<ul>
<li><b>Holiday Origins</b>
<ul>
<li><i>Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving was a holiday to express thankfulness, gratitude, and appreciation to God, family and friends for which all have been blessed of material possessions and relationships. Traditionally, it has been a time to give thanks for a bountiful harvest.
<li>In November 1621, after the Pilgrims first corn harvest proved successful, Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast and invited a group of the fledgling colony`s Native American allies, including the Wampanoag chief Massasoit.
<li>During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress designated one or more days of thanksgiving a year, and in 1789 George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the national government of the United States; in it, he called upon Americans to express their gratitude for the happy conclusion to the country`s war of independence and the successful ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
<li>In 1817, New York became the first of several states to officially adopt an annual Thanksgiving holiday; 
<li><b>In 1827, the noted magazine editor and prolific writer Sarah Josepha Hale author, among countless other things, of the nursery rhyme Mary Had a Little Lamb launched a campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. For 36 years, she published numerous editorials and sent scores of letters to governors, senators, presidents and other politicians.<p> Abraham Lincoln finally heeded her request in 1863, at the height of the Civil War, in a proclamation entreating all Americans to ask God to commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife and to heal the wounds of the nation. <p>He scheduled Thanksgiving for the final Thursday in November, and it was celebrated on that day every year until 1939, when Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday up a week in an attempt to spur retail sales during the Great Depression. Roosevelt`s plan, known derisively as Franksgiving, was met with passionate opposition, and in 1941 the president reluctantly signed a bill making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November.</b>
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<li><b>Why?</b>
<ul>
<li>It makes no sense to be thankful unless there is an object to which the thanks is given.
<li> Life is a Gift .
<li>Provision - <i>the providing or supplying of something, esp. of food or other necessities.</i>
<li>What do you have that was not given to you?
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<li><b>Bible</b>
<ul>
<li>Old Testament
<ul>
<li>First reference to thanksgiving in the Bible - Leviticus 7<br><i>
11 And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the Lord.
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12 If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried.
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<p>
 Leviticus 22:29 <br><i>
29 And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the Lord, offer it at your own will.</i>
<li> 2 Samuel 22:50 <br><i>
50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.</i>
<li> 1 Chronicles 16:1-10,34 <br><i>
1 So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God.
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2 And when David had made an end of offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.
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3 And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine.
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4 And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record, and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel:
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5 Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obededom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a sound with cymbals;
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6 Benaiah also and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.
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7 Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the Lord into the hand of Asaph and his brethren.
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8 Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.
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9 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works.
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10 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.
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34 O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
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<li> Ezra 3:11 <br><i>
11 And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
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<li><b> Nehemiah 12:31-40 <br><i>
31 Then I brought up the princes of Judah upon the wall, and appointed two great companies of them that gave thanks, whereof one went on the right hand upon the wall toward the dung gate:<br> 32 and after them went Hoshaiah, and half of the princes of Judah,<br> 33 and Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam,<br> 34 Judah, and Benjamin, and Shemaiah, and Jeremiah,<br> <p>
35 and certain of the priests’ sons with trumpets; namely, Zechariah the son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Michaiah, the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph:<br> 36 and his brethren, Shemaiah, and Azarael, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethaneel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God, and Ezra the scribe before them.<br> 
<p>37 And at the fountain gate, which was over against them, they went up by the stairs of the city of David, at the going up of the wall, above the house of David, even unto the water gate eastward.<br> 38 And the other company of them that gave thanks went over against them, and I after them, and the half of the people upon the wall, from beyond the tower of the furnaces even unto the broad wall;<br> 39 and from above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate, and above the fish gate, and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Meah, even unto the sheep gate: and they stood still in the prison gate.<br> 
<p>40 So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks in the house of God, and I, and the half of the rulers with me:<br> 41 and the priests; Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Michaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah, with trumpets;<br> 42 and Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang loud, with Jezrahiah their overseer.<p> 43 Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.
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<li> Psalm 6:5 <br><i>
5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
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<li><b> Psalm 18:49 <br><i>
49 Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.<i></b>
<li> Psalm 35:18 <br><i>
18 I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.
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<li><b> Psalm 92:1,4 <br><i>
1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy Name, o Most High</i></b>
<li> Psalm 100:4 <br><i>
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
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<li> Isaiah 51:3 <br><i>
3 For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.</i>
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<li>New Testament
<ul>
<li> Matthew 11:25 <br><i>
25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.</i>
<li> Matthew 15:36 <br><i>
36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.</i>
<li> Matthew 26:27 <br><i>
27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;</i>
<li> Romans 1:21 <br><i>
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.</i>
<li> 2 Corinthians 9:11,15 <br><i>
11 Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.</i>
<li> 2 Corinthians 9:15 <br><i>
15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.</i>
<li> Ephesians 5:4,20 <br><i>
4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
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20 <b>Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;</b></i>
<li> Philippians 4:6 <br><i>
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.</i>
<li> Colossians 1:12 <br><i>
12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:</i>
<li> Colossians 2:7 <br><i>
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.</i>
<li> Colossians 3:15 <br><i>
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.</i>
<li><b> 1 Thessalonians 5:18 <br><i>
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.</i></b>
<li> 1 Timothy 2:2 <br><i>
2 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;</i>
<li><b> 2 Timothy 3:2 <br><i>
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,</i></b>
<li> Revelation 7:12 <br><i>
12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.</i>
<li> Revelation 11:17 <br><i>
17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.</i>
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