Happy Thanks Giving – Part 1

Malachi 3:1-5 “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord
an offering in righteousness. “Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old, as in former years. And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien— because they do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts.

In a day and age when we take a day to thank God for all the good things in our life, then wake up in the wee-hours of the very next day to brave the elements, long lines and crazed shoppers trampling each other to get even more, we have to seriously take a step to the side of this rat race and evaluate our interests and priorities. Pastor Kyle’s examination of the Book of Malachi this last Sunday diverted our focus from the temptations of this world that distract our prideful hearts attention and back onto our priceless Lord and we serve a loving Provider of all that truly matters in life. Sometimes, people mix things up in all the commotion and lose sight of this and serve ourselves or worse, envision a genie-like God that’s purpose is to serve them. The message of the egocentric world is: “I want it all, I want it now, and I want it delivered!”  But, God does not serve us; we serve God – Creator of Heaven and Earth. Where is the “fear of the Lord” today? Have we forgotten who He is, what He did, and what He is going to do? He send Prophets as messengers who foretold the truth, He sent His Son, the Truth, to provide an answer to sin and its judgment to come. Don’t wait until its too late before you clean up the junk in your life.

Malachi 3:6-7 “For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.

Let’s read the finale of Pastor Kyle’s challenging Sermon tomorrow.

In Christ, Brian