BLESSINGS ABOUND. Rev. Mark A. Medina. October 23, PDF Free Download

BLESSINGS ABOUND Rev. Mark A. Medina October 23, 2016 Paul Brand was a brilliant medical doctor who did pioneering work in the treatment of leprosy. He received a number of awards, served as the only Westerner on the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, and had medical procedures named after him. Brand grew up in India, where his parents were missionaries. At the age of nine, he was sent to boarding school in England. Five years later, while a14 year old student there, he received a telegram informing him that his beloved father had died of Blackwater Fever. Brand cherished fond memories of his father, a man who had a great love for people and great love for the natural order around him. A short time later after he received news of his father s death, he received a letter from his father. It had been sent prior to his father s death but took some time due to the mode of mail transportation. The words impacted Paul deeply. Paul s father described the hills around their home and then finished with these words. God means us to delight in his world. It isn t necessary to know botany or zoology or biology in order to enjoy the manifold life of nature. Just observe. And remember. And compare. And be always looking to God with thankfulness and worship for having placed you in such a delightful corner of the universe as planet earth. [Reported in Philip Yancey, Soul Survivor (Hodder & Stoughton, 2001)] Paul s father helped him to appreciate the world around him and to marvel at the blessings of God. Those few sentences gave Paul a wonderful understanding of a gracious God. As people of faith, you and I have much to be thankful for in life. We can be thankful for the blessings God showers upon us each day; the blessing of a new day and what each day may bring, the blessing of family and friends that support, love, and help to guide us, and the blessing of a Savior who loves us and continues to instill hope into our lives. When we understand our life and faith in the context of this loving God, we find a relationship that is blessed. We gain insight into the blessings from God through the teachings of scripture. Out of all the books of the bible, Psalms is one of the most well-known. In the Book of Psalms you will find poems, songs and prayers written by different Psalmists. King David was one of the main authors who wrote 73 of the 150 Psalms. The Psalms speak to what a person experiences in life whether it is trouble, death, threats, gratitude, confidence, or assurance. Psalm 23 gives a person comfort in God who is with him or her in situations of loss and hurt. Psalms 28 reflects the blessing King David felt when he was healed from a grave illness. He wrote, 2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed 1

me 4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name. The Psalm that was read in worship today is a song proclaiming the blessings that God has provided to the world and the acknowledgment of God s earthly bounty. This Psalm is also one that contains poetic beauty. Throughout the Psalm, David lifts up the gifts and blessings that God has bestowed upon the world. He praises God as the one who answers prayer and is a God of mercy and redemption. Verse 4 attests to those who are chosen to oversee the heavenly temple and the worship, 4 Happy are those whom you choose and bring near to live in your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple. David places the context of his blessings in the power of the Creator God. In gratitude, the Psalmist experiences God s blessings through salvation and hope. The remainder of Psalm 65 lifts up the nature of the Creator God and how God blesses the earth. The blessing of poetry gives the psalmist, and the reader, a sense of God s creative nature. As one commentator writes, Nature shows God s generosity giving us more than we need or deserve. God s abundant generosity should make us grateful to him and generous to others. [Quickverse Life Application Bible Commentary] The verses speak volumes of the imagery of a bountiful world that God has blessed us with. There a many blessings we must acknowledge in our own lives. This church is blessed with so many talented and gifted individuals that make up this congregation. The leadership, pastors and program staff serve to create a ministry that seeks to teach the ways of living the disciple s life in Christ. The support staff blesses us by facilitating in the ministry of the church. You are blessed to have a pastor nominating committee that has faithfully discerned who is to be presented as your next pastor, a pastor who senses the call to serve as your shepherd when you extend a call to him. I am always amazed by the way in which a loving and guiding God fulfills deep felt prayers. Each one of you is blessed in ways that you most definitely know and move to appreciate. Take a few moments and think about the blessings you have in your life right now. Can you see them? Now take a moment to thank God for blessing you with so many wonderful things and people in your lives. We must acknowledge these blessing even in today s world. Each of you is also a blessing to this congregation as she looks to the future. The time, talents and monetary gifts you share keep the ministry and mission of this church moving into the future. You sincerely bless this church through all that you give. My friends, today the amount of negative and destructive words and actions surely blind us to the blessings before us. Human sinfulness is at work in the world today as we forget and move our Christianity away from the goodness of God. We must be courageous in our blessings even with all the evil that comes in life seeks to destroy us and to hurt others. For me, I have many blessings. I have an ongoing relationship with God through Christ who guides me and surrounds me with love. I m blessed by a special woman in Judy who i appreciate as she keeps me smiling with her 2

dancing blue eyes and great hugs. I have two beautiful daughters who now are married and moving forward in life. I ve tried to teach them as they grew up how to take care of themselves and to care for their person without someone hurting or abusing them. My granddaughter, Jorah, is a special blessing at 2 ½ years old who i pray will grow to be a fine woman. I am a husband, Dad and Grandpa who loves my family and will do what it takes to keep these four women safe and away from the evil in this world. I take my stand here that none of my loved ones experience the sexual predators or abusers that exist in this world. I am truly blessed with this family from a loving and gracious God. So my dear brothers and sisters, we are to acknowledge God s blessings as we come to accept gratitude and thanksgiving in our lives. Like the Psalmist, we too, feel gratitude in the God who blesses us in our daily lives. Yes, there are times when we begin to wonder if we are blessed. At those times we can seek and affirm that there are small blessings in our lives that we see coming from God. The late John Fitzgerald Kennedy once said, as we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. Friends, we are entering the season of thanks-giving. This is the time when we experience the changing seasons and witness to the harvests around us. We can go through this season with gratitude as God presents us with opportunities to be thankful. May our hearts be truly thankful because we are blessed. As we live and give thanks for all the blessings in life, remember these words from Colossians chapter 3 verse 16, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. May it be so for us all. Our closing prayer acknowledges the graciousness of God and the ways we affirm the blessings from our loving God. Let us pray: Most gracious God, According to your wisdom Deep waters are opened up And clouds drop gentle moisture. We praise you for the return of planting and harvest seasons, For the fertility of the soil, For the harvesting of crops, and for all other blessings Which you in your generosity pour on this nation and people. Give us a full understanding of your mercy, And lives which will be respectful, Holy, and obedient to you throughout all our days; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. [Book of Common Worship. 1993] ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3

Supporting Scriptures: Psalm 65:1-13 (NRSV) 1 Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion; and to you shall vows be performed, 2 O you who answer prayer! To you all flesh shall come. 3 When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us, you forgive our transgressions. 4 Happy are those whom you choose and bring near to live in your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple. 5 By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. 6 By your strength you established the mountains; you are girded with might. 7 You silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples. 8 Those who live at earth s farthest bounds are awed by your signs; you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy. 9You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it. 10 You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. 11 You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness. 12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, 13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy. Luke 18:9-14 (NRSV) 9He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: 10 Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income. 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner! 14 I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted. 4

BLESSINGS ABOUND. Rev. Mark A. Medina. October 23, 2016