Pie and Praise Night

Thessalonians chapter 5. I want to end tonight by giving

you a little bit of a challenge here, more of a reminder than

anything, but 3 verses that I want to look at this evening in

First Thessalonians chapter 5, and the Bible says this in verse

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

#16 probably some of the shortest verses together in the

Bible. Obviously Jesus wept is the

shortest, but these are the next shortest verse #16 says rejoice

evermore 17 pray without ceasing 18 in everything.

Give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus

concerning you and you know I I know many of your situations

because you've you've obviously been here and and life is filled

with a lot of circumstances. Some of them are joyful, some of

them are difficult, some of them are confusing.

Some of them are just downright painful.

But when Paul wrote to these believers here in First or in,

yeah, in First Thessalonians to the to the church there at

Thessalonica, he understood that they were facing pressures.

They were, they were facing persecution.

They were, they were facing uncertainty.

They just, they didn't know what was going to happen.

And there was a lot of a lot of things that they were dealing

with. And obviously the Apostle Paul

himself to be able to say rejoice evermore, pray without

ceasing in everything, give thanks.

That's a difficult thing to say in the middle of the

circumstances. Like what Paul was going through

and like what the church at Thessalonica was going through.

And maybe like what you're going through, it's, it's not always

easy to do those things. Paul didn't tell them to escape

their circumstances. He didn't tell them to wait

until life got easier. He gave him 3 commands, three

powerful commands, Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing

in everything. Give thanks for this is the will

of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

I want to, I want to just walk through these truths for a

couple minutes with you tonight. But I want to tell you a story

that I read that I thought was pretty interesting.

I feel like goes right along with this.

And there was a guy by the name of Captain Jonathan Harris and

he had spent 25 years as a commercial fisherman out in the

North Atlantic. And honestly, it's been so long

out there that the North, I mean, the, the, the ocean had

kind of shaped who he was. I mean, all of his, you know,

the, the, the beauty, the danger, the unpredictability.

He knew everything about the North Atlantic, the currents

and, and the weather patterns and, and where the fish were and

what time, you know, what seasons that fish were in

certain places and all of those things.

He had spent all of the, the time on the ocean.

But there was one thing that he couldn't that he didn't

understand, and one thing that he couldn't fix.

And that was his anxious heart he just had.

He worried constantly and he knew that he had a problem with

that. But he worried about providing

for his family. He worried about the weather.

He worried about every time the the radio crackled.

He worried about things that he couldn't change.

And he had a very godly wife, thankfully.

And a godly wife is such a, such a huge asset to any husband.

But she would remind him as as gently as possible that as these

verses remind us, she would say, John, the Bible says rejoice

evermore, pray without ceasing in everything, give thanks.

And she she told him, you know, you can have that.

You don't have to worry when you go out on the boat.

You don't have to worry about all of those things.

Just give it to God. And he would always tell her

kind of the same thing, You know, hey, maybe when things

finally calm down, maybe I'll, maybe I'll try to do that a

little bit more. And he never really did it,

though, until one day when he decided that it was not decided

he was going out for, for a run like he always did.

And he checked the weather, the, the radar and all of those

things, checked the maps. He knew exactly where he was

going. He knew exactly what he was

going to do. It's just going to be a quick

run. He, he and his crew were going

to jump in the the fishing boat, go get a haul and come back.

And just about a few hours off the coast, everything started to

change. The weather changed

dramatically. It was supposed to be calm seas.

There was not supposed to be anything that they had to worry

about. But it's like ink rolled across

the sky, and the next thing you know, they were in the middle of

a storm that he had never been in the middle of before.

And the ship was just being tossed around like a cork in the

ocean. And the wind picked up at 1st

and then the waves started crashing around the boat and

the, they, they were caught in something very violent,

something very unpredictable, something very dangerous.

And he knew that and, and the crew knew that most of the crew

had been with him for a lot of those years, that he was a

captain of that boat. And the boat started pitching so

violently that, that the men were thrown to their knees.

And they, you know, the, the crew members could barely hear

each other hollering over the sound of the wind and the waves.

And he remembered what his wife had told him because she said it

more than once. And for the first time in his

life, he actually felt more than anxiety.

He felt actual fear. He was afraid for his life.

He did not know what was going to happen.

He had never been in a storm that violent before.

And he grabbed the radio and he called for help, but the storm

was so violent that the radio crackled and there was there was

no signal. There was nobody else that could

that he could call, nobody else that was going to bail them out

of this situation. And so, as he clung to the wheel

for dear life, he started to fight the panic that was rising

inside of him. And in that moment, he

remembered what his wife had told him just a few days before.

Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing and everything give

thanks. And for the first time in a long

time, he prayed right there, grasping that wheel with

trembling hands. Soaked, exhausted, he had

nowhere else to turn. And so he was a Christian man.

He had been in church most of his life as well, but he

whispered what he said was probably the first time he's

ever really prayed. And he said, Lord help us.

That's all he said. But as soon as he said that, he

started thinking about the second verse, pray without

ceasing. And then he thought about the

third verse and everything, give thanks.

And that moment, the moment he said, Lord help us, he started

thinking, what can I thank God for in the middle of this?

Not what is there to thank God for?

He was genuinely thinking, what, what can I thank God for in the

middle of this storm? And he started looking around

and he said, I'm, I'm thankful that I have a crew that's still

next to me and still fighting this storm.

I'm still thankful that I have breath in my lungs and not

water. I'm still thankful that the ship

is upright. And the next thing he knew, he

even thanked God for the storm because it made him realize how

desperately he really needed the Lord.

And something happened. Nothing changed on the outside.

The storm was still going on. But the storm was calmed inside

in his heart. And that calmness settled over

him. Not a physical calm, but a

spiritual calm. And his fear loosened its grip

on him. His mind cleared.

He made decisions with clarity that he had not made just a few

moments before that, and he later said it was like the storm

was still screaming, but God gave my heart a quiet place to

stand. Hours later, after the storm had

finally calmed down, the boat didn't sink and he had no idea

how the boat didn't sink, but they finally broke through the

worst of the storm. The wind weakened, the waves

calmed down a little bit. And actually, they were able to

call through. They, their ship had been

battered so bad they needed to be towed back by the Coast

Guard. And the Coast Guard was on their

way. But Captain Harris was never the

same. And a couple days later, when he

walked up the driveway to his house, his wife met him.

And he was shaking, but he was still alive.

And as they embraced, as they hugged there in the driveway, he

whispered to her, You were right.

Prayer doesn't change the storm, but prayer changes the sailor.

And that's exactly what I believe this passage is all

about. He'd learned to rejoice not in

circumstances, but in the God who controlled those

circumstances. He had learned to pray not only

in crisis, but continually. He learned to give thanks not

not only for every situation, but in every situation.

And he gave his testimony at the end of the testimony said this

The storm didn't destroy me. The storm discipled me and

that's exactly what we find here.

This, this, this, that story, I think, illustrates the command

that we're given here by the apostle Paul.

He says, first of all, rejoice evermore.

Now I think the order of that is important.

Rejoice evermore, not because everything in is easy in life,

but because God is good and God holds everything in his hands.

Rejoice evermore. And rejoicing is not a feeling,

it's a choice that we make. If everything was going great

and that's the only time we rejoice, then we wouldn't

rejoice very often. It's nice when things go great,

but it seems like a lot of times they go the opposite way.

In fact, we always are looking for the the the times that they

go the opposite way. But God is in control and Christ

has already secured the final victory for us.

Circumstances may change, but God does not change and we can

rejoice in that. Paul isn't telling us to be

happy about every situation, He's telling us to be happy in

every situation, in everything. Give thanks.

Christian joy is not based on circumstances.

It's anchored in a person with a capital P because it's only

found in Jesus Christ, God. God is still good.

Doesn't matter what you're going through, God is still good.

God is still on the throne. God is still in charge and God

is still faithful. Rejoicing is not pretending that

life is easy. Rejoicing is proclaiming that

God is enough. The second thing that Paul tells

us here is to pray without ceasing.

See, when when rejoicing is the place that we start in prayer

becomes a very beautiful and a very easy next step.

If you're rejoicing even in the middle of a difficult

circumstance, it's going to be easy to come to God with

whatever you need to bring to him.

God loves you and he wants to hear your prayers.

Just like, I mean, we have examples of this all the way

throughout the Bible. But just like a loving father

wants to hear from his child, he wants to take care of his child.

He wants to give them things that they like.

The Lord wants us to pray to him big little.

It doesn't matter to him. Bring them to him.

That's what it means by in everything.

Pray without ceasing. Pray without ceasing.

That doesn't mean that we have to be 24 hours a day on our

knees walking around and you know, our eyes closed and ignore

the rest of life, but it means that we should be in a constant

state of prayer. When burdens hit, pray.

When fear hits, pray. When circumstances don't go the

way that you want them to go, pray.

That's what that's what pray without ceasing means.

And when the blessings come, pray that means.

Doesn't matter what happens to us in our lives, we should be

always praying. We should be always talking to

our Heavenly Father. Prayer is not a last resort.

It ought to be our first response.

That's the problem with most people is we get to that point

where, well, there's nothing left to do.

Now, I guess we, I guess we better pray, right?

People end up in that situation a lot.

We we get in that mindset a lot. Well, there's nothing left to do

but pray. That should have been the first

thing you did. Bring it to God and then go see

what you can do after that, but bring it to God, give it to him.

Prayer doesn't doesn't remove the storm, but it removes the

panic in the middle of the storm, doesn't always stop the

waves, but it will calm your heart.

And that's what he's saying when he says rejoice evermore.

Pray without ceasing. And lastly, then in everything,

give thanks. We're here for for Thanksgiving,

and we're right around the corner from that.

Our founding fathers encouraged giving thanks.

President George Washington signed a presidential

proclamation that established the last Thursday in November as

a day of giving thanks to God for his blessings for his divine

Providence in the creation of our country.

Divine Providence is the way that they looked at it.

We have so much to be thankful for.

You know, he says in that verse #18 in everything, give thanks.

It doesn't mean that we have to give thanks for everything.

I remember reading a story about Corey Tenboom and she and her

sister were in the concentration camp there.

And obviously the situation was not good.

Corey Tenboom's sister ended up dying there.

In those in in that concentration camp, Corey is the

only one that came out, but she came out talking about her

sister and how her sister was just so joyful in every

situation. In fact, she told Corey when

they were in those barracks and one of the things about the

barracks that they were in is they were just completely

infested with fleas. And obviously it's not a great

situation. But her sister said, Corey, we

ought to be thankful for the fleas because the guards won't

come in here. And it gives us an opportunity

to have a Bible study with the ladies that are in the in those

barracks. You can always find something to

give thanks for in everything. You don't have to be thankful

that you have the fleas. You don't have to be thankful

that you're in a miserable situation, But you can be

thankful that no matter what's going on, God is there in that

situation. And there's always something

good to find in that situation if you're looking for it.

Thankful not necessarily for the storm, but in the storm I can be

thankful because God works all things out for his, for our good

to them who love God, to them who are the called according to

his purpose. Because God never abandons his

children. Because God teaches us and

strengthens us through our trials.

Because God reveals himself most clearly to us when we are in the

middle of adversity. That's why we're thankful in

everything. We don't have to be thankful

necessarily that our life is hard.

We don't have to be thankful that our life is not going the

way that we want it to go or this circumstance is not exactly

how I'd like it to be, but we can be thankful in those

circumstances. Thanksgiving is not a feeling.

It's a choice to trust God when life doesn't make sense.

Christians joy, as we find in verse 16.

A Christian's prayer as we find in verse 17.

A Christian's Thanksgiving, as we find in verse 18, is not tied

to the weather of life. It's not tied to what we go

through. It's tied to the God who never

changes like like that. Captain Harris it's not tied to

how big the waves are. It's not tied to how difficult

the storm is. It's tied to the God who was

with us in the middle of that storm.

Thanksgiving is not just a response to our circumstances.

It's a response to, of gratitude and humility and Thanksgiving to

God for his blessings, for his provisions, for his protections

on our lives. And boy, we've, we've given

thanks to God in a lot of different testimonies and a lot

of us are thankful for the same things.

But boy, if you actually sat down and started to think

through and list all of the things that God has done for you

and your life, you know, how often do you thank God for his

protection? You know, many times we could

have been in a wreck that killed us or maimed us or took one of

our family members and we had no idea that God even protected us

from it. You know, something happens and

your car won't start and you missed the wreck by two minutes

while you were trying to get that car going.

You know, it's frustrating when you're dealing with things like

that because it's not going the way that you want it to go.

But you have no idea why God is doing the things that He's

doing. He might be protecting you from

something that would be a horrible disaster in your life

and something that you saw as as so horrible because I can't

believe this happened. God was working it out for your

good and for His glory. I don't know why things happen

the way they do. If I had the answer to the

reason why everything happens, I would be a billionaire.

I'd have an office right next to the church building, and I'd

charge for it. But I don't know why God does

what He does. We can't answer that question,

but I do know this. God's with us in the middle of

those things. God's there when we need Him.

And that's why we can rejoice evermore, why we can pray

without ceasing, and why in everything we can give thanks.

Things may not be exactly the way that you want Him to be this

year. Maybe you had a good year, maybe

you didn't. You may be struggling a little

bit. But whatever the situation is,

with God's help, we can choose to rejoice.

We can choose to pray. We can choose to give thanks.

I want you to remember this as we close.

Joy is possible because God is good.

Prayer is possible because God is near and Thanksgiving is

possible because God's in control.

Joy is possible because God is good.

Prayer is possible because God is near and Thanksgiving is

possible because God's in control.

All those things go hand in hand.

Boy, that's something that that I try to remind you often.

I try to think of it in January and February, in March and

April, when they're, when we're in the exact opposite of the

month of November where we're supposed to think about giving

thanks. Giving thanks is something that

we should do year round. It's a command.

And it's not just here, it's all the way throughout the Bible.

Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing in

everything. Give thanks.

What a reminder. What a reminder.

Doesn't matter what your circumstances are, we can still

have that joy in the middle of those circumstances.

We can still pray in the middle of those circumstances.

We can still give thanks in the middle of those circumstances.

Maybe you're not going through one right now, a difficult time,

but you will. You will because it's a part of

life. And I hope you remember those

things. Always, always, always in

everything, give thanks. We have so much to be thankful

for. Let's pray.

Father, again, we thank you so much for your goodness to us.

God, we thank you so much for the opportunity we have to be

here together tonight. May you help us to be reminded

always in every circumstance to rejoice, to pray, and to give

thanks. And especially around this time

of the year when we focus on it a little bit more.

God, may you help us to be what you want us to be.

May you help us to be reminded that we don't necessarily have

to be thankful for the circumstance, but we can be

thankful in it because you're good and you're God, and we

thank you for all that you do for us in Jesus name, Amen.

Go ahead and take your song books out one more time.

Let's turn to page 277. Brother Niton sent me this the

other day and I said I usually read that on the pie and praise

service, so I'm going to read it.

May your stuffing be tasty. May your Turkey be plump.

May your potatoes and gravy have nary A lump.

May your yams be delicious and your pies take the prize.

And may your Thanksgiving dinner stay off your thighs.

Phase 277 go and stand. We'll close with this chorus.

We'll sing it through twice. I love you Lord, and I lived my

boys to worship you. Oh my soul, rejoice.

Take joy, my king. And what you hear, maybe a

sweet, sweet sound in your ear. Let's.

Do that one more time. I love you all and I left my

voice to worship you all. My soul.

Rejoice, take joy in my King and what you give.

Hey, hey, hey. Hey man, I hope you have a good

Thanksgiving or dismissed.