Thanksgiving As Worship Series

### Introduction

Video Ill.: Thankfulness Overflows - Freebridge Media

(Transcript: "The Bible tells us to give thanks in everything. So how do we do that? Sure, it’s easy to be thankful when life is going well. But what happens when the journey becomes difficult? How do we give thanks in the midst of pain, struggle, or loss? Life has a way of breaking a heart of gratitude. Piece by piece, moment by moment, we lose sight of our calling to live thankful lives.

This Thanksgiving, we need to be reminded of God’s faithfulness. We need to stand on His promise to never leave us or forsake us. We need to trust the plans He has for us. Plans to give us hope and a future. When we fix our eyes on Jesus, gratitude is inevitable, for He walks with us in the deepest valleys and on the highest mountains. Today, we place our trust in Him alone, for this is where thankfulness overflows.”)

Tonight, living a life that is overflowing with gratitude and thankfulness comes truly from seeing Thanksgiving as a lifestyle of worship and not something we do on a single day, once a year.

This is the logical conclusion of our study over the past few weeks.

We began our study by being challenged to move beyond occasional thankfulness and embrace gratitude as a daily decision. We were reminded that gratitude is more than a reaction to blessings—it's a way of life that shapes our hearts, perspectives, and relationships. By living gratefully, we not only grow closer to God, but we also become a powerful witness of His goodness to the world around us.

We then focused on how recognizing God's faithfulness in providing for us cultivates a heart of contentment. Gratitude isn’t just about material blessings but also about seeing God’s hand in every part of our lives. We’re called to respond with generosity, sharing the blessings we’ve received with others.

This morning, we dived into the unmerited gift of God's grace and how His grace should inspire a life of gratitude. We were reminded that grace is freely given to us by God, even when we are undeserving. We are called to respond with gratitude, not just through words, but through actions—living lives of worship, obedience, and service. God’s grace is not a one-time gift, but a continuous flow, meeting us every day with new mercies and empowering us to extend grace to others.

Let’s see tonight how Thanksgiving is truly living a life of worship toward God.

### 1. **Worship Through Thanksgiving**

David writes in Psalm 100:

1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,

2 Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before Him with joyful songs,

3 Know that the Lord is God.

It is He who made us, and we are His;

we are His people, the sheep of His

pasture.

4 Enter His gates with thanksgiving

and His courts with praise;

give thanks to Him and praise His name.

|| 5 For the Lord is good and His love

endures forever;

His faithfulness continues through all

generations.

(Psalm 100, NIV1984)

Read through the Psalms and it becomes easy to see that David certainly lived out this Psalm in his life. Thanksgiving, gratitude, gladness, and worship seem to flow off his tongue like sweet honey before God.

I certainly can say that I am no way talented with words like David.

I can also say that gratitude and thanksgiving are not as much a part of my life as I hope they would be.

We certainly go to God when we want something. But we do not as frequently go back to God to say thanks afterwards.

So Little Place for Thanksgiving

Source: William Temple, from 3000 Quotations on Christian Themes. Christianity Today, Vol. 32, no. 17.

https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/1995/october/1139.html

Copied from Preaching Today

It is probable that in most of us the spiritual life is impoverished and stunted because we give so little place to gratitude. It is more important to thank God for blessings received than to pray for them beforehand. For that forward-looking prayer, though right as an expression of dependence upon God, is still self-centered in part, at least, of its interest; there is something we hope to gain by our prayer. But the backward-looking act of thanksgiving is quite free from this. In itself it is quite selfless. Thus it is akin to love. All our love to God is in response to his love for us; it never starts on our side. "We love, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

Thanksgiving is not just a holiday but an act of worship that honors God.

**Key Point**: We are called to approach God with hearts full of gratitude, acknowledging His goodness and faithfulness.

Tonight, giving thanks is an act of worship. We ought to be expressing gratitude in our lives each and every day.