[Music]
the great thing about thanksgiving is
that it causes us to stop and reflect
upon the year that's been behind us the
year that's gone
past and we get to
think about and look at all the amazing
things where god was faithful through
his people to do a work so thanksgiving
is amazing because it forces you to look
back
and to rejoice in what god's done i mean
i only i only serve
the function as as teaching
pastor over the flock i just i'm called
by god to give people the tools that
they need to live out their faith and
i'm so thankful that what this body of
believers what they do
is uh serve and love and minister to one
another i mean my goodness if everybody
knew what was going on i think they
would be shocked how the body of christ
is ministering to the sick how those
that are uh the outcasts the inner city
they're being fed and taken care of it's
so amazing to see how
the church
comes together
in a desperate time of need many times
at the last minute and the lord just
blesses us tremendously by the help of
the church i've seen
god do amazing things through the people
here
at church not only the staff but but the
body at large seeing them come together
and just really bless
one another the body of christ
uh such an awesome thing and it's great
to see god's spirit work and move in
people god doesn't call this to be lone
soldiers and to bear these
burdens and callings and vision alone
but that we're to walk side by side with
the body of christ and
there's no one better or worse there's
just different members of one body being
a part of the worship ministry you get
to see a lot of the behind the scenes
stuff where people making sacrifices
coming in you know for rehearsals and
taking time out of their week to
practice to buy gear and to really serve
and be effective it takes time it takes
energy and god
only god can put that on people's hearts
and work through that you know these
people have families they have jobs and
we really you know love to see the body
come together and they know that it's
for the lord and it's blessing other
people that's awesome and i'll tell you
you don't really know what the body and
how it functions until something happens
personally right to you when i had a
heart attack this body functioned in a
phenomenal way the prayer support that i
felt was phenomenal the emails the texts
people coming alongside of me meals
being brought to my home by care bears
the staff took a day a saturday came
cut my lawn trimmed the trees
took care of the rose bushes this was
body in action it was so amazing to me
here i am having a heart attack
afterwards trying to recuperate and just
seeing the body in action was
overwhelming to my wife and i our homes
ministry if you don't know what it is
some people say what what is the olms
ministry well it's our food pantry and
there's several families here
throughout the year 30 40 a month that
come in here that they just don't have
enough to to make ends meet and stuff so
they can come in here and we give them a
set of alms which has a lot of staple
items that that are necessary for for
our daily lives myself and my staff we
can take care or take good care of 1800
wonderful children we need more people
we need a bigger team we have over 300
people here every single week
coming from all over the place giving up
their time on sundays and wednesdays
i believe that we are our best as a
church when we serve one another meeting
each other's needs
uh when i first started attending here
at calvary chapel chino hills i was uh
pretty blown away
by
all the different things uh inside the
uh the sanctuary
for instance the backs of the chairs i
looked in the backs of the chairs and i
saw those note sheets and the tithing
envelopes
and i quickly thought like wow
this takes a lot of time to do
and then i began and then it wasn't
until later on when i began to uh serve
here as a volunteer
that i started to see
oh my goodness
this is a lot of work
there's this takes a lot of people to
make this happen when i consider the
junior high ministry and all that it
takes to build up this next generation
of believers i'm so thankful for those
who invest and who share in this calling
it's exciting to see
that we're not limited to the staff or
the dimensions of the church we're only
limited to what god has called us to do
and as long as we come alongside of each
other and strengthen each other and do
exactly what the bible said build each
other up uh that we're sharpening each
other and we're encouraging each other
and that the holy spirit is convicting
and leading and guiding there's nothing
that god's people can't do and it's such
a great reminder to get to see that over
and over again
that no one man gets the credit for this
that when the body works the way the
body is supposed to jesus christ is
glorified and extraordinary things
happen when i look back through the
epistles or the writings of paul he is
always giving thanks to the church and
thanking them for their labor of love
and he recognized that the true
heartbeat of the church was when the
believers are gathering together loving
one another meeting their needs with
each other's lives and the impact and
the true ministry that takes place
within that i think is the most honoring
thing to god and i think it is a display
of love that i think the church is
called to be
well you guys on behalf of our staff we
want to thank you for the amazing things
that you guys do
to make this church happen i'll give you
a little bit of
behind-the-scenes inside information
we have an outside
accounting firm in los angeles
that reviews our books to make sure
everything is absolutely beyond irs
scrutiny
we have
since the inception of this place why do
i bring this up because
every time in fact just recently we
employed them to do a forensic audit
that we would be just stellar that's
part of the reason by the way we do that
is to keep us speaking boldly
do you understand because when the body
of christ stands strong you'll be a
target
so we want to be make sure that
everything is on the up and up so that
you can speak and stand and be
fearlessly
believers in this day and age
and i bring that up because
one of the things
about that is every time they come to us
they say
for the church the size that it is we
encourage you to increase
uh your staff levels
uh because a church your side size is
dramatically understaffed
you need more people on staff to do the
work of the ministry they tell us this
all the time
but they don't know
you they don't know the part of the
church that is flesh and bone and blood
and and love and sweat and tears that's
you they know the numbers side and
that's what they're paid to do and their
nerds and their nerdery working for you
and working for me to to be to be right
but
i love the challenge they always give us
and we look at them and we go yeah yeah
okay okay and they know we're not going
to listen to them because what they
don't understand is how the body you in
this church you make things happen
you guys by your volunteers listen
pastor roy mentioned the alms ministry
that is the ministry that you bring
quietly behind the scenes you read stuff
you you find out how you can get
involved and there's a host of people
that make sure that when somebody comes
that's a need for food they've got it
some of you heard uh miss alina speak
regarding children's ministry
some 1800 children that's sixth grade
and undermined you that's not junior
high in high school that's just the
little ones
and over 300 volunteers on a sunday make
that ministry work
we could never pay these people there's
not enough money to pay them
it's because people have decided i'm
going to serve the lord and this is how
josiah mentioned the worship ministry
listen i don't know if you know this or
not but our worship ministries volunteer
they're not paid because
they're
very super duper talented in this area
though they are
we don't pay them because of that
they come out of their willingness to
serve on and on it goes people cleaning
this place straightening up the
sanctuary the other buildings on campus
all done by volunteer help
it's absolutely awesome and why do i
bring this up on this eve of
thanksgiving because listen in our brief
time together tonight for this family
service i just want to point out
something when i think of the body of
christ working working together it's all
of us deciding to do what god has gifted
and called us to do
for the betterment of the other one the
other one you
it's the body of christ coming together
pastor george you heard him talk about
his recent heart attack and how the body
you has responded to the needs
and over and over again listen acts
chapter 3 verses 1 through 10 i just
want to touch on it tonight in our
devotion together acts chapter 3
and it's a picture of the body of christ
serving and ministering together
and while you're turning there
you know when you're raising little kids
or right now we're watching our little
grandkids be raised
and um
emmy who's about four and a half and
ollie who's about two and a half
amy's got it down she's got it down she
knows now she's supposed to say thank
you and she says thank you
all he's learning when when when anyone
does something for him now uh
it's all they say thank you
and we're saying thank you tonight and
tomorrow you're going to go to your
families and you're going to be with
people
and i want you to
be excited about
being thankful to god god has been good
to you god has been good to me
and as us pastors were praying before
service one of the pastors said if you
were to take everything away from us god
right now and if you were to walk out on
us
with your simple promise i'll be back
for you i'll i will be back and take you
to heaven no more food no more clothing
no more water no more sunshine no more
roof no more covering did you know that
god would still be good to you if he
were to do that to us did you know that
because listen when you and i die we
immediately enter the presence of god in
heaven
as believers did you know that if he
didn't do one more thing for your life
and mine we
go to heaven and for that we should be
thankful not because of the gift or how
big it was or how shiny it was or i got
this or i got the other no look at that
no no no he owes us nothing
but he's promised us salvation
and if he were to withhold everything
and yet give you salvation wouldn't that
be enough
according to the bible god's generosity
it'd be enough acts chapter 3 verse 1
says now peter and john think of them
right now put yourself in their sandals
went up together to the temple and at
the hour of prayer that's about there
the ninth hour
according to the jewish clock or three
o'clock in the afternoon according to
the greek or roman clock
verse two says and a certain man
lame from his mother's womb was carried
whom they laid daily at the gate of the
temple which is called beautiful
to ask alms that is a
religious compassionate acts
by the believers from those who enter
the temple who seeing peter and john
about to go into the temple asked for
alms and fixing his eyes on him with
john peter said look at us
and so he the crippled man the lame man
gave them his attention expecting to
receive something from them he's just
expecting some money or an apple or some
or some bread something
then peter said silver and gold i do not
have and i wonder if at that moment the
man went oh bummer
what
but what i do have i give you
so now his ears and eyes kind of perk up
a little bit ooh what's this going to be
in the name of jesus christ of nazareth
rise up and walk again put yourself on
this man's gurney on this stretcher that
he's on
in the name of jesus of nazareth rise up
and walk is this a joke
are you kidding me
what are you talking about
listen tomorrow you're going to be with
family
and i highly recommend you
be bold in the lord and be excited about
tomorrow when you meet with your family
say jack you don't know the kind of
family i'm meeting with
you go and meet with them because do
they not know the lord
if they don't give them the lord if they
do listen it's a win-win
be thankful
you may not be going to the temple
tomorrow but in a way how about this
whatever house or maybe it's your house
when people walk in the door then
consider this
you and your husband or your wife or
your family you're going to be as it
were going up to the temple tomorrow
you're going to be giving god honor and
glory and in your home will be those who
are hurting they may not look like it
they may not act like it but you know
what they are lame from the inside out
they need hope
and you may listen you may not give them
silver and gold that won't help them one
bit honestly
but your love and your witness and your
tangible presence as being a christian
tomorrow should really matter
watch what happens as we look at this
verse 7 says and he took him by the
right hand
and lifted him up took the incentive
peter did and immediately his feet and
ankle bones received strength verse 8 so
he noticed the man's response this is
awesome
so he leaping up the word here leaping
is to spring like a deer so watch this
this man has not walked
peter reaches down to lift the guy up
and whatever happens in his bones
it is a god thing church listen
peter and john are willing
they're serving
they're volunteering their love to this
man that as far as they know uh is is as
a layman who gathers at this gate
hey we don't have any silver or gold to
give you do you ever feel like that when
when uh something's going on your
thought
is well what can i do i don't have much
do you remember when jesus wanted to
feed
uh the crowds there in galilee and
he asked the disciples hey what do you
guys have and they said well we've got
this little boy's lunch
we've got a couple of fish and some
loaves of bread but what's that in light
of so many people hungry
and what does jesus say jesus says to
them cause the people to sit down in
groups
feed them what a challenge
i wonder if the disciples looked into
their pockets of their robes at that
moment wondering man you know what's the
deal do we have any extra fish or any
extra bread in our pockets
they didn't god supernaturally supplied
tomorrow thanksgiving is a unique
christian holiday
no one's advertising that no one's
pushing that but it's true
thanksgiving
thanksgiving is a christian event it's a
christian holiday
so i recommend and i encourage you to go
out
tomorrow and be bold about being
thankful
let them hear it
can you do this in the house that you'll
be in can you say hey everybody what
what i'm curious what are you guys
thankful for
ask
see what happens
because if you don't do that what are
you gathering for
food
the game now watch this
most people say food
game uh
and then go down the list
and it might go just off the top of my
head food game
uh day off family
um
freedom
liberty
uh
pilgrims
god
notice the first mention is food
the immediate temporal why it's i mean
come on it's what everyone's going to
say tomorrow if you say hey i'm just
curious before we dive dive into this
food what are you guys thankful for
food
but if they talk and if they if they
debate or if they deliberate or if they
think a little bit of meditation on it
have you noticed when you talk about
thankfulness it goes from the immediate
instant to deeper things have you
noticed that when you really think about
it goes to deeper things
i'm thankful look i told you guys before
i'm thankful
now more than ever and i don't know if
it's because i'm older maybe is it
because of the condition america is in
probably is it because of the time and
the age in which the world sits tonight
probably so but i tell you what i'm so
thankful for things like
being alive each day
i know i'm going to heaven so
that's cool when that happens great
but i'm thankful for being alive i'm
thankful to get out of bed
i'm thankful to be able to be a
christian to live one more day for jesus
i'm thankful for my wife i'm thankful
for my family
i'm thankful for you i'm thankful for
this church
and when i begin to think about that
ultimately where do you end when you are
giving thanks
i have to end with i'm thankful for my
salvation in jesus christ
because when it's all gone
it's him
when it's all over
it's him
i'm thankful
and so
the man leaps up
he leaps
like a deer
he stood and he walked this is a cool
statement because after leaping watch
this he leaps oh
and then he stands the words to stood
that he stood is he goes like this
oh
they work
it's maybe that he left up in the air
and it was might have been a freak might
have been a freak thing
could have been
emotionalism
but now he stands
and he feels his lit ah yeah
and then he walks how do you think he
walked
you think he walked like this
honestly come on do you think he went
like this oh wow it's really neat to
walk
this is something
how did he walk wouldn't you love to
have seen this
did he walk like john wayne did he walk
like johnny depp did he walk like how
did he walk
he was excited he was healed
do you think he was thankful
he entered the temple with them
can you imagine wouldn't you like to
meet peter and john
this guy
he says that's it well i don't know what
you guys are up to but i'm going with
you to worship
this guy's going into worship he could
have gone back to someone's house he
could have gone to his relatives he
could have gotten who knows what he goes
with them to worship
he's thankful why what happened because
somebody two men
in the body of christ just like you and
i
took the time to minister to somebody in
need
and the man was touched
and you saw staff members on the screen
tonight who've been touched by your
commitment by your love by your actions
and it's still happening today
and it can happen tomorrow with you
and those whom you're shining the light
and the love of jesus
notice this
he goes into the temple your bible says
walking
leaping
and praising god
if i would have had three more cups of
coffee i could have attempted to show
you what that might have looked like
he's walking he's leaping he's praising
god now stop right there how do you go
to church
right let's go to the temple
let's go to church
wipe that smile off your face
we're going to church
hey can you keep the joy down a little
bit you're coming into church
are you kidding me
isn't it awesome i don't know listen
some of you i don't know
you've been brought up maybe you're
conditioned you go okay now
we've had a great weekend but now we're
going to go to church
really
we love you but maybe you should stay
home until you can
enter into his courts what does the
bible say with
with thanksgiving
now imagine entering in his courts with
thanksgiving enter into his courts thank
you god
no i think maybe i'm pushing the
envelope a little bit but i'm thinking
that we should enter into his courts
jumping and leaping and praising god
he loved it listen the lord looked down
that day and loved what he saw at the
temple do you think it was the gold do
you think god said you know what i mean
that guy's making some noise over there
but look at the gold trimming the temple
i just
go
he doesn't he doesn't care about gold
was it the priest and all of their garb
all dressed up so
no
heaven looked down to see a man jumping
and leaping and praising god
how did that happen
because two brothers in christ
served somebody in need
and you and i will either be tempted by
our flesh to say but those are apostles
or
by faith we'll say you know what
tomorrow
god's gonna use me
because i'm gonna expect god to use me
in our family gathering
and i'm gonna look for it
i'm gonna look for that moment to shine
for jesus
god doesn't care about the temple
god doesn't care about the church as a
structure
he cares about people listen that are
hurting
and he cares about people who can do
something about the hurt
and that takes us to the place of
willingness are we willing
and i know i'm speaking to a church that
is willing
very willing
watch what happens verse 9 says and all
the people saw him walking and praising
god
isn't that great
who's that guy over there that's that
guy he's the crippled guy the lame guy
he's always there at the beautiful gate
he's jumping around look he's going
crazy what happened to him
well we need to find out
and people imagine now people are
talking hey look at him he's over here
remember that guy is that the guy looks
like the guy no that is the
guy the people are now talking
they saw him walking and praising god
verse 10 then they knew hello
then they knew that it was he who sat
begging alms at the beautiful gate of
the temple and they were filled with
wonder and amazement at what had
happened to him
you and i are christians
it's tough witnessing to family members
isn't it
jesus said a prophet has honor
everywhere he goes
except in his own home
isn't that amazing
you can witness to strangers and they'll
listen to you but have you tried to
witness to your parents or your kids or
your
why why why is it so hard for them to
listen to you about your new life
answer they know all about your old life
like this have been
said to us
wait a minute let me see if i have this
straight
you
are going to tell me
about god
look you guys i have people
from
school
who will find out that
i'm a pastor
and they have to come to church
i meet them in the foyer they bump they
they come and they say do you recognize
me
why what's the deal
we went to elementary or we went to
junior high or we
we worked at we and i had to come and
see if it was true
why do they say that because
they
knew me before
and there's been a change
and as a christian
your life has been changed
listen
whenever you encounter like tomorrow
loved ones and they say wait a minute
you've mentioned god like three times
and you've only been here for like two
minutes
what's up with you
the great thing is they do know your old
life
so tell them hey you know i don't freak
out or anything but i'm so thankful
i'm so thankful this thanksgiving
because god changed my life you want to
have it listen
you don't have to go to ferguson to have
a riot
you can have a riot at the table
tomorrow at the house you're in
you can tell them right up front hey man
i got listen i don't want to freak all
you guys out but here's the deal jesus
changed my life freaked me out past the
gravy
he's been so good to me
that's all you got to say you have to
say anything else
they're going to be they're going to
the whole night the whole day people are
going to be looking at you and they all
want to talk to you about what you just
said believe me they wouldn't talk to
you
but they're afraid of all the other ones
even though they all want to talk to you
they'll never say they want to talk to
you but they do want to talk to you
about what happened can you can you let
me in on this
so that they might shun you if you want
to watch the game tomorrow after dinner
then witness like that they'll cut you
off they won't talk you can watch the
whole game nobody will bother you
because you're the crazy christian on
the couch
but if you just say hey i don't i don't
freak you guys out here's the deal i
won't say anything about it i'll tell
you what man
this year jesus has been good to me he's
down on the cross for my sins i'm i just
want you guys to know i'm so so thankful
for this food because god is awesome i'm
thankful to god thank you for all you
around here i'm thankful for you you
know uncle you uncle bob you atheist yo
grumpy old bum you i love you i'm so
thankful for you
and uh that's it i won't talk anymore
about it
i'm telling you
do it watch what happens it will be a
thanksgiving
to remember
very very precious
things god has done i just want to run
through some thoughts i wrote down some
thanksgiving facts that we as a body
need to keep in mind
every day comes and goes you know and
it's going to keep doing that to the
lord comes for us but as christians we
need to really really focus and nurture
on being thankful
we're so thankful to you we pray that as
a staff as we serve you you're thankful
to god for us together we're thankful
for god for jesus christ and all that
he's done for us we're thankful that the
bible is full of and by the way there's
no other book like it thousands of
promises given to us by god
that's a thanksgiving fact
another thanksgiving fact is to keep in
mind that
the world around us our families friends
neighbors
they're people too
and you share with them what god has
done in your life be available this
thanksgiving for god to use you
a thanksgiving fact
is it interesting that peter in verse 6
tells him
silver and gold we don't have
see our world has been conditioned to
buy our way out of things
if something doesn't work in in america
if something doesn't work
throw money at it
that's the old saying hey if it doesn't
work just throw more money at it
those days are evaporating but here's
the deal man listen when it comes to the
human soul you can throw the money at it
you want it's not going to change a
thing
thanksgiving fact we'll end with this
thanksgiving fact if you're thankful if
you and i nurture a thankful heart
it's kind of tough to complain about
stuff
did you know listen
the number one quench to being thankful
is complaining did you know that
complaining destroys thankfulness
uh a thankful heart is crushed by
complaints
in the same token complaining evaporates
when thankfulness is nurtured
do listen are you listening we're almost
done how many of you have troubles raise
your hands you have problems
there you go
yeah
listen
let's be honest all the whirring and
grumbling and griping about those
troubles have never fixed one thing
it makes it worse actually
it's kind of like if you're going to
worry about it then you're going to get
doubly bad off
because it doesn't do anything just
makes you sick
but on the flip side
for all of us who have troubles
when you nurture a thankful heart number
one you put everything about your life
in the hands of god
when i complain i'm saying god doesn't
know what he's doing
when i'm complaining i'm saying he's not
in control
when i'm complaining i'm saying his
promises aren't enough
i'm insulting him but when i'm thankful
listen
my car has been broken the computer went
nuts it it went crazy and
the first day i kept thinking my car was
parked in the driveway and i walked out
there and it's not there it's at the
shop the second day was man
i need that thing
the third day
i'm thankful
that i'm going to be getting it back
from the shop soon
the fourth day
when's it ready
right
picked it up yesterday it was in there
for a week
couldn't wait to get it thankful got in
there thank you lord
and as i drove home
thinking what weak this was
i was thankful that god had a hole in my
heart
because listen
in my earlier days i would have gone in
there and said it's a ford
you are ford
what took you so long
to fix your problem
you made it surely you know how to fix
it
i was tempted to ride a bike i actually
had to walk
but no
god got a hold of my heart and the
thought was this i'm grateful that i had
a truck that could break down
so pastor i got it flat today thank god
imagine you had three other tires
that's more than what most people have
in the world
but but my car my car had a flat listen
my computer's not working right thank
god you have a computer i guess
maybe
but do you understand what i'm saying we
complain we've been conditioned to
complain and i leave you with this
you guys
uh
it doesn't matter if you're flying a
hang glider
or a 747
there's something on the dash
there's something in front of you
called the attitude indicator
it lets you know no matter what which
way the plane is pointing if it's
pointing down it tells you your nose is
pointing down you don't want your nose
to point down too long because you're
going to hit the ground
no nose up
nose to the left nose to the right it's
the attitude of the plane
and listen the attitude of the plane
ultimately determines your altitude
if you're pointing down you are
eventually going to impact the earth and
it's not going to be pretty
point it up you'll fly you'll soar
isn't it interesting that out of all the
instruments on
that hang glider or that 747 cockpit
is the attitude indicator it tells the
pilot
the attitude of the airplane
and it isn't amazing that you and i if
we nurture thankfulness it is an
attitude indicator of us being with god
you be around a grumpy person griping
all the time moaning and complaining
about this that the other thing you know
this they're going nose down
i don't know how long they've been
descending but if they stay in that
condition they're going to hit the
ground
an unthankful attitude
puts you in a downer
but when you focus on the goodness of
god
it pulls your nose up
you start to have lift
you start to
be safe
and i want to encourage you
to experience
and nurture
the thankfulness of god church we have
so much to be thankful for
can we stand together as we close and
we just together
confess our thankfulness to him
can we take a minute or two you want to
just shout out to the lord what you're
thankful for as as it comes to your mind
i'm thankful for you i'll tell you that
right now as a church
okay forget about me that's kind but i
just heard that twice that's sweet i'll
i'll receive that
but no more of that
thankful for your wife now you're
talking
family go come on
lord jesus salvation
kids
health mercy
friends
grace
go ahead you say how can you if we keep
doing this how can you hear us i'm not
the one hearing you god's hearing you
come on
what are you thankful for
okay watch this pause pause watch pause
i want you to think now i'm going to ask
you in a moment so you have to think i'm
going to give you a heads up i'm going
to ask you to shout out one word or one
thing i i should say that you're
thankful for in a moment i'm going to
count to three here in a moment
and you shout it out
and
let people hear it let angels hear it of
course god hears it before it leaves
your
your tongue
your lips
but as the world falls apart and as
things are crazy
i think we're gonna start be being able
to detect christians
more
obviously
if you go over here to uh the diamond
store next door to wahoo's
uh
i think i guess
maybe i shouldn't have said that i don't
know normally back in the old days they
would always display diamonds on a black
velvet background
why because it makes it look brighter
the world's getting dark
i think as christians nurture
the right attitude with christ i think
you guys are going to be shining all
over the place
in this ever darkening world
so are you ready
here we go on the count of three i want
you to shout out what you're thankful
for one
two 3
and god heard every one of you
father we thank you lord for your word
we thank you father for your goodness
and lord as a church right here and now
my mind and my heart turns to those who
are hospitalized tonight in this church
there are those who may have died during
the course of our service tonight in the
from this church and there may have been
babies born
during this service tonight from this
church
there are those lord who are in hospice
care
there are those
who are trying to make their way home
back to chicago tonight into florida
tonight
there are those of this church who are
in jail
there are those from this church that
have backslidden away and they're on the
run as it were from you
there are those from this church
who are at home tonight
thankful
heavenly father in jesus name
as we go forward
i thank you publicly for an amazing
group of people
and father that
you would only increase what you're
doing here
or humbled by it
and be with our family spiritually near
and far
we hear reports this week of those who
join us on wednesdays and sundays
in malaysia
germany
tennessee
canada
japan
china
sydney
darvanshire england
thank you god thank you
lord
for jesus for in his name we pray and
all god's people said
amen
[Music]
you