gifts we have prepared or decided to give at this time, we must give up the thought that they belong to us and give everything we have to God with the faith of giving it back to God. You must make up your mind with a willing heart and a willing heart.
Next, our offerings are not limited to material things, but to be sanctified by offering our minds and bodies to God. The largest of the sacrifices is the body offering. Gentlemen, like people today, they are lowly and not cheap. However, even in these times, God wants to give that cheap person more than money. If anyone here gives me enough money for some great purpose to achieve that purpose, or else I will give a few people who will give their lives, if I ask you to do it, I will not hesitate to grab the person who gives their life rather than money. God is wise, omniscient, and wise, and even today, no matter how cheap the price of a person, God still demands sacrifices for his body and mind.
We hope that today we can offer our bodies and our whole lives as one offering of thanks to God, not these two offerings, after all, two, so that we can be sanctified and blessed by God.
Finally, the biggest thanks would be "Nevertheless". Even if you don?셳 have material or poor health, nevertheless, it is important to have faith to be grateful and to be thankful for everything we do in our daily life. You can sublimate it. For those who have tasted the true joy of salvation, at first, the law seems to bind me, bind me, feel pressure and make me unfree, but when I go into the Word, it is not redemption, it is not pressure, it is full of true freedom, peace, and thanksgiving. What do we not experience? Even if you don't, I pray that you will become alumni who mature our faith on this Thanksgiving Day with the faith to be thankful. Amen.