The Village Church
Wholehearted Praise, pt 2 - Psalm 103:6-19 - 2024/07/07 - 2024/07/07 - Video
You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Hello. Hey, what's up? Sorry. Okay. Good morning, everyone. My name is Mary. I am the coordinator for Children's Village Kids Elementary School-aged kids here at the village, and I want to welcome you to our church, members, visitors, whoever you are. I'm so glad you're here online. Hello. So glad you're here. If you will, wait first. Hold on. Our mission is to know Jesus, to enjoy Jesus, and to glorify Jesus in our lives. We've got a fun bulletin. The back of the bulletins is even better. It's got a lot of announcements that you can take a look at for more details. On the front of the bulletin, there is a QR code. If you scan that, that's how we keep up with who's coming to our services. If you want to get in touch with us or if you want us to get in touch with you, please scan that code. It's on the front of your bulletin. We also have a website, enter the village.net. Again, it's on the front of our bulletin. So sorry, y'all. We've got two main announcements this week. So there's a child protection training that is being hosted by our church, and it's being put on by the National Children's Advocacy Center. It's going to be Sunday, July 21st at 3 p.m. If you are interested in being involved in children's ministry, and you have not taken the online training, or if you've taken the in-person training or online training and it's been several years, please come to this if you can. Also, if you've never taken the online training or never taken the in-person training, if you want to participate with the children in our church, you have to do one of these trainings. So this is a good excuse to be here and to see who's going to be in ministry at our church and to learn more about keeping letting our church be a safe place for kids. So anyway, come see me or see Tiffany. She's probably in the nursery if she's not if she's going to be here today. So she's here. Okay, so she's in the nursery. So see me or see Tiffany. Please sign up if you are at all interested in attending this training. Also, Lincoln Village Ministries is in need of volunteers, and it's an interesting project. So if you want to get your hands dirty, again, see the back of our bulletin for more details. At the Village Church, we believe that ties and offering are a form of worship. You can give to our church in three ways. You can go online through our website, which is listed here. You can mail a check to our address, which is listed on the front. You can also use an offering that we have an offering box. It's a physical offering box and it's right there underneath the projection thing. You can stick your check or your cash in there. And we'd really appreciate that. Anyway, these are our announcements. Happy Sunday. It's good to see everybody. Let's do our call to worship. If you're able to stand, would you please stand with me? I will read leader, and if you will read people when it gets to that part. Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God, the Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you along our whole nation will come and worship you for your righteous acts have been revealed. Let's pray really quick. Lord Jesus, you are so good. And we do want to worship these righteous acts that you have, that have been revealed to us. Your Word tells us to sing to you, to sing a new song. It names out all these random instruments to play and to make a noise singing and playing before you because you are good. And if we don't worship, the rocks will cry out. And so, I don't want the rocks to be louder than us this morning. So Lord, allow us just to join in with the angels and creation and everything to worship the goodness and the righteousness of who you are. You are so good and worthy to be praised and worthy to sing about. And Jesus is the same. Amen. Let's sing together. Put your hands together too. Now is the time for all people, from every layer to come together. Now is the moment for worship. We enter in, with holding nothing. He's worthy. It's all good. Sing to the Lord. Open up your heart. Make a joyful noise in the sanctuary. Sing into the Lord. Lavishing with love. Let the praises ring in the sanctuary. Now is the time for all people, from every land to come together. Now is the moment for worship. We enter in, with holding nothing. He's worthy. It's all good. He's high and again. Sing to the Lord. Open up your heart. Make a joyful noise in the sanctuary. Sing to the Lord. Lavishing with love. Let the praises ring in the sanctuary. Sing to the Lord. Open up your heart. Make a joyful noise in the sanctuary. Sing to the Lord. Lavishing with love. Let the praises ring in the sanctuary. Sing. to the Lord. Let the praises ring in the sanctuary. Sing to the Lord. Let the praises ring in the sanctuary. We enter in the sanctuary. We enter in the sanctuary. We enter in the sanctuary. Sing to the Lord. Let the praises ring in the sanctuary. Open up your mouth and give you grace. Lavishing with love. Let the praises ring in the sanctuary. Sing to the Lord. Open up your heart. Make a joyful noise in the sanctuary. Sing to the Lord. Lavishing with love. Let the praises ring in the sanctuary. (upbeat music) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ freedom help us to experience that freedom and help that and let that acknowledgement and that truth lead us to to praise and to worship. I pray for all this in your wonderful name. Amen. Our confession of faith today is from the Heidelberg Catechism question 21. I will read the question and then we will read the answer in unison. The question says what is true faith? True faith is not only a sure knowledge by which I hold as true. All that God revealed to us in scripture. It is also a wholehearted truth which the Holy Spirit creates in me by the gospel that God has really granted not only to others but to me also forgiveness of sins eternal righteousness and salvation. These are gifts of sheer grace granted all solely by Christ's merit. That's a wonderful truth. Wonderful truth. Through Christ he has been granted us forgiveness of sins, eternal righteousness and salvation. All the deeds are a gift for sheer grace solely granted to us on Christ's merit. Amen thanks. If you are able please stand for the reading for our scripture reading today. It is from Psalm 103 verses 6 through 19. Psalm 103 verses 6 through 19. Here's the word of God for the God's people. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He may known his ways to Moses and his acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger abiding and sad fast love. He will not always shine nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins nor will pay us according to our iniquities. As far as high as the heavens are above the earth so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west so far as he removed our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his truth to the Lord he shows compassion to those who fear him. For the Lord knows our frame. He remembers we are thus. As for man his days like the grass he flourishes like a flower to feel. For the wind passes over it and it is gone and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him and his righteousness to children's children to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. The Lord has established his king his his throne in the heavens and his kingdom rules over all. This is the word of the Lord. Faith is going to introduce a new song to you today. If you can sing along as quick as you can and just join in with us it will be great. For creation suddenly articulate with a thousand tongues to lift one cry. Then from north to south and east you west we hear Christ be magnified. Echoing his amenities his name would burst from sea and sky. From rivers to the fountain tops we hear Christ be magnified. Oh Christ be magnified let his praise arise. Christ be magnified let be oh Christ be magnified the altar of my life Christ be magnified let be. When every creature finds its invincibility in every human heart its native pride. Then in one bid rise should heaven please will sing Christ be magnified. Oh Christ be magnified let his praise arise Christ be magnified in me oh Christ be magnified the altar of my life Christ be magnified in me. All right before we go into the next bridge these words are so rich and so good so I don't want us to just gloss over them. So let's go through this before we sing it. I won't bow titles I'll stand strong and worship you and if that puts me in the fire I'll rejoice because you're there too. And I won't be formed by feelings I'll hold fast to what is true. If a cross brings transformation then I'll be crucified with you because death is just a doorway into every into resurrection life and if I join you in your suffering then I'll join you when you rise. And when you return in glory with all the angels and the saints my heart will still be singing and my song will be the same. And I won't bow I'll stand strong and worship you and if it puts me in the fire I'll rejoice because you're there too. And I won't be formed by feelings I'll hold fast to what is true. If the cross brings transformation then I'll be crucified with you because death is just a doorway into resurrection life and if I join you in your suffering then I'll join you when you rise. And when you return in glory with all the angels and the saints my heart will still be singing and my song will be the same. Oh Christ be magnified, let it raise the rise. Christ be magnified, yes be. Oh Christ be magnified, the altar of my life. Christ be magnified, yes be. Oh Christ be magnified, let it raise the rise. Christ be magnified, yes be. Oh Christ be magnified, the altar of my life. Christ be magnified, yes be. Christ be magnified, yes be. Please join me in prayer or suffocation. Christ please be magnified in this church and the leadership of this church and the things that we do in our worship service and the ministries that we have I pray that you'll be magnified in us individually and our own personal wall species be magnified in our families and our relationships be magnified in the marriages within our church be magnified in the relationships that parents have with their kids and be magnified in relationships that siblings have with one another be magnified Lord Jesus in our community be magnified in our jobs that some of us don't like don't want to go to be magnified when we go on vacation be magnified Lord Jesus and how and how we navigate this world be magnified Lord Jesus and our finances and our thought life and our mental health and our emotions be magnified in in our sexuality and our gender be magnified in in everything that that has taken place for Jesus you be magnified in Christian ministries, in missions be magnified in in the places where you have your people around the world globally be magnified in those places Lord be magnified in this service we have our quiet times we have our devotional life when we're sharing the gospel be magnified there be magnified when we're when life happens to us because life happens and when it happens be magnified in our education and those who be going to college and when kids start school in them in four weeks be magnified Lord and that in our comments and our goings be magnified and how we deal with conflict be magnified and how we deal with what our enemies and those who who wish ill upon us be magnified be magnified and when we seek reconciliation with those in which we have broken relationship with Lord be magnified in that be magnified in in those who are struggling with the faith Christians who are struggling with the faith meet them in those struggles Lord Jesus be magnified in the way we we handle our freedoms how we handle and engage on social media how we deal with technology be magnified in those things too when we're driving in a home and someone across the front of us Lord be magnified in that when we're tempted to engage in road rage and every inch of who we are they magnify Lord you I pray for all this in Christ's name how many of you started a blessing jar journal a box this week past week if you were here last summer you know I challenged us to create some sort of blessing jar or or shoe box or a journal where you input in that you know different blessings the Lord has brought into your life this past week so how many of you actually started you don't have to you can just talk to yourself i'm not going to put you on the spot that was supposed to be a joke okay so last Sunday I urge you to to do so to help you remember the blessings of God in your life how do you remember the blessing what's your process to help you remember the ways in which God has blessed you what's your process prone to wonder lord i feel it prone to leave a god i love that was where it's come from to him confound to very blessing we're prone to forget those everyday blessings that God brings into our life so we were prone to to to to to to forget his goodness and and his faithfulness and and the benefits and it's hard to often remember those things from day to day or is it just me so if we're honest with us as a Christian you feel it when you're wandering from the blessing you know when you're wandering from him you feel it because that's the holy spirit that that feeling and that's no thought that's the holy spirit knocking and here's the hope for you by each of us can can grow in remembering the goodness of God in our life and that's what the holy spirit is for he can help you intentionally remind yourself of God's goodness he can help you embrace healthy self-talk and and how you talk to yourself about the promises of God and the holy spirit can lead each and every one of us into wholehearted praise where you where you say to yourself bless the lord oh my soul all that is within me bless his holy name bless the lord oh my soul and forgive not all his benefits this morning we're going to reopen one of David's blessing jars to take out more of God's promises the jar is Psalm 103 and the blessings this morning are found in verses 6 through 14 verses 6 through 14 so before we move forward in the word please join me in asking the holy spirit to bless the preaching of the world holy spirit as I often pray and we continue to pray we need you preaching has no power apart from your work your presence you and the word you all yeah both of you work together you take the word that is preached you take the word when we read it or when we listen toward them and when we memorize it you use that word to to make it take root in our hearts and in our minds and and then you use it to transform us from the inside out you don't transform ourselves holy spirit you're doing it praise you for that work the work of transformation the work of sanctification where you form and mold us more and more and more into the image of our beloved safety so where you take this word and apply it to our hearts and to our minds this is in Christ name that I pray I have a question for all TBC kids I know I have to ask to put me on the spot I'm sorry so if you're a TBC kid share what words come to mind when you think about God what words come to mind when you think about God you need to participate too there's no wrong this this what what comes to mind when you think about God grinding the brain the mic down and just pass it around what was that joy yes that's a good one what else what comes to mind no you could pull some some words from the songs with us on to the words that we use to talk about God these are the these are descriptive words about God's divine character in his being which both are perfect these character traits and virtues are known as his attributes something else spoke about last week David's blessing jar contains two of God's attributes there's a lot there but there's two that I really want to focus on and all the blessings in this jar directly result from God's nature okay all his blessings to you flow from who he is okay he he he he's loved and so we are able to because he loves us we're able to love and so the methodology says praise God from whom all blessings flow be familiar with the methodology blessings flow to Christians because of God's character not their character did you get that blessings flow to you if you are a Christian because of God's character not your character okay that's why we get those blessings so what are the two attributes that uh they're in this blessing jar these two attributes they they frame the sermon text like two book ends is transcendence in this eminence transcendence and eminence those are theological terms God's transcendence is in David's blessing jar and so we're going to pull it out so what does it mean to say that God is transcendent it means he's other okay he's other he's far above and beyond us separated from his creation so he's other than us so that's so we have to know that the God that we serve is also other that we cannot reduce him down to our earthly level he's infinite he's incomprehensible and he's unsearchable so that would mean is creatures like us we could never discover God on our own he has to be revealed he has to reveal himself to us okay so he's indestructible he's incomprehensible he's unsearchable and he's from everlasting to everlasting that means he's eternal he's eternal he has always existed can you imagine what does that even mean for some being to just always be that's God no beginning no end sometimes we our viewer god is too small too small but our god we need big god theology this is big god theology he's bigger than the limitations we place on and the books that we put him in he's not dependent on the created order in any way he's not dependent upon it he is not dependent upon it because he's the creator of the order and the creator everything that's in it so he can he can enter time and space he's not bound by time and space he created it all he says that in Isaiah 55 verses 89 the Lord says for my thoughts are not your thoughts nor are my ways your ways my ways we different i love you but we don't understand level okay we're not the same level and if you watch anime which i do you know in anime there are some people who are on one level there are some people who ain't on the level okay so if you're dragging about these fans god is Goku and these are the ones don't have any other power this us we're the ones on the lower level so he's saying i'm way up here no matter how smart you are no matter how great you are you ain't ever gonna be on my level no matter how many books is written about me they're never gonna be able to actually comprehend because i'm not in books great theology but it's not never ever going to be able to comprehend him who i am for that's god he says my thoughts are not your thoughts your ways are not my ways to class for lord for as the heavens are above the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts in your thoughts miles apart god's transcendence is all about his lordship it's his sovereign control and authority over the universe every square inch is under his kingly rule you gotta know that it belongs to him i heard someone say what wrote about the devil he's god's devil he ain't he ain't no dang in the participle he's under authority he can only do what is he allowed to do that that god in the state they know the same level this is not god is all good and Satan's all evil they got the same amount of power and they're going ahead and head no this is god he's under god he has to get permission forever how he moves before he went on before he attacked job he had to get permission did he not there is no being on level with god no spirit should be no earthly being no the earthy kingdom that's on level with him that's our god in verse 19 david writes the lord established his throne in the heavens and his kingdom rules over all transcendence he established his throne in the heaven and his kingdom rules over all our god is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases for his glory for his glory all individuals were the christian or non-christian are subject to god's sovereign rule without exception do we believe that do we believe it the hardest atheist you know is only allowed to be an atheist and do what he she does because god allows you to allow do you believe that because if he removes his hand from the creator order that would just crumble and fall do we believe that do you really believe that transcendence yeah he makes and allows the world to go around and transcendence is a blessing for a broken and imperfect world it's a it's a blessing for a broken and imperfect world what do you mean by that pastor in Matthew 545 Jesus says for he makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good he sends his reign on the just and the unjust so even those who who don't or believe what we believe are beneficiaries or benefit from the goodness of our god because today are christia creating his image of this and reburying against him so governments and kingdoms and presidents none of these things are disturbing god's plan not disturbing him he sustains he even though he is sustaining and he is upholding his creation and if we believe that a person in the over office are countries in no going to other countries if we believe that things that are happening on global still are undoing and taking control from god and we have a very very small god our god that that's a very very small god our god is at work even in the hardest places of the world even when it feels like things are falling apart even when things are not going that we want them to go even when there's broken even when there's injustice we have to hold firm as christians that somehow our god is still at work because if we don't hold on to that then what's your hope when it all goes to hell what's going to be your hope when it falls apart when life happens if you don't believe that there's a god overall this time where it's going to be your hope even though Isaiah 55 says verses 10 through 11 for as the rain and the snow come down from the heaven and do not return there but water the earth making it bring forth and sprout giving seed to the soil and the bread to the eater so shall my word that goes out from my mouth it shall not return to me but it shall accomplish that for which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sin and there's nothing man can do to stop that nothing and that should make you clap that should make you excited that even though I may feel like I'm losing you ain't losing in a grand scheme of things so if you're a christian your life is never sprouting out of god's control do you believe that you may feel like it is and you may go through stuff but he has you even when you make dumb decisions and you didn't want consequences he's has you do you believe he has you he can still work all things to your good whether in this life or in the life to come at some point it all will be made right that is a god who is transiting a god who's strong is in the heaven and his kingdom rules over all that if you do keep a blessing jar write that verse down and put it in there and when you're struggling put it out remind yourself my god kingdom rules over all and rules over all so somehow he's going to help me get through this you have to remind your stuff that's because you are you put it a lot of stuff is going in your system doing it throughout the day i don't have my smartphone up here it's your smartphone and for some of us that's our profit-proofing king that that's that's giving us information day in and day out reels out the reels deans out the deans endating us with information and information for some of us that phone is our blessing jar i'm telling how about we put that down for a moment spend time here to get the truth in us to help us fight the thing there are kids that are fighting for our attention for our loyalty for our affections so light transcendence god's imminence is also in david's um blessing jar and we're going to pull that out so imminence means god is close and god is near so transcendence is he's far away from us he he's unsearchable imminence means he's close and he's near during my 23 verse 22 says am i a lord that i am a lord at hand declares the lord not a god far away so you may need to write that down put in your blessing jar i'm a god at hand not a god far away he is present within his creation in time and space reesal 139 if he won't confirmation of that where can i go from your spirit nowhere where can i flee from your presence nowhere says it's on so this means because god is imminent that means he can be known and he can be apprehended but not comprehended so imminence refers to the truth that god is intimately involved in personal and relational with his creation think about what that means he's not either or he's both and both and he's far off and yet he's close the greatest example of his imminence is jesus immanuel god in the flesh so imminence is a blessing that is in verse six david writes the lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed god is aware of the oppression people endure in the world and then he works on their behalf so im 9/9 says the lord is a stronghold for their press so im 10 verse 18 says he does justice to the followers and to their oppressed god executes righteousness and justice because he's just and righteous because he's just and righteous he executes righteousness and justice they all flow from who he is from his nature some 33 verse five says for the world of the lord is upright and all his work is done in faithfulness and love righteousness and justice all of his works god is a holy judge who always does what is right for his glory he does what is right for his glory and he does what is good for his people christians are his people if you have saving faith in jesus then god always is doing what is right for you even when you don't feel it even when you don't believe it he is your ability to understand god does not dictate who he is okay or you know your lack of lack of ability to do that he's gonna be who he is regardless of our belief system or what we where we are in a struggle of life he's gonna be god because he cannot be other than who he is if you are a christian that means he's he protects and guides you he's for you not against you his spirit lives within you to lead you into truth to help you live or a dreadful and flourishing life he he takes up your calls and he fights your battles because the battle belongs to the lord he has inscribed you on the palm of his hand that means he would never ever forget you or abandon you like when you when you hear these things does it make you love him more or is it just saying slip into your hand when you hear the word god god says that i have i have inscribed you on a palm of my hand but what comes to mind when you think about that he has tattooed your name on his hand you are there your life is there you will never forget you he will never abandon you he will never forsake you who want one to love and serve and worship a god who who is so close to that close to us that he made a way for us to know him on that level his eyes on the spectrum so we don't have to fear and give in to uncertainty because the one certainty is in this life is our god goddess no matter even when the world starts shaking no matter if this country starts shaking he has this he has you and we have one another as we go deeper into david's blessing drawer we uh pull out another blessing with with our hand it's a it's a generational blessing it reflects god it reflects how god demonstrated his imminent and transcendent transcendent among david's ancestors like moses and the people of israel it takes us back to the exodus the covenant the renewal the covenant on Mount Sinai the wilderness wondering you see an indestructible god made himself and his ways known to an oppressed people through a broken man an indestructible god made himself and his ways known to an oppressed people through a broken man look at verse seven david writes he made his ways he made known his ways to moses and his acts to the people of israel the god makes his ways and his acts known that's through self revelation as i said before humanity doesn't discover god he declares and reveals himself to us and if you ever study the life of moses moses has there are several times when god reveals himself to moses in the burning bush in the color smoke in the clip of a rock and for us he reveals himself the description and so that means if i'm not in the scriptures then how can i know who got it yes books that no books written by question they're good the professional fate is good just show a lot of kinds of isn't look good those are good tools but they're not this i'm not this systematic professors they're good they're great bankers they're not this you have to be in it ourselves what has God declared about himself in the past and continue to declare about himself in the prison what has God declared about himself in the past and continue to declare about himself in the prison in the prison the answer is revealed in the lord's interaction with moses in x is 34 you see the lord moses had this is really cool relationship with god i wish i had that relationship but he and god used to speak face to face think about that the the word says god will speak to moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend can you imagine that like man moses so one day during one of those face to face meetings the lord commands moses to do something he commands him to do something he he says to him cut for yourself two tablets two tablets of stone like the first and i will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablet which you broke see that shade that no that he gave moses that which you broke i'm going to replace those tablets so he says to moses be ready by morning come up to Mount Sinai present yourself before me then no one should come up with you and let no one be seen throughout the mountain basically no one could be on the mountain at all at this meeting they couldn't even touch it just him and moses so moses obeys god's voice without objections no complaints not asking a whole bunch of y-class questions not saying it's not my fault it's the people's fault he he disobeys he cuts the tablets he probably get some dinner he probably takes a bath he goes to bed he rises early in the morning that's day maybe puts on his clothes some sandals he he takes a deep breath here we go here we go he begins to hike up Mount Sinai with the two tablets in his hand he's going to present himself to the lord and all he knows for sure that the lord plans to strive those ten commandments again on the stones he don't know what's going to happen to him but he knows it's going to happen to the stones so he's just trying to be a good obedient servant so he goes up he walks to the steady pace and and he when he reaches the location once he arrives the Texas the lord descends in a cloud and he stands with Moses on Mount Sinai I take that he descends the transcendent god becomes imminent in the form of a cloud and he stands with Moses on Mount Sinai maybe even face-to-face on Mount Sinai imagine all the emotions that our brother Moses had to be feeling adults going through his mind the lord stands with Moses and then the lord proclaim his own name to Moses he declares it he makes it known he reveals it the love it the lord god answers the question I asked you earlier what does the god declare about himself in the past that he that he continues to declare by himself in the presence he he does it right here while on Mount Sinai the lord passes before Moses and he proclaims the lord the lord a god merciful and gracious slow to anger abouling and steadfast love and faithfulness this is what god reveals to Moses about god himself the lord speaks these words to Moses and answers thirty four six and David puts these very words in his blessing jar to remind him of who his god was generations earlier to his ancestors he stood that same god of a day gracious and merciful slow to anger abouling and steadfast love and faithfulness let those words be in your blessing jar because this is what David is doing generations he spoke these words generations before David was born and he David is reminding himself that if god if this was true of my god before we were a kingdom which they just got out of Egypt he's still the same god today is that the god you believe that that lead us into wholehearted praise our god is compassionate and full of mercy our god it's kind and full of grace his anger is slow he's his long suffering and it's patient and his steadfast love is ever is ever is abounding it's it's faithful it's unfailing that's the way that should lead us to pray to love in light of in light of verse eight how does our triune god relate to us how does the truth in verse eight become a blessing in our life well David answers both questions in verses eight in verses nine and ten by saying what god will not do these are negative answers god would not always shod that means he would not always chastise and reprimand and accuse he would not keep his anger right now who makes them angry who does he chastise you tell him you don't know us wake up thanks us he chastised us in love he holds us accountable and disciplines us he even allows us to experience the consequences of our sins and our bad choices and our foolishness but he does not deal with us according to our sin he does not repay us according to what our Iniquity deserves what does our Iniquity deserve yeah beautiful blessings right let's write them down put them in our blessing jar and pull them out later it's beneficial to our spiritual well being to consistently remind ourselves of these blessings you gotta say to yourself the Lord will not always chastise me he will not keep his anger with me forever he doesn't deal with me according to my sin he doesn't reward me according to what my Iniquities deserve we have to practice speaking truth to ourselves positively our Triune god wants us to know the truth that he reveals about himself do we know it David did not need years of spiritual searching to discover these blessings about God in verse 8 and 9 the Lord revealed those blessings to Moses while he was on Mount Sinai and answered his prayer before and he David puts those blessings in his blessing jar so when we left Mount Sinai the Lord was in the middle or for claiming his name to Moses the Lord the Lord a merciful and gracious god slow the anger abounding in steadfast love and righteous and faithful so the self revelation continues declares that he continues to declare more things about himself in verse 7 the Lord says keeping steadfast love for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression and sin but who will by no means clear the guilty this isn't in the iniquity of the fathers of the children and children children to a third and fourth generation this is our god what is your response what is your response to a god who is merciful what is your response to to a god who pulls us accountable and let us go through the consequences of our sin what is our response to that god Moses experience a wide range of emotions and thoughts on that mountain and all of them led to a physical and verbal response on Mount Sinai he quickly boughs his head to the earth and he worships so what's our response to God's presence and blessings and self revelation reverence and worship reverence and worship reverence and worship reverence is is you showing God the respect and the honor and the glory that do his name and we don't give that to anybody else and worship is is you acknowledging his goodness in your life wholehearted praise you know thank you father for being who you are and for all that you do moments later Moses moves from reverence to worship to prayer confession and repentance all in a seamless motion and since 34 9 Moses says to the Lord if now now his head is still bowed he's still worshiping he says if now I have found favor in your sight oh Lord please let the Lord go with the go in the midst of us for it is a stiff-necked people talking about Israel pardon our eniquity knows he just said they didn't say their eniquity he says pardon our eniquity and our sin and take us not them take us for your inhabit what is Moses doing here God grants Moses requests if you read on the rest of verses 34 if it gives just sin what is Moses doing here Moses is a mediator between God and Israel he foreshadows the mediator who is the other kind of Jesus I don't know how they miss not anymore but that's a mistake Jesus is the mediator between God and his people Jesus he's an intercessor for all his christians for all christians so how does God handle our sin he handles it through Jesus his finished work we just talk about it oh magnified his name all the songs was on the day we're talking about Jesus finished work his life his death and his resurrection that's how God deals with our sin and so if you don't know God then you're trying to deal with all your junk by yourself you eat a deal with it through with Christ blood or you're gonna deal with it with your blood because eventually your need will bow just a matter of time it will bow so God is saying through his imminent he sent Christ's Emmanuel to be the propitiation for all of our sins because if if our sin that could have been handled through any other means then Christ died death was pointless if if I could get to heaven by being a good person by being a good southern Christian who go to church pay my taxes and and bow a certain way then if I could do all those things and if that what got me into heaven then why didn't you have to die why do you have to die if we could work our way into glory his death upon us and then some of us who are big Christians for a long time you got to remind yourself you ain't building no resume if you're in Christian ministry or you serve it in the church then it gives you more favor with God you already have his favor through his son can't get any more of it and so our work works of the our work works so this acts of worship not after trying to earn favor their responses to what God has already done in 11 is doing in our life so Christ had to come yo he died for real sin and that's the way God deals with the sins or humanity through his son in Christ he removes our transgressions from us we're forgiven we bear them no more they've all been nailed to that old rugged cross past presence and it seems you have even committed yet have been nailed to the cross in Christ he loves you greatly and steadfastly he loves you beyond measure God demonstrated his love for us and while we were sinners Christ died for us I think one of the things with being a Christian in the Bible about we thank God should be grateful that we're on his side he he don't need he not grateful that we're on his side we were his enemy and another thing is you think he's impressed without theological knowledge Satan got theological knowledge he a theologian but he can't do anything with it but he won't bow down do you know him at the end of the day or are you growing in a relationship with him at the end of the day do you know him in faith or else he just had knowledge have you really really surrendered everything in Christ our God is our compassionate father this is what i'm always talking about beloved son and beloved daughter because that's who you are do you know who you are do you tell yourself i'm a beloved son of daughter or do you tell yourself i'm a filthy nasty sinner which one do you tell yourself i'm beloved son of daughter who struggles with sin what do you tell yourself about yourself in your union with Christ who are you for as high as the heavens or above the earth so great it is that as long towards those who feed him as far as the east is from the west so far does he remove our transgressions from us as a father shows compassion to his kids so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear those who fear him are just beloved this week i went home to to Swainsborough um went to the great state of Georgia to visit my mom and grandmother and everybody and when we went when me and my stillman was over to my mom's house she said she recently got my granddad's photo album book then her aunt had it all these years and she finally got the photo album of my grandpa that's timing sentence it's my granddad's name he was he was a veteran served in the army he was a banker in new york and sadly he was killed when i was younger so i never really had a chance of good life with him um but in this photo album i got a chance to see no no pictures of him when he was younger when he was in the military and when he moved no images of him in new york and pictures of my his sisters and his my great-grandmother so it's like you know giving me all these goosebumps because like ma'am i never really knew him but when i closed the album i felt like man i kind of felt close to my granddad because i saw all those images god has a photo album of each of you in heaven okay each of you have your own photo album in heaven and in that photo album god has images he's building images of your whole life in those whole albums it's your own album it's your album your birth your your highs and your lows your joys and your pains that your successes and your failures all of those moments are in that photo album and so in this photo album i about to think it's in a heavenly librarian in a heavenly library filled with thousands of photo albums of all the christians in the world passing future passing in prison and so as you enter and exit this heavenly library there's a there's a powerful phrase that looms above the doors of this library you know what that phrase is for he knows the frame he remembers they all got it for he knows their frame and he remembers that they all guess that is going to bless me so david start this song by saying we need to remember these things about god and right here he is saying this is what god remembers about that you're not going to be perfect that you're never going to have it all together that you're going to make mistakes you're going to have highs and lows you're going to have good days and bad days not going to be the perfect spouse or the perfect parent or the perfect girlfriend the perfect boyfriend the perfect student the great athlete you're going to have these hard times in your life and then he looks at that says i know their frame i remember they are just this way Father you every time i open up the scriptures lorda you just constantly amazing about who you are that no matter how much i write study i'm never going to be able to completely comprehend and i'm grateful for that there's so much more in these stories and these verses that that i didn't see i proved to some of the years ago i didn't see all this stuff the first time but lord that's the way the word works that's the way the spirit works so i pray as we go out this week that we will that the spirit will help us to to be able to write down again the ways in which you're blessing help us to write down verses that we want to be able to pull up to when we have in one of those moments to laugh to remind us of who you are and who we are in you i pray that we will be intentional about our own spiritual well-being and that we will be proactive in taking care of what we allow inside of our hearts and inside of our mind and i pray holy spirit you would do this for our good for the glory of our lord and savior it's in his name that i pray say as we stand as we please as we close our service my hope is found he is alive my strength my song his core is strong it's solid bright burn through the fiercest drought in the storm what heights of love were depths of peace and the stars tear and try to see my calm blood my hope it all here in the love of Christ as her in Christ's love and she'll call a face for this god in helplessness is gift alone and righteousness scored by the ones he came to say to look across as Jesus died who said the god was set his high and we're every sin on the human way hear the death of Christ as her in the love of Christ in the round his body laid by the world by darkness they're bursting forth in glorious day but from the three we rose again and now he stands in the glory since Christ as love is a light of light of light of light ill to life no fear in death this is the power of Christ in me from life's first cry to the final dream Jesus comes my day as we know I will have no fear of death I will have no fear of death like me from his end till his returns are close we are here in the power of Christ I will be here in the power of Christ Jesus I will be here in the power of Christ here we stand in the power of Christ amen thanks well I thank you so much for joining us on beach if you had a happy force that you like I'll also like to wish my lovely wife a happy birthday today and now here's the Lord's benediction to his beloved I made the Lord a peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way and the Lord be with you all and all God's people said amen please greet one another thanks amen. [Music]
Welcome to The Village Church, where broken people come together to embrace and extend Christ's love.