When Thanksgiving Starts With You | Pastor Paul McGee

Hey man, look at your neighbor and say I'm glad that you're

sitting by me. Hey man, hopefully you could say

that with some honesty today. Hey man, glad that you're

sitting by me. Amen to be in the House of the

Lord this morning. Amen.

In each of one of you that have come out on this chilly Sunday

morning, the sun is shining, Amen.

And we counted a privilege to be in God's house, Amen, That we're

able to be here today. Hallelujah.

I'm going to be turning to the book of Nehemiah.

And I just got one verse so you don't have to worry about

standing for very long. All right, Just one verse in the

book of Nehemiah. Amen.

Good to see each one of you, Tracy.

It's so good to see your smiling face back there.

You, you, you got the color memo today.

And so we're just, yes, that's right, that's right.

So good to see you. So different ones again.

I could be like Sister McGee, Amen.

Glennon and Ray, of course, as well, hollered out at them,

making sure they were OK, Amen. And such, they are who they are.

You know, just sometimes life happens and you just can't get

here, Amen. And so we love and appreciate

them, each one of you. Amen.

In God's house, Nehemiah chapter #11 one verse.

All right, Anybody remember the story of Nehemiah?

Nehemiah goes back to a broken down Jerusalem walls or just in

ruins gates or out of kilter. People have been scattered and

dispersed because of they've been taken away to captivity.

And he comes back and there's a lot of reconstruction and

building that's taking place. And then they're trying to get

the city repopulated, so to speak.

And there are some other things. And so among this repopulation

is verse #17 the Bible says in Matanaya, the son of Micah, the

son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, was the principal to begin the

Thanksgiving and prayer. In Bakbukyai, the second among

his brethren, Abda, the son of Shamua, the son of Gala, the son

of Jeduthah. Yeah, everybody likes names like

that. Amen.

But particularly I want to focus on the first name, Matt Tenaya.

The Bible says, and it gives kind of his ancestry was the

principle to begin the Thanksgiving and prayer.

And for a little while this morning, I want to minister

this. When Thanksgiving starts with

you, when Thanksgiving starts with you, Amen.

Can we pray one more time? Amen.

Invite God into this aspect of this service.

Father, we love you, God, we're so appreciative today.

God, it's your Lord that have made us and formed us and

created us. And Lord, we enter your

sanctuary with a heart full of gratitude and Thanksgiving as a

result of that, God, so many different measures and other

things, Lord, that we can return thanks for.

I pray, O God, that you ever to bless us in this place.

And we want to in turn, Lord, to bless you, Lord Jesus, with lips

of praise, God, the fruit of our lips.

God. The Bible says that it would be

acceptable in your sight. God will not fail to thank you,

Lord, for what you accomplished. Lord, in this place today, in

the lovely name of Jesus Christ that I pray, Amen and Amen,

everybody say Amen. You may be seated today in Jesus

name when Thanksgiving starts with you concerning the concept

of Thanksgiving or giving thanks.

Giving thanks or Thanksgiving was not just an activity in the

city of Jerusalem. That activity or that giving of

thanks was central to Jerusalems very identity and her purpose.

God chose Jerusalem as the spiritual center of Israel.

He told the nation of Israel. He said that city will be the

place that I put my name. That's where that's the place

that I'll identify with me. As a matter of fact, when we

read like throughout the book of Samuel and we read the story of

when God's ark of the covenant had been gone for so long, and

that David goes and he gets that ark of the covenant, which was

revered as the very spirit and presence of God and bring back

to Jerusalem. We understand all of the pomp

and the pageantry, if you will, that took place in David

bringing that to the city of Jerusalem.

We understand him going 6 paces and then stopping and the

offerings and the sacrifice and the dancing and the shouting, if

I will, the Thanksgiving that he was offering unto God as he was

returning that ark to the city of Jerusalem.

And it's not just that, but David established that that city

that was also known as the city of David, Jerusalem.

He established that city as a hub of worship, as a hub of

Thanksgiving. His actions to do this were very

intentional, demonstrating that the city where God's presence

resides must also be one where his people continually give him

glory and give him thanks. That God, even in Scripture,

inhabits the praises of Israel, which was his people.

He inhabits the Thanksgiving, if you will, of his people.

And so David, in his time of being king, organized quite a

robust system of worship to ensure that Thanksgiving would

be given to God from the city of Jerusalem.

That Thanksgiving more than anything, wouldn't just be

something sporadic or something occasional, but that

Thanksgiving would ring from the streets and the temple of

Jerusalem continuously. It would happen day in and day

out. The Bible tells us of these

things, and the record can really be found in the book of

Chronicles where David is appointing choir members and

he's appointing musicians and he's appointing worshippers.

The Bible describes there were 24 different courses or sections

and groups of people that would serve at different time in these

capacities of giving Thanksgiving to the the Lord.

And so David make sure that was in place because Thanksgiving

was going to be heard from the city of Jerusalem and God's

people were going to enter into that city and into that temple

with hearts full of gratitude. As a matter of fact, in First

Chronicles 16 four, we see that David appointed some Levites.

The Bible says to invoke and to thank and to praise the Lord the

God of Israel. In a sense, it's almost as

though David was intuitionalizing Thanksgiving as

a daily rhyme of the city of Jerusalem's life, making it,

making worship, making praise, not just something that was a

personal act, but a communal act that whenever the people came

together, they, they thank God together.

Aren't you glad that we have opportunities through the week

that we can come together? You might have, thank God,

Brother Mason, on Monday, you know, on your way to work.

And Brother Fred, you might have did it on Tuesday as you were

saying out something on some piece of body work, but isn't it

good to come in on Wednesday and Sunday and morning and night,

and in a communal effort we surrender our praise and our

Thanksgiving and our adoration back to the king of glory?

David was initializing that. So it would be a citywide

endeavor for God's people. For that matter, it's something

that seems to be passed on even through his legacy to his son

Solomon. Solomon succeeds David and he

even completes the building of that grand temple, the temple of

Solomon. And Thanksgiving had reached a

crescendo, if you will, in the era of Solomon.

The Bible says at the dedication of that temple, the entire

nation of Israel has come together with bated breath,

waiting for the opening, if you will, of this grand place where

they can worship. And the Bible says there at the

dedication they offered offerings and sacrifices, and

they praise God, and Solomon even rendered a prayer into God.

And the Bible says that that worship experience was so

powerful that the cloud of the presence of the Lord came down

in that newly built sanctuary in so much that the priest could

not even stand Amen to minister. And God signified his presence

where the people had been worshipping.

There's something about that moment, I think, that highlights

some of the meaning and some of the connectiveness of

Thanksgiving. That it was more than just about

expressing gratitude. It was more about having words

of things and praise upon the lips.

But Thanksgiving is also connected a man to be in a

pathway to experiencing the tangible presence of God.

That when we interact in that, when we involve ourself in that,

we, if you will, are cracking open the heavens for something

to come down and beander and minister among us.

Amen. It was through Thanksgiving that

the city of Jerusalem was more than just a physical city.

It was transformed into a sacred space where heaven and earth

met, where heaven and earth came together and kissed each other.

As a matter of fact, during the time then of exile that Nehemiah

is coming on the heels of, we understand that that

characteristic of Jerusalem to a degree was lost as they spent

their days in Babylon. When the temple was destroyed,

the city walls torn down, the people carried away into

Babylon, even the prophets say they lost a sound of their

worship. It's seized in the city of

Jerusalem. The Bible says in Jeremiah

Jeremiah 7 · chapter mention

Chapter 7 and verse 14, Jeremiah is a prophet during these times,

and he gives, if you will, the condition of Jerusalem, of what

will happen and what did happen. He says then will I cause to

seize from the cities of Judah and from the streets of

Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice

of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride for the land that

shall be desolate in another place.

Jeremiah said that the sound of the millstones were grind to an

halt, even the light of the candle would fail.

He's saying that there will be a day that Jerusalem all of that

worship, that praise, that Thanksgiving, that gratitude.

He said it's going to it's going to fade away, it's going to

fail, it's going to stop. She's not going to be known that

for what she was known for during that time.

And so now you have all these exiles, Amen.

Without that worship, not surrendering it as easy as they

did when they were in Jerusalem, they're living in foreign lands.

They're they're struggling to maintain their identity.

Their grief is so much so poignantly expressed in the book

of Psalms when they said, how shall we sing the Lord's song in

this strange land. They're they're saying it's

difficult for us to have gratitude about where we are

right now, to sing praises when we're people that are in exile

and it just doesn't happen as was naturally here, as it

happened at Jerusalem. So exile brought with it a

certain measure of silence, A painful reality really came into

the picture that worship and Thanksgiving.

Without those two things, Jerusalem in many regards was

just another city. Without the worship, without the

Thanksgiving, without the gratitude, without the praise,

Jerusalem in many regards was just another city.

Because it's significance didn't just rest upon all of the

physical structures of the city. Good for a temple and good for

an altar and good for walls. But it it it's role wasn't just

totally tied to those things alone, but it was tied to be in

the place where God's people gather together and they glorify

their creator and their maker. Thanksgiving was was not an

optional feature at Jerusalem. It was a part of her identity.

It's what defined the city of God's chosen to dwell in place

as being gods. So as the Exiles begin to

trinkle back from their 70 years of being separated from

Jerusalem, they come back to Jerusalem and they're they're

coming under leaders like Zerubbabel and and like Nehemiah

and Ezra. A lot of the initial focus when

they come back to Jerusalem is let's build the altar or let's

build the temple, or let's build these walls or let's get the

gates hanging back up on the hinges.

All of these physical aspects, all these physical aspects and

structures that were observable things that had been in

Jerusalem before. And so they began to restore all

these things. But in restoring the physical

structures, Nehemiah begins to take a pulse that there's still

something just not quite right yet.

I know we got the temple and I know we got the walls and we set

the last gate, but there's still something just is missing a

little bit here. We, we, we need to repopulate

the city. We, we need to get some people

back in Jerusalem. And, and not only do we need to

get some people back into Jerusalem, but in order for

Jerusalem to truly become Jerusalem again, we need some

people to connect with Jerusalem's divine purpose.

And that's being the hub, that's being the place we're God is

glorified and Thanksgiving and praying.

He's in other words, he said it doesn't mean no good to have the

structure, but Jerusalem to be silent.

What good is our temple if there's no Thanksgiving?

What good is this edifice that we are built if there's no

praise? What good are walls of

protection if we don't have men and women and husbands and wives

entering into this place and written?

What says? For that matter, what good is it

for people to occupy this space? And that's the limit of it.

They just come and occupy, he says.

Just having people there doesn't make Jerusalem, Jerusalem.

Just making sure she's met her population capacity doesn't make

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, He says. What makes Jerusalem, Jerusalem

is when they come and they say, God, thank you for your

blessings. God thank you for the harvest.

God, thank you for being a miracle worker.

God, thank you for being a creator God.

It's when they glorify that makes Jerusalem Jerusalem.

Bishop preached it years ago from the prophet Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

6, God speaking through Isaiah and he says that you make

mention of the Lord, keep not silence and give him no rest

until he establish, until he make Jerusalem a praise or a

Thanksgiving in the earth. Isaiah saying Jerusalem's going

to be known for the Thanksgiving, but that requires

the people, the inhabitants, those that that frequent that

place to not keep silent, not keep silent, not be bashful.

Hey, man, folks, He said that they would open their lips and

establish her to her significance, a place of praise,

a place of worship. And so that was going to require

some effort. 70 years removed. It's going to be some type of

reconnection that's going to need it.

Because I've learned in my life experience that many times

Thanksgiving is not automatic, especially after seasons of

hardship, especially after seasons of loss.

The returnees had to rebuild not just the walls and the

infrastructure. They needed to rebuild their

spiritual foundation. They needed to get in contact

again with a rekindling of the spirit of worship that once made

Jerusalem unique. Appraise in all the earth.

Because without Thanksgiving, Jerusalem would not fulfill her

God ordained complete purpose. She would remain to a degree

incomplete. Then enters the plan.

Let's repopulate the city. But we just can't have people.

We need some leaders. We can't just have people.

We need someone that's going to spearhead the efforts of taking

us back to a day. And the Bible says among those

that were repopulated in the city was a man by the name of

Matanaya, whose name means gift of Yahweh became the Bible says

from the lineage of Asaph. Which is interesting because

ASAP in the book of Psalms, in the book of Chronicles in other

places, ASAP is the family who is deeply rooted in the ministry

of worship. We read of some Psalms that are

in the Psalms that we call the Psalms of David.

And all the Psalms were written by David.

Some of the Psalms there were written by Asaph as praises unto

the Lord. He was one of the main three

that was leaders of worship and from his lineage would be this

man now in Nehemiah day of Metanaya.

Not only that, it was Asaf who in his day before David was also

a worshiper and a leader of worship before the Ark of the

Covenant as it came back to Jerusalem.

And so there's this long legacy that's been passed down from

generations to ASAP to his sons, to their sons, culminating the

miss moment for Matt Anaya, who's now been appointed the

time of Nehemiah. Go back to Jerusalem and let her

be what she once was. In Nehemiah 12 and 8, the Bible

says that Maniah is over the Thanksgiving.

In the chapter that we read this morning, it describes him as one

who began the Thanksgiving in prayer.

See, a regular part, regular part of the temple services was

the giving of thanks in prayer. There were praises and there

were prayers that accompanied what was regularly the morning

and the evening sacrifices. There were praises and prayers

put with that. And it was Matanaya's

responsibility for beginning. Everybody say beginning.

It was his responsibility to begin such Thanksgiving in

prayer at the appropriate times. Do you understand what I'm

saying today? So it could become the

appropriate time. Right.

Everybody's there, but it took someone, it took someone to kind

of be the leader among the Mass and say it's time to start

yielding some praise and Thanksgiving and prayer to God.

And based really upon that man's activity, we had other sons and

daughters, other tribes and people that would blend in with

Matanaya as he began to OfferUp Thanksgiving unto God in prayer.

He started that part of the service.

And it wasn't a small task, if I could say it like this,

particularly in the day of Nehemiah.

It was the first step in restoring the spiritual

heartbeat of Jerusalem. But somebody had to do it.

Someone say, man, so the physical city's been rebuilt.

But Matt and I, we have the physical, but Matt and I says we

got to bring some soul back to the city.

We got all the, we got all the structure, we got all the

dynamics. But I'm going to step forward.

I'm going to, I'm the principle of this matter.

I'm going to step forward and I'm going to be an igniter.

I'm going to take the initiative to rekindle worship and

Thanksgiving. Can I say it like this?

Even though the present environment may seem lifeless,

these people been separated for 70 years.

Their voices were were silent. Jeremiah said.

The song of mirth, the song of gladness, all that have died.

And so now they're going back to where that no longer seems to be

happening. And man, and I says, I know you

might not hear right now, but I'm going to let my frail voice

be the start of it. I know I don't hear none of it

right now, but I'm going to step forward and I'm going to say,

let's initiate this thing. Let's set this thing on fire.

Let me tell you, sometimes in the church house, you just got

to go at it alone sometimes. But I'll give you this

confidence. If you'll step out, if you'll

start, if you'll be a leader in Thanksgiving, if you'll be a

leader in praise, if you'll be a leader in adoration, it won't be

long. It'll catch on, and somebody

else will be standing by you with their Thanksgiving.

But somebody's got to start it. Amen.

Somebody does, man. I just agree that Thanksgiving

was going to start with him. So there's this transformative

power because of his one man, might we say one man's obedience

with beginning. What are you doing, Pat Nya.

I'm. I'm setting an example for

others to follow, folks. Any great movement, any great

revival of years gone by and we can talk about all the the peaks

and we can talk about the zoos and we can talk about Topeka, KS

and we can talk about all those different things.

But any grand move of that, you know what it starts with about

9:00 that says I'm just going to step out right here.

I'm just, I'm just going to, I'm just going to push something

right here. I'm going to I'm going to take a

step. I don't feel like my steps very

significant. I don't it doesn't seem like

it's very important, but the major and the domino effect that

happens when Matanaya begins. Listen, Thanksgiving and worship

in Jerusalem was so important. That's not just that Matanaya

was appointed, but verse 17 also tells us that Buchia the second,

and it names another name, Abda the son.

You know what they're saying? They're saying we, we got, we

got Matt and I here. He's the principal, the lead in

Thanksgiving. But if Matt and I can't serve in

that purpose, we got a second string.

And if he can't do it, we got a third string that can get this

thing started. It's kind of like having a

relief pitcher or a second and third string quarterback, right?

What are you saying? I'm saying Jerusalem and the

church as well need some depth. It can't always just be waiting

on Matt and I. Sometimes Matt and I might be

there. We need a back Buki that can

say, hey, I'm second string here.

I'm willing to take the lead. I'm willing to start the

Thanksgiving. Can I tell you that I just be

pastor here for a moment? Sometimes we come too

codependent upon such and such having to start.

Honey, what about you? What about you?

You, you can lift up your voice. You, you can.

There. God's done something for you.

There's some type of Thanksgiving that you can.

It doesn't always have to be. Matt and I, I know that might be

his role, but I guarantee you he would be displeased if someone

said, hold on. Matt and I, I want to start

today. Hold.

Come on. We used to play those games.

Not Gamesmith. You know, there's a kid growing

up as I. You hear, you hear adults

talking about it. You know, someone's going to

say, well, so and so runs. Then I'll run right?

Or as such and such goes to the altar.

OK, I'll go right. But what happens when those

things start with you? Yeah.

Come on, someone say Amen. That now is just a position, the

place that underscores the simple fact that it's got to

start somewhere. It's got to start somewhere.

And it may gain momentum. It may, it may end up rolling

like Thunder and crescendo and like a roar of thankfulness, but

it's got to start somewhere with someone.

And all of that is critical to Jerusalem being critical.

Critical, might I say, the church being the church exiles

returned to Jerusalem and this is a this is a significant

milestone for God's people. Their journey back to this place

in many regards is the fulfillment of a divine promise

that God had spoken over their lives.

Their return back to this place was a demonstration that God had

been faithful to them. They're laboring, working 52

weeks. The walls were rebuilt, the

gates are set, all the visible markers and reminders of the

physical activity. But Nehemiah touched the the

heartbeat of God, all of the building and all of the

organizing and all, just even the presence of the people.

God, you're desiring something more than just this hearts you

God you're wanting your their hearts to return to a place of

praise and Thanksgiving. Folks, that wasn't just for

Nehemiah's day and that wasn't just for Moses day and that

wasn't just for David's day. We hear Jesus speaking to the

woman at the well said that you know what the Father seek of

true worshippers to worship Him in spirit.

And even in the New Testament days he was looking for

Thanksgiving and praise. And if it was good for Moses day

and David's and Saul in Jesus's day, it's good for our day.

He's still seeking true worshippers to worship Him in

spirit and truth. It is still one of the

heartbeats of God. He wants to come down and dwell

in that place for God. You must understand having a

Jerusalem without Thanksgiving, what's borderline equal to

having a thanks or a Jerusalem that is in ruins because really,

what's the difference? Yeah, she might have her

buildings and everything puts together, but there's no sound

coming from her. Someone say Amen.

So they returned there. It's not it's not a political

event. It's not just a cultural event.

It's a spiritual homecoming that that spirit with, with the

outpouring of gratitude. Yeah, pouring at Thanksgiving.

Were you to. I'm acknowledging the one who's

orchestrated our deliveries, who's brought us back to this

point again. Listen.

Well, if he'll just overcome me, I'll start being grateful and

have gratitude. You know, if he'll just, you

know, kind of explode out my mouth.

God. Listen, Minnie, I'm telling you,

it's given a lot of times isn't automatic.

It requires intention. It requires reflection.

It's a deliberate choice. Just get real for a moment,

right? I know today, you know, please

and thank you. And some of those things are

like long gone things. They broke books on ad podcasts

on blah blah blah. Why?

Because it just don't happen automatically.

People got to be deliberate. They got to make conscious

choices. They have to intentionally say,

oh, thank you so much for blah, blah, blah because it just

doesn't automatically. God is such a gentleman.

He doesn't make us really do. He's a gentleman.

He provides the choice. He gives you what he would

prefer, and then he leaves it up to the will of humanity to make

a choice. He's a gentleman.

Amen. He would love for Jerusalem to

ring again. They know he would, but they got

a choice. So if Thanksgiving is going to

happen, it's going to be happening because someone's

reflecting, someone's being intentional, someone's making a

choice. Hey, man.

And for that matter, whenever I begin to be thankful to God,

men, there's something about when I draw nigh to God, as

James said, he draws nigh to me. There is a relationship.

There's a restoration of connection with God when I start

doing those things. Exile has made me feel distant.

Exile has made me feel disconnected.

But when I begin to worship, worship begins to build a bridge

in that gap. If I fail to worship, I, I, I

have the possibility and the propensity to fall into

complacency, forgetting what God has done, forgetting the God who

delivered me. But as long as I remain

thankful, I'm keeping it in my forefront of my mind.

That's what God did. And it's all through Moses, all

the time reminding the children of Israel.

For forget not the Lord thy God who brought thee out of Egypt.

And then he would tell them something that God would like or

that he preferred. What are you doing?

I'm stirring up your mind for you to remember what God's done

for you, that just maybe you'll reciprocate to a certain degree

because God's been to God to me. Want to forget God?

Don't want to forget that He delivered.

I want to get prideful and think I made it here on my own or by

myself. I don't want to be disconnected

from God and just enter the temple because it's the thing to

do with no sound ringing from her.

Do my, if you will, religious obligation.

Come and say Amen. It is God's real desire for

worship. It isn't rooted in his need for

affirmation. I really rooted in that.

You got to prop God up because he's insecure.

It's all about his desire for relationship with you.

So if Thanksgiving doesn't happen automatically and it

requires someone to initiate it, what I believe then, according

to Scripture, that like Matt Tanaya, that you and I are part

of this body that we call Christ, a part of the church.

We have been called to be initiators.

We've been called to be individuals who take the first

step to offer praise, hopefully even inspiring someone else to

do the same. Amen.

Can I tell you this morning, even not here in the church, but

we need someone that will be thankful in the home.

And we need somebody that will be thankful in the community.

And we need somebody that will be thankful in the church.

Someone say man, because if worship, if worship seems

silent, it might because Thanksgiving is distant from our

lips. We got to restore it to our

mouths. God's calling for somebody to

step forward today and the ripple effect of Thanksgiving

cannot be overstated. I've seen it too many times,

man. It just be as tight as a box

with cords around it in the depths of the ocean and someone

step out, someone lift a voice, someone raise a hand and the

atmosphere begins to change. The voice is begin to ring.

The spirit of the Lord begins to come down.

Why someone said Thanksgiving is going to start with me today.

That someone say man, it's not it's

not easy. The environment may not even be

accommodating. Scripture says that we can even

get things in difficult circumstances.

And, you know, sometimes I'm in environments like anybody could

slap a glory Hallelujah up right now.

I mean, it's like, like my feet are tapping without me even

consciously knowing. It's just like like a little

Bunny or a dog that's getting scratched in the right spot.

Sometimes the trial of our Thanksgiving is whenever there's

difficult circumstances and like David having it in our lives

where it's not as sporadic or for special occasions, it

becomes a daily discipline that it's not just a response to a

blessing, it's because we know the blesser.

It's it's the times that Paul reminds us to to give thanks and

everything and everything give thanks for this is the will of

God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

He's not telling you to be thankful for the horrible time

that you're going through. He just saying being thankful

despite what you're going through, because though your

circumstance may change, the God of all circumstances changes

not. He neither sleeps nor does he

slumber. God predicted what would happen

concerning Jerusalem. He did it do the same prophet

Jeremiah. Jeremiah said mirth and

gladness. All these things will be taken

away. The millstones will grind to a

halt. There will be no work.

The candle will fail at Jerusalem.

But he also predicted God did what would happen in verse #10

of Jeremiah 33. Thus saith the Lord again,

everyone say again, There shall be heard in this place, which he

say, shall be desolate without man, without beast, even in the

cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are

desolate without man, without inhabitant, and without beast.

Verse 11 The voice of joy. He said again, There will be the

voice of joy, the voice of gladness, the voice of the

bridegroom and the voice of the bride, and the voice of them

that shall say Praise the Lord of host, for the Lord is good

for his mercy endure forever of them that shall bring the

sacrifice of praise into the House of the Lord, for I will

cause to return the captivity of the land as at the first saith

the Lord. You know what he said, It's

going to come a time, it's going to, it's going to leave.

It's going to grow silent, He said, but there's going to be a

day it's going to get noisy again.

He said it's going to there's going to be a day just as sure

as the mirth stop. He says it's going to happen

again just as sure as the gladness just eat away.

It's going to come back again. Ladies and gentlemen, how did it

come back? Because Thanksgiving started

with someone. You'll stand with me this

morning. Oh, Matt and I steps forth.

I'm going to begin this Thanksgiving and prayer and the

heartbeat of Jerusalem starts palpitating again as worship

goes forth. What are you saying?

I'm saying perhaps God is calling you to be the spark in

your family. Perhaps God is calling you to be

the spark within your collective body of group, in your

community, or within your church community.

I'm seeing this this morning. Don't wait for the perfect

moment. There's not always a perfect

moment to be thankful. Don't wait for the perfect

moment for for someone else to lead you.

Be the voice you, be the tongue you.

Be the one with the song of gratitude.

Even when it's difficult, even when it's hard.

Be the ignite or inspire somebody else.

Don't wait for someone else. Be the someone else, Someone

else is waiting for Hallelujah. Invite God's presence down.

Amen. Invite Him down to fulfill His

purpose right in your family, your home, your community.

Let that sound of praise and thankfulness, let it just be

complete. Let it ring again in Jerusalem.

We got to start it. Let me bow our heads today.

We got to start it. We got to offer a prayer of

gratitude. We got to sing our song of

praise. We got to maybe it's sharing a

testimony of goodness. Whatever it is, we got to start

it because it could be your voice.

That may be the first note for the Symphony of praise and

Thanksgiving to begin. That will totally change the

atmosphere around you. What are you saying then,

pastor? I'm saying today, will you be

the Matanaya of our generation? Will you be the matanaya of our

generation? Will you be the principal in

beginning the Thanksgiving in prayer?

We begin to talk to God right now.

Hallelujah. It's more than having a church

building. It's more than having pews.

It's more than having sheetrock or good Decor or landscaping

outside. It's more than a certain number

of people showing up whenever it's service time.

It's about whether or not those people are engaging in what

makes the church, the church, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, being

thankful and having a heart of gratitude to God and connecting.

In that relationship with him, by that, through that, for that,

you hear me? There's a lot of edifice

scattered across the world today, but they're short on

Thanksgiving. There's a lot of people feeling

buildings today on this Sunday morning, but we lack

Thanksgiving. Let mirth be heard again,

gladness hurt again, praise echo again, shouts happen again.

Dancing as when the ark came to Jerusalem happened all over

again. That was not some archaic thing

that our grandparents did. No, that's something that the

church does. Our remembrances of Thanksgiving

should not be well when sister so and so God blessed and the

Bobby pins came out of her hair and her long heroine as a

helicopter above her head. Our remembrances of Thanksgiving

should not be well. It's when you know elder brother

so and so he did what we call digging taters and thankful to

God. It should not be those things,

Sister Sheila. It should be.

There's a modern day matanaya that says I'll start it.

I'll begin it because no one knows like I know how good God

has been to me because no one can give him the thanks that you

can give. So I can give him the thanks

that you need to give. Because that's peculiar and

tailored to you and what's happened in your life and what

you've experienced and the handy, the handiwork and the

fingerprints of God that you have placed on your life.

So I'm just urging us and challenging us today.

Wonder what would happen if Thanksgiving started with you?

This altar is open today, or right there where you're

sitting. You might need to raise a hand

and begin just to yield some Thanksgiving, Some praise.

It might look dynamically different across this place.

For some, it may be a tear going down the face that's saying

thank you. For others, it may be both hands

in the air. Others might have some type of

words that's coming out their mouth.

It may look dynamically different across the house.

But that's all right because no one knows your story.

Like you know your story and what God has done for you, but

you just undecided. I'm not waiting for her and I'm

not waiting for him. I know what God's done for me.

I'll be a matinee. I'm my generation, when there's

been silence, when it's eat away, I'm going to return the

mirth and the gladness and the joy and the praise and the

shouting. I'm going to become the soul of

what Jerusalem is known to be, the heartbeat of worship.

Brother Mason, let's worship him right now in song.

Will someone start worshiping your family?

Will someone be the spark in your community, within your

church, the Imatinaya? Today, begin Thanksgiving in

your prayer.