As we celebrate Thanksgiving, we do so with a clear-eyed awareness of the world around us: conflict abroad, division at home, and growing challenges for Christians across the globe. Yet Scripture teaches us that gratitude flows not from ease, but from recognizing the Lord’s hand at work in every season.
President Ronald Reagan captured this truth in his 1985 Thanksgiving proclamation, reminding Americans that our tradition of Thanksgiving is grounded in the religious heritage from which our nation emerged. He pointed us back to the Source of every blessing and to the biblical principles that shaped the holiday’s earliest celebrations.
Although the time and date of the first American thanksgiving observance may be uncertain, there is no question but that this treasured custom derives from our Judeo-Christian heritage. …
In this season of Thanksgiving we are grateful for our abundant harvests and the productivity of our industries; for the discoveries of our laboratories; for the researches of our scientists and scholars; for the achievements of our artists, musicians, writers, clergy, teachers, physicians, businessmen, engineers, public servants, farmers, mechanics, artisans, and workers of every sort whose honest toil of mind and body in a free land rewards them and their families and enriches our entire Nation.
Let us thank God for our families, friends, and neighbors, and for the joy of this very festival we celebrate in His name.
Today, we rejoice in the extraordinary ways God is at work through your work, particularly among our members, partners, and friends. In a world longing for truth and hope, your voices are carrying the light of Christ into places weary with turmoil.
God is using your faithfulness to strengthen believers, advocate for the persecuted, and draw hearts to the Gospel across the globe, and we are profoundly thankful for the privilege of standing with you in this calling.
From all of us at NRB, we wish you a blessed and joyful Thanksgiving!
NRB’s offices will be closed Thursday, November 27 and Friday, November 28.