Come Ye Thankful People Come | Earth, Wind, & Fire

Coming in at number eight in Pastor Jim's top

ten hymns that he wrote these sermons to, come

ye thankful people, come. And it's in that last

verse that it talks about that we are safely

to abide. And that's so important, I think, for

us to understand that our greatest hope in life

is that we are abiding in Christ. Let me just

put that there for a minute. And for some of

you, there might be a tension growing because

that might not be your perspective. Your perspective

might not be that the thing that I long for most

in life is to abide in Christ. Christ. You may

have so many other things that you go, no, no,

no, no. But on this earth, this is what I want

most in my life. A loving spouse, a family, a

home, a job. You can list. And all of those are

blessings. We're going to try not to overdo it,

but it is about blessings this month. And that

is all good stuff. But unless we are abiding

in Christ, this one may offend. none of that

matters. And you go, wait a minute, time out,

whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, time out. How can you

say that? Because if we think about it, that

if I am a believer, if I believe in Christ and

he is the definition of my life, then that should

impact how I am a husband and a father and a

pastor, how I can be a baseball coach in the

Munster Little League, how I can, and we can

put all of those blessings in that. Being a believer

should impact all of those things. When we abide

in Christ, we can do whatever Christ has called

us to do. Apart from me, you can do nothing.

Jesus reminds them when he does, I am the vine

and you are the branches. It's all about being

attached to the vine. And for some of us today,

That attachment is strong. That you have a devout,

faithful relationship with Jesus. You're abiding

in Christ. Just like that last verse talks about,

that abiding in Christ is the most important

thing. That should be the perspective of life.

But as we're going to see, even now, six chapters

in. Five in the start of the church, because

chapter one in the book of Acts kind of is a

preparatory time. Jesus ascends. He says, wait

for the Holy Spirit. But now we're five chapters

into the start of the church. And that hymn we

sang isn't really about crops, right? I'm sorry

if that offends any farmers that we have, though

they are important. Substitute the word crops

for our hearts. Thankfulness. Blessing. It's

a fruit of faith. When we realize that everything

we have comes from God's grace, then gratitude,

seeing those blessings, defining them as such,

naturally turns into service. If God has given

me, I ought to forgive. I should also give. As

God has forgiven me, I ought to forgive. You

see how that works? You see how our blessings

turn into call of actions every day in our life?

And Acts 6, the early church, will again face

a new challenge. We've seen them. But it's not

persecution from the outside today. It's tension

that grows inside. Welcome to Church Drama 101.

Growth brings problems. We've felt that here.

Right? Growth can bring problems. But here, it's

different than what they're dealing with. Food

isn't being distributed fairly in chapter 6,

and some widows are being overlooked. Instead

of ignoring the issue or fracturing a part, the

apostles lead on two things, gratitude and wisdom.

Gratitude that they have this opportunity to

speak wisdom from Jesus. We get that from Matthew

28, teaching them everything I have commanded

you. This fits in that. They appoint deacons

to serve so that the word of God can continue

to spread. So what this passage we're going to

break down, we're going to go almost verse by

verse, teaches us that a thankful church is a

serving church. Gratitude isn't just a feeling,

but it's a way of life. So let's dive into that

tension. We're going to start with verse 1. Diving

into the tension that growth brings. Growth brings

tension. How do I know? I've been pastoring a

church that has been growing double digits year

after year, and it's tension. We have new ideas.

We have new people. For some of you, we're getting

away from who we were back in the 1920s. And

all of these things, though the call has never

changed, the gospel has never changed, the way

church is done can change. It can shift. It can

change. In some ways, it can adapt. Ooh, pastor,

I don't know if the church has adapted. The church

adapts. We're actually going to just watch it

do it in chapter 6. We saw it twice in chapter

5. We saw it in chapter 4. The church does adapt.

It never compromises, but it adapts. Gratitude

and thankfulness is always in the beginning.

So verse 1, growth brings tension. Now in these

days when the disciples were increasing in number,

a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the

Hebrews because their widows were being neglected

in the daily distribution. Just leave that up

there, Micah. Part of the church's role was daily

distribution of food. The early church was all

about everybody, no matter their status, no matter

their nationality, we're all one in Christ starting

in the same level. You see, in those days, the

numbers were increasing. Growth here, we can

see, is a blessing. But it also brings complexity.

Guys, look around. You guys know I'm not good

at numbers, but the elders are constantly looking

at what our Sunday numbers are for church. That's

part of what the elders do, not numbers for numbers'

sake, right? And some of them have to count and

all that kind of stuff, and some have to take

their shoes off, and that's fine, but understand

that... numbers when we grow in the sanctuary,

there is kind of a rule called the 80 % rule,

right? The 80 % rule says that if you are constantly

in over 80%, your church may look so full that

new visitors or guests may choose not to find

a seat and leave because they don't believe there's

room. And if that is something that we continue

to see, we're not there yet, right? But I am

going to put yet because we're seeing our average

grow. There's complexity to it. Where are we

going to go? What are we going to do? All of

those questions can come to the surface and you

have elders and deacons and staff that have to

deal with it every day so you guys don't have

to. Growth brings complexity. The Hellenists,

which is basically just Greek -speaking disciples,

the widows felt neglected compared to the Hebraic

or the Israelite widows. This isn't anything

about prejudice, but this was a kind of a cultural

oversight. What can we pull from that? Who started

the church? It was the Israelites, right? It

was the disciples of Jesus. They were Jews. Now

you had some other groups coming. Right? This

is all one in Christ. This is all part of the

way. Christianity, the word, won't start for

a couple hundred years. But this is the people

of the way. All of a sudden, people that were

kind of like them were getting the first fruits

of things, the distribution, the food was running

out, and those that were not like them were not

getting fed. Gratitude doesn't ignore problems.

It faces them with humility and love. This could

have caused a lot of tension. One of the things

that I can't stand about the church in the United

States is the amount of schisms that we have.

What is a schism? Does anyone want to tell me

what a schism is? It's a fun word to say, especially

up here. Schism. What? Fracture, right? So if

you break a bone, Rick, do we say, man, you schismed

your knee? No, you talk about a different kind

of fracture. Go deeper. What do you mean? Thank

you. You sent it over here. Right? Good job.

Division. Schisms. A division. A breaking. You

have something going. It's schisms. It's a group

of people, not Rick's knee. Right? That just

breaks. But understand that it's schisms, and

it starts something new. Okay? One of the things

we do, and we'll do in the Connections class

on the 11th, is we go back to the great schism.

For a lunch and a conversation with Pastor Jim,

catechism teachers can't answer, what is the

great schism and when was it? I guarantee I'm

keeping that lunch for myself, aren't I? Does

anyone know what the great schism was? Micah

up top. Man, if you had a mic, I'd say drop it,

but you're up in the balcony. That would hurt

people down here. So 1054, Micah, that's a nice

lunch. We're going to do that one, right? We

will do that. It's the schism between the Catholic

Church and the Greek Orthodox Church. Many different

reasons why they schism. And I hate to say it

this way, this was much bigger than just churches

that schism because of pews and chairs, right,

which do happen, unfortunately. But understand,

this was the great schism of 1054, and it birthed

the Catholic Church away from the Orthodox Church,

the Eastern Orthodox Church. So this is the great

schism for a variety of different reasons we're

not going to get into today. But understand that

they start a new path for each. And what we do

is we go then through the Protestant Reformation.

We call it that, but there were schisms there.

Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, all of those that were

starting the Protestant Reformation, which was

a breaking off, a schism off of the Catholic

Church for a variety of reasons, mainly the five

solas, right? How many people know the five solas,

right? The five truths? Do I want to go through

those together? Seminarian, five solas? Go. Grace

alone. Faith alone. Christ alone. Scripture alone.

For the glory of God alone. You get extra credit

to a school I don't work at. But understand that

they said we're going to unify on those five

things against the Catholic Church. And in there

we do end up finding our Reformed Church. We

find our Christian Reformed Church. I could keep

going, but I'm not going to. Schisms and division

happen all the time with groups of people. Sometimes

it is a good thing, and sometimes it's just church

drama. So the apostles need to be wise in their

response. The apostles respond in verses 2 through

4. The apostles respond from this growing tension.

So starting with verse 2. It's coming up. In

3. Two, one. And the twelve summoned the full

number of the disciples and said, It is not right

that we should give up preaching the word of

God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick

out among you seven men of good repute, full

of the spirit and wisdom, whom we will appoint

to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to

prayer and the ministry of the word. So this

is the apostles, what I'm calling the wise response.

The apostles don't get in here. The apostles

don't get what I wrote, defensive. I'm going

to put this in kind of elders, deacons conversation

because we have elders and deacons here. That

there are times people can come and they can

either email, text, talk to an elder about things

they don't like at church. Unfortunately, it

happens a lot, almost weekly. And the thing that

an elder can't do is get super defensive right

off the bat. That's not helpful. Just like it's

not helpful in your marriage, just like it's

not helpful if you're dating someone, just like

it's not helpful with your boss, or if you are

the boss with your workers. If people bring something

that is going on, an issue that they have, and

we immediately get defensive, we shut down all

opportunities for reconciliation. But the apostles,

the elders, they don't get defensive or dismissive,

because we can get dismissive as well. They recognize

their calling, prayer and the ministry of the

word, and they appoint others to meet the physical

needs. Now, there are some of you that I'm sure

are reading this going, they just passed the

buck. They should have been doing the work. Why

in the world could they not do both? It's one

of the same reasons why I am the pastor of the

church, though I sit as an elder of the church.

Elders have different roles than I do. It's why

I'm not a deacon. Because there's only 40 hours

in a work week. Ministry is more like 55. But

understand, I can't do everything just like the

expectation isn't for you to do everything. That

the church is given offices for people to oversee

the serving of the church. The diaconate is no

different. You see, this is the origin of it.

To make sure that people are treated fairly.

To make sure that people are not overlooked.

To make sure that all people have a system of

help that they can receive from the church. And

we didn't even do this. We didn't even plan for

the fact that we were giving to benevolence today

as we went through that. I love my deacons, my

worship committee, and myself. We're not that

smart. to be able to put all of that together.

But I think it's amazing. We gave our offering

today for the Benevolent Fund, which is exactly

what the deacons are going to be tasked to do

in Acts chapter 6. You see, the Belgic Confession,

Acts 6 · chapter mention

article 30, tells us and uses a word, right,

that God ordains ministers, elders, and deacons

so that true religion may be preserved, the true

doctrine everywhere. Probe, why can't I say that

word? Propagated, thank you. And the poor and

the distressed assisted. Right there, the offices

of the church. Now, the call of the deacon, there's

a little bit of a deacon in all of us in that.

The deacons are there to make sure that we are

good stewards of our time, our talents, and our

treasures. Our deacons do a great job. Gratitude

here, what we see in the growth and the tension

that we need to have gratitude for, leads to

order, not chaos. Order allows mission to flourish.

Where we have order, where we have things working

and going, that God can use that. Isn't it hard

when you feel chaotic in life that things aren't

going awry, God isn't using us for anything?

Because one of the things God wants you to do

is start. Focusing in on him. Pause for a minute.

Focus on what is going on. So what are the qualifications

of the seven? We put qualifications for elder

and deacon at times in the CRC on these high,

unreachable places. If that was the case, none

of us would ever be called to them. But it's

pretty simple, just like how they picked for

Judas' seat. Someone who walked with Jesus, heard

his message, saw him die, saw him raise, saw

him ascend. That was it. It's not, oh, you went

to this seminar, you went to this training, you

did all these things. Let's see what the qualifications

were. The qualifications. Therefore, brothers,

pick out from among you seven men of good repute,

full of spirit and wisdom, whom we will appoint

to this duty. Be of good repute. Have a good

reputation. When people think about these individuals,

oh, they're gossips. Oh, they're swindlers. Oh,

they're liars. Oh, they're whatever. No, when

you think of these people, they go, yeah, they're

solid. That's basically it. Full of the Spirit

and of wisdom. How do we do that in 2025? They

lead their family in the church. That's it. It's

not some deep theological thing because God doesn't

call the prepared. He prepares the called. God's

the one doing the work. The apostles seek men

of good repute, full of spirit and wisdom. Service

is not a secondary work, but it's a spiritual

work. It's a work we all have. We are all called

to this work. You see, the thanksgiving we see,

the gratitude we see for the church being provided

for by the Holy Spirit, in this calling, those

who recognize grace and are eager to extend it.

It's a beautiful thing. Right? It's not we have

to keep all of our money, we can't spend all

of our money, we have to be tight. Being tight

and being good stewards are two different things.

But understand that the deacons have that specific

role. And what do they do? They bless them. They

lay their hands on them as part of the anointing.

We do the same thing every summer after we cast

lots. The laying on of hands we see in verse

5 and 6. And what they said pleased the whole

gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full

of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip,

and Proteus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parameus,

and Nicolaus, a prophylite. I can't speak today.

Holy cow. Of Antioch. These they set before the

apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands

on them. They didn't go to seminary. They didn't

go to deacon school. What did they do? They were

men of good repute and they were recognized.

Prayer marks the ministry with gratitude. We

thank God for that. In this church, we thank

God for that. Every time we cast lots and we

pray and we lay our hands on them, we do that

as a commissioning, as an anointing, as an ordination

of the Spirit. Belgian Confession, Article 31.

Church leaders are chosen by a lawful election

of the church with prayer and good order. It's

not just, oh, the duchiest last name gets it

or they've been in the church the longest so

they win. I guarantee you when I make those phone

calls to the elders and deacons, especially first

-time guys, and I've said this before, I'll say

it again, and I let them know why I'm calling,

there's usually an elongated pause where I have

to ask, Like, press a button if you're still

alive. I guarantee it's not because they're running

around their house going, I won! I won! I won!

How many of you did that when I've called you

over the last seven years? Exactly. There's a

weight there. It's a responsibility. But it's

a good one. Because a good God is leading the

church in good order. So what is the result?

The result is verse 7. And the word of God continued

to increase, and the number of the disciples

multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great

many of priests became obedient to the faith.

The word of God continued to increase. Here's

a rub. Here's... Right now, we have churches,

and I'm just going to talk about Class of Leanne.

I'm just going to talk about the CRC, right?

Christian Reformed Church, our denomination.

We're in a class. It's a group of now 16 churches.

That we have some churches that have gotten to

a point where they can't call elders and deacons

because they just don't have enough people or

those people are not able to serve anymore. And

that's why our denomination talks about sitting

down and having conversations with those churches

going, maybe the season of being a church is

over. And you talk about a conversation that

rarely goes well, it's those ones. Maybe you're

sitting here today because you were a part of

those at one time in your church life. And over

the years, you found your way to Munster Church.

Another reason why members of Munster Church,

we need to be thankful, grateful, humble, and

slightly terrified of what God is doing here.

Because you want to know a mark of a church no

longer being a church? That there's no more people

that can serve. That's a tension. I can feel

it. Me just saying it to us right now. Because

the word of God continued to increase. The organization

didn't stifle the spirit. It strengthened it.

The spirit strengthened the work of this church

to go deeper and wider. Why? Because it was met

with gratitude and it turned a conflict into

a celebration. And everybody was distributed

fairly. Now, we're going to see, are there other

conflicts that arise? Absolutely. But what is

the Lord doing? The Holy Spirit is crafting the

church to be done in good order. And we need

to be thankful for that. Now, what does good

order mean? It doesn't mean everything that the

church does you're going to like. It doesn't

mean you get your way with every decision that

the church makes. It doesn't mean you get to

put down some I've been here this many decades

card that means anything in light of what a council

and congregation are voting or whatever to do.

Because that's you making the church about you.

We've not seen that outside of Ananias and Sapphira

a couple weeks ago, and we all know how that

ended. They died. If it's not a wake -up call

to all of us, That we need to come with a posture

to church, not of egotistical -ism, if you will,

making it about us. Not with agenda. But how

are we supposed to walk this out? It's supposed

to be walked out in gratitude. That gratitude

grows when we serve. Thankful hearts find expression

in humble hands. Let me say that again. Thankful

hearts find expression in humble hands. We serve

not to be seen, but because God has served us

in Christ. So if one of your blessings is gratitude,

keep it up. Let that be the driving force of

your life. And play it out for a minute. What

if you lived a life of gratitude in every aspect

of your life? That every morning you showed gratitude

to your spouse because they are in your life.

How would that drastically change your relationship?

That you show gratitude for your children. If

the Lord has blessed you with those, there's

gratitude for that. Though they drive you crazy,

there's gratitude for that. Coming to a church,

do you have gratitude when you come to church?

Are you sharing that gratitude? Second, that

spiritual leadership includes practical care.

The early church didn't separate prayer and service.

They combined them. Both are. We'll never be

a church that prays that the needs of people

are met, yet not try to walk in that. Are we

going to do it perfectly? No, because we're sinners

and we're not capable of perfection. But what

we are capable of is thankful expressions of

service. Third, diversity is a gift to be stewarded.

The tension between the Hellenists and the Hebrews

became an opportunity for unity. Right? It's

fun to say. It's probably not that fun to hear.

But it's true. That the tension became an opportunity

for unity. That's why as elders and deacons,

when there's tension in the church, we can't

get offended. We can't go on the defensive. We

have to understand why. Because we are serving

people. Gratitude sees differences as blessings,

not threats. Let me say that as I start landing

the plane. Gratitude sees differences as blessings,

not threats. Well, pastor, I really want to go

to a church where we're all the same. We all

look the same. We all sound the same. We all

do the same things. We smell the same. Nope.

Then this isn't the church for you. Because here

we want to celebrate that diversity. Because

all of our roads to Jesus aren't the same. They're

not. Yet what is the same? That ground right

before the cross. It's level, and that's where

we all meet each other. The tension between these

two groups were an opportunity for unity. That

tension can unify. When I sit down with a couple,

whether premarital or marriage counseling, and

again, I don't know everything. I did go to school

for it, so it helps. And I have a couple, especially

a premarital couple. I may have used this before.

It was a couple years ago. I think I was actually,

no, I was here. It was one of my first two weddings.

I'm not going to say that because people are

going to look it up. But it was a couple, right,

that I was working with here. And I remember

I came in. I said, so it was maybe second or

third meeting. And I said, so when's the last

time you guys fought? And they just kind of looked

at me and they're like, Pastor, we don't fight.

And I was like, well, you just lied to me. And

they're like, what? I go, what do you mean? We

don't fight. I go, no, you do. Tell me about

the last time you fought. And they like doubled

down. It was hilarious. They're like, we don't

fight. And so I was like, okay, trying to think

on my feet. When's the last time you had a disagreement?

Told me 13 things in the last week. I said, that's

a fight. And they're like, well, we just don't,

we don't call them fights. We don't like to use

that language. And that's fine. We just call

it disagreements. And they told me about one

and they didn't talk for a day. I'm like, okay,

I don't care what you call it, but this is how

do you work through conflict in your relationship.

They're like, oh, I guess it was a fight. We

all do it. And I don't know about you, but when

I have time, when I make Carrie mad, because

that's more time than the other way around, you

all agree, don't say amen, but understand, you

grow closer to that person through that, right?

When your guard is down or you're being vulnerable

and talking about where you're hurt or where

you're hurting and the other person is valuing

that and meeting you in that place, doesn't that

tie you closer together? And for some reason,

for some of you this morning, and it might be

the case, you go, okay, this really hurts because

we actually go like this more. And I'm going

to ask you to text me or email or call me today

so we can set you up with potentially counseling

from me or somebody else because that's not the

way to do it. As believers, when we have disagreement

and we just continue to go there, there are two

things that are happening. We're not recognizing

that we are offering part of the conflict and

we're not forgiving. That doesn't mean you come

right back like this. It takes time. But understand

that with that division, with that tension, unity

can be what happens at the end. We can grow closer

because of that. Fourth, the delegation is discipleship.

Let me say that again. Gratitude releases control

because it trusts God's provision through his

people. God is providing the needs of the church.

Providing for the needs of the church through

his people. people. In the Old Testament, how

did God do that for the Israelites coming out

of Egypt? Manna from heaven, quail. He provided

it. Here in the church, we're going to provide

it one for another. And then last one, and the

plane has landed. Thankful churches grow stronger.

If we can be a church that is truly thankful

for what God is doing in our lives and the lives

of the church. And yes, thankfulness means That

has to grow higher than your problems and your

issues that you have. Because if you're going

to center on those, you're making it about you.

This church has never been about you. It's never

been about me. It's always been about Jesus,

155 years. Some years more than others. But gratitude

creates unity. Unity creates witness. And witness

advances the gospel. Let me say that again. Gratitude

creates unity. Unity creates witness. And witness

advances. The gospel. That's why we're a church.

Elders, deacons, committees, lighthouse teachers,

everyone. It's about advancing the gospel of

the church. And that takes unity through thanksgiving.

Recognizing each other as blessings. Please stand

if you are able. And as we do, we are going to

close with that prayer together. Let us pray

together. Gracious God, you have given us everything

we need. Teach us to serve with grateful hearts

and joyful hands. Thank you for calling leaders,

elders, and deacons to build your church. Fill

us with your spirit so that thankfulness would

overflow into service. Let your word increase

in us and through us. In Jesus' name, amen.