As early as 1621 Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving for the Plymouth colonists upon the completion of their first harvest of crops. Then in the first year of his presidency, George Washington proclaimed November 26 as a day of thanksgiving for the blessings of God upon the new nation. It was not until 1863, however, that the presidential proclamation of Thanksgiving became an annual event. On that year, in the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln made a special appeal to all Americans "wherever they live" to unite with one heart and purpose. I'm glad when our leaders lead the way to call the nation to be thankful to God. It is right and it is good.

Of course, the concept is a decidedly biblical one of which all of us would do well to take note. I am convinced that real living starts with a joyful attitude of gratitude. Listen to the Apostle Paul in the book of I Thessalonians.

I Thessalonians 1:2-3, "We give THANKS to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;"

I Thessalonians 2:13, "For this cause also THANK we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. "

I Thessalonians 3:9, "For what THANKS can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God;"

I Thessalonians 5:18, "In every thing give THANKS: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus…”

Thanksgiving is not merely a day to be observed. For the Christian it must be a way of daily living. It's a wonderful way to live. Perhaps this would be a good time to remember II Corinthians 9: 15, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." We are speaking of the incredible gift of salvation which provides a personal relationship with almighty God through the gift of Jesus Christ. Maybe it would be a good time to sing the words to the hymn that have been greatly used of God since they were written in 1940. They graciously allow believers to offer praise for the gift of their salvation.

Some thank the Lord for friends and home, for mercies sure and sweet;

But I would praise Him for His grace in prayer I would repeat.

Some thank Him for the flowers that grow, some for the stars that shine.

My heart is filled with joy and praise because I know He's mine.

I trust in Him from day to day; I prove His saving grace;

I'll sing this song of praise to Him until I see His face.

Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul; thank you, Lord, for making me whole;

Thank you, Lord, for giving to me Thy great salvation so rich and free.

Without hesitation, wholeheartedly and devotedly at this season we bow our knees before God to acknowledge Him and to honor Him with our thankful hearts. Such gratitude should not be unfamiliar to us. It should be a practice well established by the habits of our daily walk with God. May the chimes of gratefulness ring loud and clear on this special season and set the pace for what we do all year. Happy Thanksgiving, dear friends!

So in conclusion let me say by way of this letter, I thank God for so many of you who through this year have consistently prayed for us and who have been an encouragement to us. I thank God for the many opportunities to minister to those receiving these Weekly SERMONS. I too, "THANK my God upon every remembrance of you."

 In His Amazing Grace,

PS: Perhaps this would be a good time to think of an end of the year gift to the Bible Baptist Ministry that produces the Weekly SERMON. Yes, the Weekly SERMON will always be sent to you without cost. However there are expenses that we must meet. It cost approximately 19 cents per e-mailed Weekly SERMON. We are deeply grateful to those who have given during this past year. So after you have given your tithe to your church, and taken care of your pastor, if there is an extra offering left we would be very, very appreciative of your help. Thank you. 

PPS: In order to access the Weekly SERMON , please click the link to Weekly Sermon Library, where you will be able to choose: Plain Text (TXT), Microsoft Word document (DOC), Microsoft Word 2007 document (DOCX), Rich Text (RTF), Web Page (HTML) or PDF (Portable Document Format), any of the format(s) you desire. After you decide on the appropriate format(s) you may then print a copy of the Weekly SERMON, save it to a file on your computer, or download it and save it to a disk for future use. Your use of this material is meant to be flexible.