Frankly Speaking
Thanksgiving is next Thursday. It is a day that most Americans will gather with family to cook, to eat, to relax, and maybe watch some football. Many view this day as nothing more than a secular holiday, but a short history lesson proves that it is rooted in faith. It is widely accepted that the present day Thanksgiving holiday we celebrate began at a Plymouth settlement. There in 1621 the Pilgrim settlers gathered to give thanks to God for the harvest. William Bradford, who served thirty years as Governor of Plymouth Colony, wrote this of the first Thanksgiving celebration, "Thus they found the Lord to be with them in all their ways, and to bless their outgoing and incoming, for which let His Holy Name have the praise forever, to all posterity." After the colonies became a country, President George Washington proclaimed the first nationwide Thanksgiving celebration in America marking November 26, 1789, "as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God." We sometimes forget the great favor that God has bestowed upon this nation and take for granted His provision and the prosperity that we enjoy as a result of that divine favor. This Thanksgiving, no matter what you have planned, make time to reflect on the goodness of your Heavenly Father and to give Him the gratitude He deserves. Honestly, we shouldn't wait for Thanksgiving to give thanks. We should do it every day.
"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. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name." Psalm 100:3,4
Pastor Frank Dodson
Thanksgiving is next Thursday. It is a day that most Americans will gather with family to cook, to eat, to relax, and maybe watch some football. Many view this day as nothing more than a secular holiday, but a short history lesson proves that it is rooted in faith. It is widely accepted that the present day Thanksgiving holiday we celebrate began at a Plymouth settlement. There in 1621 the Pilgrim settlers gathered to give thanks to God for the harvest. William Bradford, who served thirty years as Governor of Plymouth Colony, wrote this of the first Thanksgiving celebration, "Thus they found the Lord to be with them in all their ways, and to bless their outgoing and incoming, for which let His Holy Name have the praise forever, to all posterity." After the colonies became a country, President George Washington proclaimed the first nationwide Thanksgiving celebration in America marking November 26, 1789, "as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God." We sometimes forget the great favor that God has bestowed upon this nation and take for granted His provision and the prosperity that we enjoy as a result of that divine favor. This Thanksgiving, no matter what you have planned, make time to reflect on the goodness of your Heavenly Father and to give Him the gratitude He deserves. Honestly, we shouldn't wait for Thanksgiving to give thanks. We should do it every day.
"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. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name." Psalm 100:3,4
Pastor Frank Dodson
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