Introduction:
Thanksgiving:
- History of Thanksgiving (Gen 1:9-13)
- No setting law period on eating food (Gen 4:10, 9:4)
- Ten generation from Adam to Noah (Gen 5)
- Ten generations from Noah to Abraham (Gen 11)
- Isaac, Jacob, Joseph (Gen 24-50)
- 430 years in Egypt (Ex 12:40)
- Giving laws on food (Ex 22:29, 23:19 34:26 Le 23:9-22 Nu 28:1,2 Dt 26)
- Promise-reminder laws carring for 40 years (Jos 5:6, Dt 8:4)
- God's promise is fulfilled & Israel in the promised land (Ik 6:1)
480 + 970 - 568 = 844
- New Testament first-fruits indicate messiah & christians (Rom 16:5, 1 Cor 16:15)
Thanksgiving for Today:
- Israel's thanksgiving is physical . (Pr 23:9-10, Ex 23:17)
- Christian's thanksgiving is both physical & spritual . (1 Cor 15:20, 22-23, Ex 23:15, Dt 16:16)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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Thank you very much.
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Good morning.
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Good morning.
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I'm honored to be here and I would like to say thank you everybody.
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Actually, I didn't plan it, I didn't expect it, but God brought me back here to see you this time.
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And in 1996, Mr. Jeff came to Thailand.
01:33-01:42
He's like a human lion, because the very long hair, and the hair is much bigger than the head.
01:45-01:55
During that time, I was thinking, how can this man visit to the mission field with this kind of hair.
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It's a hippie style.
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So he baptized a small village.
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There was a creek.
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And the name of the village is Maemu.
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Maemu is mother's pig.
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So he was baptized over there.
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Now he came home and went to Bible school and helped Mr. Bob Huber for a while, and then he established Church Harvest Bible Chapel, Pittsburgh North.
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This is very wonderful.
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I come back over here to see his growing church.
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You all walk together with him, and you all together worship God with him.
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It's so proud of you.
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Like this morning, my wife Martha also came with me here.
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So, let's, I would like to introduce with my harmonica.
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Thank you, thank you.
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I would like to introduce my really friend's wife, Katie Huber.
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Will you please stand up for a while?
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Okay.
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Mr. Bob Huber, we met at the Cincinnati Bible Seminary at the summer course in a short time.
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So Mr. Bob introduced himself to me.
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It is not usually people introduce one another.
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A little bit, how to say, different.
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But he introduced himself to me and said, "We have a plan to support a missionary to Thailand.
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During that time, I don't have the support to go home." So Mr. Bob is God-send helper in the ministry.
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So this morning we will talk about Thanksgiving because Thanksgiving is coming closer.
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Thanksgiving is three Thanksgiving.
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Moses time before they left, during the time they were on the desert, traveling for 40 years, Moses give them instruction of the Thanksgiving.
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After that, they celebrate Thanksgiving in the Holy Land.
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Now it's our time to celebrate Thanksgiving.
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Like Israel, like God's promise that this Thanksgiving is the reminder of God's promise for the saved ones in heaven.
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That is for each one of us.
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So for the sake of the time, let's go a little bit faster.
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Okay, let's go to see Thanksgiving.
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The first step, history, background of the Thanksgiving.
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But we look back to the book of Genesis chapter 1 as a creation order.
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But Thanksgiving concern with the food.
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Chapter 1 verse 9 to 13 talk about food on the third day of the creation order.
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In the creation order we have only six days, so Thanksgiving is on the third day of the creation order.
07:17-07:22
In other religions in my home country, they said no creator.
07:26-07:31
All these things come to exist by naturally, they believe that way.
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And then if we have a problem when we pray, who is going to hear our prayer?
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There's no person, just prayer, prayer, no people can hear their prayer.
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Some other religion, they have a creation order that is not orderly, back and forth work.
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We cannot compare with the creation order that we have.
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So it's really wonderful.
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The second step, no setting law on period, setting law period on eating food.
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God created, you can eat as much as you want. You can eat the way you want. There's no law.
08:25-09:25
So without the law, from Adam to Noah is ten generations. No law. You can eat as much as want. And second is from Noah to Abraham, another 10 generations no laws on eating food. And Abraham, his son Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, it's 23 generations God created the food for us but no laws on it. More than that, the time that they were in the time that they were in Egypt slavery is 430 years. So totally 23 generation and 430 years without giving any laws on eating food. Okay next step.
09:28-10:19
giving love. So after 23 generations and 430 years later, the Lord speak to Moses on the Mount of Sinai. Moses he went to the top of the mountain for with God for 40 days and 40 nights without having food or drinks. So God told Moses, "Write it down." Unless God told Moses, how can Moses know the creation orderly? Like it was before him 23 generations and 430 years before he was born.
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So God is the one who created, and how God created at the beginning, he told Moses, so Moses write it down in detail.
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So we should say, thanks Moses, since the beginning when he wrote it, the letters are still for us, good for us.
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So the first thing that God told Moses, bring the first fruit.
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The first one, bring the first fruit.
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We don't know why we have to bring the first fruit.
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But God told the Israelite people, this is only information, not to practice yet.
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Bring the first of the first fruit, like from your soil to the law.
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So this is God's only information.
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You don't need to practice yet because you're on the way going to Canaan.
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And the second point is like celebration.
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When you give the first fruit to the Lord, You have to celebrate, a worship celebration.
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Not only celebration, worship celebration.
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And also on the third point is, third thing that God said, bring them on Sunday.
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It's not on Sabbath.
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So from Sabbath to change it Sunday is, not we do, not any other organization, any other denomination do that way.
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The Bible said that, like, the first fruit must be offered to the Lord on the first day of the week, not on Sabbath.
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So God changed from Sabbath to Sunday.
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Like the four points, it is a form of worship.
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When we bring the first fruit before the law, there's a bow down before the law, worship, a form of worship.
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So first fruit must be like, don't give it, you cannot eat before you give to the law.
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You cannot cook it or do whatever, you cannot do anything.
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You have to honor God in the first place.
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So give the first fruit to the Lord first.
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In our Lisu culture, many years ago, we don't have rice.
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Maybe, we don't know what kind of a situation they are in.
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One day, there's a man, took his two dogs, walking from place to another, and when the dog came home, there was a patty stick on the dog's bushy tail.
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About two, three piece of patty stick on there.
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So they use that patty grow again, then become slowly, slowly, the Lisu people can grow rice.
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So on the Thanksgiving, for the traditional Lisu dance giving days, when you cook the first part of the rice, the first meal, even though the kids are hungry, give me rice, even the parents said, oh, I want to, I'm hungry, no.
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The first part of rice have to give to the dog.
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Dog first.
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That's a little traditional.
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But right now we become Christians and we give the first fruit to God, our creator.
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Not giving to the dog anymore.
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And then fifth day, it's Pentecost.
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Pentecost means seven weeks.
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And when they counted seven weeks, it's also on Sunday, not Sabbath day.
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First fruit also worship, give to the Lord on the first day of the week.
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Also Pentecost, also on Sunday, first day of the week, not Sabbath.
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So this, like in, during they were on journey from Egypt to Canaan.
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Information give them already.
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Okay.
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So the seven price of that, I drive for festival.
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Like Thanksgiving, only my family eat not that way.
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So the whole village come together and you bring your food this year and put together and worship to the Lord.
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So singing, dancing, preaching, everything is just a form of worship like that, rejoicing for festival.
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Okay, next one.
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When we have Thanksgiving, God's guest or God is the real host.
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When we give to the Lord, I should be the host, but we allow God to be the host.
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If God is the host, then he can bless us.
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If I'm not the host, I cannot bless by myself.
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So the reason is, God invite the guest.
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The first thing, stranger.
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Second thing, orphans.
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The third thing, like the priest.
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The fourth thing, widows.
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God will invite the guest.
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We offer to God and God's the host, invite the guest.
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And God will bless.
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What sort of God allow us to do, he is going, he has a plan to bless us.
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So like God is the real host.
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And we give him and he will bless us and also the guests.
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So four kinds of guests, priests, strangers, orphans, and widows that God wants to bring them.
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I don't like this person, I'm not allowing him to join our Thanksgiving.
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You don't have the right to say that one.
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God is the host, okay, that day.
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That meal is we share the Lord with him.
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It's a very, how do you say, honoured meal.
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So I like it.
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Okay, the next one.
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Blessing from God.
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So after they finish this one, God from heaven blessed us.
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And the Bible says bless us.
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When God told us to do something, God prepared it to bless us already.
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The tenth is precisely timing.
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Oh, in those days, I will hold my Thanksgiving, whatever I want, not that way.
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You have to limit time.
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Oh, I'm not so, I'm so busy, I will do it later.
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Not that way.
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The Lord said on precise time.
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Don't hesitate.
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Maybe something you don't want to give and try to make excuse a little bit later, later, not that way.
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So God doesn't want the Israel people to do that way.
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40 years journey.
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When they write this one, they carry this only information.
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They do not enter the Holy Land yet.
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So they carry these laws for 40 years, all the way.
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This school must be very big.
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Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
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Five books will be very big because rain on the animals' skin.
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Maybe one book is that big.
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I think more than 10 people have to carry for 40 years.
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Okay, and then, number 12 is like a you have to come.
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At the festival, you have to come and when you come, you cannot come with empty handed because God bless you already this whole year.
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If God not bless you, how can you live?
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So once a year we give thanks God.
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So you have to leave what God has given to you.
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So bring something, not all of them, mostly at your bum, but only a few, bring before the Lord.
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So you have to bring something, one pumpkin, okay.
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10 ears of the corn will be okay.
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Maybe coconut, apples, you have a lot like that.
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So like, you have to bring something because your substitute, your example.
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So on the fourth place, like they carry, they carry for 40 years.
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That's a promise that unless you have a chance to enter the Holy Land, you don't need to obey this law.
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So promise that you carry until you enter the land of the Holy Land.
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So before they reach to the, with hope they carry, they want to have their own country.
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They want to have their own king.
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They want to have their own land.
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They want to have their own house.
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In Egypt, no land, sleep, like.
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Over there, you will be the owner of the country.
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So they carry this one.
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I think they are not getting higher.
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a great hope over here.
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This is like a promise that take you to holy land.
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By the time you arrive to the holy land, you can practice thanksgiving.
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If you don't have that land, how can we celebrate thanksgiving?
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Because we don't have land to cultivate.
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Okay, number five is that God's promise is fulfilled in Israel in the promised land. So like finally when Moses handed over to Joshua, Joshua lead them across the Jordan and then enter the Holy Land. And celebrate Thanksgiving because no matter raining down from heaven, now this is your land.
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You can grow, you can cut up, how to say, vegetables for your own family.
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So like when we see Proverbs chapter 3, verse 9 of that 9 is during the time they live in the Holy Land, they celebrate, they teach the people to hold Thanksgiving.
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So how many years do they hold Thanksgiving? See, 480 years until the king of Solomon. So Solomon is before Christ about seven and nine hundred and seventy years. Totally about a thousand and four hundred years they celebrate Thanksgiving. So this is a Israel people they hold out Thanksgiving.
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after that Jesus came. Okay next page please.
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The New Testament fruit indicates Messiah and Christian. So when we see Romans chapter 16 verse 5 and 1st Corinthians 16 verse 15 talk about new convert. But Greek translation it said first fruit. New convert in Greek form they use first fruit. But nowadays so many Bible translations. Some of the books you don't see as a first fruit. You will see them as new converts.
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Actually, according to the etymology from Genesis until Revelation, the first fruit we found.
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First fruit.
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But when you read these two passages, some translations, you don't see them as a first fruit.
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You will see them as new converts like that.
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Christ is the first fruit. 1st Corinthians 15 20 says Jesus Christ is the first fruit.
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During the time of Israel, they don't know what is the first fruit. But in New Testament, Paul said Jesus Christ is the first fruit. So the first fruit in the ultimate and is the foreshadow of Christ. You see, God planned it already.
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The first fruit in the Israel history is the foreshadow of Christ. God intentionally do this one. Okay and like what happened to New Testament Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. What happened to the New Testament? Every gospel, every four gospel books, every book is set on the first day of the week Christ rose from the dead. On the first day of the week, every, we found this one, every gospel books. So like Jesus Christ is the first fruit, the first fruit who raised from the dead and then later on who accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior will be raised again. That is in the John chapter 6 verse 37 to 40. In the last day I will raise you up. Christ promised it. Christ promised it, sealed it by his own life. So like you see from Sabbath to Sunday, Sunday Jesus Christ rise from from the dead and we all who believe in Jesus Christ will rise again according to God's promise. It is not our work, it's God's promise. Whether you believe or not, it's your work. Whether it happens or not, it's God's work.
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And Christ resurrected on the first day of the week, it's Sunday.
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Christian will be resurrected as the first fruit after Christ. So Christian also the first thing Christ said again if we believe in Jesus Christ right now Christian will be resurrected again because Christ's power and that was how can we be we can involve that one. John chapter 1 verse 12 is the key word for the all new testament, open the heavenly gate.
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When Messiah incarnated to this world as Emmanuel, he bring down the gate of heaven.
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If we accept him as our personal savior, we open, it's open the heavenly gates.
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Since when we accepted Jesus Christ, he will accept us.
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And his promise that we will never be forsaken, he will take us to heaven.
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This is Christ's promise.
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So Christ will be risen, when he has the power to rise us again.
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Okay, number...
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Yeah, new converts, first fruit in the...
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...we'll talk about.
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Yeah, number five is safe ones in heaven, also called first fruit.
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So first fruit, the first one is Christ and those who believe in Jesus Christ, also Christians, also call first fruit.
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But right now in Revelation chapter 14 verse 4, there will be safe one in heaven, 144,000 safety ones when we read the book of Revelation.
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There is one word they say, it's first fruit.
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So first fruit is the first Christ, second Christian, third, like those who saved in heaven.
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So first fruit is very important.
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The whole Bible use the first fruit that God will bring us to heaven.
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Okay, next one.
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that is in front of my house.
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I was preaching over there, concerning on the Thanksgiving.
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You see over there, we bring, everybody bring something.
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According to the Bible, you have to come.
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When you come, you cannot appear before the Lord with empty handed.
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Bring something.
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Like say, you can bring one pumpkin or squash or corn, you can bring whatsoever.
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This is our celebration of Thanksgiving.
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Every year, every year.
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A big celebration.
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19, I remember when Jeff and Bob and Katie came to Thailand, We have a big, big Thanksgiving that day.
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So more than 600, 700 people came that day.
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And Pastor Bob shared the message that day.
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So everybody in a village, one village has only one Thanksgiving.
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Sometimes three, four, five village want to make a fellowship.
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So five villages came together and celebrate one Thanksgiving.
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But there will be so many programs, singing, dancing, witnessing, preaching, so many.
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It will take sometimes four hours to finish.
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So like a Thanksgiving for today.
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I don't know in America, how do you pray for Thanksgiving?
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The first Thanksgiving is Israel's Thanksgiving is physical.
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Physical means they said God created for us.
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It's what we can see, the vegetable that we can see.
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It's Israel.
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But Israel did not understand that.
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food is the foreshadow of Christians. So the second one is that Christian Thanksgiving is both physical and spiritual. Yeah, God created the food so we remember we are thankful to God he created for us. The second thing, what's the role you bring before the Lord is the foreshadow of the safe one before in heaven.
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So what you bring before, before to the Lord is whether expensive or cheaper, we count on the meaning.
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This will be the shadow of safe one in heaven.
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So we teach the kids this way.
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So can you, okay.
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So like Israel, Thanksgiving is giving thanks for God's provision. We see that Thanksgiving in Israel is the foreshadow of Christ and Christian. Christian is the foreshadow of of safe one in heaven.
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So like we have God allow us to practice at Thanksgiving, it's a reminder of God's promise for the safe one in heaven.
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Okay, next one.
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The sense of giving is to reveal God's promise, like baptism, like the Lord's Supper.
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Baptism also, maybe, how to explain?
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Baptism is, the name in baptism, we all die in this earth, and God will raise us in heaven.
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So when you go into the water, sooner or later you will die on this earth.
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And when you come out from the water, God will raise you up in heaven.
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So baptism is the reminder of God's promise that he will raise us up in heaven.
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How about the Lord's Supper?
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The Lord's Supper is also God's promise.
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And the Lord's Supper is God's reminder of God's promise that those who believe in Him never be forsaken.
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We can count on Him.
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We can trust Him.
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So this is the meaning of the Lord's Supper.
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So sometimes a lot of people don't explain the meaning of the Lord's Supper.
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So grace and love looks like very light that way.
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Actually, grace and love is the most important thing.
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So like Thanksgiving for us is like the first step is we think about God's creation, so we're thankful to God.
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Second thing is like Christ rose from the dead.
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Also God's promise one day we will be raised up again in heaven.
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This is the foreshadow of those who save one in heaven.
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So Thanksgiving is the reminder of God's promise for the saved ones in heaven.
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So when we study this way, Thanksgiving pointed out all the beginning of the Genesis.
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So you will be saved in heaven, pointing us to heaven.
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So thanksgiving is from the beginning to heaven.
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Remind us that God will prepare a place for us.
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So this is God want us to understand.
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His promise, what we're doing is not in vain.
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Let us do something that we can and God will bless us according to his will.
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So it's worthy to hold Thanksgiving and worthy to worship him and worthy to be Christian because we are in his promise.
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Or like now, there are so many people outside, they never come to the church.
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You are safe once, the foreshadow of like the first fruit that will bring before the Lord.
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So as you come to the church, one day you will be in heaven.
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So this God's promised it.
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Jesus Christ allow us to do one thing, but he promised to do four thing.
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The first thing, accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior.
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It's very easy.
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Today, I am Barnabas.
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I decided to accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior.
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This is only one passage, very easy.
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Why?
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It's a grace and it's love.
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And the rest four things, God will do it.
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The first thing, forgive our sins.
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Second thing, give us the right to become children of God.
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The third thing, He promised that He will not let us down to heaven.
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The fourth thing is, He will take us to heaven.
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You just do very easy one, and the four things that you cannot do, God will do for you.
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So this is really worthy to worship God.
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So we are like the sheep from the farm.
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So please let us stand and sing a song.
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Bringing in the sheep.
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Maybe everybody can sing because we are the sheep.
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Bringing in the sheep.
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Bringing in the sheep, we shall come rejoicing. Bringing in the sheep, bringing in the sheep, bringing in the sheep, we shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheep. Let us pray.
40:51-41:04
Heavenly Father, we do come before you this hour. All our prayer, We glorify your name. Bless each of us according to your will.
41:06-41:10
This church has been supporting the ministry for many years.
41:13-41:15
When they give the money, their purse will be empty.
41:16-41:24
Their pockets will be empty. Their bank account will be left less.
41:25-41:39
Lord, according to Matthew chapter 19 verse 29, anyone who is involved in preaching the gospel, you have a promise to bless them 30 times, 60 times, even 100 times.
41:40-41:44
Lord, this promise be rest on brother and sister in this church.
41:44-41:47
I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.
41:47-41:48
Amen.
41:48-42:00
Amen, Amen, Amen.
42:02-42:05
Thank you. Be seated. God bless you.
Small Group Discussion
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Reflect upon Barnabas’ mission field. How can you apply His enthusiasm to spread the gospel on the other side of the globe in your area of influence here?
Breakout
Pray for one another, for the leaders and new elder of our church, Justin Cady. Pray for the missionaries that we support such as Martha and Barnabas in Thailand.
Pray that we would seek to be a church that goes, gives, and prays.