Sermon – “The First Thanksgiving”

9 “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. 10 Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you. 11 You shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide.

11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day. (20-28) 20 Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 2 And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD. 3 Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. 4 And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the LORD God of Israel: 5 Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom: Jeiel with stringed instruments and harps, but Asaph made music with cymbals; 6 Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests regularly blew the trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God. 7 On that day David first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, to thank the LORD: 8 Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! 9 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works! 10 Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD! 11 Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore!

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Thanks Giving you know. Ari I stopped her from doing what she was going to do. So think about what you what you’ve been thankful for this past year not just you know. We need to be thankful every day. Not just one day a year. But so be thinking about that throughout the service because I will have a time or. I’ll let you. Maybe share something in your thankful for thank you for God’s presence thank for his blessings Thanks for the harvest whatever. But we need to be thankful. We need to be thankful every day because God is so good God is so gracious God is. He blesses you know if we wake up in the morning we have breath and we’re able to put our feet on the floor and walk and move. We have blessing we’re able to breathe we have life. We are blessed and the men and men from going for the less our prayer. Heavenly father we do thank you and praise you for your presence. We thank you for your presence in this place we thank you lord God for the pieces you give us in our hearts we thank you for that piece that passes all understanding father. But we can only have that peace when we know Jesus Christ we thank you Father for that. We thank you for the storms that we have in Jesus. Will we thank you that. By your right to sniffs. We are saved. And when I pray that your spirit would be here today I prayed you would touch all of our hearts. Father got it you would give us the words that you have for Stuart help us to grow closer to you and Father God help us to be that light. To be the light in the world Father got us be the light in that dark place father nor God that we might dispel the darkness the word. Were by your power by your strength that you have given us and let it be for your glory and your honor in Jesus’ name amen. This morning my message the title the first Thanksgiving. Your your minds may just go with that but you’ll see where I’m going with it here in a little bit. So as I thought about Thanksgiving. A began to wonder I wonder how other countries. Celebrate Thanksgiving around the world. You know do they do they even have a day set aside for Thanksgiving you know some may not. So you know where do you find sets a formation. That’s right. Google when you look at my notes then you Google right. You just you know Google it. And many examples will come up. So I have some examples I want to share with you. How other countries. Celebrate Thanksgiving or their version of Thanksgiving. In China. China has what they call their mid autumn. Moon Festival. Like the American tradition. China’s mid-autumn Moon Festival is a time for family and loved ones to celebrate the end of the harvest season with a giant feast. So that it is similar to ours that you know they’re celebrating the with family. So that’s what a lot of our Thanksgiving is about isn’t it. You gather together with family and you celebrate you celebrate. God’s blessings. So they celebrate the harvest. With a giant feast. Is one of the most celebrated Chinese holidays. It is held on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar moon. Around September or October or in the great green calendar. According to legend. They say that the moon is at its brightest and round this on this day and may inspire rekindled friendship or romance to festivals traditional Yep traditional food is mooncake. It is a flaky pastry. Stuff with either sweet or savory filling we do not have moon cake but that’s how China celebrates their Thanksgiving. We have Apple. Our pumpkin pie pumpkin pie rather. OK. Then in room. Room has their harvest festival known as. Karela it was celebrated in honor of the deity. Caris the goddess of corn. Nah I’m not saying that all these are Godly. But they saw her the goddess of corn. Their festival commenced. On October the fourth. And the gifts of Pigs along with the first fruits of the harvest. Were offered to the Goddess. Curries. The tradition includes much music parades sports. And lots of glee and ceremony in Brazil. Brazilian Thanksgiving is quite contemporary compared to the American trying to dish and Thanksgiving. Say when the ambassador of Brazil visited the U.S. at the invitation of than at the National Cathedral of Washington D.C.. He was enamored by the concept and brought it to his homeland in southern Brazil is a sort of expressing gratitude to Almighty for an enormous harvest. Very similar to ours in that in Korea. The celebration falls on the fifteenth of August. Which is known as choose to soak meaning. Fall evening. It begins on the fourteenth night. And continues for three days. Nakata like that idea. Continues for three days. Koreans make a disc auld song poing unique for that a Cajun consisting of rice beans sesame seed and chesnuts before having the food the family gathers beneath the moonlight and remember so their ancestors and their forefathers. The children dress and long prescribed dresses dancing in circles with an inherent desire for of their blessing. So you can see there’s probably some beautiful. Attire in some of these celebrations and. You know some are giving thanks to God and others are. You know giving thanks other things. So be a if I were to ask you today. When was the first Thanksgiving. Some of you might say if you’re a history buff. You might say well it was around sixteen twenty one or thereabouts right. And that was about the time that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in America. When the pilgrims. Praise God and thank him for the blessings. But I did not say. When was the first Thanksgiving in America did us all right so your follow me here with me here is morning. If you were to search for the first Thanksgiving. You’re going to have to go much much much further back in history. So David can put up today scripture. Durata me. I think you need to go back to Deuteronomy if you want to find the first Thanksgiving. Deuteronomy sixteen verses nine to eleven. The Lord says you shall count seven weeks for yourself. Begin to count the seven weeks. From the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks. Also known as Pentecost. Now. When most people think of Pentecost. You’re automatically going to think of all. Holy Spirt that’s the holy hope at a cost as a coming the Holy Spirt. No Pentecost happens to be the time in which the Holy Spirt Cain Pentecost was a feast or a festival before. The Holy Spirit ever came. It was a time so that God set apart. To face of weeks Pentecost is the same thing. He said so then you still keep the face of weeks. To the Lord your God with the tribute of a free will offering from your hand which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you. I’m going to pause again. You shall give as the Lord your God blesses you. A man. If God a bundle he blesses you how should you give back to him with a generous heart a man. If God blesses you originally you need the bless him back you need to give back to him. Blessed as a lowered blesses you. You shall rejoice before the Lord your God. You and your son and your daughters your male servants your female servants. The Levites who is within your gates. The Stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you. At the place where the Lord your God chooses to make his name by a man may got out his blessings to the hearing and reading of His Holy Word. Did you also catch in there. That it wasn’t only the sons in the daughters. But the male servants the female servants. The strangers all who were among them. You know when it came time for Pentecost of these the weeks when it came time to celebrate. The master you know if he owned a a former big Vineyard he didn’t say to this. Slave now. You go get everything you prepare everything if you’re not going to be a part of it no they were all part of giving thanks to God every last one of them. Give thanks to God they honor God the God who blesses the harvest Amen. So it was for all even the strangers you’re there guess what you’re going to join in our celebration God has blessed us. Come and help us. Bless God amen. The face of weeks was a second. Of the three and you feast. And as I was praying this past week. You know it was back to you know such a blessing to go to the revival service evangelistic services where every call to kind of get refreshed. You know to to hear to take in the soak in. But and I was praying this week the Lord revealed something to me. And I truly believe that God spoke this to me. So I’m just going to share. You can take it or leave it that I truly believe that God showed me that within the nature of man. I’m talking every man. Man and Woman. Within the nature of man is the knowing that we do not have the power to make a scene produce a harvest. You do not have the power to make a seed. Sprout and produce a harvest. Yes. Speaking as a farmer. Yes we may plant the seed and we might do all the things that God has given us the knowledge to know to do to help. That seed sprout and produce a harvest. Yes we may water the earth we might irrigate and stuff but God sends the rain. We might put fertilizer on these plants but you don’t fertilize them to help them grow until after they have sprouted. We do not have the power to make that we can’t make one little seed. Sprouting grow to produce anything. Now there may be some confused people water to think they can. But they cannot. They cannot make it grow we just can’t do it right. So what help confirm this thought to me was the fact that even those who do not worship the One True God. But they might warship the moon or the sun or some false god even those realize that they do not have the power to make anything produce. It’s that evident by the fact that they too are knowledge and a higher deity. For the harvest their praise their thanking the sun or their thanking the moon or or thanking the corn god. Because they realize they can’t do it. It takes a higher being and are being we know to be God a man I’ll swap audit in arresting when I found out how other countries celebrate Thanksgiving. India. So one more. India has many festivals in which they celebrate. But one of their days of Thanksgiving is called pong ball is considered the most important festival. Celebrated there. This is a harvest festival honoring the Sun God and the God of the rain. So Pongal is a thanksgiving for the plentiful. Patty crop. But instead of honoring the god to created all things the sun in the moon or created the rain there warship being the sun in the rain there honoring the sun in the rain. But my point is that even those who give thanks is false deity realize that there’s a greater power. There is a greater power. That makes the sea grow. That makes things multiply that brings it forth. And then if you want to find the answer to that it’s found all the way back in the very beginning of the book. Genesis chapter one. And David might have these yes he does Genesis chapter one. Reveals the true source of the blessid harvest. That all of us are able to read. Versa Levon Then God said. Those are three very important words aren’t Day Then God said. That is what began it all then God said Let the earth bring forth grass. The herb that you would see and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind who seed is in itself. On the earth and it was so. So God said guess what. And it was so it happened. And the earth brought forth grass the herb that you’ll see to courting to its kind. And a tree that yields fruit. Who seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the morning evening and morning were the third day. And then jumping a verse twenty. Then God said. Again God said Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures. And that the birds fly above the earth across the face of the firm and it’s of the heaven. So God created the sea creatures. And every living thing that Moos with which the waters abound. According to their kind in every wing bird according to Wisconsin. And God saw that it was good. And God bless them saying Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the sea and that the birds multiply on the earth. So evening and morning were the fifth day. And then verse twenty four. Then God said Let the earth bring forth a living creature according to its kind. Cattle one creeping things and beasts of the earth each according to his kind. And it was so. Why because God said. And God made the beasts of the earth according to its kind. Cattle according to its kind in everything that creeps on the earth. According to its kind and God saw that it was good. And then God said. I will you let us make man in OUR image. According to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cat owner over all over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps only or. So God created man and his own image in the image of God He created him male and female. He created them. Then God bless them. And God said to them. Be fruitful and multiply the sea grows and creatures multiply. Because God said it. Because God said that’s it. That is the power that is the source because God said it God The clarity it. He said Be fruitful and multiply. To the fish be fruitful and multiply to the man. Be fruitful and multiply he declared it. And it is still one of fact today. Step that. That word is still in effect today it did not stop at creation or things would have stopped. That word is proceeded forth from the beginning of the courageous until today in forevermore. Until the end comes God said Let him be fruitful multiply let the seed bring forth. You know. I think of the maple tree. Every spring it gets all those seeds. Thousands upon tens of thousands of seeds will drop to the ground and what will happen. The wind of the ground and they will sprout. Dope. They’ll create another maple tree a man. We don’t have the part of do that but God does. I think of the this awful we deduct call Johnson grass it gets taller than the corn. But it gets thousands of little seeds on it they drop to the ground what they do they sprout they make more. Why. Even though it’s an awful. We. We don’t like it. But it’s still a will to reproduce because God said that the earth bring forth. And that it. Reproduce the blessing. Comes from God. The multiplying comes from God. And eventually I knew I’d get back to our American tradition. Can have it without Lee’s talking a little bit about our tradition. You know that we can trace our American tradition back to about sixteen twenty three. You know whenever the pilgrims first come to America. They arrived in the Vampyr. That is not the time to be planting up in New England. It’s not the time to plan. But guess what. It’s also not time to get back on that ship and try to cross at sea in the winter time is so they only. They was between Iraq and a hard place. That wasn’t a job. When the wrong it was and they were between a rock and a hard place. Because it would be almost certain death for all of them to get back on that ship and try to sail across at sea in the wintertime. They were probably all been lost. So they decided to stay. But nearly half of them died that first winter become next spring with the help of the Indians the native Indians. They were able to plan. The Indians taught them much they were able to plan. And then they were able to reap an abundant harvest. To help them. They were very grateful and very thankful when it’s evident by the proclamation of. Governor William Bradford. He says all you pilgrims with your wives in your little ones. Do gather at the meeting house on the Hill. There to listen to the pastor and render thanksgiving to the Almighty God for all his blessings. Think about it for a moment they’ve lost so much that first year. But yet they’re still realizing they’re thankful to be alive they’re thankful for the harvest they’re thankful for that God brought them there. You know. There are many who would like to change history in say that Thanksgiving really in a Christian holiday. But the words of the first governor declares that it was. It was a Christian holiday and it still is today. It’s a time to give thanks to the Almighty God. The one who gives us the harvest. The one who truly gives us the harvest. You know every one of us. You know I know that things have changed a lot in America. Most people don’t have the garden out in the backyard. There’s very few farmers to our lot to are farmers I should say today than it was hundreds of years ago. But we all still reap. Or form of harvest. We’re still reap. Our job that enables us to go out and purchased a food to feed our families. A job that enables us to put a roof over our head and have electric could to keep us warm or gas to keep us warm. We still reap the harvest it may be a little different picture than what the pilgrims reaped. But we still reap the harvest. Because God has given it to us because God is the giver of all blessings. So the most important thing is to be thankful. Also for the presence of God to be thankful for the presence of God in our lives and in this nation. A prominent American who was visiting Argentina was asked by the president of the republic. Why has South America got known so poorly and North America got known so well. What do you think is the reason the visitor replied. I think the reason is found in the fact that the Spaniards came to South America seeking gold. While the Pilgrim Fathers came to North America seeking God amen. That is why America has prospered because we have sought God. Oh that we go back to those days where we seek God. I have another scripture the share from first Chronicle sixteen. Does as it does seven. And this is where King David. He sought the presence of God. That’s why put this in here. He sought the presence of GOTTA GET THE haven’t got again brought back. For them to have the ark was how the presence of God because God Well between the chair of them and the orc first Chronicle sixteen begin to verse one. It says so they brought the ark of God and they said it in the midst of the tabernacle. That David had are and how directed forward. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Before God. So what were they doing. They were bringing back before God They were all offering God. Offerings for the blessings that they had received. And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings. He blessed the people in the name of the Lord that he distributed to everyone of Israel. Both man and woman to everyone a loaf of bread and a piece of meat. And a cake of raisins. And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the Ark of the Lord to commemorate to thank and to praise the Lord God of Israel. Asked of the chief. And next to him sack or I then he’ll. Samir or Samir I’m off John Hill. Much to Thea eat out. Ben ona obit Edam J E A with string instruments and harps. But ass F.. Made music with symbols. Ben and I enjoy he available. The priest regularly blew the trumpets before the Ark of the Covenant of God And on that day. David first livered the saw men to the hands of S.F. and his brother and to thank the Lord. He said Oh give thanks to the Lord. Call upon his name. Make known his deeds among the people. That is my word today. Oh give thanks to the Lord. Call upon his name. Made known his deeds among the people saying to him sing hymns to him talk of his wondrous works. Glory in His Holy Name let the hearts of those rejoice. Who seek the Lord. Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face for evermore. Amen. Matthew six thirty three. But seek first the Kingdom of God in his right senses and all these things will be added to you. That’s what I want to us to get today. Declare his wondrous works. That’s what Thanksgiving is to declare God’s wondrous works in our lives. I men. So let’s declare his wondrous works. How is God bless you this year. It can be anything.