Title: You should observe Machu Thanksgiving Day!
You celebrate Thanksgiving Day!
Text/ Exodus 23:14-17, Psalm 100:1-5, Ephesians 5:15-21
1. Introduction
On the night of June 30, 2002 (Sunday), the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, which finally ended with a victory in Brazil, was truly great. The Republic of Korea advanced to the quarterfinals, and the whole nation came together to form a big game. It was an exciting moonlit night. A soccer match is divided into 45 minutes in the first half and 45 minutes in the second half. After the first half, the coach and players take a break to reflect on the situation in the first half and move on to the second half with new strategies and tactics.
Today, June 30th, is also the last day of the first half of 2002. Tomorrow is the first day of the second half of 2002 on Monday, July 1st. This is the time in football to finish the first half and prepare for the second half. The church traditionally observes this time as Thanksgiving Day.
2. The modern meaning of Thanksgiving Day
In Exodus 23:14-17, God said, “You must keep a feast to me three times a year. Keep the Passover. Keep the Harvest Festival Keep the Feast of Ingathering.> If we express these words in a modern way, <You must give thanks before me three times a year. Have a New Year's Thanksgiving Service Have a thanksgiving service on the first Sunday of July, which enters the second half of the year. Let's have a thanksgiving service.> It is to prepare for the future by coming to God at the beginning, middle, and end of the year to give thanks, eat, drink, play, and rest well.
And he said, "When you come to me, don't come out empty-handed." It is to prepare a gift. Are you saying that God asks you to bring something to eat?. no!. Psalm 50:7-15 said, Shall I eat the blood of bulls and drink the blood of goats? But why are you telling me not to come out empty-handed? All these gifts are to be brought so that you, the priests, the Levites, and the poor may eat and drink together.
The modern meaning of these words (Deuteronomy 12:5-14) is <Bring me a thank you gift. The disabled, the helpless elderly, the sick, the prisoners, the homeless, the street women trying to live a new life, the children of darkness, the students who can't study because they don't have money, the soldiers guarding the front lines, the abandoned It means to share with children and others.>
This order is not only the fundamental infrastructure of faith that each of us must abide by, but it is also the basis for preventing social unrest, crime, violence, and communist ideas in advance, and developing a peaceful and creative society. . God is truly amazing. How bizarre is this?
3. How will you keep Thanksgiving Day?
first. It is a matter of finding the conditions of gratitude. For as his heart is, so is his great man (Proverbs 23:7). It is the thoughts that the person holds that determines the person. Man is a being that becomes what he thinks. Cursed is anyone who finds the conditions of a complaint complaint. Those who find the condition of gratitude are blessed. Because grievance begets more grievances, and gratitude breeds greater gratitude.
Therefore, it is said, “If you give thanks to the fireflies, give a candle, if you thank the candle, you give a lamp, if you thank the lamp, you give me moonlight, if you thank the moon, you give me sunlight, and if you give me thanks to the sunlight, you give me the eternal light of God”.
second. First of all, thank God. In the first half of 2002, many people perished, fell ill, and died, but we should be thankful for the grace of God who has kept and protected each of us with a lifespan up to this time, allowing us to breathe and live in this way.
Like Elijah, who sat under a broom tree and prayed for death (1 Kings 19:4), when we were depressed and wandering in anxiety and vainness, God sent His word through His servant to dispel all anxiety, emptiness, fear, and wandering, giving us courage. We should give thanks to God who gave us a hundred fold and made us live again (Psalm 107:20).
third. It's something to be thankful for people. Just as complaints arise because there is a reluctance to complain, there must be a reluctance to be grateful in order to be grateful. So look for reluctance to be grateful. Find gratitude among husbands and wives, parents and children, and friends. Please, stop complaining. Look for conditions of gratitude, even if you are forced to.
And when you find something to be thankful for, just do it, now! Just as unexpressed love is not love, <unexpressed gratitude> cannot be gratitude.
There is one more thing to be thankful for. High mountains, blue seas, gentle rivers, deep forests, the sound of wind, birdsong, beautiful music, moving movies, good books to clear the soul, delicious food made with care. .
4. Closing story
If God's children are discouraged and frustrated by failure, sorrow, defeat, resentment, and suffering, what is the difference from those without faith? When we encounter difficulties in life, it is the attitude of a believer that we can be thankful for (1 Peter 2:18-25, James 1:2-4).
Weekly <Fountain of the Word>