Speaker 1: Hi, this is Pastor Rick warrant on behalf of my
Speaker 1: family and all of our staff here at Daily Hope.
Speaker 1: We wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Today, Rick brings his
Speaker 2: special Thanksgiving message called How God Blesses Grateful Hearts to
Speaker 2: a close. But first, in just a few moments, we're
Speaker 2: going to tell you how you can get a beautifully
Speaker 2: illustrated devotional for children by Pastor Rick that will help
Speaker 2: them discover how much God loves them and that He
Speaker 2: has a special plan and purpose for their life. You
Speaker 2: can find out more by going to Pastorick dot com.
Speaker 2: While you listen to today's message, If you want, you
Speaker 2: can just text the word hope to eight hundred, six
Speaker 2: hundred five thousand and four for more information. That's the
Speaker 2: word Hope to eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four.
Speaker 2: Right now, here's Pastor Rick with the final part of
Speaker 2: a message called how God Blesses Grateful Hearts.
Speaker 1: Now here's the second habit of gratitude, giving back to God.
Speaker 1: Write that down giving back to God. At Thanksgiving or
Speaker 1: any other time, we give thanks by giving back to God.
Speaker 1: We give thanks by giving, we give back the first
Speaker 1: part of what He has given to us. Let's look
Speaker 1: at some scripture on this Psalm fifty four, verse six
Speaker 1: of this, I will offer a sacrificial offering as a
Speaker 1: special gift to thank you Lord, because you are so good.
Speaker 1: That's a Thanksgiving offering. We talked about a Thanksgiving song,
Speaker 1: but the Bible talks about a thanksgiving offering, an offering
Speaker 1: where we give to give thanks. You know, about four
Speaker 1: hundred years ago, a group of Christian believers who were
Speaker 1: being persecuted for their faith left Europe and moved to
Speaker 1: North America in order to establish a colony that allowed
Speaker 1: religious liberty so they could worship God freely. And those
Speaker 1: original people who came four hundred years ago from Europe
Speaker 1: were called the Pilgrims. Four hundred years ago, they established
Speaker 1: with the Native Americans in their area a Thanksgiving day
Speaker 1: in the fall to give thanks to God. That's where
Speaker 1: the whole Thanksgiving Day got started. Of the modern days,
Speaker 1: now a lot of stations have Thanksgiving Days. One hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty years later, after the Pilgrims, America's first President,
Speaker 1: George Washington, created, at the urging of Congress, the first
Speaker 1: National Thanksgiving holiday. So that happened four hundred years ago,
Speaker 1: the first modern Thanksgiving, and then one hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: years later the first Thanksgiving holiday for a nation. But
Speaker 1: did you know that three thousand years before that, three
Speaker 1: thousand years before that, God had told the nation of
Speaker 1: Israel to establish a Thanksgiving festival every year called the
Speaker 1: Feast of Weeks, and they were to celebrate God's goodness,
Speaker 1: and they were to express their gratitude to God by
Speaker 1: bringing him a special Thanksgiving offering. That's three thousand years
Speaker 1: before the modern Thanksgiving Day. Deuteronomy chapter sixteen, verse ten,
Speaker 1: and eleven says this, I love this. In the TeV version,
Speaker 1: celebrate the harvest festival. To honor the Lord your God
Speaker 1: by bringing him a free will offering in proportion to
Speaker 1: the blessing He has given. You. Do this at the
Speaker 1: place of worship. So in the original Thanksgiving Day, they
Speaker 1: were to bring a gift of thanksgiving to the place
Speaker 1: of Thanksgiving. That's the Temp's where they worshiped. Now, this
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving offering has been practiced by God's people for thousands
Speaker 1: and thousands of years, and we've practice it here at
Speaker 1: Saddleback since our church began forty two years ago. It
Speaker 1: is mentioned many many times on the Bible, such as
Speaker 1: in Psalm one sixteen seventeen, where King David says this,
Speaker 1: I will sacrifice a thanksgiving offering to you. Now listen.
Speaker 1: This is God's second favorite way of being thanked. He
Speaker 1: talks about it over and over and over. The thanksgiving
Speaker 1: offering is mentioned many times in scripture. In Psalm fifty,
Speaker 1: verse twenty three, God says this, those people who truly
Speaker 1: honor me are those who are they who bring me
Speaker 1: offerings to show thanks. Those people who truly honor me,
Speaker 1: God says, are those who bring the offerings to show thanks.
Speaker 1: And I God save those who do that. It's one
Speaker 1: of God's favorite love languages. Singing back to God and
Speaker 1: giving back to God is our you know, examples and
Speaker 1: illustrations of gratitude. Anytime we give an offering to God,
Speaker 1: it actually represents three kinds of gratitude. It's a three
Speaker 1: D gratitude past, present, in future. When I give an
Speaker 1: offering to God, it represents I'm grateful for God's blessing
Speaker 1: in the past, I'm grateful for God's blessing today, and
Speaker 1: I'm grateful in faith for God's continued blessing in the future.
Speaker 1: I thank you for the past, I thank him for today,
Speaker 1: and I thank him that he's going to keep on
Speaker 1: taking care of me in the future. Three kinds of gratitude.
Speaker 1: So what kind of offering are we to bring to
Speaker 1: show our gratitude to God. Well, the Bible says over
Speaker 1: and over and over and over, we are to give
Speaker 1: God the first part of our income, not the leftovers.
Speaker 1: Not well, I pay all my bills and whatever's laft,
Speaker 1: I'll give to God. We are to put God first
Speaker 1: in our finances. Now, God knows this is a step
Speaker 1: of faith, putting him first, which is why he tells
Speaker 1: us to do it. Because it's a step of faith.
Speaker 1: God is more interested in your faith. He certainly doesn't
Speaker 1: need your money. God doesn't need your money. He owns it.
Speaker 1: All the money you got in really yours, it with
Speaker 1: somebody else. That's four years, that's yours right now. On
Speaker 1: loan is be loaned to somebody else later. God just
Speaker 1: wants to know if you trust him. Now, as I said,
Speaker 1: with every principle God gives us that God gives us.
Speaker 1: He also attaches a promise. There are more promises in
Speaker 1: the Bible related to giving back to God than any
Speaker 1: other promises in the scripture. Proverbs three nine and ten
Speaker 1: is a good example. Proverbs three nine and ten says, this,
Speaker 1: honor the Lord by giving him circle this the first part,
Speaker 1: circle first part, by giving him the first part of
Speaker 1: your income. And here's the promise. That was the premise.
Speaker 1: Here's the promise. He will fill your barns and beryls
Speaker 1: to overflow with more. God says, giving him an offering
Speaker 1: is not just an act of gratitude, it's an act
Speaker 1: of faith. And God always honors faith, so he promises
Speaker 1: to bless you back. That's why I said there are
Speaker 1: more promises in the Bible attached to giving and generosity
Speaker 1: than the other subject. What God wants his children to
Speaker 1: be like him. God is a generous God. Everything you
Speaker 1: have in life is a gift of God's love. God
Speaker 1: is the number one giver. God so loved the world
Speaker 1: that he gave. You can love, You can give without loving,
Speaker 1: but you can't love without giving. God so loved that
Speaker 1: he gave. And if you love God, you're gonna give.
Speaker 1: And if you love others, you're gonna give. Now, he says,
Speaker 1: here's the promise, give me the first part, and I'll
Speaker 1: overflow your barns and your baryls. In other words, you're
Speaker 1: gonna get back more than you could possibly give to me.
Speaker 1: God is that you give to me, and I'll give
Speaker 1: to you, and we'll see who wins. Now, Jesus expanded
Speaker 1: and extended the promise we just read proverbse three by
Speaker 1: saying it this way in Luke chapter six, verse thirty eight.
Speaker 1: Look up here on the screen. This from the New
Speaker 1: Living Translation Luke six thirty eight. If you give, this
Speaker 1: is Jesus talking. If you give, you will receive, and
Speaker 1: your gift will return to you in full measure. And
Speaker 1: then he says, press down, shaken together to make room
Speaker 1: for more. Like you got a bag of beans. You
Speaker 1: keep shaking it so it can hold more, Press down,
Speaker 1: press down, shaken together to make room for more, and
Speaker 1: running over. Whatever measure you use in giving larger from wall,
Speaker 1: Jesus is talking, it will be used to measure what
Speaker 1: is given back to you.
Speaker 2: This is pastor Rick's daily hope. Rick will be back
Speaker 2: in a moment with the second half of today's message.
Speaker 2: But first, if this message has encouraged you, or if
Speaker 2: God puts someone on your mind, that needs to hear it.
Speaker 2: Would you share it? You'll be glad you did, and
Speaker 2: be sure to let them know about pastor Ricks free
Speaker 2: daily email devotional at pastorick dot com.
Speaker 3: Pastor Rick says it's vitally important for children to understand
Speaker 3: that even before the universe was created, God had them
Speaker 3: in mind, and that He has a special plan and
Speaker 3: purpose for their life. That's why he created The Purpose
Speaker 3: Driven Life devotional book for children. This inspirational resource uses
Speaker 3: the principles found in pastor Ricks life changing bestseller The
Speaker 3: Purpose Driven Life, but delivers them as one hundred devotions
Speaker 3: that speak directly to the daily challenges kids face and
Speaker 3: gives real world applications to help them discover their purpose.
Speaker 3: Paired with powerful scripture passages and engaging illustrations, young readers
Speaker 3: will thrive on the biblical wisdom that has helped millions
Speaker 3: of people throughout the world. We'll send you The Purpose
Speaker 3: Driven Life one hundred illustrated Devotions for Children today as
Speaker 3: our way of saying thanks for giving your gift.
Speaker 4: To help daily hope take the hope of Jesus to
Speaker 4: people around the world. Be sure to get a copy
Speaker 4: for all of the children God is placed in your life, kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews,
Speaker 4: and the kids in your neighborhood. They'll all be blessed
Speaker 4: by this amazing resource. Go to pastorik dot com right
Speaker 4: now to get your copy, or you can call eight
Speaker 4: hundred at six hundred five zero zero four that's pastorik
Speaker 4: dot com. Or call eight hundred at six hundred at
Speaker 4: five zero zero four. Thank you so much for your support,
Speaker 4: and don't forget to let us know which radio station
Speaker 4: you heard us on. There's only two days left to
Speaker 4: get this great resource, so don't wait.
Speaker 2: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Audio Broadcast Ministry
Speaker 2: of Pastor ds warrant. Once again, Here's Rick.
Speaker 1: Do you believe that if you give, God will give
Speaker 1: back more to you? How much do you trust God?
Speaker 1: Do you think Jesus is a liar? You know what
Speaker 1: I've never understood, friends, I've never understood. Why do people
Speaker 1: trust Jesus to forgive their sins and save their souls
Speaker 1: and take them to heaven, but they don't trust the
Speaker 1: same Jesus with their finances and the promises he makes
Speaker 1: about that. It makes no sense at all if you
Speaker 1: can't trust Jesus with your finances. Why do you trust
Speaker 1: him for your salvation? Really, this is a faith issue.
Speaker 1: How much do you trust God? What we're talking about,
Speaker 1: of course, giving the first part back to God is
Speaker 1: called the principle of tithing. Tithing is the old English
Speaker 1: word means ten percent. It's not twelve percent, it's not
Speaker 1: twenty it's not one percent. Tithing means the first ten percent.
Speaker 1: If I make ten dollars, the first dollar goes back
Speaker 1: to God. If I make one hundred dollars, first ten
Speaker 1: dollars go back to God. First, we give the first
Speaker 1: ten percent of our income back to God in faith
Speaker 1: and gratitude, and then He blesses the other ninety percent.
Speaker 1: Look at these last two verses in this section Deuteronomy
Speaker 1: fourteen twenty three Living Bible. Bring your tithe, that's the
Speaker 1: first ten percent. Bring your tithe to the Lord, the
Speaker 1: first of all you earn. The purpose of pithing is
Speaker 1: to teach you to always put God first in your lives.
Speaker 1: Now you may say, well God's first in my life. Well,
Speaker 1: let me see two things. Let me see your calendar
Speaker 1: and let me see your checkbook. Because the way you
Speaker 1: spend your time and the way you spend your money
Speaker 1: tells me what's really first in your life. And then
Speaker 1: one of the greatest promises of all. It's the only
Speaker 1: promise in the Bible where God says, you can prove
Speaker 1: that I exist. It's a good verse for atheist. You
Speaker 1: want to prove God's exist pithe Here's what God says.
Speaker 1: Malachi three ten. Bring your whole tithe that's ten percent
Speaker 1: to my storehouse, says the Lord, so there will be
Speaker 1: food in my house. You bring the first ten percent
Speaker 1: on the first day of the week as an act
Speaker 1: that God is first. And what's first day week Sunday?
Speaker 1: Is it act of worship? You bring it to my storehouse,
Speaker 1: says the Lord. You don't give your tithe to your
Speaker 1: sister or to some nice organization. After belongs to God.
Speaker 1: It goes to his temple, It goes to his store house,
Speaker 1: says that there will be food in my house. And
Speaker 1: then he says this. Test me in this, God, dare
Speaker 1: you try it? You like it? Test me? Here's the
Speaker 1: Pepsi challenge verse. Test me in this and see if
Speaker 1: I won't throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour
Speaker 1: out so much blessing you won't have enough room for it. Wow.
Speaker 1: God says, this is the way you can prove God exists.
Speaker 1: Tithe all right, tithe put him first. And that is
Speaker 1: God's second favorite way of being told you trust him,
Speaker 1: of being told you're grateful. We sing songs of thanksgiving
Speaker 1: and we give back to God in thanksgiving. Now we
Speaker 1: said that the first of God's three favorite ways that
Speaker 1: he loves to be shown gratitude is singing back to God.
Speaker 1: And the second favorite way that God has is for
Speaker 1: us to give back to God. And we've seen the
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving song, and we've seen the power of the Thanksgiving offering.
Speaker 1: But now we come to what's called the Thanksgiving cup.
Speaker 1: And what we're talking about is taking the Lord's Supper
Speaker 1: together as an act of gratitude. God's third favorite way
Speaker 1: of being told that we love him is through communion
Speaker 1: through the Lord's Supper. The third habit of gratitude is this,
Speaker 1: write it down communion with God. First Corinthians, chapter eleven,
Speaker 1: verses twenty three to twenty seven. Look up here on
Speaker 1: the screen. It's not on your outline. It says this.
Speaker 1: On the night that he was betrayed, Jesus took bread,
Speaker 1: and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and
Speaker 1: he bro the bread, and he said, this is my body,
Speaker 1: which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
Speaker 1: Then in the same way, Jesus took the cup, and
Speaker 1: he said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Speaker 1: And whenever you drink it, do this and remembrance of me.
Speaker 1: And I says it twice. Do this in remembrance of me.
Speaker 1: Communion is to help us remember what's remembering for, so
Speaker 1: we can be grateful. Whatever you remember, you can be
Speaker 1: grateful for. He says, I've given you this memory tool communion.
Speaker 1: The bread and the wine, the juice and the wafer.
Speaker 1: I've given you this communion tool to remember the good
Speaker 1: thing that I did for you, the suffering that I
Speaker 1: did for you, what it cost me to pay for
Speaker 1: your salvation Jesus. The Bible says this, for whenever you
Speaker 1: eat the bread and you drink the cup, you proclaim
Speaker 1: the Lord's death. It's remembering of God's great gift on Calvary,
Speaker 1: Jesus death on the cross. You proclaim the Lord's death
Speaker 1: until he comes again. He didn't stay dead. He's coming
Speaker 1: back again. That's what Easter is all about. And then
Speaker 1: the Bible says Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks
Speaker 1: the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will
Speaker 1: be guilty of sinning against the body and the blood
Speaker 1: of the Lord. What does that phrase mean? An unworthy manner?
Speaker 1: You know, as a young Christian, I often wondered and
Speaker 1: was even a little worried what that meant, to take
Speaker 1: the Lord's supper, to take communion in an unworthy manner.
Speaker 1: But I now believe that taking the Lord's supper in
Speaker 1: an unworthy manner includes taking communion without truly being grateful
Speaker 1: for all Jesus paid for with his death on the cross.
Speaker 1: To take it in an unworthy man is to reject
Speaker 1: the power of the cross. It is to take communion
Speaker 1: without fully understanding and fully accepting and fully being grateful
Speaker 1: for Jesus' sacrifice for me. This is Jesus's third favorite
Speaker 1: way of us expressing our thanks to him. He gave
Speaker 1: us the memory tool of communion. Now you've probably heard
Speaker 1: that another name for the Lord's Supper, or another name
Speaker 1: for communion is the Eucharist. Have you heard that word
Speaker 1: the Eucharist. That's a Bible term. It's in the Bible,
Speaker 1: you know, the New Testament was written in Greek. Eucharist
Speaker 1: is a Greek word. Do you know what it means? Thanksgiving?
Speaker 1: Eucharist is the Greek word for thanksgiving. The communion is
Speaker 1: to be a model of thanksgiving. It's a way we
Speaker 1: give thanks back to God, first through the thanksgiving song,
Speaker 1: second through the thanksgiving offering, and third through the thanks
Speaker 1: thanksgiving cup. One Corinthians ten sixteen says, this is not
Speaker 1: the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a
Speaker 1: participation in the blood of Christ, and it's not the
Speaker 1: bread that we break participation in the body of Christ.
Speaker 1: When we drink from a communion cup and we eat
Speaker 1: the bread, we are participating in one another of God's
Speaker 1: favorite ways to be told thank you God. By our eating,
Speaker 1: we are saying Father, thank you, thank you, thank you
Speaker 1: for sacrificing yourself to send your son to come and
Speaker 1: die on the cross for our sins so that we
Speaker 1: can be forgiven. And we remind ourselves of the high
Speaker 1: price that Jesus paid to save us. And our only
Speaker 1: response is gratitude. Colossians two thirteen and fourteen says this
Speaker 1: we were spiritually dead because of our sins and our
Speaker 1: sinful nature. We were dead, separated from Christ. But God
Speaker 1: gave us new life. We didn't turn over new lead.
Speaker 1: He gave us a whole new life. God gave us
Speaker 1: new life with Christ. He forgave all our sins, and
Speaker 1: it counseled the record that contained all the charges against us,
Speaker 1: and he took it and he destroyed it by nailing
Speaker 1: it to Christ's cross. That's what the Bible says. What
Speaker 1: is our response to such overwhelming love? It is one
Speaker 1: Corinthians fifteen fifty seven which says this, how we thank
Speaker 1: God who gives us victory over sin and over death
Speaker 1: through Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is the Eucharist, This
Speaker 1: is the cop of thanksgiving. So I want you to
Speaker 1: bow your head right now, and with your head bowed,
Speaker 1: I want to ask you, have you ever completely fully
Speaker 1: accepted the gift of God's salvation by faith? Have you
Speaker 1: accepted the grace of God in your life? Have you
Speaker 1: accepted His forgiveness realizing you can't earn it, pay for it,
Speaker 1: or deserve it. It's just a gift. And have you
Speaker 1: expressed your gratitude back to God? If you haven't, saying
Speaker 1: so right now in your heart, say dear God, thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you, for dying for me. Say that
Speaker 1: thank you for paying for my sins. Say that thank
Speaker 1: you for dying on the cross so that I could
Speaker 1: be forgiven and that I could go to heaven, and
Speaker 1: so that I could have a purpose for living. Jesus Christ,
Speaker 1: I opened my life to you, and I give myself
Speaker 1: completely to you, and I want to develop these habits
Speaker 1: of singing with gratitude, giving back in song, of giving
Speaker 1: back financially, and of taking communion to remember your sacrifice.
Speaker 1: I ask you to accept me into your family in
Speaker 1: Jesus Date. Amen, Hi, this is Pastor Rick. If you
Speaker 1: just pray to accept Jesus Christ into your heart, congratulations,
Speaker 1: You're now my brother or sister and the Lord. And
Speaker 1: you need to tell somebody, and why don't you tell me?
Speaker 1: Write to me Rick at Pastorrick dot com. Just email
Speaker 1: me Rick at Pastorrick dot com and tell me your story.
Speaker 1: I would love to read it. And by the way,
Speaker 1: I'll send you some free material to help you start
Speaker 1: in your new journey with the Lord. God bless you.
Speaker 2: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. If this message
Speaker 2: has encouraged you, or if God puts someone on your
Speaker 2: mind that needs to hear it. Would you share it?
Speaker 2: You'll be glad you did, and be sure to let
Speaker 2: them know about Pastor ricks free daily email devotional at
Speaker 2: pastorick dot com. Rick will be back in just a moment,
Speaker 2: but first, Pastor Rick says it's vitally important for children
Speaker 2: to understand that even before the universe was created, God
Speaker 2: had them in mind, and that He is a special
Speaker 2: plan and purpose for their life. That's why he created
Speaker 2: The Purpose Driven Life devotional book for children. This inspirational
Speaker 2: resource uses the principles found in Pastor Rick's life changing
Speaker 2: bestseller The Purpose Driven Life, but delivers them as one
Speaker 2: hundred devotions that speak directly to the daily challenges kids
Speaker 2: face and gives real world applications to help them discover
Speaker 2: their purpose. Paired with powerful scripture passages and engaging illustrations,
Speaker 2: young readers will thrive on the biblical wisdom that has
Speaker 2: helped millions of people throughout the world. We'll send you
Speaker 2: The Purpose Driven Life one hundred illustrated Devotions for Children
Speaker 2: today as our way of saying thanks for your gift
Speaker 2: to help daily hope take the hope of Jesus to
Speaker 2: people around the world. Be sure to get a copy
Speaker 2: for all the children God has placed in your life, kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews,
Speaker 2: and the kids in your neighborhood. They'll all be blessed
Speaker 2: by this amazing resource. Go to Pastorick dot com right
Speaker 2: now to get your copy, or you could just call
Speaker 2: eight hundred six hundred five thousand four. There's only two
Speaker 2: days left to get this great resource, so don't wait.
Speaker 2: That's Pastorick dot com or eight hundred six hundred five
Speaker 2: thousand four. Thank you so much for your support, and
Speaker 2: be sure to let us know that you listen to
Speaker 2: Pastor Rick's Daily Hope on the Rape. Here's Rick with
Speaker 2: a special message.
Speaker 1: You know, there's so much we can be grateful for
Speaker 1: during Thanksgiving. No matter how things go wrong in your life,
Speaker 1: there's still something you can thank God for. But let's
Speaker 1: remember those who are less fortunate. Reach out to somebody
Speaker 1: with the love of God this Thanksgiving, maybe with a
Speaker 1: meal or a blanket, or invite him to church. Think
Speaker 1: about what you can do to let them know they're
Speaker 1: not forgotten during this season of giving. Thanks God bless
Speaker 1: you all and have a great Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2: Be sure to join us next time as we look
Speaker 2: into God's word for our Daily Hope. This program is
Speaker 2: sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.