Dt. 16:13-17, A life of thanksgiving for the Tabernacles Feast(Thanksg…

Dt. 16:13-17, A life of thanksgiving for the Tabernacles Feast(Thanksgiving)

13-17, 13Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for sevendays after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and you rwinepress. 14Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.  15For seven days celebrate the festival to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete. 16Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose :at the Festiva lof Unleavened Bread, the Festiva lof Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed: 17Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed.

<Sermon Summary>
    A Jewish mother raised her children well through repeated teachings about gratitude. 1) Be thankful in everything. 2) Don’t associate deeply with people who resent anything. 3) Be friendly with people who are grateful for. Gratitude is the heart of God. The origin of Thanksgiving is the Feast of Tabernacles. It is a season to give thanks to the Lord for blessing us throughout the year. Why do we keep this feast? It is education and training for a life of gratitude. Jewish men celebrate the feasts three times a year. 1) Passover: Thanksgiving for the liberation of Egypt, 2) Feast of Weeks (Pentecost): Thanksgiving after harvesting summer fruits, 3) Feast of Tabernacles: Fall, a season of completion to give thanks for all harvests. We are thankful for the blessings of the past year and prepare to welcome the new year.
How should we keep the feast?

 1. Be thankful for the grace given (13,17)
13, “...after you have reaped it.” 17, “Let each one give according to the blessing given to him according to his ability.” He freed us from the slavery of our sins and solved the problems of water to drink, shelter to live in, shade to rest in, and clothes to wear in the wilderness. They survived for 40 years only with God's help. We are thankful to God who gave us all our fruits because everything is a blessing from God. We met Jesus. We were saved, and everything that has happened is by the grace of God. <Disabled Lena’s Confession of Gratitude> See the photo of her smiling brightly. “Thank you for the grace I received,” #Hymn 305, Amazing grace. Let’s be thankful for the blessings we have received.

2. Be thankful for your blessings now and share them with others (14,15).

 Share with your neighbors, Levites, strangers, orphans and widows.
  Hymn #429, “Count your blessings.” Let's share gratitude for our health, family, neighbors, daily bread, church, faith, etc. Thank you for meeting Jesus.

3. Be thankful and think about the infinite joy you will enjoy in heaven in the future (15-17).

  Thank you in advance. Jesus also took five loaves of bread and prayed thanks at the tomb of Lazarus. A miracle happens. 15, “...rejoice completely because He blesses you in all things.” Let each person give thanks with a gift, not empty hands. (16) The Feast of Tabernacles prepares for the second coming of Jesus. Rejoice because you will sing the praises of victory in eternal heaven.

Dear saints, let us each give abundantly and give thanks for the grace given, the grace present, and the grace to be given. Let us all become grain believers and live a blessed life with gratitude.