Don't Forget To Say Thank You!

Call To Worship

Call to worship: Psalm 100 KJV

1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all you lands.

2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

3 Know that the LORD He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.

5 For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endures to all generations.

Scripture Reading

Psalm 98:1-9 NRSV

1 O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.

2 The LORD has made known his victory; he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.

3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.

5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody.

6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.

7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who live in it.

8 Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy

9 at the presence of the LORD, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

DON’T FORGET TO SAY THANK YOU!

You’ve got to love this country:

Only in America…..

Can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.

Are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.

Do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions.

Do people order double cheese burgers, a large fry, and a diet coke.

Do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

Do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and leave useless junk in the garage.

Do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won’t miss a call from someone we didn’t want to talk to in the first place.

Do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

Do they have drive-up ATM machines with instructions in Braille.

This is a great country and after visiting many other countries in the world, I am convinced that the United States is still the greatest country in the world and I for one am very thankful to live here.

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is a special time to be with friends and family, to fellowship with those who are dear, and a time to reach out and fellowship with those who are less fortunate.

History of Thanksgiving: The first Thanksgiving in New England was celebrated in Plymouth less than a year after the Plymouth colonists had settled in America. The first dreadful winter in Massachusetts had killed about half the members of the colony. But new hope arose in the summer of 1621. The settlers expected a good corn harvest, despite poor crops of peas, wheat and barley. Thus, in early autumn, governor William Bradford arranged a harvest festival to give thanks to God for the progress the colony had made.

The festival lasted three days. The men of Plymouth shot ducks, geese, and turkeys. The menu also included clams, eel, lobster and other fish, wild plums and leeks, corn bread, and watercress. The women of the settlement supervised the cooking over outdoor fires. About 90 Indians also attended the festival. They brought five deer to add to the feast. Everyone ate outdoors at large tables and enjoyed games and fellowship. Similar harvest Thanksgivings were held in Plymouth during the next several years, but no traditional date was set.

The custom of Thanksgiving Day spread from Plymouth to other New England colonies. During the Revolutionary War, eight special days of thanks were observed for victories and for being saved from dangers. In 1789 President George Washington issued a general proclamation naming November 26 a day of national Thanksgiving. This was only a one-time event and for many years we had no regular national Thanksgiving Day.

President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November 1863, as "a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father." Each year afterward, for 75 years, our Presidents would proclaim that Thanksgiving Day should be celebrated on the last Thursday of November. In 1939 FDR set it one week earlier. Then in 1941, Congress passed legislation naming the 4th Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day - a legal federal holiday.