Thanksgiving Letter November 4, 2025

Today it was fifty-eight degrees a stiff wind is blowing about eleven mph from the south. First day for me that feels like fall is here transitioning to winter. Leaves are yellow and brown falling everywhere. Not much foliage color change this year, frost in the mornings. This is my favorite time of year sharing with family the sights, sounds, and smells brings thoughts of Thanksgiving. If you are in your fifties and sixties you remember a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving film shown on network television each year around this time. A boy named Charlie, his friends, and his dog Snoopy discussing what Thanksgiving means. I have a question for you to ponder, "What are you most thankful for?"

 

I would like to state as a Baptist pastor what one scripture in the KJV Bible says, Psalm 100:4 (KJV) "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, [and] into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, [and] bless his name." So we start thinking about Thanksgiving by thanking our creator. I turn to the book of John.

John 1:1-4 (KJV) 1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men." We can reference the Old Testament in Genesis.

 

Genesis 1:26 (KJV) "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Clearly the Bible shows empirical evidence that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit made man. The phrase, " Let us make man" denotes more than one person. The Lord also makes a charge to man. Genesis 1:27-28 (KJV) 27 "So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

 

So we can be thankful to God as he states, Genesis 1:31 (KJV) "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." If you were born healthy you have much to be thankful for.

 

Now here we are over thousands of years to 2025. Each of us born into a family, raised by two parents (some households there is just one parent) , to grow up, get married, and have children of our own. Each family has its own traditions based on where (including other countries) you were raised. And families usually pass on their traditions to children.

Our own United States founding involved the Pilgrims coming from Europe to escape religious persecution. The Pilgrims under their second governor William Bradford established a colony at Plymouth Massachusetts. "By autumn of 1621, the Pilgrims had much for which to be thankful. After the harvest, Massasoit and about ninety other Indians joined the Pilgrims for the great English tradition of HARVEST FESTIVAL. Citation: ushistory.org. (n.d.). William Bradford and the first Thanksgiving [ushistory.org]. https://www.ushistory.org/us/3b.asp

Our Thanksgiving day lasts but one day. In 1621, it lasted several days. "The participants celebrated for several days, dining on venison, goose, duck, turkey, fish, and of course, cornbread, the result of a bountiful corn harvest. This tradition was repeated at harvest time in the following years." Citation: ushistory.org. (n.d.). William Bradford and the first Thanksgiving [ushistory.org]. https://www.ushistory.org/us/3b.asp You can see how traditions are established.

 

I would like to briefly look at our Founding Father President George Washington. In America, President Washington proclaimed a day of National Thanksgiving. From Mount Vernon's Organization website, "On October 3, 1789, George Washington issued his Thanksgiving Proclamation, designating for "the People of the United States a day of public thanks-giving" to be held on "Thursday the 26th day of November," 1789, marking the first national celebration of a holiday that has become commonplace in today's households." Citation: Washington, G. (1789, October 9). George Washington led the charge to make this Day of Thanks a truly national event. Mountvernon.org. Retrieved November 4, 2025, from https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-first-president/thanksgiving

 

What did President Washington have to say, "Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor-and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness." Citation: University of Virginia Press. (n.d.). Founders online: Thanksgiving Proclamation, 3 October 1789. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-04-02-0091

 

Therefore Congress finally made it a legal holiday in 1941. Our country was founded on celebrating Thanksgiving by acknowledging the Lord and his faithfulness to us. Many families gather around a table of food and fellowship each year on our Thanksgiving holiday.

We have looked at the historical aspect now consider a doctrinal approach. There is much to discover about being thankful from God's Word. Colossians 3:15 (KJV) "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful." Additionally, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV) "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Are you thankful?

 

I would be remiss if not looking at the Spiritual aspect of thankfulness. Concerning you personally, are you a born again person? If you are you have accepted Jesus' free gift of Salvation and have much to be thankful for. If you are not born again, you should be thankful for the opportunity to accept Jesus shedding his precious blood on the Cross of Calvary for your sin. He was raised from the dead by God the third day and is alive forever more.

 

He has provided the only way to Heaven for you. You can accept his FREE gift by Faith believing who he is and what he said. Believing in your heart is key. To truly be thankful you call on his name. Romans 10:9 (KJV) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." If you called on Jesus let me know so I can be thankful with you. Happy Thanksgiving. Pastor Paul

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