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[5:00] . . . . So, do you guys like to sing?
[5:11] You like to sing? Yeah? You ever sing songs about God? In Sunday school, things like that sometimes we do, huh? We sing songs about God. So what if we just say, I love you, God.
[5:24] Can you say, I love you, God? Can I hear that again? I love you, God. Can you say that? Now what if we said, I love you, God.
[5:37] Can you do that? No. What about if we go, I love you, God.
[5:49] You think God would get the message of that? You think God would really say, wow, they really love me. That's pretty cool. Yeah. So there's a lot of reasons why we sing songs to God.
[6:02] And one is that we really can express ourselves and say, I love you, God. It's a wonderful thing. It also helps us remember things, too. So we can remember, always love God.
[6:15] So you sing songs to God and for God, okay? You're going to go out to Sunday school a little bit and do some singing with that. So what were you thankful for this morning? Raise your hand if you want to say.
[6:29] My family and friends. Family and friends. Okay, anyone else? Okay. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for giving us a voice to sing your praises.
[6:43] And we thank you for family and friends and all the good things you have blessed us with. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Go off to church school or Sunday school.
[6:55] They're in the back with Miss Adrienne right there. Isn't it a blessing to be here in the house of the Lord?
[7:15] Amen. Isn't it a blessing to be with your brothers and sisters in Christ to worship God? Amen. Amen. I have a blessing for you from Psalm 89. The psalmist writes, I will sing of the Lord's great love forever.
[7:29] With my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever. That you established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
[7:44] Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. And love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you. Who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.
[7:57] They rejoice in your name all day long. They exalt you in your righteousness. For you are their glory and strength. And by your favor you exalt our horn.
[8:09] Indeed, our shield belongs to the Lord, our King, to the Holy One of Israel. What a blessing it is to know that we can rejoice in God's name all day long.
[8:24] What a joy to know that God is our glory and our strength. As we continue in our praise and our worship before God. Let's lift up our gifts, our tithes and offerings and bring them to the Lord.
[8:39] Enjoy. Let's lift up our gifts, our tithes and offerings and bring them to the Lord. Let's lift up our gifts, our tithes and offerings and bring them to the Lord.
[8:53] Oh, let me know that we can rejoice in the Lord. Let me know that we can rejoice in the Lord.
[9:27] Let me know that we can rejoice in the Lord.
[9:57] You have written and reigning my story. Let my eyes see a kingdom shine all around.
[10:15] Let my heart overflow with passion by your name. Let my heart be a song. Let my heart be a song revealing who you are.
[10:30] For your salt and light, your love's great heart. You are deep and wide, a consuming fire.
[10:42] You are deep and wide, a consuming fire.
[10:54] Let my heart be a song. Let my heart be a song revealing who you are.
[11:31] For his note is that Kate is living with passion and blessing them siempre. Let my heart be a song revealing who I am proud of.
[11:44] Thank you.
[12:14] Praise Him, Lord, and Holy Ghost. Praise God, His Son, and Holy Ghost.
[12:31] Amen. Dear Heavenly Father, we do give you thanks and praise for this day, for the opportunity to worship you, that you come among us and bless us so abundantly.
[12:45] Lord, you have blessed us with so many things, so many gifts, and such abundance in this life. We just lift it all up to you right now. We ask you to bless it and give us wisdom to know how to best use it for the furtherance of your kingdom.
[13:01] We desire to see many come to faith in Jesus Christ. We desire to see many things. Help us, Lord. Bless us, Lord. Bless what we offer you.
[13:13] In Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. I just want to remind everybody that we tried something new last week, and here's the really cool thing, because it was a thing that God had put on my heart.
[13:30] It happened. It worked. It was cool. And so we're going to try it again, because I think it's a good thing for us to, as an act of faith, come forward to pray.
[13:42] We come forward to receive Holy Communion. When people become members of the church, they come forward to become a member. When people come to have their children, or even themselves baptized, they come forward.
[13:56] When we pray, we have an opportunity to come forward. And we know that we can pray very well, just fine, from our seats.
[14:06] But if the Lord should put it on your heart to come forward and join me at the prayer rail to pray, you are welcome to come. You can come and kneel.
[14:17] Wherever there's a spot to kneel, you can come and just stand. But if you are feeling led to come forward and pray, please feel free to do that with me. And that's like, for me, that's an always and forever, whenever I'm leading prayer, you can come.
[14:31] Okay? We do have some Thanksgiving. We have a big Thanksgiving. We prayed for rain. We got rain. We got rain last week, shortly after we prayed. It rained for a good long time where I live.
[14:43] I don't know about other areas, but I know there was a fairly widespread rain. And we're getting some more rain today. And it's a blessing. God will restore and heal our land.
[14:55] Amen? Amen. Peggy Schultz, who's Amy Foley's sister-in-law, last week during the service, we had announced that she was very, very near the end.
[15:05] And she did die last Saturday. We didn't have that information for you when we were up here for our prayer. But we need to keep Peggy's family, and especially Amy and her family, in our prayers.
[15:19] Anna Kay Anderson has been diagnosed with another bout of cancer, and she will be starting chemo very soon. And Chet Dombrowski is in the hospital right now for some testing.
[15:32] There are a number of things going on, and they're trying to figure out all of it. And get it all sorted out. We have a number of folks who are experiencing some health issues that we want to keep lifted up. Take a look at the back of your bulletin.
[15:43] You know, those are the folks who are named. Probably there are folks who have not been named, too, just because we don't have that information. God knows what we need before we even ask.
[15:55] God knows the cry of our hearts. Let's turn to the Lord in prayer. And you're welcome to come join me if you're so led. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[16:24] gracious heavenly father what a blessing it is to come before you in prayer to approach your throne of grace and mercy with humble hearts knowing that there is nothing good that we can do that is of ourselves that there is nothing we have to offer this dark world except what comes from you we are grateful that you have called us we are grateful that you have made us ministers of your good news we are grateful that you have made us ministers of healing and deliverance ministers of your salvation that is in Jesus Christ Father by the power of your spirit now we offer up these prayers we offer prayers for healing for all who have been mentioned and those who have not you know who they are Lord know who they are we are so grateful that you will touch them with your healing power that you will make them whole from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet in their spirits their souls and in their bodies bring patience and compassion to their caregivers to their medical professionals bring wisdom beyond the learning that they may have and the experience that they may have and pray and pray Father for all of those folks who are dealing with losses we ask for your spirit to slide up next to them and envelop them with arms of love hold them in the palm of your hand
[18:23] Lord let them feel your compassion let them feel your comfort give to the people that they encounter words of peace and grace words that let them know that they are loved and cared for give them good memories Lord God of love and relationship Father we pray for all of the violence in this world we pray first Lord for the perpetrators of all violence that happens in the world for people who come against other people for people who cause harm we pray that they will see your face that they will turn from their wicked ways that they will call on the name of the Lord and be saved and their hearts changed so many people pray for peace in this world so many people try to make peace happen and unity among people you Lord are the only one who can make that happen by your spirit we pray in Jesus name for all those who have your spirit within them that each and every one of us would go forward into this world wherever you called us to go and touch hearts and lives for you help us Lord make us to be instruments of your peace
[20:08] Lord God we pray for all of the victims of natural disasters and violence and troubles everywhere we ask in Jesus name that you would bring healing and health show us what we are to do too Lord now Lord we take a moment and just lift up in the silence of our hearts those things that you have called us to pray Lord Jesus as we hear your word now as we sing the songs as we offer the prayers we just ask that you would wash over us and transform us help us to be more like Jesus help us to grow in our faith and in our ministry
[21:25] Lord we pray in Jesus name that you would anoint Pastor Sherry to deliver the word as you have called her to deliver it this day let it be a blessing to her and a blessing to us make all of our worship to be pleasing in your sight that is why we come in Jesus name we pray Amen shall we hear from the word of the Lord in the Neum and do what and how I mayæ´» in the wz Good morning.
[22:30] Good morning. Today's scripture comes from Psalm 98. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.
[22:42] His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel.
[22:57] All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Burst into jubilant song with music.
[23:07] Make music to the Lord with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn. Shout for joy before the Lord, the King.
[23:20] Let the sea resound and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing together for joy. Let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.
[23:34] He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity. This is the word of our Lord. What can wash away my sin?
[23:55] What can make me whole again? Amazing grace. Amen.
[24:08] We could even just end it right there. What a sweet sound that is. All this summer we're talking about worship and the different aspects of worship and why they're important, why we do certain things.
[24:20] And today we're talking about music, music and singing and why do we do music and singing and worship and why it's important. And sometimes people will say, why do we do all that singing stuff?
[24:34] And it's not really. I mean, isn't it enough to tell me if we hear scripture, we hear a message. Maybe we'll say prayer, but let's just call it a day, right? I don't want to do any of that singing stuff. But it's important. It's actually very important to God that we sing.
[24:48] And there are verses throughout the entire scripture that tell us to sing. There are examples throughout scripture that tell us to sing. I just want to share some of those with you. Even just starting with our scripture today, which is from Psalm 98.
[25:00] And the psalms are songs. So in the Bible itself is a book of songs. There's a song book in there. It's kind of expected that we sing. But beyond that, from the very beginning, God created music and harmonies.
[25:15] And in Genesis 421, we read about the very first musician, Jubal, who was the father of all who play the harp and flute. As the Israelites passed safely over the Red Sea, Moses afterwards broke out with the rest of the congregation of people there and sang songs about the deliverance of God.
[25:35] And then afterwards, Miriam took up with all the other women and they're singing and they're dancing and they're praising. Deborah sang after the victory of Sisera. David played the harp and he sang songs and he wrote many of the psalms that are in our songbook in the Bible.
[25:51] Jesus sang a hymn with the disciples at the Last Supper. And every time he would have been to the synagogue or the temple, he would have sang with the others. Paul and Silas sang a hymn of praise while they were in jail.
[26:04] We read about angels singing of heavenly choirs. And in Revelation, there are many songs. And it is said that every creature will be singing praises to the Lord our God who is worthy to be praised.
[26:19] The Bible has over 400 references to singing and 50 direct commands to sing. Now there are some of you who say, yeah, but I don't sing.
[26:32] Or trust me, you don't want to hear me sing. And I've heard that a lot. You know, as a believer, once you become a believer, you're automatically a singer. You have joined the heavenly choir.
[26:43] You have joined the choir of people called to sing praises to God. And do you ever hear a child sing? And they can sing and they can belt it out. And it doesn't matter what they sound like.
[26:56] You know, when you're a parent or any adult looking at a child, they've got the cute factor. When God is our heavenly parent, you've got the cute factor.
[27:07] It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or says. In the scripture today, it says, make a joyful noise to the Lord. It doesn't matter what you sound like. It's more a question of the sincerity of your heart.
[27:19] What is actually moving you to raise your voice? God is not expecting you to be a perfect singer. God is expecting you to have a heart that wants to praise in voice, in song.
[27:34] And so Wesley, John Wesley, who is the founder of the United Methodist denomination, actually decided that singing was so important, we ought to have directions for it. So if you open up your hymnal at some point, there's a whole list of directions.
[27:47] They're lengthy, but I wanted to pick out just a couple for you to read. But yeah, there's directions for how to do this. Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can.
[27:58] Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up and you will find blessing. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead or half asleep.
[28:13] But lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, no more ashamed of its being heard than when you sung the songs of Satan. Sing modestly.
[28:25] Do not bawl as if to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation. That you may not destroy the harmony, but strive to unite your voices together so as to make one clear melodious sound.
[28:41] And above all, sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing God more than yourself or any other creature.
[28:52] So that's how we're supposed to sing. So why are we supposed to sing? Well, singing actually helps us to remember God's word. Singing actually helps us to remember lots of things.
[29:05] We use songs and melodies to help us remember things. When we're children, you know, A, B, C, D. How many of us actually, every time we're trying to look something up in the alphabet, we still end up singing the song in our head?
[29:16] C, D, E, D. Yeah. It helps us to remember the order of things. It helps us to remember words. It helps us to remember what we're talking about. And kids learn through song.
[29:27] We learn through song. The kids actually, I love the song John 3.16 because they're singing, they're dancing. John 3.16 says that God so loved the world. And they're singing one of the key scriptures.
[29:40] John 3.16. And they know it by heart because they're moving, they're dancing, and they're singing. It's to music. And they can recite it any time we ask them. For myself, fruit of the spirit, every time we try to figure out what the fruit of the spirit are, I have to sing the song.
[29:54] Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Now, if you're asking what the fruit of the spirit are, and I say it, in my mind, I'm still going, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness.
[30:05] I can say it, but music helps us to remember it. So the songs actually help us to remember God's word, help us to learn God's word. That's why a lot of these songs were written.
[30:17] But the old hymns have wonderful, deep theology. And the whole reason they were written in the first place was to try and teach the people what Christianity was.
[30:28] And so we have all these really deep theological hymns, and then we have contemporary praise songs that reflect our relationship with God, and it's all melded together to help us to really remember who God is, what Christianity is, what our faith is, and helps us to keep on track.
[30:48] And it helps us to respond to God's grace. Because when we're responding with grace, it's through the music and the lyrics. So you have the lyrics, and he could say, you know, amazing grace, how sweet the sound.
[31:03] But if I say, amazing grace, how sweet the sound, it has more power. The music speaks to our souls as well. That's why people get so excited when there are concerts and things, because the music does something to us, and we get moved by the sound of the music, which actually amplifies the lyrics, the tone, the pitch, the tempo.
[31:26] It drives home the meaning. You can have something extended or lifted up or repeated in a song, and it just makes what you're saying to God even that more amplified.
[31:39] And in doing so, it brings joy. It brings joy. How can you not feel joyful? Joy to the world, the Lord is come.
[31:49] I mean, you just got to smile. It's a joy. How can you? It's a wonderful song. Joy to the world, the Lord. And when you're singing, it can bring out the joy in you as you celebrate with other people.
[32:02] Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior forever. And as we're singing these songs with a joy in our heart, it also helps us to remember other experiences we've had with music.
[32:17] Victory in Jesus, for instance. Every time I sing that song, I'm not only singing praises to God, but I remember a dear friend of mine that passed away years ago, Jim Jameson.
[32:28] And he loved that song. And so every time I sing that song, I'm singing it with him. And the body of believers all joined together, and we're singing this song together. You know, when my grandmother was passing away, and she was in the hospital, one of her favorite songs was Sanctuary.
[32:46] And so as we're in the hospital, I'm singing to her, Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary. And as she's laying there with her eyes closed, she just holds my hand.
[33:00] And it just brings back those memories. And so not only memories of God, it's memories of God's people. Memories of times together shared. Memories of when we've been at funerals or celebrations together.
[33:13] All sorts of memories. And it speaks to our soul. And there's a shared story with that. And it demonstrates our unity. So songs actually bring us together.
[33:25] You know, when you're singing, like at the sports stadiums, let's go Buffalo. And you know, everybody starts moving. It's like, let's go Buffalo. Next thing you know, everybody's singing, let's go Buffalo.
[33:36] And everybody's on the same wavelength. It's like, get the results together. We're singing happy birthday. Everybody's got it on the same page, doing the same thing. And it shows our unity. When we sing together, we're singing the same song.
[33:49] It says, we're in agreement. This is what we think. This is what we say. This is what we do. This is what we believe. Now, in the scripture today, it says, let the sea war and everything in it, the world and all those who live in it.
[34:04] And in Colossians 3.16, it says, let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with the wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
[34:19] We sing as one body of believers together, singing to one another, singing with one another, lifting up God.
[34:30] It's one of the great things about this particular church. You know, they say that Sunday morning is one of the most segregated times in our country. All these areas, everything is segregated based on people's likes.
[34:44] We've got, you know, so people who like this kind of music go here. People who like this kind of music go here, and everybody is divided up based on, for the moment, worship styles, music styles.
[34:55] And at a time when we're gathering together as a body of believers to celebrate God, we're dividing ourselves out based on our own preferences. And I really commend this church who's decided to say, no, I want the body of Christ to be together.
[35:11] And we're going to meld all this together. We're going to say, I want all kinds of music all put together so that all the people can worship together.
[35:22] And we're not going to say that you people who like that stuff go over here, you people who like that stuff go over here. We do it together. It's a really actual gift.
[35:34] To the point where the younger people, when you start talking, the older people will say, you know, the traditional songs, the old hymns. And the younger people will say, what are you talking about?
[35:46] They're songs. A song is a song is a song is a song. They're all just songs. And in this scripture, it's talking about singing new songs to the Lord. And it's really hard.
[35:57] I know it's hard to learn new songs, but we have to have new songs. There are new songs. If we didn't do new songs, we'd be doing Gregorian chants. Or actually, Gregorian chants were there past that.
[36:08] Who knows what we would be doing? You know, whatever they did in the original Bible, singing-wise. So you have to add new songs all the time. I mean, one of the classic songs in our hymnal is Here I Am, Lord.
[36:22] And everyone thinks it's a great old hymn because it's in the red books. But it was written in the 80s. By the time it made it in the book, it was probably like late 80s, 90s, which means it would have been a new song for many of us.
[36:36] It's a new song. And I know it's hard to sing new songs, but we need to learn new songs as we grow and as things change. I know it's hard, so I just wanted to share with you some letters because sometimes people will be a little upset about learning new songs.
[36:51] So here are some letters that were received about new songs. Letter number one, please, no more new hymns. What's wrong with the inspiring hymns with which we grew up?
[37:03] When I go to church, it is to worship God, not to be distracted with learning a new hymn. Last Sunday's was particularly unnerving.
[37:14] While the text was good, the tune was quite unsingable and the harmonies were quite discordant. Letter number two, was it the organist's idea or yours to make our peaceful worship service shattered by that new hymn last Sunday?
[37:32] The music was sacrilegious, something one would expect to hear in a den of iniquity, not a church. Don't even expect me to sing it next time.
[37:45] The first letter was written in 1890 referring to what a friend we have in Jesus. And the second letter was written in 1846 about I love to tell the story.
[37:58] Right? Songs are new all the time. They're new to somebody. So we're singing a new song. And if you don't like the song, you know, it is absolutely impossible to pick out songs that absolutely everyone in this congregation would like all the time.
[38:16] There are many songs out there. There are many songs that some of you love, and I don't. And vice versa. But, you know, we're in this. Again, we've made a decision as a congregation to keep the body of believers together.
[38:28] So if you say, well, I don't like that song, I'm going to say, so? Okay. I'm sorry. But that's just the way it is. There's a lot of songs that we don't like.
[38:39] But you know what? We sing them anyways. Because there are people in this congregation, people in your church family who love that song. And who want to be surrounded by the voices of the heavenly choir lifting up that song in praise.
[38:54] And so whether you like the song or not, you sing it to support your family. That's how we show love for one another, isn't it? We lift it up and we sing even if we don't like it because the words are there.
[39:09] It's like you're singing a prayer then. I'm singing this song because I know someone loves it. God, may they preach it. Whatever it takes. But we want to make sure that we're lifting each other up.
[39:21] The thing is, when we're saying, you know, I don't like this, you have to remember, worship is not about us. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's not about any of us.
[39:33] It's about God. And we have a real struggle in America. A real struggle that's come up. Well, it's been a while. But we are so blessed.
[39:45] We have so much. That we kind of think of God as sort of an extra. We think of God as nothing special necessarily.
[40:01] It really struck me when we were on our way home from the mission trip and we stopped at Darien Lake and we're doing all the roller coasters. And I love roller coasters. I'm like, woo-wee! And, I mean, some of them are painful.
[40:12] I don't know what's up with that. But they were fun. But as I'm walking around, God kept telling me, saying to me, you know, what does it take to get your attention now? What does it take?
[40:25] The next roller coaster was bigger and better and bigger and better and bigger and better. And we all have to feel the need to go, wee! Before we can experience God.
[40:36] Before we're willing to sing praises to God. Before we give God what God deserves. See, in America, we have a flatline society.
[40:48] And in general, God created each and every one of us equal, made in his image. And it is a wonderful thing that we treat one another with respect and dignity and we are all equal.
[41:00] We're equal in God's eyes. But the problem is, because we're so used to everything being flatlined, we've got to make God on the same level. God is not on the same level.
[41:15] God is God! Almighty, powerful. God is the creator of the universe. And if you think of the creator of the universe who actually knows you personally, it changes things.
[41:30] But we kind of think of it as like this extra little, you know, why does God want me to sing a song? I mean, it's just, you know, it's just God, you know. I'm saved, so it's okay.
[41:41] God! Wow! We've lost the awe, the reverence, the respect of God who inspires us to sing praises.
[41:54] Because we just can't comprehend that we should be singing praises. I give you credit, you all do. You do. And it's a powerful thing when you lift up your voices together.
[42:07] You see, the thing is, worshipping is not about us. It's about God. And so, in Ephesians 5, 18 through 20, it says, Do not get drunk on wine.
[42:20] Different sermon. Which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another. So together, as a congregation, with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
[42:42] So we come to worship for God. And we may experience God as a byproduct of that. But that's not our intent.
[42:54] And people say, well, I wasn't getting anything out of it. It's like, what were you giving to it? The point is that what you're getting out of it, the point is what you're giving to it. The point is you coming in and giving to God.
[43:07] Because for the folks that would say, well, let's just hear a sermon. And frankly, right now, you're passive. You're sitting and you're listening. And hopefully God is inspiring you in some way.
[43:18] You know, God will speak to your heart. But it's still passive. Worship is an action. Worship is something that I give, something that I do. And we need to do that together.
[43:30] And our intent needs to be focused on God. And through that, we may experience God. But if we come in with our intent on us and what I'm going to get out of it, the likelihood of experiencing God goes greatly down.
[43:46] Now, a lot of us come in, we're kind of closed off. Our minds distracted. I mean, you know, you can be singing a song and you already know it. And so next thing you know, you've sung songs to God.
[43:57] But really, you just put together your to-do list. You've got shopping handled. We focus on the words. You know, body. And you've got your body. And, you know, you can sing with your hands down.
[44:10] That's absolutely fine. You can make yourself even more expressive and raise your arms. You are no more spiritual if you raise your arms. But I'm telling you that it is a powerful feeling when you do that because it makes you vulnerable.
[44:24] But that or that kind of closed off bodily. It's making you closed off to the possibilities.
[44:38] You know, what is this saying? And our spirit can be closed off. When we sing songs, we want to be strengthened spiritually.
[44:51] And it's, first of all, remembering that it's not about us. It's about us giving to God. But also, there are times when we're just not feeling joyful. Life can be really hard.
[45:03] And we come into worship. And, man, I just, I've done it myself. You know, I'm, it's like life is really knocking me down. And I am just feeling so down.
[45:15] When you sing praises to God, it lifts you up. There's actually a whole section of psalms called Psalms of Lament that start off with, God, life is really hard.
[45:29] I'm not liking this at all. Are you even here? What's going on? But each and every one of those psalms of lament, it raises it up to joy. And so we start with that.
[45:41] There are songs in our repertoire that do that for us. The song, I will sing. Lord, you seem so far away. A million miles or more.
[45:52] It seems today. But at the end of it, it says, I will sing. I will praise. Even in my darkest hour. Through the sorrow and the pain.
[46:04] For it is well when peace like a river attendeth my way. When sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say.
[46:18] It is well. It is well with my soul. And it lifts us up. And it lifts our spirits. And so we sing in spite of the way we're feeling.
[46:29] Because through singing, we will grow spiritually. And God will heal that brokenness. Come thou fount of every blessing. To my heart to sing thy grace.
[46:41] And that's what's happening. Our hearts are being tuned. When we come in and we're not really in a place where we're feeling joyful and filled with the spirit and filled with grace. We need to tune our hearts to God's grace.
[46:55] Jesus on the cross. And he said, my God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? But that's actually a song. Which means it's a song.
[47:07] He was quoting a song. And when it says, Jesus cried out, that actually can be translated, raised his voice. If you can imagine Jesus on a cross.
[47:17] And instead of just saying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He sings. And just like we know the rest of the song, those surrounding him also know the rest of the song.
[47:31] And the rest of the song is that I will sing praises with the congregation. For God is good. I tried actually to think of what could possibly be the melody to a song.
[47:46] My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And each and every time I tried to sing it, it made me cry. But just knowing that it brings you to joy at the end is meaningful and powerful.
[47:59] It swells you to joy. So Psalm 98 for today says, sing to the Lord a new song. For he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.
[48:12] The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of God.
[48:25] If we're coming into worship and our mind is all distracted, which is what happens. There's so much going on. Focus on the words. And focus on what the words mean.
[48:38] Let it go into your soul as you have the music that supports it. So you can focus on God. Body, if you're feeling like this, I encourage you to at least do this.
[48:49] If you're so inspired, do this. But offer your body as a sacrifice to God as well and offering praise. And if you're coming in with your spirit just down, your spirit is just down, sing.
[49:07] Because singing lifts your spirit. And when you're surrounded by a community of believers who are singing along with you, they're going to lift you up. You'll lift us all up, won't you? Yeah, I know you will.
[49:19] I've heard it. I've been up here feeling very down and singing. And I've heard your voices. And it encourages me. And I can't imagine anyone in the congregation would say that you shouldn't sing because you don't sing well.
[49:34] But if one of your family, who's more likely to say it to you, just turn to them and say, God thinks I'm cute. In the process, when we all gather together as a body of believers and we sing praises to God, we actually reflect God's glory.
[49:55] In Zephaniah 3.17 it says, The Lord your God is in your midst. The mighty one will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you with his love.
[50:07] And he will rejoice over you with singing. We're all God's children. And God wants us to be like him. God wants us to reach out with our voices, words that will glorify and fill us as an expression of praise.
[50:24] And imitation is the greatest form of praise. So we gather together in worship to remember who God is. We're here for God and not us. And praise God for the salvation that God gives us.
[50:37] Because worship is not a spectator sport. Worship is a holy drama. And God is our audience. And we together actively as one body of believers express our gratitude for, as it says, God has done marvelous things.
[50:54] And we sing a new song. Not only new as in style or just new to us, but our newness. Our newness is we were made new through God's saving spirit.
[51:08] We have been made new through Christ. And so we join together with all creation to sing joy to the Lord. To sing shouts to the Lord. Let all the earth sing praises.
[51:19] I'd like to invite you to stand with me and sing praises to God. Sing it out. My Jesus.
[51:47] My Savior. My Savior. For there is none like you. All of my days.
[51:58] I want to praise the wonders of your mighty love. My comfort.
[52:09] My comfort. My shelter. Tower of refuge and strength. Let every breath.
[52:21] All that I am. Never cease to worship you. Shout to the Lord.
[52:33] All the earth. Let us sing. Power and majesty. Praise to the King. Mountains bow down.
[52:44] Let the seas roar. At the sound of your name. I sing for joy.
[52:54] Let the work of your hands. Forever I love you. Forever I stand. Nothing compares to the promise I have in you.
[53:14] My Jesus. My Savior. Lord, there is none like you. All of my days.
[53:26] I want to praise the wonders of your mighty love. My comfort.
[53:39] My shelter. Tower of refuge and strength. Let every breath. All that I am.
[53:50] Never cease to worship you. I want to praise the Lord. I want to praise the Lord. All the earth. Let us sing.
[54:02] Power and majesty. Praise to the King. Mountains bow down. And the seas roar. And the sound of your name.
[54:17] I sing the joy of the work of your hands. Forever I love you. Forever I stand.
[54:28] Nothing compares to the promise I have in you. I promise of love. I promise of grace. I promise of eternal life.
[54:42] So we sing songs of love. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. King of my heart. Father. My peace and my power.
[54:53] Spirit. The joy of my soul. In one.
[55:12] Jesus. Will you not compare. Father. I rest in your name.
[55:23] I promise you again. The heavens, in peril are done, and the mountains, rejoice. The oceans, cry out and good out, as we worship you, Lord, for this is our song of love.
[55:44] Jesus, you saved my soul, I thank you forevermore.
[55:55] Jesus, the love of my life, you are. The heavens, in peril are gone, and the mountains, rejoice.
[56:11] The oceans, cry out and good out, as we worship you, Lord, for this is our song of love.
[56:26] Jesus, I am in awe of the love that you have shown. Jesus, how precious you are to me, to me.
[56:43] The heavens, in peril are gone, and the mountains, rejoice. The oceans, cry out and good out, as we worship you, Lord, for this is our song of love.
[57:02] We sing songs of love because God has blessed us with things that are really important.
[57:15] God has blessed us with an ever-changing life through Him. A life that goes on for eternity. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
[57:28] Bless the Lord, O my soul. O my soul. Worship His holy name.
[57:43] Sing like never before. O my soul. I'll worship Your holy name. The sun comes up.
[58:00] It's a new day dawning. It's time to sing your song again. Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me.
[58:14] Let me be singing. Let me be singing when the evening comes. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
[58:26] O my soul. Worship His holy name. Sing like never before.
[58:37] You're rich in love and you're slow to anger.
[58:54] Your name is great and your heart is kind. For all Your goodness I will keep on singing.
[59:05] Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
[59:17] O my soul. Worship His holy name. Sing like never before.
[59:28] O my soul. I'll worship Your holy name. And on that day when my strength is failing.
[59:45] The end draws near and my time has come. Still my soul. Still my soul will sing Your praise. Amen. Ten thousand years and then forever more.
[60:00] Bless the Lord, O my soul. O my soul. Worship His holy name.
[60:11] Worship His holy name. Seek like never before. O my soul.
[60:22] I'll worship Your holy name. I'll worship Your holy name. I'll worship Your holy name.
[60:38] Praise be to God. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. It's when I come into worship and through the process of worshiping, God reveals to me that I've been off track.
[60:57] I've not done everything the way I'm supposed to do it. And we need to come and confess. So I'd like you to join with me, please, as we confess our sins together.
[61:10] Lord and Savior, we have sinned. We have not always loved You with all our heart. We have not always loved others.
[61:24] We have not always loved others. We have been self-focused. And sometimes we have been blind. We have chosen the wrong things.
[61:37] And we have gone astray. Forgive us, Lord. Fill us with Your peace. With Your grace.
[61:48] Your mercy. And Your love. We thank You for saving us.
[62:03] In Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen. Hear the good news. Christ died for us while we were still sinners.
[62:15] This proves God's love for you and for me. So in the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Glory to God.
[62:27] Amen. Amen. Happy outfits. Amen.
[62:43] Worthy is the Lamb who once saved Holy, holy is He Sing a new song Just hymns who sits on Heaven's mercy seat Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty Who was and is and is to come With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings You are my everything And I will adore You Clothed in rainbows of flaming color Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder
[64:04] Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be To you the only wise King Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty Who was and is and is to come With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings You are my everything And I will adore You I adore You Filled with wonder Awestruck wonder
[65:05] At the mention of Your name Jesus, Your name is power Breath and living water Such a marvelous history Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty Who was and is and is and is to come With all creation I sing praise to the King of kings You are my everything And I will adore You I will adore You I will adore You I will adore You I will adore You I will adore You I will adore You I will adore You I will adore You
[66:08] And our God is here with us among us how is that possible God inhabits the praises of his people that's how God loves you with an everlasting love and God has invited you to come and have supper with him have you ever noticed you don't invite people to suffer that you're not too crazy about God must be awful crazy about us because he invites us every single time we come here you are welcome at the table this morning every single one of you if you love God if you repent of your sin and seek to live in peace as a disciple of Jesus Christ you are welcome at the table this morning so come it doesn't matter if it's your first time here it doesn't matter if you've never set foot in a church before it only matters that you've come today and that Jesus wants to have supper with you so we come and we worship God and meet with him here the Lord lift up your hearts let us give thanks to the Lord our God blessed are you our Alpha and Omega whose strong and loving arms encompass the universe for with your eternal word and Holy Spirit you are forever one God through your word you created all things and called them good and in you we live and move and have our being when we fell into sin you did not desert us you made covenant with your people Israel and spoke through prophets and teachers in Jesus Christ your word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth and so with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn holy, holy, holy Lord
[68:37] God of power and might heaven and earth are full of your glory Hosanna in the highest blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest holy are you and blessed is Jesus Christ who called you Abba Father as a mother tenderly gathers her children you embrace the people as your own and fill them with a longing for a peace that would last and for a justice that would never fail in Jesus suffering and death you took upon yourself our sin and death and destroyed their power forever you raised from the dead this same Jesus who now reigns with you in glory and poured upon us your Holy Spirit making us people of your new covenant and the night before meeting with death Jesus took bread and he gave thanks to you he broke bread gave it to his disciples he said take and eat this is my body which is given to you do this in remembrance of me when the supper was over he took the cup and he gave you thanks and praise and gave it to his disciples he said drink from this all of you this is the cup of my blood the blood of the new covenant poured out for you it is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me and so in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice in union with Christ's offering for us as we proclaim the mystery of faith
[70:42] Christ has died Christ is risen Christ will come again pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts that in the breaking of this bread and the drinking of this wine we may know the presence of the living Christ and be renewed as the body of Christ for the world redeemed by Christ's blood as the grain and grapes once dispersed in the fields are now united on this table in bread and wine so may we and all your people be gathered from every time and place into the unity of your eternal household and feast at your table forever through Christ with Christ in Christ in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours almighty God now and forever amen shall we pray with thanksgiving and rejoicing the prayer Jesus taught us our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever amen will those who are serving please come forward amen let's pray thank you let's pray
[72:40] Thank you.
[73:10] Thank you.
[73:40] Thank you.
[74:10] You're also welcome to come to the rail for anointing with oil and prayers for healing and whatever else it is that you may need. God bless you as you come. Come expecting. God bless you.
[74:49] God bless you.
[75:19] God bless you.
[75:49] God bless you.
[76:19] God bless you.
[76:49] God bless you.
[77:19] God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you.
[77:35] God bless you. God bless you.
[78:23] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[78:34] Amen. Amen. Amen.
[78:45] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. What can wash away my sin?
[78:57] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[79:08] Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus.
[79:31] Go forward knowing that the blood of Jesus has saved you, filled with his saving grace. May you be a beacon of light in this world, singing songs of praise for all to hear about God's marvelous things.
[79:49] Amen.