Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It’s not just the food either. I do admit I’m a fan of cranberry sauce and turkey and stuffing, apple, pumpkin and mince pie, etc. But there’s more to this great holiday than the good food.
I also have many good family memories of this important day. They go way back to my childhood when Uncle Jerry would come for deer hunting at our upstate western NY farm and he and Dad would tell the stories of their youthful deer hunting days. Then Mom and Grandma would put on a feast, except in those days we didn’t eat turkey, we ate roosters we had raised and butchered ourselves. As an adult I remember not only Thanksgiving dinners with my Mom and Dad at their house, but also Thanksgiving times with JoAnne’s family at her younger brother Mark’s house in Bath. We played pool in the basement and watched football while the turkey was cooking.
Over the years as a Pastor, I have developed an affection for what this day stands for through my work with people. So many folks are deeply burdened. They expect the worst and focus most of their energy reciting their troubles. There is no thought of thanksgiving. But by contrast, sometimes I go to the hospital and visit a very sick parishioner and find them giving thanks that things aren’t worse and praying for someone in the other bed who is so much worse off than they are. I’m quite sure right then that person will make a good recovery. They have the attitude of gratitude which is so foundational to spiritual and mental health and affects our physical health as well.
“Thanksgiving is Foundational” will be the theme for our November sermon series at Copper Hill Church. I hope to guide us in reflecting together on how the habit of being grateful can change our lives for the better. Thanksgiving is just so wholesome. Here’s the series outline. It’s only a three week series because the Advent/Christmas season begins on November 30 this year.
Thanksgiving is Foundational |
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| Date | Message title | Scripture passage | Hymns & choruses |
| Nov 9 | Gratitude, A Road to a Better Attitude | Col. 3:1-17 | All Creatures of Our God and King #62For the Beauty of the Earth #92 |
| Nov 16 | Thanksgiving and First Fruits | Deut. 26:1-11 | Praise to the Lord, The Almighty #139Praise, My Soul, The King of Heaven #66 |
| Nov 23 Choir & Procession of Thanksgiving | Thanksgiving Pleases God | Psalm 69:30-32; Col. 1:10-12 | Now Thank We All Our God UMH # 102Come, Ye Thankful People Come #694 |