Palm Sunday, 3/20/16

Palm Sunday worship sermon 2016 1 Chr 16:23-31

Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day.
²⁴ Declare his glory among the nations,  his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

²⁵ For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.
²⁶ For all the gods of the nations are idols,    but the Lord made the heavens.
²⁷ Splendor and majesty are before him;    strength and joy are in his dwelling place.

²⁸ Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
²⁹ Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;    bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his^[e] holiness.³⁰     Tremble before him, all the earth!
    The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.³¹ Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;    let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”

David set Jerusalem as his capital city.  They built homes for himself and a tent for God and he  offering praise.

this is language that we commonly find in the psalms.

Palm Sunday is also a day of praise

Tell the palm Sunday story of jesus entry into Jerusalem. 

when we see what we have, praise is the natural response.
The people on Palm Sunday saw what they had in Jesus
The Pharisees did not... The Pharisees challenge him.

they were focused on something else...themselves

If these don’t praise me the rocks and stones will cry out.

Song: aint no rock gonna cry in my place.  Done by mercy me & hillsong

Ain't no rock, gonna cry in my place

Ain't no bird, gonna flap it's feathers

(Ain't no tree, gonna wave it's branches.

Ain't no rock, gonna cry in my place.
Long as I'm alive, I'll glorify his holy name

Praising God...does this seem weird to you?
Do we Methodists praise?
When do we do this?
Ask the average church member: I guess when we sing, but I don't know.
Emphasis on I don't know.

The joke: a fellow from a more demonstrative church visited the mainline
At a good point of the sermon, he would shout out "praise the Lord"
Sir, we don't do that here

Why this praise? Why did they praise Jesus that day?
Reason #1 You praise what you love...
what you love probably is your God - idolatry is alive and well on planet earth

and everyone is praising, exalting something...
It is what we do. We see something that we like and we call it good.
We make choices of what we will exalt: our self, sports, money, God
If we are fixated on the wrong things, we do so at our peril
The result of such living is predictable.

[someone says that they don’t feel close to god…… hmmm…]

We praise what we love
For what it does, and for who it is
For what it does, we praise the dog
What who it is, we praise those special people

A man gave his wife the most beautiful compliment: "Won't you come into the garden? I would like my roses to see you."

Authentic praise of God acknowledges what is true about God; it responds to qualities that are "there" and not simply "there for me..." In other words,God is to be praised because God is God, because of what God is and does, quite apart from what God is and does for me.

Reason #2: Why did they praise Jesus that day?
It is what we are made for...boy does that sound weird.

We are not our own! This is a difficult lesson to hear and to get across in a culture-our lives are not simply our own to live. 

1 Cor 6 you are not your own, you are bought with a price

Genuine life is found in relationship to God.

It empowers us, it lifts us up as we lift up God
You raise me up...song – josh groban

When I am down and, oh, my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up to more than I can be.

Selfishness makes us unhappy but looking to God brings us joy

Samuel Goldwyn said, when someone does something good, applaud! You will make two people happy--
it makes us happy when we find a joy in God.

Song- indescribably, uncontainable awestruck we fall to our knees and we humbly proclaim you are amazing.

Praise must be relevant
Waving palm branches anymore-any adults want to try this?
People joke about rolling in the aisles ...swinging from chandeliers
The pastor that handle the snakes [do you take the bible literally?]

there used to be what was called “shouting methodists”
I believe that we can praise God 7 days a week, 24 hours a day

I think that this is from Barbara taylor brown……
A group of Christian women got together for prayer and to do each other’s hair…..Jackie began the litany with the soft voice she saves for leading morning prayers with her sisters in faith: "We thank you, Lord, for this day. For mending families. For Healing broken hearts..."
Her volume and eloquence rising, Bess and the circle of seven women around her began to shout, sing and sway. Their voices rose to a climax--"Amen, Hallelujah!" Then Bess yelled even louder: "To you be the honor and glory, Lord! Guide our steps, Lord! Amen, Lord!"
Tears trickled down one woman's face as she bellowed a cascade of praises. With that, the group fell silent. The circle broke. Each said amen and drifted away. Worship was over. Now it was time to do hair.

So there is praise, and then there is hair cutting.
I reject this. We cannot separate our lives into the spiritual and the unspiritual.

But We have divided our life into the sacred and the secular.

Living a divided life instead of a united life

1)   Sacred acts..performed with a feeling of satisfaction and a firm assurance that they are pleasing to God......prayer, Bible study/reading, church and such acts that spring directly from faith.

2)   Secular acts including all the ordinary activities of life....some that we often do reluctantly and with misgivings, often apologizing to God for what we consider a waste of time and strength....

What if There are no sacred or secular places.

God is everywhere

The holy land is no more sacred than lees summit.

Lent no more holy than 2nd week of august

Easter no more holy than sept 9

In John 8 Jesus says- “I do always the things that please him”
What common things did Jesus do?

·        Went for a walk

·        Drank wine

·        Taught a class

·        Went on a mission trip

·        Stopped to hug a baby

·        Talked to a prostitute

·        He ate with sinners

And god was pleased

It is all spiritual, life is spiritual

Can I not praise God by how I cut my hair? Can I not praise God by how I treat the people I come into contact with during the day?

You can praise God, Anytime you just by being aware of His presence with you. It is not something that you do to begin the day, and then go about your life

A spiritual awareness of God is available to you anytime you stop to take notice.  And the moment that you take notice of God's work, you are praising.

Paul wrote - And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

I listened to a pastors sermon a few weeks ago-

Describing the throne room in revelation

1.   All creatures in heaven revolve around God, he is the center

There is a throne and I am not on it

Worship service is a weekly reminder that it is not about us.

2.   Worship does not start at 1115.  It has been going on for centuries.  At 1115, we join in.

An old Jewish legend gives the origin of praise this way: After God created the world, God asked the angels what they thought of it all. "Only one thing lacking," they said. "It is the sound of praise to the Creator." So, the legend goes, God created music of birds, the whispering wind, the murmuring ocean, and planted melody in the hearts of men and women.

yes we praise for the great theological truths, but oh what joy in becoming more aware of the amazing small things around us.

someone said, you have brought every act down to a low level,

A>W> tozer says no, we must lift up every act to the kingdom level and the whole of life to a sacrament

when we get this, a sense of wondrous meaning will begin to take hold of us And all of life can become special, holy and spiritual

We just have to decide how we will see.  What we will see

Is eating at la fuente a mundane or a holy thing

If a member of my family is on the other side of the table, it’s a holy thing

Is breathing a normal thing or a sacred thing

Ask someone who has a lung condition

Is walking a normal thing or a sacred thing

Ask someone who cannot walk

Is driving a mundane thing or a sacred thing

Ask someone who has just had their license retired

Is working a normal thing or a sacred thing

Ask someone who is looking for a job

Praying is good.  Study is good.  Acts of mission are good but.......

let us believe that God is in all our simple deeds as well and learn to find Him there

It is after all, a beautiful day in gods world be sure to see the good

Close with Psalm 150 - Jeff Brinkman version
1Praise the LORD. Praise God in this sanctury; praise hin when you are outside.
2Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his acts of kindness and love.
3Praise him on the basketball court, praise him by the way you drive your car,
4Praise him with kind words to family members, praise him by prioritizing your life
5Praise him by being aware of His simple gifts, praise him with a thankful heart.
6Let everthing that has breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

Prayer: 

Oh God of Peace, help us on our journey.  remind us that we belong only to you.  We give you our life….every moment of it.  You chose us and we in turn choose you.  You are a faithful God and we confidently believe in you and live in you.  we offer you thanks and praise.  thanks for the joy that this brings. - Amen

Psalms the Series - Praise the Lord, 9/28/14

Psalm 150

¹ Praise the Lord.^[a] Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. ² Praise him for his acts of power;  praise him for his surpassing greatness. ³ Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,   praise him with the harp and lyre, ⁴ praise him with timbrel and dancing,   praise him with the strings and pipe, ⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,  praise him with resounding cymbals. ⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord.

 

Last sermon in this series.

Next week a new series, rethink.  Rethink your life.

Today, psalm 150.  A psalm of delight.

Joy – Faith can be joyful!

Christians don’t have to be glum…….cartoon 

I rewrote this psalm.  Is that sacreligious?

¹ Wow!  Praise the Lord.^[a] Feel it.  God is amazing!  Praise God when you come to church.  Engage your heart with him; praise him when you are looking at the sky.  Praise him when you think about the stars and the moon.  Praise him when you think about the millions of planets and galaxies in our universe. ² Praise him for the things that he has done.  Don’t take any of it for granted.  See the things that he has done.  Think on them;  praise him for his super cool amazingness.  Get out the instruments! ³ Praise him with the sound of the trumpet,   turn up the guitar!  Beat the drums!  Turn up the radio.  Crank up Pandora.  Feel it inside and dance.  Dance, dance, dance.   ⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Wow.  Praise the Lord.

So much to say

When I was a kid we read the liturgy together.

That’s fine, but learn to make it your own

Does not have to be organized or orchestrated

Find your own words of thanks to god

When I was a teen I was in a demonstrative church

That’s fine – I changed

Im not loud or demonstrative

Im introverted and quiet.  It sounds droll, but its heartfelt

I left the liturgical because it did not feel alive – to me

I left the demonstrative because to me it didn’t work during the week

We had Loud prayers on Sunday morning

How do we pray at la fuente

So I choose a method of prayer and praise that I think works all the time.  I don’t have to turn it on or off.

I can just be me.  Anytime, anywhere.

But demonstrative or not, everyone can praise

I have been very happy lately.  Mostly.

Except for the road rage guy that followed me the other day.

We think we are only happy when things go well.

Well, things aren’t perfect for me.

But right now I am in a good place.

You can praise god and give thanks even when you have problems.

In our problems we are not alone.

Finding joy when life is difficult

Those who turn away from god in difficulty, make it worse

          Angry, sad, bitter lives – the woman in awakenings

Those who turn to him in difficulty, find an amazing source of hope.

The guitarist in the concentration camp Once upon a time in a concentration camp there lived a prisoner who, even though he was under sentence of execution, was fearless and free. One day he was seen in the middle of the prison square playing his guitar. A large crowd gathered to listen for, under the spell of the music, they became as fearless as he. When the prison authorities saw this they forbade the man to play.

But the next day there he was again, singing and playing on his guitar with a larger crowd around him. The guards angrily dragged him away and smashed his fingers so he could not play.
The next day he was back, singing and making what music he could with his swollen broken fingers. This time the crowd was cheering. The guards dragged him away again, beat him again and smashed his guitar.
The following day he was in the square again, singing with all his heart. What a song! So pure and uplifting. The crowd joined in, and while the singing lasted their hearts became as pure as his and their spirits as invincible. So angry were the guards this time that they tore out his tongue.
A hush descended on the camp, a something that was deathless.
To the astonishment of everyone, he was back at his place the next day swaying and dancing to a silent music that no one but he could hear. And soon everyone was holding hands and dancing around his bleeding, broken figure in the centre of the square, while the guards stood rooted to the ground in wonder.      Anthony de Mello, Prayer of the Frog, p.73-4

Praise him in the sanctuary

One of the main reasons that people leave churches is because they aren’t getting what they want from church.

Or they liked the pastors stuff for a while, but now it all seems the same.  Maybe they have outgrown his or her stuff

I want you to get something out of it

But we cant miss the other aspect of coming to church, the main aspect.

Its to say thanks to God

Its to honor him.  To give back to him.  To support others. To join in his work.

People whose church relationship is measured by what they are getting are rarely happy

Those whose church relationship is about giving back to god, they are almost always full

Why? We weren’t created to live selfish lives, that never satisfies

We were created to live generous lives investing others, investing in life

Something else about praising in the sanctuary

Sing.

To sing.  Why.  Make a joyful noise

Not really a singing church

I sing in the car.  I sing in the shower.

I sing in church sometimes

In a song, the heart comes out

Make a joyful noise - kjv

Carpenters.  Sing, sing a song, sing it long sing it strong

Sing, sing a song
Sing  out loud, sing out strong
Sing of good things not bad
Sing of happy not sad

Sing, sing a song
Make it simple to last your whole life long
Don't worry that it's not good enough
For anyone else to hear
Just sing, sing a song

Praise him for the mighty heavens

Praise him for creation

The theology of creation

Sister sun, brother moon

The fatherhood of god and the brotherhood of man

My parents wanted to dislike people that were different than them

The moon is amazing.  Trees are amazing.

They are not God, but God is in them somehow speaking to us

²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.       Romans 1:20

Praise boils down to two things

Wow and thank you.

Wow.  Thank you.

I am not sure that we are very good about  this.

It’s a beautiful day in God’s world, be sure to see the good.

I don’t think we see it enough

When you are aware and you see what god is ddoing, then we say wow

We need to stop, look and see it more.

Wow thank you.

You make friends by saying thank you.

It is a sign of love and appreciation

We want to be thanked

I was taught to live without this.

I am trying to be better at saying thank you

If thank you is the only prayer that we learn in this life, it is enough

Nate Bartlett

The royals are in the playoffs for the first time since 1985

Wow.  Thank you.

Cut loose

Let it go

God?  He is amazing

Wow.  Thank you.

Cut loose. Let it go.

Lets have a band.  Lets get some instruments

Lets sing

Lets dance

God is everywhere.

You can praise him anywhere.

You can wow- thank him anywhere.

To praise is to restore my soul

To praise the lord  is to say thank you

To say I love you

We live so much in the mind.  Thinking, worrying.

To praise and thank god…….

It helps our soul rise to the top of our life

Thank you thank you.  I want to thank you.

I just want to thank you lord

¹ Wow!  Praise the Lord.^[a] Feel it.  God is amazing!  Praise God when you come to church.  Engage your heart with him; praise him when you are looking at the sky.  Praise him when you think about the stars and the moon.  Praise him when you think about the millions of planets and galaxies in our universe. ² Praise him for the things that he has done.  Don’t take any of it for granted.  See the things that he has done.  Think on them;  praise him for his super cool amazingness.  Get out the instruments! ³ Praise him with the sound of the trumpet,   turn up the guitar!  Beat the drums!  Turn up the radio.  Crank up Pandora.  Feel it inside and dance.  Dance, dance, dance.   ⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Wow.  Praise the Lord.