WE TRULY OWE GOD THANKS LOOKING AT THE GLORIOUS EVENTS OF THE PAST 45 YEARS.
ALL THE GLORY HERE IS DUE TO GOD. WITHOUT GOD, WE CAN DO NOTHING
THE BATTLE IS NOT TO THE STRONG, THE RACE IS NOT TO THE SWIFT, GOD IS BEHIND IT ALL.
MAY CELEBRATION NOT CEASE FROM YOUR HOUSEHOLD
MY FAMILY AND I ONCE LIVED IN THE CHURCH OFFICE WITH ONE TOILET.
WE ONCE HAD AN ATTENDANCE OF TWO PEOPLE IN ONE OF OUR MIDWEEK SERVICES.
I WAS THE FIRST SWEEPER OF THE CHURCH AND WHEN WE SEE TWO PEOPLE COME, WE CELEBRATE GOD AS IF THE WHOLE TOWN CAME.
THIS CHURCH WAS ONCE IN A STOREHOUSE THAT HAD NO CROSS VENTILATION. SEE WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
GOD SPOKE ABOUT CANAANLAND 17 YEARS BEFORE IT CAME TO LIGHT AND THERE WAS NOBODY PURSUING AFTER IT.
WE GOT OUR FIRST MUSICAL EQUIPMENT NOVEMBER 1986.
IF DRIVING A BEETLE IS DRIVING A CAR, MAY I NEVER DRIVE ONE,” SAID A SENIOR COLLEAGUE OF MINE TO ME WHEN I GOT A VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE.
PASTORS WHO LIVE THEIR LIFE IN COMPLAINING DON’T SEE GROWTH.
THANKSGIVING CHANGES US FROM RAGS TO RICHES.
PROPHECIES ARE DIVINE PROMISES.
THE WORST ENÊMY OF THANKSGIVING IS PRIDE. DON’T EVER TOY WITH IT.
– Bishop David Oyedepo on UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF THANKSGIVING at 45th Liberation Mandate Anniversary Thanksgiving Service || 3rd May 2026 || Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland || First Sunday Service
– Celebration will never cease in your household.
That is your gift for this season.
– You will be hearing congratulations all through the remaining part of this year.
– The shout of joy shall not cease from your habitation. Church Gist.
– Because you are on board this flight that never knows a setback, your life will never know a setback again.
– You are on board this flight of joy unspeakable full of glory, you won’t know depression anymore.
– You are on board this flight of access to His riches in glory, you won’t know lack anymore.
UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF THANKSGIVING is what we are looking at this morning. Every statement of scriptures is a container of the power of God. Church Gist. Romans 1:16. I am not ashamed of the gospel, it is the carrier of the power of God for man’s rescue. When you subscribe to any truth of scriptures, it is a bailout from where others who don’t know it are going through.
Thanksgiving is one of such power carriers that most people have not come to realize. Jesus gave thanks and we are all aware and the five loaves and fishes multiplied to feed 5,000 men, minus women and children. Church Gist. Approximately 10,000 people. From five loaves and two fishes through the power of thanksgiving.
We saw the next level of it at the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus gave thanks and Lazarus came forth. That’s how powerful thanksgiving can be. Church Gist. We are beneficiaries of this revelation in this commission and since inception, all to the glory of God. He made it known and gave grace to commit to it as a lifestyle.
We truly owe God thanks looking at the glorious events of the past 45 years and we are here today to pay our debt. Psalm 96:7-8. All the glory here is due to Him. All the glory in your life is due to Him. For without Him, you and I can do nothing. The breath in your nostrils are the doings of the Lord, so the glory for it is due to Him. Minus your breath, what remains. We slept and we awoke because He sustained us. Give onto the Lord the glory due to His name. All the glory is due to His name. Church Gist. For it is not of Him that willeth nor of Him that runneth but God that showeth mercy. The battle is not to the strong, the race is not to the swift, God is at the back of it. We owe God thanks not only on a Thanksgiving day like this but as a way of life. May our thanksgiving be acceptable today as we look forward to scaling new heights both as a church and as individuals in the name of Jesus.
For the path of the just is as a shining light ordained to shine more and more and more to the perfect day, the day that Christ returns. That’s God’s agenda.
– Therefore, your path shall keep shining more and more from today.
But why do we give thanks? Now, listen. Proverbs 13:15. We need good understanding of every truth of Scriptures to maximise the benefits. Acts 8:30. You should be open to be guided into realms of greater understanding of the truth. Acts 8:26-35. Proverbs 21:16. Church Gist. So, lack of spiritual understanding brings a believer to the level as if they were not saved yet. He’s a victim of ignorance. So, we need a sound understanding of every truth of Scriptures to maximise the benefits therein.
Why do we give thanks?
1. Thanksgiving is a debt you owe God both as individuals and as a Church. “Were there not 10 cleansed? Where were the 9? I’m waiting, I’m counting, those who truly return”. Church Gist. It’s a debt we owe and God is waiting for it to be paid. 10 lepers were cleansed, only 1 returned to give glory to God. He said, “where were the 9?” Luke 17:17. Maybe, “is this all that God can do? Yes, the itching has stopped but look at my fingers. How can I give thanks?” That man said, “I’ve carried these itches all my life, now, it has ceased, I’m going to celebrate and acknowledge the source”. Church Gist. He went to Jesus. It’s a debt we owe that must be paid before we see His next plan in our lives. Luke 17:17-19. So, we are bound to give thanks. 2 Thessalonians 2:13. It’s a debt we owe God as individuals and as a Church.
2. We owe God thanks for every good thing we see in our lives because every good and perfect gift comes from Above. James 1:17. Church Gist. Every good gift, everything good about your life and my life comes from Above. Ephesians 5:20. Everything good thing is the Hand of God at work.
3. To avoid a reversal of His blessings in our lives. We give thanks to avoid a reversal of His blessings. Malachi 2:1-3. To avoid a reversal, we respond with timely thanksgiving. Church Gist. Jeremiah 13:16-17. So, it has to be done on time. You give thanks on time before it causes darkness. Jeremiah 13:15-17. It’s to avoid a reversal of His blessings in our lives.
You don’t have to look far, there are many yesterday’s blessing that are no longer visible today. Most times we say it’s the devil. No! You just missed the key. Did you appreciate God who did it? Or you are beating your chest behind closed doors. “And well, by my skills anyway, it’s my entitlement. Church Gist. This is my accomplishment, let’s forget about what Papa is saying. This is my own accomplishment.” We don’t talk about accomplishments in the Kingdom, we talk about the engracement. You are who you are, I’m what I am by the grace of God. So we are engracement entities. Accomplishment can make your head bigger than your neck then it falls off.
4. Thanksgiving is the gateway to scaling new heights. Habakkuk 3:17-19. I’ll be giving Him thanks in spite of nothing happening, to make them happen. We don’t give thanks just for things that have happened, we give thanks to make things happen. That’s the essence of Habakkuk 3:17-19. And if you watch it carefully from 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Church Gist. Hebrews 10:36. So everybody owes God thanks this Morning, if for nothing else, let everything that has breath praise the Lord. So you owe God thanks for your breath. When you give Him thanks for your breath, He supplies your bread. Give Him thanks for your breath and you have access to your bread. Everybody owes God thanks, it’s a mystery.
5. Thanksgiving is the fruit of our lips that guarantees returns on our investment of time, energy and resources in stewardship.
Proverbs 13:2. Complaints, murmurings! “God should know that I’m bigger than this.” Proverbs 13:2. What is the fruit of his mouth? Hebrews 13:15. Church Gist. Proverbs 13:2. Giving thanks continually is the fruit of our lips that guarantees returns on our stewardship of time, energy and resources. Everybody owes God thanks.
6. Thanksgiving is a mystery that moves us from one level to another.
From healing to wholeness. You used to have pains in your two hands. Now, it has been reduced to one hand. “I thank You Jesus! The pain on my left hand is gone. Church Gist. I thank You because the one on the right hand will soon go.” It moves from one level to another. From healing to wholeness. From dryness to flourishing. It’s a good thing to praise the Lord. Psalm 92:12. It moves you and me from dryness to flourishing.
-You won’t know dryness again in your life because life and death are in the power of the tongue. Giving thanks to God continually moves you from dryness to flourishing. And that’s where you’re going!
In those early days, there was one of the Midweek Services where there were only two people present and they were the staff in the office. That’s Midweek Service. So I called them, “hey, how you doing? How was the service today?” It was great. What was the attendance like? Two of us and the Holy Ghost. Amen. Church Gist. I said, “Praise the Lord.” My family lived in the Church office for upward of two years, one toilet. Thanksgiving. We are not in that room again. If you don’t give thanks to God for where you are, you may not change level.
Give God thanks for the job you are doing. Then the next high-level job he has prepared for you will come through. Give thanks to God for your small business before your very eyes, it will become a global phenomenon. It is thanksgiving that changes us from one level to another. Church Gist. It changes us from rags to riches. You want a change of level, then engage the mystery of thanksgiving as a lifestyle knowing that where you are is by grace and where you will get into will only be possible by grace.
Furthermore, thanksgiving facilitates access to revelation. Psalm 100:4…And what is in His presence? Psalm 16:11. We can’t gain access to His presence without thanksgiving. “It is He that shows us light.” Church Gist. So, we can’t have revelation without thanksgiving. The more committed we are to thanking God, the brighter access we have to revelations. Psalm 118:27.
Thanksgiving also engenders breakthroughs in our various endeavors. Isaiah 54:1-3. One very interesting prescription here…So, but you see the prescription is in Verse One: “Sing, o barren.” Church Gist. “It’s a good thing to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praise unto his name.” Sing, o barren. You want a change of level, sing. You want breakthroughs, sing.
We also understand from Scriptures that thanksgiving provokes and sustains Church growth. Thanksgiving provokes and sustains Church growth. Jeremiah 30:19. “Out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry and in return I will multiply them. They shall not be few.” Church Gist. Now in Acts 2:47, we saw that come to play. He said, “Praising God and having favour with all the people and the Lord added to the Church daily such as you be saved.” Addition in response to praising God, giving thanks to His holy name that the people that gathered, they are gathered by His hand. “No one can come except my Father in Heaven draws him.” That’s how this Church grew from 4 to 6 to 8 to 10 to 20 to 100. That’s how we grew. Thanking God for what He has brought so He can bring more. It’s a mystery. So pastors who live their life in complaining don’t see growth. But giving thanks to God will keep changing the level of the Church. “As God keeps adding to the Church daily such as should you be saved.”
Finally, thanksgiving secures fulfillment of prophecies. You want to see prophecies fulfilled? Be thankful in everything. Give thanks. That is the Will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. And Hebrews 10:36, “You have need of patience that after you have done the will of God, you may obtain the promise.” Church Gist. Prophecies are divine promises. Thus said the Lord, this what I want to do with you. But you do the will of God in thanksgiving and engage the virtue of patience and you see it come to pass.
God spoke about this place 17 years before it came to light and there was nobody pursuing after it. Church Gist. I was just busy doing what He tells us to do and then He opens the chapter when it’s time.
– New chapters will keep opening to your life in the Name of Jesus Christ!
Now, as I close, the worst enêmy of thanksgiving is pride. “Is this all that You can do?” When He said, “Give you them to eat.” He said, “There’s nothing.” Church Gist. “Oh, but there’s a boy here that has five loaves and two fishes and what is that among so many?” He said, “Bring it now. Bring it. What is that? Bring it.”
Most of the times we see the Hand of God as too small compared to what we are worth in our sight. He gives you a two-bedroom house. “Is this my size for God’s sake? Just imagine me. All my friends are living in mansion.” Go and collect it. Church Gist. You got a job instead of saying thank you Jesus, “I expected something more than this. I really do and I know I’m worth it because that fellow that got that job, I’m smarter than him.” Pride is an enemy. Don’t toy with it. Don’t ever toy with it.
A senior colleague of mine said something
many years ago. He said, “Bro David, I heard you got a car.” I said, “Yes, God blessed me with a fantastic car.” He said, “That’s Volkswagen Beetle.” I said, “Yeah.” Church Gist. And he did like this. I think he used his left hand. “If driving a Beetle is driving a car, may I not drive one.” That is life, not a fiction. It’s a very horr!ble situation. Now see what Volkswagen Beetle has resorted to.
This church was once in a storehouse that had no cross ventilation. You sweat from head to toe because the wall next to that store was close to the window. Even when you open the window, nothing is coming in. I used to wear three piece suit to boost my size. The sweat will come from my body and enter the first coat and to the next coat. Church Gist. Amen. I’ll pull over the benches for people to come. That is lay hands on benches. I was the first sweeper of the church. And when we see two people come, we celebrate God as if the whole town came. See where we are today. Thanksgiving is a mystery. That’s why I say,
– You are going home with something here today that will keep changing your story from level to level!
Among other things, thanksgiving brought us to where we are as a Church. Amen. Would you believe that we got our first musical equipment in November 1986? November 1986. Church Gist. We are making joyful noise to the Lord, clapping our hands and stamping our feet, celebrating Jesus. See where we are today. Please be committed or may I say addicted to a life of thanksgiving. You will never know a downward trend. Exalting Jesus will keep changing your level upward. As you exalt Him, He lifts you up.
He said, “My horn shall thou exalt as the horn of a unicorn.” I shall be anointed with fresh oil. My enemies will become helpless. I’ll grow up like the cedar in Lebanon, flourish like a palm tree just by exalting Him. It’s a good thing to give thanks because it’s going to change your story all over. So, when it’s time to celebrate and dance, please put your heart in it. Put your heart in it. Church Gist. Thanking God for your life and for bringing you under a commission like this to decorate your destiny, thank Him. For saving your soul at all among so many, thank Him. For keeping you in the faith till now, thank Him. For all the Goodness of God that you see in your life, give Him thanks. That’s the way to go.
We were in a meeting many years ago. Brother David, what is your prayer request? I said just thank God for me. Just thank God. It has become an addiction. Just thank God for me. Church Gist. A friend of mine, we were coming in from Capernaum to Canaanland, and when we got here, he said, “Look I counted and you have said ‘Thank you Jesus’, ‘Praise the Lord’ 72 times between Raji oba and here”. I didn’t know I was doing that. He wasn’t sure whether I was following when we were discussing or not. We were in the same car, sitting at the same back.
· May Thanksgiving become your addiction today.
You’ll be amazed at how things will be turning around in your life. Be careful, complaints complicate matters. Church Gist. It never solves any problems. The people complained and God heard it and His anger was unleashed on them. They complained and when the people complained, Numbers 11:1, when the people complained and the Church today, too many are busy complaining. Busy. What is all this? Every day! Every day! God heard it and vented His anger on them.
· You won’t see God’s anger.
1 Corinthians 10:10. Please get out of it. If you have lost anything, it is the reason why you have not lost everything. Church Gist. Give Him thanks so as to keep the remaining. If you have lost anything, God is the reason why you have not lost everything. Give Him thanks. Now give the Lord a big hand of praise. Amen.
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