Celebration of Thanksgiving

THANKSGIVING SERVICE

“Celebration of Thanksgiving”

KEY PASSAGE: Psalm 100 (The Message Bible)

Let’s take some time and remain silent for a few seconds. [And] I want you to think and concentrate on God’s goodness [just for a moment]. Our God and our Father, I pray that our church will engage God in worship with excitement and joy. A “thankful spirit” is a “triumphant spirit.” [And] I pray that You will remind everyone here today to be “thankful to You” because You can be trusted from generation to generation. We respond to You with our worship and praise and exalt Your holy name. Remind us to seek [You] diligently and glorify You when [we are] not at the church. In unity and with Thanksgiving, we pray in Christ’s name. And all the people of God say Amen. Thank you, worship team. You may be seated.

TITHE and OFFERING

There are many other ways we honor God in our faithfulness, [our love for God], and [our commitment to God to let Him know that we are all in]. Giving to the church to do God’s work is one way that we demonstrate our faithfulness to God. [Our love for God]. And so, let’s give to God our tithe and offering with “Thanksgiving and Joy” and do it cheerfully. Our ushers will come around with the offering plates, and the instructions are on the screen [on how to give to the] church. The worship team will lead us with a song as we collect our tithes and offerings.

WELCOME

Please stand up, greet some folks around you, and welcome them to worship. We welcome you [all] again to our Sunday Worship Service and are glad to have you in God’s house. Our first-time visitors, please stand so we can see you. We also welcome all who join us online.

ANNOUNCEMENT

Our Men’s Breakfast is on Saturday, November 30, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. All men, please join us for our monthly Men’s Breakfast. This is a time of fellowship and encouragement, and we [pray] for one another.

Our Corporate Prayer Meeting is on Saturday, December 7, 2024 at 8:00 a.m.

Wednesday Night [Remember] is our Bible Study Connect at 7:00 p.m. Please join us on Wednesday night to STUDY THE WORD OF GOD. We have excellent teachers. And we are studying the Book of Romans.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Let us go to God in Prayer:

Our Father, we gathered today to acknowledge You are [holy] than none other. [That] All the things that You do are good and right. The way You guide us is according to Your plan and not ours. We give You Thanks, not because it is the season of the year to do so but because the heart that has been changed is the heart full of gratitude. And our list is endless, from the very post in our veins, the beat in our hearts, the breath [breTH] in our lungs, thoughts in our brains, all of it made possible through Your creative hand, as You have put us together in a way that pleases You. I pray that You protect us and keep us free as You did in the past, although we do not deserve such grace. Remind everyone standing that they can enjoy the blessing of this day because of their faithfulness to You. I pray that this Thanksgiving season brings us to our knees as we acknowledge Your good hand, which has been upon us. Now, our Father, we give to You today that the Word of God may be disseminated and disbursed to places that have [never] heard the name of Jesus Christ. Even those who do not have the language with the vocabulary in writing. May the truth of Your gospel be taken to them faithfully as the result of our gifts. And for those in the [midst] of the field serving You faithfully this very day, I ask that You encourage them. We now commit the gifts to You as we pray in Christ’s name. Everyone says – Amen.

DECLARATION of FAITH in GOD

Let us stand and say the Declaration of Faith in God together.

SERMON INTRODUCTION

This Thursday, tables will be filled with all manner of food, and homes will be filled with all manner of family, friends, and fellowship. Folks who have not prayed all year long will pray this week because it is Thanksgiving Day. Places that [usually] don’t have much reverence for God will find reasons for moments of silence or utterances that seem to recognize God because it is Thanksgiving Day.

But making Thanksgiving a holiday as though it should be elevated above every day. Thanksgiving is like remembering the resurrection of Jesus on Easter or giving your wife a gift only on your wedding anniversary date. We are to give God thanks in everything [as the Bible says]; if you give thanks in everything, that means you are giving thanks to God twenty-four-seven [24/7]. It means Thanksgiving for you is ongoing.

SERMON EXPOSITION

My preferred study Bible versions are the New American Standard Bible [NASB] and the New King James Version Bibles. But today, I will be reading from the Message Bible, a contemporary paraphrase of scripture that uses poetic language to bring to life the truth of the Word of God. I encourage you to get one if you don’t have a Message Bible. I want to share a few things on this Thanksgiving Day, taking from Psalm 100 and making some [important] theological observations from Psalm 100, which is the great Psalm of Thanksgiving.

The Message (MSG) Bible says, “On your feet now applaud God. Bring a gift of laughter; sing yourself into His presence. Know this: God is God and God, God. He made us; we didn’t make Him. We’re His people, His well-tended sheep. Enter [with] the password, ‘thank you.’ Make yourself at home talking praise. Thank Him. Worship Him. For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love. Loyal always and ever.

The 100th Psalm could easily be called a Thanksgiving celebration. Please notice [church] that [there is a call to celebration]: “Shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth. David says I was glad when they said [unto me], “Let us go into the house of God.” There has to be something about coming into God’s presence that makes you want to shout. There has to be something that brings laughter to your face. Joy to your spirit because the great God of the universe says, ‘I want to hear from you.’

It says, “Shout joyfully.” In the Bible, worship was not calm, [worship was not ]quiet, or [worship was not ] sad. This Thursday, folks will be shouting joyfully on Thanksgiving Day. Worship and Thanksgiving are about emotion and excitement. Often, you will see folks come to church, and they are quiet and calm while the praise and worship are going on. You cannot worship God and give thanks to God without your emotions. God wants to hear from you.

Thanksgiving is not an intellectual exercise alone. Suppose the person cooking your Thanksgiving meal explained the ingredients, how it was seasoned, how long it took to cook [the food], and went into the details [idiosyncrasy] of the recipe, but you never got to smell or taste [the food]. [You see], the information is good and sounds good, but it is not enough. The excitement comes with the anticipation of partaking. The Psalmist David says, “Shout Joyfully to the Lord.” Now, please don’t misunderstand what I am saying. I am not talking about emotionalism. I am talking about [your] emotion. There is a difference between the two.

For example, if you go to a football game and the wide receiver throws a touchdown. Folks at the football game will leap up, [they will] give high fives, and [they will] express emotion in a dramatic or obvious way over something that has happened. That is not emotionalism. Let me tell you what emotionalism is. Emotionalism is jumping up and down when nothing happens on the football field. Let me put it another way. Emotionalism has much to do with nothing. But emotion is where you feel it because there is something there. Emotion is authentic [real], vibrant, and alive; you feel it because it is there. [The reason you] shout joyfully to the Lord is because the Lord is there. And His works are evident before Him.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION 1

We teach our children to make thank-you a way of life because it expresses value toward the person who showed you kindness. When our children develop that habit of continuous thankfulness, we appreciate it and commend them.

The Bible makes it clear that of all people, Christians are to be thankful to God. I love the first five verses of Psalm 103, which reads this way. The Psalmist says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; all [that is] within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits. Who pardons all your iniquities, heals all your diseases, redeems your life from the pit, and crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion. Satisfies your years with good things so [that your] youth is renewed like the eagle.” He commands us to thank the Lord.

SERMON EXPLANATION

Then he says in verse 2 of Psalm 100, “Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.” Did you notice the emotion in the verse 2 just read to you? Gladness, [joyful], and singing. In other words, don’t just come, but come joyfully. Don’t just serve, but serve gladly. Don’t just sing, but sing with excitement. In other words, act like you are here and having fun. And act like you are before the King. Before the King of kings. And act like He is worthy of your praise. [Alright].

“Serve the Lord with gladness.” Many of us do not serve the LORD with gladness, [and] some don’t even serve the LORD. When a bride is getting ready for her big wedding day, all her bridesmaids [if they are good bridesmaids] will attend to her with great joy, pleasure, and excitement. The bride’s beauty, the occasion, and the anticipation [produce a] noise as they serve and attend to her. There must be a joyful noise about God. The fact that God would invite you into His service should make you want to serve Him. “Serve the Lord with gladness,” the psalmist says.

It says, “Come before Him with joyful singing.” In other words, God is the audience; it is not about when you come into God’s presence. You say, [well] ‘I can’t sing.’ God knows that, and He is not listening to the notes. God is looking for the joy and excitement in the song. Even when a person can’t sing, if they are singing it from their heart, you want to hear what they are saying and projecting.

He says, “Sing with joy.”The beautiful thing about this kind of celebration is that it affects you. It changes you. We can wallow in our problems all day [long], and the LORD knows there are enough [of them] to wallow in. Our pain, our discouragement, our sorrow, our [ups and downs]. We have another option. Or we can worship our way out of the problem or issue we are dealing with. Have you worshipped your way out of it yet? Have you praised your way out of it? It is a celebration of praise. In verse 3 [Psalm 100:3], the psalmist says, “Know the Lord Himself is God. It is He who has made us, not we [ourselves.] We are His people and the sheep of His pasture”. He wants you to be an informed worshipper.

[First of all], the psalmist wants you to know that Jehovah is Elohim. The Lord is God. Jehovah means one name. Elohim, another name. And he wants you to know that these two names added together give you God. Jehovah is a sacred name that speaks of God’s covenantal relationship with His people. Elohim [on the other hand], in the beginning, [we are told] Elohim created the Heavens and Earth. That speaks of God’s power. [Guess what] You have a powerful [mighty] God who wants a relationship with you. So, God is not just power and relational; He is a relationally powerful God.

How powerful is God? Well, he tells you. It is He who has made us. And, as the version said, [it is not us who have] made Him. I know we live in a world today where men think that they make God. When you put God in His rightful place, He is the Maker, and [He is the] Creator. God is the sustainer. God is the deliverer. We are God’s people and the sheep of His pasture. We are eating of His grass. Today, after church, you are going to be eating His food. Every plant [vegetable] was grown on His ground. Every turkey has come from God’s creation. Everything is rooted in God.

He says, ‘I am your source.’ You are sheep grazing on My pasture. And if you are grazing on My pasture, the only way you get to graze on my pasture is [when I let you in]. As you sit down to eat after church today, remember that God is letting you in to eat. The Bible says, “In everything, give thanks.” It doesn’t say FOR everything because you cannot give thanks for everything. But in everything. In other words, there is always a reason to give [thanks to God] in every situation.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION 2

One day, Charles Wesley [the principal leader of the Methodist movement] was robbed of all he had. The robbers robbed him and took all his money. He got off his horse after he was robbed, got on his knees, and prayed to God. He said, “Father, I want to thank you. First of all, I want to thank you that the robbers took away my money but didn’t take my life. Secondly, I want to thank you that they took all I had, but I didn’t have much money. Thirdly, I want to thank you that I was the one rob [the robbee] and not the robber.”

SERMON EXPLANATION

In every situation, there is a reason to give thanks. But what we do is that we complain rather than [finding] a reason to [give thanks to] God. And don’t you hate folks who complain all the time? All they see is what is wrong. In verse 4, he says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving.” I like that phrase in verse 4; it says, “The password to enter His presence is ‘thank you.’”

The gate was the outer court area that introduced you to the Tabernacle, where God’s presence was behind the Holiest of all or the Holy of Holies [The Most Holy Place] in the Ark of the Tabernacle. Folks came through the gate to enter the Tabernacle area. Coming through the gate did not grant folks into the Holy of Holies [but guess what]; it pointed them in the right direction. The Psalmist says, “Thank you to God” [for pointing me in the right] direction. So, don’t come to church on Sunday acting like God has not done anything for you. Don’t act like God has not been kind and good to you. Don’t come through the gate and pretend God hasn’t done anything for you. God wants you to burst out in songs of praise – why? Because God’s goodness, mercy [that is, lovingkindness], and faithfulness is everlasting.

[Watch This] In the bible, thank you [was] associated with God’s acts of goodness towards you. In other words, rehearse [repeat] what God has done [for you]. I know you need God to do something new for you right now. But do you remember that time and day when you were in trouble and [You] said, “If you get me out of this ….I will [do that].” Do you remember how that accident almost took your life? Do you remember that situation only God could deliver you from? Do you remember?

STORY ABOUT THANKFULNESS

This week, I spoke to a gentleman who used to attend this church, and I have not talked to him for almost a year. He called me up, and he said to me, Pastor Elijah, a few months ago, I [almost] died from a drug overdose because I messed around with the wrong drug, and he thought he was going to die, but God saved his life. This is what he told me – he said while he was on the ventilator machine in the hospital for 45 days or more, all he saw around him was darkness and hell, and he said God gave him a second chance. On the phone, he told me, “How thankful he is to God for saving his life.” What about you? Do you remember the day and time God saved your life?

SERMON EXPLANATION

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving.” My bible says in Philippians 4:6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving …” There is a reason to give thanks to God. There is a reason to give thanks to God because, [trust me], if it [wasn’t] for God, it would have been worse than it is.

[Thanksgiving; Thanksgiving; Thanksgiving] recognizes what God has done for you. [Praise] recognizes the God who did it [for you]. Thanksgiving says this is what God did for me. Praise focused on the God who did it for you. Praise rehearses God’s character. Praise rehearses God’s attributes. Praise exalts God the Person. The Lord’s Prayer says, “Our Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.” I am in a mess, but You are a great God. I am falling apart, but You are a unified God. I am running out of time, but You are an eternal God. I am weak, but You are a powerful God. I am stressed out, but You are a calm God. [Watch This] When you rehearse the character of God, you can look at your situation through new eyes. You can look at your situation through the eyes of God.

Bless His name. To bless God’s name is to make a big deal about Him. In order words to talk a lot about God. The word [bless] means ‘to speak well of, to make a big deal, to brag about.’ God wants you to make a big deal about Him. God, You are great. God, You are awesome. God, You are wonderful. God, You are magnificent. God, You are worthy. God, You are just, and God, You are too much. God, You are more than enough.

You go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on, and you make a big deal about God. So, what do you do? You start off celebrating God. You talk a lot about God. It is based on what you know about God, leading to “Thanksgiving” and praise to God. And when you have done all this, what is the net result? Let’s look at verse 5 [the last verse of Psalm 100]. You are going to see the Lord is good. That is what verse 5 says.

Your situation may be bad, but God is good. Stuff may be bad, but the God you [were talking] about is good. As long as you are low level, as long as you are down, floundering in the reality of your circumstances rather than lifting [up] the God that is good, you will not see the goodness of this God. That word good is nice because the word [good] means ‘bountiful, kind, in God’s expressions of love.’ God is good

God is faithful, but you want to experience His faithfulness. You will experience that God hasn’t forgotten your name—God knows your name. When God is silent, it is not the end, and many times, we are put in the position of having to trust God in the dark when we cannot see our way out and don’t know which way to go and turn. In the dark, praise God. In the dark, thank Him. In the dark, bless His holy name. Because the dark, to you, is still light to God. And you will see God has consistently been with you even at night in the darkness. The old hymn some of you [folks] used to sing says, “Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, and see what God has done. Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” But what we often do is not count our blessings; we forget our blessings. We forget that God has been consistent even when we have been inconsistent.

FAITH APPEAL, CALL to ACTION and ALTAR CALL

You should give God more recognition and blessings because, when you do this, you will praise your way into victory. In Second Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat is surrounded on every side by the enemy. He says, "When I look to the north, I see the enemy coming against me; when I look to the south, they are coming against me." I look to the east, and they are coming up against me. I look to the west, and they are coming against me. The king said I don’t know what to do. Have you ever been in an “I don’t know what to do situation?” You are caught in a situation, [and you look in every direction possible], and you don’t know what to do. In that situation, the Bible says King Jehoshaphat got his praise [on]. When the king’s situation was hopeless, he worshipped God. When his situation had no way out, he worshipped.

When his situation had shut him down, instead of complaining, ‘God, why did you put me in this bad situation?’ ‘Why are You taking so long to act God?’ ‘Why can’t I see my way out of this situation?’ In the middle of it, King Jehoshaphat worshipped. And the Bible says that God heard his praise. God heard him enter the gate with thanksgiving and said, “Come a little closer.” So, the king got to the court with praise. And it says that when God heard his praise, he confused the enemy, so the enemy didn’t know what to do. After God confused the enemy, the Bible says, the folks said, “This stuff works; let’s praise God some more." So, they just went into a higher gear of praise and worship. I don’t know what you are facing today. But I want you to praise your way out of it. Thank your way out of it. Thank your way through it, and do it joyfully. Shout joyfully to the Lord. Praise joyfully to the Lord. Give God a celebration of Thanksgiving. But not just as a holiday. Do it every day because God is faithful every day. And all God’s people say,… Amen and Amen. God bless you.

The greatest need in all of our lives is the forgiveness of sin, and [there is only one person] who can do that: Jesus Christ. That is why Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead. And he offers to us the forgiveness of sins. [If] you are carrying guilt for what you have done and fear for what you have done. Jesus Christ is right here right now if you go to Him and confess your sinfulness to Him and trust Him to forgive you. He will do it on the spot and also grant you eternal life. If that is you, please come so we can pray for you. Let’s stand on our feet.

BENEDICTION [CLOSING PRAYER]

Let us pray.

Father, this is such a rich, moving testimony of Your grace. The simplicity with which the psalmist highlights God’s kingship with a global call to worship is remarkable. Psalm 100 praises You as the Maker and Shepherd of nations. If a sinner will come, forsake their sin, their way, their thoughts, and ask You to save them from their sin and its consequence, [You] will do it for them. Jesus came to seek and save sinners, to seek and save what was lost. Father, we pray that sinners here who have not cried out to You will see the desperation of their condition. And while You are still near and can still be found, they will cry out to You for deliverance, forgiveness, and salvation. We thank You, O God, with all our being for Your great redemption. Thanks be to God. We can say that you should never fill up the thanks you ought to receive every waking moment. Lord, little wonder You have told us, “In everything, give thanks.” How do we fail to be thankful when we have such a great and undeserved redemption? May You bless the food, those who took time to prepare, and our time together as we fellowship. We bless Your name with thanksgiving. Amen

God bless you. We will see you next week at 10:30 a.m.