Throw Back Praise

ILLUSTRATION- Missing the main thing…

I want to teach a little bit on worship here tonight…

We’ve got to be a youth ministry that is all about worship… Pizza is great, games are fun, but it is the presence of God that is life changing!!

POINT- Worship is one of the three things necessary to come into God’s presence.

(NLT) — 23 The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. 24 Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand. 25 Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread. 26 The godly always give generous loans to others, and their children are a blessing. 27 Turn from evil and do good, and you will live in the land forever. 28 For the Lord loves justice, and he will never abandon the godly. He will keep them safe forever, but the children of the wicked will die. 29 The godly will possess the land and will live there forever. 30 The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong. 31 They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from his path.

POINT- Worship is one of the three things necessary to come into God’s presence.

(NLT) — 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.

In Exodus and Leviticus you can read about what the priest would do on the day of atonement. He would take a bowl that was filled with blood from the sacrifice, and the priest would be covered in oil, he would take burning incense and with a special rod he would extend it into the holy of hollies through a part in the veil that was woven about 15 inches thick… It was then and only then could the high priest enter this place where God’s presence was.

The bowl of blood- represents Christs sacrifice on the cross.

(NLT) — 7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

2. The oil covering the priest- represents the covering of the holy spirit.

(NLT) — 5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.

3. The incense- represents worship

(NLT) — 1 O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry! Listen when I cry to you for help! 2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to you, and my upraised hands as an evening offering.

POINT- We are a youth ministry that will never stop preaching about the blood, the holy spirit, and the need for worship.

David knew how to worship…

(NLT) — 23 The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. 24 Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.

25 Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread. 26 The godly always give generous loans to others, and their children are a blessing. 27 Turn from evil and do good, and you will live in the land forever. 28 For the Lord loves justice, and he will never abandon the godly. He will keep them safe forever, but the children of the wicked will die. 29 The godly will possess the land and will live there forever. 30 The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong. 31 They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from his path.

At this point in David’s life he is old, we are talking old, old… He knows he is coming up close to the end of his life…

He has already been saved on the run a number of times…

He has already been forgiven for his sin with Bethsheba…

He has already been to battle time and time again…

But here he is, he isn’t asking for anything, he is giving God some throwback praise.

Title- Throwback Praise

KEY- Don’t get me wrong, God will continue to do things in your life that you will praise him for… For some of you what God does in your life this week will be your throwback praise a year from now, but let’s not forget that there is power in the throwback praise.

(NLT) — 2 Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness!

1. Throwback Praise is REAL. (My real life story is in it and no one can ever change it.)

(NLT) — 24 Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.

QUESTION- You ever wish you could go back in time and change something in your past???

ILLUSTRATION-

POINT- The enemy would love to change the things God has done in your past because the fact that it happened will never change.

DEFINE- The Hebrew word for stumble is npl (nafall) which means to be inferior.

ILLUSTRATION- Trying to change a tire in the mud and throwing my tire iron.

DEFINE- The Hebrew word for fall is twl which means to be hurled down or to be thrown forcefully.

You might ask why, why is it important to remember my throwback praise???

Though I was inferior to God he never allowed me to be rejected. This is my story.

KEY POINT- In the middle of throwback praise is your testimony.

KEY- Regardless of what is next in your life the fact that God has held you by the hand will not change

KEY- There will be seasons of your life when your faith will be tested, it is in those seasons that you need to have your throwback praise ready.

POINT- The enemy will try to limit your praise by obscuring your faith.

How can you worship after that doctor’s report???

2. Throwback Praise is RESTORING

25 Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread. 26 The godly always give generous loans to others, and their children are a blessing.

KEY- There is a connection to faith and worship.

KEY- There will be times that your faith will be weaker, this is why there is a prescription for strengthening and building your faith.

TEACHING- There are 3 types of ways we give God glory that he deserves.

Thanksgiving.

This is when we thank God for the specific things he has done in our lives.

2. Praise.

This is when we acknowledge the generalities and displays of God’s greatness.

3. Worship.

This is when we recognize that God all by himself is worthy.

KEY- There will be times in your life that you will need your throwback worship to be able to get you to coming up worship.

POINT- When you look at the known character of God you will get a song in your heart.

Right now David is not worshiping God because of what he is going to do he isn’t even worshiping based off something specific God did for him (Perhaps you should thank God for someone else miracle as much as you do yours…)

He is just saying… I have never known my God to abandon those who trust in him.

CHALLENGE- When is the last time you took a step back and worshiped based off of God’s character???

3. Throwback Praise is REVELATION

How can you worship after that fight you had to listen to in your own home???

(NLT) — 29 The godly will possess the land and will live there forever.

KEY POINT- The things God has done will show you what he will do.

Why do you believe lies??? How is it that the God who created everything put breath in your lungs is going to stop???

DEFINE- Will possess comes from the Hebrew word yrs which means to obtain something by legal right from someone as an heir; usually after their death.

ILLUSTRATION- Greg helping me get an upgrade.

CONCLUSION…

YOU ARE THAT HEIR

I have even recently been challenged… Why do you have to be so radical in CrossFire, why do you have to shout and cry and jump and kneel???

BECAUSE GOD MADE ME AN HEIR