1-28-24 Sermon "Make disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly!" - 16 Minutes

Psalm 111

This morning I'll be reading Psalm 111 verses 1 through 10. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Psalm 111 This psalm is titled "The Wonderful Works of the Lord" in my Believer's Bible Commentary. And it states that this writer covers the works of God,,, the words of God,,, and the everlasting character of God. Psalm 111 (HCSB),,, all 10 verses 1 Hallelujah! I will praise the Lord with all my heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. 2 The Lord’s works are great, studied by all who delight in them. 3 All that He does is splendid and majestic; His righteousness endures forever. 4 He has caused His wonderful works to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and compassionate. 5 He has provided food for those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever. 6 He has shown His people the power of His works by giving them the inheritance of the nations. 7 The works of His hands are truth and justice; all His instructions are trustworthy. 8 They are established forever and ever, enacted in truth and in what is right. 9 He has sent redemption to His people. He has ordained His covenant forever. His name is holy and awe-inspiring. 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His instructions have good insight. His praise endures forever. The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ___________________________________ Last Sunday we looked at Jonah 3:1-5, 10,,, and we learned that after Jonah has given his message to the Ninevites,,, he,,, for reasons unknown,,, again lets his displeasure be seen to God.

And I told you that,,, maybe he forgets the way that God has been merciful to him,,, maybe he forgets the things that God knows and does that he doesn't know or understand,,, whatever the reasons,,, that is never a good thing for anyone to do.

Regardless,,, we can see from this that God is merciful to the Ninevites,,, and to Jonah as well.

More than either of them deserve,,, and that's true for us as well.

___________________________________ I told you that earlier in the week,,, when I began to look at these scriptures,,, the words that caught my attention were,,, A second time? - Get up, go, got up, went.

These words seemed to be calling out to me,,, trying to get my attention.

What are the significance of these words,,, and how can they help us today?

The first three sets of words,,, "a second time",,, "get up",,, "go",,, show that God is giving Jonah another chance,,, even though he has made some terrible mistakes!

Maybe you have made some terrible mistakes,,, or you know someone that has,,, just know,,, that God is still available!

The opportunity is always there,,, we just need to humble ourselves and admit that we messed up,,, and God will give us another chance!

The other two sets of words,,, "got up",,, and,,, "went",,, show Jonah's obedience after God has given him that second chance.

We must realize that God gives us another chance,,, but we still must take advantage of that chance.

We must begin to do the job that God has called us to do,,, and that begins,,, when we get up,,, and answer the call that God has for each of us,,, no matter what it is,,, or where it is,,, or who we are to help,,, we just are told,,, to obey God's voice,,, no matter what we think,,, or want!

Because when God calls us,,, we must,,, "go anyway",,, even when we might think it's not right,,, or a waste of time,,, because as Jonah figured out the hard way,,, it would have been easier to go in the right direction the first time,,, instead of making things harder on himself,,, and ignoring God's help,,, along the way.

So lets remember,,, that even if God calls us in a direction that we don't understand at the time,,, we must be obedient,,, and "go anyway"!

This morning we will look at these verses in Psalm 111,,, and see how they will help us in our walk with God this week.

___________________________________ Verse 1 said: 1 Hallelujah! I will praise the Lord with all my heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

This psalm opens with a call to the faithful,,, to praise the LORD,,, and with the writer's own determination to praise the LORD without any type of inhibition or distraction.

He will do this both in small assemblies of believers and in the great gatherings of the people,,, or as we might say,,, both in private and in public.

As we began our worship service Friday morning,,, our speaker,,, Rev. Dr. Leah Hidde-Gregory – ,,, told us,,, during her sermon titled,,, “Worship Passionately",,, about some churches that seemed to believe that their way of worship was the only way,,, their type of worship service with their great number of people was the only way,,, she even mentioned that she leaned in that direction until the Lord led her to realize that God was present in some large churches that she attended,,, and He was present at some smaller churches that she attended as well!

It depends on our hearts,,, not our numbers,,, whether our dedication is to God,,, or to worldly things!

That's what is important!

___________________________________ Verses 2-3 said: The Lord’s works are great, studied by all who delight in them. 3 All that He does is splendid and majestic; His righteousness endures forever.

The works of the LORD are true of all that He does,,, but the “Mt. Everest” of all God’s works to the Old Testament Jew,,, was the deliverance from Egypt.

The works of the LORD are great; they form a fruitful study by all who have pleasure in them.

They are stupendous displays of His glory and majesty,,, and His righteousness endures forever.

___________________________________ Verses 4-5 said: 4 He has caused His wonderful works to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and compassionate. 5 He has provided food for those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever.

He established the Passover as an enduring memorial of Israel’s salvation by the blood of the lamb,,, a lasting remembrance of His grace and mercy.

In the Lord’s Supper,,, He left a memorial of our salvation by the blood of a better Lamb,,, the unforgettable reminder that He is gracious and full of compassion.

My commentary said,,, perhaps verse 5 refers especially to God’s miraculous provision of food for the Israelites during their wilderness journeys.

He never forgot that they were His covenant people.

But it is always true that He is faithful to the promises He has made.

___________________________________ Verse 6 said: 6 He has shown His people the power of His works by giving them the inheritance of the nations.

He gave His people another demonstration of His mighty works by dispossessing the Canaanite nations and bringing His people safely into the Promised Land,,, which the psalmist here calls “the inheritance of the nations.”

___________________________________ Verses 7-9 said: 7 The works of His hands are truth and justice; all His instructions are trustworthy. 8 They are established forever and ever, enacted in truth and in what is right. 9 He has sent redemption to His people. He has ordained His covenant forever. His name is holy and awe-inspiring.

All God’s works demonstrate that He is always faithful and just.

All His precepts are absolutely dependable.

He keeps His promises forever,,, and fulfills them faithfully and honorably.

He sent redemption to His people at the time of the exodus,,, then later when He brought them back from the captivity in Babylon.

He will do it again when He brings the twelve tribes back to the land of Israel prior to His glorious reign.

It is all part of His covenant,,, and it can never fail.

His name is holy and awesome,,, or reverend,,, and as His name is,,, so is He!

___________________________________ Verse 10 said: 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His instructions have good insight. His praise endures forever.

Only the man who reverences Him,,, has started on the road to wisdom.

The more we obey Him,,, the more light He gives us.

“Obedience is the organ of spiritual knowledge.”

He is worthy to be praised forever!

___________________________________ So we can see from these verses that God is worthy of our praise,,, because of His works,,, His words,,, and His everlasting,,, and unchanging character!

As the last verse says,,, we,,, as Christians,,, only begin to receive wisdom when we "fear the Lord"!

When we come to that realization,,, that God is so much more than we can understand,,, ever hope to understand,,, to the point that it humbles us,,, and makes us realize just how truly unworthy we are,,, that,,, God's word says,,, is the beginning of wisdom!

And when we begin to understand these things,,, we can "really" say,,, He is worthy to be praised,,, forever!

___________________________________ At our conference this week,,, our mission statement of the Global Methodist Church was brought to our attention several times.

Our mission is to Make disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly!

Our speaker,,, Rev. Dr. Leah Hidde-Gregory,,, spoke about "worshiping passionately" at the Thursday night service,,, then she spoke about "loving extravagantly" on Friday morning,,, and she was going to speak about "witnessing boldly" Saturday morning.

All of these things are important to us as Christians,,, without the Global Methodist Church,,, but hopefully this statement will help us to remember some of the important things that God has for us to take care of.

Speaking of "taking care of",,, it was also mentioned that God has given us,,, this church,,, a special slice of His kingdom that we,,, as a church family are responsible for!

What a privilege,,, and what a responsibility as well!

Because of these things,,, we as Christians today,,, must remember that we have been put here for a purpose!

God intends for us to take care of this slice of kingdom that He has given us!

And we can do that,,, when we recognize the strength and power of God,,, along with the fact,,, that His strength and power,,, are available to us to use,,, to take care of the part of His kingdom that He has trusted us to watch over!

___________________________________ So my prayer for us this week,,, is that we take these words from this psalm,,, and use them to help us realize that God deserves our praise,,, because of His works,,, His words,,, and His everlasting,,, and unchanging character!

As well as,,, we need to use and take advantage of,,, God's strength and power,,, that is available to help us take care of the slice of his kingdom that He has entrusted to us,,, as we continue,,, to do the job,,, that He wants us to do!

And we can do that as a Global Methodist Church,,, as "Make disciples of Jesus Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly!

___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction -----------------------------------------------------------