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PRO POWERPOINT SLIDE OF THE WEEK  Give your sermons a visual impact with a "Thanksgiving" PowerPoint slide. Free to SermonCentralPRO members. Click on the image to begin to download.
 A Proper Perspective On Thanksgiving by Steve Malone Ephesians 5:19-20 The following proclamation was made by Governor Bradford in 1623, 3 years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth; To all ye Pilgrims, Inasmuch as the great father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian MORE...   Giving Thanks by David Washburn Luke 17:11-19 How often do we find ourselves prompting our children to say “thank you?” Whenever they're offered a treat from a friend or an adult helps them out, we find ourselves asking, “Now, what do you say?” We want our children to be respectful MORE...  Where are the Nine?: A Celebration of Thanksgivingby Robert Massey Luke 17:11-19 Most of us are familiar with the traditional story of Thanksgiving where William Bradford, of Plymouth Rock, proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving to celebrate the survival of the Pilgrims in their second year in the New World, as well as an abundant MORE...  Five Kernels of Cornby Bruce Howell Psalm 103:1-13 The Pilgrim fathers who landed at Plymouth Rock over 300 years ago knew nothing of the affluent times which you and I enjoy today in this great country of ours. The next time you and I are tempted to complain about inflation and the MORE...  Thanksgiving - Grateful To Whom, My Dear? by Melvin Newland 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Two school teachers who hadn't seen each other in several years met at a convention, & they began filling each other in on what had happened in their lives since the last time they had visited together. One teacher said, "I got married two MORE...
THANKFUL TO WHOM?Harriet Martineau was an atheist. One morning she & a Christian friend stepped out into the glories of a beautiful fall morning. As Harriet saw the brilliant sun peaking through the haze, & the frost on the meadow, & the brightly colored leaves making their way lazily to the ground, she was filled with the beauty & burst forth with "I am so thankful. I'm just so grateful for it all." And her believing friend asked, "Grateful to whom, my dear?" Contributed by: Aaron Burgess ON TOP OF THE FENCEPOST Alex Haley, the author of "Roots," had an unusual picture hanging on his office wall. It was a picture of a turtle on top of a fence post. When asked, "Why is that there?" Alex Haley answered, "Every time I write something significant, every time I read my words & think that they are wonderful, & begin to feel proud of myself, I look at the turtle on top of the fence post & remember that he didn't get there on his own. He had help." That is the basis of thankfulness - to remember that we got here with the help of God, & that He is the provider of every blessing we have. SOURCE: Melvin Newland, Minister, Central Christian Church, Brownsville, TX. Contributed by: SermonCentralPRO GRATITUDE- A NECESSARY ATTITUDE A few years ago Dr. Nick Stinnett of the University of Nebraska conducted a group of studies called the "Family Strengths Research Project" Stinnett and his researchers identified six qualities that make for strong families. The first quality and one of the most important to be found in strong families was the quality of appreciation. Families that are strong are strong in part, Dr. Stinnett concludes, because family members express to each other their appreciation for what the other members DO and for who they ARE. In a similar study another researcher looked into the effect of praise in the workplace. His study showed that the ratio of praise to criticism in the workplace needs to be four to one before employees feel that there is a balance - that there must be four times as much praise as there is criticism before they feel good about their work and about the environment they work in. That is pretty staggering information - information that tells us that if we want to do something good, that if we want to have a healthy family, a strong workplace, or any other effective group that we need to be sure that appreciation, praise, and thanksgiving are heard at least four times as often as is criticism. SOURCE: Rev. Richard J. Fairchild 1998, 2001. "Gratitude - A Necessary Attitude" http://www.rockies.net/~spirit/sermons/c-thansesn.html Contributed by: SermonCentralPRO FIRST HARVEST In 1621, Edward Winslow, one of the fifty or so members of the Plymouth colony, wrote these words, describing the first harvest festival: "Our harvest of corn came in well, and God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian Corn, and our Barley crop was also good, but our crop of peas wasn't worth the gathering – they were sown too late, and although they came up very well and blossomed, the sun parched them in the blossom. Once our harvest was brought in, our Governor sent four men out to hunt fowl, in order that we might have a special celebration, rejoicing together over the fruit of our labors. Those four hunters, in one day, killed enough fowl to feed our Company for almost a week. We were joined, in our celebration, by many Indians: the great Indian King Massasoyt, along with some ninety Indian men, joined us for three days of entertainment and feasting. The Indians themselves went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the Plantation and gave as gifts to our Governor, and to our Captain, and others. And although our harvests are not always so plentiful, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want, that we often wish that you could be partakers of our plenty." SOURCE: Fr. Jim Cook, St Luke's Episcopal Church, Shawnee, KS. http://www.stlukes.net/recent_sermons/Thanksgiving_Day_Sermon_C_2001.htm Contributed by: SermonCentralPRO SO THANKFUL Chuck Swindoll writes: "I recall, as a little barefoot boy with a cowlick of snow-white hair on my forehead, standing erect in my classroom and repeating the "Pledge of Allegiance" one Thanksgiving season. Our nation was at war and times were hard. My teacher had lost her husband on the blood washed shores of Normandy. As we later bowed our heads for prayer she wept aloud. I did too. All the class joined in. She stumbled through one of the most moving expressions of gratitude and praise that ever emerged from a soul plunged in pain. At that time in my young life, I fell strangely in love with Thanksgiving. Lost in sympathy and a boy's pity for his teacher, I walked home very slowly that afternoon. Although only a child, I had profound feelings of gratitude for my country . . . my friends . . . my school . . . my church . . . my family. I swore before God that I would fight to the end to keep this land free from foes who would want to take away America's distinctives and the joys of living in this good land. I have never forgotten my childhood promise. I never shall." SOURCE: Charles R. Swindoll, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, p. 424. 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