Why Be Thankful?

Introduction

Thanksgiving is a special time

For me, there is a great Thanksgiving Day tradition: The Lions playing football

Lions were founded in 1930

In 1934, Owner George. A Richards needed to compete with the Tigers

The won the Pennant that year, lost World Series to the Cardinals

Anyway, Richards needed to bring in fans, so he tried a publicity stunt

Lions played on Thanksgiving Day

Not the first time this was done, but this time there was an edge

Richards owned an NBC affiliated radio station

He worked a deal to broadcast the game from 94 stations across the country

The game was an immediate hit!

And although they lost to the Bears, a new tradition was born

Their overall record is 37-43-2 - not great

They have lost 5 years in a row

Playing Buffalo this week, not really expecting a win

In fact, many have tried to get the NFL to break the tradition

The Lions are horrible, why not bring in better teams?

My reasoning is, “Man, let us have something!

We already can’t win, now you want to take Thanksgiving too?!

Actually, the NFL won’t change it because it’s a tradition - and the NFL loves tradition

And in this case, everyone watches the game anyway - regardless of how bad Detroit stinks!

Why not show a game that gets top 5 viewership of the season

While using a team that wouldn’t get 10% of the country not on Thanksgiving?

Anyway… since it’s Thanksgiving week, I want to talk about something I’m grateful for

Put on the jersey

I want you all to stare at Honolulu Blue this morning

And let it serve as a reminder, over the last 2 weeks, the Lions beat the Bears AND the Packers!

Something to be thankful for church!

Even if I don’t have a job by tomorrow...

Today is our last message about Abraham before a break

We’ll be doing an Advent series called, “Waiting”

It’ll be a little bit different view of the Christmas season

Today though, we’re looking at something very important to be thankful for

YouVersion: Why Be Thankful?

We’re in Genesis 17:1-8

Genesis 17:1–2 (ESV)

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”

Now we jump ahead to when Abram was 99 years old

He was 75 when he left Haran and heard God’s promise

He was 86 when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael

And now it’s another 13 years before God speaks here

That’s almost 25 years to wait!

Tom Petty: “The waiting is the hardest part.”

The waiting is the hardest (but still vital) part

Illustration: Watching “Alone”

10 people in the wilderness with 10 tools all ALONE

After a day or two, they’re all crying

It’s often not about survival, it’s more about missing their families

When you spend most of your time lying in a sleeping bag in an 8 foot shelter...

You have no phone, no internet, no TV, no energy to waste

You sit and reflect on what’s important

Honestly though, that’s where God’s best and most important work is done

When we see a goal to accomplish or problem to fix, we like to move

We’re so intent on speed

Get rich quick schemes

Fast food restaurants

Crash diets - lose 50 lbs. in 6 days...

But God doesn’t work like that - likes to remove plans and solutions to let us simmer

When I applied here, I had to wait 7 months

I worked odd jobs

We only had a few friends - no family

I just had to wait and see if I’d get hired - it was maddening

I wanted to do something - to take control

But instead, God was working on me

He was humbling me through time

He was teaching me to lean on Him

He was focusing my thoughts

He was getting me to a point where I really, really, really wanted to be here

And I’m still grateful to serve here today - 3 years later

I’m sorry I’m wearing this Lions jersey, please don’t fire me!

That’s what God is doing with Abraham

Keep waiting, keep trusting, keep walking - you’re in good hands

That’s why God says, “Walk before Me, and be blameless.”

Not, keep having surrogate children, or keep running to Egypt

When things get long, that’s what we do too

Keep going, and don’t sin

Now, I want to focus on names

Notice God says, “I am God Almighty.”

God Almighty is a translation of one of God’s names you’ve probably heard

How many have heard, “El Shaddai?”

There’s a lot of debate as to the meaning of the name

Derek Kidner: el (God) sa (who) day (is sufficient)

God who is sufficient

Adam Clarke: from shadah (to pour out)

God is the one who pours out abundant and rich blessings

Donald Barnhouse: shad (breast) - as in the comfort and nourishment of a mother

God of Tender Care

H.C. Leupold: shadad (to display power)

God the powerful, or God almighty

Septuagint: Ancient Greek translation of the OT (pantokrator)

The One who has His hand on everything

I don’t know which one is correct - they’re all accurate

Maybe that was by design, I don’t know

But I do know that names are important

Let’s see what God does here when he reiterates His covenant with Abram:

Genesis 17:3–5 (ESV)

3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

First of all, I’m glad I can stop trying to remember to call him Abram!

Now I can just say Abraham like I want to!

As v. 4 suggests, God is doubling down on His promise

Rather than Abram’s name meaning “father of many”

It now becomes “father of many nations”

For 86 years he had to say, “Hello, my name is father of many”

Oh really? How many kids do you have?

None...

Now, he has to say, “Hello, my name is father of many nations, formerly father of many”

Oh really? Quite the increase! How many kids do you have?

One...

It must have taken some strong faith in God to start telling people his new name

What if I was like, “Hey! God just changed my name from Dan to Skinny, or Rich, or Tanner...”

I don’t think your God is a very good name picker...

That’s only temporary though - today we know that He is the father of many nations!

Just in the Bible alone he is credited with fathering the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Edomites, Amalekites Kenizzites, Midianites and Assyrians.

We’ll come back to the names in a second...

Genesis 17:6 (ESV)

6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.

Again, God is working His double down promise

Up until today, He hadn’t said anything about multiple nations - now He is

But He also includes kings

This is a very important promise for us

The first Israelite king is King Saul

Of course, he disobeys God and loses his line

But then comes another king - King David (the man after God’s own heart

From his line, comes the greatest king ever… King Jesus

It’s important to understand God’s promises

CH Spurgeon: “Oh! those glorious ‘wills’ and ‘shalls.’ Brethren, ye cannot serve the Lord with a perfect heart until first your faith gets a grip of the divine ‘will’ and ‘shall.’”

Sometimes we forget the importance of knowing the word of God

People often read the bible, do studies or listen to sermons and ask, “What does this have to do with me”

Why do I have to learn, I just want to feel good

That question always worries me

There is a place for personal needs and encouragement, of course!

But in K4, we read Scripture to know God

For some reason we forget that God is meant to be worshipped

We’re here to worship, not to be entertained

We’re read to know God, not to feel good

We pray to change ourselves, not to change God’s mind

We give to rely on God, not to keep the lights on and pay the pastors

In this case, knowing that God promised Abraham descendents, nations and kings is important

This is a part of know what God has done and who He is

And that matters a lot

We have to keep God at the center of what we do, and that starts by taking us out of our center

And the crazy thing is, when we do that, the other stuff follows!

Watch this:

Genesis 17:7 (ESV)

7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

Suddenly, that personal aspect of God comes rushing in!

God promises, “to be God to you!”

Remember, God promised to graft us into the tree of Israel

God promises to be Abraham’s God, and his descendents

And because we, as believers in Christ, get grafted in, He becomes our God too!

So what I was saying before about putting God at the center...

When you do that, you actually better understand what that means for you

Here, God wants to be your personal God!

In fact, He promises to be when you’re a follower of Jesus!

God doesn’t want to be God AT you, He wants to be God To you!

He’s not just the force that sends hurricanes or kills your family just to spite you because He’s angry

God actually wants to be your God

Let’s come back to that after one more verse:

Genesis 17:8 (ESV)

8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

Again, God promises land to Abraham’s descendents

Here we are 4,000 years later, and Israel is still a nation with that same land

Actually, they miraculously became a nation again, but you get it

God goes to great lengths to keep His promises

He really does

Remember I said we’d come back to the idea of names and that God keeps His promises?

Names are an important thing

Gideon became to JerubBaal - means “Let Ba’al contend” because he smashed the altar of Ba’al

Paschur became Terror on Every Side - Because he punished Jeremiah for prophesying for the Lord

Jacob became Israel - means “God fights” and became the name of His nation

Symbolic of how Israel always wrestled with God too

Names matter in Scripture - and there’s one thing that really matters to us I want to bring in

Revelation 2:17 (ESV)

17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

This is a little mysterious - everything in Revelation is

But it’s very special

First, look at the white stone

White stones with engraved names were used a lot in ancient Rome

They were used like tickets to get into special events

They were used to prove that you had been acquitted of a crime

They were used as proof of friendship or a contract

For those who follow Jesus, we will have proof that we are children of God

Maybe as access to the marriage banquet, proof of innocence in Jesus blood, a sign of a child of God

If you are saved, you will have your very own white stone

But notice what will be on it - a new name inscribed that no one knows but you

Some people think it’s a name for God - maybe

But I think it’s a new special name only for you

You are deeply special to God

At the paper mill, lots of people had special names

John fell into a pulper and should have died

But it was plugged and someone happened to be opening the door so he walked out

Everyone called him “Lucky”

Skip had a bushy mustache, gaps in his teeth and combed back brown hair

Everyone called him “Flanders”

Buddy was a dedicated worker - was managements favorite guy

They called him “Golden Boy”

Our shift mechanic was a huge guy

They called him “Tiny” - I don’t even remember his real name

Campbell was always complaining

They called him “Wah-mpbell”

I was young and played the drums

They called me “LDB” - Little Drummer Boy

It was actually endearing - it meant you were accepted, you had history, you belonged there

And I think we will all have names like that in heaven

Think about Jesus and His relationships

His friends were known as “Rock,” and “Sons of Thunder”

I wonder what He will call me, and I wonder what He will call you

No matter what it will be for you alone to know, and it will be special

As we all remember Thanksgiving is approaching, I think it’s clear the answer to our question

Why Be Thankful? Because He is our God...

Communion

Instructions

God wants you to be close

He knows every detail about you

He cares about everything that happens to you

And if you ever doubt that, there is one thing you have to remember:

God paid it all for you

Now I’d like to enjoy the best kind of Thanksgiving meal...

Today is Communion Sunday, and I’m sure you’re all glad to know we are doing a normal Communion

As we begin our next song, come forward up the middle and take the elements and return to your seat

We have the prepackaged option still if you want to be a little more cautious

As we approach, let’s sing and worship our God

The Bread

1 Corinthians 11:24 (ESV)

24 ...when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Let us pray before we take this together

PRAYER

Jesus, thank You for Your body. Thank you that when you could have stayed on Your heavenly throne, you decided instead to take on flesh. Thank You for walking amongst Your creation and your people. Thank You for Your friendship and Your teaching, and for Your painful sacrifice on the cross. As we take this bread today, please use it for our remembrance, that we may accept the truth that Your body is for us. Amen.

Take this together, in remembrance of the Christ’s body

The Cup

Matthew 26:27–28 ESV

27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Let us pray before we take this together

Jesus, thank You for the blood of the Lamb. Thank You that You lived a perfect life, and that Your blood allows your righteousness to be credited to us. We drink this cup today willingly, as a reminder to Your servants that Your payment justifies and redeems us. Help us to live lives that reflect that promise in a world that needs you so desperately. Amen.

Return to Song

Church, let’s sing to our God, who wanted to be our God because He loves us so much