IT IS SO GOOD TO BE THANKFUL!!!

Before we get to the more important items for today… we need to get some bad jokes out of the way...

"What did the turkey say to the turkey hunter on Thanksgiving Day?" "Quack, Quack!"

"Why did the farmer have to separate the chicken and the turkey?" "He sensed fowl play."

"What key has legs and can't open a door?" "A tur-key."

"What do you call a running turkey?" "Fast food.

What are we trying to do here today?

— Recognize that our thankfulness belongs to God alone.

— See and understand it is our RESPONSIBILITY to offer “THANKS” to those who are closet to you.

— We should be offering THANKS to the one who deserves it most!

— We should be sharing our THANKSGIVING with the WORLD!!!

"THANKSGIVING (תּוֹדָה, todah; εὐχαριστία, eucharistia). The act of offering thanks or being thankful, usually to God. Often connected to provision, deliverance, or God’s character. Commonly associated in Scripture with meals and worship. [Lexham Bible Dictionary]

— Today is a day to give thanks… To God, to our family and friends

— Today we will sit around tables and have a feast.

— Of course there are many issues in our world... We are still to be THANKFUL.

— All of us have personal issues that seem to overwhelm us at times… But we are still to be THANKFUL.

Thankfulness from scripture

— The word associated with being thankful in the Old Testament is “todah”

— Todah is similar to “to praise, and confess”

— THANKSGIVING has a large place in the Psalms

Psalm 116:17–19 ESV

17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. 18 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, 19 in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!

— That Psalm was written as individual not corporately.

— Here is the more corporate Psalm

Psalm 100 ESV

A Psalm for giving thanks. 1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! 3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! 5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT...

— In the New Testament, THANKSGIVING is closely tied to the concept of GRACE

— IF you remember our working definition from our introduction

"THANKSGIVING (תּוֹדָה, todah; εὐχαριστία, eucharistia). The act of offering thanks or being thankful, usually to God. Often connected to provision, deliverance, or God’s character. Commonly associated in Scripture with meals and worship.” [Lexham Bible Dictionary]

Pull out the word “eucharistia” and within that is the word “CHARIS.”

“CHARIS” is most like the word GRACE!

New Testament People offer THANKSGIVING to God… In many different ways!

— Worship

1 Timothy 2:1 ESV

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,

— Individual prayer

Acts 28:15 ESV

15 And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.

— And At Meals

Matthew 15:36–37 ESV

36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

In the New Testament, thanks is given to God in response to the work of Christ.

— Here is a sample of that

Romans 7:25 ESV

25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

— As Jesus was “THANKFUL” to His Father… So are we responsive to Christs’ work

Luke 24:30 ESV

30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.

— The whole of the last supper and the Passover are oriented to THANKSGIVING to God!

Even Jesus THANKED God

— IF we are to be like Jesus… We have to follow Jesus, we have to pray the way He does, give THANKS the way he does, and love the way that he does.

Listen to Luke 10.21

Luke 10:21 ESV

21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

— Even Jesus “THANKS” God for hearing them

John 11:41–42 ESV

41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

How are we going to feed all of these people?

— Notice verse 11… Who would have Jesus given thanks to?

John 6:9–11 ESV

9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.

There are at least four separate Gospel accounts of the masses being fed by Jesus and His disciples.

They all use this similar language...

— “He Took”

— “He Broke”

— “He Gave”

AND FINALLY… AT THE LAST SUPPER

— Jesus offers “THANKSGIVING” at the Last Supper.

— Really… Jesus knew what was going to happen at the Last Supper and what would be happening in the next several days.

— But still he gives “THANKS”

1 Corinthians 11:23–25 ESV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

The Book of Revelation offers THANKSGIVING to God.

— Creatures

Revelation 4:9 ESV

9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,

— Angels

Revelation 7:12 ESV

12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

— And the 24 Elders

Revelation 11:17 ESV

17 saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.

Thanksgiving to God is desperately needed… We don’t to stop and say “THANK YOU” nearly enough.

The REST of our service this morning is for all of us...

— Why and for what are you THANKFUL for?

— How are you THANKFUL for that?

— What does “THANKFUL” mean?

TESTIMONIES

So What...

— We have spent the day THANKING God through our worship and through our testimony of the works and goodness of God…

— Will it make a change?

— Will you look different in that proverbial mirror that we take out once and awhile?

— If you are uncomfortable sharing your THANKFULNESS with your brothers and sisters in Christ… I imagine it’s even more difficult with others.