Sunday, December 10th, 2023 - 9am Contemporary Service Second Half - Peace in His Presence

December 10, 2023

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Scripture referenced 15 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Psalm 145:10 repeated as the opening text: 'All your works will give thanks to you, Lord, and your godly ones will bless you'

10 All your works will give thanks to you, Yahweh. Your saints will extol you.

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Psalm 145:11

they will speak of the glory of God's kingdom and talk of His might

11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom, and talk about your power;

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Psalm 145:12

making known God's mighty acts and the glory of the majesty of His kingdom to the sons of mankind

12 to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, the glory of the majesty of his kingdom.

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Psalm 145:13

God's kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and His dominion endures throughout all generations

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Your dominion endures throughout all generations. Yahweh is faithful in all his words, and loving in all his deeds.

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Psalm 145:14

the Lord supports all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down

14 Yahweh upholds all who fall, and raises up all those who are bowed down.

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Psalm 145:15-16

the eyes of all look to God and He gives food in due time, opening His hand to satisfy every living thing

15 The eyes of all wait for you. You give them their food in due season.

16 You open your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

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Psalm 145:17

the Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His works

17 Yahweh is righteous in all his ways, and gracious in all his works.

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Psalm 145:18

the Lord is near to all who call on Him in truth

18 Yahweh is near to all those who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

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Psalm 145:19

He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him and hears their cry

19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. He also will hear their cry, and will save them.

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Psalm 145:20

the Lord watches over those who love Him but will destroy the wicked

20 Yahweh preserves all those who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

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Psalm 145:21

closing declaration that the speaker's mouth will speak the praise of the Lord and all flesh will bless His holy name

21 My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh. Let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

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Galatians 6:7

do not be deceived, God is not mocked, whatever a person sows he will reap

7 Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

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Galatians 6:8-10

sowing to the flesh reaps destruction, sowing to the Spirit reaps eternal life, do not grow weary in doing good

8 For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

9 Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up.

10 So then, as we have opportunity, let’s do what is good toward all men, and especially toward those who are of the household of the faith.

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1 Corinthians 11:23-25

institution of the Lord's Supper, Jesus saying this is my body and this is the new covenant in my blood

23 For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread.

24 When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.”

25 In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.”

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1 Corinthians 11:26

every time we take communion we proclaim the Lord's death until He comes again

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

This message worked through Psalm 145, letting David's words about the character of God push back against the human habit of taking credit for what we have and complaining about what we don't. The preacher walked the congregation through the psalm's claims about God's faithfulness, gentleness, and nearness, and then led directly into communion as an act of proclaiming those same things.

What was said

the preacher opened with a clip from the 1965 film Shenandoah, in which Jimmy Stewart's character prays before a Thanksgiving meal by listing everything his family did themselves, clearing the land, plowing, harvesting, cooking, and then thanking God almost as an afterthought. That prayer, the preacher said, is closer to how most people actually think than they would like to admit. The pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps instinct runs deep, and it shows up even in how people pray.

The psalm itself pushes back on that. God is the one who supports those who fall and raises up those who are bowed down. Pastor connected this to the description of Jesus as someone who would not snuff out a smoldering wick or break off a bruised reed. The gentleness is the point. Humility before God is not weakness; it is what positions a person to be lifted.

God's nearness was the hinge of the message. The psalm says God is near to all who call on Him in truth, that He hears the cry for help, and that He will save. The preacher noted that David wrote this while living under the old covenant, fully aware of how hard it was to keep and how easy it was to break, and yet he was already longing for something more. David wanted everyone to know God the way he knew God.

The psalm does not stay comfortable, though. It ends with a warning that God will destroy the wicked. Pastor treated this not as a contradiction of the psalm's warmth but as part of the same truth. Galatians was brought in here: God is not mocked, and whatever a person sows, they will reap. Sowing bitterness and resentment produces more of the same. Choosing, even in a storm, to look to God and proclaim His mighty acts is itself a form of sowing to the Spirit.

The preacher closed the sermon portion by sitting with the final verse, where David says his mouth will speak the praise of the Lord. He pointed out that David had plenty of psalms asking how long, Lord, will my enemies triumph, but he always found his way back to trust. Saying out loud that you will praise God is sometimes a decision you make before you feel like it. If there is breath in your lungs, that is already a reason.

The service moved directly into communion. Pastor prayed over the elements, noting that this table is open to any believer regardless of denomination, and that the bread and cup represent the body and blood of Jesus, righteous given for the unrighteous. He read from the words of institution, connecting Jesus declaring the new covenant in His blood back to the old covenant David had been writing from. Paul's words were quoted: every time we do this, we proclaim the Lord's death until He comes again.

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Pastor talked about the Jimmy Stewart prayer from Shenandoah, where the character essentially thanks God while giving himself the credit. In what areas of your own life do you tend to think that way, even if you would not say it out loud?
The preacher said that if you believe God is not righteous in all His ways, you are putting yourself above Him. How do you personally work through situations where God's ways do not feel righteous or kind to you?

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Speaker 1Like here we go. All your works will give thanks to you, Lord, and your godly ones will bless you. All your works will give thanks to you, oh, Lord, and your godly ones will bless you. Now I think that giving thanks, we know we're supposed to give thanks. You add gratitude.

It's the will of God for us in Christ Jesus. Yes, yes, yes. I know I'm supposed to be grateful. I'm not feeling really grateful about this though. We do that a lot.

You all ever seen the movie Shenandoah? We're not going to do it, Blake. But have you ever seen the movie Shenandoah? It's old 1965, it's a Western, Jimmy Stewart's in it. Jimmy Stewart sits down Thanksgiving prayer before they have a Thanksgiving meal and he says, Lord, I'm not going to do a Jimmy Stewart impression.

We cleared this land. We plowed it. We sowed it. We harvested it. We cooked the harvest.

Wouldn't be here. We wouldn't be eating if we hadn't done it all ourselves. We worked dog bone hard for every crumb and morsel, but we thank you just the same anyway, Lord, for the food we're about to eat, amen. There it is.

Speaker 2Cleared this land. We've

Speaker 1got That's the same. Of We can click through that, Blake.

Speaker 2We cooked the harvest.

Speaker 1That is the way that we think a lot of times. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Tell you what, my bootstrap's about to break. God will lift us up. The Lord is good to all, and his mercies are over all of his works.

All your works will give thanks to you, Lord. Your godly ones will bless you. They will speak of the glory of your kingdom, and they will talk of your might. God is strong, and he can do things we can't do. To make known to the sons of mankind, long lay the world in sin and error, paining for, longing for the knowledge of God.

To make known this to the sons of mankind, your mighty acts and the glory of the majesty of your kingdom. He has called out what Brad talked about last week. He's called out a people from all peoples. And he brought them in and he made them into a a royal priesthood, chosen people, a people for God's own possession. He's making it known through the people who will speak out about him.

And the glory of his majesty of your kingdom. Your kingdom, Lord, is an everlasting kingdom. It's never gonna end. This is David. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.

And your dominion, that is power, endures throughout all generations. Your power is always available. The Lord is faithful in his words. If God has said it, it can be trusted. This scripture that David wrote down by inspiration of the Holy Spirit can be trusted.

The Lord is faithful in his words and he is holy, completely set apart in all of his works. The Lord supports all who fall and he raises up all who are bowed down. Humble yourself before God and he will lift you up. He supports all who fall. I think of Jesus who was described as a smoldering wick he would not snuff out and a bruised reed he would not break off.

He's gentle. The Lord supports those who fall and he raises up those who are bowed down. The eyes of all, Lord, look to you. When it comes down to it, they look to you and you give them their food in due time. God is our provider.

You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. And don't we find fault with that? They have more than I have. I want that. No.

God opens his hand and blesses and satisfies the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways. And if you don't think that's true, then you're putting yourself above him. Does that make sense to you? The Lord is righteous in all of his ways, and he is kind in all of his works.

I don't understand how that can be, but I trust that it is. Lord, help me to know you better and understand you more. I don't understand how we can know just as we are known in heaven and not have any tears because when I look around, are a lot of things to be sad about. But Lord God, you are a deliverer and you are saving us out of that. The Lord is kind in all of his works.

The Lord is near. This is our verse. To all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth, he is ever listening for the call of faith and he always responds. Lord, help me. He responds.

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth and he will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. He will. He will also hear their cry for help and he will save them. David, looking forward to Messiah, looking forward to salvation. He knew the old covenant and he knew how to break it.

He knew the old covenant and he knew what it was like to have the Holy Spirit rest upon him, and he didn't want for that to ever be taken away. He wanted for everybody to know God that way, to be near to the heart of God. He also will hear their cry for help, and he will save them. The Lord watches over all who love him, and then this takes a turn. But he will destroy all the wicked.

That's a part of this. The bad news is a part of the good news. God is not mocked. Galatians says, do not be deceived. God is not mocked.

Whatever a person sows, if you're going to sow dissension, bitterness, strife, resentment, anger, ugliness, you're going to get it back multiplied. That's just the way that it is. But if you choose in the midst of the storm to look to God in humility and proclaim his mighty acts to yourself and to others. If you look at him and see, you know what, Lord, I don't understand how this is good, but I trust that you're turning it for good. I don't understand it, but I do trust you and I do love you.

God is not mocked. For if you sow to his own flesh or reap destruction from the flesh, the one who sows to the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit. So let's not become discouraged in doing good. In due time, we will reap if we don't become weary. So then, while we have the opportunity, let's be doing good to all people.

Let's not just have to have them be exactly like us to be good to them. Let's be doing good to all people and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Now, closes with this. My mouth is emphatic. I made it a little bigger and little bolder.

My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord. I have to tell myself that that's what I'm gonna do. David had to tell himself that that's what he's gonna do. He also had plenty of Psalms, right, that said, how long, oh Lord, will I wrestle with my thoughts? How long, oh Lord, will I have sorrow in my heart?

How long will my enemies triumph over me? But he always got back to, but I trust in your unfailing love. My heart rejoices that you save, Lord, from above. And you do it in a way I don't understand, but you're the one. I'm drawing near to you.

My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord. That's what I'm going to do. If you don't have anything nice to say, mama would say, don't say anything at all. If you got breath in your lungs, praise God for it. And all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

Every sin will be either mercifully forgiven or justly condemned. And that is the righteousness of God that says that. Amen. I'm gonna invite the ushers forward. We're gonna go kind of immediately.

I'll ask the band to come back up to into a time of communion. We practice an open table here. If you are a believer in Jesus, I don't care what stripe of believer you are, Baptist, Methodist, whatever, I don't care. If you trust in Jesus as being the saving one of God, then this is an open table for you. We're going to celebrate the life that Jesus lived out in the flesh by the representation of this little cracker that we're going to take in, representing the body of Jesus and then the blood sacrificially given, righteous for the unrighteous, once and for all.

We're going to do that with the cup. In Jesus' name, Lord, we ask you to bless this time of communion where we remember you, where we look to you as the merciful, slow to anger, compassionate God who does forgive sins. And we take this time right now, Lord, to say, we come before you falling short, and we ask you to build us up and make us in the way that you would have us to be. May we be malleable and moldable. We are the clay, Lord, and you're the potter.

Do what you will in us right now. Forgive us of our sins. In Jesus' name, would you bless this Lord's Supper. Jesus Jesus was betrayed, which tells you something right there. Same evening, he was being betrayed.

He said to his disciples who were gathered there with him. He said, this is my body which is given for you. Take this and eat and do it in remembrance of me And they did. May we do the same. Jesus, thank you for living that perfect example.

Thank you for having that perfect record. You lived each day humble to the spirit of God, serendipitously walking about and doing good for the kingdom of God, for our good, for your glory under the majesty of God. Lord God, thank you. We're so grateful. I thank you for the spilled, innocent blood that we're going to celebrate by now right now.

Lord, for everyone who would partake, I pray a blessing, but also for anyone who knows that they're not a believer in Jesus. They recognize that and they let the cup just pass on by. Lord, I pray that in this season, you would, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, working in lives of somebody sitting around them here today, I'll be able to speak a word that just clicks for them and makes makes the connection. May we, Lord, be about your business, and may everyone in this room come to know you. In Jesus name, I pray blessing over this.

Little representation, plastic cup full of grape juice. Lord Jesus, amen.

Speaker 2Child of weakness watching you, finding me right on the road. Jesus paid am. Sing I'd left a crimson stain, he washed in white as snow. And read before the throne, I stand in him complete. I'll lay my trophies down Jesus paid all

Speaker 1Just like you're taking the bread after supper, he took the cup and after giving thanks, he said, this is the new covenant in my blood. David was writing during the time of the old covenant and he knew how hard it was because it's on you in the old covenant. If you will do this, then I will do that but you know what? God is faithful to his people and he promised a new covenant coming and they were all waiting for it and Jesus was declaring it. No doubt about it.

When he said, this is the new covenant in my blood. You take this in. Take it in. This is a mighty act of God. Take it in.

And do it every time that you will in remembrance of me. Amen. Paul says that every time we do this, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again. And his death means an end to sin, to the power of sin and darkness. Would you stand with me?

I think we're gonna sing the doxology. What do you wanna sing? I wanna sing the doxology. Doxology. Here we go.

Yeah. Alright. Join me in the doxology. Here we go. How about a g?

Speaker 2Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly host. Praise father, son, and holy ghost. Amen.

Speaker 1Amen. May the Lord bless and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and give you peace in this season. Go in peace. Amen. Oh, they've got space for you down there.

Please go have some breakfast.

Topics

Gratitude Lord'S Supper Praise Sowing And Reaping Trusting God

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