1 Chronicles 16:8-36
Introduction to Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving was being celebrated at the church on Monday evening before the holiday. Little Tommy was annoyed at having to attend church two days in a row. To help him understand how important this was, his mother showed him a card from his grandmother, with a Pilgrim family on the front entering a church. She said, “See how the Pilgrim children liked going to church with their family?”
Not at all impressed, Tommy replied, “Oh, yeah? Then why is their dad carrying that rifle?”
The distinction between holidays is becoming more blurred.
Thanksgiving has become a casualty, lost in the midst of the Halloween and Christmas hubbub.
Thanksgiving becomes another hurdle over which we must jump on our way to the commercial chaos we call Christmas.
Just like other religious holidays, Thanksgiving has been commercialized, secularized, and watered-down by people who have no concern for spiritual things. Isn’t it interesting that what used to be “holy days” have become “holidays”?
Feasting and football sells well in a secular world but are a far cry from the biblical intention of giving thanks to God.
Thesis: We must stop to offer thanks to God for His gifts to us.
At Thanksgiving We Must
Give Praise, vv. 8-9, 29, 34.
A. Celebrate God’s goodness.
- God is good because of His grace.
- God is good because of His sacrifice.
Captain Plumb, from USS Kitty Hawk, was shot down in Vietnam. Years later, the sailor who packed his parachute recognized him. “Who’s packing your parachute?
B. Celebrate God’s love, remember “His covenant,” v. 15.
C. Celebrate God’s provisions, “bring an offering,” v. 29
Mark Todd of Webster, NY recounts this experience:
An old man showed up at the back door. Opening the door cautiously, we saw his eyes were glassy and his furrowed face glistened with sliver stubble. He clutched a wicker basket of unappealing vegetables. He said, “Good morning,” and offered to sell his vegetables. We were in a hurry to get rid of him, so we bought his vegetables.
To our chagrin, he returned the next week, introducing himself as Mr. Roth, the man who lived in the shack down the road. As our fears subsided, we got close enough to realize that it wasn’t alcohol but cataracts that marblelized his eyes. On other visits, he would shuffle in, wearing two mismatched right shoes, and pull out his harmonica. With glazed eyes set on a future glory, he’d puff out old gospel tunes.
On one visit, he exclaimed, “The Lord is so good! I came out of my house this morning and found a bag full of shoes and clothes on my porch.”
“That’s wonderful,” we said. “We’re happy for you.”
“You know what’s even more wonderful?” he asked. “Just yesterday I met some people who could use them.”
Gather Together, vv. 35.
A. We need God to save us from sin.
B. We need God to gather us for protection.
C. We need God to deliver us from temptation.
Glorify God, vv. 9-11, 14, 36.
A. We glorify God by singing praises, v. 9.
B. We glorify God by seeking the Lord, v. 11.
C. We glorify God by remembering the Lord’s covenant, v. 15.
A teenage youth came home from school. “Dad, guess what? I can say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ in Spanish.”
The father replied, “That’s more than you every learned to say in English!”
Conclusion
The Bible reminds us to praise God for:
- Who God is;
- What God does; and
- God’s deity from everlasting to everlasting.
This Thanksgiving, spend some time with your family. As you share a meal, share what God has done for you this year. Then when you finish your meal, you can proclaim:
“Blessed be the Lord for ever and ever . . . . And all the people said, ‘Amen,’ and praised the Lord.”