Tag Archives: thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day 2014

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happy everything

The Master’s Table – offering God honoring, Christ centered blogging since 2008. On the one hand that’s pretty awesome. On the other hand that means annual activities, like Thanksgiving Day, have already been done. I’m not sure I have much more to say on that subject.

Here is a Thanksgiving sermon that I was looking at earlier this morning. I found it lurking in the dark shadows of the archives, all the way back from 2008. I preached a very similar sermon this year without even realizing this post existed. A key difference was the inclusion of Revelation 15:3-4 which relates the Song of Moses to the Song of the Lamb  solidifying Moses as a type of Christ and connecting the Old Testament to the New.

I did write something new this year on My Other Blog. #27 on my 30 Days of Thanksgiving adventure could alternately be titled I Am Thankful for Thanksgiving. I put on my history teacher hat and outline the ways in which Thanksgiving is and is not a religious holiday. Easter and Christmas are Christian holy days, Thanksgiving is sort of the 4th of July of religious holidays. It’s as American as pumpkin pie. (wink)

 

To Whom Are We Giving Thanks?

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I was reading a blog post debunking several historical myths about Thanksgiving (original link no longer available).  At one point he has this to say about George Washington:

“George Washington, as the first American president, declared November 26, 1789 as a national day of thanksgiving and prayer, and a few months after his inauguration issued his famous ‘Proclamation Number One’ stating that it was a ‘duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God.’”

But the last “myth” he identifies is Thanksgiving is a religious holiday, and he reasons this way:

“While some would like to believe that the Thanksgiving holiday is religious, and George Washington did issue a proclamation bringing God into the picture, this is not only an invented holiday, but its correlation with football and rescheduling to enable better economic performance for merchants makes it clear that Thanksgiving is a secular holiday.”

Then who are you giving thanks to?

It has become a tradition at this time of year to list things we are thankful for, but we sort of read off the list without directing our thankfulness in any particular direction.  Perhaps families go around the table and each member takes a turn, which forces children to think about the things they have and teaches a lesson about being thankful.  It is no doubt safer in our politically correct culture for elected officials, public school teachers and others to say “we should be thankful” than to make a religious statement.  But seriously, who are we thanking when we list the things we are thankful for?

George Washington didn’t bring God into the picture.  It is God’s picture, and we should be thankful he included us.

Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
(Psalm 115:1 ESV)

Happy Monday

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Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
(Psalm 136:1-3 ESV) Continue reading →

The Read and Share File

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I normally share a few links with a few comments.  Here’s a few links and a short sermon.

When we confess Jesus as Lord, via The Gospel Coalition.  This is one of those posts I wish I had written.

Here is a whole collection of verses and quotes on Thanksgiving.  Christians should be all about Thanksgiving.

Harvey Turner at The Resurgence writes You Are Not Jesus.  He claims that the gospel is good news, and news must be proclaimed.  You cannot, therefore, live the gospel or be the gospel, a premise which troubles me greatly.

Yes, the gospel is good news.  But when we are transformed by his redeeming power old things pass away and we become new creatures in Christ (2 Cor 5:17).  It is no longer we that live but he lives in us (Gal 2:20).  Our goal is to conform to the image of Christ, who himself was the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15).  We are filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit, and are commissioned to carry the gospel to a lost and dying world.  I am not Jesus, but if I give a cup of water to the least of his children Jesus says it’s as if I gave water to him.  We, the church, are the body of Christ and he becomes the head of the body.  Jesus says his believers become one with him just as he and the Father are one.  We are grafted into the family of God through a glorious adoption. Continue reading →

Thanksgiving

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Christians do not agree about the celebration of Halloween.  There is some dispute over Christmas.  Let’s embrace Thanksgiving for all its worth.

There is an argument to be made for the Christian roots of Halloween.  The very name is created from the words Hallows Eve, the day before All Saints Day.  But let’s be honest, unless you’re Roman Catholic most American do not celebrate All Saints (or even know what it is).  Would you celebrate Christmas Eve if you didn’t believe in Christmas?  Halloween may also have roots in paganism, and is certainly associated today with the occult and many “non-Christian” activities as well. Continue reading →

Happy Monday

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Several of my Facebook friends are participating in the 30 Days of Thanksgiving.  Each day you post one thing your thankful for.  I think I’m going to post one verse or group of verses from Psalms each day.  Check the new feature in the left-hand side bar.  (If you’re in a reader, drop by the website every now and then.)

Speaking of Thanksgiving – There is much disagreement among Christians over the celebration of Halloween.  There is some dispute over Christmas.  We should totally embrace Thanksgiving.  Expect a full length post on this soon.  We are not commanded to celebrate the birth of Christ.  (I’m not saying we shouldn’t, but more on that later.) We are expressly commanded to give thanks.

Power crews, utility trucks, National Guardsmen, TSA agents, water and a host of other people and supplies have gathered from all over the nation to assist in the recovery effort following Superstorm Sandy.  Christians, here is our chance to be the body of Christ. Continue reading →

There is Much to be Thankful For

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A psalm for giving thanks.

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
-David, Psalm 100

Easter and Christmas are the most prolific Christian holidays celebrated in the United States, but in the strictest sense those are not commanded in scripture.  As far as we know, the followers of Jesus never did anything special for his birthday.  Recognizing that the Son of God came into the world as incarnate deity is paramount to the Christian faith, but what I’m saying is that no verse in scripture instructs us to celebrate Christmas.  Further, Christians worship on Sunday rather than the Sabbath, or seventh day, because the resurrection was on the first day of the week.  In a sense, every Sunday is Easter Sunday.

We are instructed to give thanks. Continue reading →

Christmas Creep

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Have you seen it yet?  Most retailers are geared up for Halloween, but you get the distinct feeling that Christmas isn’t too far behind.  Except for the fact that it’s still three months away.

I’m not referring to your weird uncle (everybody has a weird uncle).  Christmas creep refers to the gradual tendency for Christmas celebration (retailing) to start a little earlier each year.   Continue reading →

Enter his Gates with Thanksgiving

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Christimas is the celebration of Jesus’s birth, but there is no biblical command to observe it.  There are however feasts, songs and prayers of thanksgiving are all over the Bible.  I’m not saying there is anything wrong with Christmas; during his lifetime Jesus was an observant Jew, and every indication is that he ovserved all the Jewish festivals, including the historical ones not just the religious festivals commanded in scripture.  The arrival of “God with us” is a major turning point in all of history.  But we are commanded to praise God and give thanks.  Moses sang songs of thanksgiving, David composed them.  James reminds us that “every good gift and perfect gift is from above.”  The United States was the first country to observe a national holiday for giving thanks.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! -Psalm 100:4

The word thanksgiving appears 9 times in the Psalms.  It appears a total of 42 times in the ESV Bible.  Click here to see them all.  If you look up variants, such as “give thanks,” you will find many more.  Whatever you read, however you celebrate, do not forget to thank God.  No matter what this year has been like, there is much to be thankful for.