Thankful for the Blessings | Pastor Kami Palmer | Faith Church

Well, this morning, we're going to be concluding

with the time of communion at the end of the

service. But I wanted to spend a few moments

on this Thanksgiving weekend out of Psalm 107.

You're going to want your Bible today. You might

want your notebook. As I was in Psalm 107, I

was struck by the beauty of the pattern. that

is seen. It was a continued pattern through the

first half of the chapter. And as we did that,

I'm like Psalm 107 just like wrote my sermon

for me. But I want to just begin by opening with

verses one and two. Give thanks to the Lord for

he is good. His love endures forever. Let the

redeemed of the Lord. Tell their story. That's

just what the girls were talking about. Let the

redeemed tell their story. Nobody else can tell

your story. Only you can tell your story. So

tell your story. And so Emerson said this. He

said that if the stars came out only once a year,

everybody would stay up all night to behold them.

We have seen the stars so often that we don't

bother to look at them anymore. We have grown

accustomed to our blessings. I had that thought

when a couple of weeks ago, Darren and I were

flying home from Texas, from Dallas. And we were

flying. Now, I typically don't want a window

seat. I can't look out the window because I get

sick. But I was doing pretty good because I had

my Dramamine in me. And so as we were coming

down into St. Louis, I thought it was so rude.

The lady in my row kept her window closed the

whole time, so I couldn't see anything. So I'm

looking out at somebody else's window, and it

was the peak fall colors. flying down over St.

Louis. It was a sea of colorful trees. And then

I start looking around the airplane, and I see

not one person looking out the window. They all

were on their phones and tablets. And I had the

thought, beyond just the fact that... We have

this sea of beauty outside our window. We've

grown so accustomed even to the idea of flying

that we don't look at what's outside our window.

We grow accustomed to our blessings. And so today

as we are reading through Psalm 107, I want us

to take a few moments on this Thanksgiving weekend,

and I want us to call to mind. The blessings

that he has given to us. The Israelites had this

problem themselves. They even in the wilderness

had grown accustomed to their blessings. They

were without food and they were longing for the

food of Egypt. And they begin to complain. They

begin to complain. And so what does God do? He

begins to feed them every morning with manna.

Every morning, I'm like, man, you don't even

got to cook. You don't got to do dishes. Right?

I have dishes I have to go home and wash today.

This is my reality. But if food, like, I don't

care. You have me to your house. I don't care

what you cook for me. I didn't have to cook it,

and I'm not cleaning it up. So I will take great

joy in that food. But the Israelites grew accustomed

to their blessing. And they got a bit of a complaining

spirit. And they said this, but now our whole

being is dried up. They're so dramatic. Our whole

being is dried up. There is nothing at all except

this manna before our eyes. I kind of feel this

way when Darren's in Petersburg. He hasn't been

there in like four months. So he's there today.

So I can again say whatever I want because he's

not here. I feel this way when I'm in the living

room and I can hear Darren roaming the kitchen.

And I hear the refrigerator being opened. And

I know he's just standing there staring at it.

And I'll call out suggestions. There's this in

there. There's this in there. There's this in

there. I'm going to go to Thornton's and get

a hot dog. Right? This is all we have in here,

healthy stuff. I'm drying up. I need a greasy

hot dog. Nothing but manna. They are experiencing

a miracle of God's provision every morning. And

they grew tired of it. How many of you remember

Keith Green? Some of you older ones. Darren and

I are big Keith Green. We read his book. I read

his book multiple times. Love Keith Green. And

so he wrote. How many of you remember his manna

song? Oh, yeah. Oh, no. Manna again? Manna waffles.

Manna burgers. Manna bagels? Filet of manna.

Manna patty? But manna bread. And then he goes

on to say this. We once complained for something

new to munch. The ground opened up and had some

of us for lunch. He had a way of really getting

to the heart of things. In Numbers 11, this is

what happened. God finally sends meat to them.

But in the sending of the meat, in the provision

of the meat, God gets exasperated with them.

And it says that they buried the people who had

been so greedy for meat. They called the place

graves for the greedy. Graves for the greedy.

I don't know about you, but I don't want my life

to be a grave of the greedy. I don't want to

become so accustomed to my blessings that I have

a complaining spirit and I forget to be thankful.

And so in Psalm 107, We're going to look here

in this rhythm of this psalm, the beauty of this

psalm. And we're going to, some of this is going

to apply. You're going to be like, ah, that was

me. That's who I was before Christ. Some of you

in here might say, that's me now. I need Christ.

But we're going to begin, we'll just begin from

the beginning once again in verse 1. Give thanks

to the Lord. For he is good, his love endures

forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their

story. Those who he redeemed from the hand of

the foe. Those he gathered from the lands, from

east and west and north and south. Some wandered

in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city

where they could settle. They were hungry. and

thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. This person

would be the distressed wanderer, and that might

have been some of you, wandering from this thing

to the next thing, hungry and thirsty, unable

to find anything that can satisfy, anything that

can settle your spirit to say, I'm home, I'm

at rest, I'm at peace, I'm content. You were

this desert wanderer, this distressed wanderer.

When we look, we see in the New Testament a wonderful

example of this, and Kathy was even referring

to it. In Luke 15, we have the account of the

prodigal. And when I read the account of the

prodigal, I see a distressed wanderer. He, in

verse 13, the younger son, it says he gathers

everything that he had, and he set off for a

distant country where he squandered his wealth

in wild living. He was going from one thing to

the next thing to the next thing, but nothing

could ever satisfy. Nothing could ever fill this

hunger he didn't know what it was for, this thirst

he didn't recognize why it was there. And so

it says, after he'd spent everything, there was

a severe famine in the country, and he began

to be in need. So he went and he hired himself

out to a citizen in the country who sent him

to his fields to feed the pigs. Let's remember,

you might think pigs are cute, and we'd certainly

enjoy eating pigs, but for him, this was an unclean

food. This was an unclean animal. It's bad enough

that he's going to take care of these pigs, but

for his culture, these are unclean animals. Verse

16, he longed to fill his stomach with the pods

that the pigs were eating. But no one gave him

anything. And then there's verse 17. And it says,

he came to his senses. I pray that over my kid.

He came to his senses. He said, how many of my

father's hired servants have food to spare? And

here I am starving to death. I will set out and

go back to my father and say, I've sinned against

heaven and you. I'm no longer worthy to be called

your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.

So he got up and he went to his father. What

did he do? He went back to the source. He went

back to that place that would satisfy the hunger,

that would satisfy the thirst, that would be

his resting, his home place. I am at rest here.

He was a distressed wanderer. And in Psalm 107,

Psalms 107:6

verse 6, here's what the distressed wanderers

do. They eventually will cry out to the Lord

in their trouble. And he delivered them from

their distress. He led them by a straight way

to a city where they could settle. He brought

them home. They cried out to the Lord, and he

brought them home. If this is you today, you're

saying, I don't know, there's just this thing

I can't be satisfied. I can't seem to settle

into anything. Some people like this will go

from job to job to job to job, relationship to

relationship to relationship, church to church

to church, because they can't find in God what

they need. And so they search everywhere. Let

those, how many of you would say, that was me,

I was a distressed wanderer. I had a hunger and

a thirst and I didn't know how to satisfy it,

right? Many of you raising your hands. And so

those who were the distressed wanderer, if that

is you, verse 8 and 9, let them give thanks to

the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful

deeds for mankind. For he satisfies the thirsty,

and he fills the hungry with good things. How

many of you, God has done wondrous deeds on your

behalf. He has satisfied you. He has filled you

with good things. Give thanks today. Give praise

today. The distressed wanderer. In the next portion,

we see another. In verse 10, some sat in darkness,

in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron

chains because they rebelled against God's commands

and despised the plans of the Most High. So he

subjected them to bitter labor. They stumbled

and there was no one to help. Some of you came

out of the place of great darkness. The chains

of the kingdom of darkness were heavy around

your neck. And it wasn't until he came, and there's

a beautiful passage that says that he ushers

us out of the kingdom of darkness and into the

kingdom of light. Right? How many of you, that's

me. I was ushered in out of the darkness and

into the light. I read. the account of a young

lady named Sophia. This is a little lengthy,

but I think you're going to be blessed by her

testimony. It was printed in Christianity Today.

But she tells her story saying, my earliest memory

is of crying inside a locked supply room. My

mother had sold me as a child laborer, as she

often did. I was three. At four, my mother sold

me for $58 as a child laborer to the imam of

the neighborhood's Muslim community. I lived

in a locked room and by age 25 gave birth to

two girls, both taken from me immediately. At

this point, life became unbearable. It felt unbearable,

and when I began, it's when that unbearable moment

hit her. that she began to hear a gentle whisper

in her ear, it's okay, just stay alive. I didn't

know who or what this voice was, but it comforted

me. It was powerful yet gentle. One night, not

long after the birth of her second child, she

awoke at three in the morning to the voice telling

me to escape through the window. I was confused,

but the voice said, it's time. I bargained with

the voice. If I jump, you have to promise I'll

get back everything I have lost. It was a second

story window. Helped by a woman in the community,

she was sent to another town to work where a

U .S. Army officer began to pursue her romantically.

She followed him to Chicago. where it was not

the fresh start she had hoped for. During the

next six and a half years, the man abused me.

I tested positive for HIV, developed tuberculosis,

and landed in the hospital, wrecked with despair.

All the money I'd earned working in Chicago went

toward my medical bills. Soon I had nothing left,

and the officer sent me back to Bangkok. I never

saw him again. For three months, I languished

alone in a hospital bed. My legs became paralyzed,

and though I could hear what went on around me,

I could not move or see. I could not remember

my name or who I was. During this season of torment,

I silently called upon every God I knew, yet

nothing happened. An American friend visited

and talked about Jesus with me, asking, why don't

you ask Jesus to be your Savior? Unable to say

anything or acknowledge that I had heard, I cried

out to Jesus in my heart, if you are with me,

come save me. For three months, I languished

alone in a hospital bed. This season in that

torment, she called on Jesus, but nothing had

changed, right? She didn't see any change at

all. But what she did is what Psalm 107, verse

Psalms 107:13

13 now says again. They cried out to the Lord

in their trouble, and he saved them from their

distress. He brought them out of darkness, the

utter darkness, and broke away their chains.

She didn't know it yet, but she had called on

Jesus, and he was at work bringing her out of

darkness and breaking her chains of bondage and

infirmity. Her story continues. After crying

out to Jesus, she went for six weeks without

food or medicine, only water. Yet strangely,

I never felt like I was alone, because the voice

that had spoken to me all those years ago spoke

again, live. That's all it takes, one word, live.

In that little house, I understood that it had

been Jesus' voice all along. And in his presence,

I slowly came back to life. My wounds healed.

My spirits lifted. And one day, it seemed as

if Jesus was telling me, come out. See, her family

had sequestered her in isolation in that little

room. And now Jesus is saying to her, come out.

I stumbled out of the wooden house like Lazarus.

My family, the villagers, and the doctors who

tried to heal me were all shocked. A pastor in

Bangkok had visited me while on my deathbed.

After my miraculous healing, he brought me to

a ministry called The Well to help me recuperate.

I told him I wanted to learn more about the voice

that had brought me back to life. And that's

when I gave my life to Jesus. The pastor helped

me enroll at a Baptist seminary in Bangkok where

I received my biblical studies certificate. Not

long after I graduated, I felt God calling me

back to return to the Muslim community I had

escaped. Only God can do this in a life. Go back,

God said. Learn to forgive and love them. The

community still had both my daughters, and they

didn't want to return them to me because I had

become a Christian. But I slowly reestablished

connections. I brought food and had meals with

people. I accompanied elderly women to the hospital

and shared how Jesus had befriended and saved

me. Eight years after I returned to the community,

The imam who had enslaved me called me on the

phone, was dying of cancer and wanted to see

me. I sat next to him and he asked me to forgive

him and said, can you give me bread and coffee?

I was stunned. He had locked me up for years.

Why should I forgive and serve him? What was

I even doing sitting there next to him? Then

I remembered Jesus and his command to forgive

and love my enemies. I took the bread. I believe

this is the table of the Lord. I took the bread

and I gave it to the imam. And the chains in

my heart broke. I felt true freedom at last from

this man and those terrible years. Later, right

before he died, the imam asked if I wanted to

have my daughters back. He didn't need to ask

twice. Today, my two daughters, 25 and 32, live

with me. When I jumped out of that window, I

asked God to give me everything back. He kept

his promise. He kept my daughters safe and returned

them to me. He has transformed my suffering into

an open door to minister to others in dire situations

in Thailand, including prostitutes, abandoned

children, and those who have been trafficked

or without homes. Listen, only God can bring

you out of that kind of darkness. Only God can

break those kind of chains of bitterness and

woundedness. Only God can do that. And for some

of you, you might say, well, my story isn't that.

Listen, it doesn't matter. Your darkness may

be different. Your chains may be different. They

may be of a lighter weight chain or maybe a heavier

chain. It doesn't matter. There's no chain that

is too heavy or too strong for the power of Jesus

Christ. Not one. There's no darkness that cannot

be lit up with the light of Christ. And so for

some of you, this was you. You were in the darkness.

You were captured by the chains. Maybe it's you

today. Maybe you're in a darkness. Maybe you

have chains. We have a great deliverer, Jesus

Christ, who's just waiting to shed light in your

darkness and break every chain. And so those

of you who were darkness dwellers, Psalm 107

Psalms 107:10

verse 10 calls to you. Let them give thanks to

the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful

deeds for mankind. For he breaks down gates of

bronze and cuts through bars of iron. So give

praise, give thanks. Hallelujah. The next portion

of Psalm 107, the next person that we find in

this chapter, In verse 17, some became fools

through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction

because of their iniquities. They loathed all

food and drew near the gates of death. This next

person is the rebellious one. Israel, God's people

in the Old Testament, this is their story, isn't

it? Time and time again, they would rebel. Against

the Lord. In fact, in Isaiah 48, he gives a picture

of Israel. It's not a great picture. In fact,

he says, listen to this, you descendants of Jacob.

You who are called by the name of Israel. I knew

how stubborn you were. Your neck muscles were

iron. Your forehead was bronze. Some of you in

here were very stubborn in bowing to your Lord.

You came the hard way to bow before the Lord.

You had a neck of iron. Your forehead was bronze.

You could just like beat your head against the

wall. He goes on to say, I am the Lord your God

who teaches you what is best for you. This is

the thing about the stubborn, rebellious one

is they think they know what's best for themselves.

And God is saying, no, I'm the one that teaches

you what is best for you, who directs you in

the way you should go. This is my favorite passage.

Oh, if only, if only you had heeded. If only

you had heeded and paid attention to my commands,

you would have had peace. Your peace would have

been like a river. Your well -being like the

waves of the sea. How many of you, you were that

rebellious one. You came to the Lord the hard

way. Yeah. But there, just like all the others

in Psalm 107 and verse 19, the rebellious cried

out to the Lord in their trouble. The Israelites

knew how to do that. They often had to do that.

God brought them into captivity, and they would

have to begin to again cry out to the Lord. And

always he saved them from their distress. He

sent out his word and healed them. He rescued

them from the grave. Praise the Lord. The thing

is, is that God's even more stubborn. His will

is even stronger. And his will is to heal you.

His will is to bring you up out of the grave.

And so maybe that's you today. Some of you, that's

who you were. But maybe today you're saying,

I've been stubborn. I've been resisting the word

of God in my life. Today is your day to cry out

in trouble and receive healing. And so you today,

who were the rebellious ones, hear the call of

verses 21 and 22. Let them give thanks to the

Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful

deeds for mankind. Let them sacrifice, thank

offerings, and tell of his works with songs of

joy. Sing it out. Sing out his good works, you

who are the rebellious ones. All right, our next

group right here, this is the last one, are the

fearful ones. In verse 23, some went out on the

sea in ships. They were merchants on the mighty

waters. They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful

deeds in the deep. For he spoke and stirred up

a tempest that lifted high the waves. They mounted

up to the heavens and went down to the depths.

In their peril, their courage melted away. They

reeled and staggered like drunkards. They were

at their wit's end. I think these are ones that

started out as adventurers. They were going out

on adventurous things on the seas. But then when

things got a bit stormy, what happened? Fear

came in. And they became so fearful that they

staggered like drunkards at their wit's end.

If that's you, you know what? You're in keeping

here. You're in good company. Because as we look

at some people in the Bible, they are just like

you. They are just like you. Elijah had a great

victory in the mountaintop where he called down

fire from heaven, consuming the sacrifice over

all of the other false prophets. I mean, you'd

be like spiritually high that day. But then the

next thing you read, he's running in fear from

Jezebel. In fact, he has so much fear that he

just wants to die. But it says that the Lord

gave him food, gave him water, and gave him rest.

And after that, he got up and ran 40 days to

the cave, where in that moment in the cave, God's

glory, his presence passed before him. And it's

in that place that God says, I got a couple more

kings for you to anoint, and it's time for you

to go anoint Elisha to be raised up after you.

He wasn't done yet. He got into a fearful place.

Gideon was hiding out in the winepress from his

enemies, declaring to be the weakest of the weak,

when the angel comes and says, O mighty man of

valor, and calls him to do battle on behalf of

his people. And he brought peace to the land.

He was hiding in fear. And then the word of the

Lord came. Esther, she feared for her life when

called upon to intercede with the king for her

people. She didn't want to do it. Ultimately,

though, we know her famous saying, if I perish,

I perish. She went before the king and saved

her people. The disciples, following this great

miracle of multiplication of food for 5 ,000.

Again, a great spiritual high. Look at what God

has done. Yet they get in a boat and they face

a fierce storm. And they are in fear until Jesus

calms the storm. Peter. Peter walked on water

until he began to sink in fear. Peter declared

he would never deny Christ. And then you find

him three times denying him. Yet Peter was martyred

for Christ. There are many. They started out,

yes, in adventure, I'm going to do great things.

They ended in fear. But I want to say to you,

if you've had fear in your life, you've got to

do it. Psalm 107 says to do in verse 28. You

cry out to the Lord in your trouble. And he brought

them out of their distress. He stilled the storm

to a whisper. The waves of the sea were hushed.

They were glad when it grew calm. And he guided

them to their desired haven. For many of you,

this was you. You lived a life of fear until

you found safe harbor in Christ. Some of you

are here today, and you need safe harbor. Christ

is here for you to cry out to in trouble. And

so, I believe that courageous adventures are

hidden somewhere in every heart. So if that is

you, if you have been the fearful one that Jesus

brought out, we heed verse 31. Let them give

thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love. and

his wonderful deeds for mankind. Let them exalt

him in the assembly of the people and praise

him in the council of the elders. Isn't that

interesting? What an intimidating place. I remember

when I was being ordained, having to preach to

our presbytery and our superintendent. I was

so intimidated and fearful in that moment. And

I finally had to say, forget it. They need the

gospel just like everybody else, so I'm going

to preach it. I had to get rid of that intimidation

and that fear. And I think it's interesting here

that that's what this verse, it says, exalt him

in the assembly of the people and in the council

of the elders. You would never think that you

could do that. But you're not a person of fear

anymore. So you can declare and exalt the Lord.

And so today my question for you is what is your

trouble? What is your trouble? What was your

trouble? What did God do for you when you cried

out to him? We need to remember our blessings

today. We need to call to mind what God has done

for us. And maybe, just maybe, you need to cry

out to him today. Maybe today you're the distressed

wanderer, searching, hungry, and thirsty. Maybe

you're the darkness dweller. The darkness has

such a hold on you. Your chains have such a hold

on you. Can I say he wants to deliver you? You

don't have to walk out of here in darkness and

in chains. You can leave them at the feet of

Jesus today. Maybe you've been the rebellious

one needing to bow in humility to your Lord.

Maybe you're the fearful one needing to lift

your gaze to the one who does wondrous deeds

on behalf of man. Maybe, just maybe, it's you

today and you need to cry out. We're going to

be celebrating communion in a moment, the table

of the Lord. And we celebrate open communion.

As long as you profess Jesus to be Lord of your

life, you are welcome to participate in communion.

But before we take communion, I just want to

give a moment of opportunity for you. If this

is you and you're saying, today I need to make

that decision. Today I need to invite the Savior

into my life. We want to make room for you today.

And so here's what we're going to do. We're going

to take a moment and we're just going to all

of us bow our heads, close our eyes. I'm not

going to ask anybody to come up right now. But

I want us just for a moment to quietly before

the Lord. If this is what Christ has done for

you, I want you just to call to mind the beginning.

I want you to... Call to mind the glory of what

he has brought you out of. And if you need to

do that today, I want you just to begin to tell

the Lord, Lord, I need you. I'm crying out just

like in Psalm 107. They cried out to the Lord

in their time of distress. Today I'm calling

out, I'm crying out to you in my distress. And

if that's you, while everybody's got their heads

bowed, I want you just to lift your hand up so

I can pray with you this morning. Today is your

day to be courageous and to lift up that hand

and say yes to the Lord. I see one hand over

here. Anybody else before we move on? Maybe you're

saying he's done that for me once, but I've let

those old things back in my life. And I need

to renew my commitment. I need to renew that

relationship. Yeah, lift your hand in the back.

Others, here's what we're going to do today.

We're going to just all of us pray this prayer.

As one whole congregation, I want you just to

repeat after me. Heavenly Father, I come to you

as a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe that

Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior

of the world. Today, I make Jesus Lord of my

life. I believe you died so I could be forgiven

and rose again to give me life. I receive this

new life. This is my new beginning. I am a child

of God. Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. Praise the

Lord. I'm just going to say this here. If you

still have chains that you are carrying and need

somebody to pray with you, don't leave this place

at the end of service. We have elders that would

love to pray with you this morning. And so today,

we're concluding with a time of communion. We've

got some of our leaders and our pastors that

are going to help us. And so if you guys would

head over to your stations. What we're doing,

our response time today, is this time of communion.

It's saying, I remember, I remember Christ, what

you have done for me. As we take this bread that

represents the body of Christ, I receive it remembering

that your body was broken for my brokenness.

I receive it knowing that I cannot sustain my

own life. I need the bread of life to sustain

me. And as we dip this bread in this cup, we're

acknowledging and we're remembering that it is

the blood of Jesus that has cleansed us and washed

us and set a new covenant in place, a covenant

of peace, a covenant of grace. And so as we move

toward communion this morning, I want you to

do it prayerfully. I want you to do it beginning

to give thanks to God for what he has brought

you out of. I want us to not take for granted

what he has given to us, the miraculous provision.

We don't want to be like the Israelites. We don't

want to be like manna again, God. We want to

say thank you, God. for your provision. Thank

you for what you have sustained me in life. We're

going to remember what the Lord has done. Our

lives aren't going to be the graves of the greedy,

right? They're going to be places full of thanksgiving

and gratitude, which is the language of the kingdom

of God. Gratitude and thankfulness. And so I'm

going to invite you to stand with me this morning.

The team is going to lead us in worship, and

as we do, I'm going to invite you to communion.

This here, Lila's going to start off this section.

You're going to go back to Dan and Linda. This

section, Gary's going to start you off over here,

and you'll make your way forward. You guys are

going to, your sections are going to come up

here. David, you're going to start them back

there to Dennis and Linda. And so as you do,

let's just worship the Lord. Receive your communion

and then find a place worshiping at the feet

of Jesus for a few moments this morning. Make

the declaration, I'm living my life at the feet

of Jesus. This is who I am. This is how I live,

full of gratitude and thankfulness. Amen? Amen.