Thanksgiving Praise Service

Thanksgiving Praise and Psalm 100

I'm sorry. I'm just saying, I'm scared. Because there's no way to go around.

I just want to stay in my room. You can read the website, maybe. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, I was expecting to go around. I mean, go left. I didn't know. I don't know. Woo! I'm totally fine. You have to go to the top.

Top? I have been. I'm a little distraught. Is that great? Yeah. I'll go sit on that side.

But I couldn't. Like, you can't, like, you can't see me.

I don't know. I don't watch it. Only when I work out, it's like, this is the, like, thing. And I'm like, I couldn't get it. Pro Barbie. Pro Barbie. I mean, I had Pro Barbie.

You can use, you can use both sides. It's perfectly fine. Just everybody. I know. It's like if this were a ship, it'd capsize. Everybody needs some balancing out of the sides here. All right. Well, good evening and welcome.

I trust you're already having a good Thanksgiving week. But the design or the desire for the service tonight is really to get our attention focused in the right direction, be really thinking about Thanksgiving itself and the giving of thanks.

So I want to begin tonight with Psalm 100. So if you want to follow along in your copy of the Bible, you might want to do that and put a marker there because later on in the devotional we'll be referring to it.

Psalm 100. It says, make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. 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 unto him and bless his name. For the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting and his truth endures to all generations.

So I want to begin tonight in your Psalter, the red book, and sing the song associated with Psalm 100. It's number 213. 213. I think you'll recognize the tune here. 213. Sing to the Lord your God. Psalm 100.

All right. Sing to the Lord your God and make a joyful sound. O come from every nation, come from all the earth around. With gladness serve the Lord in song before his throne. For he is king of all the earth forever.

Lord, know that the Lord is God. The gate I am is he. Tis he hath made us for himself. His heritage are we. He shepherds all his sheep. Within his pasture land. He feeds his flock with all good things.

And guides us with his hand. Enter his gates with praise. His courts with thankfulness. Draw near unto his throne of grace. His holy name to bless. His loving kindness sure. His faithfulness from age to age forever shall endure.

Let's pray together. Our Father, we are thankful tonight for who you are. Thankful that you are our God. Thankful that you have made us. You have called us to yourself. You have made us your people. And we are the sheep of your pasture.

And we thank you for this season of the year. And particularly a day set aside to call our attention to the importance of giving of thanks. Thanksgiving for all that you have done for us as a nation. Hence the national holiday.

But also for all that you have done for us as individuals, as families. And we pray that as we consider the giving of thanks tonight. That we would truly give thanks with a grateful heart. We pray it in Jesus' name.

Amen. So what we'll do tonight, we'll sing another hymn here in just a moment. And then we'll have a couple of different spots in the service. To give you an opportunity just to share a word of thanks.

And it can be for anything. I suppose the topic is unlimited. But we do want you to be able to do that. That's part of the purpose of this service. For us as a people, as a church family. To give thanks to the Lord.

And to express that thanks publicly. Even as this psalm encourages us to do. To be thankful to him and bless his name. So before we have first opportunities for some testimonies. Here's number 492 in your hymnal.

492 is the hymn for the beauty of the earth. For the beauty of the earth. For the glory of the skies. For the love which from our birth. Over and around us lies. Lord of all to thee we raise. This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the wonder of each hour. Of the day and of the night. Hill and vale and tree and flower. Sun and moon and stars of light. Lord of all to thee we raise. This our hymn of grateful praise. For the joy of human love.

Brother, sister, parent, child. Friends on earth and friends above. For all gentle thoughts and mild. Lord of all to thee we raise. This our hymn of grateful praise. For thyself best gift divine. To our race so freely given.

For that great, great love of thine. Peace on earth, joy in heaven. Lord of all to thee we raise. This our hymn of grateful praise. All right, so I've asked a couple of men to man these microphones. And if you would, just please speak into those so everyone can hear.

Sometimes you don't realize when we speak in the congregation that there's some people who are far away who can't hear. So we're going to use those microphones tonight. So Stan and Ed will help us with that.

So, testimonies of Thanksgiving. Who will be first? Okay, Sue?

Drought. We had one this year. And our creek is still dry from that drought. But it is gorgeous to walk down there. It's like a pathway that's completely sheltered from wind. Completely sheltered from weather at all.

So it's very pleasant to walk down there. And even though we had a drought, this was by far the best canning season I've ever had. The Lord just blessed and blessed and blessed. More apples than we've ever had on any of our trees.

More fruit and vegetables than we've gotten from the garden. Even though some things didn't do well, some things did really well. And I just can't take any credit for that, except for mulch maybe. That makes a big difference.

But the Lord just really blessed this year and I'm just really thankful.

For that. Amen. Yes, we're thankful too because we got some of your apples. Very good. Alright, someone else. Well, I'm truly thankful.

For the last couple of years we've had marriages in our family and I'm thankful for two daughter-in-laws and just really grateful that my kids have found mates that love the Lord and that they can go forth and serve the Lord as generations go forth.

And it's really so easy to be unthankful in this world. And talking to myself, there's so many things each day that you can be thankful for. And I'm just grateful for the health that I have and that my health could turn.

But those kinds of things come in our lives. And I think whatever happens, we need to be thankful whatever event the Lord chooses to use.

In our lives. And all things give thanks, right?

Jim? Yes, I'm thankful for Thanksgiving based on the founding of our country in 1611 and so on when the pilgrims came over from persecution as we all know in the history of that and wanting to exercise freedom of religion which is what the basis of this country was founded upon and we sit here today in exercising that freedom of religion, worshiping freely without persecution, so far.

Even though our country is in dire straits now, we know that God is in control and we thank God for bringing conviction for men and women that can stand upon what is right and truth, taking a stand and even sacrificing so much as the first pilgrims lost 50 of their population in that first winter, yet they didn't go back.

They stood fast and it grew into the nation we are living in today. So I thank God for our founding fathers.

Maggie, right behind you.

Yes, I'm truly thankful and very blessed that being alone I can have my own home, have my own car I have good health and I can come and go as I want and I have Susie and Ed and Beth to stand and step up if there's help I need.

Good. So we're grateful for your being here and for the help that you have from your family. Is that Tom back there first?

I'm thankful for the family that God has given me. I don't know of anybody here that knows that 58 years ago I was very sick and really was not expected to live and the doctor came out to the house and told my folks that if I made it through the night that I might not be I might lose some intelligence and would be retarded.

But he also said that your son will never have children, would never be able to father children. And God proved that doctor wrong because I fathered seven children. One of them has gone to heaven and someday I will meet her again.

But I'm just thankful that God provides and he has miracles that we don't even know he's going to do and he allows us to just live in this world and be a blessing to other people hopefully. And sometimes you don't know why he's put us in a place.

But yet if we are open to his will and willing to do whatever he asks us to do he will use us. And I just thank him for that.

Amen. One more. Mike?

I've been thinking about this all day and I'm just so thankful for the path that the Lord has had myself and my family on. It hasn't always been fun. It hasn't always been enjoyable. But over the last six months or so to find this church so close to our home with such good teaching has been such a blessing to me and I'm also blessed today to have so much of my family here and I'm very thankful for all of those things.

I want to turn to Psalm 103. I'm looking at three different psalms tonight that are really thanksgiving oriented. They express thanks in a couple of different ways. Psalm 103 gives us a list of things to be thankful for.

I'm really kind of using the first few verses of Psalm 103 as the start of the devotionals every day, the online devotionals this week. I want to read just the first 14 verses of the psalm. David writes he says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.

The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy.

He will not always strive with us, nor will he keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him.

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. For he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust.

And let's turn in our psalter again to number 219. 219 is the song Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven.

219. We're going to sing.

Stanzas 1, 2, and 3, alright? Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven, to His feet your tribute bring. Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, evermore His praises sing. Alleluia, alleluia, praise the everlasting King.

Alleluia, alleluia, praise the everlasting King. Praise Him for His grace and favor to our fathers in distress. Praise Him slow to chide and swift to bless. Alleluia, alleluia, praise the everlasting faithfulness.

Alleluia, alleluia, glorious is His faithfulness. Father like, He tends and spares us, well our feeble frame He knows. In His hands He gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes. Alleluia, alleluia, widely yet His mercy flows.

Alleluia, alleluia, praise the everlasting King. Alright. I thought we knew that song. I thought I knew that song anyway. Number 64 we have sung times in the past, the song Praise Ye Jehovah and this hymn can be applied in many different ways.

It was originally written as an anniversary hymn for founding the 50th year of Bob Jones University but the application of the text of this hymn goes beyond just a university. Think of the church, think of the nation, but what God has done in establishing these various institutions and places of gathering for God's name.

Praise Ye Jehovah, 64 in your hymnal. Praise Ye Jehovah, who from the beginning what He established in mercy maintains. Founding, providing, protecting, abiding. Praise to the Savior who constant remains.

Praise Ye Jehovah, for He rose before us. Battles scarred victors at rest from the fray. Praying, contending, proclaiming, defending, faith of our fathers we will not betray. Praise Ye Jehovah, who like as a father comforts our sorrows and quiets our fears.

Chastening, restraining, forgiving, sustaining from the beginning to fullness of years. Praise Ye Jehovah, from furnace of testing fears though the fire the Savior walks there. Loving, beholding, preserving, enfolding from the beginning till He shall appear.

Praise Ye Jehovah, for glories awaiting prizes He giveth and crowns to be won. Claiming, progressing, obtaining, possessing all He has promised through Jesus All right, some more testimonies. Right here, Ed, Eric.

My wife and I have been gone for a number of weeks because we've entered into a new chapter in our life and it just reinforced all the more the great blessing and how thankful we are for a church family.

Number one. And number two, getting more personal. Pastor, your daily devotions were just a highlight of Monday through Friday and it was so wonderful because of technology to be able to tune in to the services on Sunday.

So, very thankful for a church like this. Anybody else? Priscilla?

Hey, I pray for you to make a story for my dinner mom and sister. A favorite song is Into My Heart. My Daniel and Pastor Ray sing for her. Into My Heart is 623.

That's a favorite song of yours? Daniel's aunt passed away. Oh, okay.

I never thought I would be the next generation in my family. On one side I am and I have one more aunt above me and when we got married I didn't think we'd make it as far as we have because I was the older bride.

He's taken us on a journey, that's for sure. We were planning to go to Mission Field and they told us to get a little more experience for something and we went back, but there was a little clause that we didn't know.

You couldn't go with a seventh child or sixth child. This was the reason. He totally, totally changed our looking to a different mission. We've worked with special needs since she was born and it started the day she was born when my own pastor's wife said, I don't know what I would do if I had her.

We were looking at her as a blessing. When we had car trouble or anything else that was happening prior to this time, and we had car trouble a lot, but back in those days they had gas stations or a shop that had Christian books to be read and picked up and sold.

Almost every time we picked up a book I would read to the children, but every time it was something about a special needs child. God really did prepare us for that and I don't know how many times people would say how could you do that?

How could you keep her? How can you do this? A doctor in the hospital, as we were bringing her out, you know you can put her in an institution. I just looked at him and said, not my child, not my child.

We also had learned or we thought a niece of Tom's was expecting a child with a special needs and we prayed that it would be ours and not theirs. We didn't even know we were pregnant yet. God had it all planned out and that's how we got into working with people with special needs and are still doing that in different ways all through.

There's other things that we've been approached with we thought we would be doing and didn't happen. So God just knows what everything's there for us and we're so happy that we're here.

Thank the Lord for his providential directing in our lives. We think we know what we want to do and where we're going to go and how things are going to work out. He says, I've got another plan for you.

My way's better. Someone else? Yes, Roger.

I'm afraid he won't say anything. David, if you want to say something, you're sure welcome to interrupt me anytime you want to.

Roger's going to speak on your behalf, David. If you want to interrupt him, you're welcome to do it.

Go ahead. David and I had lunch today.

Monday. That was yesterday, Roger. Today's Tuesday.

I'm losing track of more than you know. We had a conversation and it ended up that I asked David about a car, if he'd be interested in a car. Because he wants a job and a car would be a necessary part of that.

So coming back from lunch, we stopped at the car dealership of Kunis out on the east of town and we talked to Jonathan, my grandson. So I told him what we wanted to do and that it would have to be very reasonable for David to be able to afford it.

So Jonathan found a car that had just come in, hadn't even been prepared yet. It's a nice looking car, five years old, with very low mileage. He engaged your son, Scott Bice, as a sales manager and Scott then engaged the general manager and then he then engaged the insurance man.

So all these people contributed to that car and everybody forgave their profits. There were six people involved in this and I was watching God doing all that God could do for him. So in watching God provide a car for David, it was one of the best experiences of my life, watching all the resources God pulled together to make that happen.

I have to say that Scott, your son Scott, was a central part of that. He was all in and did everything he could to make that work.

I was going to say something about how I hope the Lord uses even that in his life. Thank you. Somebody else? Yes. One of my favorite verses is Philippians 2 .13. It is God who is at work in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

And even the thing you were talking about, Roger, and what you were talking about, God works in us to will and to do of his good pleasure. And I thought way back 61 years ago when I said, God, I don't want to obey you but I know I must.

And even as a rebel against him at that point he was at work in me both to will and to do of his good pleasure. I failed and failed and failed over and over again but he kept with me. And I am so thankful for his work in us.

And then another verse that my sister got me to memorize as a new Christian. There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. But God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able but will with the temptation also make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it.

And I'll never forget this is when I started going to the jail with Jim and all of a sudden it hit me. I should have thought of it long before that but if God makes a way of escape for whatever temptation I'm in at that time he's got to be watching me and involved in my life all that time.

The God the creator of the universe involved in my life like that I never couldn't get over that and that was what how many 13 years ago I started going and I can still remember going down those cement corridors and that thought just struck me just he's got to know what I'm every situation I'm in to provide that way of escape.

I'm thankful for who he is I'm thankful for who he is. Alright I want to read Psalm 30 we will sing this psalm again in this altar it says it's a song at the dedication of the house of David. Now in my prosperity I said I shall never be moved Lord by your favor you have made my mountain stand strong you hid your face and I was troubled I cried out to you O Lord and to the Lord I made supplication what profit is there in my blood when I go down to the pit will the dust praise you will it declare your truth.

Hear O Lord and have mercy on me Lord be my helper. You have turned for me my mourning into dancing. You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness to the end that my glory may sing praise to you and not be silent O Lord my God I will give thanks to you forever.

So then let's turn to number 62 in the psalter number 62 I will sing your mercies. This tune is completely new to us. We sing the stanza in unison when you get to the chorus we sing stanzas 1 and 2 then the chorus 3 and 4 and then stanza 5.

So Kelly how about if you just play that melody line for us on the stanza and then work into the chorus.

Okay stanzas 1 and 2 and then the chorus on the first stanza.

I will sing your mercies Lord. How you heard and answered prayer. Foes disarmed and fears relieved. You have lifted my despair. Your displeasure swiftly fades even when your anger burns. Though the night is full of tears with the dawn our joy returns.

I will sing I will sing your mercies Lord. The third and fourth I have tasted both extremes grievance and deep dismay from your strength purity from your silence disarray in profound distress. I prayed gracious God prolong my days.

Can a grave extol your name. Let me live and sing your praise. I will sing I will sing I will sing your mercies Lord. Then my grief was turned to joy. Then my laughter was restored. One unending song of thanks I will bring to you my Lord.

I will sing I will sing I will sing your mercies Lord. One more opportunity for some testimonies. Alright let's go back to Psalm 100. I was watching a news oriented talk show the other night and they played on this talk show.

They played a clip of some guy who was just ranting about what he called the myth of the white man's thanksgiving and the idea the notion that the whole story of the pilgrims and how they were all a bunch of nice people and so on and so forth was all a bunch of baloney and so on and so on.

And the guy was just ranting and in his rage. He went through this whole thing dissing thanksgiving and never never said anything that he was thankful for. And so then after the clip was played one of the people on the panel commenting on the guy's rant remarked how ungrateful people are.

Usually very they show themselves to be very unhappy people and often times very angry at least very easily showing anger just like this ranting fool. He couldn't say anything good about America. He couldn't say anything good about the celebration of Thanksgiving.

He couldn't say anything good about the founding of our nation. Nothing good at all. All he could do was just rant and just in anger voice all this stuff. No word of gratitude at all. But then that person who commented on that she related herself about a daily practice that she has.

She said that every night before retiring for the night she looks back over the day and rehearses things that happened during the day events that occurred in the course of the day. But she stopped to think about what did she have to be thankful for.

And she wouldn't go to sleep until she came up with several things to give thanks for and she actually brought God into it. I wouldn't say whether or not she was a believer in Christ or not. I don't know but frankly outside the four walls of the church that is unusual to hear somebody on a secular television program voice thanks to God for what has happened in the course of their day and to say that they make that a daily practice now incidentally as other panelists chimed in on that video clip they talked about their own practices on Thanksgiving.

And one of the guys mentioned that on Thanksgiving he just eats like a glutton watches TV takes a nap wakes up eats some more watches more football eats some more and then goes to bed again said nothing about Thanksgiving at all.

I wonder how many people celebrate Thanksgiving without giving thanks. I wouldn't have any way of knowing that. I don't want to take any surveys to find out but I would guess it's probably more than we would want to know.

And then there are those who actually do. There are some people who and maybe many maybe a small maybe a large minority. I wouldn't again know how many that actually do. Take some time to go around the table and ask everybody what are you thankful for.

And you know people say I'm thankful for this or I'm thankful for that. But the question that I often ask and wonder when people do that is well to whom are you thankful. They say I'm thankful for good health.

I'm thankful for lots of food to eat. I'm thankful for this day. When we get to just stuff ourselves you know they'll say things are thankful for. But to whom are you thankful. You see to whom are you thankful.

And Psalm 100 gives us some good a good way to go when it comes to this matter of giving thanks it provides us with a path to Thanksgiving that might be celebrated. Well you notice in the first three verses that there is this call to worship thankfully.

To call to worship. But to worship thankfully as the psalm goes on. And I want to notice several qualities about that that form of worship. Worship can be thought of as dull and lifeless because it's something we just do at a ritual.

It's just a formality that we go through. If that's the case that's the way it's going to be. But the psalmist here exhorts us to worship thankfully with exuberance. In verse 1 make a joyful shout to the Lord.

All you lands a joyful shout. You don't shout about something that you don't care about. You don't shout if you're if you're really very apathetic about it if it's just a thing you do you shout about something that you're excited about.

And the emphasis here is not that we come to church on Sunday morning and everybody's shouting like a bunch of wild people. The idea expressed is that of exuberance. Worship the Lord exuberantly. And notice that the call to this worship is universal all the lands.

This is not something just for Israel. The Christian faith is a global faith. It's a faith for all the lands. So we do so exuberantly. Then we worship with thanksgiving joyfully says make a joyful shout.

But then in verse 2 he elaborates on that and says serve the Lord with gladness. Serve the Lord with gladness. I want us to be sure we understand what that word serve means. It's not talking about what we used to do before COVID when the deacons would serve communion by passing the plates down the different pews not talking about working in the nursery or teaching a Sunday school class.

All those things are acts of service. And they're good. Not even talking about mowing the lawn which is also another act of service which is good. But that's not what this word means. This word is talking about worship.

So worship the Lord with gladness. And that exhortation challenges us to consider our attitude when we come to God's house together or anytime we are reciting things that we're thankful for. What's my attitude in this.

What is my frame of mind. What is my demeanor on the typical Sunday morning when I come to God's house to worship with God's people. So we're to do so exuberantly. We're to do so joyfully. And then the last part of verse 2 tells us that we are to come before his presence with singing.

So we're to worship with thanksgiving musically musically. It's interesting that I really think the Christian faith and even Judaism before Christ. But the Christian faith is uniquely a faith of song.

It is uniquely a faith of song. You think about some of the other religions in the world. They have mantras they have wrote prayers that they go through. Some will have mind emptying meditation that they experience.

But what about singing. What about singing. Singing expresses that joy and that gladness. We're to do so musically. That's why. That's why singing in a worship service is such an important thing such an important component of that of that worship service.

Then verse 3 verse 3 this is a call to worship. Thankfully we do so exuberantly. We do so joyfully. We do so musically. And then we do we're to do so thoughtfully. The first word in the verse look at it.

Know know know that the Lord he is God. We're to do so thoughtfully. We're to do so worship as we worship. We do so knowing that we're worshiping the one who is exclusively God know that the Lord Yahweh the God of Israel he is God.

Now that statement in its time in its place was a lot. It had a it had a much more powerful punch than it has for us today. Because as I've often mentioned in as we've talked about in special in Old Testament text about surrounding nations the Moabites the Ammonites the the Hittites the Jebusites the Philistines and so on and so forth they all had their gods.

All these different nations all around Israel they all had their gods. And they looked at those gods as being very territorial so that the God of Moab well he was the God of Moab. He wasn't the God of the Hittites you know.

And that God wasn't the God of the Philistines. They all had their territorial gods. But what. What God emphasizes is that Yahweh which is the name that God gave to Israel as the personal name the covenant name between God and his people that Yahweh he is God.

All these others that claim to be gods are not. Now do we have false gods in our day. We absolutely do. They don't go by names like Malcolm or Molech or Baal or whatever. There are all kinds of false gods idols of the heart and so on and so forth.

But they are false gods. When we come to worship we come knowingly worshiping the God who is exclusively God. He is the exclusive God. Then notice secondly that we are to know we are to be thoughtful about the fact that he is our creator.

Know that it is he who has made us and not we ourselves. There is no such thing as a self-made man a self-made person. And the person who thinks that fails to take into account the verse of Scripture that Paul says.

What do you have that you have not received. Even people who boast about their their wealth that they have accumulated the smarts that they have to have made great advances in this and that and the other thing.

Well where did you get that intelligence. Where did you get that ability. What do you have that you have not received. You are a created being. You have not created yourself. He is our creator. Know as we worship that he is our creator and then know that he is our shepherd.

This is brought out as he continues in the last part of the verse. Know that we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. That statement emphasizes the personal relationship that we who are God's people have with our God.

We are sheep of his pasture. And notice how the thoughts here that we have as we worship God they go from the. They go from the infinite to the very personal. Know that Yahweh he is God. There is the infinite he has created us and not we ourselves.

And that's that's mankind. And then there's us we are his people the sheep of his pasture. So we worship thoughtfully. And then we do so personally. The first part of verse four is an exhortation on a personal level.

You enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. You enter his gates. You enter his courts and notice the blessing that is ours to be able to have access through his gates into his courts.

And we know from the book of Hebrews that we have we have that access through the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. So this is a call to worship thankfully. Then notice that the last part of verse four the focus of our thankful worship is to be upon our God.