The Church of Eleven22 - Stand Alone: The Practice of Praise

Episode Date: December 30, 2018

“We would worry less if we praised more. Praise is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.” – Harry Ironside

Happy New Year. How are you today? Good? Good. Man, so excited to be here. I do love you. I love this church. I love being a part of what God's doing. And, man, I'm excited to open the book of Psalms for us today. Psalm 145 is where we're going to be hanging out for just a few minutes before we take communion. We're going to get to administer and participate in communion as a church today. And I'm super excited about that. Psalm 145 is an incredibly special Psalm in my life. God gave it to me this time last year. around this week. This week every year is a really interesting time. If you take a few minutes and pause, and it's a great opportunity for reflection to look back over a year's events, and I don't know how 2018 has been for you, but for me, man, it's been one of the hardest and one of the most blessed years of my life.

Both of those things are simultaneously. True, there are some things that are in the rearview of 2018 that I'm pretty pumped are in the rear view, and I'd like to get some distance from them. And then there's some things that God says, started in 2018 or maybe even years before that I know he's going to continue to build on in 2019. And it was this time last year when I was in a pretty tough season, man. And I had this, a lot of discouragement in my soul.

I had some dissatisfaction and discontentment that was rising up and that was competing for my attention and for my affections. And God gave me Psalm 145 at just the right time. And this Psalm has been an anchor for me throughout the year. It really has been a prescription for my. my soul and the prescription is simply this, it's the power of praise in the life of the believer. Psalm 145 is called the Song of Praise. Praise has power in our life. And Psalm 145 helps us realize what it means to unlock that power. So if you will, dive in with me. Psalm 145, verse one.

The psalmist writes, I will extol you, my God and king, and bless your name forever and ever. Here's the first thing to note about the power of praise in your life and unlocking its reality is that praise only accomplishes its intended result when it's pointed in the right direction. Praise only accomplishes its intended result when it's pointed in the right direction. That's why the psalmist starts with addressing the person that he's pointing his praise out, which is God Almighty. He says, my God and king. So fundamentally we have to ask ourselves this question, what is praise?

Is praise singing songs at church? Is praise attending services on the weekend? Is it being kind to one another? Is it offering encouragement or gratitude toward God? Is it waking early and reading the scriptures? What is praise? Well, the answer to all of those questions is yes, yes, yes, and yes. You see, all of those things are the outworking of praise in the life of the believer,

but deeper than that at its foundation. A working definition of praise is simply this. It's giving attention to God's glory. Giving attention to God's glory. Let me ask you this. How well do you handle attention when you get it? Do you handle it well? Let me ask you this.

Have you ever done anything dumb to get somebody's attention? Anybody? Anybody ever done something dumb? For five of you who are honest, I appreciate that about you. Thank you so much. We've all done some dumb stuff, right? Things that we regret.

You ever said anything to try to garner attention, only to regret that you said it later? Let's go deeper than that. Have you ever tried to get someone's attention and then got it and regretted that you had it? Have you ever been there? You're like, oh, if I could just only get this person to see me, and then they start paying you attention,

and you're like, oh, if I could only get this person to leave me alone. I mean, honestly, you know, not a lot of people come to me for marriage counseling because I'm just not super helpful. So, FYI. There's many great people here at that. That's not my skill set. But when I do, honestly, that's like half of the marriage counseling I've ever done is that. It's like, I want to be paid attention to in a way that I feel paid attention to. And I want him or her to pay better attention to me.

And they use a lot of different words, but that's ultimately it. And so you're like, all right, cool, man. Let's pray about it. You give them some things to do, ways that they can value one another. and then they go home and they practice these things, hopefully. And then a couple weeks later, they come back. And it's like, so how's it going? It's like, well, he needs a hobby, you know?

And you start getting the attention you thought you wanted. And here's the thing. We all have a relationship to attention. We all want it. We all want to give it. We all want our attention to be merited and to be validated in return. And here's what you and I both know. And we know it all too well.

We've learned it too many times. is that what we actually want is we want to give our attention to something that can satisfy our souls. And so our attention is wandering in this world. It's wandering, grabbing on to things that we're hoping can satisfy and meet us at our deepest points of need. This is where the power of praise comes in because praise directs our attention to the only person who can actually satisfy. The psalmist says, my God and king, the satisfaction for my soul comes from. a person in his name is Jesus. So what is praise giving attention to God's glory?

When should we do it? The psalmist answers this in verse 2. He says, every day. Every day, I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. I don't know about you, but every day, I live on a swinging pendulum between joy and dissatisfaction, between gratitude and entitlement. between delight and contentment and discontentment.

It's honestly mentally exhausting. Maybe that hasn't been your human experience. Maybe I'm just a headcase. But honestly, I feel like most days I'm on this pendulum swinging back and forth, back and forth. I mean, have you ever had that feeling? You know, that uneasy restlessness, that angst inside of you, that you think, that you know there's really no reason in the world why your soul is discontented.

You have everything you need. All your needs are pretty much met. Everything's going pretty good in your life, but yet still there's this feeling of wanting, deep down in your soul. And what I used to think was that I could find a situational solution to this discontentment or this angst in me, this wanting. And what I mean by that is that I used to believe that if my financial situation changed, then this wanting would go away.

Or if my relationships would just work the way they were supposed to or the way that I wanted them to, then I would finally have this solution for this sole need. Or maybe my professional situation, if I could just get where I wanted to be and be and work with the people that I wanted to work with, then I would feel better. And here's what I've learned and what I am learning. Is that there is no situational solution to soul dissatisfaction. My soul can never be satisfied in a situation. My soul was created to be satisfied by a Savior.

And his name is Jesus. Jesus is the only thing that can satisfy our souls for all of eternity. Verse 2. Every day I will bless and praise. your name forever and ever, every day. How well do you know yourself? Do you know yourself well? Like, bro, that just got deep. I was recently sitting in a class with a biblical counselor, and he offered a solution that I thought was pretty interesting. He said that every person on the planet has one of three default emotions, that when you can instinctively respond emotionally

to any situation that you will have one of three distinct default emotions. And you come to this default emotion by both your nature, which is how God wired you when you were born, and your nurture, the environment you grew up in in your early childhood years. And because of these things together, they create this default emotion that every person on the planet falls into one of three default emotions. And it's either sad, mad, or glad.

See, I did all that preloading with biblical count. counselor and you thought I was going to say something super smart right there. Sad, mad, or glad? Here's how it works. If you're a sad person, I don't mean like, that sounds terrible. If you're a person whose default emotion is sad, here's how it works. Let's just say that you and I got tickets to the Tax Slayer Bowl, the Gator Bowl, on tomorrow. And we were going, we don't really care about the outcome of the game because Texas A&M is playing NC State and who cares.

And so we don't really. care, but we're going to go and we're going to have a good time. And so we load up in the car, we head down Atlantic. And as we're coming over the bridge headed toward the stadium, right as we crest to the top of the bridge, we come over it and we just see brake lights. Cars all the way to the stadium. If you're a sad person, this is how you would respond. You'd be like, oh, do you think we're going to make it?

Do you think everything's going to be? Do you think what might kickoff? Do you think there was a wreck? I hope everybody's okay. So that's sad. If you're mad and you come over the crest of the bridge and you see all the cars and the brake lights, you would be like,

what is wrong with these people? Don't they know that I'm coming to the game? Did no one tell them? How did they not have a plan? What are these people thinking? Get the phone out right now. Pull up the GPS. How long's the red line?

How long am I going to be sitting here? You look at that phone and you find me a way around all this mess right now. See, mad people are often illogical because if you actually think about it, you're sitting on a bridge, there's no other way. There's no other way. So mad people. And then there's the glad people. They come over the crest of the bridge and they're like, look at all these people. This is going to be so great.

We're going to have such a good time with all of our friends. And here's just as a side note. If you're a glad person, from all of us sad and mad people in the world, do humanity of favor and just punch yourself in the face. You know? So, sad, mad, and glad. Look, based on your wiring and based on how you're knit together and based on all of these things that encompass your world view, it doesn't, how you apply the practice of praise in

your life can look and sound different. Absolutely. But nonetheless, no matter how you're wired, praise is a remedy for the soul. Pastor Harry Ironside says it like this, and the quote is in your notes. It says this. It says, we would worry less if we praised more. Praise is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction. Every day, choosing to point our praise at the one person who deserves that every day church preaching the gospel to ourselves, reminding ourselves of God's love for us that came to us in the form of Jesus Christ, His son, preaching the gospel to ourselves, reminding us of this truth. Listen to this.

For God's purposes, God Almighty, the creator of the universe, the one who was and is and is to come, the one who is before all things, the father. For his purposes and for his glory, he loves us. He loves us. God has chosen the means by which the world would know who he is and how good he is by lavishing his love on us, his children. God chose that. He loves us. I don't know what image comes to your mind when you think about God's love for you.

But what it does for me is it brings into clear views some things that I can often make very, very muddy in my life. For years, I had an inaccurate view of. of God's love. As a believer, Christian, professing. I had an inaccurate or an incomplete view of God's love. You see, I used to think of it like God was the Lord of the Manor sitting at the head of the table. But it wasn't like an awesome table. It was like one of those medieval tables. It's super long and there's like a hundred chairs on each side and there's silver platters everywhere. And in the room, everybody's super busy trying to keep the master happy. And because God loved us, we got to come into the room. But I was seated way down at the end of the table.

And then over time, I would move up seats and seats. And finally, I would get my chance to have God's attention on me. And I would put my to-do list in front of them. And I would say, Lord, here's the things I'm doing. Are these the right things? Am I performing the right way? Am I practicing the right habits and saying the right things? And then God would look at me and say, yeah, yeah, it's fine.

Do more of this, less of this. Go on and come back and check in later for years. That's what I thought it meant to be loved by God. It was to be very, very busy for God. but then I started to have kids of my own and my view of God's love for me begin to radically change and it's way less Lord of the Manor

and it's way more family style God absolutely is seated at the head of the table but man the room is filled with joy and as God's kids sit at his table and feast on his provision in their life the more they feast on his provision and goodness the more glorified he is the more satisfied they are in what he's

given them and the needs that he's met, namely through Jesus Christ, the more satisfied they are in him, the more glorified he is. And as we enter that room, this huge family dinner that's laughing and stories are being told and the father's jumping in and he locks eyes with us. And he says, come, come, son, come daughter, sit down with me, tell me, how are you doing? How are you feeling? And he genuinely cares about the answer. And it is from this place of adoption. It is from this position of confidence in God's love for us that we join the psalmist. And we say, what he writes in verse three, which is, great is the Lord, is the Lord and greatly to be praised.

And his greatness is unsearchable. The gospel of Jesus Christ is this million-carat diamond. whereby God's kids will be unearthing beauty and truth for all of eternity. When we practice praise, when we give our attention to the glory of God, what we're doing now is participating in the activities of heaven. This is what our souls have been secured for for all of eternity is to give attention, do attention to the glory of God. And so let me ask you this.

What is, what are some things God's done in your life? in 2018 that you should praise him for? What are some things that God brought you through or some things that God met you in in 2018 that you should praise him for? For me, as I was working on this sermon, a few things jumped out right at me. And the first thing I praise God for from 2018

is that my oldest daughter, Anna Catherine, she confessed Jesus as her Lord and was baptized at the beach. Amen. Amen. Praise God. Praise God. Man, I praise God for that. I praise God for that. Another thing I praise God for is that my dad's not sick anymore. And he's in heaven experiencing things my dreams can't even fathom.

I praise God for that. Third thing I praise God for is my wife and I celebrated 12 years of marriage this year. Yeah, amen. Pray for her. She needs it. We celebrated 12 years of marriage and we have found our home here in Jacksonville with you. That's saying something because we were a bit nomadic. We lived in eight houses and eight years across four different states.

in multiple churches. But somehow, by God's grace, we found our home here with you. I love you, church. Amen. Amen. I praise God for the serve staff at this church. Do you know that this year, more than 500 people took the step to actively participate in serving, they joined thousands of others that create opportunities all across

our city and all of our campuses and disciple groups at homes during the week and on the weekends that they create opportunities and help create environments whereby people can hear about the good news. of Jesus Christ. I praise God for them. If you're one of our serve staff, thank you. Praise God for you. I praise God. The fifth thing I praise God for is that I got to see the Grand Canyon for the first time this year. I went on a Grand Canyon trip with my wife and I got to stand to the edge of the Grand Canyon as the sun was setting on it and I got to hold my wife and simultaneously look at the most beautiful thing I've ever seen and across the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

husband's what I just did right there is called hashtag winning hashtag here's the truth of my wife she's totally not into words of affirmation if I want her to know I love her I better grab a vacuum you know what I mean but man what is it for you praise God for all the stuff that he's done God doesn't owe me that moment at the edge of the Grand Canyon he doesn't owe that to me praise God for moments that last a lifetime the psalmist continues in verse 4 one generation shall commend your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts.

Is that not what we committed to this year as a church, that we would be committed to raising up one more generation in the gospel? That we would be committed to saying one more generation here and know the mighty works of God, and that they would testify to His goodness and that they would be disciples. And we committed that to a church. Verse 5. Listen to these words. Listen to these titles that get stuck on God Almighty. I come out and all I get is, don't worry about his mean mug.

He loves you, church. And that is an appropriate introduction for me. That is. It's completely appropriate. But we're talking about God Almighty. He's the only one in all of the cosmos that deserves these words and is worthy of these titles. Verse 5. On the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

Verse 6. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds. And I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth. the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and merciful. Slow to anger and abounding and steadfast love. Listen to this church.

The Old Testament and New Testament, the narrative of the story of God testifies to this time and time again, that God Almighty, he has to be stirred to anger, but that he is love. Verse 9, the Lord is good to all. and His mercy is over all that he has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints, underline that. All your saints shall bless you. This is the point of the church. The point of the church.

And I'm not talking about the institutional church with signs everywhere. I'm talking about the people of God, the bride of Christ, those who have been saved, sealed, and consummated. unto God the Father through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and have placed their faith in Him, that their purpose is to praise God. This is the point of the church. The point of the church is not to only gather on the weekends. The point of the church is not to only do evangelism or discipleship or activities. The point of the church is not just doing things together.

The point of the church, all of those good things, God ordained things, those things are just a means. Our salvation is just a means. It's a very important means, but it is a means. It is not the end of itself. It does not terminate on itself. The reason God saves us is not just so that we will feel better or that we will experience a better existence.

He does and provides all of those things for his glory. His glory is the end and everything else is a means. So to give attention to the glory of God is to give attention to the weightiest reality in all of the world. The saints, your saints shall bless you. We have much to give God praise for as a church. Amen. The church of 1122 is a movement for all people and make no mistake about it. The Holy Spirit of God is on the move through this movement. It's exciting to be a part of. It's exciting to belong to a people who love each other. It's messy. It's not perfect. But man, we are in this thing together. Amen. Amen. Amen. God is

done some incredible things throughout 2018, mind-blowing things that God has done in our little corner of the kingdom here in Jacksonville. So our team put together a video to remind us of what we set out to do as led by God in 2018 and what God was faithful to accomplish in our midst. And so we're going to watch this video, but as we do, we're going to make a turn toward communion. And so under the end seats on each of your row, there are baskets. One has juice and one has bread. If you're sitting there, grab those as this video plays and we celebrate God's goodness in our movement.

Will you pass those baskets and then we will take communion together? Let's check this out. As many of you already know, this past year, we've seen God move in amazing ways. We saw a new 1122 campus be launched at Arlington. Hundreds of people declare Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and get baptized at the beach.

And the thousands of us that call 1122 home, this year we've acknowledged with our finances that God is the one thing that drives everything else in our life. You see, at the beginning of the year, Pastor Joby laid out the vision for 2018, based on what he believed God was leading us to do. He gave us three big objectives, and our first and our primary objective is that we would deepen our relationship with Jesus. We began this year by entering into a 34-week study of the book of Romans. Amen and amen. Church, you ready for this? You ready for the next eight months in the book of Romans? Romans, a letter of Paul to the Romans, chapter one, verse one.

We also deepened our relationship with Jesus by diving even deeper into his word through doctrine classes, on campus disciple groups, and a whole bunch of encounter retreats. The second objective Pastor Jobi called us to in 2018 was what we call 1122 life. Each season is marked with big family events in the life of our church. This year, we had over 50,000. 15,500 people attend our Easter services across all our locations and over 468 people surrendered their life to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. At Hannah Park, 426 people walk out into the water and publicly proclaim that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior.

In September, we spent five days getting revived and saturated through incredible worship and gospel-centered teaching from some of the best preaching in the country. And finally, last week, we celebrated the birth of Jesus and our Christmas Eve Eve Services. The third objective Pastor Julie we called us to in 2018 was to launch a healthy Arlington and beyond. And so far, it is going awesome. Before we even launched on January 7th, we already had our first salvation there at the campus. And on our first Sunday, we baptized two people. Incredible. Arlington, just like every other part of Jacksonville, is in desperate need of the gospel. So while Arlington campus is going awesome, the and beyond part is also going great. This year, we purchased and began construction on our Fleming Island campus, and we have partnered with Baker

Correctional Institute to put our very first campus inside a prison. Jesus did not stand still. He took the gospel into the world, and so are we. There's no way we could look back at 2018 without acknowledging and celebrating the miraculous things God did through the two. year discipleship journey we call the one initiative. We as a church responded to this question in a huge way. We spent five weeks looking at what it means to be the one church where we simply continue to glorify God and worship the Lord. What it means to reach one more by planting churches in East Africa and Brazil and launching campuses to reach our neighbors here in Jacksonville. What does it mean to disciple one more generation? Because we won't be around here forever.

And what if the big thing that God wants us to do at 1122 is not what's happening right now, but in who we raise? Through the one initiative, our church committed to contribute over $53 million to continue this movement over the next two years and to simply acknowledge that the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 2018 has been extraordinary, so would you please join me as we continue to pray for Pastor Jobi and for our elders and as we pray for every person that would walk through the doors of our church? This isn't new. It's just our turn. Amen.

I know you can't clap because you have the elements of communion in your hand. But man, we praise God for his faithfulness to us as a people. If you agree with that, let me hear a big amen. Amen. Amen. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to take communion together as a church. Communion is a gift that Jesus gave to his friends at the last supper.

And it's a gift that he's given to all believers throughout church history. And what communion means is common union. It means that we are unified. We have one thing in common all over the world throughout all of history. From that day to this, there's one thing that unifies us. And it is the person and work of Jesus Christ. Make no mistake about it. Christianity is not a religion of rituals.

It's not just some, we don't just describe to some philosophical ideas. Christianity at its foundation. is built on the fact that there was a man who died on the cross and three days later he wasn't dead anymore. That Jesus Christ is the son of God and he conquered death and the grave and he is alive. And communion reminds us. It helps us remember what Jesus did for us.

It helps us have confidence in what Jesus has invited us into. Maybe you're here today and you're like I was. and you had an incomplete. You have an incomplete or an inaccurate view of God's love for you. Maybe you've been very, very busy, trying to perform for God, trying to attain his approval. Listen to me, I would offer you this.

Relax. God is totally satisfied in his kids. Before the foundations of the world, he set it up in a way that we would get to experience all the blessing that he and his son Jesus have been experiencing for all of eternity. God the Father is completely, has always been and always will be, is completely satisfied, completely content in God the Son, who is Jesus.

They have experienced total satisfaction for all of eternity past. And when God, the Son, Jesus came into this world and he paid the price for sinners, the due penalty, the wage of sin, he paid it with his broken body and with his shed blood, and then he went into the ground, into the grave, but he did not stay there. He was resurrected, and when he came to life, with it came the keys of victory over hell and death forever and ever. Forever and ever, and when we place our faith in Jesus, all the satisfaction that the father has with the son, he gives to us, he imputes it, he credits it to us. so you don't have to perform for God to get his attention. You have it.

You don't have to achieve in order to merit your worth before God. Jesus achieved everything you could ever try and fail at a million times. Jesus did it all for us. All the approval, all this satisfaction that Jesus has, we get to enjoy as God's children. And it's in this spirit that we take communion. before we break the bread and share the wine, juice, you're welcome, don't get nervous, share the wine, I want to pray for you.

I would like to pray over you. I'd like to use the next few verses from Psalm 145 to offer a prayer of blessing and to also prepare our hearts for communion. Communion is not just something we do. It is a connection to someone we belong to. So I'm going to offer this prayer for you. So whatever the posture of prayer is for you, whether it's eyes opened or closed or however you want to do it, I'm going to pray this over us as both a blessing and a preparation.

Father, we come to you as your kids knowing that you love us. And I pray for my brothers and sisters here in this church. I pray that they would grow deeper and deeper in their faith and in their commitment to speak of your glory. That their lives would be sold out for your mission. that their lives would be sold out for your glory being declared among the nations, that there is no hill too high, there is no place too far, that they would not go when you call and when you sin.

God, would you move in such a way among us here in this room that we would be so stirred with your love that we would tell everyone we see, would you help us to be a kingdom people, Jesus? We know that your kingdom is a kingdom of peace. because you're the prince of peace. So I pray the peace of Christ over my brothers and sisters right now. I pray that they would be supernaturally invaded

with the peace of Christ in every relationship, that every anxiety, every worry that they have, God, that it would be calmed by the peace of your kingdom. And that where they go, you go with them also and that they would bring peace. And that we would be people of peace.

God, would you use us this church to declare your mighty deeds to the children of men, to make much of you in our city and around the world? We know, Father, that your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. We know that your reign will never end, that you are before and above all things, Jesus, and that your dominion and your rule will last throughout all generations. Lord, we know that you are faithful in all of your words and kind in all of your works. we know that there's never been anyone kinder to us than you

we're not a perfect people we're a broken people we don't have it all together we're not strong no matter how hard we try we're weak but we know this that when we're faithless you remain faithful when we're weak it is in our weakness that your strength is made perfect father Lord we know that it is you who upholds all

of us who were falling and so I pray for my friends here today that may feel like they're falling Holy Spirit would you meet them and comfort them maybe the holidays have stirred up some things maybe some old wounds have risen maybe some new ones holy spirit would you heal them would you meet them in their place of need at their deepest point of need and would you whisper to them that you love them and that you have them that you'll never let go. Father, we know it is you who uphold us and that when we bow down before you, when we submit ourselves to you that you raise us up, Father, we know this that when you open your hand, you satisfy the desire of every living thing. Every desire of every living thing, even me. When you open your hand, you satisfy. And that ultimately,

satisfaction, that ultimate contentment, Father, we know that it comes when we look at the cross of Jesus Christ, that every sin is forgiven, that every victory has been won, that it truly is finished because of Jesus Christ on the cross. So it is by the power of his wounds and the power of his blood that we pray these things. And all God's people said, amen. Amen. So we take the bread church and we remember. We remember the broken body of Christ. I want you to think about something. Think about Peter, James, and John, Andrew and Thomas, the other disciples who were at the last supper with Jesus when he first held the bread and the wine up.

When he said, when you eat this, do so in remembrance of me. And what Jesus was saying is that the prophecies have come true. That as the prophet Isaiah said that his body would be broken and marred and that it is by his wounds, it is by the stripes on his back that we would be healed. It's true. That it is by his wounds we are healed. We are eternally healed. And Jesus holds the bread up and he says, when you do this, remember me.

Now think about that if you're Peter, James, and John. And you see him go to the cross. and die, a death he did not deserve. And then in deep depression, in great worry and fear, three days later, you see him alive again, with a wound still fresh in his hands and in his feet. And then some time passes and he ascends to the right hand with the Father, and then off you go on the mission of God that he so generously gave you. And then you sit down for dinner one night, and somebody raises the bread.

read and said, let's remember our Lord, what do you think they felt? Do you think they felt a sense of urgency? Do you think they felt a sense of miraculous work on their behalf? Do you think they thought of Jesus' kindness? His compassion? When we take communion, we join in with all the saints from that day to this, remembering that it is by no work of our own that we have healing. it is by no work of our own that we are free people, not bound by the law, not pressed by sin. It is by no work of our own that we have been adopted into the family of God, but it is singularly and solely by the work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And we remember, and it is in the spirit of remembrance that we take the bread and we eat. Psalm 145.18 says, the Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him, to all who,

who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear them and he also hears their cry and saves them. How are we saved, church? How are we saved from separation from God? How are we saved from being lost in isolation? How are we saved from the entrappings of sin that so easily entangled? How are we saved by the blood of Jesus? Just like the blood of Jesus fell off his brow, fell off his hands in his feet onto the sand on Calvary's Hill. That day, so many, years ago, it falls from that cross onto our souls and where there's confusion and wandering and hurt, where there's selfishness, where there's sin, the blood of Jesus falls on us and it washes us white as snow. It cleanses us and makes us whole again. It restores us in a right

relationship with God. The book of Hebrews says that without the shedding of blood, that there can be no forgiveness for sins, that all of the Old Testament sacrificial system, the law, the day of atonement, that all of these sacrifices, all of the blood shed for the forgiveness for the atoning of sin, we're just pointing to one thing, and that one thing is Jesus Christ on the cross, that his sacrifice was the final sacrifice, and that for all those who would believe that his blood would set them free and give them forgiveness for sins. And so when Jesus is at the last supper with his brothers and he holds up the cup and he says this is my blood blood of the new covenant what he's saying is that is that you were under the covenant of law you were under the the desire to perform

perfectly you were trying to earn and merit and attain by achievement's sake your worth but you're not under that law anymore you're not under that covenant anymore you're now under a covenant of grace you are fully accepted you were fully approved of you are fully loved and there's nothing you can do about it you are loved when God looks on you he sees now my blood

and he is completely satisfied you have been imputed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ it's a new covenant and so when we take the wine and the juice and we drink we do so in remembrance of our Lord

who paid such a great price for us to be a part of God's family. Let's remember him. Psalm 145, verse 20, says this. The Lord preserves all those who love him. This word preserves paints the mental image that he is an anchor for our souls. That when the waves of life rise,

when the hard times come and when the good times are there, in both seasons that God is the, anchor, the one who is due our praise, the one who preserves us, the one who sustains us. So I can think of no better way than to celebrate communion

to remember him and to point our praise in the direction of God, our anchor, who holds us up when life would seem to knock us down. When we have an enemy that comes against us, lies to us, wants to deceive us, we have

a father who is stronger, and We have a father who has made a way for us to not live according to the lives of this world, but to live in freedom. And he holds us fast. We have a good dad who loves us. And so it is this good father that we sing to. And we tell him this truth about him. So would you please stand with me? Let's worship him together.

Let's ascribe to him all that he is worth. Thank you.