"Being Thankful" By Brother Parrish Lee November 27th,
2016
Thank
you. Thank you.
Thank you, everyone. My, my. You know, in the old days, in the old days,
you know, before we had TV and internet or even radio, in the old days,
down in
the parts where they didn’t have a whole lot, this was just the
introduction service. I’ve heard tell that
they would have it, and
they might have had a little break, but some of them would just keep
going. They didn’t need a whole lot of
people, when it was time to come present yourself before the Lord… You know, I can’t talk about that. We’ve got something to do.
You know what? The Bible says
the Lord inhabits the praises
of His people. He inhabits that. Isn’t it wonderful when God inhabits? You don’t ever want that to go away, you
don’t ever want that presence to stop. Well,
actually, today, if you’ve
been to our services after Thanksgiving for the last few years, you may
remember that we have a time where other people in the congregation
come and
say thanks. Other people come, and they
give their thanks and their presence before the Lord.
And, that’s what we’re doing today. We’re
actually sharing the pulpit with our
congregation—certain people in our congregation, today.
To start off, we’d like to ask three people
in particular. We’d like to ask Brother
Damien, if he would come, our Sister Gloria, right after him, and,
after that, our
Sister Ashley, if they would come, and bring thanks before the Lord. Could we give them a praise, as they come? Damien:
Good
morning. I just have a few things that I
definitely want to go over, but, I thank God, I thank God for, first of
all,
for life. Had God not, obviously, I
wouldn’t be here. I thank God for, every
day, giving me a chance to redeem myself.
When I wake up, and I pray, you know, God lets me know
that, “This is
your opportunity to, if you haven’t gotten everything right, to make
things
right.” I’ve got a few Scriptures that I
wanted to read today. I want to make
sure I read them this time, because last time, I just kind of… Okay, so, the first Scripture I want to talk
about today—I mentioned thanking God for life.
I thank God, also, for allowing me to have a soft heart, a
softness in
my heart and to have a willing soul. The
Bible says that we battle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities and powers, against spiritual wickedness in high places
(Ephesians 6:12). All right, the next
Scripture I want to talk about, it’s in John 6:29, and, as I was
thinking about
this, I was thinking about how God—and I’m just kind of fighting back
the tears
because; if it happens, I’m sorry. I’m
trying; I’ve kind of turned into a crier, every time I read the Word… All right, in John 6:29, it says, “Jesus
answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe
on him
whom he hath sent.” And, I believe that I
have to work at it, every day, because there’s times that it’s hard to
believe
that certain things happen; I’ve had people at work talk to me about,
“Hey, do
you really believe in Noah’s Ark, and all that stuff?”
I said, “If that didn’t happen, then none of
this is possible, because everything goes in a line.
From Genesis to Revelation, it’s a
story. The next Scripture that I just
wanted to mention is John 2:27-29. Of
course, a lot of people know about Doubting Thomas:
“Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy
finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it
into my
side: and be not faithless, but believing. And
Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord
and my God. Jesus saith unto him,
Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they
that
have not seen, and yet have believed.”
The third thing I’m thankful for is God saving me. In Acts, obviously, the Acts of the Apostles,
Jesus gave the Great Commission, Matthew 28:19, He said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” Then, we go in Acts, where Peter was
speaking, that verse matches that, Acts 2:38, they were conflicted in
their
heart, they were pricked in their heart, and they said, “Men and
brethren, what
shall we do?” “Then Peter said unto
them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for
the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” And, I’m just thankful that I had the
opportunity of being born again. These
are the words of eternal life. I
can’t—there’s nothing else in this world that we need, you know? There’s a lot of wants in this world, and I’m
just thankful that God has saved me, and I’m really working the field
to be a
testimony to others. Let your light so
shine… I’m trying to be a
testimony. I told Parrish before, that I
never, personally, you know, like Philip and the Eunuch (Acts 8:26-39),
you
know, talked to somebody, and they say, “Hey, here is water, what
hindereth me
to be baptized?” “Oh, oh, let’s do
it!” I’ve never personally had
that. I’ve had that—I’ve been a branch,
I’ve been a part of the work. God showed
me that. “You’ve done your part.” I have to be a testimony.
So, every single day, I’m waking up, I’m
living for Him. Okay, the fourth thing
I’m thankful for is God being my example.
Mister Lee kind of shared it before, Jesus being our
example, when He
was born, being baptized, when He went and saw John.
And, John the Baptist wanted Him to baptize
him, and Jesus said, “Suffer it to be so now…”
Help me out, Mister Lee, I’m kind of
drawing a
blank right now. “…for thus it becometh us to fulfil all
righteousness.” So, being that
example. I’m off the milk, I know that (1
Peter
2:2). It may be puree, but I’m getting
close to meat (1 Corinthians 3:2). I
thank God. And, after Jesus was
baptized, He went and fasted, and He was tempted of the devil. That—Pastor Paine was mentioning that. Jesus showed us, by example, how we can
overcome the devil, and there is no excuse for me.
I know that.
I’ve learned more in the past year than I have ever known,
and I thank
God. I thank God for strengthening
me. The Bible says trust in the Lord
with all thine heart (Proverbs 3:5). In
Proverbs 3:6, “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy
paths.” So, if I’m not acknowledging Him,
I can’t
wonder why my paths are going this way and that way.
And, I also have to seek. Seek
ye first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness (Matthew 6:33). The last
thing I kind of want to share is in John 13:34.
There’s a lot there that was going through my mind, and I
really wanted
to talk about: “A
new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another…” I think this one thing that, you know, that
God has blessed me to have that charity, to be able to talk to people,
and I’m
still working on it, because, things happen.
Like Parrish said, “You know what?
Somebody pop you in the head, you want to pop them back. Somebody say something to you, or you see
something;; ‘Hey, I got to get to work, I’ve got to do this and that.’” Like I said.
“…as I have loved you, that ye
also love one
another.” I thank God for
everything. One of the biggest things
that I always think about is life in general.
Life is like, to me, a test. An
open-book test, right? It’s an open-book
test, because, at the end, once we’re all done, once we’re dead. A lot of people talk about, “Okay, when the
Lord returns,” but, if you die, that’s it.
You don’t have any other chances to go back and do
anything, so, today
is the day that you have to make sure that you are following, seeking,
trusting, going out getting people saved.
I love the Lord. Thank you. Gloria: Good morning,
church. I’m kind of new at this, so
please be patient. When Parrish asked me
to say a few things about what I was thankful for, I thought, “Where do
I
start? There’s so many of them.” I thank God every day that He wakes me up,
that He gives me the chance to worship Him.
I’m thankful that He died on the cross, so that I might
live. I’m thankful for the little things,
the
mountains and the streams and the birds, the flowers.
And, I’m thankful for Parrish, and all of
you. I’m thankful for my daughter; she’s
always there when I need her, and my son-in-law, Bill, although I don’t
know if
he wanted me to mention him, but he’s always been there for me, and
he’s done a
lot for me. I’m thankful that God
brought me back to where I am, today. I
pray to Him every day. I have daily
obstacles I go through, working on just an inning.
I’m just glad that I’m here. And,
here, I’ll be here; I feel like my
family, you’re my family, now. I just
want to thank Him for dying for me. Ashley:
I’ve got a bit of a serious face, because I’m a crier, too. I’ve got tissues, though, so I’m ready. We’re thanking God, too, right?
Thanking Him all the time. I’m
going to share a little of my testimony,
and, then, I’ll share some Scriptures, and kind of, how they relate to
where
I’m at in my life. So, I was born to a
mother—there were three of us, and she raised us on her own. So, I was abandoned by my father at the age
of two, that I remember, and that left some big holes inside of me. And, so, I developed this attitude of, “Well,
if nobody’s going to take care of me, then I’m going to do it, myself.” And, well, that left me lonely and desolate
and finding so many different ways to cope with the pain that I felt
inside,
which brought me here. Here I received
hugs that I didn’t know I needed, relationships I never knew I would
have, a
husband that is so encouraging and uplifting.
But, the truth is, I’m thankful for that pain that brought
me through to
the Lord. I’m also thankful, because, if
I didn’t experience the things that I went through, I could not relate
to any
of you. I have developed such special
relationships with people here, because I relate to you.
Because God so fit to say, “You know what,
Ashley? Just because the world said that,
‘You’re not good enough, and that you’re not going to be anything, and
I’m
going to rip everything you have from you at a very young age,’” God
said, “No,
and I’m going to use that. And I’m going
to use you in a mighty way!” I mean, to
minister to these youth—I’m sorry—I often say, “If somebody said, ‘I
believe in
you. I love you. I
know you; and I love you, still,’ where
would I be?’ But the truth is, I’m right
where I need to be. Because I can say
that to you, and you, and you, and all of you, “I love you.” And God loves me, which is unconditional,
which is in spite of what the world is doing, and trying to take you
from. I know for a fact that that is a
lie, and
that God is going to use each and every one of you, no matter if you’re
young,
or no matter is you’re older. There is a
plan. So,
I have a
Scripture: In Romans—let me make sure I
have it right—Romans 5:3: “And not only
so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh
patience; (4)And patience, experience; and experience, hope:” I have hope.
I have tribulation; without the tribulation, I couldn’t
even experience
the true hope, the mercy, the grace, and the love that is unwavering in
God. I would never had said that I’m
thankful that my dad left me when I was a little girl, but, guess what? I’ve got a great husband and father to my
children, because I felt what that was like, okay?
And I allowed God to use that to guide me to
the right path. And, if we just say,
“God, what would you have me to do?”
But, be humble, because, in that pain, in that brokenness,
that’s where
God will meet you. You don’t have to
check all the boxes to meet God, God was already there.
God was with you through all of those things,
and He’s never going to leave you, nor forsake you.
And I know that to be a fact, because I’m not
perfect. And the list goes on. So, I am so thankful for those trials, those
tribulations that will bring me closer to God. And
then I have
another Scripture: Colossians 3:1-2, “If
ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth
on the right hand of God. (2) Set your
affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”
If I am constantly allowing Satan to distract
me, allowing Satan to muddy me up with the things that he says about
me, or
does, in my circumstances, then I’m not setting my affections on things
above. Of course I’m going to be
discouraged, and I’m going to be weighed down.
But, as soon as I lift my eyes to Heaven, and I say, “God,
I know You’re
there. One day, all this will be worth
it. Then, and only then, will I be able
to continue in that hope, and in that trial, and in that walk. So, thank you for letting me share. In
just a
moment, we’re going to have Brother Greg and Sister Alma share, but,
before we
do, I didn’t get a chance to introduce—but, it’s not really
introducing; he’s a
brother, he’s been here many times—just going to ask him to come up and
share. Brother Jay Hunemuller. He used to talk about his testimony to me,
but I think I’ll just let him share.
Brother Jay? Jay:
I
appreciate Brother Parrish, and I could say, definitely, the same thing
about
him. I’m thankful—well, he asked, what
does Jesus mean to me? And He’s the lover of my soul.
That’s what He is to me at all times, and,
when we lose sight of that, when we lose—you know, because we’re all
human, we
all get distracted by things, sometimes, but the truth is it’s what He
is, it’s
what He does. He wants the best for
us. Spiritually, He wants us to be with
Him now, so we can be with Him later. Yeah,
and that’s the way we get to live our lives.
So, that’s what I’m thankful for, I’m thankful just to be
loved by God
and to love God, and that I have—you know, that it extends to His
people. Because, you know, He gave two
commandments: Love the Lord thy God with
all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and to love your neighbor as
yourself. You can’t see God, but you can
see your neighbor. So, that’s really the
only thing we can see with each other, is that we love each other, and
God sees
all the rest. So, thankful, blessed, and
I appreciate everyone here; I love you all. Thank
you, Jay,
we appreciate you. Greg:
I
was asked to share what I’m thankful for, and, needless to say, it’s
been said
a few times already, there’s a whole lot; there’s a whole bunch of
things to be
thankful for. But, just to grab a
few—and the way this happened, Parrish asked me—was it Thanksgiving? No, the day before Thanksgiving—and, then,
so, I’m all happy about Thanksgiving, and, then we heard about Jesse
happened,
and I’m thinking, “Hmmm. Wow, so, Satan
tries to throw a curveball at what we’re thankful for, huh? Hmmm.
So, okay, me, like so many others, we’ll just be thankful
through a few
tears, you know? And, that’s how it
is. I mean, this—life happens, but we
are to always remain thankful. According
to the Scriptures, we should always be thankful. And,
so, it does make it a little harder to
think about what you’re thankful for, but, then, all you have to do is
look
around a little bit. And, what I’m
really thankful for is baptism in Jesus’ name, because the Bible says
we get
the Holy Ghost. It’s a promise, that we
get the Holy Ghost comes with baptism in Jesus’ name.
When we get the Holy Ghost, that means every
one here, that’s been baptized in Jesus’ name, has got that Spirit, the
Holy
Spirit, living inside of them. So, when
we’re congregating like this, God is all around us.
He’s all around us out there, but He’s all
around us in this ministry. If we would
just pay attention to one another, and listen to what each other has to
say,
you could learn a whole lot. I’ve
learned a whole lot from brothers and sisters in the ministry. I came here off the street; I was a drug
addict, and homeless, and seeking God, and God took that one out of the
three
and sent me to this ministry, and the elders in this ministry I’ve
learned so
much from. I mean Philip, and Ken
Avellino, and Brother Rich Brand, I mean, just, wherever I turned, it
was a
piece of God here, and a piece of God there because they’ve got God’s
Spirit
living inside them. And, I was even
ridiculed
when I first came to the ministry, because, where they were at, at the
time. I went to the altar, I was coming
there—that’s
when the building was open every day of the week—and I was coming
inside, and I
said, “I don’t want anyone to talk to me.”
I went straight to the altar about this, because I wanted
to make sure I
came to the right place. And, when I got
right to the altar, Bill Blackwell stopped me.
Some of you don’t know him, but he’s a brother in our
ministry, I think
he’s in Norfolk right now. And he says,
“Hey,
Greg,” and it was like God sent him to meet me at the altar. “You know, people are going to try to knock
you down for your stand in Christ,” and he was answering all the
prayers that I
was going to pray about. Wow!
And then, after that, all of that, then he
says, “Do you want to have a prayer?”
And I said, “That’s what I came here for.” And,
you know, I started realizing, God knows,
God knows everything we’re going to go through, and He’s beckoning us,
calling
us closer to Him, calling us. So, I’m
just thankful that God put me in a ministry where people are serious
about Him. Like I said, young or old—I
hope you
youngsters are listening, too. If you
just look around, God is there. If you
just go and talk to Ken Avellino, God is in him; he’s got something to
say. Or Octavio, or just—you may just look
around,
look around you. Ask somebody, or listen
to what they have to say, because it could just be God’s Spirit,
speaking
through them, to you, and, if you would listen, you’ll learn and grow. I’m just so thankful, and I do have a
Scripture. It’s in 1 Corinthians
15:57. It says: “But
thanks be to God, which giveth us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
And, along with that, I heard one preacher say, or, it was
in a song, I
think, they said, “I read the last chapter of the Book—I read the last
chapter
and the last verse of the Book”—which is the Bible—“and, we win.” And, if we overcome, like the Bible says, and
the Bible shows us how to overcome, we win.
We win, and it’s a good feeling to win.
If you just stick with Jesus. In
the end—we’re going to go through a lot of things—but, in the end, we
win. Amen. Alma:
Well,
first of all, I’m thankful for that man, because he’s my husband. There’s a lot of things that I’m thankful
for, but, going back to before I was baptized.
Because I didn’t have a terrible upbringing, but I did go
through some
things, and one of the things was, in a way, I felt like God was
calling me,
because I used to watch the TV a lot, and I looked at all the things
that were
happening in the world, and, to me, it was hurting me.
I felt the pain that everybody else was
feeling, and I felt miserable. And, I
didn’t know what to do with all of that.
But, when I came to this ministry, twelve years ago,
that’s when I discovered
what I can do if I just pray about it.
Prayers, whether they’re answered or not by God, God
answers to all of
those. And, I know, because, recently, I
was praying for God to give me the strength to share with people, and
He has
given me that. And, I prayed to feel
that joy when I first got baptized, and He had given me back that joy. And, I prayed that when I share with people,
that I would not be so afraid that I can’t speak, and He has given me
that. So, if you think that praying, it’s
not happening right away, and it’s not working, it is working. Because God is listening to it, but He’s
getting you ready, He’s getting you ready to receive that blessing. He’s not going to just throw it at you and
you’re not ready for it, and then you miss it.
You have to wait for it. And,
I
used to be really patient; I lost my patience at one point, and I have
to learn
to be patient again. So, it’s like you
have to learn, every day, everything you already knew.
And, I’m also thankful for my mom and my dad.
My mom doesn’t know how to read and write,
and she’s not the most knowledgeable person, but, with what God has
given her, she
has been able to teach me what I needed to learn, so I love my mom, no
matter
what, because she’s the perfect mom that God gave me.
And I love my dad. And he
used to be really strict. He’s not as
much, now, but he’s still strict,
but he’s the perfect dad for me, because what God gave him, the ability
that he
has, he was able to upbring me, and that’s why I’m the woman that I am
now. And, even though he is who he is, I
still love him, and I still show respect, because, if I don’t show
respect
towards my parents, how am I going to respect God? It’s
like what the Bible says: Honor thy father
and thy mother (Exodus 20:12)
and that’s why I will do it. It’s what
God told me to do, and that’s why I’m going to continue to do it. I’m thankful for my husband.
I’m thankful for my daughter Jailed, and, I
don’t know if you guys know this, but that girl knows more of the Bible
than I
do. And, I’m thankful for that, because
that means that God is already shaping her to be the woman that she’s
going to
be when she grows up, when she becomes twenty, twenty-five, thirty. And, it’s going to help her in her career,
it’s
going to help her in her social life, it’s going to help her, even in
this
ministry. And, He has, God has a
blessing for all of us, and I’m thankful that He has put me in this
ministry
with all of you because, now, all of you are my family.
You’re my brothers and my sisters. And,
you are there for me, and I’m there for
you. So, if you need anything from me, I
give thanks to God that I’m here and able to be there for you. So,
I guess we
already know: the message has already been preached.
Somebody said I thank Him for strengthening
me, and for softening my heart. Somebody
said I thank Him for just bringing me back.
Somebody said I thank Him for everything He’s brought me
through, and
everything He has brought me to.
Somebody said I’m thankful for God’s deliverance and where
He’s brought
me to, because right here is where God wants to use me.
Somebody else said I’m thankful for Him giving
me the strength to share and the joy of my salvation.
And I’m thankful that God listens, and
answers, and acknowledges to me that He’s in attendance to my prayers. And, so, our theme for the month was from
Mark 8:6 “And He commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and He
took
the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to the disciples
to set
before them; and they did set them before the people.”
Saints, prayer is extremely important, and
prayer has its place. According to the
Bible, it says that we are to pray without ceasing.
Praise and worship have their place. Extremely
important part of our make-up, our
Christianity, our faith, and, truly, our salvation, because, as the
Bible says,
He inhabits the praises of His people.
Even evangelism has its place, for the Bible says that the
Lord Jesus
Himself sent them out two by two. And
study, yes, studying has its place, for the Bible says that is one of
the ways
that you prove that—we show ourselves approved unto God.
But, from the Book of First Thessalonians—I think
about three of y’all quoted it. It says: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 In
every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning
you. So,
yes, we thank God in our
prayers, and, yes, we thank God in our worship.
We thank God in our fellowship. We
thank God in our evangelism. And, we
thank God in our study. And, yes, we
thank God in our troubles. We thank God
in our trials. We thank Him for the
mountains, and we thank Him in the valleys, we thank Him for all the
things He’s
brought us through. As our sister sang,
if we never went through those things, we wouldn’t know how thoroughly
God
could solve them, we wouldn’t know the extent, personally, of what God
could
do. And, the only Scripture I want to
share, really is: Luke 17:17-19
And Jesus answering said,
Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There
are not found that returned to give
glory to God, save this stranger. And he
said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. Arise,
go your way, because your
faith has made you whole. Whole, not
just meaning healed, whole also, here, means, saved.
And it also means, made you safe. With
faith, hath not just made you healed,
but it also has taken and made you safe.
In other words, you now have One that is over you,
showering you, protecting
you, and with you, because of your faith that you thanked God. So what would be like to be healed, and not
made whole? What would it be like for
God to just take away the ailment in your physical body and your soul
be crying
out and hungry and malnourished? What
would it be like to the God did not finish the work He wanted to do in
our
lives because we didn’t finish thanking Him for what He had already
done for
us? You see, true love, true love, and I’m
about to close, true love doesn’t look for a return.
True love does not expect stuff coming
back. Because the Bible says that
charity seeketh not her own. The true
thanks, the true thanks is the acknowledgement of what has just
happened. That is the acknowledgement of a
blessing of
such –of something that was here. True
thanks or true gratitude is accompanying real true love.
And, in closing, God has just set it up
right, He set it up so perfectly, so we would like to give true thanks
to the
One who first gave the true love. True
love on Calvary’s Hill. That is simple,
let
us give the Lord true thanks.
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