First Fruits: A Testament of Gratitude

What kind of offering to we bring to the Lord?

What nature of worship do we declare by our response to God’s goodness?

To whom do we turn when we find ourselves vulnerable or oppressed?

How impactful is our joy on those that are around us?

God's Deliverance Demands a Grateful Response that lead to joyful celebration.

God Delivers Those Who Believe in and Cry Out to Him (Deut. 26:5-9)

God delivers “nobodies” (v. 5a)

++God is what makes “nobodies” great (v. 5b)

++Great in God is rarely easy (v. 6)

++The cries of the hurting God hears (v. 7)

++Mighty and full of grace is God’s deliverance (vv. 7-9)

Psalm 34:17–18 NASB95

17 The righteous cry, and the Lord hears And delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Isaiah 58:9 NASB95

9 “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,

Psalm 18:6 NASB95

6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.

Psalm 120:1 NASB95

1 In my trouble I cried to the Lord, And He answered me.

Psalm 56:8 NASB95

8 You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?

1 Peter 5:7 NASB95

7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

Hebrews 4:16 NASB95

16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Take a moment of silent prayer between you and God, cry out to him in your heart, give thanks to Him for all He has done for you, and ask Him to deliver you from your burden.

He knows whom to deliver, and when to deliver, and how to deliver. He delivers in the way which is most beneficial to the godly, most crushing to the tempter, and most glorifying to himself.

Charles Spurgeon

God’s Deliverance Demands a Grateful Response (Deut. 26:1-4; 10)

God’s deliverance demands our best response (vv. 2, 10)

++God’s deliverance demands we recognize that God has given all we have (vv. 2-3, 10, 11)

++Our offering publicly declares the depth of our gratefulness (vv. 2-3, 10)

Take a moment and share with someone near to you some good that God has done for you.

God’s grace demands response: the response of humility.

Douglas J. Moo

God is so vastly wonderful, so utterly and completely delightful that He can, without anything other than Himself, meet and overflow the deepest demands of our total nature, mysterious and deep as that nature is.2

A. W. Tozer

A Grateful Response to God’s Deliverance Leads to Joyful Celebration (Deut. 26:11)

The impact on others joy depends on the depth of our response

++Full appreciation of God's goodness ignites boundless, shared joy

In celebration the high and the mighty regain their balance, and the weak and lowly receive new stature. Who can be high or low at the festival of God?

Richard J. Foster

Let’s take a moment and sing a song as the worship team and deacons come up in preparation for the Communion table, a celebration of God’s Savior for us.

“Blessed Be the Name”

God's Deliverance Demands a Grateful Response that lead to joyful celebration.

Such [gratitude] requires repentance; it demands a lessening of our characteristic self-focus. To put it positively, it demands an increase in our love, our love for God and our love for others.

D. A. Carson

1 Cor. 11, Communion

“So let a man examine himself”

“Eat and drink in a worthy Fashion”