Saturday, November 17, 2018

Premeditated Praise


Pericope:  Psalms 34:1-10 ESV - 34

I will bless the Lord at all times;   his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! 4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me  and delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. 6  This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps

    around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! 9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,  for those who fear him have no lack! 10 The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Sermon Text:  Psalms 34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praises shall continually be in my mouth. 

Sermon Title: Premeditated Praise!



1 Sam 21:12-22:2 - 12 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? 15 Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” 22 David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. 2 And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.

       

Point 1:  Premeditated praise must be prescribed.  Vs. 1-3  

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!

Point 2:  Premeditated praise must be preoccupied with God.  Vs. 4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

Praise 3:  Premeditated praise must have a prescription.  Vs. 6

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.

        1 Samuel 22:1-2:2 David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. 2 And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.

         

Point 4:  Premeditated praise must be fearless.  Vs. 7-9 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!  Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! 9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!

Point 5:  Premeditated praise must be personal.  Vs. 1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Vs. 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!

Conclusion:  Vs. 1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

The Power of Your Story


Pericope:  2 Cor. 3:1-3 - Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Sermon Text:  2 Cor. 3:3 -  And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Psalms 139: 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
1: Your story is one for the archives…scars and all…
Joshua 14: 7-8 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. 8 But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God.
Vs 8 …Followed the Lord wholeheartedly. Vs 9…you followed the Lord wholeheartedly.  Vs 14…you followed the Lord wholeheartedly.
2: Your story needs to be told and retold
  Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,
3:  Your story is written on human hearts
Vs. 3 - 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4:  Your story Is His-Story  vs. 4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.

Virtual Family Sunday Questions

What ways can we create community as a family? How has our viewership/church attendance enhanced or diminished our family covenant? What way...