Five Ways To Give Thanks

“Five Ways to Give Thanks”

Psalm 100

A sermon for Thanksgiving Sunday

Pastor John Bright

Psalm 100 “1 Make a joyful shout to 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 who has 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 to Him, and bless His name.

5 For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

And His truth endures to all generations.”

This is the time of year for lots of lists:

• To-Do lists

• To-Clean lists

• To-Cook lists

We are checking our list of addresses for Christmas cards. We are making lists of who in the family gets which gift. Soon, we will turn our attention to a list of New Year's resolutions.

If you have little kids in the house, they are trying to stay OFF the Naughty List. They also like to make lists of toys they want for Christmas. When my kids were little, we always had to give the Grandparents suggestions. I went looking for the list of hottest toys for 2025:

• Barbie Townhouse Playset with Furniture & Accessories, $150

• Nintendo Switch 2, $450

• Hugimals World Warmable Weighted Plush, $45

• Tosy Magnet Cube, $10

A lot has changed since our kids were young. The whole world seems to be changing right before our eyes, yet God’s calling us to give thanks to Him remains. As we celebrate this week of Thanksgiving, it’s an excellent time to make your GIVING GOD THANKS list.

As Believers, each of us is to be thankful. We should have an “attitude of gratitude”- do you?

When we need a little help being thankful and having that attitude of gratitude, these five verses from Psalm 100 can be helpful. Let’s look at five ways in Psalm 100 to give thanks.

1 - Shout to the Lord, all the earth (v.1)

In the 1800s, we were called “Shouting Methodists” because of the great zeal in our worship and camp meetings. One writer, Alexander Campbell, put it this way – “The Methodist Church could not survive without her cries of ‘Glory! Glory! Glory!’” They were experiencing a move of the Holy Spirit that made it necessary to shout praises.

Today, most of us would be uncomfortable with such an open display during a prayer meeting or on Sunday morning worship. Still, could you and I shout or tell someone what God had done? Share the good news, share the hope, and share the miracles, both big and small. Could each of us tell someone? A question – are you quicker to tell another the bad news and juicy gossip rather than the latest blessing from God?

Listen to this explicit instruction for Jesus’ Followers from the New Testament: 1 Peter 3:15 "…always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you…" I would challenge any of you to show me a good word in Holy Scripture for sharing the latest gossip in the community or the church. Please show me. If you can’t find it, what then?

2 - Serve the Lord with gladness (v.2)

Traditionally, we look back to the first Thanksgiving meal being shared by the Pilgrims and Native Americans. In Elementary School, we made paper hats with buckles. Hey, do you know why the Pilgrim’s pants fell down? He had his belt on his hat 😊

What was really going on in 1621? There were 53 colonists left – half of them were children and teenagers. That’s all that was left of the more than 100 who arrived the year before. William Bradford, their leader, wrote this in his journal – “The dangers were great, but not desperate; the difficulties were many, but not invincible…” This was written by a man who had watched half the group die during their first winter.

They kept pushing on because they believed it to be the work of God. They believed this work was their destiny, so they served God as they learned to survive in the New World.

It would be doubtful that any of us would face such hardship, but can we also view our work and our care for others as service to God? Think of the most boring, monotonous job you have to do every week. Got that picture? For me, taking care of the parsonage – especially the yard. It is something that has to be done, so I do it. It’s something else for you. With that picture in your head – look at your teaching sheet and read the Bible verse with me: Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” It’s not just the worst job we can view as doing in the name of the Lord Jesus – we can do everything in His name and give thanks to God.