Thanksgiving
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Thanksgiving
Have you ever looked to see what the definition of Thanksgiving is?
It is really interesting because I am going to tell you that probably 80% of Americans do not know the dictionary definition of Thanksgiving.
Listen to this:
the act of giving thanks and grateful acknowledgment of benefits or favors, especially to God.
an expression of thanks, especially to God.
a public celebration in acknowledgment of divine (God) favor or kindness.
a day set apart for giving thanks to God.
We are going into a week that we will celebrate a Holiday. On our calendars it is called Thanksgiving but what does that mean to us?
People will be taking off of work, traveling, eating food, watching football, hanging out with friends and family. Do they know what Thanksgiving is?
Do they have any idea why we have a Holiday that is named Thanksgiving?
As more and more lawsuits are brought against anyone that acknowledges God and His authority in the State run public school system we literally take days off of school and shut down government agencies to celebrate Thanksgiving not knowing why.
If you asked the person on the street they would probably tell you that it was a feast between the Indians and the pilgrims.
Even though these can be linked there is so much more to it and this week I want us to know what is important about this time of year.
In 1620 the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts. They promptly had a prayer service asking for God’s direction and provision in the New World.
They were not prepared for the harsh winter that would follow and many of them died.
In 1621 they, with the help of the Native Americans, planted crops and recieved a great harvest.
They wanted to celebrate what God had done for them and so they had a 3 day feast.
They invited the Natives to come and celebrate what God had provided.
Edward Winslow was one of the pilgrims at that first Thanksgiving in the New world and here is a little of what He wrote:
Our harvest being gathered in, our Governor sent four men on Fouling [bird hunting] so that we might, after a special manner, rejoice together after we had gathered the first fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much foul as . . . served the company almost a week. . . . Many of the Indians [came] amongst us and . . . their greatest King, Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted; and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought. . . . BY THE GOODNESS OF GOD WE ARE . . . FAR FROM WANT.
In October 1789 President George Washington issued the first presidential thanksgiving proclamation as a day for giving thanks to that "great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. . . ."
President Washington declared that Both Houses of Congress asked him "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness. . . ."
Let us look at what the scripture tells us about thanksgiving.
Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.
Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds.
Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord.
We must thank God so the world will know what He has done.
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.
Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God.
2. We must be generous in our portion that we give back to God so people will thank Him.
I want you to see something here. We give to the Lord because He has been generous to us. And when we give that goes to touch others lives for Christ and they then thank God or have Thanksgiving.
Think about it. That means the opposite happens when we don’t give of what God has given us. When we hold God’s generosity to us for ourselves then people are not thanking God for our personal generosity.
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
3. God made us to be thankful in every situation.
So let us remember what Thanksgiving is. We are thanking Almighty God for everything he has supplied to us.