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DIRECTING What Does Thanksgiving Mean to You?
This sketch gives us three fine, if not obvious, negative examples regarding Thanksgiving. As there are no positive examples of what Thanksgiving should mean to us, be careful to use this piece only when someone can follow it up with positive examples. The dialogue is written "over the top," meaning your actors will need to be exaggerated in their portrayals for maximum effectiveness.

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STAGING NOTES:
Try starting this piece with all three sets of actors on stage. The narrator can then bring each set to life as he introduces them. The other two sets of actors should freeze when one set is brought to life. Have each set posed at the beginning and return to the same pose at the end, or take a pose at the beginning and look at the audience at the end. Since the narrator does not comment at the end of the piece, have him or her look at the audience at the end of the entire sketch as well. Having the actors do a "take" to (look at) the audience at the end makes the statement that it is the audience's decision as to what Thanksgiving ought to really mean. It leaves the question in the audience’s lap.

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CHARACTERIZATION NOTES:
You can use the acting exercises, and apply it to the characters in this sketch. Let your actors play their roles as stereotypes, such as a nagging housewife and her beleaguered husband, or a macho father and his adoring son. The script makes it obvious that the examples given are not how we should feel about Thanksgiving, so maximize the humor in the dialogue by playing it "tongue-in-cheek." Technically, the way to accomplish that is for the actors to speak more slowly and loudly than normal and make their movements larger than life. Think cartoonish or `over the top,’ but remember that the actors have to be committed to these larger-than-life characterizations. If they're sincere about what they want, even though they're magnified vocally and physically, they'll still be believable. Playing stereotypes in this way will allow the audience members to see themselves in these characters without offense. This is an excellent example of how to use humor to disarm your audience and slip your message in at the same time.

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ACTING EXERCISE: Who am I?
Give each actor a character to stereotype: high-powered executive, football player, cheerleader, cowboy, housewife, nerd, little old lady. Have each actor walk around the room as his or her character. Ask the actors questions about their characters, such as:

How does your character walk?
How old is your character?
Does he move easily or with difficulty?
Does anything hurt?
Does he walk briskly or slowly?
What part of her body does she lead with?
Where is she going?
Where did she come from? What is he thinking about?

Add some of your own questions. Have the actors walk around the room in silence, not interacting with each other. As they answer these questions, his or her should adjust their walk accordingly.
Then, have the actors line up facing each other in pairs. One at a time, have each actor step toward his partner and introduce himself or herself. His partner should respond to the introduction and introduce herself. Their introductions and reactions should come out of their characters. The point of using stereotypes is to give the actors an immediately identifiable "type" to begin with, and to build on that using
the questions they are asked. Encourage the actors to stay larger than life,
not to get quiet or small in their bodies or voices.

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I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; before the "gods" I will sing your praise. I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. Psalm 138:1–2 NIV

Thoughts from the Pastor

Giving thanks seems to be such a simple practice. We teach children to give thanks as an acknowledgement of something given to them, whether or not it was earned. Giving thanks is a common courtesy that we use daily in the marketplace, but that we think very little about. So in this season of Thanksgiving, why do so many of us struggle with expressing such a simple courtesy?
The book of James tells us that "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (1:17 NIV). In order to be thankful, we must understand that we are in a position of reception. If we somehow surmise that all we have is "owed" to us or the result of our own ability or entitlement, we may become stymied in our ability to give thanks.
Maybe it falls, in part, to not knowing whom to thank. As more and more people in our culture diminish the God of the Bible from a highly relational Abba-Father God to a distant, passive, if not disinterested, small "g" god, we as a society will become less able to understand Thanksgiving.

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STUDY/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1) In the distractions that often accompany holidays, do you ever find yourself struggling to remember to be thankful?
2) What are some ways to build thankfulness into your celebration of Thanksgiving?
3) If we daily applied James 1:17 to our lives, what kind of changes might others see in us?
4) What is the biggest hindrance to living out James 1:17 in your life?

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WORSHIP THEME:
Thanksgiving

WORSHIP IDEA:
Provide an opportunity for your congregation to voice sentence prayers of thanksgiving during your worship time.

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MUSICAL LINKS

Performance Songs

"Forever"
(God's faithfulness)
C. Tomlin (worshiptogether.com)
Musical Style: anthem

“Good News"
(Advent)
As performed by Avalon from their recording Joy on Sparrow Records
Musical Style: expansive ballad

"So Far, So Good"
(thankfulness for God's faithfulness)
As performed by "Truth" from its recording A Decade of Truth on Benson Group Records
Musical Style: tender ballad

"Our Great God"
(worship)
As performed by Fernando Ortega
and Mac Powell from the recording City on a Hill: Sing Alleluia on Essential Records
Musical Style: medium 6/8

Hymns:

"Thanksgiving Medley"
(includes "We Gather Together,"
"For the Beauty of the Earth,"
"Come, Ye Thankful People, Come")
www.worshiptoday.com
Musical Style: SATB (congregation
can sing along); moderate tempo

"My Tribute"
(thanksgiving)
A. Crouch
Musical Style: ballad

"All Things Are Thine"
(thanksgiving)
J. Whittier
Musical Style: medium tempo

"Doxology"
(thanksgiving)
T. Ken
Musical Style: There are two
versions in the Trinity Hymnal
(Great Commission Publications)

Choruses:

"Give Thanks to the Lord"
(thanksgiving)
B. Smith (River Oaks Music)
Musical Style: medium 6/8

"Happy Song"
(gratefulness)
M. Smith (Delirious Music)
Musical Style: up tempo

"Forever Grateful"
(gratefulness)
M. Altrogge (Pleasant Hill Music)
Musical Style: ballad

"You Are Good"
(God's goodness)
I. Houghton (Integrity's Praise! Music)
Musical Style: gospel/R&B