Thanksgiving Offered Up to God

The sermon opens with a quotation from Psalm 103:1-4, calling upon the soul to praise the Lord for His innumerable blessings. The pastor reminds believers that we must express gratitude toward God, and this occasion provides an appropriate opportunity to commemorate Thanksgiving through hymn singing and testimony to God's grace. The history of Thanksgiving stands as a profound witness to God's blessing upon those who trust in Him.

The pastor recounts in detail the history of the Pilgrims, who departed from England in 1607 seeking freedom to worship God and to live according to Scripture. They settled temporarily in Holland and then crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower in 1620 with 102 people remaining after many had lost heart and abandoned the journey. The voyage lasted more than two months and was fraught with danger, and the first winter in the Massachusetts region was brutally harsh, causing nearly half of the settlers to perish from hunger, malnutrition, and inability to withstand the bitter cold. Nevertheless, through the help of a Native American named Squanto, the Pilgrims learned how to plant crops and hunt, resulting in an abundant autumn harvest in 1621 that far exceeded expectations.

In autumn 1621, the Pilgrims held a great feast with the Native Americans to give thanks to God, who had protected them during their perilous journey, preserved their lives through the first winter, sent help, and provided a plentiful harvest. The feast lasted three days and became the origin of the Thanksgiving tradition. Three years later, Governor William Bradford of Massachusetts issued an official proclamation of Thanksgiving Day, declaring that God's blessings—including the harvest, abundant wildlife, rich seas, and freedom of worship—deserve gratitude through hymns of praise and thanksgiving.

The pastor continues by recounting proclamations from American presidents regarding Thanksgiving. President George Washington signed an official decree in 1789 affirming that the duty of every nation is to remember God's providence, obey His commandments, give thanks for His blessings, and humbly seek His protection and grace. President Abraham Lincoln, in the context of the bloody Civil War of 1863, issued a proclamation calling the nation to fasting and prayer and confession of sin. In this proclamation, Lincoln points out that the nation had forgotten God, becoming self-satisfied with successive successes, forgetting that all blessings come from God rather than from the nation itself.

The sermon concludes by enumerating specific blessings for which we must give thanks to God, based on Psalm 103:1-4: forgiveness of our transgressions, healing of our diseases, redemption of our lives from destruction, and His loving-kindness and mercy that crowns us. The pastor poses a reflective question about what our lives would be if we did not receive God's forgiveness and compassion, concluding that these two things alone are sufficient for us to offer thanksgiving to God from the depths of our hearts. Finally, the sermon calls upon believers to offer unto God their gratitude accompanied by hymns of praise, expressions of thanksgiving, and faithful service.