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30 Days of Thankfulness2. Thankful for Who We Are Dan Bidwell, Senior Pastor Psalm 100 Sunday 13 November, 2022 In last weeks sermon, I spoke about a song that goes: I Raise A Hallelujah. Its such a good song, that Ive had it going around in my head for about a week now. Around and around. You know what they call that? When a song goes round and round in your head and you cant seem to shake it off? An earworm. Its like the song burrows its way into your brain, and you cant get rid of it. I did a little Googling and I found out it was the Germans who first coined the phrase earworm about a 100 years ago. Scientists have a much more boring word to describe the phenomenon Involuntary Musical Imagery. Apparently all kinds of things can trigger an earworm. A particular word, a phrase, hearing some notes from the song, or even feeling an emotion that you associate with the song. They trigger a memory in your brain, without you even thinking about it voluntarily. They call that involuntary cognition. Thats your science lesson for the morning. Apparently it happens more with people who are musically inclined. I think Im musically inclined, because ever since I was a kid I remember humming tunes. Its pretty cute when little children hum out loud, or sing songs to themselves. They have this unself-conscious way of doing it, they dont care if anyone is listening, they are probably not even aware of it. Its just their little hearts expressing the joy that music can bring, as they sing their happy song. I remember some time not long into elementary school, where I was told that its not really OK to sing out loud in public. I dont remember who said it maybe another kid, maybe the teacher, or it might have been my mom wanting to protect me. From that moment on, I learned to hide my happy song, at least on the outside... But on the inside? I think thats what my earworms are. My happy song. Whats your happy song? What is the song that plays inside your head when things are going well? What fills you with joy and brings singing to your heart? Perhaps not literal singing, but that same kind of unrestrained joy that little children have? What makes your heart sing? That is what were thinking about as we open the Bible today, so why dont we pray that God would teach our hearts to sing. Our heavenly Father, we thank you for speaking to us in the Bible, for revealing truth to us, for teaching us. Will you do that today will you speak and reveal truth and teach us to take joy in you, as you remind us of who we are in Christ. We pray in his saving name, Amen So all this month we are working on the practice of thankfulness growing in gratitude as we deliberately focus ourselves on all the things that we have to be thankful for. Were calling it 30 Days of Thankfulness, and to help we have our 30 Days of Thankfulness Prayer Guide. (Observation from today) 1. ShoutingForJoy Our family is a rollercoaster family. Ever since the kids were little, weve loved going to theme parks to ride the rollercoasters, as well as all the other rides. The bigger and the faster, the better. It wasnt always that way. One of our children was a bit nervous about rollercoasters when they were really little. But with time, theyve both ended up as thrill-seekers. One of the things I love the most about going to the theme park with my family is that they love to scream on the rides. All of them. There is a ride called the Tower of Terror back in Australia. - Feet dangling, high up in the air, waiting for them to drop you... - Screams! When my family screams, theyre the kind of screams that make people turn their heads and look up to smile, because they know were having such a great time! You can hear it. The screams of terror arent really screams of terror. (Well kind of...) Theyre also shouts of joy. Psalm 100 begins with a shout of joy. The kind of noise that makes you look over, and pay attention: 1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. When I read this, it sounds like the beginning of a song which lots of Psalms were, of course. But the words arent just hollow. The songwriter, the Psalmist, is actually painting a picture of an alternate reality. A reality where all the earth, every creature, pours out a song to the Lord. A song of joy. A song of gladness. A song of worship. - A picture of heaven: (Revelation 5:13) 13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever! This is an image of all the earth worshiping around the throne of Jesus. (Repeated in Rev 7, 14). A picture not of an alternate reality, but an eternal reality.One day, all of the earth and everything in it will shout for joy to the Lord. And if you are friends with Jesus, that is the eternal reality for you. What does joy in the Lord look like for you right now? How does your life sing a song of praise and worship to the Lord? What makes your heart sing? 2. IdentityWho we are I was a child of the 80s, and one of the best parts about the 80s were the mustaches. The best mustache of course belonged to Tom Selleck from Magnum PI. My dad also had the most amazing mustache in the 80s. Just like Magnum PI. And so I decided when I grow up, I am going to grow a mustache just like Magnum PI and just like my dad. Because thats what real men do. Thats part of the identity of a real man. Sadly the Lord has not blessed me with a Magnum PI mustache. Or at least not the last time I tried, about 15 years ago. And so Ive had to deal with not achieving the identity that I thought I would. Im not who I thought I would be when I grew up. Now of course Im joking around. But actually, when you think about what you wanted to be when you grew up, have you achieved everything you thought you would? Have you become the person you wanted to be? Have you done all the things you wanted to do? Have you grown into the identity that you pictured as a child? Because the reality is, many of us dont become the person we wanted to become. We might not have the life we expected to have. We might not have the job we expected to have. We might not have the family we expected to have. We might have made mistakes that we didnt want to make. And we fall short of the identity that we created in our minds. We might even be disappointed with who weve become. What has formed your identity? What makes you who you are at your core? But Psalm 100 reminds us that our identity is not caught up in our achievements, or our life choices. Psalm 100 reminds us that our identity is formed in our relationship to God. 3 Know that the Lord is God.It is he who made us, and we are his;we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. (Psalm 100:3) Psalm 100 teaches us that no matter what our life has brought us, we have an identity that is unshakeable. Unchangeable. We belong to God... we are his So today as we focus ourselves on thankfulness, I want us to thank God for who he has made us to be. I want us to be thankful to God for the identity that he has given us. I want us to: 3 Know that the Lord is God.It is he who made us, and we are his;we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. So to help us be reminded of the depth of these words, I have four (or five?) Bible verses that remind us of how important we are in Gods eyes. (i) First, the idea that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Who knows where that Bible verse is from? Psalm 139. Psalm 139 talks about the way that God was intricately involved in creating you to be the way that you are, even before you were born. 13 For you created my inmost being;you knit me together in my mothers womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book (Psalm 139:13-16) Psalm 139 reminds us that God knows everything about us. Because he made us. Down to weaving together your genetics in your mothers womb. Bringing cells together to create you made in his image, made as Gods handiwork. Knit together by him, just the way he wanted to make you. You are a perfect creation of God. Isnt that something? God himself made you, and he knows you. You are his. You were created with intention, and you were created for a purpose. (ii) And thats where we come to our second Bible verse. Colossians 1:16 tells us that all things were created by Jesus and for him. 16 For in him [v13 says that this is talking about the Son Jesus] all things werecreated: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:16) That means when God saw your unformed body, when he knit you together in your mothers womb, he did it for a purpose. He made you for Jesus. In fact Jesus himself had a part in your creation, as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit all worked together to bring creation into being. They did that for each of us, just like in the beginning. And if we were made through Jesus and for Jesus, then it means our life will find its ultimate meaning only when we know Jesus. Do you know Jesus? He knows you... PAUSE Most of the world doesnt know Jesus. Most people live their lives without reference to God. They dont know that God created them for a purpose. And so they try to find their purpose in other things, in other achievements, in other relationships. I think thats where our identity gets so messed up. We compare ourselves with others, and there is always someone richer, or smarter, more beautiful, more accomplished than us. The identity game is a trap you can never win... But when we find our identity in Jesus, we find out that no matter who we are, no matter what weve achieved, we are deeply loved. (iii) Thats the third idea that we are deeply loved. 5 The first Bible verse I ever learned was John 3:16. Do you know how it goes? 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) God loves us... And he loves us so much that even our sin wont get in the way of his fierce love for us. God loves us so much that he gave his only Son to deal with our sin, so that we wouldnt have to deal with the consequences of our sin in ourselves. Jesus died to make us right with God. And thats what Colossians 1 goes on to say, a few verses after the part we read before. You see we were created for Jesus, but our sin led to separation from God. 21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. (Colossians 1:21) God takes our sin seriously. He calls it evil behavior. And it alienates us from God. But did you see what v22 says? 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christs physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation... (Colossians 1:22) We have been reconciled to God by Christs physical body. When Jesus died, he died so that we could be presented to God: holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation... (Colossians 1:22) Can you imagine what it must feel like to find out that you are holy in the sight of God? Without blemish and free from accusation? Weve all done thing we wish we didnt do. There are sins Ive committed that I wish I didnt do. And it might feel like our sins are hanging over us, and that God is waiting to punish us for them... What would it be like to know that you are holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation... There is a true story of a priest in the Philippines, a much-loved man of God who carried the burden of a secret sin he had committed many years before. He had repented but still had no peace, no sense of God's forgiveness. 6 In his parish was a woman who deeply loved God and who claimed to have visions in which she spoke with Christ and he with her. The priest, however, was skeptical. To test her he said, "The next time you speak with Christ, I want you to ask him what sin your priest committed while he was in seminary." The woman agreed. A few days later the priest asked., "Well, did Christ visit you in your dreams?" "Yes, he did," she replied."And did you ask him what sin I committed in seminary?" "Yes," she replied"Well, what did he say?""He said, 'I don't remember'" Jesus doesnt see us as the sum total of our mistakes. He doesnt hold up a record of our sin, and wave it in our face. No, instead he says, I love you. And because of the cross, I see you as holy, without blemish and free from accusation... That is your identity in Christ, if you belong to him.To go back to the words of Psalm 100, we belong to God. We are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.And thats why Jesus said in John 10:14... 14 I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Fatherand I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:14-15) Do you know the good shepherd? The one who has laid down his life for the sheep? Because he knows you. And he loves you. And he wants you to be secure in that identity, no matter who you are, no matter what youve done. And so that just leaves the question of how we respond to Jesus. 7 3. EnterwithThanksgiving Our son Jamie volunteers down at Jameson Animal Rescue Ranch. He goes down everyday to feed the pigs and the goats and the sheep. He loves it, and he especially loves how the goats and the pigs know who he is. Theyre smart animals, and they know that he is going to feed them. And they know hes going to scratch their ears and look after them. Last week two of the goats got out of the pen. They climbed out, I think. Anyway these goats escape and they go off to explore the farm. And so my Jamie has to catch them. How do you catch a runaway goat? You get his favorite food. And you lure him back until you can catch him. Sure enough, Jamie gets a little bowl full of goat food. These little pellets that they love. And he calls the goats and they see the food and they come running to Jamie. He opens the gate and the goats go back into the pen. Because they know who feeds them. They know who looks after them. And thats how Psalm 100 finishes. With Gods people, the sheep of his pasture entering his gates with thanksgiving. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgivingand his courts with praise;give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100:4-5) When we know Gods voice, and when we recognize his goodness, we will want to come back to him. Well want to enter into his presence to say thank you to him. Well want to enter into his presence to praise him. Thats what we do every Sunday here at church. We run with joy into the presence of God. We worship him with gladness (v1-2). We enjoy God with our church family, as we pray and sing together, as we hear Gods promises spoken through the pages of the Bible, as we remember Jesus sacrifice for us, as we pray for his kingdom to come. Coming to church is actually (in a little way) a preview of that day when all of Gods creatures will shout for joy to the Lord. This is a preview of whats to come for all of eternity. Because the Lord is good. And his love endures forever (v5). That word for love in v5, its that Hebrew word hesed. It means faithful love. Gods enduring, faithful, unchangeable, never-stopping, never giving up love. Love that doesnt quit. Gods love is forever. And his faithfulness continues through all generations. 8 And thats why we need to keep singing the song of Gods love in our lives. We need to keep entering his courts with thanksgiving, and praising his name because thats how the next generation will hear about what Jesus has done. When God makes our heart sing, people sit up and take notice. So what makes your heart sing? And what song are you singing to the next generation? Shall we pray? 9 Watch at: https://youtu.be/bNZIVQpykj0 File Downloads: https://dq5pwpg1q8ru0.cloudfront.net/2022/11/26/23/34/46/4cb2bed1-05ce-45f1-a949-37294363daac/11.13.22%20%20Sunday%20Sermon%20Transcript.pdf