Thanksgiving in Yeshua’s Name.

Joshsua 5 & Zechariah 3

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.So great to be here. I was just so the words in the last song just really got me who can fathom such infinite wisdom and that's the exact thing that we're going to talk about today.And I had a hard time putting a title to today's message.It's going to be called Thanksgiving in Yeshua's name and I don't know every language but I checked with Fay earlier his cases Jesus in Filipino and Spanish and Yesu in Korean and I'm sure it's very similar.So we're going to look at his name today as we celebrate this special time of the year.I'd like to ask you a question.

You're ready what are you truly thankful for? What are you celebrating today or tomorrow?

Can you take a moment to count your blessings one by one?

And I can see your heads thinking flashing back reflecting the past year today I would like to reflect on the deeper meaning of thanksgiving, especially as followers of Christ.It is a body of Christ whether it serves as a reminder or a fresh awakening.Let's return to the heart of our faith and express our gratitude to God for the many blessings we received.Let's spend to day in thankfulness focusing on the true gift we've been given.

There's an English born Canadian evangelical theologian and pastor.

Many of you know his name Ji Packer states this in his book

Thanks focus on to some extent on us.We thank God for particular gifts given to us and others personally

and for general gifts bestowed on all praise on the other hand, focuses directly on God.

We praise him because of who and what he is and because we are naturally self centered creatures we tend to major on things because God's gifts and mercies to us constantly fill our minds.

Yet God himself is to be praised for his is supremely praiseworthy.

So today I would like to invite all of us to do both give thanks and offer praise for who God is

as we reflect on his incredible redeeming grace reveal to us.Now another question for you do you truly nourish the joy of the redeeming grace of Jesus.I'm not really sure if whether people really understand how great our savior is, how much we need saving, not savings accounts saving how much we still need saving.This amazing grace is amazing because we have an amazing savior.

So I'm going to express this amazing grace in this way.What if you couldn't swim?Anybody don't know how to swimI'm not really good either.Now what if you couldn't swim and you fell into water and started drowning that's very frightening but someone jumped into the water and saved you.

Now imagine you got out of the water and basking safely on the shore.Now your life is saved from the danger of death.You'll probably be so grateful and go I almost died.

And if the savior, the one who saved you tell you now you don't have to be afraid of falling into water anymore.I'll always protect you I'll never leave you alone.Don't worry I got your back.

Oh, that's comforting, isn't it?

You won't be afraid to swim again but then we learn to swim and you say I don't need anyone to save me anymore.I know how to swim myself.If we think this way, we don't know how great our sins are because our sins are not like a small pond or a swimming pool but it's like a Grape Pacific ocean.

That's our sense in the middle of this big ocean.