Start the Party VBS

Start the Party

Introduction

Opener

Start the Party, what an amazing sermon title!

What a week it has been, big thanks to the youth for stepping in for me last Sunday as I attended a conference for my job at HMP&L!

I went upstairs last Wednesday and drew up a quick outline for a sermon about the prodigal son, they took it, ran with it, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about last week. I even heard yal got out a little early, Jimmy was texting me saying how perfect your timing was, well, bad news Jimmy, I am back haha.

My conference went great, but I hated missing the first day of VBS.

Always a good day when Steve sends you a picture of his feet propped up on your desk, an obvious statement that says, your missing the first day of VBS and I have to fill in for you!

But the greatest part of my week was arriving back, seeing my family, and then coming to spend time with my church family to pour into our younger and older youth as they started the party, celebrating God’s greatest gift to us, Jesus Christ!

Regardless of whether or not all of those who attended VBS this week understood why they were starting the party, seeds were planted and God’s love was shared with many children as each of you here stepped up to make this an amazing VBS, and so for that, may we offer up a round of applause for all those who made this VBS a success! Amazing job!

Main Point of the Text (MPT)

As we jump into our Scripture today, it should be a familiar one if you’ve been here for most of our Sermon Series through Acts.

The theme verse for our VBS this year was Acts 2:28 - ‘You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.’

This verse comes from the Peter’s sermon at Pentecost.

Let’s quickly recall the events from that day:

Beginning of Acts 2, the day of Pentecost had come, 50 days after Jesus’s death on the cross and just 10 days following His ascension.

Beginning in verse 2, the Holy Spirit is given to the group of those who were there, just as Jesus said would happen before His ascension (Acts 1:5), where the evidence of Holy Spirit was evident through an audible phenomena as when He appeared there was a noise like a violent rushing wind, a visible phenomena as tongues as of fire distributing themselves, resting on each one of them, and verbal phenomena as they began to speak with other tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God to those who crowded around them, comprised of the Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.

This caused the crowd to be in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”, while there were other who were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine” (Acts 2:12-13).

That is when Peter stands up and delivers the first Christian sermon following Jesus’s death and resurrection, where he corrects them, letting them know that these men are not drunk, convicts them, by reminding them of Joel’s words concerning the last days, using the Word of God to let them know those days have arrived, and then, by using the words of David from Psalm 16, Psalm 132, and Psalm 110, looks to convert them, by stating news big enough to start a party, that God has raised Jesus Christ from the dead, the very Man whom they had nailed to a cross and put to death (Acts 2:23-24).

Now that is some news, some good news, that would cause us to START THE PARTY!

Peter then quotes our Scripture for today, containing our theme verse for this years VBS, and so if you are able please stand for the reading of God’s Word...

Scripture Reading:

Psalm 16:8-11

Prayer

Body

Point 1: Jesus is a Good Reason to Have a Party and You’re Invited!

Scripture: Psalm 16:8

Explanation:

In the verse before our Scripture for today, David tell us that he will bless the Lord who has counseled him for indeed his mind instructs him in the night.

David has close fellowship with the Lord as he receives guidance from the Lord, the Lord counsels him, David, relying of the Lord’s guidance to guide him through life, being the voice of wisdom and reason David must cling to in order to do what is right and avoid what is wrong.

Even as his mind instructs him at night, oh how even our minds wonder, as we meditate in our hearts, and our spirit ponders, just as Davids does (Psalm 77:6), we must to lean on the Lord as the our guiding light in such a dark world.

But we need follow in the footsteps of the prophet and king David, we must set the Lord continually before us, placing Him at our right hand, for the good news that Peter spoke on the day of Pentecost is still the same today, Jesus, our Lord, our Savior, has been raised from the dead (Acts 2:24), He is not dead, but alive and He is not just a good reason to have a party, He is the best reason to have a party, because with Him by our side, we cannot be shaken!

Application:

And I want to share news with you that is just as good as that, YOU’RE INVITED to the PARTY!

Can I get an amen?

Just as I shared with the youth at VBS, God has provided each person here, no matter how big or small of a sinner you consider yourself to be, a way back to relationship with Him.

For Romans 3:23 tells us we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, it’s true that on this earth, our sin may have a different impact on those around us, but when it comes to God, all sin separates us from Him, but the reason to party is that God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8) and it is through His death, that we have the opportunity to receive the gift of God, eternal life with Him through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

But the good news doesn’t end there, not only is this available to God’s chosen people, but God made this gift available to everyone (Romans 10:13), just like I said, you’re invited!

God just requires one thing from you, faith, belief, for Romans 10:9-10 tells us that that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

That’s it!

Belief, having faith that Jesus is who He says He was, that God did raise Him from the dead so that we may be saved and if there is one thing I’ve learned over the years, is if someone truly grasps that, if someone truly believes that their salvation came from Jesus, then the confessing part comes naturally as they can’t help but share what Jesus has done for them, which leads me to my second point...

Point 2: We Can Celebrate the Good News!

Scripture: Psalm 16:9-10

Explanation:

David continues through the use of the word therefore by telling us that because the Lord is at his right hand allowing him to not be shaken, that his heart if glad and his glory rejoices!

Because of the Lord’s presence in his life, David’s levav, or his heart was glad, knowing that God’s protection and support were always available to him and for that his glory, his inner-man rejoices, knowing that while his flesh will dwell securely on the earth, but that the Lord will not abandon his soul to Sheol, the Hebrew term for underworld, or what we call Hell.

Not only will the Lord not abandon David’s soul to Sheol, He also won’t allow His Holy One, Jesus Christ, to undergo decay!

Do you see why Peter brought forth this Scripture to the Jews at Pentecost now?

David, the one whom God told in 2 Samuel 7, “I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”

The Jews knew that the Messiah would come through from the David’s bloodline and that was exactly who Jesus was, a descendent of David, who was the Son of God that had came to earth, died, but did not undergo decay, but was now, from the right hand of the Father, using those who believed in His name to build a house for the Lord, establishing a kingdom that would last forever.

Peter was putting it forth to those on the day of Pentecost that it was in plain black and white, written by the man, the prophet, the king David, the ones whom bloodline they expected this Messiah to come from, the one they held to such a high esteem, had foretold of what had just happened way back when he wrote Psalm 16.

The evidence was clear and all they had to do was believe in and celebrate the good news that David wrote about and Peter spoke about!

Application:

The evidence is still clear to us today as Christ had not stopped building His house and establishing His kingdom still today!

Just as I mentioned before, this is something, once we realize that Christ is still at work and we see more and more people come to Christ, we should be so excited that we can’t help but share and celebrate what He has done for us and those around us as Jesus has defeated the grave and death no longer holds us down!

A more recent song that I love as it speaks of some truth from Scripture.

Jordan Smith, the winner of season 9 of American Idol, has this song called Great You Are and in Scripture in Luke 19, a whole crowd of disciples began shouting as Jesus entered Jerusalem on a colt, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord; Peace in heaven and glory in the highest”!

The Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke you disciples”, but Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!”

And in Jordan’s song, he sings, I won't let the rocks cry out, I'll shout it from the mountaintops, Let everything I am reveal, The glory of how great You are, I won't let a breath go by, And miss the chance to lift You high, Let everything I am declare, The story of how great You are!

It is because of Christ that we can celebrate the good news, we must not give the rocks a chance to cry out, the news is good and anyone who knows Christ has been brought back from death to life and that is something worth celebrating, which leads me to my last point...

Point 3: Jesus is the Life of the Party!

Scripture: Psalm 16:11

Explanation:

In the last verse of this psalm from David, he tell us in verse 11 that the Lord makes known to him the path of life that leads to an eterenity with Him in Heaven.

We all have a path of life that and what path we choose determines our destiny.

Throughout our life we will walk many paths, and God wants us to walk with us along the path that He has for you.

For each of us He has designed a path and we get to choose whether we want to continue in the path He has for us or whether we want to take our own path.

If we walk with him, David says that in His presence comes fullness of joy and in His right hand there are pleasures forever.

Along our path with him we will be filled of joy as we get to experience every season He would have us go through, whether good or bad, with Him by our side and since we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28), and as long as we are living out His purpose by walking with Him daily we can have confidence knowing that the road He has us on leads to life, where we will get experience His pleasures forever in Heaven with Him, a place that goes far beyond the glories of any place found on this earth (Revelation 21-22).

Application:

As the worship team comes!

There may be some of you in here today thinking, well that sounds great, but how do I make sure I am on the right path?

It all starts with a single decision, by deciding to make Jesus the Life of your own party (aka your life), you will one day get to experience the never ending party in Heaven will all those who have decided to do the same!

That’s exactly what I shared with the children this week, mainly the older children, that everyone in here that is at an age where they can understand the difference between right and wrong will be held accountable before God, we will be judged for our sin, and the only way for a sinner to end up in Heaven with Him is if they have came to belief in Jesus.

There is no times to waste, make Jesus the Life of your Party today!

There are only two paths that we should be concerned of when we consider their life after we die, the path that leads an eternal life in Heaven or the path that leads to eternal life in Hell.

What is the path to life? Jesus, God’s Holy One who holds the keys of Hell in His hands, for He has conquered death, but is now alive forevermore (Revelation 1:18).

Just as Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6) and for those who have not given their lives to Him, you mustn’t wait, and those of us who have have already given our life to Him it’s about time we stop letting creation be the only thing that cries out, it time that WE BECOME PARTY STARTER!

Conclusion

Summation

Altar Call