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1:32But there's one more, just so happens, that lands this week as we prepare our hearts for thanksgiving and a thankful heart. A thankful heart is the crown jewel of all the other virtues. Because out of that thankful heart comes all the other blessed virtues. Now, the last three virtues, the last three, have been on this little bit of a jewel theme. And I guess Jeremiah Burroughs got us kicked off on that with Christian contentment. Christian contentment is likened to a great jewel. Also, as we last time, we looked at another very important virtue, and that is godly ambition. So, after we've this great long study on all the different kinds of hearts and ministering to our heart, and how the Word of God shapes and directs our hearts and the thinking of our heart, the meditations of our heart, looked at contentment and ambition as sort of those two jewels that really sum up so much. If you can be content, let me tell you, the unthinkful heart or the unrepentant heart, the unteachable heart, the defiled heart, all of that comes. Out of someone who's not content. And so they pursue something else.

3:06And likewise, if you have a godly ambition, you will put on so many good things to be. But there's one more, and that is genuine thankfulness, which I believe is at the root of even contentment and godly ambition. Where there is no thankfulness, there will not be contentment. But where there is genuine thankfulness, you can expect Christian contentment to be there. A disposition to give thanks is also an ambition for that which is good and noble and pure. And out of that will flow all the other virtues. But it is this thankfulness. I figured what diamond, we looked at the Mosif red diamond to speak of Christian contentment. I looked at the heart of eternity to speak of godly ambition. And I thought it most fitting to have the kohenor, which it really literally is the crown jewel of the English monarchy, the diamond, to be that magnificent gemstone of them all. If you study it, that is probably the one that is most especially. Esteemed. It weighs 105 carats. It is translated as the mountain of light. It is the very name drums up images of something very brilliant, something very spectacular, priceless.

4:51It's one of the most beautiful and one of the most significant of all the gemstones. Same is true about thankfulness. You talk about the Christian virtues. It's one of the most important things. It is the most important thing for yourself. It is the most important thing for you to teach to your children, to pass on, to be characterized by this virtue. And so it's only appropriate that we spend a little time as we prepare our hearts for Thanksgiving this week to reflect upon this idea of thankfulness.

5:29Why I say this is one of the most or the most important virtue. You remember my fruit-to-root diagram. Now, some of you, this may be a little new. Some of you, if you've been around me, you've seen this a lot. But if you can think about a tree, if your life is like this tree, you can think of a tree that bears good fruit and bad fruit. On one side, you've got the bad fruit, and on the other side, you've got the good fruit, the works of the flesh. Anger, jealousy, drunkenness, immorality, and a whole lot of other litany there are that are bad fruits. There's also, on the other hand, the fruits of the Spirit, that which comes out of an intimate relationship with God. What you see above the ground is what you see. We see this in other people. We see the fruits, the words, the expressions, the deeds. That's what you see above the ground. What's below the ground is what's going on in the heart.

6:29What's behind this fruit that's being developed. And there are emotions. This is the way a person feels, and often the way they feel and act. Behind their emotions are thoughts, thoughts of what they take to be true, how they're going to get and gain or whatever, what are they going to pursue. There's motivations, what they value, what their heart desires. And so out of those heart desires come thoughts and feelings. But motivations come out of your identity. How do you see yourself? And how do you see yourself in the world? And specifically out of your theology, how do you relate to God? The most important thing about you is your view of God and how you see yourself in relation to God. And so if you've got a theology that's born of the Spirit, that is one that has come out of God's Word, and your identity is one that has come out of God's Word, then you're going to move in the Producing fruits of the Spirit. But when your heart is shaped by a wrong view of God and a wrong view of self, and that becomes what drives and what impacts the flesh, the works of the flesh. When you are on the throne, you can be sure that the fruits that you bear in your life will be tainted with the works of the flesh. The very idea, so as I think about thankfulness, what's necessary to produce fruits of the Spirit is first and foremost a heart of thankfulness, gratitude. It's important that you can grow in this grace of being a thankful person. I can't think of anything more important about you than just growing in thankfulness. And that's what we'll talk about tonight. But out of thankfulness comes contentment. If you are thankful for what you have, for what God has given you, and you are thankful, your heart will be content. And if you have a content heart, you're not going to be striving after the wind because you're content. You're not going to be driven by the whims of the flesh and the desires of the flesh because you're content. There's a security there. And likewise, if you have a thankful heart, And a content heart, your ambitions then turn to show gratitude to the one you're thankful to and to pursue that which pleases him. That's a godly ambition. So you see these contentment, ambition, and thankfulness, and how they're all just related to one another, and how they're at the very core. This idea of thankfulness is at the very core of this whole idea and the distinction between the fruits of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit. If you have a truly grateful heart, you will be well on the way of producing fruit that pleases God.

9:48But cultivating a thankful heart is one of the most important things about you. It's the most important endeavors that you will ever take up in life. You may have a lot of different pursuits in life, but this one thing you need to pursue, develop. What is the root concept of thankfulness? Well, behind a thankful heart, very simple terms, as you're looking at the Hebrew and the Greek, the basic idea comes down to admitting something, confessing something. Thankfulness is an admission, it's an acknowledgement, and it's to praise.

10:30Acknowledgement of something worthy, of something good, an acknowledgement. That's fundamentally what thankfulness is. And it's to give voice to it. Thankfulness is to give voice to it. And I think that's something we often need to remember: we need to be good at voicing thanks. Not just having a thankful heart. Yeah, it begins there. We have to have a thankful heart. But part of what thankfulness fundamentally is, it's expressing gratitude. It's admitting, acknowledging something good and confessing it. That's where we get the word praise. Sometimes thankfulness is called praise. To give voice, to praise thanksgiving. And so, how do we do this? How do we grow in gratitude? How do we grow in thankfulness? Well, that's what I want to talk to you tonight. And I've just got three. There's a lot that could be said on this, obviously. I just want to give you three things to consider about how to cultivate a thankful heart and to grow in this, and especially as we approach this season. And I'm thankful for thanksgiving. I'm thankful that it's on the calendar, that we We set aside a day to think, even if we blow it off, and even if there's forces in our world that take advantage of it and capitalize on it, it's still good for a nation to recognize and to give thanks. First of all, if you're going to grow in thankfulness, you need to know that God expects you to be thankful. Be sure of this. God, it's not just that He wants you to be thankful, He expects you to be thankful. In fact, thankfulness is the minimum virtue that God expects from all people everywhere.

12:44God expects it. Why? Because He's good and He's done good things. Just like you, if you do something good for somebody around you, or your children, or something, or you work hard as a parent or as a teacher, or in some capacity as a friend, you serve somebody, you want an expression of acknowledgement. Well, God, all the more. And I'm going to show you this in Romans 1. Romans 1. Look at verse 18. We know that God's wrath is being poured out against all ungodliness. It says so. Listen to what it says in Romans 1:18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness. So we know the wrath of God is being revealed against all ungodliness. Now, this list of ungodliness is described more at the end of the chapter. Look at verse 29. This is a little list of ungodly behaviors. Verse 29, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, they are gossip, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful. And although they know the ordinance of God that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

14:29That's what ungodliness looks like. Now, the question is, where does all this godliness, ungodliness come from? Where does it all come from? We're going to work backwards from Romans 1 and work from the list backwards, looking to the original cause. Where does all this ungodliness come from? Well, look at verse 28. And just as they did not see fit. To acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind. There's the answer. Where does all the ungodliness that I just read come from? It comes from a depraved mind. That's because God had given them over to a depraved mind. Now, the question is: where does a depraved mind come from? From moving down that fruit to root, and you're under the ground and you're thinking through there's thoughts. And where do those thoughts come from?

15:31Where does that depraved mind come from? Well, it comes from degrading passions. Look at verse 26. For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions. You see, the degrading passions then lead to a depraved mind. Their motivations, what is it that they want? And they go after, and so they use their mind to go after them. But then the question becomes: where do these degrading passions come from? Well, the answer is given in verse 24. It comes from impure lusts of the heart. Look at verse 24. Therefore, God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity. You see, where do all these fruits of the flesh come from? These acts of ungodliness? Well, they come from a depraved mind. Where does the depraved mind come from? From degrading passions. Where do the degrading passions come from? Passions come from? From the lusts of their heart, from the impure lusts of their heart.

16:40Now, the question becomes: where do the impure lusts of their heart come from? Well, the answer is given in verse 21, from the feudal speculations of their mind. Look at verse 21. For even though they knew God, but did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became what? Futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. So they became feudal in their speculations. The feudal speculations gave way to the impure lusts of the heart, which gave way to the degrading passions, which gave way to the depraved mind, which gave way to all of the acts of ungodliness. But then the question becomes: where did these feudal speculations come from? Well, the answer is given very clearly in these verses. It comes from an unthankful heart.

17:44Let me read verse 18 to 21. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is Evident within them, for God made it evident to them. He's saying everybody knows God. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power, and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what he has been made, so that they are without excuse. And here's the problem: for even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks.

18:36They didn't acknowledge him as God. And it's evident in that they didn't give him thanks. If they recognized God as God, they would have given him thanks. From these verses, it's very clear that what happens is an unthankful heart will grow in the ways of darkness. That's why it's the most important thing to teach, to pass on, to expect. God expects thankfulness in all of people. He's revealed enough of himself to the whole human race so that people should give him thanks. And because those don't, for those who don't, they are going to experience his wrath.

19:28It boils down to that fact. Fundamental element. God's wrath is being poured out ultimately against unthankful hearts. It's the most unbecoming thing when somebody does something kind to you and you're not grateful. So know for sure that God wants you to be thankful because it's right to be thankful, because He has given so many things, He has done so many good things, and you should acknowledge Him. And He wants you to acknowledge Him. So know that God expects you to be thankful. Second way to grow in thankfulness is to give thanks in the right manner. Give thanks in the right manner. And we could pull together all kinds of verses for this, but I just want to give you a couple.

20:34Many of you all are familiar with 1 Thessalonians 5:18. In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. The right manner in all circumstances. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, in everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. You ever wonder what God's will for your life is? There it is. Give thanks. Thanks, pursue thankfulness, grow in expressing gratitude. That's his will for your life. In all circumstances and in the details of those circumstances, no matter what it is, have an eye and a heart for that in which gratitude to God is due. Because in all circumstances, it's there. And he wants us to have an eye and a heart. I think about three stages of growth in gratitude, just as I reflect in my own life and growing.

21:40But first of all, I think as we grow in a thankful heart, one of the first things we start to get the big picture. Many of you are here. We see the glory of God in creation. We give him thanks for the sunrise, thanks for the sunset. And then as we're schooled by Scripture, we give thanks for his salvation and the wonderful works that he has done and the other works. And in the big picture, then we see this glory of God and we give thanks for that.

22:14It's the big picture. There's a second stage as we continue to grow. Then we start seeing his providences in our life station. That's in where he's placed us, the family he put us in. And we're able to start. Giving him greater thanks for the position that he has ordained for us individually and for the people that he brought into our lives, our parents, our families, our friends, our employers, our church family, all that. You start seeing, and you can go from giving God thanks in the big picture, creation and salvation and all that, to giving God, making it more personal and giving God thanks for the station of life that he has placed you in, and the season of life that he has just ended, and the season that you're in, and the season that's coming. You can give him thanks for all of that. Your country, thank him for all that touches us. And then, as we continue to grow in gratitude, this is where God wants to take, he wants to take us from the big, yes, thank God for the big picture. Yes, thank God for the station and the people, and the places, and the things that he's put in your life. But then go to another level and thank him for the minutiae details of every day. You see, we're people that live in routine simplicity.

23:42And God wants us there. And I mean the bumps and the bruises, the goods and the bad. Every day, he wants us there. In all circumstances, in everything, give thanks. And even in those small, little interruptions. Details of our day. I think that's where we need to grow the most. Or I know I do. We can theologically get the big picture and truly be grateful. We can even come to a peace, the station in life that God's placed us. But then, when things come in your life that tomorrow or today that wasn't expected or whatever, or give Him thanks, grow.

24:34Psalm 105. So giving Him thanks in the right manner certainly involves all circumstances. Second element of giving thanks in the right manner is give thanks with a view to celebrate Him, a view to celebrate Him and to help others celebrate Him. Really, thankfulness is about celebrating God. Psalm 105. I'll give you a second to turn there if you want. I'll look at the first four verses. Psalm 105, verse 1 says this: Oh, give thanks to the Lord. There it is, expressly.

25:19Give thanks to Him. And then He's going to go on to show you, to tell us what that looks like. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, verse 1. That thanks. Call on his name. Make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him. Sing praises to him. Speak of all his wonders. Glory in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad. Seek the Lord and His strength. Seek His face continually.

25:55You get this, you see these several commands here. What does thanks look like? Well, call upon His name. That's what He wants. And giving thanks in all circumstances involves calling upon His name for everything that does come into our routine, our Mondays. And let our shortcomings and our deficiencies compel us to call upon His name. All these circumstances are there for that. And give thanks by calling upon His name. God, you are. God, you're bigger than this. God, you are. God, I call upon your name. I invoke your name and call your name into my circumstances. And that's an element of giving thanks, calling upon him, calling for his presence. Make known his deeds among the people. Make known what he is doing.

26:54Sing to him. Sing praises to him. Speak of all his wonder. You see how thankfulness is about celebrating God and helping others celebrate God. Share your celebration about God with others. And that's why you make known his deeds among the people. That's part of giving thanks in this context of thankfulness. Making known, sing to him, speak of all of his wonders. That's where we meet him. We meet him in life. We meet him in his wonders.

27:29We see him. Speak glory in his name. Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad. Seek the Lord and His strength. Verse 4. Seek His face continually. What does it mean to seek His face continually? I think oftentimes it's like we think seeking His will, seeking His will. And I think that's certainly true. But this is a context of giving thanks, gratitude. Seek His face. Express thankfulness for what He is giving and His involvement in this.

28:13I'm going to keep moving. Give thanks in the right manner, but third, be thankful for the right things. I'll look at Psalm 111 for that. And again, there's so many verses that could be careful. And just throwing out a bunch of things to give thanks for in an unconnected fashion. But boy, you could sure put together a volume, a stack. But give thanks to God for the right reasons. I think Psalm 111, if I'm just going to walk through, and I read it this morning in the service, it provides a nice outline of reasons to thank God.

29:02Good reasons. Psalm 111:1 says this, Praise the Lord. I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart in the company of the upright and in the assembly. So here's the psalmist, I will give thanks. I will give thanks with all of my heart. And then he goes on declaring the things to give thanks, to praise God, and to give him thanks for. First of all, give him thanks for his works. Look at verse 2. Great are the works of the Lord. They are studied by all who delight in them. Next, give thanks to God for his character. Not only his work, but his character. Look at verse 3. Splendid and majestic is his work, and his righteousness endures forever. That's his character. He has made his wonders to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and Compassionate. Give thanks that God is gracious. Give thanks that He is compassionate. Give thanks that His righteousness endures forever. Give thanks for that. There is good days ahead for planet Earth because of God's character. Give thanks, the psalmist goes on. Give thanks for His care and for His closeness to His people. Look at verse 5. He has given food to those who fear Him, and He will remember His covenant forever. Give thanks to God for His care for you. He is going to provide. And His remembrance of His covenant, His closeness. He's not going to forget. He's not going to forget you. He's not going to remember. He's not going to forget anything that He has promised to you. And I love that, because even though our minds fail, and we can't even remember the promises that we made yesterday, and yet He remembers them even when we don't. And I mean, He has promised some incredible things. He's gone in writing, and it is an eternal record. And He's never going to forget that. Wow. He's going to be close to His people. He's going to fulfill everything. Be thankful for that. Be thankful, as the psalmist goes on in verse 6. Be thankful for His power. Verse 6: He has made known to His people the power of His works. In giving them the heritage of the nations, his power.

31:35In verse 7, he goes on to speak about his ways and his government. Verse 7: Give thanks. The works of his hands are truth and justice. All his precepts are sure. They are upheld forever and ever. They are performed in truth and uprightness. Aren't you glad that you can build your life upon his word, upon his precepts, and it is sure and it is good? Upheld forever and ever? That's why you build your life upon these words. You're like a wise man building his house upon a rock. Because his ways and his government are forever. Psalmist goes on to speak about redemption. Give thanks for his redemption. Verse 9: he has sent redemption to his people, he has ordained his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all those who do his commandments. His praise endures forever. His redemption. He sent redemption. So give thanks for the right reasons. Give thanks for God's works. Give thanks for God's characters. Give thanks for his care and his closeness to his people. Give thanks for his power. Give thanks for his ways. Give thanks for his government. And give thanks for his redemption of his people.

33:01Give thanks for him. Give thanks for his son, the means. You know, when somebody does a nice thing for me, it's not just the deed that I'm thankful for, is it? When somebody does a nice deed for you, it's not just the deed you're thankful for. There's something more to it, isn't it? You're thankful for the person. I am very thankful for being married for 30 years and all the deeds that my wife has done over the last 30 years. I'm thankful for those. But what stands out is her.

33:42I am thankful for her. Likewise, when you think about God and His blessings, we're to be thankful for the blessings and all that. But more importantly, we need to be thankful for God Himself. Thank God for His great mercy. Thank God for His salvation. 1 Peter 1:3 says, This Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to His great mercy, has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven. For you who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. You know, think about my condition before I came to Christ. Think about Adam and Eve in the garden. Think about what can change a heart that's wanting to hide from God, wanting to excuse their sin, wanting to blame others and run from God?

34:59What can change that to a person, a heart that wants to seek God, confess sin, agree with God, and run to Him? What can change a heart from going from hostility to His existence to joy in His presence? That's the work of redemption. That's the work of His Son. Give thanks. He is, you know, before I was saved, I didn't give Him much thought. Now I think about Him all the time. I think about God's Son and Christ and what He's done. I used to be the hero of my own daydreams. I don't know if that was ever you, but I used to daydream, and I was always the hero. I remember one time I was little, and it's one of my first memories when I was a hero. We were studying in class, and we talked about being warm-blooded and cold-blooded, cold-blooded lizards. This is why power of what you teach in class. Is very important. I came out. Well, guess what? I'm cold-blooded. I just made up my mind. I'm cold-blooded. There's warm-blooded creatures, there's cold-blooded creatures in the sky next to me that said, You're not cold-blooded, or you'd be a lizard.

36:16And then I had in my imagination just turning into a lizard and just gobbling him up. Yeah, that'll fix you. But that's kind of the daydreams, you know, just being the hero of your own imagination. Boy, that has changed. I have a true hero, Christ, a perfect role model, a protective and caring big brother. He's the best friend, the perfect companion. He is everything we could possibly want in a relationship. And he has that capacity to be that kind of person to every single individual who will call upon his name. His capacity is mind-numbing.

37:01Be thankful for his son. Be thankful for our king, for Christ. So we go into the season to be thankful. Let's be thankful for God, His great mercy, God, His Son. Be thankful for God Himself and honor Him as such with expressions of gratitude so that. Others may celebrate him as well. I know I've told this story before in different contexts, but it was one of those events in life that I keep reflecting back on as very significant and it has many application points.

37:51But as many of you know, I grew up in a little town called Los Alamos, New Mexico, and I had a job. I had to get up very early in the morning, like 2:30, and go work on the bread route. I had to leave the mountain and go down into the valley and pick up all this bread, this fresh bread that is just made at the bakery, and take it. And I had this bread route, and I would go up to all these little restaurants. And one of my first restaurants, I'll just call the guy Frank, Frank's, not this Frank over here, but Frank up in the mountain. And that was one of my first stops. And I remember this happened repeatedly, but I remember one particular day I loved the job because I loved getting up early. I loved going down the mountain. And then I loved coming up because then I would see the deep purples, the sunrise over the Sangre de Cristos, just this beautiful, beautiful, spectacular display of God's glory every, seemingly every day. And it was, they would start with the deep purples, it would turn. Into the reds, it would turn into the oranges and the yellows, and then this brilliant gold. About the time I would get to Frank's, it would often be at its peak. And I remember at one time I pull into Frank's, and I'm just awed, the whole sky. And he's got this perfect patio to see this whole thing across the whole mountain range. And he's, and I go in there and I go into his little kitchen where he is, and he's all holed up in this little dark, you know, getting all the stuff going. He'd been up all night working, getting his restaurant in order. I'm like, Frank, you got to come out and see this. And he's like, It's ugly. I'm not going out there. He was the most cantankerous, vicious, foul-mouthed old goat if there ever was one.

39:54And I'm, Frank, you need to come out here and see the glory of God. And that's what you want to have at 5 a.m. is some little bread man coming in when you're trying to get, come out here, the door's open. He's like, Close the door, I'm getting another breadman. It's ugly. That was Frank. And I'm like, Frank, you've got to get out of this dark little kitchen. The glory of God is just here, right before you.

40:27And he liked me. Sit down, I'll make you some eggs. Know and but do you understand where God, where life is going? I'm telling you what path He went down, a darkened place. I prayed for him a lot. I don't know where God ever ended up with him, whatever he did with him. But man, if that sunrise isn't for you, maybe eternal life isn't for you. If you cannot give thanks for the glory and the beauty of God, maybe eternal life isn't for you. Maybe you're not going to get it. Do you understand where life's going? We are soon going to be in his presence. You and I really will meet him.

41:23And the way you relate to him now will be the way you relate to him when you meet. Do you seek him now? Do you give thanks for him now? Cultivate thanksgiving. He expects you to be thankful because he's done a lot of things for you that you should acknowledge him. He wants that kind of relationship with his people. Give thanks to him in the right manner all the time. Why? Because he's continually present and he wants that kind of relationship with you. Give him for the. Give him thanks for the right reasons for who he is, what he has done, his redemption, his care.

42:10He cannot be avoided. Are you a thankful person? If you're not, or if you say, you know what, Lord, help me grow in this area, I'm going to ask you to pray a dangerous prayer tonight. Say, Lord, I know I should give you thanks more. Lord, do whatever it takes to make me a thankful person. Are you willing to pray that? He will make you a thankful person. And say, Lord, do it as gently as possible, too.

42:55And he'll do it as gently as possible, too. You know, he wants us to be thankful. He wants us growing in this way. This is how we walk with him. And what a privilege it is. Well, I'm done. Anybody wants to make a thought or something you're thankful for as we close out? Happy Thanksgiving, Tom. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Yes, sir. Could you maybe speak for a second about us as parents? Of young children and laying some foundations to want our children to this type of biblical thankfulness today. Yeah. The question is: can I give some pointers on how parents could help navigate their children to an attitude of biblical thankfulness? Well, I think, first of all, you model it. Obviously, you model thankfulness. And you expect it. You expect them to expressions of gratitude. Maybe not so much for yourself, but like, for instance, if Joelle makes a very nice dinner and you sit down at the table and one of your kids is acting up, it might be like, Kevin, you might be able to say something to the effect that, look, your mom just went to all this trouble to make this dinner. We're going to enjoy it. We're not going to let you come in here. You need to enjoy it, you know, and express, and certainly one way, shape, or form, express gratitude, model that. Call them to the account, but God is going to have to truly do that work in them, pray for them.

44:44And then also show them. Do a lot of gracious things for them. And I don't know. Anybody have a thought you want to add to that? I'm sure there's some good pointers out there. Lots of wisdom out there. And like in every church, most of it's always in the pews. It's not up in the pulpit. Nancy, you want to say anything about. Okay. Does that help? The thoughts? Question. Yes, Letty. I remember a while back, Jeremy was preaching to me from Nehemiah, I remember I was a little bit of a pulpit, and there was a verse about unthankfulness being idolatry.

45:49I decided if you're not thankful, you're not acknowledging who's you sort of, and you're saying I give it to myself, or you know what I mean. Yeah, the comment. Yeah, Letty's comment is, let me see if I can get her. She's saying from Nehemiah, there is an expression where unthankfulness amounts to idolatry. And the thinking is if not acknowledging, the reason it's idolatry is because you're not acknowledging the truth. True God, but attributing it to somebody else or even yourself. Is that what, yeah, I think that's a good connection. Because fundamentally, what thankfulness is, is it's acknowledgement. It's honoring and recognizing the one to whom praise is due. And to not do that is to inevitably give that to somebody else. Give the praise to somebody else. Well, good. Well, let me close this in prayer. I pray that the Lord will bless you and your gatherings this week. Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for your goodness to us. Thank you for your care, for your provision, for your power, for your word, for the sureness of your presence, your care. And Father, we thank you as a nation. Father, we thank you for the United States, and we thank you for Texas. We thank you for this church. Father, we pray for all the organizations that we are part of. And we thank you for our families. And Father, we ask you to be present in all of our celebrations, be first on our mind and first in our hearts. And may our mouths be the first. May our mouths be first to give utterance to your goodness in our lives. Help us to truly be a grateful people. And, Father, we ask in your mercy that you would bring us and grow us in gratitude. Open our eyes, open our hearts, cause us to be thankful.

48:23We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.