“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.
3 - Come before Him with singing (v.2)
Ever had a day when you didn't feel like singing?
In Psalm 137, they remember being part of the Babylonian Exile. Listen to these two verses:
“3 For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
And those who plundered us requested mirth,
Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?”
We have never been exiled, but we have all dealt with broken relationships and the grief of loss. This can be especially painful this time of year when the family gathers and there’s an empty seat at the table. It can be hard on those days to be praising God with song.
Here’s what I have discovered – the days I don’t feel like praising God are the MOST IMPORTANT days for me to praise God!
I sing a little tune and say, “Thank you, God, for_____________________”
Try it: sing “Thank you, God, for (and you fill in the blank).” Go ahead, I’ll wait.
If you don’t have anything else to thank God for – remember from All Saints Sunday that all Believers have an inheritance - Colossians 1:12 "…giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light."
Thank God for your salvation and the gift of eternal life. Thank God – Praise God – for giving us Hope in uncertain days, for we know God is still on the throne! Amen!
4 - God made us… We are the sheep of His pasture (v.3)
God is NOT finished with you! Each of us is “a work in progress.” As Jesus’ Followers, we speak of this progressive work as Sanctification. It is the working of God’s Grace that makes us more like Jesus, year after year.
Right in the middle of verse 3, there is a ten-word phrase that is full of reasons for us to give thanks: “It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves”. Look at your hands. God took bones and joints and put them together with tendons and muscles. God surrounded that with a network of nerves and blood vessels. Finally, God covered them with skin and connected them to your brain. All this means you can pick up a pencil or a hymnal. Most of the time, we take it all for granted… until it stops working.
Within that body God made, He placed an eternal spirit. Jesus died on the cross so that your spirit could pass from death to life. God keeps on working within your spirit - Philippians 1:6 "…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…."
God describes His wonderful creations as “the sheep of His pasture.” That is so sweet! We are described as smelly, dumb animals! Not many of us want to be the sheep… almost all of us want to be the shepherd. Here’s the problem – we don’t know where to find the green pastures and still waters. When we go off to search out what we want, we end up in a far country like the Prodigal Son. We really can’t take care of ourselves, so God made it so He is the Shepherd and we follow Him: Psalm 23:1-2
"The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters."
Can we give thanks for the helplessness of being led by God?
5 - Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise, Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. (v.4)
This language of gates and courts is the language of the Temple in Jerusalem. When the Israelites spoke of the Temple, they were referring to the very presence of Almighty God. They knew that God’s Dwelling Place was in the very center of the Temple – in the Holy of Holies. Here we read – “Whenever you are in God’s presence – give thanks and praise to God.”
They still believed that God was everywhere. Listen to another psalm explain it: Psalm 139:7-8
"Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there."
Something changed when we got to the Cross of Calvary. The Holy Spirit is not just everywhere – He dwells within our physical bodies at the moment we become a Child of the Most High King. Listen to how Paul described it – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” If you want the clear context for these verses, open your Bible and read v. 18.
For the application this morning, let me ask all you Daughters and Sons of God who are Temples of the Holy Spirit – Is this sanctuary the only place we are supposed to give God thanks and praise? OF COURSE NOT! In the car, at work, at home, here in the sanctuary- God is with you… You need only begin by praising Him with thanks. This is our daily habit of worship.
I hope these five ways to give thanks from Psalm 100 will remain with you long past the turkey and cranberry sauce. I hope that giving God thanks and praise will begin as soon as your eyes open every morning and become your constant habit through every season of the year. Amen.
Homework:
• Consider starting a written list of those things for which you are thankful.
• A new tradition for your Thanksgiving Meal: give everyone a stone and let each one write on it a word that describes something for which he or she is thankful. Let everyone share, then pile the stones so everyone can see them.
• Next week: Hanging of the Greens/First Sunday of Advent
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TEACHING SHEET
Psalm 100
Thanksgiving Sunday
“Five Ways to Give Thanks”
Now is the time to make a list for Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a unique holiday. On that day we do not commemorate a battle or a birthday. It was a date set aside in 1798 by President George Washington for "Public Thanksgiving and Prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God…"
As we prepare for Thanksgiving, do you have an attitude of gratitude?
Psalm 100 is a brief and helpful guide for us to find more ways to give thanks.
1 - Shout to the Lord, all the earth (v.1)
So… what has the Lord done for you lately? If you have a testimony of God's working in you or those around you, don't keep it to yourself. SHARE, SHARE, SHARE!
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…"
2 - Serve the Lord with gladness (v.2)
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.”
3 - Come before Him with singing (v.2)
Colossians 1:12 "…giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light."
4 - God made us… We are the sheep of His pasture (v.3)
God is NOT finished with you!
Philippians 1:6 "…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…."
Not many of us want to be the sheep… almost all of us want to be the shepherd.
Psalm 23:1-2 "The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters."
5 - Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. (v.4)
Psalm 139:7-8 "Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there."
In the car, at work, at home, here in the sanctuary- God is with you… You need only begin to praise Him by giving thanks. This is our daily habit of worship.
Homework:
• Consider starting a written list of those things for which you are thankful.
• A new tradition for your Thanksgiving Meal: give everyone a stone and let each one write on it a word that describes something for which he or she is thankful. Let everyone share, then pile the stones so everyone can see them.
• Next week: Hanging of the Greens/First Sunday of Advent
