Still Thanksgiving (Giving Thanks)

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever.  1 Chronicles 16:34

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.  Psalm 9:1

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind... Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, 31 (4x)

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  1 Thessalonians 5:18

And one more, Psalm 150: The final psalm and the whole psalm. A fitting end to the Book of Psalms!

Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
    praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

It is not something we do for one day. It is something we do every day.

Thanksgiving is seen in the way we worship with exuberance and passion.

Thanksgiving is seen in the way we trust and obey.

Thanksgiving is seen in the way we live--as those who owe everything to the grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness of God through Christ.

Thanksgiving grows stronger as we live longer. For the longer we live, the deeper we know who we are, to whom we belong, and where we are headed.

"To be grateful for all life's blessings … is the best condition for a happy life … but this is not all. For there is another kind of gratitude … the feeling that makes us thankful for suffering, for the hard and heavy things of life, for the deepening of our natures which perhaps only suffering can bring." THOMAS MANN

"The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest."  WILLIAM BLAKE

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."  G.K. CHESTERTON

“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues."  CICERO

"If the only prayer you say in your entire life is 'Thank You,' that would suffice."  MEISTER ECKHART

"Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers."  ANNE LAMOTT

"We are in a wrong state of mind if we are not in a thankful state of mind." C. H. SPURGEON

"The one who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life."  ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

"God has two dwellings; one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart."  ISAAC WALTON

"Be thankful for what you have—you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."  OPRAH WINFREY

"So often we are depressed by what remains to be done and forget to be thankful for all that has been done." MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN

Thankfully (and Hopefully),
Pastor Brian Rice