Giving Thanks To God Series

INTRO.- ILL.- It was on Thanksgiving many years ago that actress Helen Hayes cooked her first turkey. Before serving it she announced to her husband, Charles MacArthur, and their son James: “Now I know this is the first turkey I’ve ever cooked. If it isn’t right, I don’t want anybody to say a word. We’ll just get up from the table without comment, and go down to a restaurant for dinner.”

Then she retired to the kitchen. When she entered the dining room, bearing the turkey, she found her husband and son seated at the table—wearing their hats and coats.

That would be me! If I were to cook the Thanksgiving meal it would be at the Dixie restaurant or elsewhere.

Thanksgiving lunch or dinner is what Thanksgiving means to most people. A family gathered around a big turkey and dressing meal with all the goodies to go with it. And that’s certainly a special time for many families here in our blessed country. WE ARE BLESSED!

We have great abundance in America. We can buy most anything we want if we have the money. We have freedom in America to go where we went, when we want. We have the precious gift of being able to travel and be with our families on Thanksgiving and at other times. WE ARE BLESSED! Counting our blessings and giving thanks is what Thanksgiving is all about!

We of all people of the world need to be thankful! And not just on Thanksgiving day. For many Americans, giving thanks for their blessings and their meal may only happen one time a year.

Frankly, I don’t ever remember my family ever giving thanks for a meal other than at Thanksgiving. And I don’t even remember who offered the prayer of Thanksgiving but someone did.

We ought to be thankful every day, for every day, and for every meal and for every gift from above. And they are many! WE ARE BLESSED!

Henry Ward Beecher: Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.

We need to be both humble and grateful. I Peter 5:5 "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

PROP.- Some thoughts about thanksgiving from God’s Word.

1- In a list of sins ingratitude is a big one

2- In the presence of all people we must give thanks

3- In a world of impurity there must be thanksgiving

4- In the midst of asking we must give thanks

I. IN A LIST OF SINS INGRATITUDE IS A BIG ONE

ILL.- A preacher told his congregation, “There’s a theory around that if people don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t overeat, or engage in extra-marital sex they’ll live a lot longer. The problem is, we won’t know for sure until somebody in this church tries it.”

What’s your sin? What’s your biggest sin? Greed? Lust? Materialism? Anger? Unforgiveness? Pride? Or could it be ingratitude?

Someone said, “If you have nothing to be thankful for then make up your mind that there is something wrong with you.”

Everyone has reason to give thanks. Everyone has something for which they should give thanks. And here in America we have a lot to be thankful for! We have much for which we should say, “Thank you, God” many times a day. I don’t think God ever gets tired of hearing us say, “Thank you.”

Romans 1:20-22 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools...”

God’s invisible qualities have been seen. What’s that? The fact that He exists and that He is all-powerful and all-wise Creator! Just by looking at the starry universe, planet earth, plant and animal life, etc. you can see there is some powerful force behind it all. That force is God!

Some people call that force “the force,” and others may call it “mother nature” or others say it “just happened” or “it just formed by itself,” BUT WE KNOW BETTER! I’ve always said that people should stop calling God “mother nature.” He is not mother nature. He is God, from everlasting to everlasting.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. When people recognize God as God then they should be thankful to Him. How can anyone recognize God as God and not be thankful to Him? When you see what He has done in this universe and know what He will do in the future, how can you not fall down before Him and give Him thanks, praise and worship?