Holy Dissatisfaction in Our Lack of Serenity.
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Notes
Transcript
Call To Worship
Call To Worship
Give Thanks
Welcome
Welcome
Pastor Wayne
Opening Scripture Readings
Opening Scripture Readings
Old Testament
Old Testament
Pastor Wayne
To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
New Testament
New Testament
Stephen Nobles
25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;
26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
Prayer of Invocation
Prayer of Invocation
Pastor Wayne
Songs of Worship
Songs of Worship
In Moments Like These
Hymn No. 1: Count Your Blessings (1,2,4) Hymn 644
Hymn No. 2: There Shall Be Showers of Blessings (1,2,4) Hymn 467
Holy Dissatisfaction: Reclaiming Our Biblical Identity!
Holy Dissatisfaction: Reclaiming Our Biblical Identity!
Holy Dissatisfaction In Our Lack of Serenity!
Holy Dissatisfaction In Our Lack of Serenity!
The human search for peace is universal. Men and women seek it desperately, all the time trying to find serenity. But peace is not a feeling to be kept; it is a quality of the inner life which keeps us where God wants us. Peace, serenity, is both a gift deposited to us and a gift that needs to experience growth and development.
The Bible speaks of our need to grow and develop this gift of peaceful serenity in our thinking, in our doing, and in our living.
As we are focusing on the upcoming thanksgiving season and celebrating our ability to regather together in person in this magnificent building constructed to house God’s people, His Church. I believe it is necessary for us to reflect on why we are a thankful people in the first place. As we celebrate our regathering, does it bring us peaceful serenity that we are back in the familiar confines of this building, or is our peaceful serenity located in something else, or hopefully in someone else?
If we approach the Christian life and our combined ministry as the corporate body of Christ rightly, then we will acknowledge God’s sovereignty and Christ’s headship as central to who we are.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
and later
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
As a sign of things to come, the Apostle Paul warns the believers in Colossae, that some will be disqualified by
19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
Let that never be said of the people of Ephesus Baptist Church. Yet as we look at the world around us, as we look at the church in America today, is it not obvious by now that we, the very people who should be overflowing with peace and serenity, are often the very people who are overwhelmed by the fallen ways of our world?
Where is our sense of holy dissatisfaction in our lack of peace and serenity as those who have overcome the world through Christ?
God’s word tells us very clearly what we need to do rebalance ourselves in the weight of His glorious call on our lives.
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Today, I want to offer you two Christian Life Principles that will help you rebalance your life and find the peace and serenity you are missing.
1. Seek to Develop the Gift of Peaceful Serenity in Your Thinking.
1. Seek to Develop the Gift of Peaceful Serenity in Your Thinking.
2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
I don’t know about you, but when I look at the world around me, I experience a lot of emotions, and sometimes they are not very serene emotions. Why is that? Why don’t I always experience God’s peace?
The reason is a lot clearer and more to the point than I would like to admit to myself. You see, a lot like Peter, I have taken my eyes off of the truth. I only see the storm, but I don’t see the gracious sovereign God of the storm. I am sure you can relate.
We don’t spend enough time thinking, pondering, meditating upon God’s Word. We don’t seek God in all things as we ought to. Scripture is clear about where our thoughts should center. “On the things above, not on the things of this world, but on heavenly things, things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable. Things that are excellent and worthy of praise. These are the things we should continually be seeking to mediate upon.
I recently read a quote by the Puritan preacher Thomas Manton, who lived from 1620-1677. He said,
“What is the reason there is so much preaching and so little practice? For want of meditation.” - Thomas Manton
Now let me unpack that puritan lingo for you. Why is there so little fruit in our Christian experience? According to Manton, and I believe he got it from God’s word, we simply don’t take the time to think deeply upon and meditate on what we have learned.
Now that doesn’t mean that the truth isn’t recorded in the margins of our Bibles, or in our notebooks, or maybe even seared into our memories, but that it does us no good if it never gets into our hearts.
Do we take the time to truly think, ponder, questions, reflect, relate, and apply?
Warren Wiersbe describes our malady like this.
“What digestion is to the body, meditation is to the soul. I wonder if some of our Bible study activities are not like what goes on in a fast-food restaurant. We go to the meeting; we listen to the teacher or preacher; we quickly get it all down in correct outlines; and then we rush off to something else.” - Warren Wiersbe
The sad state of this is that we often develop a huge gap between our learning and our living. This should cause us great concern. This should help us to first develop a sense of holy dissatisfaction in our lack of meditation and time with God, and second, it should point us toward the cause of our discontent, out lack of peaceful serenity and cause us to develop a sense of holy dissatisfaction in our lack of peaceful serenity.
I know many bewildered men and women who have tried their hardest to serve God believing they are totally “yielded to Him.” But since they have this perpetual disillusionment that we must see great results, great successes they live each day wondering why their faith, their labor, and their commitment was not good enough to produce the results that others have gained.
You know that thought process don’t you? You’ve probably been there yourself, or maybe you are their now? There is freedom from this bondage and it is rather simple.
Stop seeking to earn God’s approval by your doing and living. Rest in His grace. Begin to look at the things of this world, including yourself, the way God looks at them and at you, rather than the way the world or you yourself views things.
If we spent more time on becoming rather than being, I believe Scripture tells us that we will end up being what God wants us to be.
God can grow a weed up overnight, but it takes years and years to grow a strong, resilient, magnificent oak tree. Which would you rather be?
It all begins with changing the direction of our thoughts. Look upward more often than you look horizontally. Seek to develop the Gift of Peaceful Serenity in your thinking.
2. Seek to Develop the Gift of Peaceful Serenity in Your Doing and Living.
2. Seek to Develop the Gift of Peaceful Serenity in Your Doing and Living.
When the sermon is over and the congregation has sung their final song. After the benediction has been spoken, what would happen in your soul if, after others begin to get up and start to leave, you remained seated and continued to think upon the Word God has spoken to your soul?
What would happen if the congregation hits the pause button on life and lets the impact of the service sink in? What if throughout the week you meditated upon the Scriptural lessons that you have heard?
What if you began to do more than just think and meditate upon them? What if you really started praying about them and seeking ways to apply the truth to your life?
Peaceful Serenity is a gift from God, but it is a gift that needs cultivating in our hearts. One great way to begin cultivating this precious gift in your heart is to practice the spiritual disciplines, especially the disciplines of solitude and rest.
One of the reasons we invest our lives in some insignificant ways is that we never become still enough to let the great realities hit us. We are always on the move. Always in a hurry. Or when we do stop, we flip on the radio or the TV and let somebody else’s hurry fill our minds.
In all of our busyness, I am afraid that we are all too often cultivating a fast food faith when we should be taking the time to be holy!
When the assyrians were rushing in to take Jerusalem in the time of King Hezekiah, God valiantly defended Jerusalem and delivered them from the Assyrians. The Sons of Korah wrote a psalm commemorating this event where they declared some great truths about our God.
1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
The word “trouble” describes people in tight places, in a corner and unable to get out; and when that occurs, the admonition is, “Don’t be afraid!” Trust in God who is our refuge and strength.
When our backs are against the wall, do we try to handle things on our own, or do we turn to our very present helper?
Jerusalem was surrounded by the Assyrians with no apparent way out. Water was in short supply, but God saw them through. The sons of Korah learned a valuable truth about God.
Though the earthquaked, and the waters roared and the mountains trembled. In all of the natural trouble, all of the war, all of the political drama God was there.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns.
God did in fact show up in the early morning. Isaiah tells us that,
36 And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
The point of all of this is to say that God is sovereign over all the earth. He is our God and He will be glorified.
Verse 10, often used to calm us as believers was actually a call for something much more important.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
“Be still” literally means “Take your hands off! Relax!; cease striving, cease hurrying, be still and quiet” We like to be “hands-on” people and manage our own lives, but God is God, and we are but His servants.
Hezekiah and his leaders allowed God to be God, and God sovereignly delivered them from their enemies. It is interesting that God is calling on Israel to
Often God allows us to get into “tight places” so our faith will grow and He will be exalted. But how do we grow? The answer is quite simple, we stop long enough to learn and let the lessons of God’s word and the lessons of life instruct us.
We can’t think and meditate without changing how we do and how we live. What Psalm 46 teaches us is that the life-transforming impact of God’s Grace in the world, His inevitable triumph over all the nations, and the coming of his glorious kingdom defined by peace—these awesome realities don’t hit us and hold us and shape us until we become still and quiet before God.
God’s will hits home in the stillness. If you want your life to be significant, you’ve got to stop running, and stop scurrying about, and turn off the TV and the radio, and get alone, and be quiet, and let the mammoth realities of human lostness and eternal judgment and never-ending joy and God’s universal triumph take hold of you and change your life.
God’s word says to be still, “and know that I am God.”
Jonathan Edwards once said about this verse,
“1. In that he is God, he is an absolutely and infinitely perfect being
2. As he is God he is so great, that he is infinitely above all comprehension. 3. As he is God, all things are his own. 4. In that he is God, he is worthy to be sovereign over all things. 5. In that he is God, he will be sovereign, and will act as such. 6. In that he is God, he is able to avenge himself on those who oppose his sovereignty.
Jesus is the sovereign Lord of the Sabbath. We are to find our rest in Him, in His finished work on the cross of Calvary. We do so as we are still before Him, as we look above ourselves and into His marvelous grace. He says to us today.
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Do you have the peace of God today? If not, do you want it?
First, you have to believe in Christ and trust in Him.
Once you know that you are known and indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, you can cultivate a heart of peace as you develop a healthy sense of holy dissatisfaction in your lack of peace. Then you can seek to develop the gift of peaceful serenity, in your thinking, in your doing, and in your living.
Invitation: Be Still and Know that God is God!
Invitation: Be Still and Know that God is God!
Closing Hymn:
Closing Hymn:
He is Here
He is Here
Benediction
Benediction
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!