Thanksgiving 101

THANKSGIVING 101

PSALM 100:1-5

INTRODUCTION… Sermon Spice Video “What are you thankful for?” (3:48)

ILLUSTRATION… Go into the congregation and ask what they are thankful for (10 minutes?)

We have been talking about being thankful and what we are thankful for… but maybe you are not sure why you should be thanking God for anything. Maybe you are having difficulty right now being thankful. Maybe you have forgotten what to be thankful for… so, we are going to look at Psalm 100 today which is a very simple passage about giving thanks.

READ PSALM 100:1-5

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.

I. VERSE 1: Give thanks with a SHOUT

The beginning of this psalm of David about thanksgiving really begins with a bang… a loud bang. If you love the King James Version, the verse reads to ‘make a joyful noise unto the Lord.’ The Message paraphrases this verse by saying, “On your feet now—applaud GOD!” The idea that we get from this verse is a loud noisy war-cry that is shouted. It is the same sound that a commander would give to begin a march or begin the battle, probably with a horn of some kind. This kind of shout is not a shout that you could miss even if everyone around you was being loud, this kind of shout can be heard by everyone.

David, being a mighty warrior knows what this shout sounds like. He says to us that when it comes to giving thanks to God, you need to give thanks with the loudest shout you can muster! It is the same kind of shout that went out as the Israelites marched into Jericho and took the city for the Lord (Joshua 6:5). It is the same kind of shout that the troops of Gideon gave as they smashed their pots and confused the armies of the Midianites (Judges 7:18). David himself gave such a shout after the death of Goliath as the Israelite army pursued the Philistines and defeated them (1 Samuel 17:52).

What David is trying to communicate to us is that when God provides something for you, it is not with a whisper that you let others know, but rather with a shout to the rooftops. Too often we are silent about what God has done for us. It is with a shout of thanksgiving and praise that you let the whole world know that God has provided for you and for your family!

II. VERSE 2: Give thanks when you WORSHIP

David continues in Psalm 100 and says that when we worship the Lord, it should be with gladness and with joyful songs. I want you to put yourself in God’s place for a moment as the recipient of the worship that you give to Him.

Are you getting half-hearted worship?

Are you getting worship from someone who comes in late to church?

Are you getting a person silent through the song service as the church sings?

Are you getting someone who never says thank you?

Are you getting someone who half reads through the bulletin while worship is going on?

Are you getting someone who always complains and always has a laundry list of needs… but never a word of thanks?

One of the important aspects of worshipping the Lord is to make sure that He hears from our hearts the thanks that we have for what He has done for us. We need to make sure that when we worship that our voices are lifted up… because He likes it! Giving thanks to God should not be a once a year event brought on by a federal holiday highlighting turkey and cranberry sauce. Worshipping with thankfulness should be something we are constantly making an effort to do. When we come to worship, whenever that may be, Psalm 100 points out to us that gladness and joy are important.

ILLUSTRATION… http://www.biblecenter.com/illustrations/thanksgiving.htm

One stormy night in Lake Michigan, a side-wheeler steamboat was rammed by another boat. The steamboat sank just a mile offshore from the village of Winnetka, Illinois. Out of 393 passengers on board, 279 drowned.

A man named Edward Spencer after seeing the situation unfold plunged into the lake and swam to the drowning people. He towed one person to shore and went for another. In all, he brought seventeen people to safety. However, the strain on this young man caused him to collapse. The nerves in his legs were so completely destroyed that he could never walk again. He was an invalid wheel chair victim for his entire life.