Reasons for Praise

BY PASTOR LEE HOOPS

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

Four hundred years ago, in 1621, the Plymouth colonists celebrated their first harvest with the Wampanoag tribe. In 2021, those powerful, God-inspired words written by the apostle Paul to the Philippian church still direct and comfort God’s people.

The last Thursday of each November we observe Thanksgiving Day in the United States. The word thanksgiving implies action prompted by an attitude. Thanksgiving requires a thanksgiver, a unique word I found in Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language. The entry reads, “THANKSGIV’ER, noun One who gives thanks or acknowledges a kindness.”

Christian, we have much reason to be thanksgivers. First, the apostle John wrote of our ultimate reason for thanks, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (3:16).

Luke 17 supplies a familiar example displaying the contrast between a thanksgiver and others who chose to not thank Jesus, their healer. “Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan” (vs. 15-16). In Luke’s narrative, ten men were healed by Jesus and delivered from a dreaded, isolating disease called leprosy. But only one of the men returned to their healer to acknowledge and glorify their Savior.

Christian, through the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, you and I have been graciously delivered from the deadly, isolating disease named sin. And we were all guilty. John writes, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:8-9).

Paul explains further, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:4-5).

Every thanksgiver may sing the words to the hymn Thank You, Lord, by Bessie Sykes, “I trust in Him from day to day, I prove His saving grace; I’ll sing this song of praise to Him, Until I see His face. Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul, Thank you, Lord, for making me whole; Thank you, Lord, for giving to me Thy great salvation so rich and free” (Ambassador Hymnal, 521).

Next, we can be grateful that the Lord Jesus preserves His Church, and we give thanks for all God’s people. Notice how Paul greeted first century Christians living in Rome, “… to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world” (Romans 1:7-8).

Paul’s example reminds us to actively, daily give thanks for our fellow Christians. For AFLC families serving the Lord around the world, for pastors and their families serving the Lord throughout these United States, for faithful servant-hearted congregational leaders, and for those who quietly serve, we echo Paul’s gratitude and thank God through Jesus Christ for the people who are working throughout the world proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 10 offers encouragement to the body of Christ, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day approaching” (vs. 24-25).

Last, after being thankful for God’s saving work through Jesus Christ, and thankful for brothers and sisters in Christ, we can be thankful that the Lord remains ever so faithful as His people pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” For agri-businesses which produce food for a growing world, we thank and praise the Lord. Every breath we breathe, every move we are still able to make, these also prove God is faithful, worthy of all thanks and praise.

Having been given so much, may the Lord find us generous in giving. Happy Thanksgiving dear thanksgivers!

Hoops, St. Michael, Minn., serves on the Pastor and Congregational Care Team (PAACT).