Thanksgiving Eve 2020

It’s hard to be thankful after this dumpster fire of a year we’ve had. And yet, there are still ways that God has blessed and cared for us this year. Join us as we slow down, push pause on the worries and plans, and remember what God has done for us in 2020.

  • 00:00:01
    Hi, I'm Kyle. Welcome to Crossroads
  • 00:00:03
    Thanks for joining us for a Thanksgiving experience.
  • 00:00:05
    Thanksgiving is one of those times of the year
  • 00:00:07
    where it's so critical and so important,
  • 00:00:09
    particularlly in years like this one,
  • 00:00:11
    years where so many things are different
  • 00:00:14
    and it's harder sometimes
  • 00:00:15
    to find things to be grateful for.
  • 00:00:17
    But we believe there's power in pausing
  • 00:00:20
    and practicing gratitude together
  • 00:00:22
    Now, speaking of different, what you're about to watch
  • 00:00:24
    is going to look different
  • 00:00:26
    than what you can see around you right now.
  • 00:00:28
    Because this episode is one that we think has incredible power,
  • 00:00:32
    but it was filmed before the pandemic.
  • 00:00:34
    Remember before you had to wear a mask everywhere
  • 00:00:36
    and you could actually sit
  • 00:00:37
    closer than 6 feet next to each other?
  • 00:00:38
    Yeah, it was filmed then.
  • 00:00:40
    But the reason we're bringing it to you is because
  • 00:00:42
    there's an amazing experience in here that you're going to learn
  • 00:00:45
    An experience that Brian has done with his family for decades
  • 00:00:48
    that holds incredible power in gratitude
  • 00:00:51
    and may very well may become a family tradition for you.
  • 00:00:54
    Not only is it for this year, but for many, many to come.
  • 00:00:58
    Let's get started.
  • 00:01:03
    You know, we're doing this because
  • 00:01:05
    we want our Thanksgivings to be better.
  • 00:01:08
    We want them to be different.
  • 00:01:09
    We don't just want the same old, same old and gorge on Turkey
  • 00:01:12
    and have tryptophan overload and all the rest the stuff. Right?
  • 00:01:15
    We want to connect with God.
  • 00:01:17
    So we're giving you real things
  • 00:01:19
    you can do to start new traditions.
  • 00:01:23
    Well, hey, my name is Brian Tome.
  • 00:01:26
    It's great to be with you today here at my house.
  • 00:01:28
    And I've got some friends, family members,
  • 00:01:31
    and colleagues around the table
  • 00:01:32
    that we'll be talking with them in a little bit.
  • 00:01:34
    We're doing something a little different.
  • 00:01:36
    Well, it's different for me.
  • 00:01:38
    It may be very different for you.
  • 00:01:40
    It's called Thanksgiving Eve.
  • 00:01:42
    You might be saying, "Thanksgiving Eve?
  • 00:01:44
    What is Thanksgiving Eve?
  • 00:01:46
    I've heard of Christmas.
  • 00:01:47
    I've heard of Christmas Eve.
  • 00:01:48
    Why Thanksgiving Eve?"
  • 00:01:50
    Well, we invented it here at Crossroads.
  • 00:01:51
    Yes, we actually --
  • 00:01:52
    someone else might have been doing it for a while.
  • 00:01:54
    But we have been doing this at Crossroads
  • 00:01:56
    for many, many, many, many years.
  • 00:01:58
    Thanksgiving is really probably my favorite holiday.
  • 00:02:00
    Of all the holidays,
  • 00:02:01
    it's one holiday that hasn't been commercialized.
  • 00:02:05
    And it's one holiday that has deep, intensive roots.
  • 00:02:08
    So why not just celebrate Thanksgiving
  • 00:02:11
    when we can also celebrate Thanksgiving Eve?
  • 00:02:14
    And we're going to do something right now
  • 00:02:16
    that I think is going to be helpful to you,
  • 00:02:17
    helpful to all of us.
  • 00:02:18
    And even if you're just watching right now,
  • 00:02:21
    if you do this tomorrow on Thanksgiving
  • 00:02:24
    or New Year's Eve or Christmas Eve,
  • 00:02:27
    I promise you you're going to have a more meaningful holiday
  • 00:02:31
    than you normally do.
  • 00:02:32
    So let me give us a scripture.
  • 00:02:34
    The scripture is 1 Thessalonians 1:2.
  • 00:02:37
    It says this:.
  • 00:02:38
    We give thanks to God always
  • 00:02:42
    for all of you constantly mentioning you in our prayers.
  • 00:02:49
    We give thanks to God.
  • 00:02:51
    They give thanks.
  • 00:02:52
    Well, why isn't it like we think thanks, we meditate thanks,
  • 00:02:57
    we philosophize thanks, we have thanks?
  • 00:03:01
    Give thanks.
  • 00:03:02
    To give something is assuming
  • 00:03:05
    there is an object or an entity who is to receive it.
  • 00:03:10
    That's what Thanksgiving is.
  • 00:03:12
    We are giving thanks to the One
  • 00:03:15
    who is worthy of receiving thanks, and that's God.
  • 00:03:18
    And we're going to try to remember today the things
  • 00:03:21
    that God has done in our life over the last year.
  • 00:03:26
    And we're going to celebrate that
  • 00:03:27
    and we're going to thank God for it.
  • 00:03:29
    We're going to thank each other for it.
  • 00:03:30
    And in the midst of it,
  • 00:03:32
    we're going to have something
  • 00:03:33
    that's going to actually overflow.
  • 00:03:35
    We've been doing this in my family
  • 00:03:37
    for, gosh, probably 20 years.
  • 00:03:40
    It centers around this vase right here.
  • 00:03:43
    This vase is a family keepsake.
  • 00:03:48
    It says engraved on this Waterford crystal,
  • 00:03:53
    "Only in America. Gee, aren't we lucky?".
  • 00:03:57
    Gee, aren't we lucky,
  • 00:04:00
    that's how an old friend of mine used to talk.
  • 00:04:02
    Not quite that dorky.
  • 00:04:03
    It's has the initials CHL, which is Carl Henry Lindner.
  • 00:04:09
    Carl Lindner was the, I don't know,
  • 00:04:13
    just a very wealthy philanthropist in Cincinnati.
  • 00:04:17
    He owned the Cincinnati Reds.
  • 00:04:19
    A primary shareholder in Great American Financial
  • 00:04:22
    and Chiquita Banana, and a whole bunch of other things.
  • 00:04:24
    And I got the blessing to go to his 80th birthday party.
  • 00:04:27
    I'm not sure exactly how I did,
  • 00:04:29
    but I got to go to his 80th birthday party.
  • 00:04:31
    And Carl is like the only guy
  • 00:04:33
    when someone comes to his birthday party,
  • 00:04:35
    he gives them gifts.
  • 00:04:36
    So he gave all the guys cufflinks
  • 00:04:40
    and all the ladies this vase.
  • 00:04:43
    "Only in America.
  • 00:04:45
    Gee, aren't we lucky?"
  • 00:04:46
    I know his sons would often times talk to him and say,
  • 00:04:49
    "Dad, we're not lucky, we're blessed.
  • 00:04:52
    We're blessed. We didn't just hit the lotto.
  • 00:04:54
    God has been smiling on us.
  • 00:04:55
    He's blessing us.
  • 00:04:56
    It's something to give thanks to God for."
  • 00:05:00
    So what we've done is we've taken this vase
  • 00:05:03
    and we put it in the center of our table.
  • 00:05:06
    And we go round and as we give thanks
  • 00:05:10
    we take a little water and we pour it in.
  • 00:05:12
    And most the time we have little itty bitty teacups
  • 00:05:16
    that trace way back to Lib's grandmother and we do those.
  • 00:05:19
    But it's going to be a lot cleaner for us right now
  • 00:05:21
    to just use water like this.
  • 00:05:23
    And this also is tied into something in the scripture.
  • 00:05:26
    It comes from the Book of Psalms 23:5.
  • 00:05:34
    King David says:
  • 00:05:35
    You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
  • 00:05:39
    You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.
  • 00:05:45
    I've been around this table,
  • 00:05:47
    we've got a lot of things to give thanks for.
  • 00:05:49
    I'll bet around this table
  • 00:05:50
    we have a lot of things that are overflowing.
  • 00:05:52
    Not all of us have overflowing friends
  • 00:05:55
    or overflowing finances or overflowing health.
  • 00:05:59
    But all of us have been blessed by God.
  • 00:06:01
    All of us have received things from God.
  • 00:06:03
    And we want to say thank you to Him.
  • 00:06:05
    Right now we want to give thanks to Him.
  • 00:06:09
    So before we go any further,
  • 00:06:11
    why don't we just give thanks to God right now in prayer, OK?
  • 00:06:15
    God, I am amazed
  • 00:06:18
    at the number of things that You have blessed me with,
  • 00:06:21
    the number of things You blessed us with,
  • 00:06:23
    the number of things You've given,
  • 00:06:25
    and the number of --
  • 00:06:28
    The amount of protection that You've given me
  • 00:06:30
    and probably everyone around this table.
  • 00:06:32
    I pray that all of us who are here,
  • 00:06:34
    all of us who are streaming,
  • 00:06:35
    all of us who are engaged right now,
  • 00:06:37
    You would hear from us that we're thankful.
  • 00:06:40
    We want to give You our thanks.
  • 00:06:42
    We want You to be encouraged and You to be blessed
  • 00:06:44
    by us articulating how good You are
  • 00:06:47
    in specific ways this Thanksgiving Eve.
  • 00:06:50
    Amen.
  • 00:06:52
    Well, I'm going to start here.
  • 00:06:53
    Actually, we have all staff members around the table.
  • 00:06:55
    So I'm going to start with this.
  • 00:06:57
    I'm going to say, one of the things I'm really thankful for
  • 00:07:00
    are the incredible, incredible people
  • 00:07:03
    that God helps me work with,
  • 00:07:07
    that God enables me to work with.
  • 00:07:10
    I'm thankful for Ali cat over there,
  • 00:07:13
    who's, man, you hit a whole new gear.
  • 00:07:15
    All new gear in terms of teaching this last year.
  • 00:07:17
    Thank you for Malcolm, also known as X.
  • 00:07:20
    Thanks for X and the amazing job you're doing at Florence.
  • 00:07:23
    I'm so thankful for A-A-Ron, also known as Aaron,
  • 00:07:27
    who does a lot of our digitizing and music behind the scenes.
  • 00:07:30
    Robbie Reider who does all of our music stuff.
  • 00:07:32
    Latasha who does our H.R.
  • 00:07:34
    I mean each one of you guys, I probably should do my own thing,
  • 00:07:37
    but I just wanted a blanket
  • 00:07:39
    to say I'm just so thankful for all of you.
  • 00:07:41
    I'm a blessed man to be able to be with you.
  • 00:07:45
    I give thanks for you, to you.
  • 00:07:48
    - So I'm next.
  • 00:07:49
    So I -- this year, I'm really thankful.
  • 00:07:53
    My husband, Nick and I
  • 00:07:55
    are expecting our second child in April,
  • 00:07:58
    which is great.
  • 00:08:00
    But I know that there are just --
  • 00:08:02
    There's so many families who struggle to get pregnant.
  • 00:08:05
    And so I am just really thankful
  • 00:08:07
    that that was not an issue for us with this baby.
  • 00:08:10
    And at the same time, I have two sister-in-laws
  • 00:08:13
    that are also due within a week of me.
  • 00:08:15
    And so I'm just excited for my kids to grow up with cousins
  • 00:08:18
    and to be blessed with another healthy pregnancy.
  • 00:08:20
    - That was good.
  • 00:08:24
    - I'm Ali and I'm a teaching pastor at Crossroads.
  • 00:08:26
    And I give thanks to God this year specifically
  • 00:08:31
    for the opportunity to be in school.
  • 00:08:35
    I'll actually be finishing soon and I'm excited about that too,
  • 00:08:38
    the opportunity to get out of school.
  • 00:08:39
    But I don't -- I'm not thankful for the knowledge,
  • 00:08:44
    though I think that will serve me in some ways.
  • 00:08:47
    I'm thankful that I know Him better.
  • 00:08:50
    I feel like as a result of being in school,
  • 00:08:53
    because He knows me and He knows how I'm going to meet Him.
  • 00:08:56
    And He knows how I'm gonna get to know Him,
  • 00:08:58
    that this process of being in school for me
  • 00:09:00
    has been like a long process of getting to know Him better.
  • 00:09:04
    And I am so grateful for that.
  • 00:09:05
    I'm so grateful that He knows me
  • 00:09:07
    well enough to put me in a situation
  • 00:09:10
    where that's going to be the result,
  • 00:09:11
    even if at school in my 40s.
  • 00:09:14
    So I'm incredibly thankful for a God who knows me
  • 00:09:18
    and who just lined up all the circumstances in my life
  • 00:09:21
    to make that possible for the last couple of years.
  • 00:09:23
    So.
  • 00:09:25
    - That's great.
  • 00:09:27
    - My name is Malcolm Henderson, Community Pastor at Florence.
  • 00:09:31
    And as of six hours ago, other than car payments,
  • 00:09:36
    my wife Erin and I are completely debt free.
  • 00:09:38
    - Wow, that's awesome.
  • 00:09:39
    - Yeah, so we closed on a house a couple weeks ago.
  • 00:09:43
    And because of the check that they cut,
  • 00:09:45
    we were able to pay off all student loans,
  • 00:09:47
    all credit card debot.
  • 00:09:48
    And God has just completely turned around our finances.
  • 00:09:51
    So, that's amazing.
  • 00:09:52
    - How did you do that? Any key things you did differently?
  • 00:09:55
    - My wife's very handy,
  • 00:09:57
    so she completely renovated the house we lived in.
  • 00:10:00
    So literally first day on the market, first showing,
  • 00:10:04
    a full price offer.
  • 00:10:05
    God just showed us so much favor through the process, so.
  • 00:10:08
    - That's amazing.
  • 00:10:11
    - I'm Aaron. I'm on our music team at Crossroads.
  • 00:10:13
    I get to work with this guy, which is a lot of fun.
  • 00:10:15
    And one of the things
  • 00:10:16
    I'm really, really thankful for this year
  • 00:10:18
    is my son was born in February.
  • 00:10:21
    His name's Anson.
  • 00:10:22
    One of the reasons I'm thankful, it's our first son.
  • 00:10:24
    So we have two girls and a boy now.
  • 00:10:26
    But more than that, I'm thankful
  • 00:10:28
    just because I'm reminded of God's faithfulness.
  • 00:10:31
    Our oldest, Juliet, was born.
  • 00:10:32
    We didn't have any issues having her.
  • 00:10:35
    And then after that, we actually lost two kids.
  • 00:10:38
    And the doctors -- it was terrible surgery,
  • 00:10:42
    like an emergency surgery for my wife.
  • 00:10:44
    She lost one of her tubes.
  • 00:10:47
    And the doctors told us that
  • 00:10:48
    we probably weren't going to be able to have kids again.
  • 00:10:51
    But we were believing for more and really just knew that --
  • 00:10:56
    We believed that God was going to give us more kids.
  • 00:10:58
    So we've had two more since then.
  • 00:10:59
    We think He's going to give us even more than that.
  • 00:11:01
    So it's just -- just 100% God's faithfulness.
  • 00:11:05
    And I believe each one of these kids is a miracle, so.
  • 00:11:08
    - Fantastic.
  • 00:11:09
    - Yeah.
  • 00:11:12
    - So, are you done?
  • 00:11:13
    - No.
  • 00:11:16
    He wants more.
  • 00:11:17
    - More. - More.
  • 00:11:21
    - This is -- this little nerdy.
  • 00:11:22
    So can I get a little nerdy?
  • 00:11:24
    - You are are a little nerdy, so just be yourself.
  • 00:11:26
    - With your glasses you fit right in.
  • 00:11:28
    - Yeah. You haven't pushed there.
  • 00:11:29
    - There we go.
  • 00:11:30
    No, so you all know I have I have type 1 diabetes.
  • 00:11:35
    And it's just -- I limp with that all the time.
  • 00:11:40
    That's my --
  • 00:11:41
    And it's -- if you're going to have a chronic illness,
  • 00:11:43
    it's the one to get.
  • 00:11:44
    So let me just phrase it like that.
  • 00:11:47
    But the technology behind it makes my life so rich.
  • 00:11:52
    So like right now I wear these medical devices
  • 00:11:55
    and you can't even see them.
  • 00:11:57
    But I wear them and they make me more aware and healthier.
  • 00:12:01
    So while I -- So now I can --
  • 00:12:04
    So, I've got one here on my arm.
  • 00:12:05
    I've got one on my belly.
  • 00:12:07
    But I can look at my watch
  • 00:12:08
    and it will tell me what my blood sugar is.
  • 00:12:10
    And it alerts me if it's high or low
  • 00:12:12
    and it tells my wife when it's high.
  • 00:12:15
    And so, like I have a care team
  • 00:12:16
    of people who love me and want --
  • 00:12:18
    You know, she may text me and go, "You need to eat something."
  • 00:12:20
    I was like, "I didn't even know."
  • 00:12:22
    So I'm grateful for the science
  • 00:12:25
    and the technology that lets me live a really --
  • 00:12:29
    I'm probably healthier right now
  • 00:12:31
    because of it than I would be otherwise.
  • 00:12:33
    So I'm really thankful for the technology
  • 00:12:36
    that makes me continue to live every day.
  • 00:12:39
    I'm really grateful. Look at that.
  • 00:12:42
    - Oh!
  • 00:12:44
    - I'm so grateful.
  • 00:12:46
    So grateful.
  • 00:12:50
    - So I actually have in general
  • 00:12:54
    hated to travel almost all my life.
  • 00:12:57
    Maybe because I'm impatient.
  • 00:12:59
    Maybe I don't like airplanes.
  • 00:13:00
    I'm not exactly sure.
  • 00:13:01
    But when my daughter graduated,
  • 00:13:04
    I made a couple of promises to myself.
  • 00:13:05
    And one was that I would buy really fancy luggage
  • 00:13:08
    and get the Clear or the TSA pre-check and I would travel.
  • 00:13:12
    And so I'm so grateful and thankful to God that --.
  • 00:13:16
    - The Clear, the eyeball thing.
  • 00:13:17
    - Um-hmm. - Is it worth it?
  • 00:13:19
    - I don't know. Yeah, I mean.
  • 00:13:20
    Well, you know what's not worth it?
  • 00:13:22
    TSA pre-check, because everybody has it.
  • 00:13:24
    - Yeah, totally.
  • 00:13:25
    - Everybody has it. - There's too many pre people.
  • 00:13:26
    - Seriously.
  • 00:13:27
    - Yeah. Right. We need post check.
  • 00:13:28
    - Yeah. Not a lot of people have Clear, so that's why, yeah.
  • 00:13:31
    So I had the TSA Pre and then I got the Clear.
  • 00:13:33
    - OK.
  • 00:13:35
    - So I got fancy luggage and I got Clear.
  • 00:13:37
    And I've already a couple of places this year.
  • 00:13:41
    And I've also scheduled lots of great trips with girlfriends
  • 00:13:44
    and with my family and with my kid and with friends.
  • 00:13:48
    And so I'm super grateful just for the opportunity to travel.
  • 00:13:51
    What I've learned, kind of like camping, Brian,
  • 00:13:54
    is that you have to have great gear.
  • 00:13:55
    And so I'm super grateful to God for that.
  • 00:13:58
    - That's good.
  • 00:14:00
    - Woo, close.
  • 00:14:04
    - This is a year I had a lot of construction projects,
  • 00:14:10
    a lot of Hands-On stuff.
  • 00:14:14
    I shot my first deer this year.
  • 00:14:16
    I did a lot of stuff around the house.
  • 00:14:19
    This table got made, the buffet over there got made
  • 00:14:22
    and a bunch of other things.
  • 00:14:23
    I just -- I'm thankful that God has given me
  • 00:14:26
    the skills He's giving me to do these things.
  • 00:14:28
    And specifically He gave me those skills by introducing me
  • 00:14:32
    to people who gave me those skills.
  • 00:14:34
    Scott Federoff in Construction,
  • 00:14:36
    Max Andrijeski in Cabinet making/cabinetry,
  • 00:14:40
    Shimon Myers who sat at this table the day after Thanksgiving
  • 00:14:44
    and gave me a primer on what cross-bow I needed to get
  • 00:14:47
    and what to do, and the next day I had a deer.
  • 00:14:49
    So it were these people just building into me
  • 00:14:53
    and giving me information I didn't have.
  • 00:14:54
    And I'm thankful for being competent and capable.
  • 00:14:56
    I'm thankful how God has brought the right person
  • 00:15:00
    into my life at the right time to give me a full life.
  • 00:15:02
    (crosstalk)
  • 00:15:08
    - I'll let you have it. I'll let you have it.
  • 00:15:10
    I'll let you have it. Would you want me to overflow it?
  • 00:15:14
    - Kinda kind of.
  • 00:15:16
    - All right.
  • 00:15:17
    - No, not -- not now.
  • 00:15:18
    You already made your decision.
  • 00:15:20
    - I'd like to stretch it out.
  • 00:15:21
    You know, this is how I go, I like to stretch it out.
  • 00:15:24
    I want more gratitude.
  • 00:15:25
    - I know.
  • 00:15:26
    - I know you, you're tired of this gratitude thing.
  • 00:15:28
    Can we just go start watching Netflix?
  • 00:15:31
    No, I'm enjoying -- I'm enjoying the worshipful environment here.
  • 00:15:36
    - I appreciate the water overflowing,
  • 00:15:38
    going, "Look at how generous God's been."
  • 00:15:41
    You're just, you know, you're stiffing God here
  • 00:15:46
    by not letting us experience it.
  • 00:15:47
    - Okay.
  • 00:15:49
    - Is this Thanksgiving?
  • 00:15:50
    - Oh, yeah.
  • 00:15:51
    It pretty much is, yes.
  • 00:15:53
    - A very aggressive Thanksgiving.
  • 00:15:56
    - Aggressive. We live an aggressive life.
  • 00:15:57
    - I'll do another one. There you go.
  • 00:16:01
    I am really thankful, I used to shun social media stuff.
  • 00:16:05
    I used to judge people who did social media
  • 00:16:07
    and did blogs and podcasts.
  • 00:16:09
    Boy, was I wrong. I've had --
  • 00:16:10
    God's given me a lot of favor
  • 00:16:13
    and having fun doing Aggressive Life and the podcast.
  • 00:16:17
    And it's been fun to think about things to post.
  • 00:16:19
    I think I did a bunch of posts on this table.
  • 00:16:21
    So there again, another new experience
  • 00:16:24
    that God gave me this last year.
  • 00:16:26
    My cup runneth over.
  • 00:16:34
    I like to say my cup overflows
  • 00:16:37
    because I'm visibly seeing the cup overflowing right there.
  • 00:16:41
    And it's true, my heart, my cup overflows.
  • 00:16:45
    So it's really cool to have a physical representation
  • 00:16:47
    of the way I feel or we feel inside.
  • 00:16:49
    It's good.
  • 00:16:50
    So here's the way this goes.
  • 00:16:52
    It's mandatory going round the circle.
  • 00:16:53
    And then once it overflows like it just did,
  • 00:16:56
    then it's just free for all.
  • 00:16:57
    If you don't have anything else you want to say,
  • 00:16:59
    you don't have to say anything.
  • 00:17:00
    If you want to pitch in now, it's just kind of free for all,
  • 00:17:03
    if you want to add on and see the cup overflowing.
  • 00:17:05
    We start adding stuff on right now.
  • 00:17:08
    - I've got another one.
  • 00:17:09
    For the first time ever in my life,
  • 00:17:11
    I have a mentor, which is amazing.
  • 00:17:13
    And it's named Don Gerred.
  • 00:17:15
    He's the exact opposite of me in every single way.
  • 00:17:20
    But man, he challenges me.
  • 00:17:23
    He's making me a better leader,
  • 00:17:24
    a better husband, a better friend.
  • 00:17:26
    So very, very thankful for him.
  • 00:17:30
    - I'm thankful for my father-in-law, who --
  • 00:17:33
    We bought a new house this year, have moved.
  • 00:17:35
    And he has spent so much time at our house
  • 00:17:38
    just rewiring our dishwasher and repainting our laundry room.
  • 00:17:44
    And just -- he has endlessly served my family.
  • 00:17:48
    So I'm very thankful for Lou.
  • 00:17:51
    - Ok, speaking of laundry room.
  • 00:17:54
    It reminded me I wrote down one day,
  • 00:17:56
    I am thankful for my extra large capacity washer.
  • 00:18:00
    I have a household of six people.
  • 00:18:03
    I do so much laundry, it's insane.
  • 00:18:06
    And with my extra large capacity washer, I do fewer loads.
  • 00:18:09
    [laughter]
  • 00:18:13
    Well, there you have it, guys.
  • 00:18:15
    You know a good thing to do when you close up this exercise
  • 00:18:17
    is just maybe just -- Why don't we hold hands
  • 00:18:19
    and just thank God one last time here.
  • 00:18:21
    OK?
  • 00:18:24
    Lord, You are good to give us each other,
  • 00:18:26
    good to give us this holiday.
  • 00:18:27
    And You're good to give us
  • 00:18:28
    all the things we mentioned and more.
  • 00:18:30
    We pray God for this next year.
  • 00:18:32
    We ask for more this next year.
  • 00:18:34
    We ask for Your hand of blessing on our life
  • 00:18:36
    this whole next year.
  • 00:18:37
    And we're already looking forward to next Thanksgiving
  • 00:18:39
    because we want to recount
  • 00:18:40
    the crazy, great, generous things You've done in our life.
  • 00:18:44
    You're good.
  • 00:18:45
    I pray these things according to the name of Jesus, Amen.
  • 00:18:50
    Well, one more thing I want to do.
  • 00:18:52
    Why don't we adjourn to the couch over here.
  • 00:18:55
    And why don't we sing some worship songs?
  • 00:18:58
    No matter where you are, we'd love for you to join in with us.
  • 00:19:00
    It's another way to give thanks,
  • 00:19:02
    not just articulating things to God,
  • 00:19:04
    but also singing things to God.
  • 00:19:06
    So why don't we go over and sing some stuff to God.
  • 00:19:19
    All right. We're not done yet.
  • 00:19:21
    We're not done yet.
  • 00:19:23
    Oh, by the way.
  • 00:19:24
    Yes.
  • 00:19:25
    Thankful for a new member of our family, Peanut.
  • 00:19:27
    Say hello to, everybody, Peanut.
  • 00:19:29
    Hello. Hello.
  • 00:19:31
    Yes. If you've been the past, Winston has been with us.
  • 00:19:33
    Winston is no more part of our family, but we have Peanut here.
  • 00:19:36
    So here's Peanuts first Thanksgiving.
  • 00:19:38
    And don't --
  • 00:19:39
    You know we're doing this
  • 00:19:41
    because we want our Thanksgivings to be better.
  • 00:19:44
    We want them to be different.
  • 00:19:45
    We don't just want to do the same old same old
  • 00:19:47
    gorge on Turkey
  • 00:19:48
    and have tryptophan overload and all the rest the stuff. Right?
  • 00:19:51
    We want to connect with God.
  • 00:19:52
    So we're giving you real things
  • 00:19:54
    you can do to start new traditions.
  • 00:19:57
    The one we did around the table.
  • 00:19:58
    Now the one we're gonna sing right now.
  • 00:20:00
    When we sing it can be very uncomfortable for us,
  • 00:20:02
    but we sing.
  • 00:20:03
    We give thanks to God.
  • 00:20:06
    That's what these words say, we're giving thanks to God.
  • 00:20:08
    God gets to hear from us with our voice box,
  • 00:20:13
    making a melody, making music.
  • 00:20:15
    And it feels vulnerable, which is exactly why
  • 00:20:17
    I think God receives it as a beautiful offering.
  • 00:20:21
    Is that right, Captain Worshiper, Robbie Reider?
  • 00:20:23
    - Yeah. Yeah.
  • 00:20:24
    What we're about to do, I think, we can all agree,
  • 00:20:28
    it's a little uncomfortable.
  • 00:20:29
    But we wouldn't ask you to do it
  • 00:20:31
    if we didn't believe that it was good for you.
  • 00:20:34
    So I know it's super easy
  • 00:20:35
    that when you're watching this at home,
  • 00:20:37
    maybe you've got it up on the TV,
  • 00:20:39
    maybe got on your laptop.
  • 00:20:40
    It comes time to the singing and it's like,
  • 00:20:41
    "Well, maybe I need to unload the dishwasher."
  • 00:20:43
    Stop. Don't unload the dishwasher right now.
  • 00:20:46
    I would encourage you to take the posture
  • 00:20:48
    of all these fine folks right here and sit down.
  • 00:20:51
    And the words are gonna show up on your screen.
  • 00:20:53
    I want to invite you for the next 12,
  • 00:20:55
    maybe 13, 14 minutes to sing along.
  • 00:20:58
    Because what's going to happen is
  • 00:21:00
    you're going to train your heart
  • 00:21:01
    to fall in line with all the things of gratitude
  • 00:21:04
    that we just said.
  • 00:21:05
    We just said our gratitude, now we're going to sing it.
  • 00:21:07
    And it's a humbling thing, and yet the Lord loves it.
  • 00:21:11
    I love it when my kids hand make me a card.
  • 00:21:14
    It's way more meaningful than when my kids
  • 00:21:16
    buy me a card and just write their name on it.
  • 00:21:18
    Now, which one's prettier?
  • 00:21:20
    Well, people would probably say the bought card.
  • 00:21:22
    But the one I keep is the one they made for me.
  • 00:21:24
    And that's what we're doing right now,
  • 00:21:26
    we're making a card of gratitude to our Father.
  • 00:21:29
    All right. So step away from the dishwasher
  • 00:21:31
    and go sit back down on your couch and let's do this.
  • 00:21:34
    All right?
  • 00:21:39
    Sing, our God a firm foundation.
  • 00:26:37
    - So as we're singing this this line, "we say yes,"
  • 00:26:41
    like, one of the things that we can do
  • 00:26:43
    is we can simply just say,
  • 00:26:45
    "Jesus, yes, You are the one that is our provider.
  • 00:26:48
    Yes, Jesus. If there's any amount of blessing in our life,
  • 00:26:52
    yes, it comes from You.
  • 00:26:54
    Yes. Jesus, if I have any health, it is from You.
  • 00:26:58
    And when I follow You, I experience Your freedom."
  • 00:27:02
    So here's what I want you to do.
  • 00:27:03
    I want you to, wherever you are right now,
  • 00:27:05
    if you're sitting on a couch like us,
  • 00:27:07
    if you're in your car in traffic,
  • 00:27:09
    I want you to take this moment.
  • 00:27:10
    We're going to give you like 20 seconds
  • 00:27:12
    and I want you to come up with your own top three.
  • 00:27:15
    What are you grateful for right now?
  • 00:27:18
    And then as we sing the chorus the next time,
  • 00:27:20
    you're just going to hold that
  • 00:27:22
    in the front of your mind. All right?
  • 00:27:23
    Think of those three things.
  • 00:27:34
    So, God, as we sing this, we say yes to You,
  • 00:27:38
    that You are our provider.
  • 00:27:40
    You are our King. You are our Father,
  • 00:27:42
    You're our savior, and we love You.
  • 00:27:49
    You guys ready? We say yes.
  • 00:31:32
    - God, we are grateful and that's why we're gathered here.
  • 00:31:35
    That's why we're being vulnerable
  • 00:31:37
    and we're singing loudly.
  • 00:31:39
    We thank You for what You've done in our lives,
  • 00:31:41
    what You're doing in our lives,
  • 00:31:43
    and what You have yet to do in our lives.
  • 00:31:46
    So with a great hope and anticipation
  • 00:31:48
    that comes from the power
  • 00:31:51
    and the integrity and the authority of the name Jesus
  • 00:31:55
    that we were singing before.
  • 00:31:57
    Amen.
  • 00:31:59
    Great job, guys.
  • 00:32:01
    That was strong.
  • 00:32:02
    Great job for sticking it out
  • 00:32:04
    and not doing the dishes right now.
  • 00:32:08
    BT, what do you got for us?
  • 00:32:09
    - I've got nothing. It's Thanksgiving.
  • 00:32:11
    Let's do something else other than watch a screen.
  • 00:32:13
    Let's go, chop, chop. - Yeah, come on.
  • 00:32:16
    - Thanks for being part of our Thanksgiving experience.
  • 00:32:18
    Join us starting this weekend for our Chrismas series:
  • 00:32:21
    Christmastime 2020, A Weary World Rejoices
  • 00:32:25
    I know that is exactly how I feel, the weary part.
  • 00:32:28
    We put up our Christmas tree on November 1.
  • 00:32:30
    It seems like this year, more than any other,
  • 00:32:33
    you and I need the grounding in Christmas
  • 00:32:35
    so that we can get to the place of rejoicing.

Nov 25, 2020 32 mins 40 sec

Recent Series