Thanksgiving; Give Thanks to God in Jesus Christ (Romans 1:19-20)
Gary McManus, 11/19/2023Part of the God's Word is Life series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
November 19, 2023 Thanksgiving Sunday
This Thanksgiving Day Sunday Pastor begins with
a question: Since on Thanksgiving Day, Christians
give thanks to God, if one does not believe in God, to whom
do others give thanks?”
The U.S. in the 21st Century is more secular.
Fewer people claim any faith, let alone the Christian faith.
Do Americans believe in God? It depends.
Clearly, there are fewer and fewer Christians in the
United States. Thanksgiving is based on the traditions
of a Christian group of religious refugees way back
in 1621 in their community of Plymoth, Massachusetts.
So, will you celebrate Thanksgiving, or not?
Pastor’s Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in imitation
of those rebellious Christians in Massachusetts in 1621.
What Pastor and the Pilgrims have in common:
--God has given us God’s Word
--that God was in Jesus Christ,
--that we should read our Bibles in English
(or your own language).
--that we should worship as we see fit,
--that we should elect our own clergy/leadership
--that God is at work among us and through us for
God’s glory
--that we are called to share what we consider the
good news of God’s grace and love
The English King, James 1st, opposed much of the above.
Some English, like William Tyndale, tried running
to the Netherlands. Tyndale was executed.
(Notice; Christians killing Christians.)
The Pilgrims did not come to this country in order
to start a colony, they came to survive--they were
religious refugees--running for their lives.
Those first pilgrims were running for their lives to
worship God as they saw fit and to read their Bible.
Pastor understands why many Americans cannot
identify with the Pilgrims. But then, why don’t
more American Christians get excited about
Thanksgiving? --a day dedicated to thanking God!
American Christians started giving up Thanksgiving Day
worship or Thanksgiving eve worship over 150 years ago.
Today pagans and Christians celebrate a “family holiday.”
(Pastor has preached on that.)
What about the people who were already here in the
Americas? Thanks for asking!
The Native Americans, the Wampanoag wanted the Pilgrims
as allies.
It was no one’s fault that the land was available.
The natives were most helpful in the Pilgrims’ survival.
AND the Christian Pilgrims invited the pagan natives
to the feast. The natives knew all about “thanksgiving.”
There was a peace between the Pilgrims and the natives. . .
Could there have been more peace, a longer peace?
Can there be peace today? As Christians?
The Pilgrims’ survival was not individual. Half died.
The church survived. We Christians should give thanks
for the natives also, the tribes of Massachusetts.
Romans 16:4. May we be so grateful in our time also. Amen.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/god-government-
and-roger-williams-big-idea-6291280/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-
american-indian/2017/11/23/everyones-history-matters-and-
wampanoag-indian-thanksgiving-story-deserves-be-known/
See, The Wampanoag, Laurie Weinstein-Farson.
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