The Church of Eleven22 - S01 E68 - Singing

Episode Date: August 17, 2020

Hey, church family. It is Devo time. If you got your Bible, we're going to be at the end of the book of Psalms. We're going to start in 146. We're going to go all the way to 150, but we're going to do that part at the end. So I want to talk to you about the way we end almost virtually every church service. Now, I know some of you are watching and you've never attended an 1122 service, and we'd love to invite you to do so. And you could attend online now. And literally 100. of thousands of people are. But if you've been here, you know what we do is at the end of the service, we believe that the gospel demands a response. So our typical service, you know, is we worship God through singing for, you know, two or three songs. And then there's a transition period where one of our campus pastors will come up and pray, maybe give some announcements, a little direction.

And then I, or one of our teaching pastors, me, about 40, two or 45 times a year, teaches God's Word for 55 minutes or so, and then there is this call to response. And in my opinion, that is the most important part of our service. Now, I would say that the proclamation of the gospel is the most powerful part. That's where all the power is. This is why Paul says in the book of Romans that I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. So the power does not come from my words or the power does not come from the singing. The power comes from the gospel. So the reason I think the response time is the most important is because, in my opinion, that is that moment where the seed has been cast. And, and, in my opinion, that is that

and it lands on soil. And what you do after receiving the word of God through the singing and the preaching, what you do with that matters like crazy. And so Jesus shares a parable and says that the kingdom of God is like a farmer goes out and scatter seed, and some lands on rocky soil,

some lands on thorny soil, some lands on the hard path, and none of those three make it. but the seed that lands on good soil produces a hundred times the crop or fruit that a normal seed would. And so I think it's in that time where you take five or six or eight minutes and marinate on not just what the preacher said, but what maybe the spirit of God is saying in you and through you and to you. And then begin to say, what am I going to do about this when I go home? and so it's not the time to rush out and be the first out of the parking lot.

It's not the time to beat the crowd to go get your kids. And I do want to say this is not a rebuke. I'm not saying this because we have a problem in our services at all. In fact, the majority of our folks are highly engaged. In fact, most people don't leave when the service is over. Everybody just kind of hangs out, which is great. But the thing that you'll hear us say is that the gospel demands a response. and we respond primarily in three ways by singing and bringing and praying.

And so this week's Devo time, I want to talk about why we sing, why we bring, or give ties and offerings, and why we pray. Well, that's all about at the end of the service. And so oftentimes, the last song that we sing is directly tied to everything that we've been talking about. for instance, this past week, we're in a series called The Trinity, and I'm talking about God the Father, and then we sing, good, good Father. And the idea being is that we would, based on who God is and what he has done, the gospel that we have just received, that we would respond in a part of the

way that we would respond is by singing. Now, I know some people would say, well, I'm not really into singing. Well, you know, I don't know what to tell you, because God is really into singing. And sometimes people have a real misunderstanding of why we sing or what the point of the service is. You see, the point of the service is not the people. It's not. The point of our worship services is God. You see, sometimes the way people think about a worship service, and when I say worship service, I mean, the singing part, the preaching part, the praying part, all of that is worship. And sometimes we think about it wrong. We think like, think in kind of movie or acting play kind of terminology.

Sometimes we think like God is the director and he's up in heaven and he's telling folks what to do and that the people on stage are the actors and the director is directing the actors and then the audience are you, the congregation. And so if you have this kind of mindset, we'll have a tendency to come in to worship with a total consumer mentality. Like, I hope my favorite preacher's here. I hope he's funny today.

I hope we sing my favorite songs. Oh, I don't really like that song. Oh, I don't like when they show these kind of videos. And we'll begin to think we're like Simon Cowell, sitting on this side of the table, observing the actors on the stage and critiquing whether we liked it or not. Now, we wouldn't necessarily say we didn't like church, but we'll begin to try to use Christian sort of terminologies and be like,

well, I wasn't really fed or I didn't feel God's presence, and we think that it's all about us. But what if you took that picture of God as the director and the, like, worship leaders and pastors on stage as the actors and the congregation as the audience? And what if we flip that thing around? You see, because in actuality, the way it works, the way it should be, is that the people on stage, the pastors and the worship leaders, that we are like the directors,

and we are directing the congregation who would be the actors, and the audience is God. And so the worship team are not the primary singers. They're just like the choir leaders leading every single person in our congregation. to sing a song. They're not singing to the people, but we are helping lead the people all of us together with one voice to sing to our audience, who's God. And God's into singing. He says things like, sing to me and raise your hands in the sanctuary. And the reality is that anything you value, you celebrate. If you've ever been to a sporting event, when your team does good, there is a physical reaction to that. And so there should be emotive and physical reactions to the gospel.

When a child who is in need of his mom or dad sees his mom or dad, they lift their hands to their mom or dad. We should be people that when we hear the gospel, we respond by lifting our hands to our father. When we celebrate, we lift our hands. This is a lot of. This is. not just Christian karaoke where we kind of kind of follow along with the words, but what we are doing is that we are praising God. In the Bible, the phrase that we're going to read, we're going to read a bunch of Bible verses in just a second. The phrase that get translated, praise the Lord, comes from two Hebrew words. Halal means praise and Yahweh is the Lord. Halal is a a very energetic and active kind of word.

Halal literally means to jump up and down, to raise your hands, to turn in circles. Halal was the kind of word that was used to describe a parade back in biblical times. And Yahweh is the covenant name of God. Halal Yahweh. In English, we jam that word together, Halal Yahweh, and we say hallelujah.

Hallelujah. There's another word for worship in the script. that comes from the same root word that we get Sabbath, Shabbat. And it means like to kneel down in reverence. But I think it's really, really important that after we receive the Word of God, after we receive the gospel in our services, and then we respond to who God is and what He has done, that we as a congregation, that we praise the Lord.

And sometimes, sometimes, even if you're not like feeling it, sometimes what happens is your body has to go first, your lips have to move, your hands go up, your head goes down, whatever posture that is appropriate for that worship experience, and then sometimes on the heels of that, then your heart and your emotions catch up. And so in Psalm 146 through 150, we get instructions on how to praise the Lord. And one of the things that I would point out is that in the old covenant, we get, we get very descriptive instructions on how to praise God, like what their church services. It wasn't the church, it was the temple, but you know what I mean, that how their church services

were to look. They talk about the type of instruments. They actually have a song chart right here in the book of Psalms. And the reason I think that is, is because the old covenant was for one, people, the Israelites in Israel at a very specific time and place and space. And then when you get to the new covenant, the New Testament, you never find like an, an, order of worship in a New Testament church because in the new covenant, the order of worship will be for all people in all places at all times. So our worship service in Jacksonville in the surrounding areas and online and in seven different campuses may look different than an underground house church in North Korea, but the core of it is still the same. That we glorify God in worship and word and prayer.

And so the message has been spoken. The Spirit of God has done something in your heart, and then it's time to respond. And one of the reasons that we respond by singing is because a good way to think about this, Pastor Ben talked to me about this early on when we first planted in the church, that when the church sings together,

it's like the only time we are praying the same words in unison as one body. and so if you're listening in your car or whatever, this won't work too good, but if you're in a quiet place, I know this is weird, you're, you know, looking at your phone or computer screen or whatever, would you just take a minute and bow your head and close your eyes and just hear these words of instruction from God on how we should respond to him in praise and worship and singing? Psalm 146 and following. God's word says, praise the Lord.

That's hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord, oh, my soul. I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in princes and a son of man in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth on that very day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help.

is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord His God, who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry, the Lord sets the prisoners free, the Lord opens the eyes of the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous, the Lord watches over the sojourner, and he upholds the widow and the fatherless.

but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever. Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord. For it is good to sing. Praise us to our God. For it is pleasant and a song of praise that is fitting. The Lord builds up Jerusalem.

He gathers the outcast of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted. He binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars he gives. to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, an abundant in power. His understanding is beyond measure. The Lord lifts up the humble.

He casts the wicked to the ground. Sing to the Lord with Thanksgiving. Make melody to our God on the liar. He covers the heavens with clouds. He prepares rain for the earth. He makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the beasts their food and to the young ravens that cry.

His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor is his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, and those who hope in his steadfast love. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem. Praise your God, O Zion, for he strengthens the bar of your gates. He blesses your children within you. He makes peace in your borders.

He fills you with the finest of wheat. He sends out his command to the earth. His word runs swiftly. He gives snow like wool. He scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down the crystals of ice like crumbs who can stand before his cold. He sends out his word and melts them. He makes his wind blow and the waters flow. He declares his words to Jacob, his statutes and rules to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any other nation. They do not know his rules. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens. Praise him in his aites. Praise him all his angels. Praise him all his hosts. Praise him,

sun and moon. Praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created, and he established them forever and ever. He gave a decree and it shall not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth. You great sea creatures in all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his words. Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds. Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth, young men and maidens, together old men and children, let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exhaust. His majesty is above earth and heaven.

He has raised up a horn for his people. Praise for all his saints. For the people of Israel who are near to him. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song. His praise in the assembly of the godly. Let Israel be glad in his maker.

Let the children of Zion rejoice in their king. Let them praise his name with dancing. Make melody to him with tambourine and lyre. For the Lord takes pleasure in his people. He adorns the humble with salvation. Let the godly exalt and glory. Let them sing for joy on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands

to execute vengeance on the nation and punishment for the peoples, to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute on them judgment written. This is honor for all the godly ones. Praise the Lord. praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his mighty deeds. Praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with trumpet sound. Praise him with lute and harp. Praise him with tambourine and dancing. Praise him with strings and pipe. Praise him with sounding

symbols. Praise him with loud clashing symbols. Let everything that has breath praise him. Praise him. the Lord. Halal Yahweh, praise the Lord. So the next service that you're in, when we close, may we praise the Lord. Let's pray. Our good and gracious heavenly, Father God, we thank you and we praise you that you have invited us to sing to you a new song, a loud song with loud crashing symbols, God. May we lift up our hands to you and lift up our voice to you to worship you and you alone because you are worthy to be praised. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.