We had another wonderful day again today at First Baptist Church in Perry. I planned this morning's service as a commenmoration of my 40th spiritual birthday. We sang hymns that I remembered singing in 1970 and 1971 at Calvary Baptist Church in Muskegon, where I was saved. For the message I told the story of how I came to give my life to Christ. I am what I am today because of the grace of God, pure and simple. If I hadn't met Christ, I probably would have become an alcoholic or worse. Praise God for His grace. And just as He transformed my life, He can transform other's lives as well. Praise God for another wonderful Lord's day!
The community of Perry sufferred a loss last week. a young Marine, Lance Corporal Joshua M. Davis was killed in action in Afghanistan. His funeral was Saturday. It was certainly a moving memorial service. He was only 19 years old and enlisted in the Corps before he graduated from high school last year.
Unfortunately, we also had an appearance of the demonstrators from Westboro Baptist Church. Since we're the only Baptist Church in town, we needed to do something to distance ourselves from these demonstrators. I wrote two resolutions that were presented to the church for approval. Both passed unanimously.
These are the two resolutions:
Resolution Honoring Corporal Joshua Davis
Whereas Lance Corporal Joshua Michael Davis fulfilled a lifelong dream when he voluntarily enlisted in the United States Marine Corp before he graduated from Perry High School in 2009; and whereas this fine young man represented our community of Perry, Iowa as he served our nation in the military; and whereas Corporal Davis heroically made the supreme sacrifice in the performance of his duty and the service of his country in Afghanistan;
Now therefore, be it resolved by the undersigned members of the First Baptist Church, that we express to Corporal Davis’ parents, Mrs. & Mrs. Dave Davis of Perry, and Ms. Beverly Jean Russell, of Des Moines, and the rest of his family as well, our deepest sympathies and condolences for the loss of their son; be it further resolved that we pray that our Gracious and Loving Heavenly Father would provide comfort and consolation for their broken hearts, and peace that their dear son is at rest in God’s care. Be it further resolved that we pray for the safety and well being of those who currently serve our nation in the military, especially those in harm’s way, honoring them for their service and sacrifice on our behalf.
Proposed for approval by the Pastor and Deacons and passed by action of the First Baptist Church meeting for worship on May 16, 2010.
Resolution on the Westboro Baptist Church
Whereas the pastor and members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas continue to besmirch the Name and Cause of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ through disrespectful demonstrations at the funeral services of heroic members of the military who make the supreme sacrifice in honorable service of the interests of our nation; and whereas these demonstrations contain only self-righteous pronouncements of judgment and condemnation and lack any expression of mercy or grace whatsoever; and whereas one of these demonstrations was held here in Perry last Saturday morning; and whereas the Lord Jesus expressly stated, “I did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them,” (LK 9:51-56); and whereas the gospel message that we believe and proclaim declares God’s great Love for all men and desire that all men be saved not condemned;
Now therefore, be it resolved by the undersigned members of First Baptist Church, that we call upon the pastor and members of the Westboro Baptist Church to repent of the sin of being an offense and stumblingblock to the lost and to cease these demonstrations that bring great shame upon the precious Name of Jesus and his glorious gospel of grace; be it further resolved that we publicly express to our community of Perry, Iowa, that we are not in any form or fashion in sympathy with these demonstrations or with the un-Christlike actions of the members of the Westboro Church; be it further resolved that we honor, give thanks and pray for the safety and well being of those serving in the United States military, especially those serving is harm’s way in hostile places.
Proposed for approval by the Pastor and Deacons and passed by action of the First Baptist Church meeting for worship on May 16, 2010.
Both of these resolutions will be published in our local paper.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Gubernatorial Candidate Bob Vanderplaats
Tonight we have the honor and blessing of having Iowa Gubernatorial candidate Bob Vanderplaats in our prayer service. Bob will be sharing His testimony and giving our folks the opportunity to get to know him. It is very unusual for a candidate for governor to come to a small church so we are greatly priviledged.
Monday, April 12, 2010
April 11: Dr. Eldon Stevens
Today we had a guests evangelist. Dr. Eldon Stevens was with us. He spoke from Isaiah 53. Unfortunately, I didn't let him know that he had until 10:45. He spoke of the things the Lord surrenderred as He became our Savior and how He got them back.
We also had missionary Colin Lord with us. Colin grew up and was saved at First Baptist Church. He now serves with Wycliff Bible Translators in Papua New Guinea.
We enjoyed great worship and had a wonderful day!
We also had missionary Colin Lord with us. Colin grew up and was saved at First Baptist Church. He now serves with Wycliff Bible Translators in Papua New Guinea.
We enjoyed great worship and had a wonderful day!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sunday March 21, 2010
"Magnify the Lord"
(Psa 34:3) Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.
We have learned that the decision to live a lifestyle of worship is a powerful and a personal decision. It’s a life changing decision. In its very essence, worship is something that is a personal act that takes place in the heart. It cannot be forced or imposed from without. It can't be manufactured. Ultimately, worship is you saying to God, "I will bless the LORD at ALL times. YOUR praise shall continually be in my mouth."
No religious ceremony or ritual is worship if the heart is not in it. No act of self denial is worship unless there is first a genuine surrender of the heart to God.
We have learned what it means to "bless the LORD, to praise the Lord, to boast in the LORD and to be glad in the LORD. These are all aspects of personal worship.
I. What does “magnify Mean? Today we look at the word "magnify" in vs. 3: This word means "to make larger or greater." Some of the other passages that use it are:
(Psa 40:16) Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, "The LORD be magnified!" Ps. 70:4 sats the same.!
(Psa 69:30) I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving. (Psa 69:31) This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bull, Which has horns and hooves.
It is wonderful to think that we can make God larger and greater in our worship.
II. A Contrast To Consider: In Ps. 34:3, David changes his tune slightly. He's been saying "I will bless the Lord, I will praise the Lord I will boast I will be glad" This verse isn't about personal worship. Its about joining with other true worshipers and lifting a united voice in praise to the LORD.
Notice he says, "Oh magnify the LORD WITH ME, and let us exalt His name TOGETHER!" Now he is talking about united or corporate worship with other believers.
Personal worship is precious. United worship is powerful.
Personal worship is a soloist playing the violin. United worship is an orchestra or choir playing or singing together.
Personal worship is Ps. 23: "The Lord is MY shepherd" United worship is Ps. 150: "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
United worship strengthens personal worship. United worship is what all true worshipers are destined for: Rev. 5:8-14.
Church services are times of united worship. It is when the redeemed and lovers of God assemble together and lift up their united voices to praise and worship and adore the Savior!
When we unite and lift our voices up- the LORD is magnified- made larger than ever by our united worship.
III. The Real Problem: Immediately I see a problem. The problem is that we can't make God any greater than He is already! Let me show you what I mean.
Isa. 40:10-26: You can't get any greater than that!
Ps. 139:7-10: The point is He is everywhere!
So how do we make God larger and greater in our praise?
As usual, the problem is not with God- its with US! Our perspective of God is what is wrong. The way we as humans so often see God is that He is small and weak. Many think that He doesn't exist. Some think that He exists but is not involved at all in what He created!
A. Some are blinded: (2Co 4:3) But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, (2Co 4:4) whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
(Rom 11:25) For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
They absolutely refuse to believe. Satan, the god of this age, is allowed to blind their minds so that they cannot see! It is always dangerous to reject the gospel. You can reach a point when God allows you to never see your need for Christ again.
Rejection of the truth may lead to the inability to see, understand and receive the truth.
"Today is the day of salvation."
B. Some are deceived: God says: (Psa 50:21) You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you," Some think of God as "the man upstairs." Or their idea is of a loving grandfather figure who will do nothing but pat the little kids on the head. He would never judge and condemn anyone to death. They think God is like man.
C. Some are distracted. Rev. 2:1-7 They are looking at their their doctrinal statement, they are looking for wrong teaching, they are looking at all that they are doing for God- but their eyes are not on God and they have lost the only real reason for serving God- LOVE.
One thing that can help remove that blindness that deception is for true worshipers to declare God's greatness and worthiness in united worship! When an unbeliever sees a church full of people really and genuinely worshiping God and showing their love for God, the blindness can be lifted and they may be able to see how much they need Christ.
This is why churches where people are complacent, indifferent don't see people saved. This is why churches who are striving and fighting are unhappy. This is why churches that just go through the motions of doing church- what I call "churchianity" don't grow, don't accomplish anything for God and go into decline and eventually close!
This is why we need to be worshipers of God. this is why our love and adoration of God must be first.
Rev. 2: You will see a church that is doctrinally correct, a church that is separated, a church that is working- but what is wrong is that they have left their first love. They have a love problem. They have a worship problem. They have a perspective problem. Their eyes are not on God. They have a worship problem. Churches have to keep the fires of love and devotion going. If the fire of love goes out, the churches minstry will end.
Our first priority must be to love God. United worship magnifies Him and keeps us motivated to serving Him and obeying Him. I have witnessed this first hand.
The church I was saved in had a tremendous worship ministry. Choir. Special music. Great congregational singing. People would sing out! Youth group sang and it was powerful! The church was full of people who loved God and loved other people. I could tell that they had something I had that I didn't- and I wanted it.
I've been in churches where the congregation mumbled and murmured through the songs. I would sing out and people would look at me as if to say, "What's wrong with you?"
Baptist churches in the 70s were well known for great music and worship programs. Singing was enthusiastic and joyful and the love of God was plain to see.
Philo Chapel: Promise Keepers.
When God's people love God with all their heart and show it- God is magnified and fills the place. When God's people have a real genuine love for God and openly express it, it will be seen and noticed and it will attract others to it. True love and worship is like a magnet that draws our hearts to God and draws the lost to believing the gospel and being saved.
Every week, we issue David's invitation: Oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt HIS name together!
Folks, here it is. Will you become a worshiper of God? Will you devote your life to a lifestyle of worship? Will you join with me and others to magnify the Lord and exalt His name together?
(Psa 34:3) Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.
We have learned that the decision to live a lifestyle of worship is a powerful and a personal decision. It’s a life changing decision. In its very essence, worship is something that is a personal act that takes place in the heart. It cannot be forced or imposed from without. It can't be manufactured. Ultimately, worship is you saying to God, "I will bless the LORD at ALL times. YOUR praise shall continually be in my mouth."
No religious ceremony or ritual is worship if the heart is not in it. No act of self denial is worship unless there is first a genuine surrender of the heart to God.
We have learned what it means to "bless the LORD, to praise the Lord, to boast in the LORD and to be glad in the LORD. These are all aspects of personal worship.
I. What does “magnify Mean? Today we look at the word "magnify" in vs. 3: This word means "to make larger or greater." Some of the other passages that use it are:
(Psa 40:16) Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, "The LORD be magnified!" Ps. 70:4 sats the same.!
(Psa 69:30) I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving. (Psa 69:31) This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bull, Which has horns and hooves.
It is wonderful to think that we can make God larger and greater in our worship.
II. A Contrast To Consider: In Ps. 34:3, David changes his tune slightly. He's been saying "I will bless the Lord, I will praise the Lord I will boast I will be glad" This verse isn't about personal worship. Its about joining with other true worshipers and lifting a united voice in praise to the LORD.
Notice he says, "Oh magnify the LORD WITH ME, and let us exalt His name TOGETHER!" Now he is talking about united or corporate worship with other believers.
Personal worship is precious. United worship is powerful.
Personal worship is a soloist playing the violin. United worship is an orchestra or choir playing or singing together.
Personal worship is Ps. 23: "The Lord is MY shepherd" United worship is Ps. 150: "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
United worship strengthens personal worship. United worship is what all true worshipers are destined for: Rev. 5:8-14.
Church services are times of united worship. It is when the redeemed and lovers of God assemble together and lift up their united voices to praise and worship and adore the Savior!
When we unite and lift our voices up- the LORD is magnified- made larger than ever by our united worship.
III. The Real Problem: Immediately I see a problem. The problem is that we can't make God any greater than He is already! Let me show you what I mean.
Isa. 40:10-26: You can't get any greater than that!
Ps. 139:7-10: The point is He is everywhere!
So how do we make God larger and greater in our praise?
As usual, the problem is not with God- its with US! Our perspective of God is what is wrong. The way we as humans so often see God is that He is small and weak. Many think that He doesn't exist. Some think that He exists but is not involved at all in what He created!
A. Some are blinded: (2Co 4:3) But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, (2Co 4:4) whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
(Rom 11:25) For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
They absolutely refuse to believe. Satan, the god of this age, is allowed to blind their minds so that they cannot see! It is always dangerous to reject the gospel. You can reach a point when God allows you to never see your need for Christ again.
Rejection of the truth may lead to the inability to see, understand and receive the truth.
"Today is the day of salvation."
B. Some are deceived: God says: (Psa 50:21) You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you," Some think of God as "the man upstairs." Or their idea is of a loving grandfather figure who will do nothing but pat the little kids on the head. He would never judge and condemn anyone to death. They think God is like man.
C. Some are distracted. Rev. 2:1-7 They are looking at their their doctrinal statement, they are looking for wrong teaching, they are looking at all that they are doing for God- but their eyes are not on God and they have lost the only real reason for serving God- LOVE.
One thing that can help remove that blindness that deception is for true worshipers to declare God's greatness and worthiness in united worship! When an unbeliever sees a church full of people really and genuinely worshiping God and showing their love for God, the blindness can be lifted and they may be able to see how much they need Christ.
This is why churches where people are complacent, indifferent don't see people saved. This is why churches who are striving and fighting are unhappy. This is why churches that just go through the motions of doing church- what I call "churchianity" don't grow, don't accomplish anything for God and go into decline and eventually close!
This is why we need to be worshipers of God. this is why our love and adoration of God must be first.
Rev. 2: You will see a church that is doctrinally correct, a church that is separated, a church that is working- but what is wrong is that they have left their first love. They have a love problem. They have a worship problem. They have a perspective problem. Their eyes are not on God. They have a worship problem. Churches have to keep the fires of love and devotion going. If the fire of love goes out, the churches minstry will end.
Our first priority must be to love God. United worship magnifies Him and keeps us motivated to serving Him and obeying Him. I have witnessed this first hand.
The church I was saved in had a tremendous worship ministry. Choir. Special music. Great congregational singing. People would sing out! Youth group sang and it was powerful! The church was full of people who loved God and loved other people. I could tell that they had something I had that I didn't- and I wanted it.
I've been in churches where the congregation mumbled and murmured through the songs. I would sing out and people would look at me as if to say, "What's wrong with you?"
Baptist churches in the 70s were well known for great music and worship programs. Singing was enthusiastic and joyful and the love of God was plain to see.
Philo Chapel: Promise Keepers.
When God's people love God with all their heart and show it- God is magnified and fills the place. When God's people have a real genuine love for God and openly express it, it will be seen and noticed and it will attract others to it. True love and worship is like a magnet that draws our hearts to God and draws the lost to believing the gospel and being saved.
Every week, we issue David's invitation: Oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt HIS name together!
Folks, here it is. Will you become a worshiper of God? Will you devote your life to a lifestyle of worship? Will you join with me and others to magnify the Lord and exalt His name together?
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Sunday March 14, 2010
He Has Made Me Glad!
Ps. 34:2: "My soul shall make its boast in the LORD. The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Introduction: Of all people Christians should be glad but many are not. True worshipers are glad because their GOD gives them joy and gladness!
43 times the word glad appears in the Old Testament. Here are some other verses:
Psa 9:2: I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
Psa 31:7: I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, For You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities,
Psa 32:11: Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Psa 40:16: Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, "The LORD be magnified!"
Psa 68:3: But let the righteous be glad; Let them rejoice before God; Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.
Psa 64:10: The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory.
Psa 70:4: Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, "Let God be magnified!"
I. What does it mean to be "glad?"
The word means: "to brighten" has the idea of being cheerful, to cheer up” includes the idea of being encouraged. Worshipers are encouraged. We're not discouraged! The word is often connected with joy and rejoicing to show the emotional happiness of those who know, love and trust in God.
Not the happiness that comes from happenings or circumstances. It is a deep seated positive attitude and outlook on life that is bestowed upon an individual who is trusting and worshiping God.
Lovers of God are glad! They are joyful! They don't walk around looking like they have been sucking on a dill pickle all day long. Worshipers, lovers of God, know how to have a good time without doing what's wrong.
BEER Commercial: It doesn’t get any better than this. Wrong!
They know what it really takes to enjoy life. Worshipers know that it doesn't get any better than to know God and to enjoy HIM forever.
II. Who can be truly glad?
There is a connection between being humble and being glad.
Neh. 8:1-10
Here, God's people gather to hear the Word of God. The preacher Ezra stands in the pulpit and opens the Word of God. The people stand up in respect and they stand there all day with their families and their children listening to the Word being read and preached. They hear what God expects of them and what God says will happen when they don't obey Him. They are convicted and begin to weep. They bow their heads and humble themselves before God. They are filled with shame but they kneel and confess their sin to God. They bow before Him and truly worship Him.
Their spiritual leaders see what is happening. They see the people humble themselves before God. They see the tears. They see the worship and that it is genuine and real. They see that the people are genuinely sorry for their sins and are repenting.
"Enough mourning! Go your way. Eat the fat. Drink the sweet." They are telling the people to stop feeling bad and to celebrate that God has forgiven them. Do not be grieved, they say, "The joy of the LORD is your strength!"
That is so true! When God's people are right with Him, they are joyful and they are strong. when we humble ourselves, and confess our pride and our sin and our need for God and His Word, God forgives and we find great joy!
Every time there is a revival among God's people it is accompanied with joy and gladness and celebration.
Song: The joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord is my strength. O the joy of the LORD is my strength. Yes the joy of the Lord is my strength.
He gives me living water and I thirst no more. He gives me living water and I thirst no more. he gives me living water and I thirst no more, For the joy of the LOrd is my strength.
Proud people are not usually glad people and proud people will never, NEVER respond with gladness when you boast about God. Humble people are glad people.
Proud people can spot things that aren't right from a mile away. Proud people can always tell you when something isn't to their liking and there is ALWAYS something that they don't like. Proud people are smarter than other people. Proud people always know how things should be done and they can always do them better. Proud people carry a critical attitude around with them and they pull it out and use it a lot. Consequently, they aren't happy people.
I had a guy in a former church who could spot when the margins in the bulletin weren't equal. I had a lady in my church who would get terribly upset if there was one misspelled word in the bulletin or church newsletter, or if a date didn't get changed.
Proud people can always tell you what’s wrong with you but they can't see what's wrong with them. They try to take the speck out of your eye, but they can't see the log in their own.
America is a depressed nation. We are an unhappy people. 20 million Americans suffer from depression. Anti-depressant medication is a multi billion dollar industry. Every year treatment for depression gets better and medication becomes more available- but the number of people with it gets larger.
Why? America is wealthier and has more materialistic things than ever. We have more television and movies, music, amusement parks, entertainment, restaurants, attractions than ever. Americans can spend more money on things that are supposed to make us happy than ever. We spend more on drugs and alcoholic beverages. we all know that the illegal drug trade flourishes as people look for a way to escape from reality. We do more and more to deal with "self esteem" issues than ever.
But I submit that it isn't low self esteem that is our real problem. Our real problem is that we are a proud and self sufficient people. We don't think we need God. That is causing the depression. I believe God uses depression to show us that we need HIM. That HE is the only real thing in life.
I know what depression is. I've seen it in my family. I personally believe that alcoholic beverages cause it. A person begins just having a good time, but before long he can't do anything without it. My uncle once said to me during a time when he was "dry" "Nothing is any fun without a can of beer in your hand." Drunks are self medicating their bad feelings about themselves and their circumstances with their drinking.
But I also had what was called a "clinical depression" for two or three years. The effects of that can linger on and on. I took Prozac. I took Paxil. They didn't do me a whole lot of good. I stood in a church surrounded by people who were singing "It Is Well With My Soul" and had tears streaming down my face because it was NOT well with my soul. I was miserable and I had all the classic symptoms of depression including thoughts of suicide.
III. How to be glad!
A. Humble yourself before God, seek forgiveness and ask for joy and gladness.
I know many people get comfort in the anti-depressants- and I'm never going to tell anyone to stop taking them. But the doctors are only looking at this problem from a materialistic perspective. They don't understand that depression is often caused by spiritual issues. If the heart isn't right, the emotions cannot be right.
The first step toward gladness is to humble self before God and give Him everything!
B. Change the way you think:
The Bible says, "As a man thinks in his heart SO IS HE!" Pro. 23:7
Your life reflects your heart! Jesus said "out of the abundance of the HEART a man speaks"
If all that comes out of your mouth is complaints and whines and all you talk about is how bad off you are and how terrible you have it- you will talk yourself into a depression. If all you think about is how things are falling apart and that tomorrow is going to be even worse than today and you worry and fret, you're going to think yourself into being depressed. If all you watch is dark and horror and terror and bad it will make your heart dark and bad. If all that you listen to is angry and critical and sensual and worldly- mark it down- that’s what your heart will be and that is what will show on your face and that is what will come out of your life.
If you want to change your life and your emotions and the way you think you have to change your heart. YOU CAN"T DO THAT! BUT GOD CAN. He can do it when you humble yourself and find your joy completely in HIM! He can do that when you meet Him in His Word and when you walk with Him and when you worship Him, because He is going to show you that you have a wonderful future and He is going to teach you to trust HIM with your problems and he is going to tell you to give your anger and your worries and your complaints and your cares and anxieties to Him and trust Him that its alright because He is your good Shepherd and His will is best.
If you want to have a lifestyle of gladness you have to practice a lifestyle of worship and right thinking. You have to give your heart to our Great and Awesome God.
My depression did not get better until I humbled myself and gave my anger to God and started walking with Him again. I find that the more I worship and love my God the better off my emotions are. When my trust was in myself I was depressed. When I trusted that God was good and in charge I became glad. trust in myself was pride and it led to depression. Trust in God was humility and worship and it leads to gladness and joy.
I'm not telling anyone to stop taking your medication, but you will never get off of them unless and until you humble yourself and become a true worshiper of God. You will always feel bad about your circumstances unless you accept that the circumstances of your life “is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
C. Begin to rejoice IN the LORD!
Phil. 3:1 and 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord!"
If your rejoicing is in the Hawks- then you will only rejoice when the Hawks do well. You will be disappointed more than you will be glad.
If your rejoicing is in your health, then you will rejoice when you feel good. But what will you do when you feel bad?
If your rejoicing is that everything is working just as you planned it - well, prepare to be disappointed most of the time and very very disappointed some times.
But if your rejoicing is in the LORD- you'll be glad all the time!
"How's the world treating you?" Isaid, "Just awful but God is treating me wondefully. Can I tell you about Him?"
We can always be rejoicing in God. He never fails. He completely satisfies. He'll do what money and things could never do. That is why we are told to love God with all of our heart, strength soul and mind.
We should think about good things:
(Php 4:8) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is fair, whatever is pure, whatever is acceptable, whatever is commendable, if there is anything of excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy-keep thinking about these things.
(Php 4:9) Likewise, keep practicing these things: what you have learned, received, heard, and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.
C. Extract everything from your life that dishonors God.
Replace whatever you extract with things that honor God.
What you think about affects the way you live. What you practice as a lifestyle affects whether or not you experience the God of peace in your life.
Our songs should be happy joyful songs!
Hallelu Hallelu Hallu Hallujah! Praise Ye the Lord!
I've got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart!
I've got the love of Jesus Love of Jesus down in my heart!
I've got the wonderful love of my blessed redeemer way down in the depths of my heart!
I've got the belief of the Baptists that baffles the Buddhists way down in the depths of my heart!
I've got the marvelous message that mortifies Mormons way down in the depths of my heart!
And if the Devil doesn't like ti he can sit on a tack ouch!
I’m inright, outright upright downright happy all the time.
Are we downhearted no no no!
Happiness is the Lord.
I’m so happy and here’s the reason why!
How 'bout: Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning.
Conclusion: As worshippers we practice a lifestyle of humility. We humble ourselves before God in worship and acknowledge our utter dependence upon HIM. We find our joy and happiness not in things and especially not in the things of this world which we are warned not to love but we find it in our God.
And then, HE MAKES US GLAD!
Ps. 34:2: "My soul shall make its boast in the LORD. The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Introduction: Of all people Christians should be glad but many are not. True worshipers are glad because their GOD gives them joy and gladness!
43 times the word glad appears in the Old Testament. Here are some other verses:
Psa 9:2: I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
Psa 31:7: I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, For You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities,
Psa 32:11: Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Psa 40:16: Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, "The LORD be magnified!"
Psa 68:3: But let the righteous be glad; Let them rejoice before God; Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.
Psa 64:10: The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory.
Psa 70:4: Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, "Let God be magnified!"
I. What does it mean to be "glad?"
The word means: "to brighten" has the idea of being cheerful, to cheer up” includes the idea of being encouraged. Worshipers are encouraged. We're not discouraged! The word is often connected with joy and rejoicing to show the emotional happiness of those who know, love and trust in God.
Not the happiness that comes from happenings or circumstances. It is a deep seated positive attitude and outlook on life that is bestowed upon an individual who is trusting and worshiping God.
Lovers of God are glad! They are joyful! They don't walk around looking like they have been sucking on a dill pickle all day long. Worshipers, lovers of God, know how to have a good time without doing what's wrong.
BEER Commercial: It doesn’t get any better than this. Wrong!
They know what it really takes to enjoy life. Worshipers know that it doesn't get any better than to know God and to enjoy HIM forever.
II. Who can be truly glad?
There is a connection between being humble and being glad.
Neh. 8:1-10
Here, God's people gather to hear the Word of God. The preacher Ezra stands in the pulpit and opens the Word of God. The people stand up in respect and they stand there all day with their families and their children listening to the Word being read and preached. They hear what God expects of them and what God says will happen when they don't obey Him. They are convicted and begin to weep. They bow their heads and humble themselves before God. They are filled with shame but they kneel and confess their sin to God. They bow before Him and truly worship Him.
Their spiritual leaders see what is happening. They see the people humble themselves before God. They see the tears. They see the worship and that it is genuine and real. They see that the people are genuinely sorry for their sins and are repenting.
"Enough mourning! Go your way. Eat the fat. Drink the sweet." They are telling the people to stop feeling bad and to celebrate that God has forgiven them. Do not be grieved, they say, "The joy of the LORD is your strength!"
That is so true! When God's people are right with Him, they are joyful and they are strong. when we humble ourselves, and confess our pride and our sin and our need for God and His Word, God forgives and we find great joy!
Every time there is a revival among God's people it is accompanied with joy and gladness and celebration.
Song: The joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord is my strength. O the joy of the LORD is my strength. Yes the joy of the Lord is my strength.
He gives me living water and I thirst no more. He gives me living water and I thirst no more. he gives me living water and I thirst no more, For the joy of the LOrd is my strength.
Proud people are not usually glad people and proud people will never, NEVER respond with gladness when you boast about God. Humble people are glad people.
Proud people can spot things that aren't right from a mile away. Proud people can always tell you when something isn't to their liking and there is ALWAYS something that they don't like. Proud people are smarter than other people. Proud people always know how things should be done and they can always do them better. Proud people carry a critical attitude around with them and they pull it out and use it a lot. Consequently, they aren't happy people.
I had a guy in a former church who could spot when the margins in the bulletin weren't equal. I had a lady in my church who would get terribly upset if there was one misspelled word in the bulletin or church newsletter, or if a date didn't get changed.
Proud people can always tell you what’s wrong with you but they can't see what's wrong with them. They try to take the speck out of your eye, but they can't see the log in their own.
America is a depressed nation. We are an unhappy people. 20 million Americans suffer from depression. Anti-depressant medication is a multi billion dollar industry. Every year treatment for depression gets better and medication becomes more available- but the number of people with it gets larger.
Why? America is wealthier and has more materialistic things than ever. We have more television and movies, music, amusement parks, entertainment, restaurants, attractions than ever. Americans can spend more money on things that are supposed to make us happy than ever. We spend more on drugs and alcoholic beverages. we all know that the illegal drug trade flourishes as people look for a way to escape from reality. We do more and more to deal with "self esteem" issues than ever.
But I submit that it isn't low self esteem that is our real problem. Our real problem is that we are a proud and self sufficient people. We don't think we need God. That is causing the depression. I believe God uses depression to show us that we need HIM. That HE is the only real thing in life.
I know what depression is. I've seen it in my family. I personally believe that alcoholic beverages cause it. A person begins just having a good time, but before long he can't do anything without it. My uncle once said to me during a time when he was "dry" "Nothing is any fun without a can of beer in your hand." Drunks are self medicating their bad feelings about themselves and their circumstances with their drinking.
But I also had what was called a "clinical depression" for two or three years. The effects of that can linger on and on. I took Prozac. I took Paxil. They didn't do me a whole lot of good. I stood in a church surrounded by people who were singing "It Is Well With My Soul" and had tears streaming down my face because it was NOT well with my soul. I was miserable and I had all the classic symptoms of depression including thoughts of suicide.
III. How to be glad!
A. Humble yourself before God, seek forgiveness and ask for joy and gladness.
I know many people get comfort in the anti-depressants- and I'm never going to tell anyone to stop taking them. But the doctors are only looking at this problem from a materialistic perspective. They don't understand that depression is often caused by spiritual issues. If the heart isn't right, the emotions cannot be right.
The first step toward gladness is to humble self before God and give Him everything!
B. Change the way you think:
The Bible says, "As a man thinks in his heart SO IS HE!" Pro. 23:7
Your life reflects your heart! Jesus said "out of the abundance of the HEART a man speaks"
If all that comes out of your mouth is complaints and whines and all you talk about is how bad off you are and how terrible you have it- you will talk yourself into a depression. If all you think about is how things are falling apart and that tomorrow is going to be even worse than today and you worry and fret, you're going to think yourself into being depressed. If all you watch is dark and horror and terror and bad it will make your heart dark and bad. If all that you listen to is angry and critical and sensual and worldly- mark it down- that’s what your heart will be and that is what will show on your face and that is what will come out of your life.
If you want to change your life and your emotions and the way you think you have to change your heart. YOU CAN"T DO THAT! BUT GOD CAN. He can do it when you humble yourself and find your joy completely in HIM! He can do that when you meet Him in His Word and when you walk with Him and when you worship Him, because He is going to show you that you have a wonderful future and He is going to teach you to trust HIM with your problems and he is going to tell you to give your anger and your worries and your complaints and your cares and anxieties to Him and trust Him that its alright because He is your good Shepherd and His will is best.
If you want to have a lifestyle of gladness you have to practice a lifestyle of worship and right thinking. You have to give your heart to our Great and Awesome God.
My depression did not get better until I humbled myself and gave my anger to God and started walking with Him again. I find that the more I worship and love my God the better off my emotions are. When my trust was in myself I was depressed. When I trusted that God was good and in charge I became glad. trust in myself was pride and it led to depression. Trust in God was humility and worship and it leads to gladness and joy.
I'm not telling anyone to stop taking your medication, but you will never get off of them unless and until you humble yourself and become a true worshiper of God. You will always feel bad about your circumstances unless you accept that the circumstances of your life “is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
C. Begin to rejoice IN the LORD!
Phil. 3:1 and 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord!"
If your rejoicing is in the Hawks- then you will only rejoice when the Hawks do well. You will be disappointed more than you will be glad.
If your rejoicing is in your health, then you will rejoice when you feel good. But what will you do when you feel bad?
If your rejoicing is that everything is working just as you planned it - well, prepare to be disappointed most of the time and very very disappointed some times.
But if your rejoicing is in the LORD- you'll be glad all the time!
"How's the world treating you?" Isaid, "Just awful but God is treating me wondefully. Can I tell you about Him?"
We can always be rejoicing in God. He never fails. He completely satisfies. He'll do what money and things could never do. That is why we are told to love God with all of our heart, strength soul and mind.
We should think about good things:
(Php 4:8) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is fair, whatever is pure, whatever is acceptable, whatever is commendable, if there is anything of excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy-keep thinking about these things.
(Php 4:9) Likewise, keep practicing these things: what you have learned, received, heard, and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.
C. Extract everything from your life that dishonors God.
Replace whatever you extract with things that honor God.
What you think about affects the way you live. What you practice as a lifestyle affects whether or not you experience the God of peace in your life.
Our songs should be happy joyful songs!
Hallelu Hallelu Hallu Hallujah! Praise Ye the Lord!
I've got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart!
I've got the love of Jesus Love of Jesus down in my heart!
I've got the wonderful love of my blessed redeemer way down in the depths of my heart!
I've got the belief of the Baptists that baffles the Buddhists way down in the depths of my heart!
I've got the marvelous message that mortifies Mormons way down in the depths of my heart!
And if the Devil doesn't like ti he can sit on a tack ouch!
I’m inright, outright upright downright happy all the time.
Are we downhearted no no no!
Happiness is the Lord.
I’m so happy and here’s the reason why!
How 'bout: Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning.
Conclusion: As worshippers we practice a lifestyle of humility. We humble ourselves before God in worship and acknowledge our utter dependence upon HIM. We find our joy and happiness not in things and especially not in the things of this world which we are warned not to love but we find it in our God.
And then, HE MAKES US GLAD!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Sunday March 7, 2010
"My God IS Greater Than Your God"
Ps. 34:2 "My soul shall make its boast in the LORD;
Intro:
When I was growing up in the 50s, kids- boys especially, would love to brag about their dads. Two boys would get into an argument and one would say my dad is smarter than your dad. The other kid said, "O yeah, well my dad is stronger than your dad!"
Three boys were heading home from school one day when one started the time-honored game of paternal one-upmanship. He said, "My dad's way faster than any of yours, he can throw a 90-mph fast ball from the pitcher's mound and run and catch it just after it crosses the plate!"
One of the other boys said, "Oh yeah? Well, my dad can shoot an arrow from his bow and run to the target and hold it up to make sure the arrow hits the bull’s eye!"
The last boy said, "Your dads don't even come close to being faster than mine. My dad works for the government, and even though he works every day until 4:00 he gets home at 3:30!"
I guess it is ok for a young boy to be proud of his dad and brag about his dad. But normally we don't want to be guilty of being a bragger do we.
There are a lot of arrogant people around today. Politicians are braggers! Athletes are braggers! Hollywood actors are braggers! We hand out trophies and other honors and awards to the best and people brag about those things. Teacher of the Year! Most Valuable Player!
Those who win brag and boast about their achievements and how much better they are than others. Arrogance and pride leads to boasting.
Who remembers a fellow named Walter Brennan? Walter Brennan played the lead role in a tv series called "The Guns of Will Sonnet." He had a line that he said every single show. "No Brag. Just fact." Some say that it is not bragging if its true, but pride is something that God hates. He hates looking down with disdain on others, acting like you are better than others.
But look- David says I'm going to boast in the LORD! God had just delivered him from and awful, terrible and life threatening predicament. God had stepped in to save David's life. David knew that it took an unusual ability for him to be delivered. His God- the LORD Jehovah was the one who did it-
He was going to boast and tell everyone what his God had done for him. By doing it, he would be telling what a great God Jehovah was. He would be boasting that his God was stronger than their god. His God was greater than their god.
In Old Testament times, battles between nations were often considered as battles between nations gods. II Chron. 32:10-19; 20-22
Now it is really something when you can say not only that your dad is bigger and better- but when you can say something like, "My God is greater than your God."
But that's what we can say! Because its the truth!
Our God is AWESOME!
Why is it alright to boast in God?
1. The first reason why it is alright to boast about God is because of what He has done: Creation!
Ps. 19: 1-6 General revelation: stars, skies universe, creation. Creation tells us that there is a God and he is a tremendously great being.
There are TV shows like Planet earth, How the earth was made, National geographic. I love watching these channels because they show me what my God can and has done.
Evolutionist: Everything I can see, or taste or hear or smell or feel tells me that it is physical- materialistic. It tells me nothing about a supernatural Being. In fact, it tells me that this universe must be billions of years old. You people who believe the Bible refuse to accept the findings of science and you are utterly stupid to think that the universe is only 5 to 10 thousand years old. If you would just lay aside your superstition and believe your senses you would be fine.
I believe that someday an evolutionist is going to stand before God and say to Him: You know I looked at the world and the universe and I didn't see You at all. It all looked like it was billions of years old. It all made sense to me that it started with a big bang and evolved from there. You can't blame me- I just believed what my senses told me was the truth. And I believe God is going to say to that evolutionist: "But I told you the truth in my book!"
And if that never happens because there really isn't a god and it all just happened by accident and chance- I'll never know it and neither will anyone else. But if there IS a God who revealed Himself in the Bible- somebody is going to be awfully sorry for not believing it.
2. The second reason why it is alright to boast in God is because of WHO He is!
Ps. 19:7-11: SPECIAL revelation: God has revealed the truth about His Person on the pages of the Bible
The Bible tells us that God:
Is eternal, unchangeable, omnipresent (He is everywhere), omniscient (He knows everything), omnipotent (He has all power and authority), omnisapient (He has all wisdom), infinite (without limitations), incomprehensible (incapable of being completely understood but God is knowable), and PERFECT (without any faults or weaknesses)!
God is LOVE not God loves but HE IS LOVE! True! Just and righteous! Faithful! Good! Merciful!
Total all of these characteristics up and the total is that God is HOLY!
There is only one true and living God. He eternally exists in three persons: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!
There is none like HIM! If you know Him you SHOULD boast about Him because He is great. There is nothing that we could say about Him and His perfections that would be over the top. Everything we say about Him is an understatement, it falls short of the reality of His perfections.
If we're going to boast about anything, we it should be that we know the God of the Bible:
(Jer 9:23) Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; (Jer 9:24) But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.
And this God-
He loves you and wants to have a relationship with you! He created you so that He could love you and so that you could love Him back.
More than that, THIS GOD sent His one and only Son into the world to die for you and to make it possible for you to know Him and have eternal life.
John 3:16, Rom. 5:8
3. The third reason we can boast about God is because of what He can do that no other God can do:
(Heb 7:25) Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
There is no other God Who can save you. There is no other God who can and will forgive you of your sin and free you from having to spend eternity in hell.
"All that the Father gives to me shall come to me and he that comes to me I will in no case cast out"
"Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest"
It’s close to spring and in spring the thoughts of all young men turn to what the girls have been thinking about all winter: BASEBALL! Spring training is right around the corner!
What if your Father could hit a home run every single time he came to bat? He never missed. He never grounded out to short. He never popped up. He hit a home run every time. What if He pitched a perfect game every single time He pitched. What if He never threw a ball and every single batter he faced struck out? Wouldn’t you boast about that?
What if your dad could get a hole in one every single hole? Wouldn’t you boast about that?
One day Jesus and Moses were golfing. Moses stepped up and hit the ball and it was a terrible shot that sliced off and was headed right for a pond. Moses stepped up and held his club out and the water in the pond parted and the ball hit on dry land and rolled right up to the green. "Nice shot, Moses." Jesus said.
Well, Jesus stepped up and He hit the ball and it too sliced toward this pond but it rolled out on top of the water and Jesus walked on the water and chipped the ball up on to the green and into the cup. "Nice shot, Jesus" said Moses.
Well, then this little old guy stepped up who was playing with them teed up and hit the ball. It dribbled out about 20 yards and rolled into a stream. But right away this big carp jumped up and spit the ball up in the air, where a crow caught it and carried it 300 yards to the green and dropped it so that it was rolling right toward the cup- but it was just about to stop rolling when a squirrel ran out and nudged it right into the cup for a hole in one.
Jesus walked up to him and said, "Nice shot , Dad!" a little bit later Moses walked over to Jesus and whispered, I hate it when your dad plays."
YOUR GOD can save everyone who comes to him in faith and trusts Jesus as savior. Go out and boast about knowing Him. Go out and tell everyone what a great and powerful God and Savior you have.
God can do anything, anything, anything
God can do anything but fail,
He can save He can cleanse He can Keep
And He will God can do anything but fail
He's the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.
God can do anything, anything, anything,
God can do anything but fail.
Be glad that you know Him, and that this God is your heavenly Father. Go ahead and boast in God. Your God is AWESOME!
Ps. 34:2 "My soul shall make its boast in the LORD;
Intro:
When I was growing up in the 50s, kids- boys especially, would love to brag about their dads. Two boys would get into an argument and one would say my dad is smarter than your dad. The other kid said, "O yeah, well my dad is stronger than your dad!"
Three boys were heading home from school one day when one started the time-honored game of paternal one-upmanship. He said, "My dad's way faster than any of yours, he can throw a 90-mph fast ball from the pitcher's mound and run and catch it just after it crosses the plate!"
One of the other boys said, "Oh yeah? Well, my dad can shoot an arrow from his bow and run to the target and hold it up to make sure the arrow hits the bull’s eye!"
The last boy said, "Your dads don't even come close to being faster than mine. My dad works for the government, and even though he works every day until 4:00 he gets home at 3:30!"
I guess it is ok for a young boy to be proud of his dad and brag about his dad. But normally we don't want to be guilty of being a bragger do we.
There are a lot of arrogant people around today. Politicians are braggers! Athletes are braggers! Hollywood actors are braggers! We hand out trophies and other honors and awards to the best and people brag about those things. Teacher of the Year! Most Valuable Player!
Those who win brag and boast about their achievements and how much better they are than others. Arrogance and pride leads to boasting.
Who remembers a fellow named Walter Brennan? Walter Brennan played the lead role in a tv series called "The Guns of Will Sonnet." He had a line that he said every single show. "No Brag. Just fact." Some say that it is not bragging if its true, but pride is something that God hates. He hates looking down with disdain on others, acting like you are better than others.
But look- David says I'm going to boast in the LORD! God had just delivered him from and awful, terrible and life threatening predicament. God had stepped in to save David's life. David knew that it took an unusual ability for him to be delivered. His God- the LORD Jehovah was the one who did it-
He was going to boast and tell everyone what his God had done for him. By doing it, he would be telling what a great God Jehovah was. He would be boasting that his God was stronger than their god. His God was greater than their god.
In Old Testament times, battles between nations were often considered as battles between nations gods. II Chron. 32:10-19; 20-22
Now it is really something when you can say not only that your dad is bigger and better- but when you can say something like, "My God is greater than your God."
But that's what we can say! Because its the truth!
Our God is AWESOME!
Why is it alright to boast in God?
1. The first reason why it is alright to boast about God is because of what He has done: Creation!
Ps. 19: 1-6 General revelation: stars, skies universe, creation. Creation tells us that there is a God and he is a tremendously great being.
There are TV shows like Planet earth, How the earth was made, National geographic. I love watching these channels because they show me what my God can and has done.
Evolutionist: Everything I can see, or taste or hear or smell or feel tells me that it is physical- materialistic. It tells me nothing about a supernatural Being. In fact, it tells me that this universe must be billions of years old. You people who believe the Bible refuse to accept the findings of science and you are utterly stupid to think that the universe is only 5 to 10 thousand years old. If you would just lay aside your superstition and believe your senses you would be fine.
I believe that someday an evolutionist is going to stand before God and say to Him: You know I looked at the world and the universe and I didn't see You at all. It all looked like it was billions of years old. It all made sense to me that it started with a big bang and evolved from there. You can't blame me- I just believed what my senses told me was the truth. And I believe God is going to say to that evolutionist: "But I told you the truth in my book!"
And if that never happens because there really isn't a god and it all just happened by accident and chance- I'll never know it and neither will anyone else. But if there IS a God who revealed Himself in the Bible- somebody is going to be awfully sorry for not believing it.
2. The second reason why it is alright to boast in God is because of WHO He is!
Ps. 19:7-11: SPECIAL revelation: God has revealed the truth about His Person on the pages of the Bible
The Bible tells us that God:
Is eternal, unchangeable, omnipresent (He is everywhere), omniscient (He knows everything), omnipotent (He has all power and authority), omnisapient (He has all wisdom), infinite (without limitations), incomprehensible (incapable of being completely understood but God is knowable), and PERFECT (without any faults or weaknesses)!
God is LOVE not God loves but HE IS LOVE! True! Just and righteous! Faithful! Good! Merciful!
Total all of these characteristics up and the total is that God is HOLY!
There is only one true and living God. He eternally exists in three persons: The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!
There is none like HIM! If you know Him you SHOULD boast about Him because He is great. There is nothing that we could say about Him and His perfections that would be over the top. Everything we say about Him is an understatement, it falls short of the reality of His perfections.
If we're going to boast about anything, we it should be that we know the God of the Bible:
(Jer 9:23) Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; (Jer 9:24) But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.
And this God-
He loves you and wants to have a relationship with you! He created you so that He could love you and so that you could love Him back.
More than that, THIS GOD sent His one and only Son into the world to die for you and to make it possible for you to know Him and have eternal life.
John 3:16, Rom. 5:8
3. The third reason we can boast about God is because of what He can do that no other God can do:
(Heb 7:25) Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
There is no other God Who can save you. There is no other God who can and will forgive you of your sin and free you from having to spend eternity in hell.
"All that the Father gives to me shall come to me and he that comes to me I will in no case cast out"
"Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest"
It’s close to spring and in spring the thoughts of all young men turn to what the girls have been thinking about all winter: BASEBALL! Spring training is right around the corner!
What if your Father could hit a home run every single time he came to bat? He never missed. He never grounded out to short. He never popped up. He hit a home run every time. What if He pitched a perfect game every single time He pitched. What if He never threw a ball and every single batter he faced struck out? Wouldn’t you boast about that?
What if your dad could get a hole in one every single hole? Wouldn’t you boast about that?
One day Jesus and Moses were golfing. Moses stepped up and hit the ball and it was a terrible shot that sliced off and was headed right for a pond. Moses stepped up and held his club out and the water in the pond parted and the ball hit on dry land and rolled right up to the green. "Nice shot, Moses." Jesus said.
Well, Jesus stepped up and He hit the ball and it too sliced toward this pond but it rolled out on top of the water and Jesus walked on the water and chipped the ball up on to the green and into the cup. "Nice shot, Jesus" said Moses.
Well, then this little old guy stepped up who was playing with them teed up and hit the ball. It dribbled out about 20 yards and rolled into a stream. But right away this big carp jumped up and spit the ball up in the air, where a crow caught it and carried it 300 yards to the green and dropped it so that it was rolling right toward the cup- but it was just about to stop rolling when a squirrel ran out and nudged it right into the cup for a hole in one.
Jesus walked up to him and said, "Nice shot , Dad!" a little bit later Moses walked over to Jesus and whispered, I hate it when your dad plays."
YOUR GOD can save everyone who comes to him in faith and trusts Jesus as savior. Go out and boast about knowing Him. Go out and tell everyone what a great and powerful God and Savior you have.
God can do anything, anything, anything
God can do anything but fail,
He can save He can cleanse He can Keep
And He will God can do anything but fail
He's the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End
He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.
God can do anything, anything, anything,
God can do anything but fail.
Be glad that you know Him, and that this God is your heavenly Father. Go ahead and boast in God. Your God is AWESOME!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
The Incredible Value of Praise!
"His praise shall perpetually be in my mouth"
Intro:
Last week we began our 40 Days of Worship campaign by explaining to you what David meant when he said, "I will bless the Lord at all times." He was adopting a lifestyle of worship. It was going to be his pattern of life to surrender himself to the Lord and give him the reverence the honor, the adoration that He deserved because of the great thing that He had done for him.
In Ps. 34:1-3, David uses 6 words that refer to his lifestyle of worship. They are bless, praise, boast, be glad, magnify and exalt. We're using these six words as the basis for the messages we're giving for the next 5 weeks. Today is "praise" and it comes from the second phrase in vs. 1 where David writes, "His praise shall continually be in my mouth."
I. What praise is: Praise means to extol, to laud, to speak highly of.
This past week we saw an incident in Colorado where a gunman opened fire on kids at a school building. A teacher named David Benke risked his life and tackled that gunman so that he couldn't continue shooting at the kids. Someone set up a Facebook page to give people an opportunity to tell what they thought. Within a couple of days more than 25,000 people had logged on and written words that praised this teacher for his courage and willingness to sacrifice himself to stop that guy from shooting at kids. This man has a great reputation. He got praised. He deserved it.
When people graduate from school the ones who worked hard and excel are given cords to drape over their neck. They are called cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude: with praise, with high praise and with highest praise. They've worked hard, excelled and are given the praise they are worthy of.
God is worthy of our praise! Our God is an excellent God! He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent.
He is sovereign, just, righteous, good, perfect in all of His ways, and immutable. He is LOVE! He is HOLY! His name is excellent in all the earth!
David declares that it will be his continuous act to speak with his voice and tell of the greatness of God. He is going to use his voice, his mouth to extol the Lord, to praise Him for His greatness. He wants others to hear of how wonderful and gracious and holy and powerful and wise God is because God is worthy of praise.
Praise doesn't do much good if it’s not spoken. It will do wonders if you speak words of praise to your children. It will transform your husband or your wife if you tell them how wonderful they are. All some people would need to be great employees is for their boss to tell them "good job" once in a while.
And when you lift up your voice and praise God it will do wonders for you too!
Ps. 71:8 “Let my mouth be filled with your praise and with Your glory all the day. Vs. 14-15 But I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, For I do not know their limits.
Psa 66:8: Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard,
Psa 107:2: Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,
Praise is not flattery: flattery is saying something that is not true or that you don’t mean.You can't do this to God because He can see your heart and would know that you didn't mean it.
Praise is not emotionalism, although there is nothing wrong with emotion. We ARE to love God with all of our heart. It doesn’t mean you have to get all teary eyed- although you probably will. There is nothing wrong with that. Away with this so called "macho" stuff that says that a man can't show some emotion- that its womanly to weep with joy or pride or sorrow. The fact is that we are to praise God whether we feel like it or not. We praise if we are happy and we praise God is we are sad- because He is worthy of our praise.
II. What praise reveals: Praise reveals a heart that loves God.
The way you use your mouth reveals what is in your heart: Jesus said in
Luke 6:45 "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." You see a man who's heart is given over to sports and he'll always be talking about sports. You see a woman who is always talking about her grandchildren and you know that her heart is centered on them. You see a man and all he does is cuss and swear and lie and tell rotten dirty jokes and you know that is his heart. His mouth shows what is in his heart.
When you love the Lord, it will show in your speech, in what you talk about. You will talk about what God is doing, and what He is teaching. You will speak of how wonderful He is and what He has done for you. You will sing songs that praise Him and use your voice to communicate how wonderful He is.
III. What praise does: There are great benefits to us when we live a lifestyle of worship and fill our mouths with the praises of God. Come back with me to
II Chron. 20.
King Jehoshaphat is the godly king of Judah. Folks Judah means praise. he is a descendent of King David. He has just been through a very close call where he almost lost his life because he choose to ally himself with God's enemy- wicked King Ahab. Right now his army is depleted. He is weak. The armies of Moab and Ammon know it and they decide to launch an attack. The enemy is just watching for a sign of weakness and he'll attack.
Jehoshaphat is told that a great army is coming against him and he knows that he can't win this fight. He can't run to Ahab- he's dead. he can't get help from Egypt- they couldn't get there in time. The only thing left to do is what he does- he turns to God.
Why is taking our problems to God always the last thing that we do? Why do we run to the doctor? Why do we turn to the bank or credit card? Why do we turn to the ungodly next door neighbor? Why do we run to an ungodly counsellor? Why do we always do that first? And then when we finally do turn to God we expect Him to just pop up like a genie in a lamp and solve our problem?
The King turns to God. He set himself to seek the Lord. he proclaimed a fast to the whole nation. He called the nation to pray and fast and seek for God's help. The people came to Jerusalem and together the nation turned to God to get His help. jehoshaphat prayed to God. vs. 12:
II Ch 20:12) O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You."
vs. 13: (2Ch 20:13) Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the LORD.
God speaks through a prophet: 15-17. King and people surrender to God's will. The next morning they all got up and headed out to meet the enemy. Look what Jehoshaphat said to them:
II Ch 20:20) So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper."
Then they got together and organized a choir. A choir?! You gotta be kidding me! Nope. They sent out a choir in front of the army. And they went out to face the enemy singing praises not shooting arrows. But those praises were more powerful than any arrow. They were like nuclear bombs!
Look what they were singing: "praise the LORD for His mercy endures forever!" Folks thats Ps. 107. They lifted up their voices and began to praise God. And look what happened-
II Ch 20:22) Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.
II Ch 20:23) For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
Praise is a deadly weapon in spiritual warfare and we are always always in a spiritual battle.
When you get bad news you can choose:
1. You can worry and fret and get stressed out and anxious.
You'll get lines on your face, ulcers in your stomach and gray hair on your head. You may have a heart attack or a nervous breakdown. But you can console yourself like someone said, "when this is over I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. I've earned it, I deserve it and no one is going to cheat me out of it!
2. You can complain. Murmur. Gripe. Criticize.
Aside from worrying, complaining and criticizing is our favorite sport. We're real good at telling God how unfair it is that life treats us like it does. When we complain and murmur, we just get more and more unhappy and miserable. That is why people turn to alcohol and drugs. They can’t take it! They think that they can get happy with a beer a bottle or a pill or whiff or a puff. They are wrong and the whole world shows that they are wrong. All you can do with that stuff is get addicted and addicted means you are miserable.
OR You can praise. You can turn your heart upward and lift your voice and praise God for His grace and mercy. Listen! When you do that you get God's full attention.
Psa 22:3) But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. (Psa 22:4) Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them.
God inhabits the PRAISES of His people- not the complaints and the criticisms and the whines and the murmurs! I could take you to churches today where the people are just incapable of doing anything but criticizing everything that happens in the church. THEY ARE MISERABLE! They've chased God out the door by their complaints and criticisms. And then they wonder why they are so unhappy and the church is dying.
Look at Hebrews 2:11-12
Heb 2:11) For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
Heb 2:12) saying: "I WILL DECLARE YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN; IN THE MIDST OF THE ASSEMBLY I WILL SING PRAISE TO YOU." That is Jesus talking right there.
Never miss church. Jesus comes to church every Sunday! He even promised, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in their midst." Thomas missed church on Sunday and he forever after wished that he hadn't. Jesus always comes to church. You miss church- you miss being with Jesus.
He joins in when we sing our praises to God!
Did you realize that when we lift up our voice in the church and praise- Jesus joins in with us? With the eyes of faith, every week I see Jesus standing next to you in the pews. You are out there praising- singing away and doing the best you can. Some of you are really pretty bad- you can't carry a tune in a bucket. You squawk and you squeak and you change keys. That's alright. In college I was known as the most versatile singer on my dorm floor. When I would get in the shower I’d be singing away and they said I could change keys 4 or 5 times in a matter of seconds! The same God who made the canary made the crow and the seagull. God loves to hear them all praise Him! He is pleased when you just sing your heart out- no matter how it sounds to those around you. And I look out and see Jesus singing God's praise with you as you sing.
Some of you give a testimony and praise God for what He is doing in your life. When you do I see Jesus standing right there next to you clapping his hands!
Hey- you know what- it’s alright to clap- it’s alright to raise your hands- it’s alright to shout- its alright to dance!
Psa 149:1) Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, And His praise in the assembly of saints.
149:2) Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
149:3) Let them praise His name with the dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.
149:4) For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.
Folks this time of year in 1836, almost 200 men were entrenched in a mission outside of San Antonio, Texas called the Alamo. They were surrounded by a force of several thousand Mexican soldiers led by General Antonio Santa Anna, the ruler of Mexico. We all know what happened. They stood their ground fighting and all of them died. That's what soldiers do when they have to-they die. But they kept fighting until the fight was driven out of them.
Well, God's soldiers praise. That's the weapon we use. And it’s a powerful weapon. I want to tell you, if I have to go down, I want to go down praising the Lord. I want the last word on my lips to be "Hallelujah."
When D.L. Moody lay dying this is what he said,"Earth recedes, heaven opens up before me! If this is death, it is sweet. God is calling me and I must go. Don't call me back! No pain, no valley, it's bliss..."
Praise the Lord! It is wonderful to praise. It is powerful to praise! Let’s praise the Lord!
Now it's your turn. Who will stand and praise God?
"Let the redeemed of the Lord say so...
Intro:
Last week we began our 40 Days of Worship campaign by explaining to you what David meant when he said, "I will bless the Lord at all times." He was adopting a lifestyle of worship. It was going to be his pattern of life to surrender himself to the Lord and give him the reverence the honor, the adoration that He deserved because of the great thing that He had done for him.
In Ps. 34:1-3, David uses 6 words that refer to his lifestyle of worship. They are bless, praise, boast, be glad, magnify and exalt. We're using these six words as the basis for the messages we're giving for the next 5 weeks. Today is "praise" and it comes from the second phrase in vs. 1 where David writes, "His praise shall continually be in my mouth."
I. What praise is: Praise means to extol, to laud, to speak highly of.
This past week we saw an incident in Colorado where a gunman opened fire on kids at a school building. A teacher named David Benke risked his life and tackled that gunman so that he couldn't continue shooting at the kids. Someone set up a Facebook page to give people an opportunity to tell what they thought. Within a couple of days more than 25,000 people had logged on and written words that praised this teacher for his courage and willingness to sacrifice himself to stop that guy from shooting at kids. This man has a great reputation. He got praised. He deserved it.
When people graduate from school the ones who worked hard and excel are given cords to drape over their neck. They are called cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude: with praise, with high praise and with highest praise. They've worked hard, excelled and are given the praise they are worthy of.
God is worthy of our praise! Our God is an excellent God! He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent.
He is sovereign, just, righteous, good, perfect in all of His ways, and immutable. He is LOVE! He is HOLY! His name is excellent in all the earth!
David declares that it will be his continuous act to speak with his voice and tell of the greatness of God. He is going to use his voice, his mouth to extol the Lord, to praise Him for His greatness. He wants others to hear of how wonderful and gracious and holy and powerful and wise God is because God is worthy of praise.
Praise doesn't do much good if it’s not spoken. It will do wonders if you speak words of praise to your children. It will transform your husband or your wife if you tell them how wonderful they are. All some people would need to be great employees is for their boss to tell them "good job" once in a while.
And when you lift up your voice and praise God it will do wonders for you too!
Ps. 71:8 “Let my mouth be filled with your praise and with Your glory all the day. Vs. 14-15 But I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, For I do not know their limits.
Psa 66:8: Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard,
Psa 107:2: Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,
Praise is not flattery: flattery is saying something that is not true or that you don’t mean.You can't do this to God because He can see your heart and would know that you didn't mean it.
Praise is not emotionalism, although there is nothing wrong with emotion. We ARE to love God with all of our heart. It doesn’t mean you have to get all teary eyed- although you probably will. There is nothing wrong with that. Away with this so called "macho" stuff that says that a man can't show some emotion- that its womanly to weep with joy or pride or sorrow. The fact is that we are to praise God whether we feel like it or not. We praise if we are happy and we praise God is we are sad- because He is worthy of our praise.
II. What praise reveals: Praise reveals a heart that loves God.
The way you use your mouth reveals what is in your heart: Jesus said in
Luke 6:45 "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." You see a man who's heart is given over to sports and he'll always be talking about sports. You see a woman who is always talking about her grandchildren and you know that her heart is centered on them. You see a man and all he does is cuss and swear and lie and tell rotten dirty jokes and you know that is his heart. His mouth shows what is in his heart.
When you love the Lord, it will show in your speech, in what you talk about. You will talk about what God is doing, and what He is teaching. You will speak of how wonderful He is and what He has done for you. You will sing songs that praise Him and use your voice to communicate how wonderful He is.
III. What praise does: There are great benefits to us when we live a lifestyle of worship and fill our mouths with the praises of God. Come back with me to
II Chron. 20.
King Jehoshaphat is the godly king of Judah. Folks Judah means praise. he is a descendent of King David. He has just been through a very close call where he almost lost his life because he choose to ally himself with God's enemy- wicked King Ahab. Right now his army is depleted. He is weak. The armies of Moab and Ammon know it and they decide to launch an attack. The enemy is just watching for a sign of weakness and he'll attack.
Jehoshaphat is told that a great army is coming against him and he knows that he can't win this fight. He can't run to Ahab- he's dead. he can't get help from Egypt- they couldn't get there in time. The only thing left to do is what he does- he turns to God.
Why is taking our problems to God always the last thing that we do? Why do we run to the doctor? Why do we turn to the bank or credit card? Why do we turn to the ungodly next door neighbor? Why do we run to an ungodly counsellor? Why do we always do that first? And then when we finally do turn to God we expect Him to just pop up like a genie in a lamp and solve our problem?
The King turns to God. He set himself to seek the Lord. he proclaimed a fast to the whole nation. He called the nation to pray and fast and seek for God's help. The people came to Jerusalem and together the nation turned to God to get His help. jehoshaphat prayed to God. vs. 12:
II Ch 20:12) O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You."
vs. 13: (2Ch 20:13) Now all Judah, with their little ones, their wives, and their children, stood before the LORD.
God speaks through a prophet: 15-17. King and people surrender to God's will. The next morning they all got up and headed out to meet the enemy. Look what Jehoshaphat said to them:
II Ch 20:20) So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper."
Then they got together and organized a choir. A choir?! You gotta be kidding me! Nope. They sent out a choir in front of the army. And they went out to face the enemy singing praises not shooting arrows. But those praises were more powerful than any arrow. They were like nuclear bombs!
Look what they were singing: "praise the LORD for His mercy endures forever!" Folks thats Ps. 107. They lifted up their voices and began to praise God. And look what happened-
II Ch 20:22) Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.
II Ch 20:23) For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
Praise is a deadly weapon in spiritual warfare and we are always always in a spiritual battle.
When you get bad news you can choose:
1. You can worry and fret and get stressed out and anxious.
You'll get lines on your face, ulcers in your stomach and gray hair on your head. You may have a heart attack or a nervous breakdown. But you can console yourself like someone said, "when this is over I'm going to have a nervous breakdown. I've earned it, I deserve it and no one is going to cheat me out of it!
2. You can complain. Murmur. Gripe. Criticize.
Aside from worrying, complaining and criticizing is our favorite sport. We're real good at telling God how unfair it is that life treats us like it does. When we complain and murmur, we just get more and more unhappy and miserable. That is why people turn to alcohol and drugs. They can’t take it! They think that they can get happy with a beer a bottle or a pill or whiff or a puff. They are wrong and the whole world shows that they are wrong. All you can do with that stuff is get addicted and addicted means you are miserable.
OR You can praise. You can turn your heart upward and lift your voice and praise God for His grace and mercy. Listen! When you do that you get God's full attention.
Psa 22:3) But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. (Psa 22:4) Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them.
God inhabits the PRAISES of His people- not the complaints and the criticisms and the whines and the murmurs! I could take you to churches today where the people are just incapable of doing anything but criticizing everything that happens in the church. THEY ARE MISERABLE! They've chased God out the door by their complaints and criticisms. And then they wonder why they are so unhappy and the church is dying.
Look at Hebrews 2:11-12
Heb 2:11) For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
Heb 2:12) saying: "I WILL DECLARE YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN; IN THE MIDST OF THE ASSEMBLY I WILL SING PRAISE TO YOU." That is Jesus talking right there.
Never miss church. Jesus comes to church every Sunday! He even promised, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in their midst." Thomas missed church on Sunday and he forever after wished that he hadn't. Jesus always comes to church. You miss church- you miss being with Jesus.
He joins in when we sing our praises to God!
Did you realize that when we lift up our voice in the church and praise- Jesus joins in with us? With the eyes of faith, every week I see Jesus standing next to you in the pews. You are out there praising- singing away and doing the best you can. Some of you are really pretty bad- you can't carry a tune in a bucket. You squawk and you squeak and you change keys. That's alright. In college I was known as the most versatile singer on my dorm floor. When I would get in the shower I’d be singing away and they said I could change keys 4 or 5 times in a matter of seconds! The same God who made the canary made the crow and the seagull. God loves to hear them all praise Him! He is pleased when you just sing your heart out- no matter how it sounds to those around you. And I look out and see Jesus singing God's praise with you as you sing.
Some of you give a testimony and praise God for what He is doing in your life. When you do I see Jesus standing right there next to you clapping his hands!
Hey- you know what- it’s alright to clap- it’s alright to raise your hands- it’s alright to shout- its alright to dance!
Psa 149:1) Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, And His praise in the assembly of saints.
149:2) Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
149:3) Let them praise His name with the dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.
149:4) For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.
Folks this time of year in 1836, almost 200 men were entrenched in a mission outside of San Antonio, Texas called the Alamo. They were surrounded by a force of several thousand Mexican soldiers led by General Antonio Santa Anna, the ruler of Mexico. We all know what happened. They stood their ground fighting and all of them died. That's what soldiers do when they have to-they die. But they kept fighting until the fight was driven out of them.
Well, God's soldiers praise. That's the weapon we use. And it’s a powerful weapon. I want to tell you, if I have to go down, I want to go down praising the Lord. I want the last word on my lips to be "Hallelujah."
When D.L. Moody lay dying this is what he said,"Earth recedes, heaven opens up before me! If this is death, it is sweet. God is calling me and I must go. Don't call me back! No pain, no valley, it's bliss..."
Praise the Lord! It is wonderful to praise. It is powerful to praise! Let’s praise the Lord!
Now it's your turn. Who will stand and praise God?
"Let the redeemed of the Lord say so...
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