Sermon Tone Analysis

*            *What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

Many of you plan on doing some cooking, entertaining some family or friends.

You’ve got a menu to plan, groceries to buy, dining rooms to decorate.

Maybe you’ve already started, or maybe you’ll wait until the last minute, but either way Thanksgiving will be a busy day for you.

Others of us plan on watching some ball games on Thanksgiving.

Maybe you’ll watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade on TV, or scan the ads for Black Friday specials.

Even with gas so expensive, I’ve heard there will be a record number of travelers in the air and on the road this Thanksgiving.

Maybe you’ll be one.

No matter how old or young you are, Thanksgiving will most likely be a busy day for you.

But with all the other plans and activities, I want to ask you an important question: what are you planning to do with Jesus this Thanksgiving?

On your to-do list, is there anything you will do just for Him? I’d like to offer you 4 suggestions to add to your Thanksgiving to-do list for Jesus.

They all come from *Psalm 105:1-4*.

*PRAYER*

*            *What can you do for Jesus this Thanksgiving?

Well let’s begin with the obvious:

*1)    **Thank Him.

*/ Oh, Give thanks unto the Lord! /

From the oldest to the youngest, everyone gathered at the table for Thanksgiving Dinner were expressing their praise.

When they came to the 5-year-old in the family, he began by expressing his thanks to the turkey, saying although he had not tasted it he knew it would be good.

After that he began a more predictable line of credits, thanking his mother for cooking the turkey and his father for buying the turkey.

But then he said, "I thank you for the checker at the grocery store who checked out the turkey.

I thank you for the grocery store people who put it on the shelf.

I thank you for the farmer who made it fat.

I thank you for the man who made the feed.

I thank you for those who brought the turkey to the store."

He traced the turkey all the way from its origin to his plate.

And then at the end he solemnly said "Did I leave anybody out?" His 2-year-older brother, said, "God."

Without being flustered at all, the 5-year-old said, "I was just about to get to Him."[i]

So many people never get to Him on Thanksgiving.

On the one day set aside to give thanks for God’s blessing, millions of people will forget to give thanks to Jesus this Thanksgiving Day.

The psalmist begins his song with a call to everyone: /Oh, give thanks unto the Lord! /

Do you hear passion in this invitation?

/Let your heart so overflow with gratitude that you give thanks to the Lord from your heart!

/He’s not just asking for a dull ritual prayer around the table—he is calling us to fervently and sincerely thank God from the bottom of our hearts.

In other words, don’t let your thanks be just a duty, let it be a spontaneous, sincere expression of grateful love for the Lord.

Now you might say /Bro.

Mike, I just can’t get that excited about Thanksgiving.

/It’s good to be honest, but let me suggest to you that you /can /passionately give thanks to the Lord if you are first willing to do some serious thinking.

First, think about how much God has given you.

*Jas 1:17* /Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights…/

How often do you take a break from your hectic schedule and think about every good and perfect gift your Heavenly Father gives you?

It’s easier to focus on all you don’t have, all of your problems, what you wish would be different.

But what if you took the time—say 15 minutes—to think and to thank Him for all the beautiful, wonderful people and things He gives?

He gave you that spouse who’s seen you at your worse and still loves you.

He gave you those kids who think you’re the greatest.

He gives you that nice warm home you enjoy on these cold, chilly nights.

He gave you that job that pays all your bills.

He gave you an appetite to enjoy eating that big meal.

He gave you a heart that can love and be loved.

He gave you His Son, Jesus, so you can experience abundant, eternal life.

You and I could play /count your many blessings /all day, but you get the point.

Sure you have problems, but for just a little while, can you set aside those problems and take time to think of all the blessings God has showered on your life—and then thank Him?

So many people never stop to think about their blessings until they’re gone.

When you reach for that hand and it isn’t there, when you long for that child and they’re gone, when you can’t make ends meet and your health starts to fail---so often that’s the first time a person realizes how blessed they’ve been.

How much better it would be to take time to count your blessings /now/, to tell the Lord how much you appreciate all He’s given you.

If you take time to think, your heart will be filled with thanks, and you can do what the psalmist urges us to do: /Oh, give thanks unto the Lord! /Don’t offer Jesus a stale, meaningless prayer over your meal this Thanksgiving---take time to count your blessings, and as you do, remember to obey the words of

*Ps 106:1* /…Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!.../

            The first thing on your Thanksgiving To-Do List ought to be to thank the Lord.

The 2nd thing on your list ought to be:

 

 

 

*2)    **Call Him.

*/…call upon His Name…/

How many of you knew there is a special phone number for questions about your Thanksgiving turkey?

The Butterball Turkey Hotline—1-800-BUTTERBALL.

Over the years, they’ve complied a list of the

*Top Ten Questions Received By The Butterball Turkey Hotline*

10. "If I put my phone in the turkey, can you tell me if it's done?"

9. "How can I be sure it's dead?"

8. "Transfer me to the gravy department."

7. "Given the current market, am I better off renting a turkey?"

6. "Can I buy an extended warranty for my turkey?"

5. "I've never cooked a turkey before--is it like cooking a raccoon?"

4. "When will the 2009 models be released?"

3. "Did you know your telephone number is one off from the gutter ball bowling hotline?"

2. "What's the best kind of stuffing to shoot from a cannon?"

1. "How big a turkey should I get for 1,500 hungry female cons?"

You may want to call the Turkey hotline this Thanksgiving.

The psalmist encourages us to take advantage of another kind of hotline when he says /call upon His Name.

/

/            /Calling someone by name involves a certain level of personal relationship, something like when we say we know a person on a first name basis.

Anybody can call on God, but only those in a personal relationship with Him can truly /call upon His Name.

/

Calling on His Name involves an acknowledgement of your dependence on God.

Calling on God is a call for help, a recognition you are in over your head, that unless God helps you, you probably won’t make it.

One example:

*Ps 34:6* /This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles./

Do you ever feel that way during the holidays?

They call it the season of joy, but too often it is a season of stress, headaches, and even depression.

Trouble never takes a holiday, and even on a day when you and I should be giving thanks, we can feel as if we are drowning.

This is why one of the things on your to-do list for Thanksgiving should be to /call upon His Name.

/

You don’t need a toll-free number to call on Jesus this morning, but you do need to have a personal relationship with Him.

Do you know Jesus on a first name basis, or is all your knowledge only second-hand hearsay?

If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, this needs to be on your to-do list not just for Thanksgiving, but for today.

*Ro 10:13* /For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”/

Are you in over your head this morning?

Maybe you feel like you are going down for the last time, overwhelmed by your worries and fears.

Call on His Name, and He will save you, and rescue you from whatever pit you’re in.

The 3rd thing to put on your Thanksgiving to-do list is

/ /

*3)    **Praise Him.  (v.

1b-3)*

If you’re a sports fan, you’ll probably be watching at least one of the bowl games this Thanksgiving.

Part of the fun comes after the game is played, especially if your team wins.

You know what I mean: you sit around with somebody else and replay the best parts.