S.U.M. It Up! 11-30-22

 

11-27-22 Kenwood Church Live Stream

GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD: The act of giving thanks 11-27-22

GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD: The act of giving thanks 11-27-22

 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.”

                              Psalms 107:1-3 NIV

 

(4 mics for 4 sections)

 

91% of Americans have turkey for Dinner. And so... I was thinking about Butterball Turkeys. Did you know they have an online help page? Well I went to that computer page and I found some of the problems that people have with cooking turkeys. You may be flabbergasted at what I found. Here are just a few of them:

 

1. All in the Family

A woman in her seventies, cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the first time, called for help because her mother said it was time she learned how to prepare the Thanksgiving meal.

 

2. It’s a Wrap

A proud gentleman called to tell the staff how he wrapped his turkey in a towel, laid it in the floor and stomped on it breaking the bones so it would fit in his pan.

 

3. Carving the Turkey

Another gentleman called to tell the operator he cut his turkey in half with a chain saw and wanted to know if the oil from the chain would adversely affect the turkey.

 

4. Upside Down Turkey Surprise

A disappointed woman called wondering why her turkey had no breast meat. After a conversation with a Talk-Line operator, it became apparent that the woman’s turkey was lying upside down.

 

5. Keeping it Cooking

One mom called in and told the Help Line operator about how her little girl had asked if they could slow-roast the turkey for three or four days because she liked how it made the house smell. The experts at the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line told her that the turkey should only stay in the oven for a few hours and that it wasn’t a good idea to leave it cooking four days!

 

6. Turkey Treasure

After discovering a turkey from 1969 in his dad’s freezer, a man called the Talk-Line at Butterball to ask about the best way to cook the 30+ year-old bird. Although the Talk-Line staffer recommended the open roasting pan method to cook most turkeys, but this time she suggested that the first step was to purchase a fresher fowl!

 

7. State Bird

When a Talk-Line staffer asked a caller: “What state is your turkey in” (meaning how thawed was it) the caller responded with, “Florida.”

          *Reference: http://www.rd.com/slideshows/funny-thanksgiving-help-line-calls/#ixzz3JRR6nTJS

 

“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. 

 

For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. 

 

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. 

 

Today, if only you would hear his voice, “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did. For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ””

                              Psalms 95:1-11 NIV

 

I.  PROCLAIM

 

It was Thanksgiving season in the nursing home. The small resident population was gathered about their humble Thanksgiving table, and the director asked each in turn to express one thing for which they were thankful. Thanks were expressed for a home in which to stay, families, etc. One little old lady in her turn said, ’I thank the Lord for two perfectly good teeth, one in my upper jaw and one in my lower jaw that match so that I can chew my food.’

 

               A.  Sing for joy

               B.  Shout aloud

               C.  Come with thanksgiving

               D.  Extol with music

 

“For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.”

                              Psalms 95:3-5 NIV

 

II.  PROSTRATE

 

Back in 1860, an excursion boat on Lake Michigan collided with a freighter and began to sink less than a mile from the shore.

 

Hundreds of passengers began screaming as they leaped into the icy water.

 

Edward Spencer was a student at a nearby seminary, and he ran down to the beach to see what he could do.

 

A strong swimmer, for six hours Spencer swam out and back, pulling people ashore, battling stormy waves and the powerful undertow. By dawn, he had personally rescued 15 people in as many trips. Exhausted, he sat down until someone spotted two more people still in the water.

 

Spencer dove in again and found a man and a woman clinging desperately to a piece of wreckage. He brought them in, too, and collapsed on the beach. Out of 393 passengers, only one-quarter were rescued, and 17 of them were saved by Edward Spencer.

 

His own health, however, was permanently damaged by his act of heroism. He was never able to return to school and ultimately lived out his days as an invalid. Years later, a reporter doing a story on Great Lakes tragedies found Spencer at a nursing home in California and asked for his recollections of that night.

 

Spencer said bitterly, "The only thing I remember is that not one of the 17 ever thanked me."

 

               A.  Bow down in worship

               B.  Kneel before the Lord

 

“for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.”

                              Psalms 95:7a NIV

 

III.  PAY ATTENTION

 

A lady purchased a parrot whose previous owner had taught him profanity and decided that she would reform him. The parrot learned a number of Christian words and Bible verses to replace the cuss words. However, the owner caught him cussing one day and grabbed him and said, "I'll teach you to never talk that way again!" So she put him in the deep freeze and slammed the door.

 

A few minutes later, the owner took the parrot out of the freezer and asked, "Have you learned your lesson now?" The little bird shivered and replied, "Yes', Ma'm."

 

After a couple of months, the lesson was forgotten and the little parrot was caught saying cuss words again. The owner returned him to the freezer and left him in there for a long time. The little parrot almost froze to death. The owner took the bird back to his cage to let him thaw out. When he began to move a little bit, she asked him again, "Did you learn your lesson this time, buster?"

 

The parrot said, "Yes, Ma'm, I sure did!" Then he just sat there in the cage quietly for a few more minutes shivering and thinking about what just happened to him. Then, the parrot looked at his owner and said, "Ma'm, may I ask you a sserious question?" The owner answered, "Yes, you may."

 

The parrot thought for a moment and then said, "I thought I knew all of the bad words there were in the world.....but just what exactly did that turkey in the freezer say?"

 

“Today, if only you would hear his voice,”

Psalms 95:7b NIV

 

               A.  Do not harden your hearts.

                   1.  Complaining

                            2.  Testing

                      3.  Forgetting

               B.  Do not be like them.

 

“So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ””

                              Psalms 95:11 NIV

 

CONCLUSION

 

After-Thanksgiving Poem

 

I ate too much turkey, I ate too much corn,

I ate too much pudding and pie.

 

I’m stuffed up with muffins and too much stuffin’

I’m probably going to die.

 

I piled up my plate and I ate and I ate.

But I wish I had known when to stop,

 

For I’m so crammed with yams, sauces, gravies, and jams

That my buttons are starting to pop!

 

I’m full of tomatoes and french-fried potatoes

My stomach is swollen and sore,

 

But there’s still some dessert so I guess it won’t hurt if

I eat just a little bit more!

 

Proclaim our God, prostrate ourself before our God, pay attention to our God

 

CHALLENGE

 

What will you do with what you have just heard?  How will you respond to the Holy Spirit working within you?  The Challenge is intended to give us an opportunity to contemplate what God is calling us to do in our lives.  Consider these questions and write down your answers.  

 

               1.  What is your favorite form of proclamation (sing, shout, thanks, music, etc.)?

               2.  What is your preferred worship position (stand, kneel, prostrate, etc.)?

               3.  How often do you worship outside of “worship”?

               4.  Of the three (complaining, testing, forgetting), which is your kryptonite?

               5.  What is God’s voice saying to you today?

 

INVITATION

 

It is our custom to offer an "invitation" following the preaching of the Word.  You may want to follow Jesus.  You may want to proclaim your faith.  You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things).  Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church.  If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can come forward now.  If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your life.  

S.U.M. It Up! 11-23-22

   

The Challenge for 11-20-22

 "The Challenge” has become a common part of my sermons over the past couple of years.  “The Challenge” is intended to help us think about the message of the week and then deciding to act.  Connecting “The Challenge” with journaling has become my attempt at fostering this internal dialogue (hearing then thinking then deciding then acting).  The purpose of “The Challenge” is that we all might act upon what we have heard by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Our challenges will fall heavily into the category of journaling.  When we write, we have to think then formulate words, then put it to paper.  This process helps us integrate our whole self.  We will also focus upon action.

Here is The Challenge for 11-20-22.

               1.  What is redemption?

               2.  How have you been redeemed?

               3.  How has God humbled you?

               4.  How have you been blessed?

               5.  List your reasons to rejoice.

Journals and pens are available at Kenwood for anyone who wants them.  If you are unable to pick them up at the church, I can mail them to you.  Just contact me via email (toddlackie@kenwoodchurch.org) or phone call (248 417-9218).

GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD: For He is Good 11-20-22

GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD: For He is Good 11-20-22

 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.”

                              Psalms 107:1-3 NIV

 

The origin and cause of our redemption is the [inexpressible] love of God the Father, who willed to redeem us by the blood of His own Son; the grace of the Son, who freely took our curse upon Him, and imparts His blessing and merits to us; and the Holy Spirit, who communicates the love of the Father and the grace of the Son to our hearts. When we speak of this and of the satisfaction of Christ, we speak of the inmost mystery of the Christian faith.

                              (Citation: The Works of John Wesley, Letter to William Law, 06 January 1756)

 

I.  THE HISTORY OF REDEMPTION

 

I want to begin my message by telling you a story. J Vernon McGee told this story on the radio to explain a great Bible truth and illustrate a Biblical principle.

 

In your mind go back in time about 170 years to the days before the Civil War. Imagine you are visiting one of the great cities of the South like Savannah, Atlanta, Birmingham, Jackson or New Orleans. As you approach the center of town you hear a commotion as a crowd gathers for a public auction and you gather round to watch the proceedings. The first thing you notice in the crowd is an uncouth, foulmouthed, loud, boisterous man who you know, by reputation only, as the meanest, cruelest, most hateful man around.

 

You also notice in the crowd another man who stands out for his dignity, genteel mannerisms and soft-spoken tone, and recognize him also by reputation as a most kind, gentle, and gracious man. Both men, along with the crowd wait for the auction to begin.

 

Finally the auctioneer steps to the podium and begins rattling his words as the first item to be sold is brought to the auction block. There before you is a beautiful young black girl, about 20 years of age. Her dress is old and torn, but remarkably clean. She is obviously filled with anxiety and fear as the bidding begins.

 

From the outset the loud obnoxious man seemed to have his evil, lecherous eyes set on this lovely, innocent, young lady. She obviously knew of his reputation and cringed in fear as he opened the bidding.

 

When the kind gentleman saw her fear, he too placed a bid. Soon only these two men were involved in the bidding as the price of the girl rose higher and higher. Finally the evil man bowed out of the bidding when realized that the price of the girl was more than he was willing to pay.

 

When the auctioneer closed the bidding the kind gentleman paid the price for his purchase, was handed the Bill-of-Sale and turned to leave. The young girl started to follow her new master.

He then turned to her and asked, “Where are you going?” “Why, I’m going with you,” she responded; “You bought me and I belong to you.”

 

“O! You misunderstood,” the man said, “I didn’t buy you to make you my slave, I bought you to set you free.”

 

Then he took the Bill-of-Sale and wrote across in big block letters – FREE! – signed his name and gave it to the girl.

 

“I don’t understand,” the girl said. “You mean I am FREE!” “Yes, you are FREE!” ‘I can go wherever I want and do as I please.” “Exactly, You are FREE!”

 

“Mister, I don’t know who you are, but no one has ever shown such love and kindness to me. If I am free to do as I please, nothing would please me more than to go with you and serve you till the day I die.”

 

And that day she went home with Abraham Lincoln, not as his slave, but as his willing servant.

 

While the story may be true, my guess is that it is an allegory. But doesn’t it aptly illustrate the great doctrine of Redemption! It tells the story of our slavery to Satan and sin; the cruel intentions of the enemy of our soul; and the gracious purchase, at an incredible price, by Jesus; not to make us his slave, but to set us free. How could we respond in any other way than to say, “If you love me that much, I’ll serve you forever!”

              

               A.  A history of redemption

 

“Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. 

 

Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains, because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High. So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron. 

 

Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy. 

 

Some went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep. For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away. They reeled and staggered like drunkards; they were at their wits’ end. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind. Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders. 

 

He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground, and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there. He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs; there he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle. They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest; he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.”

                              Psalms 107:4-38 NIV

 

               B.  God has rescued us from calamity.

 

II.  THE STORY OF THE REDEEMED

 

C.S. Lewis said this about redemption, “It is not an abstraction called humanity that is to be saved. It is you, …your soul, and, in some sense yet to be understood, even your body, that was made for the high and holy place. All that you are…every fold and crease of your individuality was devised from all eternity to fit God as a glove fits a hand. All that intimate particularity which you can hardly grasp about yourself, much less communicate to your fellow creatures, is no mystery to him. He made those ins and outs that He might fill them.”

 

“Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow; he who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in a trackless waste. But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks.”

                              Psalms 107:39-41 NIV

 

       A.  Continued humbling

           B.  Blessing

 

III.  THE TESTIMONY OF THE WISE

 

“The upright see and rejoice, but all the wicked shut their mouths. Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.”

                              Psalms 107:42-43 NIV

 

A.  The contrast

                              1.  The upright see and rejoice.

                              2.  The wicked shut their mouths.

B.  The wise

                              1.  Heed these thing

                            2.  Ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.

 

It has been said, “If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent an economist. But, our greatest need was forgiveness and redemption, and, therefore, God sent a Savior!

                         Anonymous

              

CONCLUSION

 

BEYOND REDEMPTION?

 

There are about 600 inmates who await execution in the state of California. A dozen of these are women. All of them have committed heinous crimes. But that doesn’t stop Ann Baker, a grandmother from San Diego, from treating the inmates like she believes Jesus would treat them.

Baker heads a letter writing campaign designed to love the men and women on Death Row. The people who write do not write to condemn or condone. They write out of conviction and compassion. They write because they believe even the worst criminal is a child of God.

 

The letters are sometimes mundane. Baker writes to her prison pen pal about the dog, going to church and seeing the hot-air balloon festival in Albuquerque. Her male pen pal tells Baker about exercising in the prison yard and of the screaming and cursing that goes on around him at night. "On a bad night, it's hard to hold onto his sanity," she says. They trade trivia questions. "We're constantly trying to stump each other," says Baker.

 

One LA County attorney who prosecuted a woman convicted of killing her five children is not a fan of the outreach program. She says "as a society we’ve decided these people are beyond redemption.”

 

Beyond Redemption?  This group believes otherwise.  We believe otherwise.

 

The history of redemption, the story of the redeemed, the testimony of the wise

 

"Without God’s explanatory word, God’s redemptive action could not be recognized for what it was. The clearest revelation of God (the incarnation) is nevertheless the most opaque to man.

                              J. I. Packer, New Bible Commentary, p. 15.

 

CHALLENGE

 

What will you do with what you have just heard?  How will you respond to the Holy Spirit working within you?  The Challenge is intended to give us an opportunity to contemplate what God is calling us to do in our lives.  Consider these questions and write down your answers.  

 

               1.  What is redemption?

               2.  How have you been redeemed?

               3.  How has God humbled you?

               4.  How have you been blessed?

               5.  List your reasons to rejoice.

 

INVITATION

 

It is our custom to offer an "invitation" following the preaching of the Word.  You may want to follow Jesus.  You may want to proclaim your faith.  You may want to repent (stop doing ungodly things and start doing Godly things).  Perhaps you want to be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Possibly, if you have already responded to God’s call in these ways, you would like to become a member of Kenwood Church.  If you have been moved by the Holy Spirit to make a decision in your life, you can come forward now.  If you would like, I would be honored to speak with you following the service about what God is doing in your life.