THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE - LESSON ON THANKSGIVING PSALMS 100:1-5

The speaker welcomes everyone to the Thursday night edition of Prayer Force One. They announce that the focus for the month will be on the Psalms of Thanksgiving and there will be 10 lessons on this topic. The speaker emphasizes the importance of gratitude and praise to God and encourages listeners to be thankful in all circumstances. They also discuss the importance of worship and approaching one's relationship with God with a heart of worship. The speaker encourages reading scripture, praying, and singing praises as forms of worship. They emphasize the need to be grateful and committed to giving God all the praise. I just want to welcome everybody in, once again, to our Thursday night edition of Prayer Force One, which is the first service that kicks off the month for us, and we're grateful for that. Now, I want to give you the focus, I want to give you the focus for this month, so we're always on the page, same page, and we're always synced up to be able to make sure that we're lined up with God's will. So we're going to have 10 lessons throughout these days to come, starting tonight, and our lesson is going to be on the Psalms of Thanksgiving, the Psalms of Thanksgiving, and we're going to review 10 different lessons, and again, we'll be starting that off on tonight, and I want to go jump right in and get right to it. We're covered under prayer, we're covered under worship and praise, and so let's go ahead and get ready to dive right in. So 10 lessons is going to be our plan on the Psalms of Thanksgiving. This is more than just a day. We bring Psalms of Thanksgiving, it's more than just the 23rd of November of this month. Each one of these psalms, these lessons, will include a commentary, an illustration to help us dive deeper. We've got to take a deep dive into the topic of gratitude and praise to God. That's what Thanksgiving means, gratitude and praise to God. We hear Mother Nellie say, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. She does not wait until Thanksgiving once a year to say that. Amen. I would venture to say, Mother Nellie, that 365 days of the year that you are saying, thank you, Lord. And I would also bet a paycheck that you said more than one time a day. I would also bet that you, and I'm not a betting man, that you said when you get up in the morning, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. He woke me up this morning. Thank you for starting me on my way. Thank you for giving me my right mind. We're not holiday shopping right now. What we want to do is use this month of November, this month of harvest, this month of harvest. If you planted seeds, my God, my God, we've been planting seeds since January. In fact, we've been planting seeds since February 4th of 2012. And I am looking for a harvest. If you plant seeds, Minister Serena, in good soil, and if you water that soil, and you nurture that soil, and you're able to pick up and pull up the weeds, there are going to be weeds. Weeds will come whenever there's dirt, whenever there's soil. But you've got to be strong enough to use the Word of God, the wisdom of God, the way of God, to be able to not allow distractions of the weeds to overcome you. That's enough to thank God for, that he give us strength. He told Joshua to be strong and very courageous. That's what Moses told Joshua. And I'm saying to each one of you tonight, we have the capacity, we have the Word, we have Christ, we have the anointing, and so therefore, we're going to get our harvest. We're going to be on tip-toe anticipation, thanking God. Today, I sent out prayer requests of myself to multiple people, and I want you also, you get a chance, if you haven't done so, whatever your prayer request is, I want you to send it out to me so we can touch and agree in prayer. I don't care how long it is. I think mine was eight or nine different things. The Bible says, don't worry about anything, but by everything, with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your request known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind by Christ Jesus. Don't let nobody, don't let nobody and nothing separate us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. I thank him for that. I thank him. I thank God for his Holy Spirit. I thank him for the anointing. I thank him for the power of God that resides upon me, that rests upon me and on you. We're not going to let a man or a woman, we're not going to let money or lack thereof. We're supposed to be living in overflow. Amen. I'm going to say it again. We're supposed to be living in the overflow. Our cup is supposed to run over. Yes. Thank you. Read Psalm 23. And we're supposed to know that surely, the word surely means a warranty, a guarantee, that goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life. Now, don't stop there, because, and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen. And you may not be physically able to get up and go into a church building, but you sure can get on Zoom. You sure can get on Facebook. You're on Facebook gossiping. You're on Facebook searching and looking at all the mess. You're on Instagram gossiping. You're on Twitter. Use it for God's glory. That's what I do. Amen. I use every means that God has that I can use to be able to share the gospel. I know it's a lot of people don't like me, but I don't care. Okay. Now, I'm going to tell you this. I don't like them either, but I love them. Okay. Hey, I don't like sin. I hate it, but I love you. Amen. Amen. So, we want to make sure that we take a deep dive into Thanksgiving, the Psalm of Thanksgiving, in two topics. We want to learn how to be grateful, and we want to always be committed to giving God all the praise. Yes, sir. So, I want to share five words to start off before we get into scripture. I'm going to put it on the screen, but I also want to share it with each and every one of you. Five words that I want you to take a look at, those of you that are out there in social media, God bless you. Five words we want to take a quick peek at. The first word is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. Remember to give thanks in all circumstances. I'm going to say that to you again. Remember. Let me say it another way. Don't forget to remember to give thanks to God in all circumstances. Why? Because the Bible says it in Romans 8, verse 28, and we know that all things work together for good of them that love God and call according to his purpose. In other words, you have to participate in your blessing. You want to be blessed, you're going to have to get off the bench and get in the game. That's what we have to do. Thanksgiving. Remember to give thanks in all circumstances, acknowledging the blessings in your life. Pastor Rob, you don't know how tough it is for me out here. I'm hurting and I'm homeless and sometimes I don't know if I'm going to come in. I'm going to say it again. Remember to give thanks in all circumstances. Some of the things that we are going through are self-inflicted. Amen. Some of the things we're going through, God is trying to move us to a level and to an area where he can bless us. You asking God for a million dollars and you're not faithful over $10. Oh, is that? Yeah. I'm just going to tell you, I had a guy come to me and say, I said, do you tithe? He said, man, I don't believe in tithe. I said, man, get out of my face. You want me to pray for you to get a million dollars and you won't even get a church a dollar if you got $10? You won't even give the homeless people who are struggling out here to barely in garbage cans. You won't help nobody out, but you want a million dollars from God to do what? To buy you a new car? To buy you a new home? To flex? To buy you some gym shoes? You have not because you asked, not because you asked for the wrong reason. That's what James said. Remember to give thanks in all circumstances, in all situations. Acknowledging the blessings in your life. You see, I don't worry about what I don't have, Dr. Adria. I thank God for what I do have. I don't compare myself to no other man or woman living. I have the same right to oxygen to breathe as they do. I have the same right to the sun as it shines. The rain when it comes down. There's no special umbrella for a saint that a sinner can't get. Everybody have access to God. Amen. You just have to submit yourself. You have to accept Jesus. It ain't my fault you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Savior. Yes. It don't seem like God listening to me. It don't seem like you listening to the preacher. It don't seem like that you read the Word. It don't seem like you're going to Google for sex. You're going to Google for meth. But you won't go to Google and say, how can I get closer to God? My Lord, my Lord. Thanksgiving is number one. Gratitude opens the door to a deeper connection with God. Yes. You got to learn to thank God for the big and the small blessings. Oh, yes, you do. Yes, you do. Yes, indeed. Because the Word of God says, be faithful. Be faithful. He'll make you rule over men if you be faithful over a few things. Number two, worship. Number one was Thanksgiving. Number two was worship. Approach your relationship with God with a heart of worship. That's what Mother Nellie has, a heart of worship. Minister Serena, Minister Rebecca, they have a heart of worship. That's why God wants us to come to Him with a heart of worship. A heart of worship. That's how we got to be at all times with a heart of worship. With a heart. The Bible says, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. You'll find that worship. You'll find that worship. Watch this. When you approach God with your heart. That's the worship that He accepts. Singing praises. Paul and Silas are in prison. They start a pot, Minister Serena, and crying. The Bible says they sung praises and prayed. You got a choice. We can think like a champion or we can think like a chump. As simple as that. Reading scripture. It's up to you. You can read scripture every day. Minister Serena is a fanatic. Pastor Rob, I don't hear too much. I don't have time to watch garbage on TV. There's a few shows that I watch, but most of it is garbage. I certainly don't watch a whole lot of news. You'll be depressed. I need some God news. We talked about God ideas this morning on the prayer line. Sing praises to God. Read scripture. Spend time praying. All these are worship. It's a form of worship. You've been fooled because you've been taught by the wrong people. But that's okay because you're learning. Worship is more than singing on Sunday morning. Mother Nellie, people think when they say, Hallelujah. Hallelujah. They think they're worshiping God on Sunday morning. God wants you to worship when you leave church. He wants to see your actions. He wants to see what you're going to do when somebody wants to argue with you. What you're going to do when there's confrontation. How are you going to handle conflict in your life? That's when the real worship comes. I'm going to say it again. Approach your relationship with God with a heart of worship. When you love God with all your heart, your mind, your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself, it pleases God. It pleases God. Because you can get along with people. Even if you don't like them, you can still be cordial. You can still be nice. You can still be respectable. How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters dwell in unity. Verse 10 says, For there the blessings of the Lord will be there forever. Yes. Amen. I get excited every time I see y'all. When I see your name pop up, Mother Nellie. When I open up the prayer line. When I open up the Zoom line. I get excited. Because we are pleasing God, Auntie Shirley. Every time I see you out there. Hearing your voice yesterday and that powerful testimony that you gave us. I get excited. Because I know that my God, our God, is pleased when we come together. Sister Valencia. I get excited. I ain't never met you in person, but I get excited. I get excited. For all of you out there on social media. Sister Janice Johnson. I see your name. I get excited. Minister Rebecca. Why? Because we are pleasing God. We are pleasing God. Now watch this. Not only do we sing praises. Not only do we read scripture. But praying can be powerful ways to express your love and your reverence for God. Thanksgiving, number one. Worship, number two. Number three is reflection. Reflection. Take time to reflect on the goodness of God. And his faithfulness in your life. Welcome, my cousin Shaka is with us tonight. And the faithfulness in your life. Reflect on that. Don't think about negative stuff. Don't think about negative people. I'm not wasting my breath, Dr. Adria, nor my time on people that's negative. I don't have. I'm going to keep it moving. They could be in my household. Hey, how you doing? God bless you. Good morning, good morning. Hey, hey. I'm going to laugh out loud. I'm going to pray for you because I'm not going to let you mess my day up. When I walk into work, they see me smiling. I'll be strutting in there. I'll be bouncing minutes in Serena. They say, what got you so excited? I said, life. What got you excited, Mr. Williams? I'm breathing. What got you so excited, Mr. Williams? I can walk on my own without a walker. What got you so excited, Mr. Williams? I can clap my hands. I can stomp my feet. I can run like ain't nobody chasing me. I can jump up and down. Listen, it's about reflection. Sometimes you got to slow down and reflect on the goodness of the Lord. Watch this. This reflection can inspire you to a greater sense of gratitude and praise. Number four is community. Share your gratitude. Share your praise with others in your faith community. Encouraging one another can deepen your collective understanding of God's love and grace. Number five is consistency. Consistency. All right? We talked about Thanksgiving, worship. We talked about reflection, community. And now I say that God has called us to be consistent. In the medical profession, Dr. Adria is in CPR, stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Cardio means the heart. Pulmonary means the lungs. And they both go together. You need both of them to live. Now watch this. Consistent CPR with us means be consistent, predictable, and reliable. Cultivate a daily habit of gratitude. A daily habit of gratitude. And a daily habit of praise. You don't need a bunch of people with you in order for you to show gratitude. Not at all. You can do that on your own, right in your own room, in your bedroom, in your living room, no matter where you are. You're able to do that. You're able to show your consistency. Cultivate a daily habit of gratitude. That's why sometimes, Mother, you know, when I'm just, you know, I'm just minding my own business, and I'm either driving or I'm walking. Bless the Lord with me. Come on and bless the Lord with me. I think about the goodness of the Lord and all that He's done for me and my family and my wife and my children and my grandchildren. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Come on and clap your hands with me. I just be encouraging myself. Come on and clap your hands with me. You got to learn how to be consistent. Even in the good times, you're consistent. When you get some bad news, you be consistent. I learned that from Dr. Adria, Dr. Lori, and Mother Nellie. I've never witnessed that in my family. Never. I've never witnessed losing a loved one and hours later, they was in church, praising God, clapping their hands. I never witnessed that. I'm calling Mother Nellie to console her, and she said, Reverend, what am I going to do what you're supposed to do? Get the service started. I'm okay. Me and Cassandra, we all right. We thank God. I had not witnessed that. I'm going to say it again. You must be consistent in good times and bad times. When a baby is born or somebody dies, you got to be consistent. You know God. You have a relationship with the only true and living God. You got to say, God got me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. God got me. Oh, you got turned down for the loan. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, you know, you can't have this. You can't have that. You didn't get the promotion on the job. It wasn't meant for me. It wasn't meant for me. Because what God has for me is for me. And if God don't want me to have it, I don't want it. Some of us trying to force the issue and go places God don't want us to go and end up getting in trouble. No, God didn't want you around them demons. He don't want you around that influence. He don't want you around people smoking crack and doing drugs and putting methamphetamine and what's that other stuff? What they call it, fentanyl and all this other kind of crap. God want us clean. He want us together so that we can be a blessing not only to ourselves but to other people. Because how can I bless you, Dr. Drew, when I can't even bless me? No. So consistency in expressing your thankfulness to God can lead to a deeper and more meaningful relationship with him. And so I can share this with you if you guys want it. Number one, Thanksgiving, worship, reflection, community, and consistency. Amen. Amen. Well, let's take a look at our- Can you put it up? I'm sorry? Can you put the list up again? Oh, of course. Can you put that list back up again? Yeah, right now. Sorry. No, no, that's okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. So we're going to get ready for our first lesson. We're going to go just about- It won't take long on this one. And then we're going to continue on on Saturday, two of them Saturday, and so on and so forth. And so I want us to go to Psalm 100. Let's go to Psalm 100. Everybody take a look at it. Psalm 100, one through five. We're going to explore the significance of Thanksgiving in the Psalms and how it invites us to worship God with joy. Minister Rebecca, when I hear you singing your song with your beautiful harmonic voice, I can feel the joy in your heart. Every time Mother Nellie sings, I can feel the joy that's in her heart, because that joy comes out of her mouth. Every time I see Dr. Adria, she's so humble and statuous. She's a tall woman, but she's humble, and she's always kind. Minister Serena's always trying to say something to lift you up. That's the way we ought to be. We ought to be. So we're going to take a look at this. Psalm 100, it says, it says, And this is my version of this. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. That means all the people on the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness and delight. Serve the Lord with gladness. Minister Serena, how can you serve the Lord? With obedience. Okay, with obedience. Anybody else? Joyful heart. Joyful heart. How can you serve the Lord? Anybody else? Praise and with will. Praise and with will. Okay, what did you say, Mother Nellie? Just praise and with will. Yeah, yeah. Just praise and do it. Okay, so the psalmist wants us to understand that we serve the Lord when we have a gladness in our heart and a delight. When you're excited about having the opportunity to praise him. When you're joyful in your spirit. And watch this, in your service to others. See, that's the key right there. You ought to be glad that you can help somebody. Yes. Amen. You ought to be glad that you can give somebody a glass of water. You ought to be glad that you can go into the nursing homes and to the highways and the byways and be a blessing to somebody else. Yes. Maybe you one day. Yes. Amen. Treat people right. Yes. The Bible says you're going to reap what you sow. Yes. So if you sow in discord, if you sow in hate, if you sow and you look at somebody because they're sick. Yes. Minister Serena was telling me that our brother has had nine strokes. Yes. Nine strokes. Nine, yes. Serve. We need each other. Yes. Serve the Lord with gladness and delight. Come before his presence with joyful singing. Yes. Mother Nellie and Minister Rebecca can't be the only ones that can sing. See, because I'm just crazy. I'll sing anytime. I love to praise him. I love to praise his name. Mother Auntie Shirley, Mother Betty. I love to praise him. I love to praise his name. Come before his presence with joyful singing. Know and fully recognize with gratitude that the Lord himself is God. Yes. Ain't nobody like him. Can't nobody do me like Jesus. You got to recognize that he's on the top all by himself. Yes. Don't put your car as a god. Don't make your mama, your grandmama, your granddaddy, your husband, your children, your dog, your little fidos, your cats. Don't make them a god. No, no, no. The Bible says God is a jealous God. Yes, he is. Don't put no idol before him. Know and fully recognize with gratitude. Please don't put your money before God. God is the reason why you get money. You say, well, okay, God is the reason why you can count money. Okay, God is the reason why you can hold money. Okay, God is the reason why they put money in your account on the third of every month. Yes, amen. If God stopped the flow, what you going to do? Who you going to call? Let me call Social Security. Oh, I'm on hold for three hours. Oh, it's busy. You better thank God. Amen. I'm telling you. You better thank God. There was a man over in England. He run in his mouth one day and say, can't nobody stop me. I'm the baddest man on the earth. That rascal went to sleep one night. God drilled a mosquito. Got in his mouth and laid an egg in his mouth. And three days later, he was dead. Because he run in his mouth. The person that made the Titanic, he said, God can't even sink this ship. Don't mock God. Be very careful. No, no, no, no. Be very careful with that. Know and fully recognize with gratitude. That means you are humble. That the Lord himself is God. Yeah. I sure am. It is he who has made us. Let me make that personal. It is he who has made me. Yeah. Well, I know you saying, Red Rob, my mom and daddy came together. And they did their thing. And they made me. God used them, but God did it. Yeah. God did it. There's a whole lot of people that have sex that wish they could have a baby and can't have a child. God did it. Yes. Yes. You give God the glory for your baby. You give God the glory. There are people, there are women that can't even have children, but they're some of the best mothers that's out there. You know why? Yeah. Because they thank God. They glory in their God. It is he who has made us and not we ourselves. So for all y'all to thank you, self-made, you didn't make yourself. No, no. No, no. And we are his. We belong to him. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Yes. Hmm. Minister's reading that word pasture, it means, it means supplies. It means because when the shepherd takes the sheep out into the pasture, they go out to eat. They go out to move and exercise and we are his sheep. He feeds us. He loves us. He takes us. He opened doors that nobody can close. He closed doors that nobody can open. He provides refreshment for us. Hallelujah. Thank God for an esophagus and a throat that we can swallow water. Yeah. Yeah. Thank God that we got a digestive system that works, that we could, that we could digest food. Thank you. You know, there's people that can't drink water and can't digest food. And you sitting around here acting like you all that in a bag of chips. Yeah. You better be grateful. Oh, I just told you. You better be grateful. Yes, sir. Be grateful and thank you. I was in college and there was a young man. He mocked this guy who was on a walker one day because he had hurt his back or whatever. Young man. And he mocked him. Three weeks later, this, the one that mocked him was in a wheelchair. You better be careful who you talk about. Leave God's people alone. Leave people alone. If you ain't going, mama said, if you ain't got nothing good to say, don't say nothing at all. Every plague that hit Egypt came from Pharaoh's mouth. Every plague. Be careful what you say about me because it'll end up getting on you. Yes, sir. If I was you, I would be quiet. Mother Nellie used to say, God will whip you. Yes, he will. Yes. Now watch this. Now here's where I was headed. Verse four. Enter his gates with a song of thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless and praise his name. Yes. The Bible says that the name of the Lord is a strong tower and the righteous run to it and we are safe. Yes. You better learn how to call on the name of Jesus. Yes. You better practice that thing. You better practice it in good times and bad times. Even when something good happens, you better say thank you Jesus. Yes. Even when something bad happens. I told y'all Mother Nellie, Mother Nedra fell flat on her back, and two minutes later she called me at 630 in the morning and said, I didn't tell her to work on some ice, but I just want to give God thanks. I had to hold her phone Mother Nellie. Good God almighty. You better learn how to thank him. Be thankful unto him. Bless and praise his name. Bless and praise his name. For the Lord is good. I know he is. I know he is. His mercy and loving kindness are everlasting. His faithfulness endures to all generations. Thank you Lord. Minister Serena, can you read to us verse four and five? Enter his gates with thanksgiving. Go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever. And his faithfulness continues to each generation. My God. You see that part there? His faithfulness endures to all or each generation. You want to make sure that your children know that God is faithful. You teach that to them so they can teach that to their children. And their children teach that God is faithful. Well, you know, we didn't have the money to go on a vacation this year. God is faithful. Well, you know, I had to get rid of my new car and they had to give me an old hoopty. But they gave me the AMV. God is faithful. Oh, well, I lost my job, but you know what? I haven't lost a meal or a bill. I haven't missed a meal or a bill. God is faithful. It says right here, Psalm 105. For the Lord is good. His mercy and loving kindness lasts forever. Who wouldn't want to be connected to a God like that? There ain't no man living, no woman living that you can say that about. You're only as good as your last good deed with people. Mother Nellie, I loaned someone $50. And they said, I'm going to pay you back in two weeks. Two weeks came. I didn't go after them, Mother Nellie, but they didn't come. They didn't give me the $50 back. Two more weeks passed by, Mother Cecilina, now we're at a month. I didn't call them. They didn't call me. Over and over again. Finally, it got so bad, Dr. Adria, watch this. That they had forgot that they owed me the 50 and they came to borrow some more. Now, that's a horrible, horrible, horrible situation. And so when I told them no and reminded them that they never paid back the 50 that they promised me. And after that, guys, I went into a mode, because this was a family member. I went into a mode, I do not loan money to anybody. If I can't give it to you, Minister Serena, I don't want to fall out with anybody over money. I don't want to fall out with anybody I love in my family, my friend circle, or people I don't necessarily have a relationship with. I don't want to fall out with anybody. I'm not going to argue over anything, because, again, this family member decided to tell other family members that I wasn't no good. And he's supposed to be a preacher. And so now I got to run around, Dr. Adria, to defend myself and tell what really happened. I don't want to waste my time and my breath. So if I can't give it to you, I won't loan it to you. Because you're only as good as your last good deed with people. But with God, I'm going to say it again, His mercy and loving kindness are everlasting. His faithfulness and endurance to all generations. Amen. Amen. Mother Nellie, you got your book out. I want you to read verse 2 and 3. Verses 100, 2 and 3. Starting at verse 2. Serve the Lord with joy. Come before Him with faith. Knowing that the Lord is good, He made us and we belong to Him. We are His people, the sheep He pens. Praise God. Yeah, that's fine. We are His people. I'm His people. Praise God. We are His people, y'all. Don't y'all worry. Don't get stressed out. Just know that you are His people. And He's going to take care of His people. My God, my God. I heard one writer say, He may not come when you want Him. But He's always on time. Always on time. He's an on-time God. Yes, He is. The children of Israel were fed daily. Daily. Some of them, Minister Serena, when that manna would come down, they would try to hoard it and take five or six or ten pieces and hide it. And within hours, it would turn into worms. It wouldn't be no good. Because he said, I want you to trust me daily. What you're trying to do is stockpile so that you know that you will have more for tomorrow. And I want to show you that I'm going to keep my word. All right, now. I'm going to keep my word. Mm-hmm. He gave them, he fed them manna. He gave them quail. And, again, when they tried to stockpile it, it didn't work. And God is doing the same thing to us. He wants to see how faithful you're going to be and how thankful you're going to be. You thank God every day for what He does for you. What He does for you, nobody else can do. Yeah. Don't you dare wait until Thanksgiving to start thanking God. You thank God right now. Yeah. You praise Him right where you're at. We make it so easy. You can be in your pajamas. You can be in your night, your little, what those bags y'all put on y'all head? Menace's Arena, what they called? Eye caps. Night caps and all these. They got them all cute. Now, my wife and my daughter, somebody, one of our cousins in Chicago made them all cute. I said, it's still ugly, but go ahead and wear it. But it protects the hair and all. Listen, God has simplified the process to get closer to Him. We don't have to worry about trying to dress up and put on these clothes, those clothes. Ain't nothing wrong with Sunday morning, Mother Nellie, Mother Timmy walking there every Sunday looking good. They choose to. They want to. Yes. God just wants you to get in His presence. He wants you to be thankful. Be thankful that you're alive. Be thankful. The Bible says it's in Him that we live, we move, and that we exist. I just want to stop right there. We're right at 857. I want to open up the floor. Anybody want to share anything about being thankful to God or however the lesson hits you? Menace's Arena, anything you want to share? God has been so good to me. When I look around and think things over, all my good days outweigh my bad days. Thank you, Lord. I won't complain. I have that in my kitchen. We have to thank God for the good, bad, and the difficult. Because the servants of the Lord don't argue, and we know we're on Satan's hit list. I see it. I see it. Thanks, honest to God. I'm going to feel good because at 38 and I'm 63, they told me I was going to die. I'm walking. I can go to the restroom on my own. Just try to imagine if you can't urinate, your kidneys fail. I have too much to be thankful for. Too much to be thankful for. Too much to complain. Part of the covenant, Abraham's covenant, he told Abraham, I will bless you and you will be a blessing. It's a blessing to be a blessing. It's a blessing to go and take care of someone who walked away from me when I was sick. God put me in a position to take care of him, and I thank God for my lovely son being here to help now. Regardless of what's going on, just remember, God is in charge, and we are to show the world, regardless of what, we are conquerors. Through the love of God, through Jesus Christ, we're accepting him. I'm always thankful and trying to encourage everybody. God put me in a difficult job to learn how to be thankful. To wake up with the right mind. There's people that don't even know who they are. One thought he was Jesus Christ. Another man thought he was John the Baptist. Okay? And these people were serious. These people heard voices. They was just doing too much. They was in Satan's jail. And these are people I had to work with. And guess what? They only gave me $60 a month for hazardous duty pay. I trust that $60 no way. I prayed every time I walked in that sally board. I prayed through that prison. And now I see what God cut me up, meant for me to do. He wanted me to do this. He let me go through the storms to come back and give testimony and encourage and let you all know. God is faithful. He is. He is faithful. Where he is, he knows by our name. And he said in Isaiah, can't nobody snatch us out of his hand. So I thank you, Pastor Rob, for your dedication because that keeps me on track. That keeps me aligned with the word of God. I thank God for you. Because I don't know any other hard-working pastor as you were. I know there's others. But I thank God for putting you in our back. Amen. Amen, amen. Praise God. Amen. You know, and I like how you was quoting what God said to Abraham. You know, he had told him to leave his country. He said, I'm going to bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. All of us are part of that. You will become famous and be a blessing to others. Watch this. I will bless those who bless you. Yes. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, thank you. Whatever side you're on, make sure you bless God. There are people that like to bless you because he's going to bless them. You bless others and he bless you. I'm going to read it again. I will bless those who bless you. Yes. Watch this. But I will put a curse on anyone who put a curse on you. Amen. Amen. Everyone on earth will be blessed because of you. Yes. Thank you, Lord. Yes. That's the way we're supposed to be. That's some thanksgiving right there. That's better than turkey. That's better than macaroni and cheese and them string beans and yams. To know that when you bless others, God bless you. Uh-huh. My God. Yes. Somebody called me one day and they said, you know, I want to bless you. And I say, what do you mean? And they said, I want to bless you with a piece of money. And I said, well, praise God. I say, well, watch this, y'all. Watch what I did. And I got checked. Here's what I told them. I said, well, why don't you just make the blessing out to the ministry so that I can bless others? He said, no, you didn't listen to me. He said, I was called to bless you. I said, yeah, but if you bless me, you bless and restore my life. You bless and pray for us. You bless and unite, open door, hope in St. James. And he said, brother, you're not listening to me. I'm blessing you. When are you going to stop and allow yourself to be blessed? And you want to always be a blessing. And I had to be quiet, Mrs. Sabrina. I know what you mean. I had to be quiet, because you know what? My wife told me that. You know, she said, you give, you give, you give, you give. Well, many times people don't give back to you. I said, well, God take care of me. But when I read that Abraham verse in Genesis, I had to change my attitude. Genesis chapter 12, verse 1 through 7. Amen. It's right in there. Yes, it's right in there. I will bless you and make your children's, children's, children into a great nation, great people. Dr. Adria, you're a great woman of God. Mother Nellie, Minister Rebecca, Minister Serena, Sister Gwen, Sister Valencia. Praise God. We're all part of that. You will become famous and be a blessing to bless others. I will bless those who bless you. Yes. He didn't say nothing about no ministry. I will bless those who bless you. But don't let nobody mess with you, because those that try to mess with you and curse you, I'm going to curse them. Don't miss your blessing. Dr. Adria, anything you want to share? Yes, this is a wonderful reminder. When we come to church, we bring church with us. You know, we're just joining church already in service. We should be praising before we walk through the door. Amen. So, I'll just say this. This time of year has, we, not only my nuclear family, but my nuclear set of friends, we've taken a lot of losses. And so, the feeling is more sorrowful. And I said to a number of people, you know what? We've got to change the narrative. Change your focus. And then I had to, I was compelled to change my words. And I sent out a text and I said, you know what? The narrative is that this time we are thankful and grateful. I'm thankful and grateful every day. I'm like you, Pastor Rob. I might be in my car. I might be in my home. I might be in the basement. I might be out raking leaves. When I feel like I want to say thank you, I will say it out loud where people can hear me. So, they already know people who are in my neighborhood. But the point is, I was having them to remember that this is, the narrative doesn't change. This is the time where we're not only thankful for his blessings, but we're thankful for his son. And that's what we're reflecting on his son. And so, it doesn't matter what hits, what losses, whatever, whatever comes. The greatest gift, this is the time we celebrate the greatest gift that we're ever going to receive. But we have to receive it. And we have to, sometimes we have to change our focus. And it is with that sentiment that I could walk into the church after the loss of my mom. You often say that we walked into service, it may have been an hour, hour and a half after losing her. But the fact of the matter is, during those last several days, it was hard watching her. And I knew that she was making her transition. You know, it was hard watching her with that agonal grieving. And when God called her home, that was a time for me to celebrate. To celebrate the fact that she is no longer in pain. She is no longer struggling. She no longer has a body riddled with disease. She is present with the Lord. And when you think about it like that, you have reason to celebrate. So I'm running to the church, not running away from the church. Praise God. Amen. Thank you, thank you for that powerful testimony. Thank you for how you put that out there to help us to understand. And I appreciate that, you know, just hearing your testimony just blessed me as well. Thank God for you. Anybody else tonight? Anybody else want to share? We just, this is what we all need. That's what we all should do. Just thank the Lord. And just look at the person and see what he done did to you. That's enough to thank him. And you know, we said about the blessing, the blessing. All of them is God's blessing. Learn to thank God when you're all right. Learn to thank God when you're down. Yes, yes, amen. And you be saying, what's the matter with me? Ain't nothing the matter with me. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. And your whole body can just look different, just see different, and just think different. And you be saying to yourself, I know the Lord loves me. He told me he wasn't going to leave me. He told me he was going to take care of me. And that's the joy and the blessing that he's given you back, his promise that he promised you. Yeah. And he told you what he going to do. So I just said, thank you, thank you. I went today to see about my car insurance. I walked in, the lady had my papers all ready for me. She said, Ms. Chandler, all you got to do is put your little mission here. I put my little mission there. She's going to walk in. She said, how's your day? I said, oh, good, baby. My day is good. And ain't nobody been messing up either. She said, now we're talking. She gave me them little papers. I walked that door and closed that door behind me and come on down that hall. I was like you, sister. I was saying, thank you, thank you, Jesus. I was just saying, thank you, Jesus. Just look how that trust action just went through that. Some people went in there to see about the insurance. They all tell you, it still didn't get it right. But I walked in there within five minutes and got mine right. Don't you know that was my good blessing? And I told him, yes, sir, sure did. Told him, thank you. Come on out there and get in my blessed car. He done blessed me with. And drove on down 12 mile road, still thanking my Lord. I done told you. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. He came out of his house and he prayed for me. And sometimes I just stop and I just laugh so hard, till I can't hardly stop laughing. And I said, Lord, I'm sitting here laughing. And I'm laughing with joy. I'm laughing with joy. And I know you and Evan laughing with me. So it just tickles me all over. Oh, it's been weird and wonderful the things you do. Thanking the Lord, but you know them your blessing. So you can't do nothing but say, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hallelujah. Praise God. Mother Nell is about to break out. Thank you, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, thank you, Jesus. In my heart. Hallelujah. And I hear you, Dr. Adriel. You say, you know, sometimes just outside. I do the same thing. We was in a meeting, Menace and Serena. And we got some good news that came in. And it was three of my assistants. And my door was closed. And so I just broke out, glory, glory. And they just started laughing. They said, why you say that, Mr. Williams? I said, I'm just so excited. I'm so grateful that even in corporate America, God is blessing us. Do you understand that? I wasn't trying to convert them, y'all. I just wanted to let them know that I'm giving God all the glory. I ain't done nothing. Y'all didn't do nothing. You couldn't sell if you wasn't breathing. You couldn't. Mother Nell, she walked in there, and the lady said, just sign right here. Listen, she wouldn't have been able to sign right there if she wasn't breathing. So y'all better thank God. Have a heart of thanksgiving every day. And sometimes I get so carried away, I be thanking him so hard, I say, Lord, thank the one that wouldn't thank you. Let me thank you for him. Thank you, thank you, thank you for him too, Jesus. He didn't say thank you. I'll tell you, thank you for him. Yes, sir. Mother standing in the gap for the thankless. Amen, amen, amen. Sister Gwen, Mother Betty, Minister Rebecca, Sister Valencia, anybody want to share? Before we close out, I don't want to miss anybody. If you want to say something, the floor is open. We're all in this together. Yes, sir. Thank you. Yes, this is Minister Rebecca. I have three things to share. My pop transitioned in 2011, and I never look on myself, never took an expense of everything that happens. But this is the first thing I want to say. God has always met my need and blessed me beyond my expectations. Yeah. The second one is my handyman was here with another brother, and they were, you know, doing the kitchen, because my kitchen is being remodeled. And my handyman said, Rebecca, because I was in the living room, he said, Rebecca, and I went to the kitchen, and I go, yeah? He said, what do you feel like eating? Now, just before that, I was in my room, and I was thinking, Lord, what do I eat, you know, because I didn't know what I was going to eat, okay? He said, what do you feel like eating? And I said, well, where are you going? And he said, no, you pick. And I said, well, the closest thing right now to here is the subway. So I told him how to get there. And he said, what do you want? And I said, well, anything is okay with me. So he said, how about this Italian sub? And he told me what was in it and everything. I said, now that sounds good. Okay. He bought one, and he cut it in three. He gave one to me, one to the other brother, and, you know, ate one. Then he said, what do you want to drink? And I said, well, tea. And, okay, he divided the tea. He called me up, and he said, do you have ice? I said, no. And so he got some ice. Okay. That was the one. Now, while they were in the kitchen, I heard the other brother talk to my handyman. They were, you know, talking about business, about a job, and about, you know, expenses and stuff like that. And he told my handyman, he said, I don't know where my next meal is going to come from. And I believe that my handyman took some money out. And he said, oh, no, no. I said, I'm okay. He says, you know, but I don't know what happened there. Okay. But when he left, because it was time for them to leave, the brother that was helping, he, you know, went out, and he was waiting for my handyman. And I told my handyman, I said, did I hear correctly? And he says, yeah, that's what he said. So now while I was eating, the Lord told me, get a bag and put in the bag what I'm going to tell you. So I went and I got a bag, and my handyman was still there. And I, you know, put in the bag what the Lord had me to put. And I gave it to my handyman, and he gave it to our other brother. Well, he came to the door, and he says, ma'am, because he didn't know my name. He says, ma'am. And I said, yeah. He said, you didn't have to do this. I said, oh, yes, I did. And he says, no, you didn't have to. I said, well, the Lord told me to do it, and I'm just being obedient. And he said, and I told him, he was going to give it back to me. I said, uh-uh, I'm not receiving that back. I said, I don't want to miss my blessing. Hey, that's the truth. Okay, today, this morning, the Lord said, I have a surprise for you. And I said, a surprise, Lord? You know, okay, long story short, I was opening my bills to pay him. I opened up the Edison bill, and it was a credit balance. I didn't have to pay my electricity. So God is no respecter of persons. What he said, what he did for me, he will do for you, because he will meet all of our needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus, because he's Jehovah Jireh, our provider. Glory to your name. Glory. God bless you. Amen. Amen. Praise God. Praise God. Thank you for sharing with us. That was very enlightening. And we thank God we overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. So we thank God for each and every one of you tonight, certainly, for joining in. Don't forget, Saturday at 10 a.m. and then at 8 p.m. we'll be back for part two and part three. Just looking forward to having a different lesson on this one. Just coming up Saturday, the lesson is going to be a call to worship. It's going to be Psalm. If you want to get ahead, Psalm 95, 1 through 7. Psalm 95, 1 through 7. That's going to be the lesson in the morning. And then the lesson for Saturday night is going to be one of my favorites, Psalm 34. Psalm 34, 1 through 10. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Hallelujah. I will bless the Lord at all times and his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord and the humble will hear thereof and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. God is good, child. And so we thank God for each and every one of you today. We pray that you have a safe evening. Get some rest. Minister Serena, get you some rest. We're looking forward to hearing from you in the morning, 645. I know you've been on the run, and she's really been doing a wonderful job of helping with her ex-husband and her son. Thank God that he's there to help you. And just thank God for Veronica and those that are around you. And for the prayers that you pray that God will be merciful to our dear brother and that he keep all of us in good health. So God bless you all. Good night to you. Take care. Amen. Good night. God bless. God bless us all. Yes, indeed. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. Lord, I just bless you. Just bless your name. Thank you, Lord. Thank you.