To God Be The Glory!!!

Good morning Church!

Announcements:

The last week of July will be our VBS. Our theme this year is Zoomerang! If you plan on helping during VBS, please see Keshia today, so that she can get your shirt sizes. Otherwise, we are going to order so many shirts in different sizes, and it will be a first-come, first-serve basis.

We are also asking for donations of pool noodles. These will be used to make certain decorations for VBS, so if you would like to donate, that would be awesome!

Sunday evening Bible Study at 5:00 PM on Revelation!!!

We found some T-Shirts yesterday as we were cleaning the church. They are on the back table and anyone can take what they want. Just check the sizes and grab you one.

Praise Reports:

Joe got to come home!!!

Prayer Requests:

Joe Thomason

Jeff is preaching a funeral service of a 7 week old baby

scarlett fever

Tithes

Children’s Church

Doxology:

This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart that I might not sin against God! Amen!!!

Open Bibles To: Psalm 115

Context

We are continuing through our series “Building T.E.M.P.O.”, and our current focus is on “Praise”. We are currently moving through the “Hallel Psalms”, which is Psalm 113 to Psalm 118. We have made it today to the 115th Psalm.

This Psalm is special, because it is the pivot point of this particular series of Psalms. As we have discussed, these 6 psalms were sung at Passover. Psalm 113 and Psalm 114 were sung before you partook in the Passover meal, but the other four, starting with Psalm 115, were sung after you partook in the Passover meal.

The first two psalms were sung to prepare one’s heart for the participation of Passover, while the last four were sung in response to what just happened.

Remember that Passover was one of the most miraculous works of God throughout the history of Israel. It was the moment in time when their God intervened in their worldly calamities in heavenly ways. It was when God showed the world (Egypt) that He would move heaven and earth, to save His children. It was when God poured out a small portion of His wrath upon the world, showcasing His power over every element of life, even unto death. It was the moment when God showed His love for His people in sparing their lives and delivering them from bondage.

Passover was the time to remember and celebrate the love of Almighty God for his people. As they partook of this meal, they would sing these Psalms as praise unto God, and a flood of emotions would pass over them during the process. It was not just a time to recite some words, or even sing some songs out of tradition. It was a time they celebrated a miraculous work of God upon their ancestors, as well as a time they looked forward to when God was going to do it again. They longed to see God move like that within their own generation, just as He had done generations before.

On that note, it amazes me how some people think of the Bible as outdated, old fashioned, or simply unimportant to us today. This chapter that we are going to look at today was written thousands of years ago, but yet we find ourselves in exactly the same spot today as they were then. We know the power of our God, we have experienced His mercy, grace, and truth, but yet we long for the day that we see God move upon this land in a mighty, heavenly way. We look for the day when God moves heaven and earth against His enemy and the enemy of His people. One day it is coming, and I believe we are getting close!!!

With the stage set and the characters in place, let’s read the Psalm and ding in to God’s Holy Word!

Read Psalm 115.

Content

Making a Confession in God. (vv. 3-8)

Trusting in the Lord (vv. 9-11)

Sharing Our Confidence (vv. 12-15)

Praising God (vv. 16-18)

Commitment