This morning in church at Calvary bible Church our Pastor Tom on the day of his return from sabbatical gave the Sermon on Glorifying God as people and as the church from Psalm 66. In his time of rest he visited many churches and saw the stark contrast between churches that glorify themselves and people and churches that glorify God.
Psalm 66
For the director of music. A song. A psalm.
1
Shout for joy to God, all the earth!
2
Sing the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious.
3
Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power
that your enemies cringe before you.
4
All the earth bows down to you;
they sing praise to you,
they sing the praises of your name.”[a]
From this Psalm there are 3 great reasons to praise our God!
- His past works of deliverance.
5
Psalm 66:5 Come and see what God has done,
his awesome deeds for mankind!
- For God has delivered me personally from:
- Living life without a hope, a life stuck in sin, a life where I was desperately trying to be good enough to be saved, good enough to be loved, and good enough to matter. He saved me by revealing Christ to me through faithful Christians and the Word of God by his power and Spirit opening my heart.
- Keeping me from slipping into sexual sins that would have weighed on my heart and future relationships. I remember distinct instances where all of my heart wanted those things and yet God brought me out of those situations and protected me.
- Loneliness to real deep relationships with friends, God, deeper relationships with my parents and my wonderful girlfriend Ivanna.
5
Psalm 66: 12
12
You let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance.
- This promise is sometimes fulfilled in this life and sometimes only in heaven. For example Jesus and the apostles all died for the kingdom of God and yet were brought through to the abundance of heaven.
- So how do we hope in times of trial and doubt?
- Cry out to him who can save - our God.
- Trust in him and live in him despite the circumstances.
- Set your hope on our real home in heaven with God.
- For our hope is God himself not our circumstances. Instead of blaming God and withdrawing from God go to our Father who loves us. For as Romans says nothing can separate us from God from the love of Christ:
- If we have the love of Christ and God we need nothing else!
Romans 8:35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k]neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
3. God hears out prayers.
Though God doesn't always answer our request: he gives us his love and relationship with him!
Psalm 66
16
16
Come and hear, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
17
I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
18
If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
19
but God has surely listened
and has heard my prayer.
20
Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!
So Lord we come to you in times of abundance and times of trial with praise and prayer setting our hopes on you and your great love! Lord strengthen us and deliver us from sin and death, bring us into life with you whether abundance comes now or in heaven. Let our lives and our words be to your glory and not ours! Amen
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