A Day Of Thanks

Scripture Reading:  Romans 3:19-26

OPENING:  The first thanksgiving was held in December 1621, the Pilgrims second winter in America …  The first winter killed 44 of the original 102 colonists … The first winter their food ration was down to five kernels of corn each … An unexpected trading ship arrived, swapping them beaver pelts for corn, providing for their needs … The next summer’s crop brought hope so Governor William Bradford decreed that December 13, 1621, be set aside as a day of feasting and prayer to show the gratitude of the colonists that they were still alive … These Pilgrims, gave thanks to God for His provision to them … His provisions? … 20 acres of cleared land, no hostile Indians in that area, their newfound religious freedom, and for God’s provision of an interpreter to the Indians in Squanto … The colonists and more than 80 friendly Indians shared in prayers, sermons, and songs of praise … An important part in the celebration … Three days were spent eating and praying … From that time forward, Thanksgiving has been celebrated as a day to give thanks to God for His gracious and sufficient provision … President Lincoln officially set aside the last Thursday of November, in 1863, “as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father.” … Congress ruled in 1941, that the fourth Thursday of November be observed as Thanksgiving Day and be a legal holiday …

     What Does Scripture Have To Say About Giving Thanks?:

          Scripturally, we find thanksgiving nearly from cover to cover … Individuals offered sacrifices out of gratitude in the book of Genesis … The Israelites sang a song of thanksgiving as they were delivered from Pharaoh's army after the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 15) … Mosaic Law set aside three times each year when the Israelites were to gather together and give thanks to God …

          The Passover:  Exodus 12:15-20

          Pentecost:  Leviticus 23:15-21

          Feast of Tabernacles:  Leviticus 23:33-36

          All involved remembering God’s provision and grace … Pentecost and Tabernacles took place specifically in relation to God’s provision in the harvest of various fruit trees and crops …

          The book of Psalms is loaded with songs of thanksgiving, for God’s grace to the Israelites and His individual grace to each of us …

          Thanksgiving should always be a part of our prayers …

          1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you"

          Philippians 4:6  "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God"

          1 Timothy 2:1  "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men"

          

Of all of God’s gifts, the greatest one He has given is the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ … On the cross Jesus paid our sin debt, so a holy and just God could forgive us our sins and give us eternal life as a free gift …  This gift is available to all who will call on Christ to save them from their sin …

          John 3:16  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

          *Romans 3:19-26*

          Romans 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

          Ephesians 2:8-10  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

          Remember what Paul said about God’s gift of His Son … 2 Corinthians 9:15  "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"

CLOSING:  We, like the Pilgrims, have a choice … In life we will always have things that we can complain about … There is also much to be thankful for … As society becomes increasingly secular, the actual “giving of thanks to God” during the Thanksgiving holiday is being overlooked … People are only eating …

          Remember what James 1:17 tells us:  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows … I pray that God find us grateful every day for all of His gifts, spiritual and material …

          God is good, and every good gift comes from Him for those who know Christ … God also works everything together for good, even what we would not consider good,  Romans 8:28-30  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.