God Speaks

God Speaks  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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INTRO

God Speaks When We…. Treasure His Word In Our Heart

Intro: Hi guys, I am so happy to be here with you today. If we have not had the pleasure to meet, my name is Paul Walden. I have the privilege, the joy, of serving here at Mission City Church alongside my family. My beautiful bride Bridgette and our five children, Arabella, Bennett, Harper, Isaac and our newest, Ezra. We have been here since 2016. A LOT has changed since 2016 . I am grateful for our history, our lineage. I am grateful for where we have been but I am even more excited for where we are going. If you were a part of Vision night, thank you for being there. If you could not make it, that is OK! We can catch you up later. We have some folks available who are always willing to go grab a coffee if you have any questions. Those of you who were there will know a little bit about where we are going and how we are going to get there. There is one thing I want to highlight about Vision night and what I believe we as a church were communicating, and that is - We may get the privilege of being a part of this church but God is the driver of the vehicle and unless we have prayed about it, we just won’t be taking part in it. That goes for all aspects of this thing. We are going where God wants us to go and doing what we believe God wants us to do. We want to be a church built on prayer. Psalms 127 says: “ Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain”. Let me reassure you, the Lord will be the one who builds this house and if you ever find that is not the case, run…. And take me with you. Joking. We are certainly capable of missing the mark and I want to encourage you. If you ever find us missing the mark, don’t run. Please come talk to us. Please come see us. If/when I create a gap and don’t meet the expectation, please don’t fill that gap with suspicion and distrust. Try to fill it with love and trust and come talk to us. We all want to be in alignment with the Lord but we are human and don’t always get it right! As you probably know, we have several values here as a church. I want to highlight a couple of those this morning: Discipleship is a way of life “ & “Loving relationships, set the tone for community”. If you guys hear anything this morning, hear this…. SMALL GROUPS! I want to encourage you for just a moment about getting plugged into groups. Small groups are a great place to plug in and know what is going on. We are coming up on small group signups and I encourage you guys to really plug in to those. We are better together. It is not enough for us to sit in here for an hour. Please please please don’t let this be the only time you connect with a body of believers and dive into Gods word. Don’t go through life alone. We all have stuff. We are all busy. We all have an EXCUSE to not be a part of small group but please hear this…. We are better together. We need to be in community with each other. Again, I encourage you to get plugged into a small group. Pastor Jake ( who is our Director of Ministries ) and Gabe ( our local Groups lead ) has worked really hard to make sure our people have groups to go to. You can signup on our MCC APP, Church Center, You can click the link in our weekly email which will also send you to the right spot and you can come see Gabe at the Next Steps table. Please please be checking social media and our church calendar. If you need help deciding which group is best for you, please come see one of us..…. so we can point you to Gabe. Probably.
START:
We get the fun job today of teeing up a new series. The start of a new year. But it is not just some new shiny penny. We are intentional with how we plan the year that is rooted in lots of prayer and discussion. As you know, our team just spent the last year going through first Corinthians. A whole year on 1st Corinthians! WoW! Learning what it looks like to be:
The Body of Christ
Unified
Love ( Agape Love )
Orderly Worship
The Resurrection
Spiritual Gifts
What is permissible and things we may or may not say to our spouse.
We learned what it looks like to be “ Transformed. How to be Transformed followers of Jesus who develop and deploy disciples” . I think we could all agree that we learned a lot along the way. We learned some interesting things along the way. Maybe some things that we shouldn’t say. But it was good. So as we take our “Next Step” as a church we are going to be focusing on being a “ biblically literate “ people. Biblically literate is “ the ability to read and understand the Bible, and to apply its meaning to life”. The church today is considered “biblically illiterate” . We may not know the scriptures, we may have forgotten the scriptures. We are disconnected from the importance of connecting in Gods word. We are lacking in Biblical education and sound Discipleship. Kids are growing up in a world where everything is being questioned—from marriage to gender to the existence of truth. That’s why biblical literacy must start early and IT MUST START AT HOME ! What is happening more and more is that we interpret and apply the scripture how we want to interpret and apply the scripture. This is called, eisegesis ( I don’t know what that means :) ……… joking.. I think it is the opposite of exegesis ) . I think one of the biggest factors in our biblical illiteracy is the role that Culture has played in our lives. Everything is fighting for our attention. Everything is trying to pull us away from living in right relationship to God and the Good News. We have lost sight of our purpose. We have been captivated with letting other people study the word of God for us. We have been captivated with watching other believers serve in ministry and the cool things they do. We have been captivated with letting Barnes and Noble , tik-tok and instagram disciple us more than the Word Of God! Please excuse me if this isn’t for you. It is for me. We have lost sight of why we study the scriptures to begin with, to be in alignment and relationship with our creator. We were created to worship him. Gods word is his written revelation of himself for His people.
Hebrews 4:12-13 : For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.
With that said, for the foreseeable future we are going to being doing a deep dive in the Book of Psalms and specifically into Psalms 119.
Psalm 119's primary purpose is to celebrate and exalt God's word, emphasizing the importance of studying and following God's law, highlighting the benefits of living a life guided by scripture, and expressing a deep desire to fully understand and obey God's commands with a whole heart; essentially, it's a song of praise for the value and power of God's teachings
It is right in the middle of your bible and the author is unnamed; older commentators almost universally said it is a psalm of David, composed throughout his entire life. More modern commentators sometimes conclude that it comes from the days of Nehemiah or Ezra. I like to think of this as being written by David. King David, the worshipper David. Regarded as the most popular worship leader in the Bible. David craved Gods presence. David longed to be right before God. David was a servant . David was the ultimate Warrior King. But David also had issues like the rest of us. David as we see in the psalms we see how David knew Gods word but he also sometimes struggled with keeping and knowing Gods word. He struggled at times to live and walk how he knew God wanted him to live and walk. But Regardless of who wrote it, we believe that it is the inherent truth and God breathed. I believe that God wants to use it to speak to us this morning. Upon first glance Psalms 119 may seem redundant. It may seem boring, but I want to encourage you to
LET IT WASH OVER YOU TODAY . AFTER IT WASHES OVER YOU, GO HOME AND READ IT AGAIN WITH YOUR FAMILY. AFTER YOU READ IT AGAIN WITH YOUR FAMILY, GET YOUR FAMILY IN THE CAR AND BRING IT TO SMALL GROUP TO TALK ABOUT IT AGAIN.
I just want you guys to know how much I love and appreciate you. I am happy and grateful to be able to sit here together and dive into Gods word. If you DO NOT have a copy of Gods word, please raise your hand. We have some great people ready to give you one. It is our gift to you.
INTRO PRAYER: Lord let your word speak to us today. Holy Spirit disrupt our hearts and invade our mind. Help us, teach us. Lord let these words be yours and not mine, all for your glory.
COOL FACTS:
Some cool facts about Psalms 119 . The purpose and relevance of Psalm 119 is not about the structure or the coolness. It is about what God is saying to us here. Anyways:
Structured as an ACROSTIC poem
Organized into 22 “STANZAS” that represent the 22 letters of Hebrew Alphabet. Each of these STANZAS consisting of 8 verses
NEED ASSISTANCE:
I need some help today. I am a little nervous so I thought I would start right off the top with getting you guys to help me. I have a coffee gift card here for someone. Does anyone like coffee or donuts or chai ? Well we are going to go to math class here today. If we have 22 stanzas in Psalms 119 and we have 8 verses per Stanza , how many verses do we have in total?
About 2445 words.... just in case you were wondering
YES! It is the Longest chapter in the Bible ( 176 Verses )
Scripture is mentioned in at least 171 of 176 verses.
Thomas Manton, a Puritan preacher and writer, wrote a three-volume work on Psalm 119. Each volume is between 500 and 600 pages, with a total of 1,677 pages.
It takes about 15 minutes to read aloud or recite the entire 176 verses of this chapter.
Some believe that King David used this psalm to teach his young son Solomon the alphabet”–but not just the alphabet for writing letters: the alphabet of the spiritual life.
It refers to Gods Word in almost EVERY verse and it uses 8 words to repeatedly describe Gods word:
Word (dabar, used 24 times): The idea is of the spoken word, God’s revealed word to man. “Proceeding from his mouth and revealed by him to us…”
Law (torah, used 25 times in Psalm 119): “Its parent verb means ‘teach’ or ‘direct’; therefore coming from God it means both ‘law’ and ‘revelation.’
Judgments (mispatim, used 23 times): “ to judge, determine, regulate, order, and discern, because they judge concerning our words and works; show the rules by which they should be regulated; and cause us to discern what is right and wrong, and decide accordingly.”
Testimonies (edut/edot, used 23 times): This word is related to the word for witness. To obey His testimonies“…signifies loyalty to the terms of the covenant made between the Lord and Israel.”
Commandments (miswah/miswot, used 22 times): “This word emphasizes the straight authority of what is said…the right to give orders.” (Derek Kidner)
Statutes (huqqim, used 21 times): The noun is derived from the root verb “engrave” or “inscribe”; the idea is the written word of God and the authority of His written word:
Precepts (piqqudim, used 21 times): “This is a word drawn from the sphere of an officer or overseer, a man who is responsible to look closely into a situation and take action…. So the word points to the particular instructions of the Lord, as of one who cares about detail.”
Ways - The ways of God are what He wants to do concerning us; His ways are the choices that He makes concerning us( because they are the rule of his providence and our obedience )
In the Hebrew Bible, Each verse in a STANZA begins with that same Hebrew Letter ( Our section today will begin with (aleph )
SHOW PICTURE EXAMPLE
OKAY, LETS JUMP IN !
We treasure Gods Word
We walk according to the Lord’s instruction ( V1 ) “How happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk according to the Lord’s instruction!” (CSB)
I Love how we start this stanza. How we start Psalms 119… JOYFUL are those who walk according to the Lords instructions.
Blesseddivinely or happily favored; fortunate to have, do, or experience something”. Happy (CSB) // JOYFUL (NLT)
JOY has been a word for me this year. The Lord has been using
Blameless “ those who cannot be accused of wrong doing before people or God”
Being blameless does not mean PERFECTION. It means striving for holiness and aligning with Gods commandments. Living a life of integrity, of honesty, fighting for righteousness in our lives. How do we be a people of character in a culture of compromise.
Jesus tells his disciples during the last supper in John 14:15 “ If you love me, keep my commandments”.
This verse doesn’t say, “ How saved are those whose way is blameless and walk according to his instruction” . It says, HOW HAPPY, HOW BLESSED, HOW MUCH JOY IS THERE , WHEN WE WALK ACCORDING TO HIS INSTRUCTIONS.
When we think about being blessed and being happy. Maybe what it looks like to be a Christian, the world would tell you that it is a bunch of rules that want to keep you from experiencing true happiness. We think that we know what true happiness looks like.
We want to believe that we have it all figured out. If I just do, X,Y,Z . I will attain happiness. Maybe if I am the boss. Maybe if I change jobs I will finally find my purpose, my destiny.
Walking according to the Lords instruction brings: Purpose, Peace, Confidence, Community and Belonging.
It breeds Loving Relationships that set the tone for our community, Hope, personal growth. It brings… JOY
Who here has tried to find their worth and their happiness in something other than the Lord? Personal accomplishments are good to have, but we need to be careful to let them define us. Where are you finding your true happiness.
The Psalmist goes on to say….
We Treasure Gods Word When….We Seek The Lord with ALL our Heart ( V2 ) “Happy are those who keep his decrees ( testimonies ) and seek him with all their heart” (CSB)
Already Starting to see some parallels here. Repetition. The psalms are full of them. Repetition, parallels. In worship music we notice a lot of repetition when we are praising the Lord. It gets in your spirit when you declare Gods word or Declare what the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. Repetition is a tool we use break down hardened walls and deeply embed Gods truths in our hearts and minds.
“ The repetition is us laboring in the fields and God brings the harvest. “
“Blessedness is ascribed to those who treasure up the testimonies of the Lord: in which is implied that they search the Scriptures, that they come to an understanding of them, that they love them, and then that they continue in the practice of them. We must first get a thing before we can keep it. In order to keep it well we must get a firm grip of it: we cannot keep in the heart that which we have not heartily embraced by the affections.” (Spurgeon)
There are many ways to seek God. We can seek him through prayer. We can seek Him through praise and worship. But we would be hard pressed to really understand how to do those things unless we are in His word. Seeking God with our whole heart must include letting the word of God be ingrained in who we are.
Sometimes it is hard to seek God. When we are burdened. When we are weary and heavy laiden. We have communities that are on fire . Lives are being torn apart and changed forever. Lets be honest, sometimes when we are in pain, it is hard to seek God.
Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with ALL your heart.” God Speaks When…. we are not lukewarm
This isn’t just some game of hide and seek with God. He is available to you , He wants you, He wants your attention, He wants your affection, He wants your devotion. He wants to bless you, He wants to heal you. He wants to set you free from the chains of depression and anxiety, but you have to want Him. You have to know His heart .
Can I let you in on something? He doesn’t want your luke warm faith. In fact He says in Revelation 3:16 “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.” He doesn’t just want your Sunday morning faith. He doesnt want much, He just wants everything. One of my daughters favorite bands is SEU Worship and they have a song called Monday Morning Faith, it goes something like this:
Let my worship be more than just singing When did music become a religious thing? Let these songs be what thеy're meant to be Thе sound of your church awakening And help my heart to keep up with the heavens Where the angels sing 24/7 praise You're more than enough to get through my rough You're teaching me Monday morning faith (yes, Lord) And that's all I really need
And Hell's not scared of a Sunday faith If it only leads to empty praise What really makes darkness run Is when the saints arise and praise in quiet On Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday To know you, to love you, to choose you first (we sing) Thursday and Friday and Saturday To see you, behold you in worship, singing
God Speaks when we keep his testimonies and seek him with all of our heart with a 24-7 faith.
We Treasure Gods Word When ( V3 ) “They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways”
When we keep his decrees and seek Him with all of our heart, the natural result is that we walk according to His ways. Heart posture. God will speak to us when we embrace this book of instruction.
Deuteronomy 26:17 “Today you have affirmed that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commands, and ordinances, and obey him.”
Deuteronomy 28:9 “The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he swore to you, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways.”
Psalm 37:23–24 “A person’s steps are established by the Lord, and he takes pleasure in his way. Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, because the Lord supports him with his hand.”
Let scripture interpret scripture.
What this does not mean is that tribulations will not come. In fact, we are guaranteed that they will happen. We can look to Job for this. He walked in the Lords light. He walked in His ways. He seemingly did everything right and yet there was Satan.. Our expectation cant be that we don’t suffer hardship. Our purpose for walking in His ways cant be to receive something. It has to be because he is worthy of our praise.
As spirit filled believers we should be walking ( Like Job ) with confidence, we should be walking with purpose, we should be walking in the authority that our creator has given us . Holy Spirit filled and empowered.
We Treasure Gods Word When…We Diligently keep the Lord’s Precepts (V4) “You have commanded that your precepts be diligently kept”
James 1:25 says : “But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does”
Diligent is to say , “constant in effort to accomplish something; attentive and persistent in doing anything” .
What makes diligence so hard?
God speaks to us when we are diligent . We treasure Gods word in our heart when we are diligent. We have to get after it . We have to want it . We have to be motivated.
Anybody struggle to be motivated? Maybe on a Monday morning.
Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Do you want to diligently pursue Gods word so it will be a treasure in your heart?
We Treasure Gods Word When…. Commit our Ways to the Lord’s Statutes (V5) “ If only my ways were committed to keeping your statutes”
The psalmist here is crying out to God. He is longing to be right before Him. Self reflection. If only my daily walk was commited to walking according to your word.
God if only I could be diligent and committed, you have Joy waiting for me on the other side. !
God I long to be more like you. I long to give you my whole heart. There is an old song, “Lord, I give you my heart”:
This is my desire To honor You Lord, with all my heart I worship You All I have within me I give You praise All that I adore Is in You
“Our sinful disposition is not an excuse to forfeit our fight for righteousness and alignment with our Father” .
You are not forfeiting your salvation. You are forfeiting an opportunity to be blessed. An opportunity to be filled with JOY.
Let this be an encouragement. The fight is not over. Its not over until its over. FIGHT ! FIGHT ! The Lord wants Joy for you. He wants a relationship with you.
We Treasure Gods Word When… Meditate on the Lord’s Commands (V6) “Then I would not be ashamed when I think about all your commands”
Joshua 1:8 “This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.”
Psalm 141:2 “May my prayer be set before you as incense, the raising of my hands as the evening offering.”
I cant help but go to a song guys. I cant help it. We just sang one in Worthy of it All.
Day and night and night and day, let incense arise. God you are worthy of it all . Lord we meditate on your word. Lord I want my heart posture toward you to be correct. From verse 5 we can see that David knew what the answer was. “ If only my ways were commited to walking in your ways, I would have no reason to be ashamed”
You ever mess something up so bad that then everything else you think about seems overwhelming? I think that is what David was feeling here. He is not keeping the Lords statutes and he is getting ashamed and overwhelmed when he is thinking about what he has to do to make it right. It seems like you are never going to get out of the hole. But there is hope, the lord will never leave us and he will never forsake us. We can praise him in the storm, even when it seems like we are being disciplined!
We Treasure Gods Word When…Learn About The Lord’s Righteous Judgements (V7) “ I will praise you with an upright heart when I learn your righteous judgements”
AND Keep The Lord’s Statutes (V8) “ I will keep your statutes; never abandon me!”
“Be sure that he who prays for holiness will one day praise for happiness. Shame having vanished, silence is broken, and the formerly silent man declares, ‘I will praise thee.’” (Spurgeon)
The Psalmist is expectant. He says, “ GOD! I WILL PRAISE YOU WITH MY UPRIGHT HEART” . He is acknowledging that he still has more to learn, he still has more to gain. He ends with a faith declaration and a plead for help, “I WILL KEEP YOUR STATUTES. I WILL INSCRIBE YOUR WORD ON MY HEART. I WILL TREASURE IT, NEVER LEAVE ME.
GOD SPEAKS WHEN WE TREASURE HIS WORD IN OUR HEART. GOD SPEAKS WHEN WE HAVE A HEART POSTURE OF PRAISE
Thats Great Now What:
As we close I am going to ask Christian to come up and play for a moment. Lets just spend a moment seeking Him this morning. With every head bowed and every eye closed. Knowing His word is important. Being biblically literate is important. But it means nothing, it means nothing if we do not know him. It means nothing if we don’t have a relationship with Him. As we close our time today I leave you with these two questions.
We treasure up Gods word in our heart when we do these things.
Walk According to his instruction
Seek the lord with all our heart
walk in the lords ways
diligently keep the Lords precepts
Commit your ways to the Lords commands
Meditate on the Lords Commands
Learn about his righteous judgements
Keep the Lords statutes
What are you investing in? Investing in knowing God's Word IS TRANSFORMATION that shapes not only our lives but also lays a strong foundation for future generations. When we immerse ourselves in scripture, we gain invaluable insights in the character of the one who created us. When we invest in Gods word we are transformed. It cultivates our character, it deepens our faith. It fosters RESILIENCE AND HOPE , enabling us to face life's greatest challenges with a steadfast heart. Furthermore, as we embody and share these teachings, we create a legacy of faith for our children and those around us. Teaching the next generation about God's Word EQUIPS THEM WITH SPIRITUAL ARMOR they need to navigate an increasingly complex world, ensuring that the values of love, compassion, and integrity endure. Ensuring that our world looks more like the character of our father, than it does ours. Ultimately investing in Gods word allows us to connect with our father in Heaven. Why wouldn’t we want that.
ENDING: As we close I am going to ask Christian to come up and play for a moment. Lets just spend a moment seeking Him this morning. With every head bowed and every eye closed. Knowing His word is important. Being biblically literate is important. But it means nothing, it means nothing if we do not know him. It means nothing if we don’t have a relationship with Him. As we close our time today I leave you with these two questions.
The first is question. Do you know Him? If you don’t know the Lord this morning, if you have not asked Him into your life as your personal lord and savior, there is hope. There is a promise awaiting you. There is a book of promises waiting for you. If you want your name written in the lambs book of life; this is your opportunity. Every head bowed, every eye closed, this is a personal moment. I am here to tell you today that Jesus makes it easy for us to know Him. But it is going to cost you. Not a lot, just everything. It is going to require true repentance. It is going to require you to take up your cross and follow him daily. Matthew 7:14 “How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.” If you don’t have it today, it is available to you. It is free of charge. John 3:16 tells us that , “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” He wants us to be close to him. It is the best decision you will ever make. So I ask you this, if you have not accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior and WANT TO KNOW HIM - This is for you, I invite you to say this prayer. Right here , right now. You can whisper it or you can speak it boldly. Say this with me : “Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. I want my name written in your book of life.” If you prayed that prayer this morning, just raise your hand so I can see it. I would love to connect with you after service. Best decision You will ever make.
Second Question is for those of you here this morning who know Jesus. Who have a relationship with him. As we kick off this series as a church. Can we commit to be a people, a community that is rooted and grounded in Gods word . That we are committed to making it a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. We don’t have to write his word on our heart so that we can live by the law. We write his word on our hearts so that we can be more like the one that created us. So that we can know him, So that we can know him deeply. If you will make this commitment today, I encourage you to take your next step. Plug into a small group. Be a part of thwe loving relationships that will set the tone for our community.
Lets Pray:
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