Thanksgiving Eve and Day Service
By the President of the United States of America.
A Proclamation.
The year that is drawing towards its close,
has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To
these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the
source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so
extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the
heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of
Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity,
which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their
aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been
maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed
everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been
greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful
diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to
the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship;
the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of
iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than
heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that
has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country,
rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to
expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel
hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are
the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger
for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and
proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as
with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore
invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those
who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and
observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise
to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them
that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular
deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our
national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those
who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil
strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the
interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to
restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full
enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
Seal of the United States to be affixed.Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.
By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward,
Secretary of State
This proclamation (October 3, 1863) set the
precedent for America's national day of Thanksgiving. Prior to this, each state
scheduled its own Thanksgiving holiday at different times, mainly in New
England and other Northern states.
Prelude “We Praise You, O God” (Te Deum)....... Healey Willan
(Thursday)
Hymn of Thanksgiving “We Praise You, O God”.................. LSB 785
Morning Prayer.............................................................................................. Page
235
Venite ~ O Come, Let Us Sing........................................................... Page
236
Hymn ~ “God of
Our Fathers”.......................................................... LW
#501
By: Daniel
C. Roberts
Reading from The Book of Concord
The Augsburg
Article XVI, Civil Government 1,2,6,7
Our churches
teach that lawful civil regulations are good works of God. They teach that it is right for Christians to
hold political office, to serve as judges, to judge matters by imperial laws
and other existing laws, to impose just punishments, to engage in just wars, to
serve as soldiers, to make legal contracts, to hold property, to take oaths
when required by the magistrates, for a man to marry a wife, or a woman to be
given in marriage [Romans 13; 1 Corinthians 7:2].
…Therefore, it
is necessary for Christians to be obedient to their rulers and laws. The only
exception is when they are commanded to sin. Then they ought to obey God rather
than men (Acts 5:29).
Hymn ~ “God
Bless Our Native Land
God’s Thanksgiving Proclamation Deuteronomy
8:1-10
1“The
whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you
may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. 2And
you shall remember the whole way that the Lord
your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble
you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his
commandments or not. 3And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed
you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might
make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every
word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
4Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell
these forty years. 5Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines
his son, the Lord your God
disciplines you. 6So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and
by fearing him. 7For the Lord
your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of
fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, 8a land
of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive
trees and honey, 9a land in which you will eat bread without
scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out
of whose hills you can dig copper. 10And you shall eat and be full,
and you shall bless the Lord your
God for the good land he has given you.
Anthem Thou
Visitest the Earth
Thou visitest the earth and blesses it,
and crownest the year with Thy goodness.
Epistle
Philippians 4:6-20
6Do not be anxious about anything, but
in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally,
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any
excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9What
you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things,
and the God of peace will be with you.
10I
rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern
for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11Not
that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I
am to be content. 12I know how to be brought low, and I know how to
abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing
plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13I can do all things through
him who strengthens me.
14Yet it
was kind of you to share my trouble. 15And you Philippians
yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no
church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you
only. 16Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and
again. 17Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that
increases to your credit. 18I have received full payment, and more.
I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a
fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. 19And
my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in
Christ Jesus. 20To our God and Father be glory forever and ever.
Amen.
Gradual Hymn ~
“Now Thank We All Our God”..................... LSB
895
Holy Gospel Luke 17:11-19
11On
the way to Jerusalem [Jesus] was passing along
between Samaria and Galilee .
12And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood
at a distance 13and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master,
have mercy on us.” 14When he saw them he said to them, “Go and
show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15Then
one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a
loud voice; 16and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him
thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17Then Jesus answered, “Were
not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return
and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19And he said to him, “Rise
and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
Hymn ~ “Let All Things Now Living”
(Choir)
1. Let
all things now living A song of thanksgiving
To
God the Creator triumphantly raise,
Who
fashion’d and made us, Protected and stay’d us,
Who
guideth us on to the end of our days.
His
banners are o’er us, His Light goes before us,
A
pillar of fire shining forth in the night,
Till
shadows have vanish’d And darkness is banish’d,
As
forward we travel for light into light!
(Congregation)
2. His law He enforces, the stars in their courses,
The sun is His orbit, obediently shine.
The hills and the mountains, the rivers and fountains,
The deeps of the ocean proclaim Him Divine.
We, too, should be voicing our love and rejoicing,
With glad adoration a song let us raise,
Till all things now living unite in thanksgiving
To God in the highest, hosanna and praise! Amen
The Creed..... The First Article and Explanation
from Luther’s Small Catechism
I believe in God, the Father
Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
What does this mean?
I believe that God has made
me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and
all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them.
He also gives me clothing
and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals,
and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support
this body and life.
He defends me against all
danger and guards and protects me from all evil.
All this He does only out of
fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For
all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.
This is most certainly true.
Hymn ~ “Sing
to the Lord of Harvest”........................................ LSB
893
All
scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version,
copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used
by permission. All rights reserved.
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