Count your Blessings

School holidays
- Look forward → 5 weeks of holiday
  - Yahoooo diggidydoo
  - 5 Weeks of…
    - Staying up late
    - Sleeping in late
    - Spending times with friends - and family
    - Not worrying about tomorrow
    - What are you looking forward to doing?
  - But before we rush into the holidays - I want us to stop for a moment and look back - I want us to push the pause button (⏯️) this morning and try to remember some of the many ways in which the Lord God has blessed us during the year
    - Like a climber (🧗) getting to the top of a mountain - and enjoying the moment - but also looking back to highlights and the low-lights
      - The hard slog up the mountain - the hard climb - but then the exhilaration of reaching the summit
  - And if we are honest with ourselves, we have come a long way—not just in time, but in growth and maturity
    - This year may not have been easy going
      - You may have had a hard time at school
        The work was harder than we thought
        A friendship may not have worked out like we wanted
        We have lost a loved one this year
    - But despite those tough times - we need to look back and to count our blessings
      - To be grateful for all that the Lord has allowed us to experience this year and for the many, many ways in which he has blessed us - and the many ways that he has allowed us to grow
  - Now if you are anything like me - then I forget things very quickly and I need constant reminders of the things He has taught me
    - The lessons that he has taught me
    - The ways in which he has allowed me to grow
    - The prayers that he has answered
    - The ways that he has cared for me.
  - So in my office I brought 3 things that remind me of all the ways the Lord has blessed me over the years.
    - Lanyards
      - 1 Jan = 11 years that I have been in business
        Lawrence and the leading to start the business
        I was called to business
        What does that mean?
        Ups & downs
        Some months where it did not look like we would be able to pay salaries
        We made BIG mistakes that cost us lots of money
        Times when I was at my wits end
        With my business partner
        With clients
        It might be like this for you at school
        You have worked hard… and you are struggling to understand that one thing one - marks are not what you wanted
        Bad relationship with a friend
    - Wedding Dress
      - 12th December = 27 years of marriage
        Anyone who told you that marriage was all sunshine and roses - lied
        There are good times but there are also very challenging times
        Trust me - I am not a walk in the park - selective hearing
        But what I can tell you is that my wife is a blessing from the Lord
        My greatest critic & my biggest supporter
        I know that there are tough times ahead but with the Lord’s blessing we are better together
        I should thank the Lord everyday for our marriage… but I don’t… and that is the point
        We need to consciously remember what Jesus has done for us - we need to tell each other the stories of his blessing
    - Picture of dad
      - 30 November was his Birthday - almost 10 years since he has passed away
        This picture sits on my desk as a reminder of him
        I am so very grateful for my mom & dad
        They brought me up to know the bible
        They prayed for me - A LOT
        They brought me to Sunday School every week
        I was not a walk in the park
        Thank you father for blessing me with Godly parents - not perfect - But Godly
        I often look at this picture and I ask myself - Am I the man he wanted me to be
        [I am reminded] Am I the father that our heavenly father wants me to be
      - Psalm 107

¹ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love (mercy) endures forever.

² Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story

We are instructed here to GIVE THANKS - to who - THE LORD
- This might feel like an order BUT rather if we live in God’s presence - we cannot help but not keep this glorious experience to ourselves - we want to tell others
  - STOP - REMEMBER
- What must we remember?
  - His love and mercy has no end!
  - It has no beginning and no end!
  - Aunty Zena Loves me… but there is a point at which she stops… there is a line in the sand
  - I can say that I will love you forever… but can I really?
  - BUT God can… and he
Here is the challenge that I want to leave with you this morning…
- Thankfulness to GOD should constantly be on the lips of those whom he has saved!
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
To the adults this morning - if you will bear with me for the next 5 minutes - I would like to read the rest of the Psalm to you
- Now the Psalms from 107-150 are all Psalms of praise
  - Praising God’s work in their lives
  - Recounting their blessings
  - Thanking Him for their deliverance
- Psalm 107 is a hymn of thanksgiving celebrating God's enduring loyal love for the redeemed
  - Who are the redeemed? - the Jews - His people - who he had brought up out of Egypt - But that had wandered in the desert
  - The Psalm is made up of four vivid stories of rescue
  - Four stories that are true for us today
- Each of these ‘Four Deliverance Stories’ follows a pattern:
  - people in trouble -> they cry out -> God rescues -> call to give thanks.
  - Each of them begins with ‘Some’
    - Lost in the Desert (vv. 4-9)
      - Before we knew Jesus we were wanders
      - Wandering in the spiritual wilderness
        Jesus is the Way
        Jesus is the Bread of Life
        Jesus is the Living Water
        Jesus is the Giver of Rest
      - Who should give thanks?
        Anyone who has found satisfaction that comes from knowing Him
    - Prisoners in Darkness (v. 10-16)
      - I have not been in prison… not yet…
      - But I have certainly found myself is situations where because of my own stubbornness and rebelliousness
        Not listen to God’s direction in my life where I have felt imprisoned
        That I was powerless to change my situation and the hardship that I was enduring
        That no matter where I looked I did not see any light at the end of the tunnel and no way forward
        And then I have experienced God’s deliverance
      - God breaks their chains and brings them to light.
      - When God’s deliverance comes nothing can stand in its way
    - Sick to Death (v. 17-22)
      - A physical affliction - you have experience physical challenges and difficulties - not because of old age or illness
      - Rather because of your of foolishness and sin you have allowed yourself to become addicted
        We all too often & very quickly point a finger to drugs & alcohol as examples of addition
        Gambling
        Food
        Pornography
        Shopping
        Work??
      - We allow these habits to creep-in and very quickly they take over our lives
      - HEALING can be found in Christ alone!
    - Sailors in a Storm (v. 23-32)
      - Merchants that have gone out on the might waves
      - They have experienced and seen the Lord’s wonderful deeds
      - But like the disciples in the boat the wind and waves have been stirred up and they have begun to overwhelm our boats
      - NOW God does this so that we will not become
      - God stills the tempest and brings them to harbor
As we come towards the end of the year - another busy year
- I want to encourage you to ‘count your blessings”
- There is lovely old hymn that sums it up so well.

Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Count your Blessings

Written by:

Alister Payne