For the One Series: We are Called to Celebrate
For the One Series – Part 5
We Are Called to Celebrate
April 29, 2018
Ps 118:1-8,25-29
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let Israel say: "His love endures forever." 3 Let the house of Aaron say: "His love endures forever." 4 Let those who fear the Lord say: "His love endures forever." 5 In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and he answered by setting me free. 6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? 7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies. 8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. 24 This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 O Lord, save us; O Lord, grant us success. 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you. 27 The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. NIV
Have you heard the story of the woman who woke up one morning and as she saw her husband getting ready to leave for work she said, with a big smile on her face, “Honey, I’ll bet you don’t know what day this is.” Her husband had a hard time remembering birthdays and anniversaries, but since he was about to leave for work he excused himself from the embarrassing situation by walking out of the door while saying, “Honey, how could I ever forget. This is the best day of our lives.” All during the day, he kept trying to remember what month and what day his wife’s birthday was, and when their anniversary was, but he could not remember. The day wore on and it was getting close to time to get off from work and he knew he was going to have to go home and face his wife.
Knowing what made this day so special. He finally thought of a plan to save his hide. He rushed into the house and said, “Honey, get your best dress on. We are going to paint the town red to celebrate this outstanding day in our lives!” While she was getting ready he rushed down to the florist and bought her a lovely bouquet of flowers. He took her to the most expensive restaurant in town. He had spent $150.00 to celebrate this day and he didn’t even know what he was celebrating.
It was on the way home that he finally discovered what day it was. His wife snuggled real close to him, placed her arm around his shoulder, planted a soft kiss on his cheek and said, “Honey, this is the best celebration of groundhog day that we have ever enjoyed together.
Knowing what made this day so special. He finally thought of a plan to save his hide. He rushed into the house and said, “Honey, get your best dress on. We are going to paint the town red to celebrate this outstanding day in our lives!” While she was getting ready he rushed down to the florist and bought her a lovely bouquet of flowers. He took her to the most expensive restaurant in town. He had spent $150.00 to celebrate this day and he didn’t even know what he was celebrating.
It was on the way home that he finally discovered what day it was. His wife snuggled real close to him, placed her arm around his shoulder, planted a soft kiss on his cheek and said, “Honey, this is the best celebration of groundhog day that we have ever enjoyed together.
Introduction:
For the past month, we have been celebrating our call to reach the One. All of this is based off the example of Jesus when he left the 99 and went after the One. Several weeks ago, I called your attention to the passage in Luke 15 where Jesus tells 3 parables where something was lost and then was recovered or found. The parables are the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost (boy) son. Have you noticed that every time that chapter the lost was recovered they celebrated! It stuck me that whether it is Old Testament or New Testament God’s Word lays out a pattern for Biblical Celebrations praising God for His provision and supply to us.
We Celebrate today because …
I. God is Good (Psa. 118:1) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good
There is a phrase often repeated in church – God is good All the Time, and All the Time God is Good! (Say it with me…) But what about those times when …. Things aren’t going to well? More month than money … Unexpected surprises us… it may be more difficult to recall God's goodness. In those times we have to reach down into what we know, not what we feel, and on purpose declare that no matter what, GOD IS GOOD.
that God works all things to good for those who love Him. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that He has a good plan for us to give us a hope and a future. He is on our side and His power in us is greater than the powers of darkness that try to come against us.
We can say God is Good because…
a. His Love Endures forever (Psa. 118:1,2,3,4) "His love endures forever."
Notice that this phrase is often repeated here in this Psalm. Actually, I just recent read that this four word phrase is repeated over 40 times in the scriptures! Must be important! So lets key in on that important word endures:
· Enduring love does not change according to the behavior of the recipients of that love.
· Enduring love remains strong and unyielding, even in the face of misfortune.
· Enduring love holds on through hardship and refuses to give in. That's the magnificent kind of love God has for us.
Today I rejoice because you Abundant Life are a reflection of the enduring God of God. You are reflecting and demonstrating that God is Good and His Love endures forever by…
· By loving the tings God loves – For God so Loved the World… The Cross at the back of the Sanctuary because His Love Endures forever on numerous levels. First the Sacrifice of Jesus and then all those For the One Cards and your commitment to pray and invite.
b. Let All declare it (Psa.118:2) Let Israel say: "His love endures forever."
But You are also reflecting and demonstrating that God is Good and His Love endures forever by… your commitment to give to remove the barrier in reaching the Ones
Introduce the Leadership Team of Our for the One Campaign.
Last Sunday you the congregation made commitments – there were 109 people here last week and you – your family took a step in the faith journey to trust God to help reach the Ones
109 People committed to declare to “ones’ who haven’t yet heard or understood that, God is Good and His Love Endures Forever! 109 !!! that is an incredible number!
Come on join me in rejoicing – clapping, shouting, whatever to celebrate and express our rejoicing in the tremendous level of participation of reflecting God’s love is reaching the One!
We Celebrate today because …
II. God is Our Help (Psa. 118:7) The Lord is with me; he is my helper.
Play Consuelo For the One testimony
There are just somethings that we just cannot accomplished on our own. Clearly, you can do the Laundry or mow the lawn on your own. You can wash the car or the dishes on your own. But there are somethings that are beyond our ability to achieve or accomplish on our own
Makes me think of times I’ve attempt to do something and struggled with it changing the brakes on the car – stopped and prayed and suddenly it just seems to work!
a. I will Trust (Psa. 118:8) It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.
· His help is ADEQUATE because it is divine, almighty help – “The Lord is my helper.”” When we are in need friends come to our aid, but often they cannot help us because their resources are inadequate.His name is El-Shaddai (Genesis 17:1), which means that He is ”the Enough God””.
· His help is always AVAILABLE because the Lord who doesn’t’ change is always with us –
· His help is APPROPRIATE to our individual needs because it is personally dispensed to each of us according to our need – “The Lord is my helper
b. I will Triumph (Psa. 118:7) I will look in triumph on my enemies.
Because of David’s trust (Confidence in God’s plan) because it was in God who is Adequate, Available, and Appropriate he knew he through God he would triumph – have success.
Have you been through hard times in your life? Perhaps you are in the middle of hard times right now and things aren’t looking good in your life at this moment. Remember that at the time of his greatest triumph it did not look good for Jesus.
Look to God! He is Your Help! Disasters and trouble are opportunities for God to show how he triumphs over the enemy
‘Houston, we’ve had a problem,’ were the words of Jim Lovell on the evening of 13 April 1970. Nearly fifty-six hours into the mission to the moon, an explosion aboard the spacecraft plunged the crew into a fight for their survival. Within less than a minute there was a cascade of systems failures throughout the spacecraft. ‘It was all at one time – a monstrous failure,’ said NASA’s flight controller.
The spacecraft looped around the moon, using its gravity to return to earth. Millions of people followed the drama on television. Eventually, the capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near Tonga.
‘Although the mission was not a success from a conventional perspective, it was a triumph of ingenuity and determination,’ wrote Paul Rincon, science reporter for the BBC in an article headed Apollo 13: From Disaster to Triumph. Jim Lovell said it showed the people of the world that even if there was a great catastrophe, it could be turned into a success.
God is our help this past Sunday through you He has begun to show that obstacles and barriers are nothing for him! He is preforming the miraculous through you!! So…
We Celebrate today because …
III. God is God (Psa. 118:27) The Lord is God
This means that nothing, absolutely nothing is too hard for him! HE is God and because He is God …
a. He is at Work (Psa. 118:24) This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
God is at work – He is still changing and transforming people! That is what the FTO campaign is all about!
Play Atanza FTO Testimony
B. He has made His light shine on us (Psa. 118:27) The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine upon us.
The ultimate way he did this is the Sacrifice of His son on the Cross – Sending the savior to give us the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and demonstrating God’s love for us and to us.
But this past Sunday he did it another way! You see this past Sunday God spoke your hearts once again and you responded with faith and sacrifice… Are you ready for this … are you ready to hear the incredible commitments made to date last week?
Oh, it does sound like you really what to know. Who hear what to hear how God made his light shine upon us. Last Week 109 people committed to give over the next 3 yrs ….
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