Full Sermon We Thank God For His Grace at Work based on Deuteronomy 8:1-10

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I. Introduction about Deuteronomy 8. The Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy gives us the final words to the people of Israel from the prophet Moses before they entered the Promised Land. Moses reminded the people of Israel about God’s blessings. The people of Israel had been delivered from their slavery to the Egyptians. God had taken care of the people of Israel for the 40 years they had wandered through the desert wilderness. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. God supplied them with manna and water to satisfy their hunger and their thirst. Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land, but he was able to see the land from a distance from one of the mountains near that land. He encouraged the people of Israel to remember God’s many blessings and His grace and mercy to them as they were about to enter the land God promised to give to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

II. Reasons to give God thanks and praise. Each year on Thanksgiving Day we are given a day to give thanks and praise to God for His grace and mercy throughout our day. We can thank God for giving us this nation of the United States of America to worship God without being persecuted for our Christian faith. We can thank God for the good food He produces for us in this land. We can thank God for the abundance of clothing and possessions we enjoy in this land.

III. God’s grace during Reformation. This Thanksgiving Day I want to remind you of the grace and mercy God gives us as Lutheran Christians in the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The Protestant Reformation of the Christian Church took place in the eastern part of what is now called the nation of Germany in the sixteenth century. The German reformer named Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation by nailing 95 Theses or statements intended for debate to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany. As a result of the Reformation, people rediscovered a key teaching from the Bible that we are declared just before God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

IV. God’s grace 300 years ago for German Lutherans seeking religious freedom. Around 300 years after the Reformation, Lutherans in Germany were being forced to worship in ways that they did not want to worship. The government wanted to force them to ignore some of the basic teachings of the Lutheran Confessions. The government wanted them to worship as one church with others who did not share their beliefs, especially about Baptism and the Real Presence of Jesus in the sacrament of Communion. Those Lutherans decided to get in ships and travel to the United States so they could freely practice their Lutheran beliefs in worship. Around 1000 Lutherans from Germany ended up going to America to Perry County, about 50 miles south of St. Louis, MO. One ship did not arrive with the rest of the group and about 200 people were lost at sea.

V. Start of LCMS in 1847 up to now. A few years later, on April 26, 1847, twelve pastors from fourteen German Lutheran congregations met in Chicago, IL, and agreed to be a part of a new church body called the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States. Carl Wilhelm Ferdinand Walther, better known as C.F.W. Walther became the first president of the new church body. One hundred years later, in 1947, the name was changed to the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Today, the Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison is the thirteenth president of the LCMS.

VI. God’s incredible grace and mercy at work. I have taken time to tell you briefly about the history of our church body to remind you of the grace and mercy of God at work in our times. God has shown us incredible grace and mercy in spite of our times of sin and wrongdoing. God’s gracious favor continues to be active among us right up to the present day.

VII. All because of Jesus. God’s grace and mercy are a gift to us thanks to the saving efforts of Jesus, God’s One and Only Son, who went to the cross to suffer and die in our behalf. Because of Jesus our sins and wrongs are taken away from us as far as the east is from the west and as high as the heavens are above the earth. Because of Jesus we are no longer enemies of God, but we are friends of God. Because of Jesus we have peace with God which surpasses all understanding.

VIII. Read Psalm 121. The words of Psalm 121 are good words to think about on this evening before Thanksgiving Day: “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”

IX. Conclusion. As we journey through this life and look forward to the eternal joys of heaven, God’s grace and mercy continues to be at work in our lives. The same gracious and merciful God that sustained Martin Luther and the other reformers of the Protestant Reformation is with us today. The same gracious and merciful God that helped the German Lutherans as they travelled to America in the 1800s is with us today. The same gracious and merciful God who has richly blessed our LCMS church body throughout the years is with us today. Tonight, as we get ready to enjoy another national holiday of Thanksgiving tomorrow, we can give thanks and praise to our God who continues to be at work with His undeserved grace and mercy. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.