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Introduction
I am intrigued to see landmarks that signify a person or event.
I am always curious to know why a specific landmark had been established and placed wherever it is.
Our country is full of landmarks and monuments.
The purpose of these landmarks is to remember an important event.
It is to signify what happened.
Often it is to honor one or a group for their significant contribution to a way of life in a certain area.
A landmark is also used to help us go forward in a way to act on that which has been remembered.
Sometimes these landmarks help us remember something or someone that was heroic.
Perhaps they gave their all for a purpose or cause.
Sometimes these landmarks are the representation of something strong because of it life is better.
Sometimes the landmarks have been established prayerfully thanking God for the accomplishment or victory.
It seems that most monuments portray an act of selflessness where an individual or group decided they would sacrifice self in order to make a better life for those that followed.
If you had to put of a monument or landmark of your faith, what would that look like?
Would it be heroic?
Would it be a statement of strength?
Would it signify a stance you have taken for those around you to have a better life?
What would our country be like if we decided that we would establish landmarks of our faith that would be evident in our daily lives?
Throughout scripture, I see three consistent areas which you and I would do well to make as our landmarks of faith.
Particularly, I see these landmarks outlined in .
The first landmark of faith I see in this passage that we can do is
Worship
Worship is defined as the reverent love and devotion accorded to a deity, an idol or sacred object.
With that definition we could worship anything and everything.
There are people that worship their jobs, worship sports teams, and worship all kinds of things that could be called sacred objects.
The Bible is very clear on what we should worship.
The first and second of the ten commandments states emphatically
Exodus 20:3-6
Exodus 20:3-4
You and I are designed to worship.
We come in here week at 10:45 and we pray, we give thanks, we sing, we hear the word of God and we call that a worship service.
Our worship should not be limited to just one hour a week.
We should be be worshiping God daily and each moment we have breath!
This was the idea presented by the author of Chronicles.
You see, the author of this book was writing in neither the best time or the worst of times for the Jews.
They had just returned from living in exile and in punishment.
During this time of transition, they were challenged to give in to the temptation of doubting God’s promises and be disillusioned over past failures.
Doesn’t that sound like our country today?
We have ridden the wave of success and now we have come to this place in our lives where it is not the best of times and it is not the worst of times.
The people to which these words in Chronicles were written had at least six options:
They could settle down to a routine life and go through a religious routine that would not give them much hope.
They could develop a religion of legalism where laws and rules prevailed.
They could give up on God completely and grasp other religions in the world to find their inner being.
The could develop groups that would cut themselves off from the world and be isolated and wait for God to act.
The could develop a end of the world type theology determining precisely when and how the day of the Lord would occur.
They could study the history of their people, learn how they declined as a nation and as a faithful people, and renew their their commitment to worship and obedience to the Lord God, Author and Creator of all!
Do you see any parallels here?
Our nation is at a crossroads and quite honestly we are doing 5 out of 6 of these options well!
We have become a nation where we are so in the routine we forget how to see how to love those right in front of us.
We have become a nation where our churches are so filled with legalism and rules that grace is not permitted.
We have become a nation that has allowed other religions to so infiltrate us that we have lost the idea of what Truth is.
We have become a nation where our churches, including this church, are so comfortable in where we sit each week we would be very upset if someone came in are sat in our spot.
We have become a nation that has produced such strict judgement and condemnation that we fail to show others how much Jesus loves them.
Just like the words written in the Book of Chronicles, we can become a nation learns from the past, be a faithful people and renew our commitment to worship and obedience to the Lord God, Author and Creator of all.
So how do we do that?
First we begin at examining what we worship.
What we worship becomes our main landmark of faith.
This beautiful passage from tells us that our worship should consist of Thanking God.
Calling on His Name.
Glorying in His Name which is praising Him.
Remembering the Wonders He has done.
Sing to the Lord.
I am so grateful that in our worship time each week we are able to do all of those things.
I would invite you if you are not in the practice of doing so to not wait to do these things on Sunday morning.
I would invite you to do them on every day that ends in “y.”
1 Chronicles 16:
When we worship we are looking to the strength He has and we are able to see His Might and His Power.
The Bible says here to “seek His face always.”
This past week I was traveling through our state and was impressed to stop by a nursing facility where I and learned that a childhood friend was recovering from an illness.
I had not seen him in 40 years, but I felt that God wanted me to stop in on him and say hello.
I knocked on his door and walked in and said, “Do you know who I am?”
He looked at me, his eyes widened, and while jumping up out of his bed he said, “Mitchell Marlowe....I can’t believe you are here!
I would recognize that face anywhere!”
Even though we had not been in the same room for 40 years, he still knew who I was.
We had spent enough time together in our childhood that we could recognize each other.
The Bible tells us to “Look to the Lord and His strength and to seek His face always.”
Do you recognize the face of God?
When we truly worship God and spend time with Him on a daily basis, we will be able to seek His face always.
If our worship is true and right, we will not be able to contain it to ourselves.
In fact, we will produce a second landmark of faith in our
Words
Verse 23 in this beautiful passage says
1 Chronicles 16:23
You see part of the overflow of our worship is proclaiming His salvation.
When is the last time that you shared with someone what God has done in you life?
When is the last time you used your words to describe what you have experienced in your worship?
Psalm 145
Are your words helping others become acquainted with God?
Are your words helping others show your allegiance to God?
Are your words helping others show your adoration to God?
With worship as a landmark of our faith and with our words as a landmark of our faith, we will also have a third landmark of our faith that will be produced:
Works
In this passage we have listed the attributes of worship and the way our words help proclaim the salvation and love of our Lord.
Notice the works which overflow:
We sing
We proclaim His good works
We declare His Glory
We come before Him
We bring an offering
Hebrews
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