- my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, without whom I would be nothing, but through whom I have
eternal life;
- my Christian family at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in West Columbia, SC, without whom I may
never been able to attend ILC for as long as I have (or will);
- the faculty of ILC for allowing me to present these chapel addresses at ILC.
*Note: The chapels listed on this page are ones that I had the privelege of sharing with the students at Immanuel Lutheran College. Some of them are dated the day that I gave the chapel, but unfortunately not all of them were. All hymns are taken from The Lutheran Hymnal.
Body: Have you been blessed lately? Sometimes we are blessed so often and receive so many blessings that we take them for granted and are not always able to see the blessings God gives to us. I have been blessed so much this year that I have called it a year of blessings.
First, over this summer I had the great privilege of confronting a friend with a sin and seeing him being brought to repentance through the Gospel. Then, the Lord decided to bless Nathan Greve and I in October with the opportunity to rent a fully furnished duplex on Stein Boulevard at a more than reasonable price. Then, after we moved into the duplex the Lord continued to bless us by giving to us, through several sources, a free couch, a free microwave, and a free vacuum cleaner as well. Just when I believed things couldn't get any better, the Lord blessed me yet another time. The most recent blessing that the Lord has bestowed upon me is a very special friendship with a wonderful woman.
Now you can be sure that in each one of these instances, I lifted a hearty thank you to God. Some of you too may have had similar experiences where you just have to lift a great thank you to God for a very special blessing He has given you. But our text says that we are to give thanks to God always for all things. Now this list of blessings that I just rambled off is mostly a list of minor blessings in the grand scheme of things. The Lord has given us something on this earth that constitutes a much greater blessing: His written word which contains the sweet gospel message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In fact, God's Word is the one thing needful on this earth. It is the greatest physical and spiritual blessing which He gives to all people. Knowing this it becomes quite easy to give thanks to God no matter the circumstance because there is at least one thing that we all have for which we are to be thankful all the time. If any of us has God's Word available to us then we have a reason to be thankful. And we have it with us all the time even though it may not always be in print because we have had the privilege of memorizing passages from Scripture, whether it be while we were growing up, or here at Immanuel.
In verse 17 of our text the Spirit tells us through Paul that we are not to be unwise but we are to understand what the will of the Lord is. The will of the Lord is revealed to us through the blessing of Scripture. He promises us that all things work together for good to those that love God to those who are called according to His purpose. In James 1:17, the Spirit also says that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. With this knowledge, that what God wills in our lives is always good, then through the working of the Holy Spirit we can give thanks to God for all things that may come into our life whether they be sickness, or health; good times, or conflict. For all of these things that the Lord permits to come into our life, are meant to draw us closer to Him. That is certainly something to be thankful about.
So when you say your prayers at night, and are thanking God for all of the physical blessings He has given to you, remember also to thank Him for His Word through which He has given to us the one thing needful: the message of the forgiveness of sins through the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Closing Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have given to us undeserving sinners Your Holy Word, through which we are able to learn of Your ways and of our salvation through Your Son Jesus Christ. Help us to always be mindful of the blessings that you give us, especially the blessing of Your written Word. Bestow in us the ability to always give thanks to you in all times, especially during hard times. Open our eyes so that we are able to see Your hand in all that happens to us. We ask this in Your dear Son's name. Amen.
Closing Hymn: "Now Thank We All Our God" TLH-36