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[00:00:24] Speaker B: All right, good to see all of you guys this morning as we start a brand new series, Songs from the Psalms.
And I don't know about you, but I love live music.
Always enjoy hearing it. Wherever venue that I may be, I just enjoy hearing these people use their gifts and abilities in that way. And music is a powerful medium. In fact, there is a neuroscientist by the name of Daniel Levitin at McGill University who did studies. He actually studied the brains of people while they listened to music to see what the effect of it is on them. And here's what he said. Music modulates levels of dopamine in the brain. Now, dopamine, you know, are those neurotransmitters that give us energy, excitement, pleasure. And he said, music has the ability to modulate levels of dopamine. It has a calming effect. It can slow the heart rate, it can deepen our breathing. It can lower stress hormones. So I'm sure you would agree that there are certain types of music you listen to based upon your mood.
You go to a pep rally and there's a certain type of music that you would expect to hear, and it would probably be very different than what you would hear if you went to a funeral service, wouldn't you agree?
And so it probably wouldn't be appropriate to have a pep rally at a funeral service. And it wouldn't be very exciting to have a funeral service at a pep rally. So music can affect the mood. Music can set the mood. And scientists have actually verified that through studies of our brains and how our brains are wired. But it's not just the music, because when you read the Psalms, the Psalms is the songbook of the Bible. When you read the Psalms, we don't get the music, we get the lyric. And the lyric is just as significant as the music.
The lyric is the message of the music. Have you ever liked a song you hear on the radio, but you didn't know what the lyrics were about? I heard a song one time and I suggested that our band play it some weekend.
And they came to me and said, bill, have you ever listened to the lyrics?
I said, no.
And they said we printed them out for you. You might take a look at that before we play it on the weekend. And I read that. Thank you, Jesus. They didn't play that, that song, man. That would have been a major mistake.
It was just, you know, I liked the music. I liked, you know, the rhythm. I liked all the things about it. But the lyric was terrible. It was completely inappropriate. And so now we, you know, teach our kids. Hey, we, we as parents, we want to engage not only in the music you listen to, but what is the lyric?
Music communicating. So what you have in the book of Psalm is the lyrics. You have the lyrics. We don't really know now. People can kind of go back in time and study what they know about it. I mean, a lot of the instrumentation is listed in the book of Psalms, the different instruments that they would play.
But we don't really know what this, what the sound of the music was. So we don't get that. But we definitely get the lyrics. How many of you had someone, maybe you're in high school, maybe you have a friend now. But every time you get in the car with the radio on, they want to sing along with the radio. You have somebody like that.
Now, some of you, that doesn't bother some of you. It runs them crazy.
When my buddy Dan Hooper, I'm just going to absolutely nail him. This morning we were at school. Billy Cate is here this morning. We all went to school together. Dan and I would be in the car. He loved Motown. He loved all things Motown and I love Motown. And he would. He didn't just sing, he played the drums and the accupped em on the dash, you know what I'm saying? You have a friend that would do that too. And just. Or he would mess with the station, you know. You don't mess with the station when you're a passenger in the car, the driver is in charge of the music. Can I get an amen on that one? All right. But he would mess with my radio and he would mess with the music and try to put all the things.
And it was so funny because how many of you have misunderstood the lyric and you're singing it wrong and then you didn't know it for a long time. Well, he'd be belting out some tune and you know, and he'd get it wrong. Had another friend of mine, Calvin Cheek, we were going down the road one time and there was a song. I'm trying to remember.
I'm not. Lord knows I'm not gonna sing it but it was this kind of. This love song.
Do you know what you're going to? Da da da da da da da da da da da I'm trying to get it in my head. This is not in my notes. I'm off road now.
And I look over there at Cal. I'm going down the road, and I look over there at Calvin, and he's singing.
You know, I mean, I'm talking about surrendering your man card. I mean, on this particular song. And so what I thought it would be funny was when it was kind of building to this crescendo where they ooh, ooh thing.
And so it was getting right there. And just as they got into the ooh thing, I just killed this volume in my radio and I left him totally exposed. He's out there. Ooh, had a moment.
I mean, it was so awesome. Oh, man, if I saw him now, I'd still kid him about that.
It was so great. But I was reading some of the lyrics that people misunderstood and mispronounced.
It's pretty easy to do. The Eagles had a song, Hotel California. Everybody's heard that. And there's a line that says, on a dark desert highway. People were understanding them to say, cool whip in my hair. Cool Whip. And the lyric is, cool wind in my hair. Here's another one that people got wrong. This is interesting because I aied this one, and it said these are the most common ones. So that couldn't be wrong, right?
Journey, Open Arms. I mean, the title of the song is Open Arms. And here's what people were hearing. So here I am with Broken Arms.
I don't know. Creedence Clearwater Revival, great band. They had a famous song, Bad Moon Rising. And what they were hearing them say is, there's a bathroom on the right instead of a bad moon on the rise, right? And then Johnny Nash. Remember Johnny Nash? I can see clearly now.
Here's what people were hearing him say. I can see Deidre now. Lorraine has gone way off.
But, you know, really, the most memorable songs and the songs that connect with us the most were songs that were written out of someone's experience.
I love to hear artists interviewed and they talk about what inspired them to write a song. And invariably they'll talk about something that they went through. A breakup, a health thing, the loss of a loved one. And out of that dark experience, they write an incredible song that relates.
Tears in Heaven was written after.
Again, I'm off roading here.
The guitarist, famous guitarist Eric Clapman. Thank you. After his son died, In New York.
And part of it, the lyric has to do with, will I know you? And will you know me in heaven? And it's a powerful song, but it was written out of a horrible experience.
And those are the songs that seem to resonate with people. That's why hymns are so powerful, right?
I love a lot of the old hymns because they were written out of an experience. Now, a lot of the new artists, they try to find the catchy hook, and they try to find. And the reason those songs, though they may be good, but they don't really sell, is because they're not really written out of an experience.
It might connect with your foot, and you might tap your foot. It might connect with your hands, and you might connect, clap your hands. But what it misses, it misses your heart.
And so while it might move you, it's not memorable to you because it missed an important connection.
And the best lyricist and the best artists are the artists that know how to not only maybe create an upbeat and a powerful tune, but to connect that with the hearts of people.
Because I'm telling you, everybody in the room, when you hear a song, it will take you back to a season in your life.
You hear certain songs. I was a child of the 70s, and I can hear tunes from the 70s, and I have memories of where I was in the 70s and what I was doing. When I dropped Cindy off after our first date, that song, oh, what a Night, was playing on the radio, and I've never forgotten that. Anytime I hear that song, it brings back that memory. And there's just a connection that music makes with us. It's what makes it so powerful. That's what makes it so meaningful. And that's why we all have such strong opinions about music.
I mean, the number one defining issue in anybody's church is music. And you can be all over the map with musical style. Everybody has a different taste. You can't please everyone when it comes to music. But I'm just simply saying we all are passionate about it because we all know the power of it. And we all know what music means in our life in some way. And so when you read the Psalms, what's real powerful about them?
I know the writers were writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but they were writing out of an experience.
And so it connects. So we don't hear the music. We see the lyrics, and we can understand the experience that they were going through.
Someone has said every emotion that we can feel is captured in the Psalms.
Some of them bring you up, some of them take you down, some of them fire you up, some of them chill you out.
The lyrics are all there. And all of those lyrics are written by someone who had an experience in life that inspired them to write.
Now, not everyone is artistic. I don't have that ability. I can appreciate music. I just. As the Bible said, I make a joyful noise unto the Lord. You know, I have a lot of requests every weekend not to sing. So I get that you sing in the shower. But the point is, those people who are gifted, there's certain people that just have a gift. They have a. There's an artistic bent that they have. And some of them is in the area of.
They have been a beautiful way to write. And in the Bible. There were several people who contributed to the songbook of the Bible. One of them that we're gonna look at just for a little while this morning, his name was Asaph. Asaph. I don't know if you've heard more about. When I describe him, you will say, oh, okay, I get Asaph. Asaph was King David and then King Saul's Solomon. Rather, he was their worship leader. You read about him in 2 Chronicles 25.
And not only was he a great worship leader, he was also a great hymn writer. He was a lyricist.
Not everybody has the ability to lead worship. By the way.
What I feel like my job is as a pastor is I have to evaluate, help evaluate a lot of the talent we've had in the history of our church. We've had a lot of really great singers.
Some of them helped us and contributed while we were here. Some of them have moved on to other places of service, but while they were here, they made a huge impact. And so we've all had our favorites and the people that we look back and like and the people that we have now that God's blessed us with. But here's what I know. Not every singer, not every singer is gifted to be a worship leader.
And I can tell immediately by how they connect with the audience. That's why a lot of times, I'll stand at the back because I'm wanting to see how the audience is receiving the worship that they're hearing.
A lot of pastors like to stand on the front row and be a part of the worship, but I feel like part of my job is to evaluate and try to make an assessment on the worship. Now, it's not about me. It's just that I'm responsible for the church. I'll give an account to God for all of the things that happen in our church. So I take that seriously.
Sometimes there's songs that we do that I like less than other songs that we do. Is that a nice way to say that?
But I enjoy our worship. And I can tell you, we have such a gifted team. But I've seen people that connect with the audience. They just have a connection. And what it says to me is they have a gift that not everyone has. They have a gift of leading worship and connecting with the hearts of people. They bring you in and you want to go with them. I've seen some people that their style of leading a congregation is watch me worship. And they just kind of run off and leave everybody.
And you go, well, there they go.
But to me, I love a worship leader that will assess the room, read the room, and try to bring people with them into worship. They try to assess where we are.
They read the room well. Now, that's not something. That's not an acquired taste.
That is a biblical. That is a divine gift, again, that not everyone has. Asaph obviously had that gift. He had that gift because there was real longevity in his life. King David saw the value in the worship that he brought to the table. Even his son, who followed him, saw the value that he brought to the table. And Asaph, in the psalm that I want to share with you this morning, he gets real. I mean, he. I don't know if this would be a country song or a blues song. I don't even know how you would categorize this. We don't have the music, we do have the lyric. But he writes about experiences that he was going through in life. And the reason this psalm connects is because it's real, it's raw, it's emotional, it's transparent. It's like a lot of the songs we talk about in life that we listen to and we relate to. Cause we say they're really expressing what I feel. And so this is the Psalm of Asaph. Look with me, if you would, in the 73rd Psalm. I'm just going to take a little piece of this song. It's a great song that he has written. And I just wanna comment on it and try to talk to you a little bit about the power of this song as we talk about how his attitude adjusted through the experiences that he was going through. Look at Psalm 73. Look at verse 1. Surely God is good to Israel and to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost slipped.
I nearly lost my foothold. I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
They have no struggles. They're free from the burdens that are common to man. Verse 7. Their hearts are callous, Their minds are evil and conceited. Verse 12. They're always carefree, they increase in wealth. 13.
Surely in vain, for no reason I've kept my heart pure.
14. All day long I'm plagued. I've been punished every morning. When I tried to understand this, it was too much for me. It overwhelmed me then in verse 17, until I entered the sanctuary of God.
Then I understood. I just wanna point out a few things from this psalm, from the lyrics that Asaph has written. And you can take time and read all of it and it'll make more sense. But in the lyrics that Asaph has written, here's the first thing that you see when you read verse one is you see him looking back.
You see him looking back. Here's what he says. He said, God is good to Israel.
He knew that God is, and he knew that God is good. And he knew that God has been good to his nation, to his country. And he said, and even to those who are pure in heart, those who are trying, those who are. Who are striving to do the right thing. So Asaph is very honest and he's very transparent. And he's looking back and he's saying, you know what?
God is a good God.
God is a gracious God.
God has blessed. And God has favored my nation. And when I look back at my history, when I look back at the history of the people that I know, I can't indict God. God is a good God. And can I tell you, as I bring this forward, if you think about how good God has been in your life, there's none of us in this room this morning who could stand to our feet and honestly indict God.
I mean, God has been good to us. He's blessed us to be able to live in the greatest nation on the face of the earth. He's blessed us with the freedoms that we've enjoyed. He's blessed us with the families that we love, with the friendships that we've made. I mean, every now and then, it's like Billy Sunday said, sometimes we need to pull the groans out of our prayer and shove in some hallelujahs.
I mean, sometimes it's good just to come in the presence of God and say, I'm not here to ask you for anything. I'm just here to thank you for everything.
I mean, sometimes it's good just to Slow your roll a little bit and just go, man, God's been good to me.
I'm not in a ICU unit this morning. I'm not preparing to make funeral arrangements for someone I love today.
Those things could be happening. And there's some people walking through that.
But you say it's not my experience now.
And I'm just saying if you're honest about it, you would have to agree with Asaph as he opens this with verse one. As he says, when I think about my life, I have to be honest and say, God's been good to me. God has blessed me. I have so much for which to be thankful.
Listen to Romans, chapter two and verse four. The Bible says it's the goodness of God that leads people to repentance. Do you know some people are drawn to God because of how good he's been.
Some people will look at their life and say, I'm so blessed. God has given me a wonderful partner. He's given me an incredible children. He's given me a great job. It's not perfect and it's not. But man, my life's been good. And I realized that just didn't come from my ingenuity or my own ability.
And they're just drawn to God.
Some people are drawn to him because they see the light.
Now there's some people that are drawn to him cause you feel the heat. It's just motivation.
But I'm saying in Asaph's case, he's looking back over his life and he's recounting and he's remembering how good God has been to him. Now look, no matter what's going on in your world today, you can look back over your life and you can find how God has blessed you. Here's why that's important.
Deuteronomy, chapter 6:12. He says this.
Take care, be careful, be cautious. Here's why. Lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Now he's speaking specifically, specifically to the people of Israel who were complaining and grumbling and griping because they didn't have everything they wanted or needed. And the season that they were in was not favorable. And God said, whoa, whoa, tap the break. I'm the God that brought you out of Egypt.
You remember how bad that used to be? You remember when you were Egypt, you were crying out to me for a deliverer. And you were crying out to me for deliverance. And I brought you out and I brought you through. I'm the same God.
God is immutable he is unchanging.
And so he's just reminding them to remind themselves that God is faithful and he has never failed.
I love Hebrews, chapter two and verse one, it says, he puts it this way in the New Testament, he says, we must pay careful attention to the things that we've heard, otherwise we'll drift away, man. He didn't say we'll run away. He didn't say we'll just speed away. He said, we'll drift away.
In other words, we'll slowly move away from an attitude of gratitude when it comes to God because we've slowly forgotten how good he's been and how much he's blessed us. So verse one, you see him looking back and he's thinking about the goodness of God in his life and giving him praise. Now let's look at verse two. Not only did he look back, but when you look at down 2 to verse 12, he looks around.
He looks around, he says, as for me, he's saying, now look, I can see where God's been good to our nation. I see other people that God has blessed. But when it comes, when it comes to me, I don't know.
Now he's allowing his predicament that he finds himself in to skew his perspective.
Someone said two men stood behind bars. One saw mud, the other saw stars.
If you're not careful, your predicament can skew your perspective.
What you're going through can taint how you view everything else.
And so in this case, he's going through, obviously, a very difficult time. And I've told you, there's nothing worse. When the upright get uptight and this is happening to him, and he. He's now though he's acknowledged how good God has been, he's saying, but as for my current situation, I'm looking around, comparing myself with other people, and I don't like where I am and I don't like what I'm going through.
So his perspective has changed. And that happens.
The moment, as I talked about last weekend, the moment you take your eyes off of Christ and put your eyes on your circumstance, it'll change your perspective.
Remember last week I talked about what Matthew 14 we dealt with Simon Peter walking on the water. Remember the story?
And when you read through the story, you'll see that the minute he took his eyes off of Jesus and he put his eyes on the waves, the Bible said immediately he began to sing.
It's kind of like revisiting that thought again this weekend, because that's exactly what was happening To Asaph. Asaph. He had a great attitude, he had a wonderful outlook until he took his eyes off of God and he put him on his circumstances. And he goes, but wait a minute for me.
And he's talking about what he's currently going through. And all of a sudden now he starts into this slow spiral.
And that's common, that's human. That happens. You remember in Joshua chapter 5 where Joshua is told by God to take the city of Jericho.
Jericho was a powerful fortress fortified by massive walls. And the Bible says in Joshua 5 that Joshua went out one night to survey the city. He was kind of as a leader, kind of looking at what was his strategy on taking the city. And so in Joshua 5, Joshua goes, he's looking over the city of Jericho and probably thinking, wow, I've out punted my coverage. I mean, wow, this is gonna be. This is gonna be tough. And then when you read, all of a sudden there is a man who appears on his right. Now understand, nobody's around but him. He's looking at this city. He's close to enemy territory. And suddenly to his right, a man just appears.
Now we know now and we will understand. As you read Joshua 5, in my view, it was a preincarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus himself. And it just describes him as a man. And then it describes him as the angel of the Lord, which is a common reference to Jesus in the Old Testament. And Joshua's response is what I don't want you to miss. He doesn't recognize who it is. In fact, his reaction is, are you for us? Are you for them? Whose side are you on?
And I love how the Lord responds to him. He said, neither I'm not on your side or their side.
In other words, he said, I'm not here to take sides, I'm here to take over.
But the thing I don't want you to miss is that Joshua did not perceive the Lord was by his side.
He was so focused on what he had to do. He was so focused on the task in front of him that seemed impossible. And humanly speaking, it was that he took his eyes off of the Lord standing by his side. He put his eyes on that wall and it skewed his perspective.
You remember Elijah in First Kings 19, after Elijah had that great victory on Mount Carmel, and after Elijah had defeated all the forces of Jezebel and Ahab. And then Jezebel says, I'm going after him. I'm going to kill him for what he's done. And then he finds himself under the juniper tree, and he's depressed and he's discouraged. And when God appears to him and says, you've just had a great victory, what's wrong with you? And by the way, a little sidebar here. Have you noticed times of blessing are always followed by times of testing?
Have you find yourself, when you have gotten through something that is wonderful and victorious, that you might battle off some depression?
You've had something really wonderful in your life, and now you're kind of having this postpartum thing. You've had this wonderful experience, and now you're fighting off, and you just. I don't know what's wrong. I'm struggling with that.
That's part of it.
It's a typical pattern that happens a lot in Scripture. Times of testing always follow times of blessing. And here Elijah is, after he has been victorious and he's done what God has told him to do. And God has so affirmed him. Now he's under the juniper tree, and when you read it, he's wishing God would just kill him.
And then he makes this statement, and this is what I wanted to point out. He said, I'm the only one standing for you, man. It's just me. I'm the only one. And the Lord looks at him and says, son, there's 7,000 other people out there who are just like you, who are doing the thing that I've called him to do. His perspective had changed. He thought he was the only one going through what he was going through. And God said, 7,000 more I could point to that. Have done what you've done and are experiencing what you're experiencing. Hold your head up.
But all that began to change again when he looked around.
So when you began to look around and you began to see what other people are going through, and you compare it to what you're going through, it can skew your perspective.
And notice the next step he takes. He looked back and he looked around. And third thing I want you to see is he looked down.
Now he's looking kind of inside in his heart. Verses 13 through 16. Listen to the personal pronouns. I kept.
I've been plagued.
I've been punished. I've tried.
I mean, now he's looked around. He's seen what's happening in the other lives of the other people. He's seeing what he's going through. And now he looks within his own heart and he goes, you know, I'm dealing with some stuff. And again, it's affecting his outlook on God. Here's one of the Things that he forgot that I don't want you to forget. And I remind myself often of this. People in places who are at the center of Holy Spirit activity will also be people and places at the center of unholy spirit activity.
Anywhere God is at work building the devil will be at work lasting. If you didn't have potential and you didn't possess something of value that God can use, you wouldn't be having the problems you have.
I mean, the enemy has trained his sights on you. And that's the thing. Asaph, this powerful worship leader, this lyricist, this incredibly influenced, influential man.
Influential in the synagogue and with all of the people who were looking to him for leadership to be their worship leader. And now he is. Man, this guy's struggling.
I mean, he is really in a spiral. And he's looking around and he's looking inside his own heart and he's thinking, man, God, you're just not fair. And, God, you just haven't dealt justly with me. This doesn't make sense. I've tried to do the right thing and live the right way, and this is the thanks I get.
You remember the story of Habakkuk, man? You ever read, like, three chapters of Habakkuk? Three or four chapters, man, Habakkuk, he starts looking around and he starts accusing God of being unfair and unjust. He said, God, there are people who don't even care for you, and they get by better than the people who do care for you.
Remember, Paul wanted us. He said, don't compare yourselves among yourselves. That's not wise.
But that's the tendency we all have when things happen in our life. We tend to look at the people who don't seem to try as hard or work as hard or make the effort, put the work in. And they seem to be getting by better than we are. And we start looking back at God going, it's just not fair.
Doesn't pay to do the right thing. It doesn't pay to live the right way.
It just gets harder the more I live and the farther that I go. And so he's looking within his own heart. Habakkuk did that.
And then what changed Habakkuk, when you get to chapter two is the Bible says, then God brought him up and put him on a tower. He changed his perspective. He got him up above the thing that he had looked down on. Sometimes you gotta get above the thing you look down on. Last week, I talked to you a little bit about taking sabbaticals. I talked about stepping back from your life a little while, just to catch your breath and to rest a little bit.
Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do for you is take a vacation.
And if you can't take a vacation, take a few days off.
Take a walk.
Walk through the neighborhood.
Walk through one of the trails around one of the lakes around here. Just get away somewhere. Let your mind enjoy some solitude and find some serenity. Sometimes you just have to be refreshed and be replenished. Because, as I said, when the upright get uptight, a lot of bad things can happen. And you may make a big decision based on a very temporary problem.
Habakkuk was there, read Jeremiah. Oh, my.
Jeremiah was going through something that had so changed his perspective and his view of God that he said to God, I will no longer speak in your name. I'm done with you, God. Now, I've never been that angry at God, but Jeremiah was there. He's the weeping prophet. The book of Jeremiah is a book that he's written. The book of lamentations, the lamenting of the people, the weeping of the people, wrote those books.
An incredible prophet for God. And yet here is a man who got to a place where Asaph was. Where it just didn't make sense. And he was done.
But notice what happened. And I wanna close on this one.
After he looked back and after he looked around and after he looked within, the next thing he did was he looked up.
And when he looked up, verses 17 through verse 28, you see this pivot. Till I entered the sanctuary of the Lord.
He said, all of a sudden, man, I changed my perspective.
We would say, if we're comparing that to us today, if we're applying this story to us today, we would say, I went to church.
I got around other people.
Asaph said, I went to the sanctuary of God. He said, I got around other people. And when I heard the praise and worship, the though I really wasn't there, something about being in that atmosphere changed me.
Something about being in that atmosphere lifted my spirits. And I walked out of that sanctuary. I walked out of that church, honestly, better than when I walked in. I can't explain it, but it affected me that way.
Something about being around other people changes you. If for no other reason, like Elijah, you realize I'm not the only one.
There are hundreds of other people. We don't go to church because we're perfect. People say, oh, you know, you people think you're. No, we wouldn't be here if we thought that we're here. Cause we know we aren't.
I mean, we're here because we know we need something from God that we don't have. We know that we're just a work in progress. We're under construction. It is a mission when you walk to church that you need something you don't have.
I wish I was as perfect as people who never attend church. I've never been able to pull that off.
I've needed the company of other people. I've needed the iron, sharpening iron. I needed the fellowship and the encouragement to be in an environment when God is being worshiped and one of our worship leaders are leading us. And all of a sudden, we're kind of caught up in that mood and in that moment, and it's indescribable. But we can say I felt something in my heart.
He saw the sacrifices that were made and that in that era, in that dispensation and those sacrifices reminded him that God's gonna deal with sin. Nobody gets by with anything. You think you see people who are thumbing their nose at God. You think you see people who are, God's gonna deal with that. Just chill.
People that have done you wrong, that seem like they're getting by with it, slow down, take a breath.
I am the Lord. I'll repay vengeance. You're my child. I got you. I got that. Trust me with it. Walk away from it.
And church is where our perspective can change.
Church is where we can find encouragement.
Church is where we can find edification.
If we walk in hungry for God, he said, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. They will be satisfied if you come open and receptive. God will meet you where you are and when you come to church. Asaph said, man, it changed my whole outlook.
It changed my whole perspective. And, man, when you read the rest of that, he talked about what the difference it made. I mean, this boy pivoted.
Now he's giving God praise and he's thanking God simply because he's seeing the value of what God has done in his life.
And can I tell you, as I again, second close, but I'm done now.
Some of the greatest worship songs have been written because somebody finally looked up. They looked up.
They realized the things they were going through was temporal and God was working in them. And because of that experience, they looked up and they saw him at work and they realized, our God is an awesome God.
He does reign from heaven above with wisdom and power and love.
Our God is an awesome God.
And you go from questioning him and asking questions of him to giving him praise. And that pivot can happen in the brief time that we're together in a service like this.
God can change our perspective.
So again, folks, as we leave here this morning, just stay focused on him.
Again, he's got you.
He's got whatever you're going through.
He will not fail you.
Churches will fail you. There's no perfect churches. Pastors will fail you. There's no perfect pastors. We're just sinners saved by grace like everybody else.
So I'm not pointing you to a church for all the answers or to a pastor for all the answers. As important to those institutions and people are in your life. I'm pointing you to Jesus.
Put your confidence in Him.
He'll be the friend that will come into your life when every other friend walks out.
He'll never leave you. He'll never forsake you. And if you stay focused on him, it'll change your outlook. Let's pray.
Father, thank you again for this weekend where we can celebrate your presence.
We can be a part of a worship experience, receive the elements of communion that remind us of the price you paid.
Pause for a moment to commemorate those who've given their lives for our freedom and then be able to be attentive to your word and asking your Holy Spirit to take that word into our hearts.
Help us to take whatever parts of that you've spoken into our heart and apply it into our life.
And then finally, Lord, I pray for my friends who may never have trusted you as their personal savior, that this might be that moment right where they are, where they swallow their pride and say, lord Jesus, right where I am.
With everything I know about me, I now put my faith in all that I know about you. Come into my heart, forgive my sin, and I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:35:58] Speaker A: Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you have any questions or prayer requests, please contact us by visiting metchurch.com so that we can follow up with you this week. We look forward to seeing you next week.
