Participants:
Series Code: NP
Program Code: NP221119S
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00:02 ♪♪
00:15 >> Today, we gather together to feast on hymns of joy 00:22 and Thanksgiving. Let's begin by reading 00:25 responsively together. Your parts will be on 00:29 the screen. 01:13 Our first him for singing is "Come, O Christ." You have the lyrics 01:18 right inside your bulletin on a piece of paper that looks like this. 01:23 Stanza three will be the choir and organ only. Let's feast on Thanksgiving 01:30 and hymn singing today. 01:33 [ "Come, O Christ" begins ] 01:37 ♪♪ ♪♪ 01:55 ♪♪ ♪♪ 02:13 ♪♪ ♪♪ 02:31 ♪♪ [ Congregation sings ] 04:50 [ "Son of God, Eternal Savior" begins ] 04:58 ♪♪ ♪♪ 05:09 >> ♪ Bind us all as one together ♪ ♪ In Thy Church's sacred fold 05:28 ♪ Bind us all ♪ Weak and healthy ♪ Poor and wealthy 05:45 ♪ Sad and joyful ♪ Young and old 06:00 ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ Is there want or pain 06:18 or sorrow? ♪ ♪ Make us all the burden share ♪ Are there spirits 06:39 crushed and broken? ♪ ♪ Teach us, Lord, to soothe their care ♪ 07:01 [ "Come, O Christ" resumes ] 07:05 ♪♪ ♪♪ 07:20 ♪♪ [ Congregation sings ] 08:59 >> Words of joy today are taken from Psalm 98. 09:03 "Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! 09:06 For He has done marvelous things; 09:09 His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory. 09:15 The Lord has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of 09:22 the nations. He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness 09:27 to the house of Israel; All the ends of the Earth have seen the salvation of our God. 09:35 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the Earth; Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. 09:43 Sing to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of a Psalm, with the trumpets 09:49 and the sound of a horn; Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King." 09:57 This is God's word. May we be touched by God's abundant joy today. 10:04 [ "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty" begins ] 10:10 ♪♪ ♪♪ 10:29 ♪♪ [ Congregation sings ] 11:54 ♪♪ ♪♪ 12:44 [ "Fairest Lord Jesus" begins ] ♪♪ 12:56 ♪♪ ♪♪ 13:15 ♪♪ [ Congregation sings ] 14:56 [ "Ode to Joy" begins ] ♪♪ 15:07 ♪♪ ♪♪ 15:21 [ Congregation sings ] 17:20 [ "In Heavenly Love Abiding" begins ] 17:26 ♪♪ [ Congregation sings ] 18:06 ♪♪ 18:44 ♪♪ 19:42 ♪♪ 20:32 ♪♪ ♪♪ 20:46 ♪♪ 21:26 ♪♪ ♪♪ 22:04 ♪♪ 22:54 >> "Oh, God, our hope we cannot measure. Our path to life is free. 23:02 Our Savior has our treasure. And He will walk with me and thee." 23:12 Amen. 23:18 We humans are wired for optimism. 23:22 I read a book last year by an MD named Lissa Rankin. 23:24 Title of her book -- "Mind Over Medicine." 23:27 My little sister, Carrie, said, "Dwight, you need to read this." 23:30 My little brother, Greg, says, "Dwight, you need to read this." 23:32 I decided I needed to read it, and I did. 23:35 Glad I did. Here's the physician, 23:37 Lissa Rankins', bottom line. I'll put it on the screen 23:39 for you. 23:54 Wow. And then, to prove her point, 23:57 she cites study after study after study. 24:01 Take the case of knee pain and knee surgeries. 24:04 This is fascinating. 24:06 "The New England Journal of Medicine" featured Dr. Bruce Moseley, 24:09 an orthopedic surgeon renowned for the surgeries he performed on people with 24:13 debilitating knee pain. Some of you know exactly all about that. 24:18 Now, the here's the crucial line. In a randomized double-blind 24:24 placebo -- you know placebo is something that's fake -- placebo controlled clinical trial 24:28 published in one of the most highly respected medical journals today, 24:32 patients of Dr. Moseley were divided into two groups. All right, group number one. 24:38 These are the ones that want the real deal from this great doctor. 24:41 And they get it, all right? They want that super surgery. Group number two 24:49 underwent an elaborately crafted sham or fake surgery during 24:55 which the patient was sedated. Three incisions were made in the same location 24:59 as in the real surgery, and the patient was shown a prerecorded tape 25:03 of someone else's surgery on the video monitor. I'm absolutely sure you could 25:07 not get by with that today. I'm just sure of it. Dr. Moseley, even, by the way, 25:13 splashed water around to mimic the sound of the lavage procedure 25:18 where they have to clean out the wound. As expected, 1/3 of the patients 25:23 getting the real deal surgery experienced resolution of their knee pain. 25:27 That's about his success rate. But what really -- Listen, what really shocked 25:32 the researchers was that those getting the sham or fake surgery 25:36 had the same result. 1/3 of them reported, "You know, Doc, 25:40 that was a wonderful surgery. I feel better. You took my pain away." 25:46 In fact, at one point in the study -- this is interesting -- those who had received 25:49 the sham surgery were actually having less knee pain than those who had gotten the real surgery, 25:56 probably because they hadn't undergone the trauma of the surgery. 25:59 Listen, folks we are wired -- We are wired for optimism. We want to believe the best. 26:06 And when we do, the results can be stunning. Take a study they 26:13 did with 34 college students. I said this morning, this is a beautiful representation 26:21 of 34 college students. So you can picture this age group. 26:25 Here's the study. It was actually published in the "Pavlovian Journal 26:29 of Biological Science." So I have a 15-year-old PowerPoint creator/producer, 26:35 and he was with me yesterday. And I said, Do you know who Pavlov is? 26:40 Yo, he's like, "Man that rang the bell and the dogs salivated." 26:43 That's the one, so it's a journal named after him. In this study, 26:47 34 college students were hooked up to monitors and told that the electric 26:52 current would be passed through their heads. Study participants were warned 26:58 that they might experience headaches as a side effect. Although not one volt of current 27:05 was actually used, more than two thirds of the students reported headaches. 27:10 "Man, this is killing me. Boy, they told us that, right? Yeah. 27:13 No wonder I got that headache." We are wired for optimism. We want to believe the best, 27:20 or in this case, the worst. And the results conform to our mind-set. 27:25 Guess what? Lissa Rankin quotes Ralph Waldo Trine, and when I 27:30 saw this line -- I'm gonna put it on the screen now -- when I saw this line, 27:34 I said, "This is truth. This is truth." Here's the line on the screen. 27:45 I'm gonna let that hang on the screen for a moment. Isn't that something? 27:50 The moment I saw it, I said, "Man, that's the truth." Now, I've had to rephrase it 27:54 for me to keep remembering it. So I'm going to put my little rephrasing on the screen 27:58 for you right now. 28:05 That's it. 28:11 So much of how we think becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, doesn't it? 28:16 "Oh, man, I feel the depression coming on." No, you don't. 28:20 "Yes, I do. I'm telling you, it's getting worse." "I'll never do well 28:27 on this exam. I just don't have the smarts. I know I'm going to flunk it." 28:33 Ohh. Never say to your mind what you don't want your body to hear. 28:39 "Nobody loves me. No. I'm the most unlovable human being in the world." 28:45 Well, guess what? You just became one. Don't, don't, 28:50 don't say that to yourself. Mnh-mnh. Never say to your mind 28:54 what you don't want the rest of you to hear. We are wired for optimism. 28:59 So when we embrace pessimism too many times, we have ourselves to blame. 29:04 Now, she devotes, in this book, five or six pages to the contrast between pessimists 29:10 and optimists. Here they are. I'm going to run them by you. 29:14 Turns out optimistic patients recover better from coronary bypass surgery, enjoy healthier 29:20 immune systems and live longer. They fare better when suffering from conditions such as cancer, 29:26 heart disease, and kidney failure. Wow. "I know this is bad, 29:29 but I'm going to get over it. I'm going to be fine one day." Hmm. Here's another one. 29:33 Let me put it on the screen. 29:51 Isn't that amazing? In fact, she found out... that a positive attitude 29:59 also affects -- she quotes a study on this -- our ability to ward off 30:04 infection. So what they did in one study was they gathered a group 30:07 of participants. They measured their personality types, and then they 30:12 told them that they were giving them either a cold or the influenza or a flu. 30:16 So they obviously put some viruses in their nose. And what did they discover? 30:21 They discovered that those with sunny dispositions were more resilient 30:25 than those without. Last one. Come on, let me put it on the screen. 30:38 Hey, which patient do you think the doctor enjoys visiting, the pessimist or the optimist? 30:43 It's a no-brainer. Come on. We are wired for optimism. Which is why, by the way, 30:49 worship always begins with praise. Come on, think with me now. 30:55 Praise is the most optimistic spiritual activity your mind and body can engage. 30:59 One of the shortest psalms in all of Holy Scripture leaps off the page 31:04 with its optimism, and Chaplain José just led us through a moment ago. 31:08 Let me put it back on the screen so we get it -- Psalm 100. This is a shorty. 31:12 But look at all the optimism here. 31:14 "Shout for joy." Boy, that's optimism 31:16 right off the bat. By the way, the King James says, 31:18 "Make a joyful noise." "Make a joyful noise to 31:22 the Lord, all the Earth. Worship the Lord with gladness." 31:24 Optimism again. "Come before Him with joyful 31:27 songs." Optimism. "Know that the Lord is God." 31:30 Come on. Does it get better? Yep. "It is He who made us, and we are His; 31:35 we are his people and the sheep of his pasture." You are not a little bit of 31:41 faithless flotsam being batted about on the winds of change. 31:47 No, no, no, no, no, no. You've got God's fingerprints all over you. 31:50 You are not here by accident. You're not here on this planet by accident. 31:54 You were made by Him, and you were wired for optimism. Keeps going. 32:01 When you come into the church, "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts 32:04 with praise." Optimistic, are you kidding? "Give thanks to Him and praise 32:07 His name... 32:14 Can I get an amen for that psalm? Come on. Optimism. 32:17 We were wired for optimism. Wow. Worship always begins with optimism. 32:24 It begins with... ♪ Praise God, from whom all blessings flow ♪ 32:29 ♪ Praise Him, all creatures How's it go? Here below. ♪ Praise Him up 32:35 ♪ Heavenly host ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ 32:43 For centuries, some of God's closest friends 32:46 on Earth who speak English have begun their worship 32:51 with that beautiful four-line confession. 32:53 It's called a doxology. Doxology is a word, 32:56 is an English word made of two Greek words, "doxa," which is 32:59 "glory," and "logos," as you already know, is "word." 33:02 So this is a word of glory. A word glorifying God. 33:08 Why do I glorify God? Because it's from Him 33:11 all blessings flow. Boy, I'm telling you what. 33:14 Safari. Another beautiful prayer. 33:18 Another beautiful prayer. And I love how you ended it. 33:21 You didn't do this. You didn't do this in -- 33:23 in first church, but I love that "alleluia" at the end, huh. 33:28 Yeah. She called an audible, and that was beautiful. That was optimistic 33:31 all the way through. She's saying she's thanking God. She said, "What a joy, 33:36 what a privilege." Oh, and there are people suffering. 33:39 Yes. We remember the Ratnam family -- tragic death. We remember Sharon Dujon, 33:44 the manager of WAUS, who's not doing well in the hospital right now. 33:50 We lifted them up, but that doesn't take our optimism away. No, We enter Your gates 33:55 with thanksgiving. We enter your courts with praise. 34:00 You say, "Ah, come on, Dwight. Get off your high horse. I don't feel like 34:03 I'm very blessed right now." Well, I'm glad you told me that, because optimism is not 34:09 something you feel. It's something you believe. So when Jesus says to somebody 34:17 He's just touched, "Yo, according to your faith, let it be to you," 34:23 you're not gonna feel this, you won't look different, but if you believe, 34:30 you'll be different. It's not how you feel, it's how you believe. 34:34 And I believe that God is alive and well in my life today. By the way, even when the news 34:38 is bad, terribly bad, optimism still reigns. Oh, boy. 34:43 Do you remember this story? Dark and awful day when the enemy 34:46 was marching on the outnumbered and outgunned people of God. The leader calls 34:51 for a massive prayer meeting. I love that when leaders realize, 34:54 "You know, we can't change this. I don't care how bright our team is, we can't change this." 34:58 And they bring all the people in. They say, "Listen, we got to be 35:00 praying over this." And that's what this leader did. And from the oldest 35:06 to the youngest, they all gathered and the leader himself prayed and the prayer 35:10 went something like this. "Oh, Lord God Almighty, God of our fathers and our mothers, 35:16 we are in huge trouble. An enemy is coming on us. We have no power 35:22 to overcome this enemy." And then I remember the last line of the prayer. 35:25 I'll never forget it, and I hope you remember it, as well. "We do not know what to do, 35:30 but our eyes are upon you." Optimism. We're not giving up. Yeah, well, you know the story. 35:41 Everybody knows the story. Right there in the middle of this massive prayer meeting, 35:44 guess what? One of the worship leaders -- I love our worship leaders 35:46 because they know how to praise. And one of the worship leaders leaps to his feet in the middle 35:51 of the prayer meeting, and he cries out. "I have a message from God." 35:56 "Oh, yeah. What did you hear?" "Don't be afraid of this enemy horde. 36:00 Go out to face them tomorrow. You will be victorious in God's power." 36:05 And then, the king and all their people, all the people, they just fall on their faces. 36:09 The Bible says, "In worship before God." And then comes this line. 36:14 And you've got to see this. This is 2 Chronicles 20:19. "Then some of the Levites" -- 36:18 These are the worship leaders and the singers and the choir. 36:29 Now I know how some people are with praise music. Oh, they don't like loud praise 36:33 music. No, no. Tone it down, tone down. Turn it down, turn it down. 36:38 Can't do that. You can't do that when that spirit of praise comes over you. 36:42 You leap to your feet with a very loud voice. You sing the praises of God. 36:48 I knew I'd get an amen from this group. >> Amen. 36:53 >> Wow. And it gets even better. And by the way, they haven't even seen the results yet. 36:59 Can you believe this? Talking about optimism, this is optimism. 37:02 They haven't even seen the results, and they're thanking God in advance. 37:05 That is optimism at its highest. And God honors optimism. 'Cause he says, "Boy, girl, 37:11 I wired you for that. Good for you." But then I love what comes next. 37:15 "Early the next morning, after consulting the people, 37:17 King Jehoshaphat appoints men" -- probably women, too -- 37:20 "to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor 37:24 of His holiness." What's he doing? 37:26 He's putting together an impromptu choir. 37:29 "And as they went out at the head of the army" -- Oh, did you catch that? 37:32 The choir goes out at the head of the army. Look at this fine choir 37:35 that we have today. At the head of the army, there they go. 37:39 Man! And what happens? The instructions are 37:46 this is what you should sing. "Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever." 37:51 Oh, I love that. 38:04 Defeated. You know why? I'll tell you why. 38:07 Because that's what praise always does. 38:09 It defeats the enemy. I'm telling you, Lucifer is 38:12 the most pessimistic and pitiable creature 38:15 in the universe, and if he had his way, he would turn you into 38:18 a pessimist and pitiable soul. 38:21 Always whining, always whimpering. "Poor me." 38:26 Not poor you. Blessed you. Blessed you. 38:33 Wow. I'm telling you, we were wired for optimism, and praising God 38:38 is the most optimistic and potent way you possibly, possibly can worship Him. 38:46 It's the most potent of all. Oh, I got to put this on here. 38:52 Can you do that? I altered the 100th Psalm. 39:05 >> Yes! >> Mm. Thank you. 39:09 We've got the right people in this choir, I can tell you. 39:12 We got the right ones. Isaac Watts comes along 39:15 and he takes Psalm 100 -- in some places, it's called 39:18 "Old Hundred" Not the tune. 39:20 This is a different tune. Isaac Watts paraphrases 39:22 "Old 100," and when he comes to the third stanza, he picks up 39:25 on this very loud voice. 39:27 Watch this. Third stanza. " We'll crowd Thy gates, 39:30 O God, with thankful songs, high as the heavens 39:33 our voices raise." Now read that again. 39:36 "High as the heavens our voices raise." 39:39 That's very loud praise. Oh, I love that. 39:53 My, oh, my, oh, my. Divine optimism is always 39:58 reflected in human praise. A century ago -- 40:03 Boy, I'll put some words on the screen -- my last little 40:05 quote here -- words on the screen that nailed it. 40:08 This is so right. Look at this. 40:18 Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. 40:21 Keep reading. "We do not pray any too much." 40:24 No, no, no. "But we are too sparing 40:27 of giving thanks." Is it Thanksgiving that's coming 40:29 up now? "We are too sparing 40:31 of giving thanks. Pray, pray earnestly 40:34 and without ceasing, but do not forget to" -- 40:38 What's the word? Don't forget to praise. 40:42 My, oh, my, oh, my. In fact, I say let's tear a page 40:46 out of Holy Scriptures playbook. And every time we have 40:49 a prayer time that we begin it with praise time. 40:51 Praise time, prayer time, praise time, prayer time. 40:54 Praise time first, prayer time next. 40:57 You say, "Dwight, man, I'm gonna get to that praise time and I'm 40:59 not going to be able to think of a single thing to say to praise 41:02 God. Well, I'm going to share 41:03 something with you that I already know you know. 41:06 I learned this little rhyme as a boy in Sabbath school. 41:10 And I'm imagining that you also learned it, too. 41:13 If you can't think of anything else to begin a prayer session in terms of praise, 41:18 then you just remember this and you start singing this. ♪ Praise Him, praise Him, 41:24 all you little children ♪ ♪ God is love ♪ God is love 41:34 ♪ Praise Him, praise Him, all you little children ♪ ♪ God is love 41:44 ♪ God is love Oh, we were wired for optimism. And guess what? 41:55 We still are. Amen. >> Amen. 41:59 ♪♪ ♪♪ 42:18 [ Congregation sings ] 44:37 >> Amen. You got to love it when the Holy Spirit works. 44:45 In works and in all things, and through all things, we are wired for optimism. 44:51 You're invited during this time to bring your gifts of food 44:55 and song, your tithes and offerings 44:58 and your Thanksgiving letters, which you just wrote, 45:01 right here to the platform. 45:03 Our pathfinders are going to be standing here in the front row, and they will be dismissing 45:08 you by rows. So wait for the pathfinders to come to your row, 45:12 and they'll dismiss you. You can also, if you'd like to give a gift 45:17 of Thanksgiving monetarily, you can use one of the tithe and offering envelopes 45:21 right in your pews and just write "Thanksgiving" on it. We invite you to come forward 45:27 using the side aisles, and as you do, we invite you to do so with a silent praise. 45:33 You'll have plenty of time to sing in your pews. But during that walk down, 45:39 during this processional, take a time for silent praise. And remember the thoughts 45:44 of gratitude that you have towards God. Remember all the blessings that 45:48 He shared with you. As you come down, you'll leave your offering 45:52 in the appropriate basket. And then you'll return, either down the center aisle 45:58 or using the outside aisles. During that time, those of us in the pews will be singing 46:05 together, giving thanks to God. 46:09 ♪♪ ♪♪ 46:23 ♪♪ [ "Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart" 46:32 begins ] ♪♪ 46:43 ♪♪ ♪♪ 46:57 [ Congregation sings ] 47:53 [ "The Lord Is My Light" begins ] 48:00 ♪♪ [ Congregation sings ] 49:38 [ "For the Beauty of the Earth" begins ] 49:43 ♪♪ [ Congregation sings ] 51:02 [ "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus" begins ] 51:08 ♪♪ ♪♪ 51:22 [ Congregation sings ] 53:09 [ "To God Be The Glory" begins ] ♪♪ 53:23 ♪♪ [ Congregation sings ] 55:25 ♪♪ ♪♪ 56:20 >> Amen. Amen. Let's pray. 56:24 Thank you, God. For the generosity shown today 56:29 will result in Thanksgiving to you. 56:34 This service that we've performed is not only supplying the needs of God's beloved 56:40 but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to you, 56:46 our good Father, our Creator, and our Redeemer Friend. In Jesus' name, amen. 56:55 ♪♪ 57:08 >> Think of the last time someone said, "I'm praying 57:11 for you." Didn't it give you a sense of 57:13 peace and reassurance that somebody cares for me? 57:16 I know how I feel when I get an e-mail from one of our viewers saying, "Yo, Dwight. 57:19 I've been praying for you lately." There's nothing like knowing 57:22 someone is praying for you. So I want to offer you an opportunity to partner -- let 57:26 me, let us partner with you in prayer. 57:29 If you have a special prayer request or a praise of 57:31 thanksgiving you'd like to share with us, I'm inviting you 57:33 to contact one of our friendly chaplains. 57:35 It's simple to do. You can call our toll-free 57:37 number -- 877 -- the two words "HIS WILL," 877-HIS-WILL. 57:42 That friendly voice that answers, you tell him, you tell 57:46 her what your prayer need is, we'll join with you in that 57:49 petition. 57:50 May the God who answers prayer journey with you these next few days until we're right back 57:54 here together again next time. 57:58 ♪♪ ♪♪ 58:17 ♪♪ |
Revised 2022-12-01