God does not want us to stop with just a couple of days and a couple of token prayers.  He wants us to portray His lifestyle of thankfulness.  God is looking at you and he is looking at me and he is saying, “Be a one-out-of-ten person who expresses thankfulness thoughtfully, lovingly and consistently.”

For the few moments that remain, I want to show you how to do that.  I want to warn you, this is a difficult, demanding process but it is well worth it.  First, ask forgiveness for your forgetfulness.  If you are going to be a man or a woman, boy or girl, who really expresses thankfulness thoughtfully, lovingly and consistently, you have got to ask forgiveness for your forgetfulness.

If the truth were known, I am ashamed at how much I am like the Israelites in the midst of manna or the nine lepers who did not show appreciation.  So many times in my life I have not said the words, expressed my love.

He wants us to be one out of ten, to express our thankfulness thoughtfully, lovingly and consistently to others.  You see the Holy Spirit who invades our lives the moment we receive Christ is totally committed to cultivating within our lives an attitude of gratitude, an attitude of appreciation.

Are you a one out of ten person who expressed thanks thoughtfully, lovingly and consistently?

In about four days most of us will gather around a table and celebrate Thanksgiving.  You know the drill.

We will have turkey and all the trimmings.  We will go into that feeding frenzy.  We will eat and eat and watch football and eat again.  Then for the next month we will live off turkey sandwiches.  And this happens year after year.

We always set aside a couple of days and say a couple of token prayers and feel feelings of thankfulness for others and to God for all His blessings.

Some of us here are wearing Jesus this way. [Ed takes off his coat and puts it over his shoulders without putting his arms through the sleeves.] Yeah, we’re clothed in Christ, but I would argue that we’re not fully clothed. Yet, the enemy makes us think we’re fully clothed when in reality we’re not. Some of us here are pimping Jesus.

We’re using Jesus. We have selfish motives. We use Jesus to get what we want—maybe a new house or a new spouse or some money or some forgiveness of sin.

“Hey, I can have my sins cleansed if I say a little prayer. And you know, that’s a pretty emotional deal, so I’ll just do that just for that. Or maybe I can have eternal life with the Lord himself, because you know what, I can live forever with my loved ones. And that’s a pretty sweet deal. I’ll just use God. I’ll pimp him. And if I have enough faith, I can make God become this cosmic errand boy. If I believe enough; if I can conceive it, then God will have to act and give me what I want. I pimp God. I use him. I don’t allow God to use me. I just use God.”

The Bible says in I Chronicles 28:9, “The Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.”

The Bible says we should want to know God because of God. The Bible says that we should want to get to know him in an intimate way because of God, because we have this God gap in our life that can only be solved by God himself.

So, I’ve got to ask you, “Where are you?” Could it be that you’re pimping God? That you’re using him just for your selfish desires and not for the kind of unselfish life that he wants you to discover?

They ask, “Well, how, how do you find people who are awesome and encouraging?”

It’s very easy. Just go through a conflict and sees who’s got your back. Whoever is standing there, hire them! If you’re a business man or business woman, you’d better write that one down. We don’t hire for intellect. We hire for intensity. We don’t hire for head knowledge, we hire for the heart. The right they.

Are you listening to the wrong they or the right they? What did they influence you do that you would not have done if they hadn’t been around?

Yeilded

The right they are also yielded to the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is Lord. If you have to wonder if they are the right they, then they’re not. You will know if someone is the right they.

“I’m wondering if this girl I’m dating is a believer? I’m just wondering if he is Christ follower. I’m, I’m just wondering.”

If you have to wonder, they’re not. Now I’m not saying at all that Fellowship Church is packed with the right they. Most of us here are the right they, but there’s some wrong they here. But the right they are here and this is the place you find the right they.

Who are the right they? They’re people with “He” right in the middle of their lives. What does God want to do, what does God want to build in your life and mine? God gives us the ability to look for the right they. So when you find them, make sure you listen to what they have to say.

The good news is this: God wants to move you from the contract to the covenant. He wants to move you from the wrong bed into the right bed. He wants to move you from the ledge to making wise choices and decisions about covenant marriage. And over the next several weeks, that is what we’re going to talk about. How do I move to real redemption and reconciliation? How do I move to a true purpose driven relationship with my spouse. How do I do that?

Jesus has romanced you and me. He’s dated us. He’s popped the question, “Will you marry me?” He’s done the covenant work. He spilled his blood on that rugged cross for your sins and mine.

In Mark Chapter 14:24 he said, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”

Once I get in the covenant with Jesus Christ by simply saying, “I turn from my junk and my sin and turn to you;” Once I respond by saying, “I do,” what happens? I’m adopted into the family of God? I’m connected with Christ. I have a new name. My name is Ed Young. But because I’m a Christ follower, it’s really Ed Young Christian. If you said, “I do,” to Jesus, the same is true in your life. We serve a covenant God who is all about covenant relationships.

So, as we leave this place I challenge you to think about the implications of the covenant. Marriage is a decision followed by a process.

When we say, “I do,” we don’t realize the implications of it until later on. I’ve been almost married 24 years and I’m still realizing the implications of that decision. And the same is true about Jesus Christ. We say, “I do,” to Jesus Christ. It’s a decision followed by a process. And we realize as we grow closer to him the implications of that decisions.

Eighty percent, eighty percent of all marriages will deal with adultery if we believe the numbers. Eighty percent! As I told you, over the next several weeks we’re going to talk about some powerful stuff. We’re going to talk about reconciliation and redemption and making stuff right. Some people from Fellowship Church are going to spill their guts about adultery, about reconciliation, and redemption. If you don’t believe me, just watch this, because this is where we’re going.

[A video montage is played on the side screens of several people talking about dealing with an affair, the effects of an affair, and the results of the affair. The video is a preview of the coming weeks of this series.]

[Ed leads in prayer]

And then release the person, release the person.  How many were here when I did the series called “The Real “F” Word?”  Forgiveness.  The real F word?  If you missed that every single person needs to pick that up.  I think it’s, it’s the most powerful teaching we’ve ever done here.  It talks about unforgiveness and the power and the hold that it has on us.  And I built the whole series around a Doberman and I got so excited my wife and I bought a Doberman a, a, while back.  I was pumping gas one day and I saw a guy jogging with a Doberman.  He jogged across a busy intersection, tied the Doberman up to a park bench; went inside to get something to drink.

I was looking back at the Doberman and all of a sudden the Doberman got startled; he ran toward the freeway; he has so much tort he jerked the park bench from its supports dragged it behind him towards the busy intersection, I thought, oh, no, what is going to happen?  A cataclysmic collision is going to take place right before my eyes.  That’s what I thought.  Let me stop here.  When it comes to anger, a lot of you are like that Doberman.  Here’s a big ole chain tied to a park bench and you’re dragging around some people.  A spouse.  An ex-spouse.  A co-worker.

Someone you use to date.  A coach.  An uncle.  A former friend.  An associate.  And you’re dragging these people around who are sitting on your bench.  You’re gonna cause a cataclysmic collision.  And you’re wondering why you have so much wreckage in your life.  It’s anger.  You’re tethered to unforgiveness and anger.  Well after this park bench had smashed several cars, that was, it wasn’t humorous, but it was quite interesting to watch it take place, the dog’s master ran out of the convenient store; chased the dog down, grabbed the chain, unhooked the dog from the bench and led the dog to safety.

The only time that we can be guaranteed of is right now.  I can’t guarantee you that we’re all going to be alive tonight or tomorrow or next week or next year. But I can guarantee you right now. We have this time.  And Jesus wants to meet you right where you are. And all you have to do is say, “Jesus, you know what? I messed up, man.  I’ve gone through a series of doors and it’s left me wondering, ‘This is it?’  It’s left me kind of looking around going, ‘Wow this is the whole deal?’”

Maybe you have gone through a series of financial doors. You thought, “If I go through that door and that door and that door, that will lead to this incredible room and be the ultimate and that will be nirvana.”

And maybe you’ve reached all your goals and made this amount of money and you know something is still missing.  Well, you have a desire for the door.

Others here maybe have gone through a marriage or two; or you jump from bed to bed with different people and you think that will do it. And you find yourself going through a series of doors and now you’re like, “That’s it?  I mean, there’s got to be more to life.”

See, you have this desire for the door.  You might not have realized it or understood it, but the Holy Spirit of God is telling you right now, “You have this desire for the door.”

Or maybe you’ve gone through a series of doors with alcohol addiction or drug addiction or depression or anxiety and you’re like, “Something is not right.”

You have a desire for the door.  Jesus is waiting for you; he’s waiting right here because he is the door and he’s extending his nail scarred hand saying, “Enter through me.”

The thing about Alfred, man, he will go cameo on you. All of a sudden you’re watching and you go, “Wait a minute. Was that Alfred? Lisa, rewind that. That was Alfred Hitchcock.” He makes these cameo appearances and people think, “Well, okay, Jesus, he made these cameo appearances. It’s a quick hallucination. People just hallucinated. They just wanted so badly to see Jesus. That’s surely what happened. These people were just delusional. The disciples were delusional.”

Well let’s go to Scripture—1 Corinthians 15: 5-6, “He,” being Jesus—this was what Paul was saying, the Apostle Paul—“appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living.” Paul is like, “Wait a minute. You don’t have to believe me. Just talk to the 500 who saw him after the crucifixion, after the burial. Just talk to them, talk to them, talk to them.”

How many attorneys do we here? Please, lawyers, lift you hand. I love lawyers. Lift your hand, lawyer. There’s one. Oh you’re a lawyer. What’s your name ma’am? Susannah. I love lawyers. Lawyers are great, man. Think about this, Susannah. Five hundred fifteen people saw the resurrected Lord. They touched him. They watched him eat. They saw him.

Think about it. If we could turn Fellowship Church into a courtroom right now, 515 witnesses, and you could interrogate them. We’d be here tonight, tomorrow night, the next night. It would be unreal. It’s evidence, right, that demands a verdict. People say, “Well maybe when those 500 people saw him they had, like, this hallucination.” Well 500 people having the same hallucination is a greater miracle than the bodily resurrection of Jesus. I mean that didn’t even happen at Woodstock.

Romans 12:17 says, ” Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.”

Because people are watching you and me.  I mentioned technology earlier.  Isn’t it crazy with technology?  I mean, nothing is private anymore.  I mean, there are cameras everywhere—on freeways, in stores, cell phones.  Everything is public.

Well you think everything is public?  That does not even come close to the eyes of God and to the eyes of others who are watching you and watching me.  I truly believe when we get to heaven we’re going to be shocked at how many people were watching us and checking us out to see if Christianity was the real deal.

Something else that the Bible encourages us to do out of Jeremiah is to hire a lawyer.  Now that sounds crazy, but this is totally pro bono.  God says in Jeremiah 51:36 (NLT), “I will be your lawyer to plead your case, and I will avenge you.”

So revenge is when I usurp God and I take control and I take it out on the person, that’s revenge.  Avenge is when I leave room for God to act, for God to move, for God to do the stuff. Because God will always, always handle it better than you and me.  I have to give it to God.

Yes, God is a God of love.  God is a God of forgiveness.  And we talk about that and sing about that and it makes us happy and peppy and bursting with love. But also God is a God of justice and a God who punishes those wrongs.  So, we need to talk about the balance of Him and God will take care of the person or persons who have betrayed us.

Genesis 2:24 talks about marriage, and that’s something pretty important.  That’s something where we can see unity, and also dissonance.  “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother.”  What’s the reason?  The reason is unity.  The verse continues, “…and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”  Isn’t that interesting?  Thousands and thousands of couples walk down the wedding runner each and every day to experience this oneness, this unity.  Many understand it and many don’t.  But, it’s a Trinitarian yearning.  Marriage  — two becoming one flesh.

Think about sex.  I woke some people up.  Sexis a gift from God.  Sex is a Trinitarian shadow — a Trinitarian illustration.  God says, from Genesis to Revelation, that sex is reserved for the marriage bed.  Sex is a multi-faceted thing.  There is a spiritual aspect to it, a physical aspect to it , an emotional aspect to it, and a psychological aspect to it.  We are made in the image of God.  We are all unique.  I am uniquely male and my wife, Lisa, is uniquely female.  When a husband and wife join together in the act of marriage, and they make love in the context of marriage, you have the male character qualities and the female character qualities of God merging.  That’s why when someone practices sex outside the marriage bed, they are trashing the Trinity.

They are thumbing their noses at God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  If you are involved in sex outside of marriage, there is no way that God will bless your life.  It’s not going to happen for you.  If you are involved in sexual sin, your life will not hit on all cylinders.  You will not discover what unity is all about.