Sermon Tone Analysis

Why This Series?

There is a goal that God has for us that we have described in the previous weeks.

Rejoicing ALWAYS

Anxiety is gone

Prayer, supplications, and thanksgiving replaces anxiety, fear, and doubts.

Peace so strong it protects our hearts and mind.

That goal cannot be found through any other person or any other thing.

All other things may provide a temporary relief and sometimes they can be healthy

In the end though the only source of help is the Lord.

My job as a pastor and as a Christian is to point us to the place of health and how to regain it when we lose it.

This passage does that.

Today’s Word

Anything Worthy of Praise

As usual we are going to:

define it by the world’s standards

define it by biblical standards

describe how it helps

describe how we can help each other.

Today we talk about the power of praise to bring us peace in the middle of every situation good and bad and the importance of maintaing that attitude.

Definitions

World

Praiseworthy - Webster’s - Laudable

Laudable - Webster’s - worthy of praise

Deserving approval and admiration

ISSUE: What deserves approval and admiration?

A small child that that uses the potty for the first time.

But that is only temporarily praiseworthy....

People who invent things that make our lives easier.

A beautiful sunset or sunrise

the way people help each other in tragic storms

First responders

The list goes on and on.

The problem is that in the world we tend to fall into 2 extremes

Everyone is worthy of praise and if we don’t give it enough then an individual can become insecure.

The problem with that line of thinking is that it’s never ending.

I was the General Manager of a pizza chain and at some point one of my employees took to criticizing my management to their fellow employees.

They wanted me to reward people with bonuses for doing things like showing up to work on time or staying within the parameters for delivery times.

Or dressing according to the standards of the company they worked for.

I of course explained to them that was what their paycheck was for.

But they wanted a tremendous amount of praise for doing well, their job.

No one is worthy of praise.

I actually believe that if a person goes above and beyond their normal duty, it should be rewarded.

So the small child that poops on the potty for the first time deserves ice cream… but not every time for the rest of their life.

Bible

Praiseworthy or Worthy of Praise - epianos -

Combination of 2 Greek words

aenio - to praise

epi - in, through, upon, towards

The idea here is that it’s pointing to the only thing worthy of praise and that in all and every situation the only thing that is worthy of praise is in all, through all, upon all and His goodness is superimposed on everything.

This one word can be defined as the verse, “All things work together for good.....”

That guards our hearts and minds in that while things might look bad, God is way bigger and we can trust that He is in control.

When we think like that in the darkest times we can have peace knowing that His goodness supercedes and inhabits all things because His goal is to take us to a place of rejoicing....

How Does Praise Help?

There are a million things to be praising God for.

The Bible is full of miracles and promises that we can trust in every day.

The problem is that our struggles and constant life demands tempt us to get distracted from all that is good that He brings us.

Sometimes that sacrifice of praise really is just that - a sacrifice.

We don’t always feel like it.

However, it is my experience that when I start to give that sacrifice, at some point it does exactly what God’s Word tells us it will do..

It gives me peace and continues to protect my heart and mind.

I wanted to spend sometime talking about what the power of praise will do in our lives as an encouragement during those times when we just don’t feel like praising.

Praise gets our focus off ourselves and back on God.

We need this constant reminder - life is not all about us.

We may know that in our heads, but yet our hearts think differently so often.

We're prone to selfishness, He desires our eyes be set firmly on Him, because that's where our true hope is found.

He is worthy of our praise, no matter what we face from day to day.

“Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!”

Psalm 35:

"And my tongue shall speak of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long."

Praise brings us to a place of humility.

We remember our dependency on God, as we acknowledge our need for Him.

As we praise Him as Creator and King of this world, we admit and recognize that we’re not in control, but He is.

He is above all.

“Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.”

"I will give you thanks in the great congregation: I will praise you among much people."

Praise makes the enemy flee.

It pushes back the darkness the surrounds, and blocks the attacks and hissing lies over us.

Evil will not stick around if we’re praising our God, who will fight our battles for us.

In the story of Jehoshaphat, we see God miraculously defeat the enemy, because of the people’s obedience to praise Him.

2 ch

“As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated” 

Praise leaves no room for complaining and negativity.

Sometimes even within our prayers, we can tend to complain about our problems.

God knows our hearts and He cares about all that concerns us.

But through praise, we’re focused on Him, no longer allowing too much attention to be centered around the struggles.

We’re reminded of what He has already done in our lives.

We’re reminded that He knows what concerns us, and is capable of taking care of all that burdens us.

Psalm 103:

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.”

"By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name."

Praise makes room for God’s blessings over our lives.

He will not hold back His goodness, praise opens the gateway of blessing as we come into the Presence of our King.

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him; bless his name!” 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:"

Praise invites His presence.

God dwells close to us when we praise Him.

He lives there.

He looks for it.