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Today is the second and last Sunday of a two week sermon series called, The First Response. The aim of this series is for each of us to be able to train ourselves so that our first response to situations in our life is thanks. The idea for this series originated from an experience I had early in the morning. My alarm goes off at 5:45 a.m., but for a long time I didnt need an alarm to get out of bed. I was waking up well very early with my mind racing. I was feeling anxious, and at that time this anxiety was getting the best of me. My mind was running and telling me all the things that werent going well in my life. This anxiety eventually left me I showered and prayedall the more reason to pray in the morning. When I reflected on what was happening I realized that I want my first response to each day to be thanks. When we come to consciousness I would hope that the first thoughts from our mind is thank you, God. For me, I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a great family, I have a great job, I get to be your pastor, I live in a great neighborhood, I have good health. So as I came to consciousness in the morning why wouldnt my first response be thanks. Giving thanks is an orientation and not an emotion. I talked about this last Sunday. Emotions are something that we naturally experience in response to certain events. We dont control our emotionsthey just happenthey are value neutral. An orientation is something different. Its something that we train ourselves to take on. So even if we feel anxiety, we can still train ourselves to say thanks. Saying thanks might not be our natural first response, but if we orient ourselves to thanks it can be.

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The Bible is a terrific training manual to help us with thanks. So Id like to encourage you to get out the brochure that is in the bulletin. Like last week Ive shared Scriptures from throughout the Bible that express stories of thanks. I want to encourage you to take notes today as I believe that God will say something to you through this sermon that youll want to write down. And on the back of the brochure is a place for prayer requests. I want to thank you for praying for a neighbor of ours. Her name is Addie. She is a little girl whose brain doesnt fit into her head. Shes had multiple surgeries in her life. This past Wednesday she had a eight hour surgery in Philadelphia. Thank you for your prayers. Each prayer request on this brochure is a story of someone who needs our help. I believe in memorizing Scripture. And the three verses that are part of the reading today are worth committing to memory. They can help us orient ourselves towards thanks. The verses are these: SLIDE Rejoice always, Pray without ceasing, Give thanks in all circumstances; For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1Thessalonians 5:16-18 These verses could be a personal mission statement! They were written by the Apostle Paul to the people of the church in a village called Thessalonika. The story of Paul writing these verses is worth knowing. We can read the story in the 16th chapter of Acts. Paul and Silas came into the village of Thessalonica. SLIDE Thessalonica is located modern-day Greece. () Today its the second-largest

city in Greece. In the first century Thessalonica was located on a trade route called the Via Engnatia. Being connected to this trade route was very significant. They were able to travel and

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be connected to others from outside their village. The trade-route to them was like the Internet to us. Most significantly the trade route led people to have a high allegiance to Rome, to the government, to the emperor or the king. Within this context on three consecutive Sabbaths Paul went into the synagogue and shared that Jesus was the king. He was the Messiah. He had died and been raised. Paul wanted the people of Thessalonika to give their allegiance to Jesus. Think about this with me. If your allegiance was to Rome and a man came into your synagogue and told you that Jesus was the king, how would you respond? Many were upset. Led by the religious leaders of the town many became very angry with Paul and his companion Silas. They formed a mob and went looking for the two. The mob came to a house that was occupied by a man named Jason. They didnt find Paul or Silas in the house, so they did the next best thing. They dragged Jason in front of the political leaders of the town and accused Jason of teaching the people that there was another king besides the Roman emperor The apostle Paul had cultivated a group of followers through his preaching and teaching. That same night they went and found Paul and Silas. They told them to leave the city. They probably told them to escape for their lives. SLIDE Paul and Silas went to the village of Beroea which was about fifty miles from

Thessalonika. Today the city is known as Veria () When Paul got to Beroea he did the same thing that he had done in Thessalonika. He went to the synagogue and told the people that Jesus was the king. He was the Messiah who had died and had been raised. The reception of the people in Beroea was better than in Thessalnika.

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Heres what is fascinating. Some of the people from Thessalonika learned that Paul was in Beroea. They went to Beroea to hunt down Paul. Paul had to escape for his life from Beroea because of the people from Thessalonia. Fast forward a few years. Paul is now writing a letter to the Christians or the disciples at Thessalonika. Think with me. If you were writing a letter to the church at Thessalonikaa place where you had experienced a mobwhat would you say? This is what Paul said. SLIDE Rejoice always, Pray without ceasing, Give thanks in all circumstances; For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1Thessalonians 5:16-18 When I read and think about this, I say to myself, I want what Paul had. I want that type of faith. I want the type of faith where when I experience something bad I can still say with authenticity, rejoice always, prayer without ceasing, in all things give thanks. Its important to know that Paul didnt say give thanks for everything that happened. He said give thanks in everything. There is a big difference between the word for and word in. I talked about this last week. I shared that if I went to the store and was assaulted on the street my first response wouldnt be thanks. However over time a person with an orientation of thanks can find reasons in the circumstances. The person isnt thankful for the assault for the bad thing, but we can look back at something and find reasons to say thanks. I think this is what Paul did as he reflected on what happened to him in the village of Thessalonika. Im guessing he wasnt thankful for what happened. He wasnt thankful that he was almost killed in the village and had to escape with his life. Im guessing that he wasnt

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thankful that some people came to Beroae and tried to kill him again. But I do believe he could find reasons to be thankful. Would you like this type of faith. I sure do. The significant question is how do we train ourselves so our orientation is thanks. When things dont go the way that we want, what can we do so that our first response can still be thanks. Let me tell you about some research done by a man by the name of Robert Emmons. Ive shared this before, but I think its worth sharing again. He is a professor of psychology at UCDavis and editor of the Journal of Positive Psychology. He did an interesting study. He asked a hundred adults to keep a journal. They were randomly assigned to three different groups. The people in Group A had to write down each week five things that they were happy about; the people in Group B had to write down each week five things that they found annoying and irritating; Group C had to write down five things that had a major impact on them. Dr. Emmons found that the people in Group Athe people who wrote down every week five things they were happy abouthad much higher levels of well-being compared to the other two groups. He found that: SLIDE 1) the practice of gratitude can increase happiness levels by 25 percent 2) writing in a gratitude journal can create an effect that will last six months longer 3) cultivating gratitude can bring help us sleep longer and have a better attitude about our life. Isnt this fascinating? Do any of us have any trouble sleeping or find ourselves anxious? Scientific research shows that we will sleep better and have a more positive attitude if we practice thanks.

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Let me give you a challenge. I want to challenge you this week to write down three things each day for which you are thankful. Three things each day. You can do it at the end of the day or at the start of the day. When I start my day in prayer I write down three things from the day before for which I am thankful. Im more of a morning person. But maybe you are an evening person. Before you go to bed write down three things for which you are thankful. Remember in the 1990s Oprah encouraged everyone to have a gratitude journal. Same idea. Ive noticed that there is a movement in our country to name November as the month of thanks. People have been sharing on their Facebook page a few things for which they are thankful.

SLIDERED CAR Earlier this year we showed a video for the leaders of Chain of Lakes called Seeing Red Cars. In the video a man bought a red car. After he bought the car he noticed that he saw a lot of red cars around him. He wondered if all of those red cars had been there before. Of course they had. The point was because he was focusing on red cars, so he was seeing red cars. Its a brilliant pointsimple and important. We get more of what we focus. When it comes to thanks the Red Car idea couldnt be more important. When we focus on thanksfor all for which we are gratefulour first response to situations in our life can be thanks. But if we focus on what we dont have, if we obsess about all that in us that is deficient or weak then we will become that. We become that on which we focus. I couldnt help but think about this idea this past Friday on Black Friday. SLIDEBLACK FRIDAY This is a picture of someone coming into a store at Best Buy. This year I didnt go out at midnight to Black Friday. But Hannah really wanted to go out to Black Friday, so we left midmorning for the Rosedale mall. My parents went early and

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then Amy and I went a bit later. When Amy and I got there we couldnt find a parking spot. My parents had been able to park in a handicap spacemy Dad has a handicap sticker because of his hip surgeries. Eventually Amy & I decided it wasnt worth spending our time driving around Rosedale Mall, so Amy dropped me off. The mall was predictably full and very crowded. I thought about buying some clothes at JC Penny, but there were at least 30 people in line. I decided it wasnt worth standing in line for 30 minutes to save $15 on a pair of pants. Think how different the holiday of Thanksgiving is compared to Black Friday. Thanksgivingsimplicity; Black Fridaycomplexity. Thanksgivingan intimate crowd; Black Fridaya large mass of people. Thanksgivingfocusing on what we have and being thankful; Black Fridayfocusing on what we want and looking for a deal. Thanksgiving perhaps serving the poor; Black Fridayaccumulating stuff. What would happen if the values of Thanksgiving became the values of our culture. What would happen if the message of thanksgiving became the most important message for us to live out. If thanks was our worlds Red Car Focus. When I was growing up I sang a song at Easter. Some of you might know it. Every morning is Easter morning, from now on. Every days resurrection day the past is over and gone. The point of the song is we celebrate Easter every day. What would happen if the song was this: Every days thanksgiving day from now on. Every days thanksgiving day the past is over and gone. I want to see this happen. Who else would like to see this take place in our world?

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SLIDEPEOPLE AT THE CROSS

Heres the dealyou and I can create this value in

the north Metroour new congregation can be agents of thanks. How cool would it be if we at Chain of Lakes said we are going to do whatever it takes to embed this share this message of thanks in peoples lives in the north Metro. Last week 20 people from Chain of Lakes came over to Amy and my house. We made plans for 2013, and in particular the first six months of the year. I was so happy to see the energy that was there. We stayed until 4:00 after coming to worship in the morning. We talked and prayed and got excited about possibilities. We were a large group of people who were united. Its my experience when a group of people is united they can do amazing ministry. I believe we are going to do amazing ministry. On Monday night the Steering Committee spent another ninety minutes refining our goal and strategy. We decided that our goal for 2013 is this. SLIDE Our goal is to share the Chain of Lakes message and build relationships with our

new neighbors. Measure: We will prayerfully and diligently work so that at least 35 people connect to

Chain of Lakes. Our goal is to share a message and build relationships with our new neighbors. We know that we will be successful if 35 people connect to Chain of Lakes. Our goal is not to have 35 people connectthat is the result of our goal. Our goal is to share the Chain of Lakes message and build relationships with our new neighbors. SLIDENEW NEIGHBORHOOD Imagine what would happen if we successfully communicated this message in our new neighborhood. Imagine the impact we could make if the people who live near our property became thankful people. Imagine what would happen if they

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gave thanks every day, cultivated an attitude of gratitude, if they oriented their lives to all that they have and not what they lacked. Imagine. Who wants to partner with me in living out this goal? Theres a lot at stake in sharing our message. Lets create an attitude of gratitude. We can start by making thanks our first response.