This sermon emphasizes the power of thanksgiving, highlighting the importance of having a grateful heart and being a thankful person. It explores the impact of thanksgiving on spiritual health and encourages the community to embrace a lifestyle of gratitude. The speaker delves into various biblical examples, such as King David's songs of thanksgiving and the significance of thanking the Lord in all circumstances.

I'd like to read from the book of Psalms, Mizmor Mea, Psalm 100. The book of Psalms, Psalm 100. Mizmor Mea or Mizmor Kuf? Psalm 100. Mizmor Mea is called a psalm of thanksgiving. Several weeks ago in the worship time here, the Lord really spoke to me about thanksgiving. Having a grateful heart. Being a thankful person. And I shared a little bit of this with our staff on Monday. But I feel like this is a word for our community. And that if we can get a hold of what this is all about, it will bring spiritual health into your walk with the Lord. So I want to call this the power of thanksgiving. Lord, I ask you that you would speak through me. You have spoken to me now. Lord, I ask you that your word would come through me and go into the hearts of the people. Make us a thankful people this morning. And we'll bless you for it. For all the blessings you've given us, and we thank you in advance for what you're going to do. In the name of Yeshua. Amen. Psalm 100. In my translation, also in the Hebrew version I have, it says it's a psalm of thanksgiving. Mizmor letoda. I love it in Hebrew. It's a mizmor letoda. It's a psalm that's all about thanksgiving. Now there's power in thanksgiving. Maybe you don't tend to think of it that way, but if you listen to me this morning, I hope you will get a revelation. There's power when you are a thankful person. Psalm 100. Verse 1. Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you nations. Serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with singing. Know that the Lord, he is God, that he is the one who's made us and not ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving. In other words, when you think about the temple, as they approached the temple, they had to enter his gates with thanksgiving. Let me tell you a secret. If you will become a thankful person, it is a key to a victorious spiritual life. It is a key to a victorious spiritual life. Why is it that Ariel and his two beautiful little children, do you have to tell them to say thank you occasionally? Every time. They'll learn. Kids usually say, Ani, ani, ani, ani, me, me, me. And you need to say to them, No, you need to thank the person that just gave you the chocolate. Do you give your kids chocolate? Not too much. He's a health freak. Praise the Lord. Okay, but it says, Enter his gates with thanksgiving. Did you come up here with a heart of thanksgiving today? I've got so much to thank the Lord for. You know, you're our family. Caramel is our family. The body here in Haifa is our family. But we also have family back in New York City. I mean, spiritual family. We're going to celebrate her brother's birthday, my brother's 50th wedding anniversary. That's family. But at the Times Square congregation, we have family there. We've been gone 26 years, and still when we get back, we can't wait to see some of our friends. So I came up here today with a heart full of thanksgiving. I thank God for our staff. I thank God for our musicians. I thank God for our intercessors. This place is full of faithful people, and I thank God for it. I love to come up here and see different people. There's Kamal. He was a Muslim. I say shalom, and he says salam. Hallelujah. One time I made a mistake and said salami. And it's wonderful to come up here and just meet with the body of Messiah, the family, the volunteers at Elijah's cloak. I don't know how they do it. They give away tons of clothing every year. Tons. The raven's basket, bringing baskets of food to people all over the city, Jews and Arabs. The staff at House of Victory. It's not easy to live with people coming off of drugs and alcohol. The women's shelter. Here come all these kids from Sudan dancing, and there's the staff dancing with them. My friends, I want to tell you this morning, I'm thankful. I'm thankful to God for my salvation. I'm thankful that he came and got me one day in New York. Hallelujah. Don't forget to thank the Lord. This psalm of thanksgiving here, it says, enter his courts with praise, be thankful to him, and bless his name. The Lord is good, and his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endures for all generations. We can't get our minds around mercy that lasts forever. We don't know what forever means. His mercy endures forever. His grace, his favor, the blessings that he wants to pour on us, they're not just new every morning, but they last forever. His mercy is everlasting. Why is it so much in the Bible? The song, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, and his mercy endures forever. We just sang it. But we sing it so much, I think we don't realize what we're saying. His mercy isn't just an act of kindness occasionally. His mercy is giving everlasting life to us forever. The mercy of God is awesome, it's wonderful, it's powerful. When we say, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, who am I focusing on? I'm not focusing on me, I'm focusing on him. When we say, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, we are in the proper relationship with him. Oh, do L'Adonai ki tov, ki le'olam chasdo. Ki le'olam chasdo. No, you say it in English. For his mercy endures forever. That's it. Isn't that wonderful? If you look at the verbs here, serve him, come to him, know him, enter, and praise. It's all thanksgiving. Why was it when armies were coming against Jerusalem and there was no hope for victory, that Jehoshaphat called the congregation together for fasting and prayer, and he said, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are on you. God spoke to one of the sons of the singers. His name is Jehaziel. And he got a word for Jehoshaphat. Stand still. Station yourself. The battle belongs to the Lord. That's the word that went out to the community. It went out the next morning. And the next morning, the Levites went first, the singers. What did they sing? Hodu ladonai ki tov, ki le'olam chazdo. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, and his mercy endures forever. Hodu ladonai ki tov, ki le'olam chazdo. What did the enemy think? They must have thought those crazy Israelis. Look at them. But confusion came into the camp. They all started ambushing one another. Hallelujah. Jehoshaphat and the others came and looked down and said, this is the valley of ... we're going to call this place the Valley of Blessing. You need to thank the Lord before the answer. Hello? Thank the Lord before he answers. Give thanks to the Lord. He will move in his time, but thank him now. I'm telling you, it will change your life. You know, last night I started Googling or going on the internet, looking up the word grateful. What does it mean to be a grateful person? To have gratitude. One of the things I read, psychologists now teach that gratitude is the essence of a good mental life. Let me say it again. Gratitude, being a grateful person, it is the key, it is the essence of a good mental life. Hello? Now look, if psychologists know that, maybe they don't know about thanking the Lord. We know how to thank the Lord. Because his mercy endures forever. It's the essence of a good mental life. It's true. A bitter person is miserable all the time. A thankful person will be gracious, will receive life. Don't you want to be a thankful person? You know, I thank God for Ivan and his family. You know, I thank God for Ivan and his family. Ivan and his wife Rachel were the first people married on this platform. We hadn't finished the building. This tile wasn't here. So Pam and some of the others, they put white paper or whatever it was all over it. So you guys could enter and come here. And Danny and I married them in a long time. And since then, Danny had long black hair. Hallelujah. It was the first wedding and here they are back here today. What? Oh, and they also have three children by the way. Where's Ariel? He told me a good joke yesterday. It's wonderful. Ivan I think met the Lord when he was 16 at Beit Nitzachon. Praise the Lord. It's great to see you and your mom Olga. Okay, where am I? Where am I? The beauty of a grateful heart is a great song. Give thanks with a grateful heart. Make it be your life song. David Silver is going like this. He's thankful for his wife and his two beautiful boys. Amen. Praise the Lord. Is there somebody or something you can be thankful for right now? If they happen to be sitting there, you tell them. Karen, I thank God for you. Rita, I thank you and Peter. Ruth, thank God you came with your violin today. We'll be here thanking all day long. Pam, I thank you for all the hundreds of thousands of hours you've poured into the community. Gideon and Rene, thank you. Hallelujah. We'll have a thank you party. Okay, turn to 1 Kings. I want to tell you something. The people in the Tanakh, the Old Testament, they really knew how to thank the Lord. And then you come to the B'rit HaChadashah, the New Covenant, and you see Paul's thanking the Lord all the time. But they had a revelation, the worshipers and the leaders, they had a revelation of the power of thanksgiving. Look at 1 Chronicles. The book of Chronicles, chapter 1, rather, yeah. 1 Chronicles. Chapter 16. The children of Israel, 45,000 of them came back from the Babylonian captivity. And it was all miraculous how they came. Gentiles gave them money, the kings blessed them, and they came back, and they started building the wall around Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple. And before all that happened, in 1 Chronicles, chapter 16, David, the king, longed for the presence of God, and he finally found the Ark, and he brought it up to Jerusalem. David was such a worshiper, he started appointing worshipers. They put the Ark in a little tent before they built the temple. And in verse 4, this is 1 Chronicles 16.4, he appointed some Levites to minister before the Ark of the Lord to commemorate, or to remember, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel. David was longing to bring the Ark up to Jerusalem. They found it down near Abu Ghosh. They brought it up to Jerusalem. Put it in a tent. He started getting all these singers together, and he said, we need to remember the Lord in our worship, and he said, we need to thank Him, and we need to praise Him. The first thing David did, we need to thank the Lord. He wasn't strutting around saying, I found the Ark, and aren't I a powerful guy? He was thanking the Lord, and the Holy Spirit was poured out all over the place. As they started thanking the Lord, the Lord, the Holy Spirit, gave him a tremendous song. And they sang it that day. You know what it was about? Thanksgiving. Let's look at it. It's right here. 1 Chronicles chapter 16, 1 Chronicles 16, verse 7. On that day, David first delivered this psalm into the hands of Asaph and his brethren to thank the Lord. David the king had a grateful heart. Who am I, and who is my house that you brought me this far? As I was tending the sheep, he would say to the Lord, who am I that you would even thank you? Look at verse 8. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people. David was saying, they were singing his song, he was singing with them, give thanks to the Lord. They sang this song together, give thanks to the Lord. He said, give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people. He was teaching the people of Israel to thank the Lord. He knew about the power of thanksgiving. Look at verse 34. This song was given to him, and they sang it as they began to institute the worship in Jerusalem. Verse 34. Oh, give thanks to the Lord God, for He is good, and His mercy endures forever. His mercy endures forever. Not just until next week, forever. Whatever forever is, it will never end. Verse 35. And say, save us, O God of our salvation. Gather us together, and deliver us from the Gentiles, to give thanks to Your holy name, to triumph in Your praise. Hallelujah. There's triumph in praise, and there's triumph in thanksgiving. Can you thank the Lord right now? Just thank Him. Close your eyes. Lord, I thank You. Thank You, Father, that You would send Yeshua. Thank You for the Holy Spirit. Thank You for coming and getting me. I bless You, and I thank You for it. Make us a thankful people in Yeshua's name. Amen. When they finally did come back from Babylon, and they were building the wall around Jerusalem, and the enemies were attacking them, look what happened. Verse 31. Nehemiah. Excuse me. Nehemiah chapter 12. Verse 29. The second part of Nehemiah 12. 29. Singers had built themselves villages all around Jerusalem. You see what this is? All the singers were being drawn to Jerusalem. They were building villages around Jerusalem. They were all living around the temple. They were all being trained by Asaph. They were being trained to sing with skill. They were being trained to beautify the Lord and His holiness. So they decide to have this meeting. Look at verse 31. I brought the leaders of Jerusalem up on the wall and appointed two large thanksgiving choirs. One went to the right hand on the wall, and the other to the refuge gate. They've come back from Babylonian captivity. They're building the wall. So what do they do about it? They appoint two thanksgiving choirs. They appoint two thanksgiving choirs. They appoint two thanksgiving choirs. What would you do if you came up here today and we had Levites, a choir all the way around that merpeset. And then we had another choir all the way around that merpeset. And you know what they would be singing? And they would answer, Then you would enter His gates with thanksgiving. Amen. I'm telling you, these people knew how to thank the Lord. He came and got them out of captivity and brought them back to Jerusalem and restoring the temple and restoring the wall. When they started singing like this, look what had happened. Look at verse 43. They offered great sacrifices, rejoiced for God and made them rejoice with a great joy. The women, the children also rejoiced so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off. Is your life a psalm of thanksgiving? I'm talking to you. Hello. Is your life a psalm of thanksgiving? Are you grateful? Are you a person that just exudes gratefulness, graciousness? When these people started worshiping the Lord, singing, thanking the Lord, they heard it all over the city. Wouldn't it be wonderful if all the worship we do up here starts permeating Haifa? Starts permeating Galilee? Starts permeating this city and goes all the way to Lebanon. This is why we come up here and we do these worship watches. Now, turn to Psalm 136. Ariel, I'm going to really need your help here. That's why you're here, right? That's right. Thank you. Thank you. Psalm 136. And thank you. No, thank you more. You're welcome. Okay. We'll have a welcoming choir. You are welcome. You are welcome. B'ruchim. B'ruchim chavim choir. Okay. Psalm 136, verse 1. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, and His mercy endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, His mercy endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His mercy endures forever. To Him who alone does great wonders, His mercy endures forever. These choirs that were up on the wall, sang responsibly. That means they sang antiphonally. That means they sang back and forth to each other. In World War I, when the Germans and the French were slaughtering each other in the trenches of France, when the Germans and the French were slaughtering each other, you know what they did on Christmas Eve? They're in these trenches freezing. They started singing Christmas carols back and forth to each other. And then the next morning they started killing each other again. These people knew about singing back and forth. I'll sing the first line, you sing the second. Ho do la do nai ki tov ki le olam chazdo. Okay. You're my choir. This is your choir. You have more good singers than I do. I don't know if people from Texas can sing Hebrew. I don't know if people from Texas can sing Hebrew. So you sing Ho do la do nai ki tov. Ho do la do nai ki tov. Can you sing it now? Which one are we doing? Ho do la do nai ki tov ki le olam chazdo. Ho do la do nai ki tov ki le olam chazdo. All together. Ho do Ho do Ho do la do nai ki tov. Ho do Ho do Ho do Ho do la do nai ki tov. Hallelujah! I feel healthier already. My mind is clear. You know, we need to be a thankful people. Were you thankful when the miracle of a new life was born to your wife? I've talked to some of our young people that had a baby for the first time. They cried all day long. They just can't get over the goodness of it. Hallelujah! You know, Paul the Apostle, Shaliyach Sha'ul, he always, he reads his letters. He thanks God for the communities that he founded. That first congregation he founded in Macedonia, the first time he came to Europe. He loved those people. He was beaten almost to death, and all these miracles happened. He loved those people. He would write to them, I still remember the day we first started in the Gospel. And he says, I thank my God continually for you. He remembered all their names. He put their names in his letters. And he wrote to the Philippians once. Paul was in jail. He wrote all the way back to Philippi in Macedonia, north of Greece. This is what he said. Be anxious for nothing. Years ago, before I was in the ministry, my secretary, where I worked, she was taking care of everything. And I would say, Relax, relax. She wasn't a believer, but I got her this plaque, and I put it on her desk. It says this, it's Philippians 4.6. Be anxious for nothing. But in everything, in everything, not just a few things, everything with prayer and supplication and thanksgiving. The key is thanksgiving. Prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving. Make your petitions known to the Lord. And he will guard your mind and your heart if you would only thank the Lord for all his blessings. Don't think about the negative. Bless him for the wonderful things he's done for you, and he's going to do. Going back to New York, we'll be flying out tomorrow. I have a lot of memories of New York. I'm free of the whole thing that I used to do as an actor. But my friends in New York will be seeing my brother and Karen's brother. So I've been thinking about New York. I haven't been there for over a year and a half. And I was thinking this. One day when I was ministering at a place we had called the Upper Room, it was on 41st Street in Times Square. We helped drug addicts, people dying with AIDS, people that were sleeping in cardboard boxes, prostitutes, and people whose legs were filled with sores because of AIDS. And I remember one time doing this meeting, and I was overwhelmed at the goodness of God that he cared about these people and somebody was helping them. And these people were kneeling there and weeping, and we were praying for them. And people were kneeling there and crying, and we were praying for them. And God really touched some of them and we were able to get them into programs and homes where they could live. And after it was over, I looked out of the window. I was on 41st Street. A few blocks north, 44th Street. I happened to look at the back of this Broadway theater and I remembered I had acted in that theater. And the Lord spoke to me and said, I took you from there and I brought you here. I took you from the Broadway to the narrow way which leads to life, the life of these poor people. And I was overwhelmed with thanksgiving that he took me out of that and put me in this. Hallelujah. One night I was having dinner with David Wilkerson. He was taking my position as a university professor and was going into the ministry. He and I were talking about it. And then he looked at me and he said, How long have you been doing this? How long have you been involved in the theater and the acting and directing and all that? And I said, 18 years. He just stared at me. We left the restaurant. It was on Broadway. It was cold. And as we said goodnight and he walked one way and I went the other. He called me. He said, David, David, don't you forget to thank him for your new heart. Don't forget to thank him for your new heart. He turned around and I wept. And I walked down Broadway crying with my new heart. And I thanked the Lord for it. I've thanked him ever since. All my life. All the bright lights, all the names in the market, all the stuff that I've been involved in, and I was free. The most beautiful thing he ever said to me, don't forget to thank him for being free in your heart. Hallelujah. The Lord wants to do something here. The Lord wants to do something here. I know some of you haven't thanked the Lord recently. You need to thank him. For everything. If you want to give a thank, let's stand. If you want to give a thank offering to the Lord, why don't you just slip out of your chairs, seats, and come on up here. You can kneel, stand, whatever you want to do, and just thank him. If you know you need to have more of a thankful heart, come all the way up. More of a thankful heart. I know some of you have not been thanking the Lord. You've been looking at all your problems. Thank him. There's victory in thanksgiving. He came and got you. He came and got you. When I was put into the ministry, I asked the Lord, What does it mean? And he showed me in the Scriptures. You didn't choose me, but I chose you. And ordained you. And appointed you to go and bear fruit. And your fruit will remain. This is the word of the Lord. Come all the way up. Make more. If you have a divided heart, if you have really not been giving your whole heart to the Lord, you come. And the Lord will heal your heart. If you're worried about the future, if you're worried about what's coming, this is the time to say, Lord, I trust you. And I thank you. I want to be a thankful person the rest of my life. I want to pray for people that have been having trouble with their minds. Some have had migraines. Headaches. Difficulty to sleep. They come against the enemy in the name of the Lord. We thank Yeshua for the power of the cross. The transforming power of the blood of Messiah. He came to set the captives free. We say to those that have been in mind battles, be free in the name of the Lord. If there's real sin in your life that you're aware of, you just tell Him, I'm sorry. Thank Him that His mercy endures forever. Hallelujah. Let's worship now. Let's thank Him.