From the Principal’s Desk
Dear Parents,
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year. I enjoy the emphasis on giving thanks, because giving thanks recognizes the good that we receive from the hand of others, being undeserving of benefitting from their kindness, foremost from God. The first thanksgiving in our country was in October of 1621, when the Pilgrims celebrated a feast of thanks with the Indians in Plymouth colony. Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday during the Civil War, and we have practiced it without interruption since.
The Bible tells us that we should give thanks. Paul wrote in I Thessalonians 5:18, “In every thing give thanks.” Psalm 92:1 says, “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High.”
The word good translates the Hebrew word towb, which has the idea of moral goodness, and carries with it the idea of meeting the standard. Giving thanks expresses gratitude to the Lord for His wonderful works, and this fits with what He has always intended for us. Giving thanks is an upright thing to do. It is not a bad thing to give thanks; it is good to give thanks.
Giving thanks is good because God said to give thanks. Anything God says to do, we should do, simply because He said to do it. Giving thanks is good because it recognizes what God has done. He continuously gives good and perfect gifts to us, many of which go unnoticed. Giving thanks does notice, sees the value, and then offers an expression of gratefulness for the gift. It is good because giving thanks glorifies God. It elevates Him for who He is and what He has done.
We should give God thanks for everything. The Bible says that His mercies are new every morning; He is marvelously compassionate and faithful (Lamentations 3:22-23) and should be thanked for everything. Specifically, we should thank God for physical life. He sustains our bodies. Our hearts beat, our blood flows, our cells function by His design and His decree. How valuable is that to you? He sustains our planet. He made it to be inhabited. The sun comes up in the morning, and then it goes down at night. The pattern has never changed, and the heat from the sun is just what we need to live. Try living on the moon. First, there is no oxygen; second, there is no water; third, there is no food. The daytime highs are +260 degrees F, and the lows are -280 degrees F. Be thankful for physical life. God has been very good to us!
Basically, we should stop complaining and be content. God has already done enough for us. The problem is that too often we don’t recognize what He has done. Instead, we blame God for things not working out the comfortable way that we want. Or we don’t recognize Him at all—we credit “Mother Nature” or to our own effort. How unthankful! Chiefly, we should thank God for the Lord Jesus Christ, and the complete, sufficient sacrifice He made on the cross for our sins. We can be saved, have forgiveness of sins and eternal life, because of Him. This should invoke our highest praise and thanksgiving. The first act of thankfulness to God is to receive His Son as your Lord and Savior.
The psalmist said, “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD.” I trust you see it the same way, and that you will give thanks unto the Lord.
Sincerely,
Pastor Sutton
Dear Parents,
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year. I enjoy the emphasis on giving thanks, because giving thanks recognizes the good that we receive from the hand of others, being undeserving of benefitting from their kindness, foremost from God. The first thanksgiving in our country was in October of 1621, when the Pilgrims celebrated a feast of thanks with the Indians in Plymouth colony. Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday during the Civil War, and we have practiced it without interruption since.
The Bible tells us that we should give thanks. Paul wrote in I Thessalonians 5:18, “In every thing give thanks.” Psalm 92:1 says, “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High.”
The word good translates the Hebrew word towb, which has the idea of moral goodness, and carries with it the idea of meeting the standard. Giving thanks expresses gratitude to the Lord for His wonderful works, and this fits with what He has always intended for us. Giving thanks is an upright thing to do. It is not a bad thing to give thanks; it is good to give thanks.
Giving thanks is good because God said to give thanks. Anything God says to do, we should do, simply because He said to do it. Giving thanks is good because it recognizes what God has done. He continuously gives good and perfect gifts to us, many of which go unnoticed. Giving thanks does notice, sees the value, and then offers an expression of gratefulness for the gift. It is good because giving thanks glorifies God. It elevates Him for who He is and what He has done.
We should give God thanks for everything. The Bible says that His mercies are new every morning; He is marvelously compassionate and faithful (Lamentations 3:22-23) and should be thanked for everything. Specifically, we should thank God for physical life. He sustains our bodies. Our hearts beat, our blood flows, our cells function by His design and His decree. How valuable is that to you? He sustains our planet. He made it to be inhabited. The sun comes up in the morning, and then it goes down at night. The pattern has never changed, and the heat from the sun is just what we need to live. Try living on the moon. First, there is no oxygen; second, there is no water; third, there is no food. The daytime highs are +260 degrees F, and the lows are -280 degrees F. Be thankful for physical life. God has been very good to us!
Basically, we should stop complaining and be content. God has already done enough for us. The problem is that too often we don’t recognize what He has done. Instead, we blame God for things not working out the comfortable way that we want. Or we don’t recognize Him at all—we credit “Mother Nature” or to our own effort. How unthankful! Chiefly, we should thank God for the Lord Jesus Christ, and the complete, sufficient sacrifice He made on the cross for our sins. We can be saved, have forgiveness of sins and eternal life, because of Him. This should invoke our highest praise and thanksgiving. The first act of thankfulness to God is to receive His Son as your Lord and Savior.
The psalmist said, “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD.” I trust you see it the same way, and that you will give thanks unto the Lord.
Sincerely,
Pastor Sutton