For the One Series – Part 5We Are Called to CelebrateApril 29, 2018Ps 118:1-8,25-29Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let Israel say: "His love endures forever." 3 Let the house of Aaron say: "His love endures forever." 4 Let those who fear the Lord say: "His love endures forever." 5 In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and he answered by setting me free. 6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? 7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies. 8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. 24 This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 O Lord, save us; O Lord, grant us success. 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you. 27 The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. NIVHave you heard the story of the woman who woke up one morning and as she saw her husband getting ready to leave for work she said, with a big smile on her face, “Honey, I’ll bet you don’t know what day this is.” Her husband had a hard time remembering birthdays and anniversaries, but since he was about to leave for work he excused himself from the embarrassing situation by walking out of the door while saying, “Honey, how could I ever forget. This is the best day of our lives.” All during the day, he kept trying to remember what month and what day his wife’s birthday was, and when their anniversary was, but he could not remember. The day wore on and it was getting close to time to get off from work and he knew he was going to have to go home and face his wife. Knowing what made this day so special. He finally thought of a plan to save his hide. He rushed into the house and said, “Honey, get your best dress on. We are going to paint the town red to celebrate this outstanding day in our lives!” While she was getting ready he rushed down to the florist and bought her a lovely bouquet of flowers. He took her to the most expensive restaurant in town. He had spent $150.00 to celebrate this day and he didn’t even know what he was celebrating.  It was on the way home that he finally discovered what day it was. His wife snuggled real close to him, placed her arm around his shoulder, planted a soft kiss on his cheek and said, “Honey, this is the best celebration of groundhog day that we have ever enjoyed together.  Introduction:For the past month, we have been celebrating our call to reach the One. All of this is based off the example of Jesus when he left the 99 and went after the One. Several weeks ago, I called your attention to the passage in Luke 15 where Jesus tells 3 parables where something was lost and then was recovered or found. The parables are the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost (boy) son. Have you noticed that every time that chapter the lost was recovered they celebrated! It stuck me that whether it is Old Testament or New Testament God’s Word lays out a pattern for Biblical Celebrations praising God for His provision and supply to us. We Celebrate today because …I.               God is Good (Psa. 118:1) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good There is a phrase often repeated in church – God is good All the Time, and All the Time God is Good! (Say it with me…) But what about those times when …. Things aren’t going to well? More month than money … Unexpected surprises us…  it may be more difficult to recall God's goodness. In those times we have to reach down into what we know, not what we feel, and on purpose declare that no matter what, GOD IS GOOD. Jesus promised in