Thanksgiving at Manna - 2025

Dr. Tracie Hines · 2025-11-30T17:47:03.533Z

SERVICE NOTES Watch Service: https://youtu.be/nhhYQMTHhVo Sermon Link: https://fayftbragg.manna.church/sermons/thanksgiving-focusing-your-feasts-of-the-lord-jonathan-fletcher/ Blog Post: https://faith.drtracie.com/post/thanksgiving2025 Service Notebook: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vYVpEUxJ3i7zlDLWwAFhvCCFvO9sNjqX1iUn-v_pPdI/edit?usp=sharing Thanksgiving | Focusing Your “Feasts of the Lord” Jonathan Fletcher November 26 & 30, 2025 Leviticus 23 (ESV) Holidays exist to center our attention on God. We build traditions/feasts/rhythms to: Place God at the center of our lives in worship. Psalm 130 (ESV) Build a heritage and culture in our families and for our children. Exodus 13:14 (ESV) Demonstrate a testimony of God’s Redemption. Deuteronomy 16:14 (ESV) Scripture 1: Leviticus 23 (ESV) Scripture Text: As Leviticus 23 is a lengthy chapter, here is a selected section that outlines the concept of the "Feasts of the Lord", focusing attention on God through set times and rhythms: “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.'" (leaving further specific verses available on request) Meaning: Leviticus 23 outlines God's command to Israel to observe certain festivals throughout the year. Each feast is a rhythm designed to center the community on God, setting apart regular times for sacred assembly, worship, and remembrance. These practices root a people’s life in gratitude, dependence, and worship, demonstrating that every season ultimately belongs to God. Scripture 2: Psalm 130 (ESV) Scripture Text: “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” Meaning: Psalm 130 is a cry for mercy and redemption. It roots God’s people in humble dependence on His forgiveness and love. Through remembered feasts and rhythms (like in Leviticus 23), families and congregations are taught to approach God with both reverence and hope, knowing He redeems, forgives, and constantly renews. Scripture 3: Exodus 13:14 (ESV) Scripture Text: 14. “And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, 'By a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.'” Meaning: God instructed that the stories and acts of redemption (like Israel's deliverance) be remembered and retold in families. Feasts and traditions in Israel were to build heritage and instill faith in future generations, forming a living testimony of God's redemption and faithfulness. Scripture 4: Deuteronomy 16:14 (ESV) Scripture Text: 14. “You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns.” Meaning: Thanksgiving and biblical feasts invite all people—household, community, and even the marginalized—into joyful worship and gratitude. The rhythm of communal feasting builds a testimony of God’s inclusive love and redemption for all. STEP 2 Overall Interpretation and Application This service emphasizes that holidays and traditions—especially those set by God in scripture—exist to reorient our lives around Him. The “Feasts of the Lord” are spiritual disciplines forming our memory, identity, and community life. The act of gathering, remembering, and rejoicing is how we center gratefulness and faith generation to generation, testifying to God’s powerful redemption. Practical Steps for Believers Regularly mark moments in your calendar for gratitude and remembrance of God’s works. Create family or communal traditions that retell stories of God’s faithfulness. Use seasons like Thanksgiving to invite others—especially the overlooked—into shared joy. Let every feast, meal, or celebration remind you and others of God’s ongoing redemption. Teach children and newcomers the meaning and purpose behind your worship rhythms, so faith is passed on and grows. Summary: God designed feasting and tradition not just for celebration, but for the centering of His people on worship, redemption, and testimony. Thanksgiving, modeled after the biblical feasts, becomes an intentional rhythm that draws individuals, families, and communities deeper into the grateful, redemptive life of faith.

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