Come on up. Choir, ladies and gentlemen, welcome everybody. We'll get started here in just a moment. I know you cancel this up during the week, but we are. Yes. Yes, we are. Yes. On church Sunday. Yes. You have to do it twice now. Excuse me. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Don't we have a nice looking choir? Yeah. And look at, look at Jack. Go ahead and stand up there. Yeah. Italian suit and everything. Yeah. We're glad to have the folk. We got new singers, Susana and Charles. They've been with us. We're glad. And I heard they sung, so we got them. In fact, Charles and Jack are going to sing a special later on today in addition to our wonderful choir. And we're sorry that Steve and Gloria are headed back to Tennessee this week so they'll be. They'll miss for a little bit on our choir. But anyway, we have some replacements and for that we're glad. And we're trying to circle up instead of line out so the sound is better. For those of you online, we'll see it. If, if it sounds bad, it's the mic because in house it sounds like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but it's the Tabernacle Choir. Here we go. We're going to sing what a friend we have in Jesus Stand together. Let's sing all three verses. Thank you. God in prayer oh what peace we often forget oh what needless pain we bear oh because we do not care Everything to God in prayer number two. Heavenly trials and temptations Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged Take it to the Lord in prayer can we find a prince of faithful who will all our sorrow share? Jesus knows our every week Take it to the Lord in prayer Are we weak and heavy with the Lord of care Precious Savior still are re Take it to the Lord in prayer to thy prince despise forsake thee Take it to the Lord in prayer in his arms he'll take and she thou wilt find us all as Let me lead us in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for the friend we have in Jesus. We rejoice in it and just ask that in every way we might be encouraged this Thanksgiving week for the good things that are happening both in our lives, our church, our nation, our families, and we're blessed with these. And as we we think of some of the things that may burden us down, we just take those to the Lord in prayer and we rejoice in the friendship that we have in the Lord who allows us to come boldly before the throne of Grace to find mercy and grace to help in time of need. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. God bless you. You may be seated. You as well, singers. Thanks for everyone for being here today. I'm glad you are here on this Thanksgiving week and we are going to say happy Thanksgiving to you today. We had our meal a few weeks ago, you know, so. So that we could gear up for a second round this Thursday. And I hope each one of you have a place to go and a wonderful thing. You know there are plenty of people in our church family who are. Who are cooking and would have an extra seat at the table. If you are looking for a place to go, you just let me know and I'll send the alert around and I'll see. Just let me know. Do you like cornbread stuffing or Yankee stuffering Or stuffing or dressing? Which you know, I gotta choose according to the dressing, the stuffing, the corn, whatever, you know. Cranberries. No cranberries. You got it. It'll be good. Shelly and I are going out of town. We will be out of town for the week but we'll be back here next Sunday. Going to have Thanksgiving with our parents, my parents. And look forward to that. And so there won't be a Wednesday night activity this week or any activities here. Brenda will be around holding down the church office. If you need anything, she will be back there. She's got a broom and a six shooter and she'll take care of anything that is needed. And a cat, a one eyed cat. We wanted to call him one eyed Jack but Jack looks so handsome in his suit that we kind of hated to go with it. So. By the way, do you all know Christina is the cat catcher? I don't know if we ever told the story. She's the one that caught the cat and brought him over and oh, I got Double things playing. Sorry. Those of you online who had two feeds going there, that was my. It may not have been very loud. Okay. I want to welcome you. Thanks for being here. Glad that each one of you are here. I think we're home folk today on this Thanksgiving. And so no introductions or coasters to hand out but we're going to have some good singing here. Why don't we stand, greet one another. We'll get back into singing and just have a good time worshiping and celebrating the accomplishment of the cross today on this Thanksgiving. Those of you online, glad you're here as well. Let's greet one another. Oh and needless pain we bear. All because we do not have breath Everything to God in prayer. Let's move on to hymn number 152. No, not one. You all remember this 152. No, not one. Let's see. What. What are we going to do? Let's sing 1, 2 and 5 of 152. There's not a friend like the Holy Jesus no, not one no, not one none else to heal our souls diseases no, not one no, not one Jesus knows all about our soul struggles he will die till the day is done there's not a friend like the Holy Jesus no, not one no, not one no friend like him is high and lowly no, not one no, not one and yet so friend is weak and lowly no, not one no, not one Jesus knows all about our struggles he will die till the day is done there's not a friend like the lowly Jesus no, not one no, not one on the last never give might the Savior given no, not one no, not one Will he refuse us a home in heaven no, not one no, not one Jesus knows all about our struggles he will die till the day is Son there's not a friend like the lonely Jesus no, not one no, not one and now just a couple pages over 154. No one ever cared For Me Like Jesus It's a beautiful song, a beautiful tune. And several in our choir didn't know it. How about you? 154, I think. 164. Yeah. Like I said, 164. Exactly. As it's in the bulletin. One hundred and sixty four is. No one ever cared for me like Jesus let's try it out. Since I found in him a friend so strong and true I would tell you how he changed my life completely but he did something that no other friend could do no one ever cared for me like Jesus there's no no other friend as kind as he no one else could take my sin and darkness from me oh, how much he cared for me on the second all my life was full of sin When Jesus found me all my heart was full Full of misery and woe Jesus placed his strong and loving arms around me and he led me in the way that I ought to go no one ever cared for me like Jesus there's no other friend so kindness no one else could take a sin in darkness from me oh, how much he cared for me Every day he comes to me with new assurance More and more I understand his words of love But I'll never know just why he came to save me Till Someday I see his blessed face above. No one ever cared for me like Jesus. There's no other friend so kind as he. No one else can take the sin and darkness from me. Know how much he cared for me. And then in the back of the hymnal number, 576. Give thanks, son. Give thanks with a grateful heart. Give thanks to the Holy One. Give thanks. Because he's given Jesus Christ his Son. And now let the we say I am strong. Let the poor say I am rich. Because of what the Lord has done for us. And now let the weak say I am strong. Let the poor say I am rich. He doesn't want the Lord has done for us. Give thanks. Give thanks. You know that it's got those kind of interesting words. Let the poor say. Let the weak say I am strong. Let the poor say I am rich. It actually comes from Isaiah, the prophet who is speaking of the millennium. When the Lord returns, that will be the day. The weak can say I'm strong. The poor can say I am rich. He will fix everything in that day, in this day, I'm sorry to tell you, you might still be a 98 pound weakling or you might still be poor. But we do have that to look forward to. When the weak can say I'm strong, the poor can say I am rich. Now let me see. Who needs congregation? You can be seated. How's that? I've got. Anybody need. Anybody need music? Everybody. Everybody got it. We're going to do a little special. I promised a few weeks ago, you know, we, we were going to use this song all month. And then last week we sang a different song. But we're going to use this song all month, this week and next week. Let's, let's, let's hit it. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. For he is good. Give thanks to the Lord for He is good for he is good. Give thanks to the Lord for He is good for he is good. His love endures forever. Everybody give thanks. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good for he is good. Give thanks to the Lord for He is good for he is good. Give thanks to the Lord for He is good for he is good. His love endures forever. His love will reign. His power will reign, his grace will his peace will reign. His love will reign. His peace will reign. His love endures forever. So everybody give thanks to the Lord for he is good for he is good. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good for he is good. Give thanks to the Lord for He Is good for he is good his love endures forever his love will reign his power will reign his grace will reign his peace will reign his love will reign his peace will reign his love endures forever his love endures forever his love endures forever. Amen. Amen. Choir, you may be seated. Thank you. And our missionary of the month, you remember that we are continuing through October, the basumentaries in Nepal. Leave that. You all using that mic, right? Yeah, Bring that. Bring that right back up here, Luca. Thank you. And we pray for them. As I'll also give an update. Our December missionaries who are here in November, Kevin and Beatrice and their kids made it yesterday to Oklahoma and wanted to express their gratitude here. They said one, they said this was such a friendly place, we felt like we were with family all week long. And then they said, and we were so glad to have a house and not live in the rv. They originally were planning on leaving after the weekend. And then they said, it's a bed. It's a real bed. And I said, you can sleep in it all week long. So they really enjoyed their stay here and appreciate that. We'll support them, of course, in December. Now, with that, let me lead us in a word of prayer and then give a little announcement about what's going on. Heavenly Father, thanks for our missionaries in Nepal. And we do pray that they're encouraged by what is taking place here in the prayers that we give for them and the offering that we will give to them and that need of a vehicle there. And we're grateful for the lifelong service that Kogan and his wife have given and ask you to encourage them today. And then for Kevin and Beatrice, we're grateful as well for that they are attempting to do in Mexico. And thank you for the encouragement we were able to be and prayerfully will be into the future. We're blessed by this. In Jesus name, Amen. Now, before we have an offering, first of all, one thing. Brittany, right? No, Brooklyn, thank you. I always try to get in the right letter of the Alphabet. Brooklyn is Christina's daughter and she's helped us in Bible school and things like that before. And she doesn't have a coaster that says America's greatest tiny church. And Brooklyn has a friend here whose name is Lily. Are you the Lily of the valley? The bright and morning star? And she needs a coaster, too, to remind her of her visit to America's greatest tiny church. They came in during the singing here, and I'm going to give them one of those in a moment. And then Yesterday, as we were practicing and finding out that Jack owned a suit. Actually, we didn't find out until they came in this morning. We're just all stunned. I told them the broadcast is 30 seconds delayed, but as soon as it catches up, the ladies are going to be rushing in. But anyway, and we have Charles and they started this little jam session and so we all voted and said, sing tomorrow. So they are singing. What are you singing? Hank Williams, I Saw the Light. Can't go wrong with that, can you? That'll be great for our offertory this morning. During this time, if you would like to give in the box back there, you can. Or you can give at any time. Charles. Jack, come take it away. You're not supposed to write your notes on the back because then they get all. Then you. They get all messed up and then you. And I wrote them in pencil. Then you can't see them. But I'll do the best I can. John 8:12. Jesus says, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness I wandered so aimless Life filled with sin I wouldn't let my dear Savior in Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night Praise the Lord I saw the light I saw the light I saw the light no more darkness, no more night Now I'm so happy no sorrow inside Praise the Lord I saw the light While just like a blind man I wandered alone Worries and fears I claimed for my own Then like a blind man that God gave back his sight Praise the Lord I saw the light I saw the light I saw the light no more darkness, no more night Now I'm so happy no sorrow inside Praise the Lord I saw the light I was a fool to wander and stray never for straight as the gate and narrows away Now I have traded the wrong for the right Praise the Lord I saw the light I saw the light I saw the light no more darkness, no more night Now I'm so happy no sorrow inside Praise the Lord I saw the light Praise the Lord I saw the light Amen. Amen. Thank you very much. I saw the light A little Hank Williams and Elvis Presley right there. And today we're going to the Book of Colossians and we've been in the Book of Colossians actually for a few weeks here. And we are today, it's a little four week mini series on sermons from the Book of Colossians. Happens to be in my newest book right here on Colossians, Understanding the mystery. Colossians, chapter one, verses 20 through 20. Three last week, actually, we looked at the verses just preceding. This is not a series going all the way through the book of Colossians. I wanted to pick a few that we're encouraging for the month of November. Colossians got a lot of encouraging stuff in it. And so we're going today to Colossians. And the picture I've got here is a. I don't know, let's call that paradise here. It's a fake picture of paradise and a future paradise. We're talking today on this Thanksgiving week about being thankful for the Cross of all the blessings that are ours. Wouldn't you agree with me that the cross of Jesus Christ, the completed work of Christ, the accomplishment of the Cross, is that which we're bound to be more thankful for than anything if we stop to think about it? I'm thankful for a lot of things through the days and through the years. I'm thankful that Snow Joe made a battery powered snow shovel that will get it off. I'm thankful for rubber boots on a snowy day. I'm thankful for charcuterie trays on Wednesday nights. You know, a lot of things that I'm thankful for. And I'm thankful for good singers and wonderful church and all the things that we could talk about. I better include my wife there. I'm thankful for my wife. She cooks and cleans and she doesn't smoke and doesn't chew. So I went with her. That was a little bit of a. Yeah. Wow. I didn't. That didn't work very well, did it? Flowers coming today. But of all the things you and I would all agree, the work of the cross outshines them all. The gift that is ours. And so I want us to think fully about the accomplishment of the Cross. I put the picture of paradise because I think sometimes we think of the cross just in individual terms. And I think we ought to think of it more in, if I can say so, in cosmic terms, that the cross accomplishes a lot more than just paying the price for the salvation that is offered to you and me? And so let's broaden this out. Grateful for the salvation that's offered by to you and me because of the forgiveness that is given through the cross. But let's broaden this out and look at the whole thing. And let's go to Colossians, chapter 1, verse 20, which speaks of Jesus Christ, the one whom last week we saw, it pleased the Father, that in him should all fullness dwell. And in verse 20, then it says, and having made peace through the blood of the cross. By Him. To reconcile what? All things. To reconcile all things unto Himself by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. That's what I want to consider. And so we've got this picture of all things being reconciled here. That is not a very good picture. I. Every now and then I pick the picture and then I realize it looks kind of pixelated when I actually get it on the big screen. Maybe you can see it. Can you tell that's Ponce de Leon? Yeah. Our friend Juan, Juan Ponce de Leon, there he is in Florida and his crew there searching for the fountain of youth. There has always been a desire, has there not, to find the fountain of youth. We thought it was in the Oil of Olay bottle. One thought it was in Florida somewhere. Always looking for that renewal, that paradise that we can fix everything. And we've always a little bit taken the idea. It's probably dumb thinking, but we've taken the idea if we could just not die so soon, then we could fix things. We'd figure it out. So we had the fountain of youth and we would be able to build the perfect society and everything would be wonderful. But we keep on dying. About the time we figure things out, we die. There's the problem. So we just gotta fix that problem and start living instead of dying. Well, I think probably that you would agree with me that even if we could live 3, 4, 5, 6, 700 years, however long it is, in fact, we've got some testimony that when you go back into the early days of scripture, of people, you know, methuselah, for example, 969 years. And yet when Methuselah died and he lived in a day when people lived, you know, in the 900 years when he died, the world was in such a mess, God decided to clean it up with a flood. So I don't think just finding the fountain of youth is going to give us time to overcome our mistakes. We might be just as dumb as ever and keep on doing the same dumb things over and over and over again. So that's not. That's. That's not going to restore all things. Have you. Have you heard? I don't. I've seen his name, but I don't remember it. And one of you might, the billionaire that spends like several million dollars a year trying to become young again. Some tech billionaire. You guys know what I'm talking about? All of them. All of them. Yeah, that's right. There is one. He's kind of freakish, okay, But Anyway, he spends millions of dollars a year on all sorts of things to try. He's trying to become the age of his son, biologically the age of his son. I think so far, in millions and millions of dollars, he's taken off three months of his life. He's going to live three months longer in a vegetative state. But he looks like he's had plastic surgery. So anyway, there might be somebody's uncle or something. I should be nice. It's not going to work. That's not going to solve the problem. So again, back into verse 20. Having made peace, this is what the Lord did. Having made peace through the blood of his cross. There is and was some kind of non peace. And he made peace. And he did it through the blood of his cross. He didn't do it through education. He didn't do it through negotiation, whatever. Carry a big stick. Speak softly and carry a big stick. All the things you could do to make peace, which sometimes we have to do in the world. He didn't do that. He made peace through the blood of his cross. But the peace is not, say, peace in the Ukraine or peace in the Middle east, whatever it is. The peace is the reconciliation, if you will, of all things. Things set apart. I think you've probably noticed that we have a world today which really is not at peace. I've already mentioned the couple spots of warfare in the world. But even if you took those away, it's not a world that is in peaceful harmony. You wake up at night and you hear the neighbor's cats fighting, whatever it is, and you're reminded this world is not at harmony. You drive along and you see a car accident or what had been an accident, and you say, oh, there was a tragedy here. There was something bad that happened here. It's not at peace. You see a hospital and you say, this is not a world at peace. You see the difficulties in relationships or whatever it may be, and you know that things are not set at peace yet. But he has made it. He has made peace through the blood of the cross by him that is in the death, burial and resurrection, or the accomplishment of the cross. To reconcile. Again, I want you to say it. To reconcile what? That's not exactly what I wanted you to say. But it must be what I told you to say, because you all said it. But to reconcile all things, that's what I want. All things. That's what it says. All things. Not just to reconcile me. That's wonderful, but it's a little. I'm not the center of the universe. Shelley tells me that sometimes you didn't have to add that, but to reconcile all things to himself. Now, why did things need to be reconciled to himself? Let's consider a couple of things that would come in and I'm not. I'm going to. You'll have to either look in your Bible or trust me on this. But Genesis, chapter three, you may remember that's when things started turning bad. In chapters one and two, everything is good in the book of Genesis. Genesis, chapter three. You have the serpent, you have the fruit, you have them cast out of the garden. Everything is bad in chapter three, verse 17. Then there is. It's in the context of a curse being placed upon all things. But go to again. In chapter three, verse 17, it says unto Adam, he says, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and has eaten the tree of which I commanded thee, saying thou shall not eat of it. It says, then cursed is the ground. Cursed is the ground, or cursed is the ground for thy sake? In sorrow shall thou eat of it all the days of thy life. It's encouraging on this Thanksgiving week, isn't it? But let's take that cursed is the ground. That means if all things are going to be restored or reconciled, to use the word that is, or given peace, made peace. No, it is reconciled. He made peace by him to reconcile all things. I think we're going to have to start with the ground. The ground is fighting against us. Wouldn't you agree? If you're a gardener, you would agree. If you're a yard man, you would agree that it just works against you. A garden, a productive garden or a beautiful garden is not a natural thing. You're going to work by the sweat of your brow to try to make it happen and to try to stay one step ahead of it. Why? Is that the way God intended things to be? No, there's a tending of the garden of Eden that Adam was to go out and do, but he also had time, as he's tending the garden of Eden, he had time to name all the animals and to realize, I need a wife. So there's a little extra time in there to carry out. And after this there is the curse that is given on the ground. Genesis 3:17. Now Romans chapter 8, verse 22 adds a little to this or confirms this when Romans 8:22 says that all of creation now is groaning under the curse. So it goes from the ground in 3:17. And we suspected all of creation, but it's voiced for us in Romans 8:22, all of creation is under the curse. Things aren't working right. You know, I'm glad I like. I guess the older I get, the more I like things like physics and chemistry. I didn't used to like them, and nor did I understand them, nor did I care anything about them, but I kind of like it now, especially the physical sciences. Okay, that this works. Electrons do this. And, you know, I'm not very good at it, but you catch a little bit of grasp and it says, whoa, this is awesome. The way God created our world and the way it all works in this great harmony. I was working on a lesson this week for John Nelson Darby Academy students in biology and about, I don't know, fifth grade or something like that. That's my level. And was talking about the little signals. Signals, that is, the cells give. They have some sort of cell phone and they're able to pass a signal on to within the cell and around the cell to get this message out that this is what you have to do. And then they take up the message and they begin to do those things. And we've been able to look at this under microscope, of course, and figure out, hey, this is what's happening. Can't totally explain it all, but you look at that and you say, wow, this is an amazing universe. And yet there's also that thing. Was it Newton, with the second law of thermodynamics? I think that meant it's going to die eventually, it's going to fall apart, it's breaking down. And that becomes rather obvious just looking in the mirror, that this is happening, this is breaking through. So this beautiful world we have is still the creation of God, but also fallen apart. And eventually to reconcile all things unto himself. It goes on all things, I say, whether things in earth or things in heaven. Let me, let me. We've been talking about the universe, about the physical world, but let me camp just a little bit on the word things, to reconcile all things. Now, many of you, through the blood of Jesus Christ, have been reconciled unto him. He offers reconciliation. Paul says that he has reconciled the world unto himself. And then he gives the plea, I guess you would say, when he says, be ye reconciled to God. That is, God has opened the door. Why don't you accept it? Why don't you go through it? Why don't you take that gift? Why don't you be reconciled? So many of you have been reconciled to God. How many of you consider yourself a thing? I mean, technically you are right, but we don't call ourselves a thing unless we want to be in trouble. You know, Shelley, maybe sometimes. Okay, does say, you know that thing over there in the driver's seat? It's rare. But we wouldn't call unless it's super sarcasm or utter hatred. We wouldn't refer to a person as a thing. Now, there are other passages we could go to, like 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, for example, that talk about the peace and reconciliation God gives with people. But you have to. I mean, you look at your Bible and I suspect it doesn't matter what version you're using. It says to reconcile all things, not all people, but all things go to somewhere else. For the people, we are a thing, and so we're included in the thing world. But here it really does want to emphasize things. He's going to reconcile things. So what Ponce de Leon was searching for and hoping for, and maybe you and I are too, what we desire is that, hey, I wish that we could fix all the things in this world. The things are messed up. The government's messed up. The education system is messed up. The family is messed up. When he says things in the earth or things in heaven, you go back up a few verses and it says in verse 17, before him all things. Let's see, he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And in that passage somewhere there, it talks about, oh, the previous verse. Thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, all things. So the things has to include thrones, dominions, principalities, powers. Has there? I am not. Well, I might be a better student of world history than some of you, but I'm no expert on world history. I know presidential history pretty well because that's what I listen to on audiobooks. It's presidential history. I haven't found one yet that was perfect in everything. Is there a world government down through the ages that has been perfect? I'm thinking not. We haven't got there, have we? Always trying to recreate, shift, fix or mess up. Dominions, principalities, powers, all things. He's going to fix all things. By the way, since post election season now, we sometimes do think the next election will fix all things and then doesn't take very long. We figure out, oh, that one's not going to be fixed this cycle around, we'll have to look for another one every now and then. However, I find I think most of us recognize, you know, all you can do is what you can do and you try to make a little forward progress and try to do it well. If you're A governmental leader. But every now and then I find someone who seems to have the mindset that Joe Biden can't fix things, Donald Trump can't fix things. Therefore I'm voting for Jesus. My only word is quit being stupid. Pardon me. Jackson's not here today, so I can say it. Jesus is going to fix all things, but in the meantime, he's left it under our dominion. It's ours to fix, to deal with. We look forward to the day when ultimately he fixes all of these things. So back to verse 20. Reconcile all things to himself, whether things in earth or things in heaven. There is a little bit in which we have to say some of the struggles that are going to happen in life or do happen in life. We're just going to say that's part of the world that we live in under the curse. It's not going to go away until the one who made peace comes and will set it all straight. He will recognize, excuse me, reconcile all things. He will fix all things. And he's able to do it by the blood of the cross. Because the biggest thing that you and I have to deal with is death, isn't it? And just ask Ponce de Leon there. The biggest thing gotta deal with is death. The only thing left of Ponce de Leon is a neighborhood in Atlanta. I think other than that, you know, he's dead and gone. So what are we going to do? We need someone who has dealt with death and conquered it. So in the cross, one of the accomplishments of the cross, as we're looking at one of the things I am thankful for, that all of the created order, someday is going to be fixed. Your rickety, tickety knee, it will be fixed someday. Your dementia someday will be fixed. The government someday will be fixed. The roads someday will be fixed, maybe even paved with gold, who knows? There is an ultimate fix. There's a little bit in the in between, right in the here and now. You and I kind of have to deal with it, but I think it's encouraging to know ultimately he is going to fix it. I'm looking forward to the coming of the king, when he will fix it. Okay, let's go on and see the. As it comes down to more of a human portion of it, here we have Rembrandt's picture of the prodigal son. You remember the story, of course, he ran off, fed the pigs, eventually said, my father's servants do better than I, and he came home. We see that's not the story of verse 21, but we see It a little bit because he moves from things in verse 22. In verse 21. And you. Ah, now I can definitely include myself. You, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works. Yet now he hath reconciled. So he reconciles all things. You, some of you. He is reconciled now, or he has reconciled and he's offering that reconciliation to anyone and everyone. Like the prodigal son. Sometime alienated and enemies in your mind. I bet if we went through the room here today, we could have some doozies of a testimony about you talking about your alienation and enemy stage of life. Those times when you were fighting against God, you were fighting against everything good and holy and wonderful. Mom and apple pie. Everything. You were against it all. You were alienated in enemies. Now, the alienated part, I think we have to admit. Alienated means, you know, we're separated. I think we have to admit that one, we were alienated from God when we were born in this earth because this earth was separated. Adam got cast out of the Garden of Eden and God put some seraphim there, guarding the entrance to, let's say, the presence of God. The place where there was no curse we couldn't get back in. And so we were born in the wrong place is our problem here. We were alienated and separated from him, but then some of us made ourselves to be, I think we could probably say all of us at one point or another, whether it was for a half hour or half our life, we made ourselves to be enemies with Him. We decided we were going to set things against God. And he speaks to the Colossians who had been in that point. And you, who are sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, does kind of start up there, doesn't it? Enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he hath reconciled. So as we come together this week as Americans and grateful for all the. All the things that are ours and the benefits that are ours, and we say, okay, there's still some things that have to be fixed, but if the next administration doesn't fix them, God will. We'll save it. It's out there. And yet then it does come down and say, hey, where am I? Have I already been reconciled? Can I have a reconciliation with God today? It's kind of nice to lay your head down at night and know that you're not enemies with God anymore. Right? Remember the old prayer? I don't know where this came from. Now I. Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my Soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Remember that one. One of the earliest prayers that we memorize. Somebody should look up the history of that. If we know, who knows? They probably made up the history of it, because they don't know. But anyway, that, you know, if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. It is a possibility that we're going to die before the day's out, before the week's out, whatever it may be. I am kind of glad that I don't have to pray exactly that way. I pray the Lord my soul to take. That sort of sounds like, you know, I got my fingers crossed. I sure hope if I die, he takes me, because I can say, okay, I was born alienated. There are times when even in my mind, I was an enemy in my works. I was an enemy with God. But I know that he has given me this gift through the blood of the cross that reconciled me unto him. And I have received that reconciliation. It's mine by grace through faith, not of works. I just said, I'll take it, and I trust in that. So maybe we could even say, those of us who've had that experience, you know, now I lay me down to sleep, I know the Lord my soul will keep. If I should die before I wake, I know the Lord my soul will take that he will receive me unto himself. And there's that rejoicing because no longer alienated, no longer enemies, and that was something that I couldn't do. I could take care of the enemy part. Okay. You know, have you ever met an enemy of God? Yeah. You have? You know, they just hate God. That's something they're going to have to work on. They're going to have to get over. The alienation, however, is something that only God can fix. I sometimes use the illustration of Australia, and I'm not sure it's the best illustration, but, you know, Australia was, by the Anglo Saxons anyway, inhabited by prisoners. They sent them off to Australia because they couldn't get away. So if you are the great, great, great, great grandson of an Australian prisoner, does that make you guilty of his sins? No, but it makes you born in Australia. And how are you going to get off Australia? Something's going to have to come in and get you. You're stuck there till it comes. And get. That's. That's really the gospel is somewhat like that. I was alienated, born separate. There's no way I could get back into the garden of Eden, I needed someone to come in and get me to rescue me. And that's what the Lord has done. He came to this earth and he said, all penalties are paid for by the blood of his cross. The blood of his cross takes care of the curse of the world, the curse upon mankind, the curse of death, you know, everything. And the curse of separation. He says, okay, I'm going to bring you back now here. I obviously I'm still here. I'm still separated. I'm not in the throne room of God. I'm not in glory yet. And so I know, however, because of the gift that I have placed my faith in, that that's where I'm going to be. So you who are sometime alienated and enemies, back to the picture here you know the story of the course of the prodigal son. And the prodigal son made himself an enemy of his dad. His dad wasn't mad at him. His dad was generous to him. His dad was a blessing to him. Dad says, okay, you're old enough now. Whatever it is you want to do, go do it. His dad was gracious enough to him to keep the door open, to pray. He came back to look out on the way to see his wandering, weary child come back. And it was that son who somewhere along the way had to decide, I need to go back to God and I'm going to make it. I think on this Thanksgiving week, we can rejoice. Not only is the door open, but we can rejoice that God has made the ability for us to say, it's time for me to go back. That's what I'm going to do. Let's go on to verse 22. And in verse 22 we see a little bit about how he, the Lord made peace. And there's a picture. El Greco. You remember El Greco, the Spaniard? Okay, he was a Greek that moved to Spain and they called him El Greco is his nickname. Does anyone, any art connoisseurs remember his name? Like something Daddy Dicus or It's a, strangely enough, a Greek name. It's so big that we call him El Greco. Okay, here's his painting of Christ carrying the cross. That goes along with verse 2022. So let me back up to get the beginning of the sentence. Having made peace through the blood of his cross, now jump down to verse 20:22. In the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. So the Lord came in the flesh. There's this physical nature, it emphasizes why we celebrate, as we go into the Christmas season here, why we celebrate the incarnation of the Lord. Why do we celebrate God became flesh and dwelt among us? Because it was again in verse 22, it was in the body of his flesh. Why, as later on Easter comes along, will we celebrate Or Good Friday? Maybe I should say, why do we even call that Friday good? The day that he offered himself up as a sacrifice for all. The day that he gave his life. One of the things I think you and I have to be thankful for is that God came as a human. God came through His Son, Jesus Christ, and bodily. He walked where we are, Scripture says, tempted in all ways as we are, yet without sin. We see the humanity of Jesus through and through, from the Nativity story all the way through the death of Jesus Christ. And we see Jesus being obedient. This last Wednesday night, in the Gospel of Mark, we talked about that time in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus says, hey, if there's a way this cup could pass me by, let's do that. Let's go a different route. But then he says, not my will, but Thine be done. And he is obedient even unto death. So as we celebrate, we celebrate and think of things to be thankful for. For the cross. We're grateful that all things are going to be fixed. Not just my soul, but my soul, my mind, my body, the world around me. It's all going to be fixed. Let me back up to that just a little bit. I kind of. Not in a sinful way, but in a. I'll even call it a godly way. I love this world. I love a beautiful sunset. I love a beautiful sunrise, especially when they come at the right time of the day. I love a starry night when the clouds are open and clear. You know, I kind of. I tend to want to take the garbage out at night because at my house, you have to drive to the. To the dumpster. And at my house, I got trees all around. But if I go at night to the dumpster, Luca can tell you you have to stop after you've put your trash in there and just look a while. I should start taking a lawn chair because it's out in the broad open and you can see the Milky Way. And you can see other things, too, right? Luke is more of an astronomer than I did. He can tell you what they are. You see all this stuff. It's just so. My point is, I love the world. I love the mountains. I love the Desert, you know, I love the beach. I love. You name it. I think, whoa, that's beautiful. That's cool. That's neat, all that stuff. There's a few places, maybe. I've questioned it, but it's a cool world we live in, isn't it? And I haven't enjoyed all of it yet, and I want to enjoy all of it yet. And I. I think there's this thing called amillennialism in theology. Amillennialism just says someday Jesus is going to come back. He's going to take the Christians to heaven, send everybody else to hell and blow this place to smithereens, and we'll spend the rest of the time in heaven or in hell. I don't like that view. One, because I don't think it lines up with Scripture. But two, because this is the created order. This is the stuff that God gave to us. And I want to enjoy it a little bit more. I want to see it in all of its glory. I want to see it restored and be able to enjoy. And I want. So I want my life, my health, my mind, and my world around me all to be perfect. And I know that the Lord is able to do this because he came in the body of his flesh through his death. And because of that, the end of verse 22, he can present you and me, holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. How many of you today would say, in and of yourself, you are holy, unblameable and unreprovable. Bunch of sinners. How many of you in Christ would say, I'm holy, I'm unblameable, I'm unreprovable because Christ is my righteousness. Yeah. All across the room. So there's that substitution that takes place. He came in the flesh to give me his spirit, so to speak. He came in the flesh to give me his righteousness. And now I stand complete in him, as we talked about a few weeks ago. Now let's go on to verse 23, and we've got a picture here. Ah, this is Pilgrim's Progress. Any of you ever read Pilgrim's Progress? Yeah. Okay. You had to, right? No, I started to. Oh, you started to. Yeah. And then it got. Woo. Yeah. The Cliff Notes. Part one is more interesting than part two. And I used to quote it every now and then. Things from the Pilgrim's Progress because I thought it made you look scholarly. You know, John Bunyan wrote it in whatever, 1500s, and it's this great Christian classic. And so you're A better preacher. If you quote Pilgrim's Progress. And so you know the guy in Pilgrim's Progress, you remember his name? Christian. It's an easy one to remember. It's an allegory. Is that. That's the right word, isn't it? Allegory. It's an allegory. And Christian goes through all of these struggles before he makes it to, let's say, liberty. It's his progress. But when I read it now, as a grace person, I say, man, he's got a lot of works in there. He should have got the cross at the beginning. But, you know, there's some things. Obviously, people go through that kind of journey and whatnot, but there's a lot of works in Pilgrim's Progress, I guess would be my. If I was to rewrite it, I would work on that. Do you know that Robinson Caruso, remember that one? Who's the author? Stevens. Robert Louis Stevens. Stevens or Stevenson? Stevenson. Robert Louis Stevenson. I hope I got my story right here. I'm pretty sure I do. Robert Louis Stevenson was dared by his brother. I bet you can't write a novel better than Treasure Island. And so he wrote Robinson Caruso. So I don't know, maybe when I'm old, someone can dare me to write one better than Pilgrim's Progress. It's just a thought out there. Maybe I should just dare you and then I'll read it. Okay. And tell you if you did it or not. Both are pretty good novels. You should listen to them on audiobook. Okay, now going on in verse 23. So to present you holy and blameless, verse 22. If ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you have heard and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, under which I, Paul, am made a minister. Now, wouldn't you agree in that verse 23? That is a great big if. If you continue, then he'll present you holy and unblameable. But I asked you guys a little bit ago, are you holy and unblameable in Christ? Has Christ given you the righteousness? You all agreed with me, but here it says if you continue. Now, I'm sure you've continued up to this day, but I have doubts about tomorrow. Are you going to be able to continue that? Definitely. There's a form in Greek in which if can be understood as a sense, but not here. This is definitely an if. If you continue in the faith, grounded and settled. Let's just stop right there. So here is this goal if you get there, kind of like Pilgrim, as William Blake put in the. He had a bunch of illustrations for the book there as Pilgrim's Progress, as it goes. You know, if you continue, if you continue, if you continue, you will be there. And then it says, let me back up again to verse 22. Then he will present you. I think we're looking at this wrong. I think that we look at this to say, if you are good and faithful all the way to the end, at the awards ceremony, he will call the names of those who have made it holy, unblameable, unreprovable, call them up to stand here, and then all the other people give them a good hand. They made it. Sorry about you guys. You didn't. Now, depending on what your theology then is for the people in the audience, you might say, either they're going to hell, or you might say, well, they're going to heaven, but they're not going to have crowns, they're not going to have rewards. They're left out of it. These are the really good ones up here. But wouldn't you agree that that doesn't really sound like a gift that God gave that made us all complete in him? So I think we've got this presentation idea messed up because it is our. We're thinking of an award ceremony, of a presentation. I should have brought one of my most treasured possessions that I have in my office, don't I? On the floor, a certificate from the third grade when I was presented an award for most congenial. Most congenial in my class. Do any of you have that kind of award? That's what I thought. I have my. I'm going to. I don't even hang my diplomas. I think they're in the garage somewhere. But I have my certificate as most congenial signed by Ms. Blevins to present you. Holy. We kind of think of it like getting this most congenial award. The word present is really a word. It's paristimai, if you care about the Greek. Istemi is to stand. Par is next to. Like a paramedic comes next to the doctors, paralegal comes next to the lawyers. Paristimai is you come next to the one standing. I think we ought to look at this to say, you know what our Lord would like? He would like in eternity just to say, come over here by me. Come stand by me. Let's do this eternity thing together. Not an award that we work to earn, but a real blessing of maybe even like Peter James and John, say, hey, hey, come, come close. I want to. I want to give you a hug. I want to put my arm around you. I want to give you a high five, whatever it is, to say, well done, good and faithful servant. That's what the Lord wants out of that. And that ought to motivate us a little bit to say, okay, you know what? I want to continue. I want to keep working at this. It's not always easy. You know, today's tough, tomorrow's easy, today's easy, tomorrow's tough, whatever it is. But I want to continue to go on. And I think we can rejoice that there is that ability to continue to keep working. So as we think of the cross, we can say this Thanksgiving week, I'm thankful that all things are going to be restored. I'm thankful that all of us who are alienated, some even made themselves enemies in their minds by their works, they have the opportunity for this. I'm thankful that this was taken care of in the body of Jesus Christ, that he came physically and fixed the problem for me. And I am thankful that, hey now, he gives me the strength, I can walk in him and someday be called up alongside him and be able to walk in the righteousness of God by the strength that he has given me and the grace that has been mine. And that is all a pretty good blessing this Thanksgiving week. Amen. Let me lead us in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thanks for your goodness to us. Thanks for sending your only begotten son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. We're grateful for the blood of Jesus Christ, the body of Jesus, as he has come in the flesh, in the body to take care of a curse. And as we struggle with all the things of this cursed world, danger and disease and crime. And just as on and on we could go as we struggle with all this. Dear Heavenly Father, we look forward to the day in which the Lord comes and serves as King of kings and Lord of Lords and fixes. All this and all things are indeed not only just spiritually, but physically reconciled unto himself. When lambs and lions and oxes and wolves and children and poisonous snakes will all lay down together, play together, a child will lead them. All these beautiful images that we see in the Old Testament of the world that is to come. We know that we can look forward to that day, and so we're encouraged on this day and this Thanksgiving week. We pray it as we pray for safety for anyone who's traveling and friends and family of ours that will travel as well and just a joyous and safe holiday. We ask in Jesus name. Amen. Thanks for being here today once again. We won't have Wednesday night service this week, but we'll be back next Sunday both 9:45 and 10:45 and look forward to seeing you there. God Bless each one of you for being here and Happy Thanksgiving to you. You are dismissed. Sa.