<ul>
<li>Origins:
<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.</i> - Wikipedia
<li><i>The precise historical origin of the holiday is disputed. Although Americans commonly believe that the first Thanksgiving happened in 1621, at Plymouth Plantation, in Massachusetts, there is strong evidence for earlier celebrations in Canada (1578) and by Spanish explorers in Florida (1565).</i> - Widipedia
<li><i>Thanksgiving in the United States was observed on various different dates throughout history. By the mid 20th century, the final Thursday in November had become the customary day of Thanksgiving in most U.S. states. It was not until December 26, 1941 however that President Franklin D. Roosevelt, after pushing two years earlier to move the date earlier to give the country an economic boost, signed a bill into law, with congress, making Thanksgiving a national holiday and settling it to the fourth (but not final) Thursday in November.</i> - Wikipedia
</ul>
<li>Why?
<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?
<li>First reference to thanksgiving in the Bible - Leviticus 7:11-12, 22:29
<li>2 Samuel 22:50
<li>1 Chronicles 16:1-10 (4,7,8)
<li>1 Chronicles 16:34
<li>Ezra 3:11
<li>Nehemiah 12:31
<li>Psalm 6:5
<li>Psalm 18:49
<li>Psalm 35:18
<li>Psalm 92:1 <i>It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy Name, o Most High</i>
<li>Psalm 100:4
<li>Isaiah 51:3
<li>Matthew 11:25
<li>Matthew 15:36
<li>Matthew 26:27
<li>Romans 1:21
<li>2 Corinthians 9:11
<li>2 Corinthians 9:15
<li>Ephesians 5:4,20
<li>Philippians 4:6
<li>Colossians 1:12
<li>Colossians 2:7
<li>Colossians 3:15
<li>1 Thessalonians 5:18
<li>1 Timothy 2:1
<li>2 Timothy 3:2
<li>Revelation 7:12
<li>Revelation 11:17
</ul>
</ul>