"Cowboy" Peter with his favorite presents from his party yesterday.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
[Matt's Messages] "Greater Than We Can Imagine"
“Greater Than We Can Imagine”
July 12, 2009
Psalm 145
Well, it’s been a great Family Bible Week!
Praise the Lord!
Praising the Lord is the subject of our message this morning. We’re going to be studying Psalm 145 together.
We just sang about it in the FBW theme song for this last week. Every night and this morning we sang the song, “Greater Than We Can Imagine” which comes directly from Psalm 145!
Each night of Family Bible Week, the adult class has been learning how to understand and apply the Psalms to our own personal lives.
So, it only seemed fitting that this psalm would be the subject of our message this morning. Psalm 145.
Psalm 145 is the last psalm in the Psalter than is ascribed to King David. It is the last Davidic Psalm. It is also the last of the acrostic psalms. The psalms that are designed to follow the alphabet. Each line of the psalm begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet from Aleph to Tav. David used extreme carefulness and skill as he composed this psalm of praise under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Derek Kidner in his excellent commentary on the Psalms calls it a “great outpouring of praise.” That’s exactly right!
Let’s read it and see what we have to praise God about.
Class, which kind of psalm is Psalm 145?
It’s a hymn.
The superscription of psalm 145 calls it “A psalm of praise.”
The hymn psalms normally begin (and sometimes end) with a call to worship where the psalmist begins to praise God and call others to praise God. That’s what’s going on in verses 1 and 2.
“I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.”
David is full of praise!
I love it!
He’s talking directly to God, isn’t He?! Really, he’s singing his prayer directly to God.
“I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.”
Notice how David repeats himself. That’s not because he’s forgotten what he said. It’s because it’s so important and full in his heart.
David going to praise God!
What is praise?
We can learn something from the Hebrew parallelism here. Our class learned about parallelism on Wednesday night of this week. Parallelism is increased meaning that we get from putting together two corresponding lines in a Hebrew poem. Verse 1 for example:
“I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.”
There are two thoughts there.
A. I will exalt you, my God the King;
B. I will praise your name for ever and ever.
We learned this week that the B-line enhances the meaning of the A-line. It is A, and much more B.
So, want to know what exalt means? It means praise!
Want to know what praise means?
It means exalt. And v.2
“Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.”
Exalt, praise, extol.
These are all words refer to the expression of the David’s appreciation for and delight in God.
Praise is the expression of our appreciation for and delight in God.
Praise is verbal love.
It’s saying or singing how great something is. And the something here is God.
How great God is!
And verse 3 tells us how great He is. V.3 David sings:
“Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”
The song says He is: “Greater Than We Can Imagine!”
Our God is great.
How great?
Most worthy of praise.
How worthy?
“His greatness no one can fathom.”
The King James says, “His greatness is unsearchable.”
Work as hard as you can, try with all your might and you will never find the end of His greatness. Search till you are out of strength and you will never find the end of His glory.
“His greatness no one can fathom.” You can’t reach the bottom of how great He really is!
That’s why David says that he’ll praise God forever and ever. He’ll praise Him (v.2 said) “every day.”
Do we praise God every day? Every day?
Every day from now through eternity God is worthy of praise!
Now, isn’t this going a little overboard?
I mean, I like God and all that, but this seems a little over the top, no?
No. This is the correct response to knowing our God for Who He really is!
“Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”
GOD IS GREATER THAN WE CAN IMAGINE.
Now, I can imagine a LOT of things. I’ve got a good imagination. Sometimes it gets a little out of hand–I dream of big things that are impossible.
But Psalm 145 says that I can’t imagine anything as great as our God!
I’ve been reading “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” to the kids.
And my favorite character is the Scarecrow. What does he wish that he had?
If he only had a brain!
I used to know all of the words to that song from the movie. I won’t try to sing them for you today. I’ll spare you that experience.
But in that song the Scarecrow rhapsodizes about all of the thoughts that he could think if he only had a brain.
His mind would be like a super-computer that can think of all of these grand thoughts if he only had a brain.
But what Psalm 145 is saying is that even though we do have brains that are more amazing than any super-computer, we (collectively) cannot comprehend how great our God really is!
“Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”
He is greater than we can imagine!
David is saying that God is mind-blowing. And that because of this, He deserves praise. He is most worthy of praise. Every day.
Now, Class, what is the next thing to expect in a Hymn Psalm?
First, is the call to worship. Then what?
The next thing is a list of reasons to praise God.
And David has them, in spades!
#1. GOD’S DEEDS ARE GREATER THAN WE CAN IMAGINE.
In verses 4 through 7, David says that every generation of God’s people will praise God’s deeds. V.4
“One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.”
David so full of praise, isn’t he?!
Look at all of the words he uses to describe God’s deeds:
Mighty Acts
Wonderful Works
Awesome Works
Great Deeds
David’s God is a God Who does things!
He is God Who gets things done.
David’s God is Active, not passive.
And History is the story of His mighty acts, wonderful and awesome works, and great deeds.
He has done great things!
And because of that, He’s worth of praise. Every day.
Praise for Creation. Praise for choosing Abraham and giving him faith.
Praise for the People of Israel.
Praise for the Red Sea Rescue from Egypt.
Praise for the provision of manna in the wilderness.
Praise for the conquering of the Promised Land.
Praise deliverance under the Judges.
Praise for the monarchy–for King David himself.
That’s the story as David knew it. But the story of God’s deeds doesn’t end there, does it?
Praise for preservation of God’s people in exile.
Praise for the sending of the Messiah!
Praise for the Messiah’s death and resurrection.
Praise for the giving of the Spirit!
Praise for the birth of the church!
Praise for our new birth in the Spirit into the church!
Praise for all of the amazing things that God has done in each and every one of our lives.
Amen?
He has done great things. And this is a memorial to His great deeds!
What has God done for you? Praise for it!
And tell the next generation.
David said in verse 4, “One generation will commend your works to another.”
That’s why we have Family Bible Week, right?
The older generation teaches the younger generation how great God is.
How many generations have sung this Psalm? Class, how old is this Psalm?
David lived about, when? 1000 B.C.
So that’s about 3000 years ago! Let’s conservatively estimate a generation as 20 years?
150 generations, so far!
Tell the next generation that God is greater than we can imagine.
#2. GOD’S COMPASSION IS GREATER THAN WE CAN IMAGINE. Verses 8&9.
“The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”
This God not only does things but feels things.
And He feels the right things all of the time.
He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. That’s God’s own description of Himself from Exodus 34, right? Back when Moses said, “Show me your glory!” And God said, “You couldn’t handle it, but I’ll show you glimpse of the afterglow of my glory...” and then He passed by Moses and said (v.8), “The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.”
Isn’t it great that God understands us?
That God cares about us? That God loves us?
This says that He has a love for (v.9) all he has made. He is good to all. He has compassion for all.
He wants everyone to know that He cares.
He is more compassionate than we can imagine.
But, those of us who are Christ-followers know His love in deeper way than all of the rest of the creatures on Earth.
Because we know what His compassion led Him to do.
His grace and His compassion led to the unthinkable!
He gave His One and Only Son for us!
Paul says that His love for us is a “love that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19)!
His compassion is greater than we can imagine!
“I scarce can take it in.”
But that makes it all the more worthy of our singing it! Every day. Forever and ever.
#3. GOD’S KINGDOM IS GREATER THAN WE CAN IMAGINE. Vv.10-13a
“All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.”
Do you see all of the words for kingdom in those 3 verses?
David knew about kingdoms!
And He knew that God’s kingdom was the greatest.
Glory of your kingdom.
Mighty Kingdom
Splendorous Kingdom.
Everlasting Kingdom.
Dominion Enduring Through All Generations!
That’s a Kingdom.
That’s a God Who Is in Charge.
God is sovereign.
Are you thankful today that God is sovereign?
Now, think before you answer that question.
God’s sovereignty, God’s kingdom means that that hard thing in your life right now is controlled by God. That think that you don’t like very much? God’s in control of that.
That means that He’s allowed into your life right now for a good purpose.
Be glad. Because that thing is not allowed in your life for no reason.
It may seem purposeless, but it isn’t.
God (the God who does things and the God who is compassionate–more compassionate than we can imagine) is also in control.
He is the King!
And His Kingdom is here now in part (though it is contested and He has to work through and use evil tools right now in accomplishing His plan)–but it is also a Kingdom that is coming! A Kingdom that is unlike any kingdom that we have ever seen.
And it is eternal. It is a forever Kingdom!
His dominion endures through all generations. For ever and ever and ever and ever and ever. Amen!
God’s Kingdom is Greater Than We Can Imagine!
#4. GOD’S FAITHFUL LOVE IS GREATER THAN WE CAN IMAGINE.
He’s not just compassionate for a time, but He is faithful in His love.
He is steadfast. He is loyal. V.13b.
“The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.”
What a great God!
We can’t fathom how God interacts with all of His creation every day all day long.
He never sleeps. He is constantly caring for things and for people.
If anyone has a meal today, God was involved!
6 billion people on the planet.
And how many creatures?
And God is involved in feeding them in what He determines is the proper time!
How faithful He is to bring the seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall.
Springtime and Harvest.
“The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.”
And even more so to His own children.
He keeps every one of His promises! V.13 again.
“The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.”
Are you bowed down today?
I think that means those who are suffering and those who are humble enough to ask God for help.
Are you bowed down today?
That’s the kind of person the LORD loves to help!
The Hebrew word for faithful love is “Hesed.”
It means covenant love or loyal love or steadfast love.
God doesn’t just love us sometimes. He is completely faithful in His love.
We know that because of Jesus. The Bible says that all of God’s promises are YES in Jesus.
Do you know His faithful love? Praise Him!
His faithful love is greater than we can imagine.
Here’s how we experience it:
#5. GOD’S NEARNESS TO HIS PEOPLE IS GREATER THAN WE CAN IMAGINE. V.18
“The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.”
This calls for us to respond.
Whom is He near to?
Those who call on Him.
If you are a Christ-follower, are you calling on Him?
Are you a praying person?
Are you loving Him?
He watches over all who love Him.
He is near. He is near.
Do you need to hear that this morning? He is near.
But He’s also near to those who are calling on Him for the first time.
If you call on Him in truth. If you cry out to Him to be your Savior and your Lord. He hears your cry (v.20) and saves you!
But if you ignore Him. Or you take Him for granted.
If you spurn Him. “The wicked he will destroy.”
We learned this week in our Psalms class that there are only two real paths in life: the path of the wicked and the path of the righteous.
The wicked are those who go their own way.
The righteous are those who heed God’s word and cry out to God for salvation and help.
He is near.
He is near.
Don’t turn away from Him. Turn to Him.
He is near.
God’s nearness is Greater Than We Can Imagine!
God is greater than we can imagine!
So, what should we do about it?
Class, how Hymn Psalms normally end?
With another call to praise! V.21
“My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.”
And all God’s people said? Amen!
July 12, 2009
Psalm 145
Well, it’s been a great Family Bible Week!
Praise the Lord!
Praising the Lord is the subject of our message this morning. We’re going to be studying Psalm 145 together.
We just sang about it in the FBW theme song for this last week. Every night and this morning we sang the song, “Greater Than We Can Imagine” which comes directly from Psalm 145!
Each night of Family Bible Week, the adult class has been learning how to understand and apply the Psalms to our own personal lives.
So, it only seemed fitting that this psalm would be the subject of our message this morning. Psalm 145.
Psalm 145 is the last psalm in the Psalter than is ascribed to King David. It is the last Davidic Psalm. It is also the last of the acrostic psalms. The psalms that are designed to follow the alphabet. Each line of the psalm begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet from Aleph to Tav. David used extreme carefulness and skill as he composed this psalm of praise under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Derek Kidner in his excellent commentary on the Psalms calls it a “great outpouring of praise.” That’s exactly right!
Let’s read it and see what we have to praise God about.
The adult Bible Class at Family Bible Week learned all about psalms this week. And one of the things they learned was how discern different kinds or (sub-genres) of psalms from one another. There are at least 7 different kinds of psalms: psalms of confidence, thanksgiving, remembrance, wisdom, kingship, and so on.Psalm 145:1 A psalm of praise.
Of David.
I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.
5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
10 All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you.
11 They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might,
12 so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.
14 The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.
18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.
20 The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.
Class, which kind of psalm is Psalm 145?
It’s a hymn.
The superscription of psalm 145 calls it “A psalm of praise.”
The hymn psalms normally begin (and sometimes end) with a call to worship where the psalmist begins to praise God and call others to praise God. That’s what’s going on in verses 1 and 2.
“I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.”
David is full of praise!
I love it!
He’s talking directly to God, isn’t He?! Really, he’s singing his prayer directly to God.
“I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.”
Notice how David repeats himself. That’s not because he’s forgotten what he said. It’s because it’s so important and full in his heart.
David going to praise God!
What is praise?
We can learn something from the Hebrew parallelism here. Our class learned about parallelism on Wednesday night of this week. Parallelism is increased meaning that we get from putting together two corresponding lines in a Hebrew poem. Verse 1 for example:
“I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever.”
There are two thoughts there.
A. I will exalt you, my God the King;
B. I will praise your name for ever and ever.
We learned this week that the B-line enhances the meaning of the A-line. It is A, and much more B.
So, want to know what exalt means? It means praise!
Want to know what praise means?
It means exalt. And v.2
“Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.”
Exalt, praise, extol.
These are all words refer to the expression of the David’s appreciation for and delight in God.
Praise is the expression of our appreciation for and delight in God.
Praise is verbal love.
It’s saying or singing how great something is. And the something here is God.
How great God is!
And verse 3 tells us how great He is. V.3 David sings:
“Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”
The song says He is: “Greater Than We Can Imagine!”
Our God is great.
How great?
Most worthy of praise.
How worthy?
“His greatness no one can fathom.”
The King James says, “His greatness is unsearchable.”
Work as hard as you can, try with all your might and you will never find the end of His greatness. Search till you are out of strength and you will never find the end of His glory.
“His greatness no one can fathom.” You can’t reach the bottom of how great He really is!
That’s why David says that he’ll praise God forever and ever. He’ll praise Him (v.2 said) “every day.”
Do we praise God every day? Every day?
Every day from now through eternity God is worthy of praise!
Now, isn’t this going a little overboard?
I mean, I like God and all that, but this seems a little over the top, no?
No. This is the correct response to knowing our God for Who He really is!
“Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”
GOD IS GREATER THAN WE CAN IMAGINE.
Now, I can imagine a LOT of things. I’ve got a good imagination. Sometimes it gets a little out of hand–I dream of big things that are impossible.
But Psalm 145 says that I can’t imagine anything as great as our God!
I’ve been reading “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” to the kids.
And my favorite character is the Scarecrow. What does he wish that he had?
If he only had a brain!
I used to know all of the words to that song from the movie. I won’t try to sing them for you today. I’ll spare you that experience.
But in that song the Scarecrow rhapsodizes about all of the thoughts that he could think if he only had a brain.
His mind would be like a super-computer that can think of all of these grand thoughts if he only had a brain.
But what Psalm 145 is saying is that even though we do have brains that are more amazing than any super-computer, we (collectively) cannot comprehend how great our God really is!
“Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”
He is greater than we can imagine!
David is saying that God is mind-blowing. And that because of this, He deserves praise. He is most worthy of praise. Every day.
Now, Class, what is the next thing to expect in a Hymn Psalm?
First, is the call to worship. Then what?
The next thing is a list of reasons to praise God.
And David has them, in spades!
#1. GOD’S DEEDS ARE GREATER THAN WE CAN IMAGINE.
In verses 4 through 7, David says that every generation of God’s people will praise God’s deeds. V.4
“One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.”
David so full of praise, isn’t he?!
Look at all of the words he uses to describe God’s deeds:
Mighty Acts
Wonderful Works
Awesome Works
Great Deeds
David’s God is a God Who does things!
He is God Who gets things done.
David’s God is Active, not passive.
And History is the story of His mighty acts, wonderful and awesome works, and great deeds.
He has done great things!
And because of that, He’s worth of praise. Every day.
Praise for Creation. Praise for choosing Abraham and giving him faith.
Praise for the People of Israel.
Praise for the Red Sea Rescue from Egypt.
Praise for the provision of manna in the wilderness.
Praise for the conquering of the Promised Land.
Praise deliverance under the Judges.
Praise for the monarchy–for King David himself.
That’s the story as David knew it. But the story of God’s deeds doesn’t end there, does it?
Praise for preservation of God’s people in exile.
Praise for the sending of the Messiah!
Praise for the Messiah’s death and resurrection.
Praise for the giving of the Spirit!
Praise for the birth of the church!
Praise for our new birth in the Spirit into the church!
Praise for all of the amazing things that God has done in each and every one of our lives.
Amen?
He has done great things. And this is a memorial to His great deeds!
What has God done for you? Praise for it!
And tell the next generation.
David said in verse 4, “One generation will commend your works to another.”
That’s why we have Family Bible Week, right?
The older generation teaches the younger generation how great God is.
How many generations have sung this Psalm? Class, how old is this Psalm?
David lived about, when? 1000 B.C.
So that’s about 3000 years ago! Let’s conservatively estimate a generation as 20 years?
150 generations, so far!
Tell the next generation that God is greater than we can imagine.
#2. GOD’S COMPASSION IS GREATER THAN WE CAN IMAGINE. Verses 8&9.
“The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”
This God not only does things but feels things.
And He feels the right things all of the time.
He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. That’s God’s own description of Himself from Exodus 34, right? Back when Moses said, “Show me your glory!” And God said, “You couldn’t handle it, but I’ll show you glimpse of the afterglow of my glory...” and then He passed by Moses and said (v.8), “The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.”
Isn’t it great that God understands us?
That God cares about us? That God loves us?
This says that He has a love for (v.9) all he has made. He is good to all. He has compassion for all.
He wants everyone to know that He cares.
He is more compassionate than we can imagine.
But, those of us who are Christ-followers know His love in deeper way than all of the rest of the creatures on Earth.
Because we know what His compassion led Him to do.
His grace and His compassion led to the unthinkable!
He gave His One and Only Son for us!
Paul says that His love for us is a “love that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19)!
His compassion is greater than we can imagine!
“I scarce can take it in.”
But that makes it all the more worthy of our singing it! Every day. Forever and ever.
#3. GOD’S KINGDOM IS GREATER THAN WE CAN IMAGINE. Vv.10-13a
“All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations.”
Do you see all of the words for kingdom in those 3 verses?
David knew about kingdoms!
And He knew that God’s kingdom was the greatest.
Glory of your kingdom.
Mighty Kingdom
Splendorous Kingdom.
Everlasting Kingdom.
Dominion Enduring Through All Generations!
That’s a Kingdom.
That’s a God Who Is in Charge.
God is sovereign.
Are you thankful today that God is sovereign?
Now, think before you answer that question.
God’s sovereignty, God’s kingdom means that that hard thing in your life right now is controlled by God. That think that you don’t like very much? God’s in control of that.
That means that He’s allowed into your life right now for a good purpose.
Be glad. Because that thing is not allowed in your life for no reason.
It may seem purposeless, but it isn’t.
God (the God who does things and the God who is compassionate–more compassionate than we can imagine) is also in control.
He is the King!
And His Kingdom is here now in part (though it is contested and He has to work through and use evil tools right now in accomplishing His plan)–but it is also a Kingdom that is coming! A Kingdom that is unlike any kingdom that we have ever seen.
And it is eternal. It is a forever Kingdom!
His dominion endures through all generations. For ever and ever and ever and ever and ever. Amen!
God’s Kingdom is Greater Than We Can Imagine!
#4. GOD’S FAITHFUL LOVE IS GREATER THAN WE CAN IMAGINE.
He’s not just compassionate for a time, but He is faithful in His love.
He is steadfast. He is loyal. V.13b.
“The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.”
What a great God!
We can’t fathom how God interacts with all of His creation every day all day long.
He never sleeps. He is constantly caring for things and for people.
If anyone has a meal today, God was involved!
6 billion people on the planet.
And how many creatures?
And God is involved in feeding them in what He determines is the proper time!
How faithful He is to bring the seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall.
Springtime and Harvest.
“The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.”
And even more so to His own children.
He keeps every one of His promises! V.13 again.
“The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.”
Are you bowed down today?
I think that means those who are suffering and those who are humble enough to ask God for help.
Are you bowed down today?
That’s the kind of person the LORD loves to help!
The Hebrew word for faithful love is “Hesed.”
It means covenant love or loyal love or steadfast love.
God doesn’t just love us sometimes. He is completely faithful in His love.
We know that because of Jesus. The Bible says that all of God’s promises are YES in Jesus.
Do you know His faithful love? Praise Him!
His faithful love is greater than we can imagine.
Here’s how we experience it:
#5. GOD’S NEARNESS TO HIS PEOPLE IS GREATER THAN WE CAN IMAGINE. V.18
“The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.”
This calls for us to respond.
Whom is He near to?
Those who call on Him.
If you are a Christ-follower, are you calling on Him?
Are you a praying person?
Are you loving Him?
He watches over all who love Him.
He is near. He is near.
Do you need to hear that this morning? He is near.
But He’s also near to those who are calling on Him for the first time.
If you call on Him in truth. If you cry out to Him to be your Savior and your Lord. He hears your cry (v.20) and saves you!
But if you ignore Him. Or you take Him for granted.
If you spurn Him. “The wicked he will destroy.”
We learned this week in our Psalms class that there are only two real paths in life: the path of the wicked and the path of the righteous.
The wicked are those who go their own way.
The righteous are those who heed God’s word and cry out to God for salvation and help.
He is near.
He is near.
Don’t turn away from Him. Turn to Him.
He is near.
God’s nearness is Greater Than We Can Imagine!
God is greater than we can imagine!
So, what should we do about it?
Class, how Hymn Psalms normally end?
With another call to praise! V.21
“My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.”
And all God’s people said? Amen!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Topical Preaching
Jack Brooks and Brad Bigney on the value of topical preaching (like our current sermon series on money).
Sunday, July 05, 2009
[Matt's Messages] "God vs Money: Part One"
“God vs Money: Part One”
In God We Trust - What the Bible Says About Money
July 5, 2009
Matthew 6:24
Our current sermon series is titled “In God We Trust – What the Bible Says About Money.”
It’s as important as ever in this global economy to understand and rehearse what God has said to us about this crucial topic: MONEY.
So far, we’ve learned 2 foundational lessons:
#1. Money is Profoundly Spiritual.
Right here in this chapter, verse 21, Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Money is profoundly spiritual. It reveals our hearts.
Follow the Money!
What we do with money is directly tied to our hearts.
Money is not just physical or financial–it is profoundly spiritual.
#2. God Owns All of the Money in the World.
The silver is His and the gold is His. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
“The Earth is the LORD’s and everything in it.”
And what does that make us?
Stewards. Or money managers.
It’s the Lord’s money, not ours. We have it “in trust.”
We are the Lord’s money managers.
And 2 weeks ago, we started a little experiment. Do you remember?
Roye, why don’t you come up here? Two weeks ago, Mrs. Mitchell and I entrusted $10 with Roye Houston (our brave volunteer!), and put him in charge of those $10 to manage for us.
He was our “steward” of those 10 bucks.
Remember the rules? Roye could do anything he wanted to with those $10 as our agent. It was not his money, it was our money, but he was in charge of it.
And we wanted him to do what he thought would be in our hearts for that money.
Because, remember, that’s what we’re all supposed to do with all of the money that God has entrusted to our care. It’s His money, and we’re supposed to do what we believe would be on His heart for that money.
And there was one more rule–Roye has to give an account for what he did with that $10. We’ll have to do the same with our Lord one day.
Okay, Roye. Let me ask you a few questions:
1. How did it feel to have that money that wasn’t yours that you were in charge of?
2. What did you do with that money?
3. Why? How?
4. What other things did you consider doing with it? What advice did you get from other people? Why did you do this instead of that? How come you didn’t gamble it?
[Roye bought a pillow & two pillow cases and (with help from his folks) mailed them to Haiti to be given to poorer folks through Vision of Hope Ministries.]
Well done, good and faithful servant! Mrs. Mitchell and I are very pleased with what you did with it.
This is another $10 bill. It is not ours. It is now yours. It is a reward for serving us well. Use it however you like (but remember, it still belongs to God and you'll have to give an account for it someday).
Well done, good and faithful steward!
Every day of our lives we are acting as stewards of God’s property. Every day.
This came home to me again last week as Heather and I were at the EFCA National Leadership Conference, and I was struck several times by your generosity and our need to be good stewards.
We drove to Ohio with mileage money that you give us. We flew to Minneapolis with conference money that you’ve entrusted to us. We ate in Minneapolis, we stayed in a hotel, drove a rental car, attended the conference, paid our conference fees–all with money that wasn’t our own. It was the church’s–it was yours.
And we benefitted (and I hope, ultimately, that you benefit, too!) from both your giving and your entrusting of those funds into our hands.
I felt a greater responsibility this year to be a wise steward of those funds while at conference and make the most of the conference because it was your funds that got me there.
In the same way, we should all feel responsibility to be wise stewards of all that God has entrusted into our hands–every single day of our lives.
But! There is a problem, isn’t there?
There is this little problem called SIN. And sin worms its way into everything and tries to mess everything up.
Including what we do with money.
Sin (in our hearts, in the world, and in Satan’s temptations) takes something good like money (a good gift from a great God) and tries to pervert it into something bad.
So, while money itself is very good, in this fallen world with our fallen hearts, money becomes a source of all kinds of evil temptations.
And leads to a battle between two masters: God and Money.
Which brings us to today’s passage. Matthew chapter 6, verse 24.
These are the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He’s already talked about giving, about laying up treasures in heaven and about our treasures revealing the location of our hearts.
Now, in verse 24, He lays out this battle in stark terms. V.24
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Now, when He says, “Money” here (in v.24), you’ll notice that it is capitalized in the NIV. Jesus is personifying Money here as if money was a person or even the name of a god. The King James translates it “Mammon.”
It doesn’t just mean, “money” as in that good thing that God gives to us to use for His glory and our good.
It means “MONEY!” that thing that has been perverted into a rival for God.
God Vs. Money.
“No one can serve two masters. [Which one are you going to serve? Can’t you serve both.] Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
God Vs. Money.
This is where most of our problems with money come from.
Not from the money but from sin. From hearts that have begun to “serve” money in some way.
Money becomes the slave driver, the master, the boss.
It goes from being something good that we’re supposed to steward into something bad that runs us into the ground.
And God hates that!
God is jealous for our affections and our worship and our service.
So He opposes it.
“You cannot serve both God and Money.”
We can’t have it both ways.
We must choose. We must choose once and for all (that’s called conversion), and we must choose each and every day not to serve money but to serve God.
Now, when Jesus puts it that way, it seems like an obvious choice.
“You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Okay. I’ll serve God, thanks!
But Money (with a capital M) doesn’t normally come out and say it like that.
It’s more subtle.
The problems we have with money don’t often announce themselves at the front door:
“Hi, I’m Money, and I’m here to get you to serve me!”
No, it’s much more subtle than that. That’s why we need Jesus’ declaration to cut through the fog. “You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Now, I’ve identified 4 ways that the Bible says that we tend to serve Money instead of God. We could probably come up with a much longer list (my original list had 12 items on it), but I think that most of them can be boiled down into one of these four:
Worrying About Money
Stealing Money
Hoarding Money
And Craving Money
This is where our hearts get mixed up with Money.
Now, we don’t have time to look at all four of those this morning, so we’re going to make this a two part sermon. Part One this week. Part Two in two weeks after Family Bible Week is all over.
Today, we’ll just look at the first one, and then on July 19th, Lord-willing, we’ll look at the last three.
Look at what Jesus says right after verse 24.
“You cannot serve both God and Money...Therefore I tell you, do not worry...”
Hhm. You can’t serve both God and money THEREFORE don’t worry.
It seems that Jesus is saying that worrying about money is “serving Money” (with a capital M).
God vs. Money (#1): Don’t Worry About Money.
Well, that’s easier said than done!
Notice how subtle Money-serving is. Already, we’ve gone from “Oh! I’ll serve God not Money” to “Don’t worry? Aah. That’s not so easy!”
It is serving Money to worry about money.
It’s easy to worry about money, isn’t it?
All you have to do is read the news to see that the economy that we’re living in is troubled. There have been some hopeful signs of stability but few of recovery.
When I originally conceived this series (back in March), the first sermon title that I came up with was, “Don’t Panic!”
I noticed that the first chapter in How To Survive the Economic Meltdown” was titled, “You’re Going to Get Through This!” (By the way, there are still a few free copies of this book out in the foyer. Anybody who wants one is welcome to it.)
Chapter 1: “You’re Going to Get Through This!” In other words, “Don’t Worry!”
And that’s what Jesus says to us. It’s radical, but it’s Jesus’ own words!
“Don’t Worry!”
Let’s see His reasoning. Vv.25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
I love that last statement. Tomorrow will worry about itself! Let tomorrow worry about tomorrow!
But, O, how hard it is to practice this, isn’t it?
“Do not worry about your life what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear.”
He’s talking about possessions, isn’t He? And basic necessities. And it takes money to eat and drink and be clothed. He’s talking about money.
And He’s making it personal. It’s a choice between worrying about money and trusting God.
That’s why he talks about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field.
He says that God feeds the birds and God clothes the lilies.
How much more will He take care of us?!
And if we don’t trust Him to do that, we’re worrying, and we’re serving Mammon.
How effective is worry?
Jesus says it can’t add a single hour to your life!
Worry is ineffectual. It’s what the pagans do.
The pagans don’t have a Heavenly Father!
But we do, and we should trust Him.
Worrying about money is part of the larger category of trusting in money or hoping in money. “If I only had money then...” is what goes through our minds.
But money can’t be trusted. It can’t be hoped in. It will disappoint.
Money that is here today might be gone tomorrow.
Just ask those people who trusted Bernie Madoff!
We can’t trust in money.
And we need to tell ourselves that it doesn’t do any good to worry about it!
Now, this does not mean that we never think about money.
The King James translates verse 25 as “take no thought...”
But Jesus doesn’t mean to never think about food or drink or clothes.
Those are legitimate concerns that we need to work for, provide, get in place, plan for, etc. Or we’d be hungry and naked! “We’d eat like birds and dress like flowers!”
He doesn’t mean that God is going to provide in the same way as the birds and the lilies. We aren’t supposed to expect food to drop in our laps all of the time.
But (it’s an argument from lesser to greater), if God provides for them, won’t He provide for us, His own children? Of course, He will!
Therefore, don’t worry. Don’t get anxious. Don’t let these thoughts consume you.
Don’t get bogged down in worry and anxiety about earthly possessions.
Fight it! Fight worry.
Don’t serve Money.
Now, that’s easy to say, but hard to do.
It’s important to replace worry with something else.
If worry is trusting in money, then the antidote, the opposite, the antithesis is trusting in God, hoping in God, or as verse 33 says, “Seeking God.”
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Some of you may have noticed that our van has lost its last hubcap! Our van is allergic to hubcaps. That one was #12!
That twelfth hubcap came off last week while the van was getting its brakes fixedin Ohio.
It turns out that when you hear this loud squealing noise, that it means that your front brake pads are shot, and you’re down to the rotors and they need replacing, too.
And we also sprang a brake-line leak in the back, on top of the fuel tank.
So we had to drop that to replace the lines!
Don’t worry, all the Mitchells were safe at all times. We weren’t in any danger.
Except in the pocket-book!
We had to take the van into the garage and decide if it was worth spending the money on fixing it or not.
In fact, I went back and forth and back and forth on that decision.
I was very tempted to worry.
Heather and I are working on re-working our family budget. Some of our financial things have changed recently (we’ve re-financed our mortgage, etc) and we need to fix our budget to fit our goals.
And I’m very tempted to worry.
But Jesus says, “No. God or Money. Pick Me! Do not worry about money.”
So, Heather and I have to make the quick decision on the van, and my wife says, “Can we pray about that?”
“Oh, yeah. Good idea!”
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Don’t worry.
Do you need to hear that this morning?
This is what God is saying to you today, “Do not worry about money.”
Yes, work for it, save it, make wise choices, spend it carefully.
We decided to fix the van and to start our long-term search for our next van.
Yes, work for it, save it, make wise choices, spend it carefully.
But don’t worry about it.
Why? Because we have a Heavenly Father.
Jesus Christ died on the Cross to make you God’s Child.
He paid the penalty for your sin and shame and guilt and sinful worry.
He gives you life through His resurrection life.
And He sent His Holy Spirit to take His place in your life.
You are not alone in the world.
You are not an orphan.
The pagans are orphans.
You are God’s Child.
Your Heavenly Father will care for you.
You say, “Well, Pastor Matt, there are some people who don’t have enough to eat and enough to drink and no clothes–in times of famine, drought, war, and pestilence. What about them?”
The Bible says that if they belong to Jesus, He will be enough for them and take care of them and the call in the midst of those trials is still to trust. To hope in God. To rejoice in God. To seek His Kingdom and His righteousness.
The prophet Habakkuk lived in a time like that.
And this was his testimony. He said, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls [complete financial meltdown], yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. [His salvation is worth everything!] The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.”
And that’s serving God not Money.
It’s trusting in God, not in Money.
“In God We Trust.” Yesterday was the Fourth of July.
“In God We Trust” is the official motto of the United States of America.
It’s printed on all of our money.
That’s very ironic, of course, because I doubt that the United States of America (taken corporately) trusts in God and not in Money.
That’s not the character of our nation.
But it’s a great motto!
It’s exactly what we should do.
In God We Trust.
God vs. Money?
Choose God.
He’s Your Heavenly Father.
July 5, 2009
Matthew 6:24
Our current sermon series is titled “In God We Trust – What the Bible Says About Money.”
It’s as important as ever in this global economy to understand and rehearse what God has said to us about this crucial topic: MONEY.
So far, we’ve learned 2 foundational lessons:
#1. Money is Profoundly Spiritual.
Right here in this chapter, verse 21, Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Money is profoundly spiritual. It reveals our hearts.
Follow the Money!
What we do with money is directly tied to our hearts.
Money is not just physical or financial–it is profoundly spiritual.
#2. God Owns All of the Money in the World.
The silver is His and the gold is His. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
“The Earth is the LORD’s and everything in it.”
And what does that make us?
Stewards. Or money managers.
It’s the Lord’s money, not ours. We have it “in trust.”
We are the Lord’s money managers.
And 2 weeks ago, we started a little experiment. Do you remember?
Roye, why don’t you come up here? Two weeks ago, Mrs. Mitchell and I entrusted $10 with Roye Houston (our brave volunteer!), and put him in charge of those $10 to manage for us.
He was our “steward” of those 10 bucks.
Remember the rules? Roye could do anything he wanted to with those $10 as our agent. It was not his money, it was our money, but he was in charge of it.
And we wanted him to do what he thought would be in our hearts for that money.
Because, remember, that’s what we’re all supposed to do with all of the money that God has entrusted to our care. It’s His money, and we’re supposed to do what we believe would be on His heart for that money.
And there was one more rule–Roye has to give an account for what he did with that $10. We’ll have to do the same with our Lord one day.
Okay, Roye. Let me ask you a few questions:
1. How did it feel to have that money that wasn’t yours that you were in charge of?
2. What did you do with that money?
3. Why? How?
4. What other things did you consider doing with it? What advice did you get from other people? Why did you do this instead of that? How come you didn’t gamble it?
[Roye bought a pillow & two pillow cases and (with help from his folks) mailed them to Haiti to be given to poorer folks through Vision of Hope Ministries.]
Well done, good and faithful servant! Mrs. Mitchell and I are very pleased with what you did with it.
This is another $10 bill. It is not ours. It is now yours. It is a reward for serving us well. Use it however you like (but remember, it still belongs to God and you'll have to give an account for it someday).
Well done, good and faithful steward!
Every day of our lives we are acting as stewards of God’s property. Every day.
This came home to me again last week as Heather and I were at the EFCA National Leadership Conference, and I was struck several times by your generosity and our need to be good stewards.
We drove to Ohio with mileage money that you give us. We flew to Minneapolis with conference money that you’ve entrusted to us. We ate in Minneapolis, we stayed in a hotel, drove a rental car, attended the conference, paid our conference fees–all with money that wasn’t our own. It was the church’s–it was yours.
And we benefitted (and I hope, ultimately, that you benefit, too!) from both your giving and your entrusting of those funds into our hands.
I felt a greater responsibility this year to be a wise steward of those funds while at conference and make the most of the conference because it was your funds that got me there.
In the same way, we should all feel responsibility to be wise stewards of all that God has entrusted into our hands–every single day of our lives.
But! There is a problem, isn’t there?
There is this little problem called SIN. And sin worms its way into everything and tries to mess everything up.
Including what we do with money.
Sin (in our hearts, in the world, and in Satan’s temptations) takes something good like money (a good gift from a great God) and tries to pervert it into something bad.
So, while money itself is very good, in this fallen world with our fallen hearts, money becomes a source of all kinds of evil temptations.
And leads to a battle between two masters: God and Money.
Which brings us to today’s passage. Matthew chapter 6, verse 24.
These are the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He’s already talked about giving, about laying up treasures in heaven and about our treasures revealing the location of our hearts.
Now, in verse 24, He lays out this battle in stark terms. V.24
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Now, when He says, “Money” here (in v.24), you’ll notice that it is capitalized in the NIV. Jesus is personifying Money here as if money was a person or even the name of a god. The King James translates it “Mammon.”
It doesn’t just mean, “money” as in that good thing that God gives to us to use for His glory and our good.
It means “MONEY!” that thing that has been perverted into a rival for God.
God Vs. Money.
“No one can serve two masters. [Which one are you going to serve? Can’t you serve both.] Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
God Vs. Money.
This is where most of our problems with money come from.
Not from the money but from sin. From hearts that have begun to “serve” money in some way.
Money becomes the slave driver, the master, the boss.
It goes from being something good that we’re supposed to steward into something bad that runs us into the ground.
And God hates that!
God is jealous for our affections and our worship and our service.
So He opposes it.
“You cannot serve both God and Money.”
We can’t have it both ways.
We must choose. We must choose once and for all (that’s called conversion), and we must choose each and every day not to serve money but to serve God.
Now, when Jesus puts it that way, it seems like an obvious choice.
“You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Okay. I’ll serve God, thanks!
But Money (with a capital M) doesn’t normally come out and say it like that.
It’s more subtle.
The problems we have with money don’t often announce themselves at the front door:
“Hi, I’m Money, and I’m here to get you to serve me!”
No, it’s much more subtle than that. That’s why we need Jesus’ declaration to cut through the fog. “You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Now, I’ve identified 4 ways that the Bible says that we tend to serve Money instead of God. We could probably come up with a much longer list (my original list had 12 items on it), but I think that most of them can be boiled down into one of these four:
Worrying About Money
Stealing Money
Hoarding Money
And Craving Money
This is where our hearts get mixed up with Money.
Now, we don’t have time to look at all four of those this morning, so we’re going to make this a two part sermon. Part One this week. Part Two in two weeks after Family Bible Week is all over.
Today, we’ll just look at the first one, and then on July 19th, Lord-willing, we’ll look at the last three.
Look at what Jesus says right after verse 24.
“You cannot serve both God and Money...Therefore I tell you, do not worry...”
Hhm. You can’t serve both God and money THEREFORE don’t worry.
It seems that Jesus is saying that worrying about money is “serving Money” (with a capital M).
God vs. Money (#1): Don’t Worry About Money.
Well, that’s easier said than done!
Notice how subtle Money-serving is. Already, we’ve gone from “Oh! I’ll serve God not Money” to “Don’t worry? Aah. That’s not so easy!”
It is serving Money to worry about money.
It’s easy to worry about money, isn’t it?
All you have to do is read the news to see that the economy that we’re living in is troubled. There have been some hopeful signs of stability but few of recovery.
When I originally conceived this series (back in March), the first sermon title that I came up with was, “Don’t Panic!”
I noticed that the first chapter in How To Survive the Economic Meltdown” was titled, “You’re Going to Get Through This!” (By the way, there are still a few free copies of this book out in the foyer. Anybody who wants one is welcome to it.)
Chapter 1: “You’re Going to Get Through This!” In other words, “Don’t Worry!”
And that’s what Jesus says to us. It’s radical, but it’s Jesus’ own words!
“Don’t Worry!”
Let’s see His reasoning. Vv.25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
I love that last statement. Tomorrow will worry about itself! Let tomorrow worry about tomorrow!
But, O, how hard it is to practice this, isn’t it?
“Do not worry about your life what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear.”
He’s talking about possessions, isn’t He? And basic necessities. And it takes money to eat and drink and be clothed. He’s talking about money.
And He’s making it personal. It’s a choice between worrying about money and trusting God.
That’s why he talks about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field.
He says that God feeds the birds and God clothes the lilies.
How much more will He take care of us?!
And if we don’t trust Him to do that, we’re worrying, and we’re serving Mammon.
How effective is worry?
Jesus says it can’t add a single hour to your life!
Worry is ineffectual. It’s what the pagans do.
The pagans don’t have a Heavenly Father!
But we do, and we should trust Him.
Worrying about money is part of the larger category of trusting in money or hoping in money. “If I only had money then...” is what goes through our minds.
But money can’t be trusted. It can’t be hoped in. It will disappoint.
Money that is here today might be gone tomorrow.
Just ask those people who trusted Bernie Madoff!
We can’t trust in money.
And we need to tell ourselves that it doesn’t do any good to worry about it!
Now, this does not mean that we never think about money.
The King James translates verse 25 as “take no thought...”
But Jesus doesn’t mean to never think about food or drink or clothes.
Those are legitimate concerns that we need to work for, provide, get in place, plan for, etc. Or we’d be hungry and naked! “We’d eat like birds and dress like flowers!”
He doesn’t mean that God is going to provide in the same way as the birds and the lilies. We aren’t supposed to expect food to drop in our laps all of the time.
But (it’s an argument from lesser to greater), if God provides for them, won’t He provide for us, His own children? Of course, He will!
Therefore, don’t worry. Don’t get anxious. Don’t let these thoughts consume you.
Don’t get bogged down in worry and anxiety about earthly possessions.
Fight it! Fight worry.
Don’t serve Money.
Now, that’s easy to say, but hard to do.
It’s important to replace worry with something else.
If worry is trusting in money, then the antidote, the opposite, the antithesis is trusting in God, hoping in God, or as verse 33 says, “Seeking God.”
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Some of you may have noticed that our van has lost its last hubcap! Our van is allergic to hubcaps. That one was #12!
That twelfth hubcap came off last week while the van was getting its brakes fixedin Ohio.
It turns out that when you hear this loud squealing noise, that it means that your front brake pads are shot, and you’re down to the rotors and they need replacing, too.
And we also sprang a brake-line leak in the back, on top of the fuel tank.
So we had to drop that to replace the lines!
Don’t worry, all the Mitchells were safe at all times. We weren’t in any danger.
Except in the pocket-book!
We had to take the van into the garage and decide if it was worth spending the money on fixing it or not.
In fact, I went back and forth and back and forth on that decision.
I was very tempted to worry.
Heather and I are working on re-working our family budget. Some of our financial things have changed recently (we’ve re-financed our mortgage, etc) and we need to fix our budget to fit our goals.
And I’m very tempted to worry.
But Jesus says, “No. God or Money. Pick Me! Do not worry about money.”
So, Heather and I have to make the quick decision on the van, and my wife says, “Can we pray about that?”
“Oh, yeah. Good idea!”
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Don’t worry.
Do you need to hear that this morning?
This is what God is saying to you today, “Do not worry about money.”
Yes, work for it, save it, make wise choices, spend it carefully.
We decided to fix the van and to start our long-term search for our next van.
Yes, work for it, save it, make wise choices, spend it carefully.
But don’t worry about it.
Why? Because we have a Heavenly Father.
Jesus Christ died on the Cross to make you God’s Child.
He paid the penalty for your sin and shame and guilt and sinful worry.
He gives you life through His resurrection life.
And He sent His Holy Spirit to take His place in your life.
You are not alone in the world.
You are not an orphan.
The pagans are orphans.
You are God’s Child.
Your Heavenly Father will care for you.
You say, “Well, Pastor Matt, there are some people who don’t have enough to eat and enough to drink and no clothes–in times of famine, drought, war, and pestilence. What about them?”
The Bible says that if they belong to Jesus, He will be enough for them and take care of them and the call in the midst of those trials is still to trust. To hope in God. To rejoice in God. To seek His Kingdom and His righteousness.
The prophet Habakkuk lived in a time like that.
And this was his testimony. He said, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls [complete financial meltdown], yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. [His salvation is worth everything!] The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.”
And that’s serving God not Money.
It’s trusting in God, not in Money.
“In God We Trust.” Yesterday was the Fourth of July.
“In God We Trust” is the official motto of the United States of America.
It’s printed on all of our money.
That’s very ironic, of course, because I doubt that the United States of America (taken corporately) trusts in God and not in Money.
That’s not the character of our nation.
But it’s a great motto!
It’s exactly what we should do.
In God We Trust.
God vs. Money?
Choose God.
He’s Your Heavenly Father.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Freedom Begins Here
The ministry, Freedom Begins Here, addresses pornography and sexual addiction for Christians.
Their most recent video-blog highlights the newest issue of EFCA Today and the special section on Hidden Danger, of which my article on what EFCA districts are doing to help pastors is included.
Hooray that there is a dialogue about these issues and resources out there to help people!
[The EFCA Today segment starts about minute 3:30.]
Their most recent video-blog highlights the newest issue of EFCA Today and the special section on Hidden Danger, of which my article on what EFCA districts are doing to help pastors is included.
Hooray that there is a dialogue about these issues and resources out there to help people!
[The EFCA Today segment starts about minute 3:30.]
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
God's People Singing
Chuck Colson on the reclamation of Christians singing (and not just listening to the music).
This is one of my concerns about the church in America.
I praise the Lord that LEFC knows how to raise the roof in praise.
This is one of my concerns about the church in America.
I praise the Lord that LEFC knows how to raise the roof in praise.
