Thanksgiving 2023 - Don’t become what you came from

Psalm 107:1 (NLT)

Psalm 107:1 NLT

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

Psalm 107:8–9 (NLT)

Psalm 107:8–9 NLT

8 Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. 9 For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Psalm 107:15 (NLT)

Psalm 107:15 NLT

15 Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them.

Greatest tragedy of thanksgiving = forfeit

Founders Risked lives to flee what we are now running toward - tyranny, oppression, suppression.

I couldn’t change my nation, so I found a new one

Past follows you - to undermine you

Early church – Judaizers followed Paul

Judiasers followed Paul from town to town - turned new hearts away from freedom

Galatians 2:14 NLT

14 When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?

Foolish Galatians

Galatians 3:3 NLT

3 How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?

Run in vain? No

British Church – King followed founding fathers

England followed founders- different agenda –

merchants for money,

King for control of another colony

Religion chased by humanism

USA was changed by those who came after the founders

Undid what they did – put out the fires of religious passion

Ivy League schools –

Turned from schools of divinity to cesspools of doctrine

from spreading the Gospel to spreading garbage

Modern American church - losing her freedoms

USA is following Israel’s pattern

Many Jews are - most Jews are secular, Nonobservant

Many Americans are secular and do not observe the historical Thanksgiving

Don’t let what’s vital become optional

Vital, optional, hostile

Vital became optional -

VITAL-

worship, God, churches, prayer, Bible

Optional -

example of thanksgiving dinner visitor, “you can pray if you want to, but we don’t at our home.”

Hostile -

I’m not ok with that, (praying) talking about God, offended

3 areas of compromise – Civil (government) Society, Self

Civil (government) must respect God

Political correctness

Schools – focus more on indoctrination than education

God erased from history books

Claimed pilgrims were evil.

Earthly “kings” try to rule God’s Kingdom – if allowed

Today our nation has the same challenges as the Pilgrims did, just in a different form

· Cancel culture, open hostility toward God, His house, and His people Israel

· National religion - secularism- wokeness - whether you like it or not.

· No other option

· Official beliefs – various entities try to force the church and nation into its mold of “values” – of marriage, communication (what is acceptable speech) and priorities (earth and animals first, babies last)

· Centralized power- kings (of celebrities and technology) - not voted in but rules for life.

Society – Schools, sports, shopping

HOA - bans on decoration of religious expression

Schools - secular observances- generic celebration - turkey day

Secular - humanism- tolerance

Sports- football on Thanksgiving

Shopping – black Friday

Self – be thankful enough to keep your victory!

Personal – still on fire?

Thanksgiving- is just as much about what I’m NOT as to what I HAVE

· I am thankful that I am not WHAT I was - so don’t backslide and compromise

· I am thankful that I am not WHEREI was - community of unbelief, wrong crowd, negative peer pressure

· I am thankful that I am not WHO I was – shackled – bound, addicted, sad, broke, now I’m free

Don’t let YOUR past try to pull you back!

We are as thankful as we are mindful

If we were recently rescued from a house fire, thankfulness would be fresh on our minds.

But even though we were rescued from the eternal fire, we tend to let the memory fade, as well as the appreciation for the Lord.

Ironically, It seems that Thanksgiving is looked over from Halloween to Christmas!

The Bible has several reminders for us to stay thankful enough maintain our freedoms:

Lost saltiness- Gospels

Matthew 5:13 NLT

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

Falling away- epistles

Strengthen that which remains - revelation

Sardis – church who claimed to be ALIVE

Revelation 3:2 NLT

2 Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God.

Like Sardis, the end time church needs to repent from lack of thankfulness and turn to God again Who gave us all things!

Personal Challenge: protect your blessings!

· Be thankful for what you still have

· Take back what you have lost

· Keep it safe

Answer- repent!

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT

18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Be a city on a hill- SHOW the way

Matthew 5:14 NLT

14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.

Take off the lampshade- SHINE the light

Matthew 5:16 NLT

16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Then everyone will be (and remain) thankful to God!