What Do We Have to Be Thankful For?

Once again, happy Sabbath to all of you. I'm going to start out with a joke. This was actually sent around by Bob Boyner, so he gets credit for it. Unless it's really funny, then I thought of it, okay? He sent this around. I had heard this before, but I thought it was pretty funny. A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and even a worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious, and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, soft music, and anything else he could think of to clean up the bird's vocabulary. Finally, John was fed up, and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot, and the parrot got angrier and even more rude. John, in desperation, threw up his hand, grabbed the bird, and put him in the freezer. Slammed the freezer door for a few minutes. The parrot squawked and kicked and screamed, and suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer, and the parrot calmly stepped out in the John's outstretched arms and said, I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions, and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior. John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird spoke up and said very softly, By the way, may I ask what the turkey did? Thank you for that, Mr. Boyner. That's a good story. A few days ago, we celebrated Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States, and it is specifically a day established by a number of our founders, including Abraham Lincoln, in which we are encouraged to count our blessings and show thanks and gratitude for our great God, the provider of the blessings that you and I have.

What I thought I would do today is take some time to remind us of some things that we can't be thankful for. I'm going to tell you some things that I am thankful for, and I'm sure most of them you will say that you're thankful for as well. All of these may not apply to you personally, and you may have many things to be thankful for that I don't even mention on here. But I think it is a good idea occasionally for us to count our blessings as a people, and that's what I would like to talk about today. So here's the first thing that I have down, something that we can be thankful for. Number one is the gift of physical life itself. The gift of physical life itself. Let's turn to Genesis 2 and verse 7 and see where God gave the first man a very precious gift, and that gift was physical life. Genesis 2, beginning verse 7.

Often we tend to take physical life for granted until we have health issues, and then we begin to realize just how precious this gift is that we have. It says, And the Lord God formed the man of the dust with the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.

Now, other animals that God created had a breath of life, but God personally didn't breathe into their nostrils the breath of life. They didn't become a living being with the characteristics and the potential of God like you and I have, with a sense of consciousness and self-awareness.

They didn't have that put within them. It says here in verse 8, And the Lord God planted the garden eastward and eaten. There he put the man whom he had formed, and out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The tree of life. You see, life is a gift. It's not something we're entitled to. It is not something we just naturally have. There was a time when we didn't exist. Before our birth, we had no consciousness awareness of our existence.

We were non-existent before we were born. And when we were conceived, the mysterious component entered into us that gave us physical life. It is still a mystery. It is still a mysterious and beautiful thing to be human.

And again, to have that consciousness and self-awareness of who and what you are, and to be able to look up into the skies and wonder about God and wonder about this creation that we see. We didn't earn it. We don't deserve it. A living Creator God, through His grace and His kindness, gave us physical life as a gift. The fact that we can enjoy life through our senses is precious. The smell of a flower, admiring a beautiful landscape, hearing inspiring music, sensing a loving touch, giving a loving touch, receiving a loving touch, tasting savory food. All of these are attributes and qualities of having physical life and enjoying that physical life. That is something that is a tremendous blessing, something that we should be thankful for. The second thing I would like to add onto that is the gift of eternal life. Not only have we been given the gift of physical life, but we have been given the gift of eternal life. Let's go to John 10 and 24 and read about that and read what Jesus says here. Again, that's Job 10 and 24. And read what Jesus Christ said that He would give as a gift to His followers, to His believers, to His sheep. John 10 and 24. It says, Jesus said, And they do what I ask them to do. They talk to Me every day. They literally have a relationship, a close intimate relationship with the shepherd of their souls. And because of that, they follow Me. Verse 28. So you see, my brothers and sisters in Christ, not only should we be thankful for the physical life that we receive as a gift, going from nothingness to existence at the time of our birth or conception, yet God has given us another gift, even a greater gift than that. And that is a promise, a surety of the gift of eternal life. Let's go back a few chapters, the John 11 and verse 18. John 11 and verse 18. This is kind of a remarkable story, the story of Jesus bringing Lazarus back from the dead, resurrecting his friend Lazarus, because this whole story here was a physical analogy he was trying to teach about what he someday would do in the first resurrection when he returns to earth as the living Jesus Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords. He says, now Bethany was near Jerusalem about two miles away, and many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. You may recall that she had sent word to Jesus that her brother was ill, and he was going to die, and Jesus delayed. He was preaching the gospel, he was delayed, he got there seemingly too late. Lazarus had already died.

Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary was sitting in the house.

Then Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died, but even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.

Well, Jesus is impressed with that statement. He says to her, your brother will rise again, and Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?

It's a very profound question that Jesus asks her. Now, we won't go through the rest of the story, but Jesus literally brings the smelly, many-day-old corpse of Lazarus back to life again, just through a simple prayer. Jesus was showing Martha, by a physical analogy, that he could and would later resurrect to eternal life all who believe that he is the Christ, the Son of God. That is a promise. That is an absolute surety. And you and I, because we have been called of God, have been given that gift of eternal life, something to be very thankful for. The third thing I would like to mention that we can be thankful for is the gift of God's Holy Spirit, the gift of God's Holy Spirit.

You see, we don't have to go through our Christian journey alone. We are not orphans. We are not just left to ourselves. We have been given a very powerful gift from God, and we also have one another to rely on, to support, to encourage, to lean on when times are difficult.

2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17. Very beautiful scripture written by Paul that I believe sometimes we don't lean the full majesty of what this verse tells us.

2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17. It says, It says, 3 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17. It says, And that is reminded very powerfully to us through the cycle of the Jolly Holy Days. Every year we are reminded that we have a Savior who shed His blood for us.

Every year we are reminded that we can grow and change because we can remove leavened from our lives and that we can take in the righteousness, that unleavened righteousness of Jesus Christ inside of us.

Then we are reminded that we can be given a precious gift on the Day of Pentecost, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the most powerful force in the universe, that very force that at the command of God created physically fashion to this world and all that we see.

It dwells inside of us because it made its home in us. God the Father and Jesus Christ made their home in us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We can reinvent ourselves if you say to yourself that I'm too autocratic. You can reinvent yourself. There was a time in my life when I realized I was far too dogmatic and autocratic, and I had to work very hard to reinvent myself, and I did.

You may be saying to yourself, I'm too self-righteous, I'm too judgmental, I'm too negative.

Would you literally, through the power of that Spirit, can reinvent who and what you are?

Even in my own career, looking back in my own life, I reinvented myself a number of times.

I started out after I left high school as an electrician, and I wasn't real happy with that.

I reinvented myself and took on a whole new career as a salesperson, as a salesman.

Then in my 40s, I decided to go back to college, and I got a master's degree.

I reinvented myself to become a consultant and got out of sales.

Four years ago, I reinvented myself to become your pastor, something that I didn't particularly ever want to do.

But through the power of God's Spirit, you and I have that ability, and we are reminded of that potential through the annual cycle of the Holy Days each and every year.

Let's go to Romans 12, verses 1-2.

We can be thankful that God has given us a gift that allows us to change, and if we don't like the person that we see in the mirror through the power of God's Spirit and certainly diligence on our part, we can change, we can reinvent who and what we are.

I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, and do not be conformed to this world.

Now, one of the things I do as a consultant is I consult people one-on-one. And here's what I have found about most people in the world. They get about 40 years old, and they become fossilized. They become set in their ways.

What you see is what you get. And then, usually, after 40, they just become more skeptical and bitter about life.

That's the way most people are in the world. They stop growing. They stop expanding their minds. They stop stretching themselves.

About age 40, they just become frozen like a woolly, bare mammoth in ice, where they're at.

And they have no desire to change or grow. They live in guilt and shame for who and what they are, but they rarely change. They just become bitter. They get older and more bitter and more skeptical.

But notice what he says, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good and acceptable and the perfect will of God. The perfect will of God is that our change and growth is a lifetime process.

God's will isn't that we become fossilized, that we wake up one day and say, All right, I know everything I need to know. I'm as smart as I need to be. I know all the truth, and I'm just not going to change, or I'm not going to become any different than I am right now.

The word here, the transform, the word transform is a Greek word, and a Greek word is metamorphol. We get the word metamorphosis from it, and it means to change into something new, to transform yourself.

In other words, you enter a stage of life one way, and you come out of that stage better and new. A lonely little caterpillar enters that cocoon one way, wholly, barely able to walk, and he comes out a beautiful butterfly through metamorphosis.

And brethren, throughout our lives, God wants us to enter one stage of life one way, and by transforming ourselves, by renewing our minds, come out of that stage better, more spiritually mature, more balanced, more like Jesus Christ.

A new creation, and that's a process that's something through the power of the Holy Spirit that can continue to happen in our lives. Look how Peter went from being a loud-mouthed, impetuous knave, pulled out his sword, cut off the turban of the high priest here.

Well, let's take matters in our own hands. Right? Look how he was transformed into a very mature, powerful apostle who was the leading speaker, and whom God used to powerfully preach the Gospel.

Look how Paul went from being a violent persecutor of the Church to its most traveled preacher, committed through thick and thin to preach the Gospel in the name of the very person whom he persecuted, and that is Jesus Christ, through the power of God's Holy Spirit.

Look how John Mark, as a young man, went from being a quitter in the middle of a missionary journey, so much so that it later caused a split between Paul and Barnabas because of the conduct of John Mark, to later on being a trusted aide of the aged apostle Paul, all through the gift of the power of the Holy Spirit that God gives us.

That's something we can be thankful for, very thankful for, because we are not alone. We don't have to be left to our own devices. We don't need to continue to live in the sense of hidden shame or guilt about what we have done or what we think. We can change.

We can reinvent ourselves from being carnal and from being an old, passed away man or woman that was spiritually dead into something new and beautiful and dynamic.

Another thing that I am thankful for is an understanding of God's law. An understanding of God's law. Let's go to Psalm chapter 40 verse 8. Psalms chapter 40 and verse 8. An understanding of God's law.

I know that may not be a popular statement today in our culture, because many people think that the word law is bad, or law is something that's been done away.

Unfortunately for them, that's not what the Bible teaches. This is Psalm chapter 40 and verse 8. It says, I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly. Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O Lord. You yourself know. I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart. I want you to notice he calls it your righteousness. It wasn't his righteousness. He's talking about it's the righteousness of God that had developed in his heart. I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly. By his example, he showed everyone that Jesus Christ lives within him. Why? Because the law was written within his heart. He was in harmony with the giver of that law, Jesus Christ. He had a relationship with the giver of that law. Verse 11, Do not withhold your tender mercies from me, O Lord, but your loving kindness and your truth continually preserve me. Why is the law a gift? Why is it something we should be thankful for? Because the law is the moral and ethical teachings, the belief system of God himself. That's why the Ten Commandments were placed inside the Ark. Well, the law of Moses was placed outside the Ark. God's law is centered around two values, love of God and love of our fellow man. And even if you go back to, and if you want to study in great detail, the Old Covenant laws and statutes and judgments that were all related to the land that they lived in, there's one thing they all have in common, and they all focused on treating your neighbor with dignity and respect. Not trying to take advantage of them. It's not all about you treating others with a sense of fairness and respect. Every statute, every judgment, every law that was written there. And even though many of them are not applicable to our culture, not applicable to Christianity, it was applicable to their time and place in the land that they lived in because they reflected fairness and right treatment towards your neighbor. Very important concept. Psalm 19, verse 7. Psalm 19, verse 7. It says, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

It's usually the acknowledgment of how far we fall short of God's law that teaches us that we need to get right with God, that we need to repent of our sins. And the sins are defined by what God's law says, aren't they? And it converts the soul because it brings us to God, and it helps us to realize that we need God.

So the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul to testimony the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that your marital relationship will be healthier if you don't commit adultery. You don't have to be a college graduate to understand that if you lie and lie and lie and lie, eventually you're going to get caught.

And like a boomerang, it's going to come back and get you. It's very simple, God's law.

God's law tells us if we get to the edge, if we get to coming close, it reminds us God's spirit will prick our thoughts and say, don't go there. Don't look at that. Don't think that. Don't say that because you're on the cusp of doing something you'll regret. So the servant is warned. And in keeping them, there is great reward. You keep God's law, you'll have fewer problems. You'll have fewer relationship problems. You will have fewer financial problems. You will have fewer problems with the authority of the government that we live in. You will just have an easier life if you keep God's law.

It's a regulator of human happiness. The more we understand them and live by them, the more fulfilled we will be. And you can be blessed in many areas of life. And I know that I've been blessed in many areas. My family, the Church of God, my career, my income, my education, the opportunities I've had. I've lived a very fulfilled life, a life to abundance. Why? Not because I'm that smart.

Trust me. As I've said before, I was in the behalf of my graduating class at Collinwood High School that made the upper half possible. I've had a very good life, and it's not because I'm smart. It's because, one simple thing, as a teenager, I decided to take God up on what He said. And God said, this is my law. Obey my law, and life will be easier. He didn't say it would be problem-free.

He didn't say I wouldn't have problems. He didn't say I wouldn't have trials or struggles. But what He said is that I would be warned before I would do stupid things so that maybe I wouldn't do them. And by keeping them, there would be a great reward. And I understood that at age 16 and 17, and it literally changed my life. Because, again, God's law is a great regulator. Respect and obedience to His values has provided people blessings. And God gives those blessings to anyone who trusts in God and takes God up on His promises. So another thing to be very thankful for is an understanding of God's law.

I'm thankful for my physical family. Psalm 128 will read the entire Psalm. Wow, Mr. Thomas, the entire chapter of 128? Yes, it's all six verses. Psalm 128. I'm very thankful for my physical family. Psalm 128. Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. In other words, they conform to God's law. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house.

Your children like olive plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you out of Zion and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Yes, may you see your children's children. Peace be upon Israel. I'm very thankful for my physical family. I have an immediate family and I have an extended family. Now, do I agree with every decision that they have made? Of course not. But it's their life and it's their decision. I love them just as much. They don't have to be like me in order for me to love them and care for them.

You see, your physical family is God's gift to you. You didn't get to choose them. I understand that. I have some relatives that I am not very proud of and maybe under extreme torture I would confess who they are. But they're still family. I didn't get to choose them. They didn't get to choose me. The Believer's Study Bible has this to say. It says, children, specifically our children, must always be looked upon as belonging to the Lord.

They are a sacred trust, a holy heritage. The rabbis of old declared that a child has three parents, God, his father, and his mother. Parents, then, are held accountable unto God for their stewardship of parenthood. If you don't have physical children on your own, you have dozens of children right here in this congregation of little ones who are flying around here all the time. And you can talk to them, and you can hug them, and you can bring special food for them to eat. You can bring them a toy.

You can do anything you want to bond with them because they are part of your family. Maybe even more of a spiritual family, but I need to emphasize the fact that we should all be very thankful for our physical families.

Let's go to 1 Peter, chapter 3 and verse 1. 1 Peter, chapter 3 and verse 1. This is Peter's instruction, The Husbands and Wives. 1 Peter, chapter 3 and verse 1. Peter wrote, Wives, likewise be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, without a word they may be won by the conduct of their wives when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. And I've seen that in my years and years in the Church. I have seen people be such a magnificent example that a few years later their mate began attending church and eventually were baptized. You can be that kind of an example. Verse 3, Do not let your adornment, again he's still speaking of women here, do not let your adornment be merely outward. Now he's not saying, by the way, that making your hair nice and wearing a gold ring or earrings or putting on fine apparel is bad. He's just saying this should be something deeper than something on the outside. So let's read this. Do not let your adornment be merely outward, arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel, but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. Verse 5, For in this manner in former times the holy women who trusted in God also adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters you are, if you do good and are not afraid, should also say in there, by the way, to do good, if you're also not afraid to do good with any terror. In other words, don't be held back to do the good things, the right kind of things. I want you to notice a couple of phrases here that is anti-American female. It says, Be submissive with incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. What do we find if we turn to TV on what did we see in our television? We see wives that are bossy. We see wives who wear the pants in the family. We see women who dominate the family. Normally men are portrayed as imposals, as bumbling klutzes and clowns. That's what we see permeated in our media today. And we, as God's people, as the wives within the Church of God, have to remember that it's important to have the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and a quiet spirit. And any man before he makes a decision should always get his wife's input on any important decision in the marriage. Men, you are a fool if you don't ask your wife for her input before you make a difficult decision or a hard decision. But the bottom line is, is you can only have one head. Somebody's got to make the tough calls.

You know what you find in nature that has two heads? You find freaks. That's what you find. You'll find two-headed snakes, but they're in a pickle jar floating in formaldehyde because it's a freak of nature. You'll find two-headed sheep, but they're stuffed at Ripley's, believe it or not, because it's a freak of nature. There's only one head, and somebody's got to make the hard decisions and the hard calls. And as I said, husbands should seek their wives' input. They should candidly listen to them, hear them out, let them say what they believe and from the perspective that they're coming from. But the bottom line is somebody's got to make the decision. And God gave that responsibility. Notice I didn't use the word authority. The responsibility that comes with making those decisions to the husband. It's not always easy. Verse 7, husbands likewise dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife as to a weaker vessel. I want you to notice that he says, dwell with them with understanding. Take the time to understand them. Your wife is not supposed to be like you. Thank God women are not like men. If God had never created women, this planet would have been a cinder block millennia ago. We would have killed each other off. Men tend to be gruff and violent and solve everything by force. That's the way men are wired. God created women, and we need to understand them because purposely they have a different viewpoint than men do. And that's good. That's what provides balance. So as he says here, husbands likewise dwell with them with understanding. Take the time, make an effort to understand where they're coming from. More times than not, they'll be right. More times than not, they'll at least provide some balance to the direction we're heading. But you'll never get that balance if you don't hear them out. And then he says something that is a real blessing, something I'm thankful for. If you're fortunate enough that you and your spouse are both in the faith. He says, and is being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another. Love as brothers, as tender-hearted, as courteous, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. So I am thankful for my physical family. I am thankful that my wife is different than I am. I don't often admit that to her, but I am very thankful that she is different, and that she sees things through a different lens than the way that I see the world. Physical marriage is a type of the kind of relationship we will all have with God someday. Male and female, it doesn't matter what we are, we are all preparing to be the spiritual bride of Jesus Christ. We must all learn to submit.

Male and female, we are going to be the bride of Christ. We must all learn to submit. We must all develop the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, not a loud, dominating, dogmatic spirit. We must all do good to serve Jesus Christ.

So again, as a recap, I am thankful for my physical family. I am thankful for my children, my son-in-laws, my grandchildren, and my extended family as well. Number six, I am thankful for my spiritual family. Thankful for my spiritual family. Another gift that God has given me. Ephesians 2, verse 18.

Paul writing to the congregation at Ephesus, For through him we both have access to one Spirit by one Spirit to the Father. Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. So when you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, it does not matter what your background was. Doesn't that matter what your skin color is? It doesn't matter what your former religion is, what your ethnicity is, what language you speak, but what bonds us together is God's Spirit dwelling in the household of God. But fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself, being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. That's why we're here. That's why we worship together. That's why we fellowship together. That's why we do things like potlucks and work parties and all the things that we do, because we want to grow into a holy temple in the Lord. And we're all brethren. We're all spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ. It's a very beautiful thing. Are we thankful for that? I hope we are. Let's go to Galatians 6, verse 7. Just like we don't get to choose our physical family, we don't get to choose our spiritual family. God does the choosing. And everyone in his building, everyone in here, is God's gift to you, as you are to them. We need each other, and we help balance each other, because all of us have our own little idiosyncrasies. And our brothers and sisters in Christ, by fellowshiping with them and getting to know them, provide balance in our lives. Galatians 6, verse 7, So if we go through our entire lives, and it's all about me, and every decision we make is selfish, and it's all about what's in the best interest for me, the bottom line of the end result of that is reaping corruption. You're selfish, that's what you're going to get back.

But he who sows the spirit, will of the spirit reap everlasting life, and let us not grow weary while doing good. For in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially those who are of the household of faith.

Brethren, we can only do good for each other if we share time here together. We call that fellowship, and I'm grateful for each and every one of you, and I consider each and every one of you to be part of my spiritual family. And our spiritual family has been growing, and it's expanding. We could very well have a couple of baptisms very soon, folks that have completed baptismal counseling. So our family is getting bigger, and they should all be welcomed into the family without any hesitation, because that's the way family is. Family loves, one another family serves, one another family is there for one another. Matthew 12 and verse 46. Matthew 12 and verse 46. Beautiful lesson that Jesus Christ himself taught his disciples.

It says, while he was still talking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside. This was his physical mother, Mary. These were his physical half-brothers, who were the product of Mary's relationship with Joseph, who was, as we could say, his stepfather, not certainly not his biological father. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit. But these were his half-brothers. Then one said to him, Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with you. But he answered and said to the one who told him, Who is my mother and my brothers? And he stretched out his hand towards his disciples and said, Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and my sister and my mother. So you have a lot of mothers and brothers and sisters in this very room today. And we should be thankful for each and every one of them. One final scripture as we conclude the sermon of the day, 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 1. 1 Thessalonians 1 and verse 1. A similar greeting that Paul usually had in most of his letters. If you read his epistles, you will see that early on in most of his epistles, he always begins by thanking the brethren for their faith, by acknowledging them as brothers and sisters and telling them that he's praying for them. He does seers well. Paul, Savannah and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. You have been elected by God to be part of his first fruit plan. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. It's just one of the many things that we can be thankful for. Now, I'm sure there are a number of things that I didn't cover that you might have thought of. I had on here, I don't have time, I had on here that I'm thankful to be an American, but I ran out of time to cover that today. And there may be things in your life specific to you that you're very thankful for, and that's good, because the purpose of this time, Thanksgiving Day, was established so that each and every one of us as individuals would take a little bit of time and thank our great God for the blessings that he showers upon us as a people and each of us as individuals. Have a great Sabbath Day, and looking forward to chatting with you after services.