Vince Finnegan, John and Mary McCave, Gaspar Garcia, Jillann Gonzalez, Bob and Kathy Mathieson, Luis and Ivelisse Carlo share from the Scriptures about what makes them thankful.

Exodus 3:7-8 God tells Moses His plans to deliver His people from slavery.

Exodus 6:5-8 God plans to rescue them so they can become His people and He can become their God.

Exodus 12:30-32 After the ten plagues, the Egyptians released the Israelites.

Exodus 14:27-31 God splits the Red Sea and then destroys the Egyptian army, freeing His people once and for all.

Exodus 16:2-4 Remember sitting by the meat pots and eating bread to the full?

Numbers 11:4-6 Remember the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic of Egypt?

Numbers 14:1-4 Let’s choose a leader and go back to Egypt!

Numbers 20:4-5 Why have you made us come up out of Egypt?

1 Corinthians 10:1-14 Let’s learn from their example and not desire evil or give ourselves to idolatry.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” --Jesus (Mt 11:28-30)

John 8:29-44 The word will set you free. The religious zealots were convinced they had God and were living the good life, yet they were really living in slavery with no control over their lives. Hearing and doing the words of Jesus set you free.

Romans 8:1-6 The law of the spirit of life provides life and peace.

Galatians 5:1, 13-26 The good life comes with obedience to the words of Jesus.

James 1:22-25 Hear and do.

Isaiah 48:17 and 18 Abundant living for those who pay attention to God’s words

Isaiah 66: 1 and 2 God will look to those who tremble at His Word.

Mark 3:33-35 Jesus considers those who do the will of God to be his family, not those of a biological connection.

John 12:46-50 God’s commandment is eternal life. This is stated as a simile meaning if you hear and keep His commandments you will have eternal life.

14:21 Obedience is the evidence or proof of true love for the Lord.

Matthew 7:24-27 Storms come for everyone; no one is exempt. The question is will your foundations be strong enough to sustain the storms?

1 Corinthians 12:31 - Love is the more excellent way.

Matthew 22:36-40 The whole Old Testament depends on love.

Luke 10:25-27 What must I do to inherit eternal life?

1 Corinthians 13:1-ff - Godly love is based upon obedience to the Scriptures, while human love is conditioned upon the relationship held with others.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 - God desires for His children to do all these things but not outside of love. Love is that which God wants first and foremost from us.

4-8 - God is the standard because, according to 1 John 4:8 and 16, "God is love." Agape, therefore, is supernatural love. It is doing that which is not natural to do.

4 - Love is Longsuffering

1 Peter 3:20; Exodus 34:6 - It is to be long on patience with others even if their actions are evil. God’s patience with humanity is mind-boggling.

2 Peter 3:9 and 10 - God wants His children to behave as He does.

Ephesians 4:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 5:14 and 15; James 5:7-9

1 Corinthians 13:4 - Love is Kind - Luke 6:35 and 36

Nehemiah 9:17 - That God did not forsake them was indeed great kindness.

Romans 2:4; Titus 3:3-5; Ephesians 4:31 and 32; 2:7

The ugliness of envy stands out clearly in contrast to longsuffering and kindness. Envy is a painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage.

1 Corinthians 4:6 and 7 - Love does not brag and is not arrogant.

Knowledge can cause people to get puffed up. However, when knowledge is used properly, love and edification result.

5 - Does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own.

Philippians 2:2 and 3

Love Is Not Provoked - Matthew 5:38 and 39

Love Does Not Think Evil. Love rejoices not in iniquity; love rejoices in truth.

1 Peter 3:8-12

1 Corinthians 13:7 - All things according to the Word

1 Peter 4:8

1 Corinthians 13:8-10 - Love never fails; everything else comes to an end.

12 - The spiritual abilities we now have are like children’s toys compared to that which will be ours when Christ returns.

Verse 13 - Love is the greatest!

Jesus and Pharisees

1. Mark 2.16-17 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

2. Mark 3.1-6 1 Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, "Come here." 4 And he said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" But they were silent. 5 And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

3. Matthew 23.23-26 23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! 25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

what do you think when you hear the Pharisees?

- “Yeah, Jesus, give it to those no-good Pharisees”

- “I can’t stand Pharisees”

- “nothing worse than a Pharisee”

- “man, I gotta watch myself, because I don’t want to fall into that same way of thinking”

history of Pharisees

- Pharisees were the separate ones--”those who dedicated themselves to taking God and his law seriously

- Shaye Cohen:* “Practically all scholars now agree that the name “Pharisee” ...means ‘one who is separated’”

- ancient Jewish historian Josephus:** “They are extremely influential among the masses”

- Josephus:*** “[T]he Sadducees are able to persuade none but the rich...but the Pharisees have the multitude on their side.”

- not professional hypocrites

- wanted to live according to God’s commands

- which is why, they couldn’t help but looking down on the poor unwashed masses, the am ha eretz

the dark side of holiness

- it’s so easy to slip into moral superiority

- to think other’s sins are worse than your own

- as you conquer sins, and put some time between you and them,... To read the rest of the notes visit lhim.org/sermons

Three points about the Scriptures: 1) God’s Word is His will; 2) it contains everything needed for life and godliness; 3) only the humble understand it.

God’s Word is God’s will:

2 Peter 1:20 and 21 The Scriptures communicate God’s Word and will.

Galatians 1:11 and 12 Man wrote it, but God authored it. Who the man was is not important.

Numbers 22:22-38 Speak only the word that God told me

23:7-12, 18-24; 24:10-13 Even though Balaam was a spiritist, he spoke exactly what God wanted spoken.

Contains everything needed for life and godliness:

Psalm 19:7-11 God’s Word is perfect.

2 Peter 1:2 and 3 Everything pertaining to life and godliness is found in the Scriptures.

The humble understand:

Psalms 119:12, 26, 33, 66; 27:11; 86:11 Without asking Yahweh to teach you, it is impossible to understand His statutes. God’s position or laws are made known by Yahweh to those who ask for Him to teach them. His statutes are written in His Word.

Psalm 119:27, 34, 73, 125, 144, 169; Proverbs 2:6 Many have tried to read and understand but have failed because they did not ask God for understanding. Colossians 1:9-12

Psalm 119:35 and 36 “Incline” means to be drawn toward an opinion or course of conduct. Far greater than intellectual understanding is experiencing the truth in daily living. Again, this happens as we ask for help.

37 and 40 God can revive us if we turn away from vanity, and we can turn away if we ask for help (119:25, 40, 107, 149, 154, and 156). We all need to be revived, and His Word is the way to do so but not without His help.

38 The great key to reverence for Yahweh

Luke 5:14-16 -- Prayer was vital to Jesus, and he made time no matter what.

6:12 and 13 -- Before making this important selection, he spent the night in prayer.

9:16-18 -- No matter the circumstance, Jesus had the disciples pray.

Matthew 14:23 -- No matter how strained or drained he was, he prayed.

26:36-39 -- His prayer gave him the strength to do the will of God.

Matthew 21:19-22 -- Jesus dynamically illustrated the effectiveness of prayer and vigorously encouraged his disciples to pray.

Matthew 7:7-11 -- Could Jesus be any clearer? Your Lord is telling you to pray for the Father will respond.

John 14:13 and 14, 15:7; 16:23-27 -- During his last teaching before his crucifixion, he gave compelling instructions about prayer.

Matthew 6:5 and 6 -- The first thing Jesus taught is not to be a hypocrite.

7 and 8 -- The concern is not repetition, but vain repetitions because elsewhere we are encouraged to persist. When we pray, we are to engage our hearts.

9-11 -- An outline of prayer for disciples

Luke 11:1-4 -- “Lord, teach us to pray...”

11:5-13 -- Persistence

18:1-8 -- Graphic illustration to drive home the point that we are to persist

INTERCESSION (prayer for others) is one great way that everyone can serve and minister to others. We all have limits in our service, but can all pray for others.

THANKSGIVING -- 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and 18 -- “In everything give thanks.”

PETITIONS (requests) -- Philippians 4:6

2 Peter 2:6-9 -- Lot was just, but he was also foolish and paid dearly for the mistakes he made.

Genesis 12:1-3 -- God called Abram, and Lot, his brother’s son, went with him.

13:1-5 -- Abram was very rich, and Lot also was very blessed.

6-13 -- He set his tent near Sodom.

14:11 and 12 -- Lot and his family moved into Sodom and suffered the consequences.

18:22-33 -- Abram pleads for Sodom primarily because of Lot.

19:1 -- Lot is sitting in the gate of Sodom.

14 -- Lot had daughters and sons-in-law that refused to come out of the city.

16 -- He came into the city a wealthy man and left with nothing but the clothes on his back. This is the first time “mercy” is used in the Bible.

26 -- She did not want to let go of the Sodom lifestyle.

30 -- The angels removed them from Sodom, but Sodom still lived in them.

Exodus 25:17-22; 37:6-9 -- There I will meet with you.

Leviticus 16:1-34 -- On the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the holy of holies to make atonement for the sins of Israel with blood placed on the mercy seat. Thus, Israel received forgiveness for their sins.

Numbers 7:89 -- Yahweh spoke to Moses from the mercy seat.

Hebrews 9:1-14 -- The old tabernacle and the mercy seat are a type for Jesus the Christ.

Romans 3:25 -- Jesus is the true and lasting mercy seat.

Romans 3:25 (NET) -- God publicly displayed him at his death as the mercy seat accessible through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because God in His forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed.

Romans 9:1-ff -- God will show mercy to Israel again in the future.

Ephesians 2:1-10 -- God’s mercy to us

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Mark 1:14-15; Luke 4:43; Matthew 10:7

Jesus preached the Kingdom of God and instructed his disciples to do the same.

Acts 1:3

After his resurrection, he continued to preach the Kingdom of God.

Acts 19:8

Throughout the book of Acts, the disciples continued preaching the Kingdom of God. Paul was committed to preaching the gospel.

Acts 28:31

The book of Acts closes out with Paul preaching the Kingdom of God.

Romans 1:14-15

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation. The gospel message of the Kingdom itself is powerful.

2 Corinthians 2:14-17 We are a fragrance of Christ. We speak in sincerity.

2 Corinthians 4:1-5 We are not to handle the Word of God with craftiness, nor water down the truth. The gospel has been hidden by the god of this age. We need to preach it plainly as it is presented in Scripture. It’s not old, outdated, behind-the-times news. It is the “good news” that transcends generations as well as cultural and political correctness.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 He has given us the ministry of reconciliation, and He’s committed to us the word of reconciliation. We are ambassadors for the Messiah!!!

1 Corinthians 9:14-22 Paul is the example in the church of commitment to preaching the gospel. It was committed to his trust, and he became a slave of the message to reach all people.

1 Corinthians 10:32-33; 11:1 We are to be imitators of Paul. How did Paul preach the gospel?

Acts 13:14-48 Paul preaching to the Jews

Acts 17:15-34 Paul preaching to Gentiles the people of Athens

1 Corinthians 1:18-24 It may seem foolish that preaching the message brings salvation, but for those who are called it is the power of God!