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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hymn number 384. Hymn number 384. In the service of the king. Say it one more time. First stanza. I am happy in the service of the king. First stanza. Ready? Sing. I am happy in the service of the king. I am happy, oh so happy. I have peace and joy that nothing else can bring. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. Every talent I will bring. I have peace and joy and blessing. In the service of the king. I am happy in the service of the king. I am happy, oh so happy. Through the sunshine and the shadows I can see. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. Every talent I will bring. I have peace and joy and blessing. In the service of the king. I am happy in the service of the king. I am happy, oh so happy. All that I possess to him I gladly bring. In the service of the king. Everybody. In the service of the king. Every talent I will bring. I have peace and joy and blessing. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. Amen. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. In the service of the king. Let's go first to this in the back. Were there any salvations to report this past week? Anybody? Just my son Zeph. Good job, Zeph. Anybody in this section? Anybody else? Write that down. Anybody? Salvation's four. Anybody else? Anybody I missed? Great work everybody. As I mentioned earlier, soul winning will be earlier today. It is going to be at 1.45. We do have prayer meeting here today after soul winning. And then we do have choir practice. Of course next week is our anniversary. And I'll send more information in the group chat in the coming week. But anyways, I think that's it for announcements here today. We'll have Brother Rafi lead us in another song. Hymn number 327. Hymn number 327. Hymn number 327. Higher ground. First stanza puta yo. We're going to last stanza. I'm pressing on. First stanza ready. Sing. I'm pressing on the upward way. New heights and gaily everyday. Still praying as I onward bow. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand. Right wing on heaven's stable end. Higher plane that I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. My heart is known as I to stay. Where doubts arise and fear dismay. Though some may dwell, world leaves abound. My prayer my aim is higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand. Right wing on heaven's stable end. Higher plane that I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. I want to live above the world. Though Satan's stars are me or her. In joyful sound, the song of saints on higher ground. Lord, lift me up and let me stand. Right wing on heaven's stable end. Higher plane that I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. I want to scale the utmost high. And clash a gleam of glory bright. But still I pray till hell's like now. Lord, lift me on the higher forest. Lord, lift me up and let me stand. Right wing on heaven's stable end. Higher plane that I have found. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. Amen. Amen. For scripture reading, please open your Bibles to the book of Numbers. Numbers 11. Numbers 11. You have the book of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers. Numbers 11. And we will only be reading the chapter 11, verses 1 down to verse 10. Please say amen if you're there. Amen. Numbers 11, verses 1 to 10. And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord. And the Lord heard it, and his anger was kindled. And the fire of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. And the people cried unto Moses. And when Moses prayed unto the Lord, the fire was quenched. And they called the name of the place Tibera, because the fire of the Lord burnt among them. And a mixed multitude that was among them fell a-lusting. And the children of Israel also wept again and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely. The cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. But now our soul is dried away. There is nothing at all beside this manna before our eyes. And the manna was as coriander seed, and the color thereof is the color of Bedelim. And the people went to bed and gathered it, and rotted it in milks or beaten it in mortar and baked it in pans and made cakes of it, and the taste of it was as a taste of fresh oil. And when the Jew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it. Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent, and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly. Moses also was displeased. Blessed are we of God's word, let us pray. For again, having him thank the Lord for his guidance given to us, I pray that you would please give us good weather for our soloing and our fellowship later on. I pray that you would please bless the preacher, the preacher in your word, let us pray. We love you, Jesus, and we pray. Amen. Alright, we're here in Numbers chapter 11, and this is another Thanksgiving themed sermon, and the name of the sermon is Teaching Children to be Thankful. Teaching Children to be Thankful. One thing that is very important as a parent is to raise kids that are thankful and grateful for the things that they've been given in life. And if you want to do that, it starts with point number one, setting a good example. If you want to raise kids that are thankful, then you need to be a thankful parent. Kids are going to follow the examples of mom and dad. It says in Numbers 11 verse 1, And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord. When people are complaining, that's basically the opposite of being thankful, right? You're complaining, you're unthankful for your situation. Here's a group of people that God is basically leading them into freedom, and they're sinning and messing up, and they somehow blame God for all of it, and they're complaining, and what it means is they're unthankful and ungrateful. And it says, And the people complained, it displeased the Lord, and the Lord heard it, and his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp. Go to Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22. You say, why does God get so mad? Well, as a parent with kids, when your kids complain, does that make you happy or upset? It makes you upset. It's like, especially if you give them something, and then they complain about it, and they feel like they're owed something more, it's like, man, I've already put my time into this, I already spent money, and then you criticize it. It's rude, right? Now here's the thing, we understand for young kids that we're taught by mom and dad, but we're living in a culture when you've got adults that are unthankful and ungrateful people. That's the society we live in today, just complaining about everything, and God gets very angry because he's like, man, I've given you so many things, and yet you're complaining about things that aren't exactly like you want, right? And it angers the Lord, just like it would anger a mom or a dad when the kids are complaining about something. Well, here's the thing. What sort of example are you setting and being mad at God for your situation? You know what you're going to raise? You're going to raise kids that grow up and are ungrateful toward God, unthankful toward God. I mean, they should be thankful that they've got the right religion, which is a unique thing in the world, and yet you're going to raise kids that are unthankful and ungrateful toward God. Why? Because you're unthankful. I mean, don't we say actions speak louder than words? I mean, you tell your kids, you know, why do you always complain? Maybe because they heard mom and dad complaining all the time, right? I mean, if your kids are always complaining, always upset, always unthankful, always ungrateful, they're learning it from someone. Most likely, it's from mom and dad. That's reality, and that might hurt as a parent, but it's like better fix it at a young age rather than your kids grow up and then you're raising adults or teens and then adults that are just unthankful and always complaining and ungrateful. This is an important thing as a parent to raise kids that are grateful, kids that are thankful. Proverbs 22 verse 6, Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. The Bible says to train up a child and the promise God gives us is that if we put in our time and energy and effort and do the job, then when our kids grow up, they're not going to depart from the faith. Now, usually when this verse is preached and usually when I preach it, I talk about actively teaching your kids and training your kids, and in other words, part of the training is simply they see you doing something. Part of their training is just seeing the example from mom and dad. I mean, part of training your kids to really actually love church and care about church is to be at church. Part of training your kids to read the Bible is not telling them to read the Bible. It's just they see you reading the Bible. That's part of the training for your kids, and your actions are going to speak toward your children. Go to Acts 21 verse 7. Acts 21. I mean, it's sort of like a running joke with parents, this expression, you know, do as I say, but not as I do. Basically, a dad who's a drunk, do as I say, don't drink alcohol while you're drinking alcohol. But, you know, those kids are going to do what you do. That's the way it works. I don't have percentages in front of me, but if you've seen any polls, kids whose parents drink are like 10,000 pounds. Kids whose parents drink are like 10 times as likely to drink. Kids whose parents smoke are 10 times as likely to smoke. It's going to be like that in any area. Kids who see their parents read the Bible on a daily basis are going to be 10 times as likely to read the Bible. That's just the way it is. And just imagine reversing this because you tell your kids do as I say and not as I do. You know, I'm smoking, but don't smoke. Don't give this in a good way. Let's say you tell your kids they see you reading the Bible, and you wouldn't do this, but let's say you tell them don't read the Bible. You know what they're going to be like? But I want to because I see you reading the Bible. And they're going to read the Bible because they see you reading the Bible. Well, I mean, likewise, they're not going to listen if you say don't smoke. They're not going to listen if you say don't drink. My son, Zeph, wants to be just like me. You raise a boy, he wants to be like Dad. Right? If Dad likes basketball, he likes basketball. Right? I mean, if Dad likes soccer, he likes soccer. This is why oftentimes you'll see that in America, kids whose favorite sports team is a certain sport or whatever, it's almost always exactly like their Dad. People used to ask me, well, they didn't say Brother Stuckey. They'd say, hey, why is your favorite basketball team the Utah Jazz? That was my Dad's favorite team. That's the answer. I could say whatever it was. Why are the Atlanta Braves their favorite baseball team? That was my Dad's favorite team. And so I likewise rooted for the same team. Because you want to be just like Dad. You want to model yourself just like Dad. That can be a good thing or it can be a scary thing. It's a good thing if you're being a good influence. You know, it's just like they're going to want to do the same. But if you're living a sinful life, they're going to want to do the same thing that you are doing. That's just the way it works. Acts 21, verse 8. And the next day, we that were of Paul's company departed and came out of Caesarea and we entered into the house of Philip the Evangelist, which was one of the seven, and abode with him. Now this word evangelist appears and so evangelio is spelled very similar to evangelist or evangelizing. And so an evangelist is someone who's spreading the Gospel, but truly at a church, we're all preaching the Gospel, or at least most of us on a weekly basis. But an evangelist is someone who actually has a real position, an ordained position, where basically they're greatly trying to spread the Gospel. So by me starting these churches is not an evangelist, but it's a specific position. But it's attached to this idea of preaching the Gospel. One of the great stories of soul winning in the Bible, arguably the greatest story, is in Acts 8, right where Philip is just running after this person to preach the Gospel. I mean it's a great story. I mean I'd love to see that event. I mean it's exciting. And you know what, Acts 8, he was a great soul winner. He was a very zealous soul winner. But then notice what it says in the next verse. And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. Now when it's saying they're prophesying, it's not hard to see that it's not they're preaching a sermon. You can tell from the context from verse 8, while their dad was Philip the evangelist, but why does it mention it specifically the verse before Philip the evangelist? It's just trying to show you that you lead by example. I mean you've got a dad who's a zealous soul winner. What a shock. His daughters love soul winning. And I'm sure their mom, I mean Philip's wife, was also a soul winner, I'm sure. But it's like these kids learn from example. Now for most of us, although things worked out for us that were soul winners now, your kids are far more likely if you raise them in a soul winning environment and you teach them that it actually matters. Yes, we are soul winners and the odds of that are extremely small. But the reality is if you raise your kids in soul winning, then they're going to want to do it. None of my kids at this point in life love soul winning. My daughter Christabelle loves soul winning. They don't fully understand everything that that involves, but it's a part of our lives. And so they're excited about it. Yesterday when we went soul winning, it's like I drove the car over to Nepo Park but it was raining in Pampanga and so I stayed with the kids and my wife went out and my son's like, so it's like not the best thing. They're going to get sick and everything. But there's just that love for soul winning. You say, why do they love it? Well, they love soul winning just simply because mom and dad go soul winning and they want to be like mom and dad. Turn in your Bible to Luke 22. Luke 22. Say what are you saying, Brother Stuckey? I'm saying if you want your kids all the time for being unthankful if you are always complaining and unthankful and ungrateful also because they're learning that from you. It's a byproduct of your attitude. That's why they have a bad attitude. Now, here's the thing with kids. Obviously, you know what, foolishness is bound in the heart of a child and we have to teach our kids because not all of these things come naturally. It doesn't come natural to be thankful because people have a tendency to complain naturally. It starts by teaching your kids by setting a good example. Number two, require your kids to use the word thanks when they get something. Require them. Make sure that they say the word thank you. Actually, actively teach them to use the word thanks, thank you, salamat, whatever. Make sure that they do it. This is not attached to the sermon but also the words please and sorry should be very common vocabulary for young children. When I say for young children, I'm saying at the age of two, they should know those words and be used to using those words regularly. Why should they use those words regularly? Because two-year-olds make a lot of mistakes and they have a lot of apologies to make. It's just like kids, they get a lot of things from their parents and kids often want things. You say, brother, even with something small, look, we tell our kids that they're asking for water and they don't say please. It's like, what word do you say? You say, well, it's something so small but you gotta start it at a young age and on a small level so that becomes just part of who they are. So the words please and thank you and sorry, they just get used to doing it and they just have common courtesy. As I said, we live in an ungrateful world. People don't say thank you for anything. They don't say sorry. They don't say please. It might seem normal to you. It's not. It's rude. This is the world we live in and I'm not saying everybody's like this but here's what I'm saying. It's just like, you know what, the cultural thing growing up in America, it's like, you know what, somebody's coming behind you, you hold the door for them. Now, is that a big thing? No, it's not a big thing but here's the thing, if somebody does that for you, what do you say? I don't think it's going to get any better but here's the thing, I'd expect that from the world but we don't want Bible believing Christians to be like that. We ought to be peculiar people. The fact that if you were to say please or sorry or thank you, people would be surprised saying, wow, nobody else does that because we ought to be different than the world. And so require your kids to use the word thank you when they're given something. What are some examples of this? Well, when you get food, you should teach your kids, require them to give thanks and part of this is setting an example in the fact that when you eat, you pray to God and thank God for the food you've been given. You say, brother Stuckey, is this just a tradition we do? No, it's actually all throughout the Bible thanking God for the food that you have. Luke 22 verse 14, let's look at the first example. Luke 22 verse 14, this is when Jesus is about to be delivered by Judas, verse 14. Luke 22 verse 14, and when the hours come, he sat down in the 12 apostles with him and he said unto them, with desire I've desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup and gave thanks and said take this and divide it among yourselves. He's the one who's going to be crucified. Now of course we ought to be thankful when we take the Lord's Supper that hey, we remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but here's the one who's being crucified. And yet he gives God thanks for what they're going to partake in. Verse number 18, for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread and gave thanks and break it and gave unto them saying, this is my body which is given for you, this do in remembrance of me. And when they say something, they give God thanks for it. Turn your Bible to Romans 14. Romans 14. Romans 14. You say, Brother Stuckey, why is it that people always pray before they eat food at meals, or at least they should? Because this is what you see in the Bible. And it shouldn't be a vain repetition. You should honestly, sincerely be thankful for the food that you've been given. You say, well, what if it's not the food that I want? What if it's not the food that I want to complain about? Where basically you got something, it wasn't your first choice, and then you complain about it. Well, guess what's going to happen with your kids? It's like you put something before them. It's like, oh, I wanted rice, not bread. Right? Or I want chicken instead of pork. That's the sort of way you're going to raise your kids if you complain about the food that you have. And what that means is, God's promising to provide your physical food. Now, here's the thing. I'll be honest with you. If money were not an issue, let's say I was the richest person in the world. You know what? I would eat at a lot of fancy places. Right? Because fancy restaurants, the food's probably very good there. But I don't eat at fancy restaurants. You say, why? Because of the fact money is an issue that you ought to be thankful for. Even if it's not the number one choice that you would have in this world, you ought to be thankful for anything that God has given you. And in general, look, at least as a guy, most food tastes very good. So what do you really have to complain about? I have some food I like more than others. And look, I'm not the biggest rice person. I think everybody knows that. But honestly, I like the taste of rice. It's just not my number one that I would pick. So really, what do you have to be complaining about about the food at Jollibee? But I like some of the food at Jollibee. Right? Just being completely honest. It's not my favorite, but you know what? I have food there that I can eat, and it tastes good to me. Okay? So Romans 14, notice what it says in verse 5. Romans 14, verse 5. One man esteemeth one day above another. Another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. The idea of if you want to celebrate holidays or not, as I said in the first sermon, he that regardeth the day regardeth it unto the Lord. The key is are you regarding the day unto the Lord? Are you involving God in your day? And he that regardeth not the day to the Lord he doth not regard it. Notice this. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks. And he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. And this is about basically different dietary opinions. And of course in the Old Testament there was clean and unclean animals. What the Bible's saying is if you say that there's certain foods I'm not going to eat, that's fine. As long as you give God thanks for the food that you do have. Or you say, you know what, I am going to eat pork. I am going to eat bacon. That's fine too. As long as you give God thanks for what you have. That's the key. Now biblically speaking, I mean there is no clean and unclean in 2022. Now clean animals are probably a lot healthier than unclean animals, but whatever, it's not a sin as long as you give God thanks for it. That's the key. And so whether it's bacon or pork or whatever, as long as you give God thanks, that's what matters. Go to 1 Timothy 4. Now I do believe we should strive to have a healthy diet, but you know what, as I said in the first sermon, I believe in celebrating holidays Easter, birthdays, and look, here's the thing, I think that when you have Christmas, birthdays, events like this, you're celebrating either with a church family or friends, I think it's nice to make it kind of special. And oftentimes what that means is you have an unhealthy dessert that you're going to partake in. Now there's nothing wrong with that because if on your daily basis you're eating a lot of junk food every day, well you really ought to change your diet because it's not going to be good for you. And you know, we have birthdays, we have anniversaries, and sometimes some of the food is not the healthiest, but it's okay because we have a special event. And here's the thing, and it's up to you whether you want to eat it or not, but here's what I believe personally, I believe you could eat the healthiest meal in the world, but if you don't give God thanks for that, you're going to eat all the junk food as long as you give God thanks, because I don't think that's the right balance in the Bible, but what I'm saying is I don't think you have to feel guilty about I ate something a little bit unhealthy as long as you give God thanks for it. God says to give me thanks for what you get. So look, as long as you're giving God thanks, it's not sinful, it's okay. But that's an important step. And look, all of us, we eat and sometimes you just kind of go through the motions, at least if you're me. Sometimes I pray and you go through the motions, right? You don't really mean it in your heart, but you're just kind of saying the words. We really should try to mean it though because we live in a culture in 2022 that we don't have to fear where our next meal is coming from. I'm not worried about starving to death next week, but did you know that in America, all around the world, I mean, people are literally thinking, man, I hope we're going to be able to find drinking water. I mean, that's one of the big things. You move to a new place. I hope we can find water. I hope we can find a way to get food. And all around the world, I mean, this is something that's a real concern in people throughout history. It's not really a concern for any of us in 2022 in the Philippines. It's like we're not worried where it's like, man, I'm very thankful, but for us, everything is just handed to us. We have so much, the life of luxury in 2022. I mean, even in the poorest areas, everybody has a cell phone. It's, oh, we're so poor. Everybody has a cell phone in 2022. I'm just thinking, man, you could probably use that money for something else, but it's like nobody's really super poor based on the history of the world when you look at those standards. Instead of comparing yourself to what God has provided for you, and if He feeds the sparrow, He's going to feed you as a Bible-believing Christian, but you need to give God thanks for that food. Go to 1 Timothy 4. 1 Timothy 4. So look, when you give food to your kids, tell them to give thanks for it. You say the prayer, but actually tell them, especially if you see them complaining like, no, I gave you this food. Thank you, Mom, for making this meal. That's reality. At every meal. You might think this is extreme, but this is the way it was culturally 100 years ago. At every meal, thank you, Mom, for making this food. Right? Or Dad comes home from work, thank you, Dad, for coming home and providing for us. I mean, that was the culture. It was 100 years ago. Man, to me, that seems like a great culture, at least in that aspect. That's where the sacrifices their parents make. 1 Timothy 4, verse 1. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devil, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats. Oftentimes we look at the Catholic Church, and that's a good application that we meet God has created to be received, but what's the key with thanksgiving? Giving God thanks. Where God has provided something, thank you, God, for what you provide. You know what? We need to teach our kids to be thankful for the food that they get. This is a common theme throughout the New Testament, giving God thanks for the food that we have. Verse 4. For every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused is what He gave you. Go to Philippians 4. Philippians chapter 4. You say, oh, brother, this seems like a little much. Well, you might think that, but stop and think about this for a second. When you do something nice for someone and they do not say thank you, how does that make you feel? When you do something for someone, there's an expected, polite, thank you. Otherwise, it starts to bother you. I'll give you an example. When I was in Sacramento, I drove the church van for the church, and there'd be various people that you'd pick up on the church van. People that didn't have vehicles, but you'd give them a ride for church. And you know what? Some people were very thankful. Some people were not. When you're driving the church van every single week, sometimes you're tired. Sometimes you don't want to do it. Sometimes you just want to rest or whatever. So there are times that I was excited to do it. Other times I'm just thinking, man, I don't really feel like doing it right now. But here's the thing. When somebody says thank you and they mean it and they're sincere, it makes you feel good. It makes you realize it's all worth it. It's just like, you know, didn't your parents ever teach you this? And the answer is probably not. There was someone, when I first started going, I knocked on this door, gave this guy an invitation. I said, you know, I'm from Verity Baptist Church, and he starts getting really mad at me. Apparently he used to ride the church van to church before I was actually a member of the church, so I didn't know one year ago. It's like I was signed up to go to the church van on a Sunday. The van didn't pick me up. They didn't call about it. They didn't apologize. They were really mad at one of the members of our church. And so whenever there's any situations, I'll tell Pastor Mendez about it, just letting him know. There's always situations at church. It is what it is. But apparently this is a guy who every other Sunday has this person canceled like 50 times on the church. And let me explain to you how running a church van works. You're rushing to get to church service. You show up. People are not ready, which is also a rude thing if you're waiting on them and you're the one doing them a favor. And then all of a sudden you're scrambling around, and then all of a sudden it's like one road's blocked. You go a different route, and you forget people sometimes. It's just the way it works. Plus, you know what? You're trying to call people and say, hey, are you coming tomorrow because many people will cancel last second. And then all of a sudden you get the rides confused. And then all of a sudden this person, who had canceled many times before, one time the church van apparently messed up. And it's like the end of the world to him. And I'm just thinking, ungrateful. Ten percent of the time you ought to be thankful for. But this is the sort of culture that we live in where people expect everything. They're just unthankful, ungrateful for even small things. Another thing that we need to teach our kids to be thankful for is with prayer requests. Notice what it says in Philippians 4 verse 6. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made by your requests to God. We need to do it with thanksgiving. Now this is kind of tricky. What exactly does that mean? Because to pray for something is to ask for something. That's why you'll see the expression where I pray thee, meaning I ask thee in the Bible, where they're not talking to God, they're just saying I pray thee or I ask thee. It's for asking for something. And of course it's good to ask for things from God. The Bible says you have not to pray for something. But it's good to ask for something. And I think that's a good example of this. Go to Daniel 6, and I think we'll see a good example of this. Daniel 6. Daniel chapter 6 verse 6. Famous chapter on Daniel and the lion's den. Let me show you in Daniel 6 verse 6 to set the context here. Daniel 6 verse 6. Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for 30 days save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing that it be not changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Wherefore, king Darius signed the writing in the decree. This is similar to what England was like 450 years ago as we don't ask for anything from any god or man save of the king. Right, now obviously this is some real religious persecution and the king in this instance is not really a bad guy. He's just a bit bobo or foolish in this situation, but it's illegal to pray. Now, imagine you live during this time period. Are you going to be happy that it's illegal to pray? Obviously not. I'm not saying you should be happy about that. If the government says you can't go to church, I'm not going to be happy about that. If the government says you can't pray, I'm not going to be happy about that. But notice the reaction of Daniel in Daniel 6 verse 10. Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and his windows being opened his chamber toward Jerusalem. He kneeled upon his knees thinking God. He's not thinking God. It's illegal to pray. What he's doing is saying, hey, God, I have some petitions today. I also have a lot of things that I'm thankful for that you've given me in my life. You see, oftentimes when we've got a big burden, we will pray and ask God for something, but we forget to thank God for things that he has given us. What's an example of this? And I'm sure there's people at both of our churches that are in that situation right now, that you're looking for a different job, you want a different job. There is nothing wrong with asking God to bless you with a different job where you can provide better for your family or you're able to serve God better or whatever the situation may be. But remember to say, God, thank you, though, for the job you have given me so far well, God did give you that to help you at least through this time period. Maybe it's not perfect and maybe you want something different and that might be your situation, but still remember to thank God for what he has given you. Thank God that he has provided for you. Nothing wrong with praying and asking for something from God, but also thank God for the things you have given. Another example might be if people go through health surgery, and here's the thing, there's nothing wrong in saying, God, I ask thee, I beseech thee, please let this surgery go well. But what we should also do is with thanksgiving say, but God, thank you for the health you've given me the first 50 years of my life, or thank you for my health in other areas as you're asking God to heal you in this matter. And look, I'm not saying this is the easiest thing because when we really want something or nothing wrong with that, but what we should also do is thank God for the things that he has given us. Because if God sees somebody that's thankful for what he does have, then God's going to be like, you know what, maybe I might bless you in another way as well. You say, well, brother, why would God work that way? Well, think about how you are with your kids. You give your kids something small and they're ungrateful, they're ungrateful. You know what I do as a dad? I say no. You say why? Because you didn't thank me for the Dutch meal I got you. It's like you need to remember to use that word thanks next time, don't you? Because it's just like, you know, if I get you something and you're not thankful for it, it's like don't expect me to just, you know, we live in a culture where, you know, things like Christmas are programmed in like Santa Claus, the Christmas list, you thank them for that gift. We live in a culture where kids get gifts. They get gifts from their parents. Their parents, save them money, they buy a gift for them for Christmas. They don't have to do that. You don't have to be like every other parent. They get something for them and then the child is upset because I wanted the PlayStation. I wanted the Xbox. I wanted, it's not Super Nintendo, what is it? I want the iPhone 15. You just gave me an iPhone 10 or whatever. It's like that's not the sort of child I want to raise. I want to teach my child to be thankful and look, we tell our kids sometimes, you know, when we go to the mall as a family and it's like they want to buy everything. Kids have a tendency when they'll buy every toy and I'm just like no. Right? And sometimes kids will be like, well, but that other kid has that. It's like no. Right? Or just wait until your birthday. We'll give you one gift for your birthday. We'll give you one gift for Christmas that you can pick out from here but not right now. Turn to Psalm 100. Psalm 100. Psalm 100. I mean these are pretty basic things but when you really think about it, I think all of us struggle with this. Right? I mean praying to God and thanking God because oftentimes, you know, we put God on the back burner. We pray and we really need Him. All we do is ask Him for what we want. I'm guilty of that sometimes. I'd say probably all of us are probably guilty of that but then you look at Daniel and if you stop and think about that, he's just been told it's illegal to pray and your life is going to be in jeopardy every single day but yet he found things to thank God about. It's like but thank you God. You say what could you thank God for in this? I've been able to serve you freely and get people saved and serve you and freely been able to pray. I mean that's something to be thankful for. I mean usually when the glass is half empty, it's also half full also. It's also something you can be thankful for. This is kind of a small example but you know earlier today when we were driving up here and the vehicle stalled, it's like it actually stalled before we got here and you know what I can be thankful for? Well I'm glad it didn't stop on the interstate. I'm glad that it stopped before we got started because it's easy to get upset and frustrated because I'll be honest with you, I like showing up to church very early before I preach and I just get relaxed and everything like that. I don't like showing up last second. Other people are different and we actually got here earlier than I expected right? It's like you know usually even when things don't go exactly how we expect or want, we still have things that we can be thankful for. Another example to be thankful is in the house of God. In God's house we ought to be thankful. The Bible says in Psalm 100 verse 1, make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness, come before his presence with singing. You know what, when it comes to things in life, that's what the songs are about, right? And what's amazing is when you praise God, it puts you in a good mood. Isn't that true? If we had become people that are thankful people, it actually puts you in a good mood. People that complain are in a bad mood, but people that are giving thanks are actually in a good mood. Getting in the habit of saying thanks, it actually puts you in a better mood, right? And that is gates with thanksgiving. Church is meant to be a place where regardless of your problems and your stress and things that are bothering you, you can set it aside and just say I'm going to go to church and just praise God and be thankful to be here. I get to go to a good church and hear the preaching of God's word. I get to be around like-minded people and just put our problems behind us. I'm not saying there's never a time to go to church. Don't take what I'm saying out of context. I'm not trying to go overboard because I understand I've been in church where it's not just I'm in a bad mood, but I have real things to mourn about. Those are times when I'm not saying you're going to necessarily enter. I'm just saying that in general, you ought to be able to come to church and say, you know what, I'm thankful to be here. And even in times of mourning, you can still praise God. This is something that around the world most people do not have. Most people around the world don't have a place that they can gather of 50-plus people every week that love God. It's not a reality in most parts of the world. It's not a reality in most parts of the Philippines. There's a reason why a lot of you are coming from a long distance because it's just not a reality everywhere. And so there's a reason for allowing me to hear the gospel and be around like-minded people and be able to serve God and with other people that love you. That is something to be thankful for. And into His courts with praise, be thankful unto Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endureth to all generations. Go to Revelation chapter 7. Revelation 7. Actually, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. It's hard to get an accurate percentage of the people in this world that are saved. My opinion is less than 1 percent of this world is saved. I hope I'm wrong. I hope it's a lot higher. Now, I do believe it's over 1 percent probably in the Philippines and in some other countries, but worldwide I'd say it's less than 1 percent in my opinion. I believe there's safe people everywhere, but I don't think there's a lot of safe people in most places. Regardless of what the percentage is, it's certainly less than 5 percent, and if you're a soul winner, you can certainly agree with that, whatever the percentage is. Regardless of whether it's 1 percent or 5 percent, the fact that you're in the minority and the few, not just, well, it's 40 percent to 60 percent. No, no, no, we're talking about almost everybody is unsaved, and narrow is the way which happens. You've got to be thankful every single day, and here's the thing. The day you got saved, you were very thankful. There's no doubt about that. I mean, I was so happy when I got saved. I was so relieved, and you realized like, man, I was literally like this close to going to hell. I could have been in one car wreck and been in hell forever. It's like, man, you're so thankful, but as time goes by, what takes place? You kind of forget about it, and you put it out of mind when in reality you ought to be thankful every day and realize I'm saved. Very few people are. I went to church one time, and the pastor was preaching on the pre-tribulational rapture, and obviously I don't believe in a pre-tribulational rapture. We believe in a post-trib rapture, as the Bible says, but it's not a sermon that I fully agreed with because I disagreed with that, but there's one about salvation, and he's just saying, and at the time I was going through some various problems in my life, and I was a little bit down on some things, and he said, regardless of any problems you have in your life, thank God you're saved. Such a simple point, and yet very powerful. That's the truth. If you have the literal worst life of anyone in the world the rest of your life, you're better than 99 percent of people. Praise God you're saved. I got saved at the age of 18. In America, from experience, I have found colleges to be about the most receptive place to the Gospel, very receptive to the Gospel, but there's one caveat to that. There's one catch to that. It depends on what year they are in school, because freshmen are extremely receptive to the Gospel. Sophomores are pretty receptive. Juniors are not that receptive. Seniors are very unreceptive. I got saved as a freshman. I'm just thinking, what if I didn't hear the Gospel my first or my second year, and I heard it when I was 25 or 30 or something, because that's the reality for some people. They hear the Gospel later. Maybe I would have been too stubborn. Maybe I would have been set in my ways. I believe the reason why that is is because in college, at least growing up in America, what college is about is fornication of faith. You don't have to work hard to get a degree in America. It's like you can just goof off throughout college, commit all manner of sin, and they basically say, well, just show your wild oats while you're young and take life seriously when you're in your 20s. Well, that's certainly not how I want to raise my kids in 2022, but that's the way it is culturally. But here's the thing. Even though salvation is by faith alone, people that live sinful lives, you would think that you'd be so thankful for a gift, and then those same people will tell you how you have to be a good person, and you're just thinking, it's like, by what standard are you good? That's what I'm thinking in my head. I'm just like, you should be so thankful. It's a gift. It's like I'm telling you, it's like yes, you can, I mean, you see like a million red horse outside of their house. It's like you can say the rest of your life as long as you believe on Christ, and those people are going to do that and say you have to live a good life to get to heaven. It's just like, it's crazy. But see, this is why I believe that freshmen tend to be very receptive, because when people become freshmen in America, most of them, or at least probably half of them, have not gone down that road, but it ends up becoming very common with most people. That's not the way it works. Usually you go to college and you start becoming a drunk and drop out of school or whatever, and I became very religious. I'm very thankful I heard the gospel at the age of 18. If I had heard it at 19, I'd be less receptive. Who knows? If I heard it at 20, I heard it at 21. I'm very thankful I didn't get brainwashed with a false gospel before I was saved. Many people, they get that. Regardless of how you got saved, you can be thankful that this is a very good church in comparison to other churches around the Philippines and around the world. I mean, if you've been part of our church for a while, you know that there's a difference between our church and other churches, and you ought to be thankful. Is it a perfect church? Of course not. Am I a perfect preacher? Of course not. But you know what? It's better than most people's situations. You ought to be thankful that you have fellow churches that you can worship with. A lot of people would love to have something like that. We ought to enter into God's house with thanksgiving regardless of the problems that are going on in our personal lives. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 54. This is obviously the famous resurrection chapter in the Bible. It says in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 54, so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal sin, O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. What is that victory? Well, faith is the victory. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Basically, thanking God that you're saved is what that's essentially saying. We ought to thank God and praise God that we're saved. Go to Proverbs 29. You say, what are you trying to say, brother? Here's what I'm saying. And look, of course, at a young age, we expect that the fact that kids are foolish and we've got to train them, but you know what? If your child is complaining, it's like, oh, you know, I've got to sit through another service or we're here so long or it's hot outside for soul winning or whatever, you should train and correct your child on that. They need to be in God's house coming with this attitude of complaining and being upset. They ought to be thankful. And of course, this is something that even us as adults can struggle with, how much more kids? We have to train our kids. First, set the example for your kids. And then secondly, teach your kids to say thank you. What I'm saying is this, that you should teach and train your kids that if somebody gives them something, they say thank you. Now obviously, you know, we know this as adults, but we need to make sure we're training our kids because I'm telling you, these kids are going to look at other kids that are not doing that. And they're going to start being like the other kids. I'm sorry, I don't want my kids to be like the average kid in 2022. I want my child to be different. We ought to teach them to use the word thanks. And lastly, if your child does not use the word thank you, you need to say please. You need to say sorry, right? What I do sometimes at home is, you know, I'll give my kids something and then they go to take it. They said please or whatever, they go to take it and then I don't let them have it. I hold onto that Dutch meal or whatever because I'm waiting for something. And I'm waiting and waiting because I want them to just learn it naturally. It's like, you know, thank you, right? I want them to say that and if we give our kids something and then they don't use that word, I stop and say, wait a minute, what's that word that you should be saying, right? Or if somebody gives them something, and I'm not saying I'm perfect at this because, you know, sometimes you forget. We all as parents are doing our best. It's hard. It's difficult. It takes energy. We're all trying our best. But what we should do is correct our kids and tell them, hey, you need to use the word thank you and then they'll say, thank you. Now, I know from experience, this is sometimes what takes place with your kids. You know, they get something from somebody and then you're like, what's that word you're supposed to say? And then they say, please. And it's like, well, not please. It's actually thank you, but okay, that works, right? Where they get the word wrong. Or, you know, somebody told me yesterday, I don't know their child, what's that word you're supposed to say? I'm sorry. It's like, no, no, thank you, right? Sometimes the kids can get confused at a young age, but the idea is that they're putting in that time and effort, and you've obviously taught them to do that. Now, I would say this. If my kids don't say thank you, I don't, you know, spank my kids for that, but if I tell them to say thank you and they refuse, I do spank them again. Are you going to say it? Or do you need a spanking? And I kind of give them a decision because here's the thing. It's like, you shouldn't let your kids win these battles and basically rule the house. Like, no, they need to be kids that learn how to say thank you, please, I'm sorry, and whatever the basic etiquette, which used to be just a cultural thing, but not anymore. Go to Romans 1. We'll close up. Romans 1. Romans 1. How do you teach your children to be thankful? Well, you set a good example. That's a large part of it. I can say this that, you know, a large reason why Christabel does certain things is because her older brother does it, and if Kuya says thank you, then she says thank you, and you know what, honestly, he did a lot of the training for her just seeing what her older brother does, right? Setting a good example. Number two is require them to say thank you, but also instructing and correcting them if they complain or they don't give thanks. That's the time. I mean, the Bible says we ought to be teaching our kids at all times when you're standing up, when you're rising up, when you're lying down, walking by the way. You know, what exactly does that mean? It means at all times you should be ready to teach and train your kids. So if your kids make a mistake, you know, of course, that takes time and energy and effort, and it's difficult sometimes. All of us, you know, there's times where it's like, ah, man, I just don't want to worry about this right now, but we need to make sure that we're teaching and training our kids these things. Now, Romans 1, I want you to notice this verse in 21, and I don't want you to misunderstand. I'm not saying that if you don't teach your kids to be thankful, they're going to grow and grow. And notice this. Neither were thankful. You say, Brother Stuckey, what's really the root cause of being a reprobate? Being unthankful. Being ungrateful. Instead of being thankful to God, getting mad at God. That's really the root cause that I see. Now, of course, if you give your gospel to your child, I believe they're going to end up getting saved, but here's the thing. At the same time, although they won't go down the Romans 1 road, I don't know what the road is of a child that gets saved but is grown up to be very unthankful. I don't want the end of that road either. I want a child that gets saved and learns to be thankful. It might seem like something very small, but Romans 1, before you get into all the verses that are very famous, what's the root cause you see? Neither were thankful. Just not thankful for what they've been given. And as I've said recently, kids generally are very thankful. Your kids for like a month will be trying to jump, and then they finally do, and they're like so thankful. But you know, we need to teach them to be thankful in all areas. And it starts by setting a good example, next by teaching them and telling them to use the word thank you, and lastly, if they're struggling with it or they don't do it, we as parents need to correct them and say, hey, you need to use the word thank you. You need to use the word sorry. Usually they're okay with saying please or thank you, but they really have a lot of hard time using that word sorry. But these are all words that we need to make sure become an active part of our kids' lives. Let's close in a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see these verses and this passage, and I ask you to help all of us as parents. Help us to do our best with the Bible and go soul winning and are just thankful for all the small blessings they've been given in life, God. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Let's sing it again last time sir. When we walk with the Lord first time sir, ready sing When we walk with the Lord In the light of His birth The glory He sheds on our way While we do His good will He abides with us still And below who will trust and obey Trust and obey Trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey Not a shadow can rise Not a cloud in the skies But His smile quickly drives it away Not a doubt or a fear Not a sign or a tear Can abide while we trust and obey For us, trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey Not a burden we bear Not a sorrow we share But a thought we appreciate Not a grief nor a loss Not a frown or a cross But if let's keep we trust and obey Trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey But we never can prove Not the lies of His love Until all on the altar we lay For the favor He shows And the joy He bestows Are for them who will trust and obey For us, trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey On the last Then in fellowship swing He will sing at His feet For we'll walk by His side in the way What He says we will do Where He says we will go Never fear, only trust and obey For us, trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But we never can be happy in Jesus