Giving Thanks...
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Introduction
Introduction
Canadian History: History on Thanksgiving
When we think of Thanksgiving, we often think of food, friends, and family. Much of what we think of when it comes to Thanksgiving Day goes back to the Pilgrims and how they gave thanks for their first harvest at Plymouth Rock.
Canada had sporadic thanksgiving celebrations until 1957. Then it was implemented. The original date set in 1879 was to be on the 6th of November but was later changed to the second Monday in October so it wouldn’t be too close to Remembrance Day.
Here’s just a little Canadian history on Thanksgiving.
“in 1578, English explorer Martin Frobisher and his crew gave thanks and communion was observed, either on land at Frobisher Bay, in present day Nunavut, or onboard a ship anchored there. The explorers dined on salt beef, biscuits, and mushy peas and gave thanks through Communion for their safe arrival in then Newfoundland.”
In 1606, Samuel de Champlain held huge feasts every few weeks with the Mi’kmaq. It is believed that they introduced de Champlain to Cranberries, which became known as petites pommes rouge (little red apples). These were held to keep the new settlers healthy. The cranberries, which are high in vitamin C, helped to prevent scurvy.
This is what our ‘Parliament officially declares Thanksgiving as, “a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.”’
I remember well the Thanksgiving on the farm. Most years the harvest was already in the bin, bales were coming into the yard. It was soon weaning time for the calves. Chickens had already been butchered and we were letting the turkeys grow out. For those of you who have raised turkeys, they seem to be a little slow getting going, but when they hit that turning point where they really seem to grow well. On our farm, we usually liked to have the turkeys 18-32 pounds. They were big but they would still fit in the oven. One year we had a gobbler hit @ 45#. He had to be cut in two.
I think it was a healthy pride, but we prided ourselves that most of what was on the table at thanksgiving was produced on the farm: the turkey, the potatoes, the bread for the stuffing, the vegetables, the fresh buns. The cranberries were bought but homemade and of course the pumpkins were canned from the previous year’s crop.
Growing up on the farm, we had as good of food as money could buy. Yes it was hard work to have a farm garden. Feeding the cattle was time consuming, but we knew what we had and we got to enjoy the fruit of our labours.
Scriptures on a thankful heart...
Scriptures on a thankful heart...
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,
It’s God’s will for you
It’s God’s will for you
God’s desire is that we are thankful.
When I was a child, if I ever got out of bed and had a bad attitude or I was grumpy, my Mom would say something like this, “David, you need to go back to bed and get up on the other side of the bed.” In other words, you need to change your attitude.
We can’t always change our circumstances, but we can change the way that we look at our circumstances. Henry Ford said, “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you are right.”
According to Strong’s Concordance, will means:
A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (2307. θέλημα)
θέλημα - thel-ay-mah; a determination, choice: purpose, decree; volition) or inclination:—desire, pleasure, will.
That’s why the Psalmist said that it is good to give thanks to the Lord. It’s God’s desire that we are thankful. In fact, it pleases God.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Thanksgiving)
Eucharistia is - The act of offering thanks or being thankful, usually to God. Often connected to provision, deliverance, or God’s character.
What am I thankful for?
What am I thankful for?
Rudyard Kipling was a great writer and poet. Many people enjoy reading The Jungle Book. Kipling, unlike many older writers was able to enjoy his success and his money.
Apparently one day a journalist approached him and said, "Mr. Kipling, I just read that the money you make from your writing works out to be over a hundred dollars a word; Mr. Kipling raised his eyebrows and said, "Really, I certainly wasn’t aware of that."
The journalist then reached into his pocket and pulled out a one hundred dollar bill and gave it to Kipling and said, "Here’s a hundred dollar note, now Mr. Kipling give me one of your hundred dollar words."
Rudyard Kipling looked at that hundred dollar note carefully, then put it in his pocket and said, "Thanks."
When was the last time you asked yourself, “What am I thankful for?” We could ask ourselves where do we even begin to start to say thank you to God for all His blessings.
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations (6580 Remember at Least Some)
When D.L. Moody was once reading the One Hundred and Third Psalm, and came to the verse, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,” he stopped short in his peculiar way, “You can’t remember ‘em all, of course, but don’t forget ‘em all. Remember some of ‘em.”
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
He forgives. He heals. He redeems. He crowns. He satisfies. Do you love Him today?
He is our provider. He is our protector. He is our defender. He is our Savior. He is our Lord and our Master. He is our strong tower. He is our shield and our rampart. He is our soon and coming King.
It is good to give thanks to the Lord. It is good to sing praises to His name. It is good to lift our voices in praise and thanksgiving.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Why can we be thankful?
Why can we be thankful?
God is for us. He is not against us. He didn’t spare even His own Son, Jesus, but gave Him up for us all.
God gave Jesus to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. What that means is that even though we deserved God’s punishment for the wrongs that we have done, Jesus stepped in and took God’s punishment so that we can have peace with God.
If Jesus was God’s only gift to us, that would be more than enough.
Jesus’ sacrifice provides salvation. The beating that He endured provides healing: body, soul, spirit.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
The clothes on our back, the food on our tables, the houses we have to live in, the vehicles we have to drive, the modern amenities that many of us take for granted such as: electricity, heat, running water, toilets that flush, washers and dryers, fridge and stoves, for many dishwashers.
We don’t have to look very far back into our history here in Saskatchewan to realize that we have it pretty good.
I’ve only known having things pretty good. My dad talked about “the old house” where there the only heat came from the cook stove. In the winter time, the pitcher of water in the upstairs rooms would have ice on the water. There wouldn’t have been any complaints of it being too hot in the house. There was no running water. Everything was done the hard way. if they were lucky, they would take a horse and sleigh to a brick school in the country. I thought it was bad enough riding a school bus for 1.5-2 hours a day.
We are very blessed. Even when we are going through hard times, we are still some of the most blessed people on earth.
According to CNBC, here are some numbers on wealth in our world. This should make us shutter a little bit. I’ve adjusted it for Canadian $.
Net worth = what you own minus what you owe.
Top 1% - $1,115,000
Top 10% - $119,250
Top 50% - $5384
Top 10% of adults own 85% of the world’s wealth
Top 1% own 42%
I’ve shown you this today just to say that in Canada we have a skewed view of wealth. We need to count our blessings every day.
When we are thankful, it keeps the focus off of us and our circumstances and it points us to God who is the giver of everything that we have.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Communion
This morning we are going to share together in communion. That’s what Martin Frobisher did on the first Thanksgiving in 1578.
It’s also known as the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist which means giving thanks. This morning I want to invite you to give thanks for Jesus’ broken body and His shed blood.
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;
and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.