Hunger Mountain Christian Assembly
Thanksgiving 2011
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV) 
Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Introduction: Thursday is Thanksgiving and the beginning of the Holiday Season. It can be a time of great joy for some people and for some it is the most depressing time of the year. There are more suicides at this time of year than any other. It doesn’t have to be that way if we remember to be thankful. Thankful for what we have rather than what we don’t have. It comes down to perspective, is the glass half full or half empty. So, I want us to begin to think this morning about the goodness of God and the abundance of His blessings in your life as I bring you my message of “Thanksgiving.”
What does thanksgiving mean?
1. Grk. Eucharisteo, to be grateful, to express gratitude, to say grace at meals: give thanks.
2. An act of giving thanks; an expression of gratitude, especially to God: appreciation, acknowledgment, gratefulness.
3. The act of praying: supplication, devotions, worship, praise.
4. A short prayer said at meals: blessing, benediction, grace.
What are we to give thanks for?
1. God. (Being our Father and drawing us to Christ)
2. Jesus. (forgiveness of sin and salvation)
3. Holy Spirit. (gifts and enabling)
4. Church.
5. Mother and Father.
6. Husband or wife.
7. Children.
8. Family.
9. Friends.
10. Whatever you have. [home, job, etc. not what you don’t have]
11. Health.
12. The country we live in, the United States of America.
13. If we think about it, the list becomes endless.
Be thankful for love; God’s love for us and our love for Him and others.
Holidays are about family, friends and quality time spent together. Make your meals and gatherings special.
Do not go into debt to give stuff to one another. The commercialization of the holidays is ungodly and please don’t get caught up in it.
Conclusion: Thanksgiving is more than a time to eat tons of food and watch football. It should be about remembrance of our lives and all that we should be thankful for. Are you thinking about what you have and not about what you don’t have? If we will judge things fairly, our glasses are half full not half empty. We have so much and don’t realize it. The Pilgrims came and when they had survived the harsh winter and were alive after so many had passed away, they celebrated a time of “Thanksgiving” at the fall harvest. Giving thanks to God for His blessings and faithfulness, we should do no less. We are a blessed people and nation. Don’t ever forget it and never forget to give thanks to God.
Close: First Proclamation After Plymouth
Governor Bradford of Massachusetts made this first Thanksgiving Proclamation three years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth:
“Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as He has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience.
Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.”
— William Bradford Ye Governor of Ye Colony