American Thanksgiving
Pastors Rodney & Adonica Howard-BrownePublish date: 11/24/2024
Foundation Scriptures:
Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. Psalms 68:19 KJV
O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. Psalms 105:1 KJV
In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV
1. The Pilgrims’ Journey and Settlement.
a. The history of Thanksgiving in America originates with the Pilgrims—English Separatists, also known as the Puritans.
b. In 1620, after a great many challenges, and a difficult journey, they sailed to the New World on the Mayflower.
c. They came seeking religious freedom, and they established the Plymouth Colony in what is now Massachusetts.
d. They were ill-prepared for their harsh first winter, and at least half of the settlers died due to cold, hunger, and disease.
e. Fourteen of the eighteen wives died, leaving many widowers and orphans.
2. Help from the Wampanoag Tribe.
a. In the spring of 1621, the surviving Pilgrims formed an alliance with the local Wampanoag tribe.
b. They became acquainted with a Native American named Squanto, who spoke English due to prior interactions with European settlers.
c. He taught the Pilgrims essential survival skills, including how to cultivate corn, fish, and to forage.
3. The First Thanksgiving (1621).
a. After their first successful harvest in the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims held a three-day feast to celebrate their survival and give thanks to God.
b. The Wampanoag, led by Chief Massasoit, joined the Pilgrims in this celebration.
c. While the exact menu was not documented, it likely included wild game (such as venison and fowl), corn, and other local foods.
4. The Second Thanksgiving (1623).
a. The second Day of Thanksgiving was celebrated in the summer of 1623.
b. A two-month-long drought had threatened to wipe out their crops and subject them to another winter of starvation.
c. Governor Bradford “set apart a solemn day of humiliation, to seek the Lord by humble and fervent prayer, in this great distress.”
d. The Pilgrims gathered for a prayer service that lasted about 8-9 hours.
e. The day began hot and clear, but by the end of the day, the sky was overcast, raining softly and steadily for 14 days, restoring the dry parched earth and saving their crops.
f. They saw this as the favor of God and believed that it would be a great ingratitude to not publicly thank God for His deliverance.
g. And so, as Edward Winslow wrote: “another Solemn Day was set apart . . . wherein we returned glory honour and praise, with all thankfulness to our good GOD.”
5. Thanksgiving as a Tradition.
a. Over time, similar days of thanksgiving to God were observed in different colonies, often in response to successful harvests or other blessings.
b. These observances varied widely in time and form and were celebrated as holy days—set apart for worship and communion with God.
c. Thanksgiving, as we know it, became a national tradition much later.
6. First National Day of Thanksgiving.
a. In 1789, George Washington was the first president to declare a National Day of Thanksgiving for the people of the United States—to thank God for His provision and protection.
b. He wrote: Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be —That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks — for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation…
7. National Holiday Declaration.
a. In 1863, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be celebrated annually on the last Thursday of November.
b. President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving: As a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.
8. Modern Observances.
a. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill establishing the fourth Thursday of November as the official Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, solidifying its place in American culture.
b. Historically, Thanksgiving is a day of praise and a day of penitence.
c. A day to praise and thank God for our blessings and to ask Him to heal the nation’s wounds.
d. And a day to humbly repent for our sinfulness, selfishness, and disobedience.
e. The holiday has since evolved into a time of family gatherings, feasting, and gratitude, often associated with traditions like turkey dinners, parades, and football games.
f. It remains rooted in themes of thankfulness and community, inspired by the Pilgrims’ and Native Americans’ cooperative spirit during the early years of settlement.
g. This Thanksgiving, we gather once again, to give thanks to God, our Father, for all His marvelous benefits toward us.
h. Psalms 116:12 &17 KJV –– What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? …I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.