Young Adults Sermon

Big Idea:

Choosing to follow God’s Word brings life!

Intro:

Hi Everyone! Welcome to Church Online.

Today is going to be a fun day! If you’ve been with us, you know we’re in a sermon series titled, “Finding Life in the Psalms.” Discovering that God has specifically designed the Psalms to teach us how to live life as He designed it. And today, we’re looking at a very important Psalm - it’s actually the first psalm in the Book of Psalms: Psalm 1.

Psalm 1 is a short, but powerful. It’s only 6 verse, but it sets the stage for the following 149 Psalms. If you will, Psalm 1 is an introduction and overview for the Psalms. For those of us who remember English class, this is where the thesis is found. And if we can understand the thesis, everything else will make sense.

But before we dive in, I’d like to introduce some friends of mine. This week I’ve asked Jordan, Anna, Sam, and Asa to help me. They are part of my “Young Adult” DGroup. And if you don’t know what a DGroup is, it’s short of “discipleship group.” And discipleship is the process of a leader teaching learners how to follow Jesus, in a relational and reproducible way - meaning the disciple-maker (or leader) is helping the disciples, not only grow in their faith, but also teaching them to teach others to grow in their faith. And we’ve spent that last year doing that together!

And I’m a little sad today, because this DGroup’s season is almost over. They are all headed back to college. But I’m also excited because I truly believe this group both grew in their faith and are now equipped to help others do so too.

And in a way, we’re going to share that with you today because they are going to help me teach Psalm 1. For the past month, we’ve studied together. And I believe you will be blessed by the insights the Holy Spirit has given them.

It’s also exciting because it’s not common for Young Adults to be GROWING in their faith. Studies show that most ABANDON their faith between the ages of 18-29 years old. But they not only show up on Sunday, but faithfully show up to DGroup every Monday night.

And let me tell you… Young Adult DGroup is unlike any other group in our church. We break down the Word of God. We dive deep into theological and socially issues… FOR HOURS!!! DGroup starts at 6pm… sometimes I don’t leave until 10pm. And I’ve heard they’re there for a couple more hours. It’s awesome to see this next generation passionately seeking God.

Speaking of next generation, as the pastor of this church, I want to say that my heart - my vision - for our church is we would be a church that values every part of our “church body.” That includes listening to and giving the next generation a voice, especially since they are the ones that are called to carry our faith forward. So, that’s what we’re doing today! I’m giving THEM an opportunity to share God’s word, but I’m also giving THEM PERMISSION to do it from their PERSPECTIVE. To give US fresh insight into God’s unchanging truth.

So, are you ready to hear what God has to say thru them? Well, let’s get started. Psalm 1 starts off this way...

Exegesis:

Psalm 1:1–2 ESV

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Jordan:

George: Jordan - help me out here. What’s the main point of these two verses?

Jordan: Intentionally pursue righteous.

George: Okay, break that down for us. Why do you believe verses 1 & 2 speak to this?

Jordan: [Give exegesis].

George: Awesome. Okay, so what’s the application for us? What does it look like when we apply this truth to our lives?

Jordan’s App: Approach every decision as an opportunity to draw closer to God.

Thank you! Moving on, verses 3 and 4...

Psalm 1:3–4 ESV

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Anna:

What do you got for us? What’s this passage saying?

Anna: [Working towards the point: Our way of life determines prosperity] - Define prosperity?

George: Excellent. Once again, what’s does this mean for us today?

Anna’s App: We must make choices in accordance with God’s purposes for our lives.

Thanks! Verse 5...

Psalm 1:5 ESV

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

Sam:

George: What’s this verse talking about?

Sam: [Exegesis]

George: Nice! This is hard stuff. But it’s part of God’s truth, which means it’s important for us to hear! Well, what does it look like when we apply tough truth like this to how we live?

Sam’s App: [Sam’s application?]

Alright, final verse… verse 6...

Psalm 1:6 ESV

for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Asa:

George: Asa, bring us home. Based on what we studied, what is this final verse teaching us?

Asa: [Exegesis]

George: So, if you could wrap all of that into one statement, what would it be?

Asa: Righteousness earns the attention of God.

George: Okay that’s interesting. Because at face value, this statement might rub some people the wrong way. You use the word “earn.” And at least initially, the concept of “earn” seems to go against something I preached on last week - the concept of salvation by GRACE (something that’s freely given to us by faith - something we could NEVER EARN). So, when you use “earn” what do you mean?

Asa’s explanation.

George: Or, so like fruitfulness. Like, when we choose to live righteously (or right in God’s eyes), it earns (it produces) the attention of God. God’s goodness, favor, and blessing is poured out on us. So, tell me what this means for us? How does this concept impact our lives?

Asa’s App: We understand that being right with God satisfies the deepest desires of our heart.

George: So, why wouldn’t we do that? Or, why chase anything else?

Response:

Well, thank you my friends! I can’t tell you how proud of you… how blessed I am by your diligence to seek God over the past year. And I’m confident our church family was blessed by you today too. I’m even more confident that as God SENDS YOU ON MISSION (because that’s what’s actually happening as you leave to school), He will use you to disciple others . To teach others how to follow Jesus!

To recap our four points today:

Psalm 1 teaches to intentionally pursue righteousness.

Psalm 1 also teaches us that our prosperity is directly connected to how we live according to our God-given purpose.

Psalm 1 teaches us that there are real consequence for choosing wickedness - like being separated from God for eternity.

And Psalm 1 teaches us that when we live righteously (as God intended), our hearts will be satisfied like never before.

And so, what’s the big idea of Psalm 1? Like if were to walk away with one idea that accurately explained the purpose of Psalm 1…Well, I believe our study shows us this...

Choosing to follow God’s word brings life.

If you are seeking life this morning, you need to follow God’s word.

... But Psalm one also reveals a powerful sub-theme: That God has given us a free-will, meaning we can choose to follow God or not.

We can choose wickedness instead.

We can choose to follow the ways of this world instead.

Furthermore, our choices matter.

They can create prosperity. Or, they separate us from God.

Isaiah 59:2 NLT

It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.

This matters because in the future, God will judge all of us according to our choices. Every person will have to answer for their sins - the times we’ve chosen to live in rebellion instead of righteousness. And when we’re honest, we’ve all done that.

We’ve all taken counsel from the wicked, stood with sinners, and sat with scoffers.

We’ve worshiped worthless things instead of God- invested the precious moments of our lives and walked away with chaff.

We all qualify as “the wicked who won’t stand in the judgment and sinners not found in the congregation of the righteous, ready to perish.”

Simply put, Psalm 1 teaches us that, “We’re all doomed.”

But that’s not all Psalm 1 teaches. IT ALSO DECLARES HOPE! That we can CHOOSE a different path according to God’s word. A PATH TO LIFE INSTEAD OF DEATH. Because God’s word teaches us that...

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

THAT’S US (according to Psalm 1). Yet, God’s word tells us that...

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

And so, really, Psalm 1 preaches the gospel to us - the good news in response to the bad news.

The bad news is we’re doomed.

The good news is today God’s given you a choice.

That if you choose to follow God’s word and put your trust in Jesus...

If you intentionally and SERIOUSLY seek Him...

If you live according to His purpose...

If you turn away from wickedness...

If you let Him satisfy your heart...

You will find abundant and eternal life - like a strong tree planted by streams of water.

So, let me ask you: Will you CHOOSE to follow God’s word today and find life? Will you follow Jesus?

Let’s pray...

Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning. We thank you because You are a good God. You created us with a free will, which we get as of being created in Your image. You give us a choice because You love us. But we have too often chosen other things instead of Your goodness. Forgive us for our sins. We deserve judgment.

But we thank you for GRACE that is before us today. You lay before our life and death. And you encourage us to CHOOSE LIFE. Help us to do that this morning - whatever that looks like. And thank you for Jesus, who secured this promise of grace for us. That because what He did in the cross, we can be forgiven for our sins and receive eternal life. Help us to choose to live in that life today. In Jesus name, amen!

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