THANKSGIVING 2008

THANKSGIVING 2008

Pastor Carolyn Sissom

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Ephesians 5:19:  “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.  Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Php. 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.”

Col 1:12:  “Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the Kingdom of Light.

I have so much to be thankful for this year.  I am a blessed (happy) woman with the Presence of the Lord.  I am blessed with family, a church and ministry that I love with saints who love me.  My enemies have been pushed back from my life and none trouble me.  We have this wonderful Little White Church to gather unto Jesus and love one another.  There are no schisms or discontent that I am aware of.  All is well.

I thank God for all of His blessings during this season of my life.  “Blessed (happy) is the man that fears the Lord that delights greatly in his commandments.” (Psa. 112:1)  This is a promise with two conditions: “fear of the Lord and delight in his commandments”.

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Col. 3:15:  “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful.  Let the word of God dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.  And What ever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

People spend a lifetime searching for Happiness.  Over the years, I have ministered to many unhappy people.  They will always tell a minister what they want to make them happy.  For some, it is a husband or wife. (To love and be loved).  For some, it is money and all the things that money can buy.  Both of these are blessings from the Lord, but, if their heart is set upon these things instead of the Lord, this will lead people into lust of the flesh and the pride of life.  These blessings are not the keys to happiness.   We see all of the wealthy people who are losing their money in the stock market.  Banks are failing.  Even nations are at risk of bankruptcy.  For those of us in the Kingdom of God, our Joy, Peace and Righteousness is not based on the Babylonian system of the World.  “The righteous shall not be afraid of evil tidings”.

You have heard me say that all of the financial chaos is moving the world face to face with the judgment of Mystery Babylon.

The prophetic Voice for this season will be calling God’s people to come out from the spirit of Babylon.

“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities."

How do we come out from Mystery Babylon (the spirit of Babylon) which is the financial and merchant system of buying and selling in the world?  We have to start by not setting our heart and happiness on “things”, or “money”.  The Lord is the one who makes rich. 

Psalm 112

“Praise ye the Lord, Blessed (happy) is the man that fears the Lord that delights greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon the earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.  Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endures forever.  Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness: he is gracious and full of compassion and righteous.  A good man shows favor and lends: he will guide his affairs with discretion.  Surely he shall not be moved for ever:  the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.  He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.  His heart is established.  He shall not be afraid, until he sees his desire upon his enemies.  He has dispersed, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honor.  The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; they shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away; the desire of the wicked shall perish. 

Psalm 113

“Praise ye the Lord, Praise O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.  Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.  From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.  The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwells on high, who humbles himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!  He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the dunghill; That he may set him with princes even with the princes of his people.  He makes the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children.  Praise you the Lord.”

As we come in to the Feast Days of Thanksgiving and Christmas, I want to challenge the Faith of this church to continue to believe in miracles and visitations of the Lord.  During times of financial recession and depression, the Lord still performs miracles.

I read a charming story Saturday afternoon written by Max Lucado in 2006.  You may have all read it.  “The Christmas Candle, West Bow Press, Copyright 2006.

The setting is in the English country side stepping inside centuries-old village churches, sheep-covered hills, sitting by firesides in country inns in the quaint world of the 1860’s.  He defines the story as a Christmas novella.  That is a nice name for a lovely fictitious story of a visitation of an angel who lit the flame of a candle every 25-years.

According to the novella, the first Christmas visitation was December 1664 to the village candle maker.  The angel visited them in the night and lit one candle.  The candle maker and his wife were Christians and they pondered this wonder. 

The week before Christmas the chandler’s wife was ministering to a widow and her plight of no food for the children.  She reached into her pocket for a coin and felt the candle.  She handed both to the young mother inviting, “light this and pray.” (The prayer of Faith)

Well to shorten the story, the young widow was blessed with a farm before Christmas given to her by a wealthy uncle.  She gave her testimony at St Mark’s church at the final Sunday of Advent.

So the story continued generation after generation with the visitation of the angel and the miracle blessing to whoever was given the candle.  Their whole life changed from distress to blessedness.    As each generation worshipped in the village church, all the people of the village believed in the miracles.

The author was very clear to make the point; the miracle was not in the candle, but in the Faith of believing the Lord and the expectation of a miracle from the Hand of God.  This is known in the Book of Acts as the Point of Contact.

Scripturally we can identify this novella with the visitation of the angel at a certain season at the pool of Be thes da.  (John 5:1-16)

“Now there at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Be-th-es-da, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water; whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. A certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty-eight years.

Jesus walked by and said unto him, “Rise take up your bed and walk.”

Like most of you, I am believing the Lord for a miracle.  In my lifetime, I have had many visitations of the Lord, the Holy Ghost and of angels.  The Lord only has to turn his face and look upon us or touch us with his little finger, and our whole life will change.  I have the Faith to believe the Lord for supernatural visitations and intervention.

The novella moved on until December, 1864.  the chandlers’ Edward and Bea had fallen asleep waiting for the visitation of the angel.  When the angel appeared and lit the candle, Edward was startled awake as the angel touched a candle toward the end of the third-row of candles.  Edward took a step and lost his balance.  As he fell face forward, he thrust one hand high in the air, hoping to grab the just-touched candle.  Instead, he hit the rack and knocked it off the hooks; sending thirty candles---thirty identical candles flying around the room.

This year many of Edward and Bea’s friends had visited them telling them of their need for a miracle.  Edward and Bea needed a miracle to find their granddaughter who had ran away to London to have a baby out of wedlock.

Bea burst into tears, “now what? We have thirty candles.  One of them is special, and we don’t know which!  So they put all thirty candles in a basket waiting for the Lord to give them instructions.

The following week, many of the villagers and friends came to see them, each with a need for a miracle.  Edward and Bea with compassion gave each one a candle, not knowing which one would receive a miracle.  At the end of the week, the candle basket was empty except for one candle.  This one Edward and Bea lit and prayed the Lord would give them a miracle.

To their great joy, at the traditional Christmas Eve service, twenty-nine parishioners gave a testimony of receiving a miracle.  The alcoholic was delivered.  The sinner was saved.  The financial miracle came through.  The loved one was restored.  The lame walked and the blind saw.   That only left Edward and Bea.  The Happy ending of the story finds the grand daughter and new born baby safe in the village of Gladstone.

I have a basket of candles here.  The candles have no power for miracles.  However, the Lord Jesus Christ can walk by and speak the Word and every person in this room can have their life changed with healing, deliverances, financial miracles, salvation of lost loved ones, the blind see and the lame walk.  I would never want to imply any superstition in the candle, but challenge your Faith to believe for your visitation and special touch from the Lord Jesus Christ.  (Col. 1:12: “Giving thanks unto the Father, which has made us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;  The point of the Novella was the Faith of the villagers in a supernatural visitation of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

  Would any one like one of the candles?

We will have communion:  “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.  His love endures forever.”

Matthew 26:27:  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for he remission of sins.

Carolyn Sissom, Pastor

Eastgate Ministries, Inc.

Scripture from K.J.V.