The Eternal Vocation of Praise: Talking Up God’s Wondrous Works

• Intergenerational Praise and Evangelism [00:35:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor connects the sermon theme to Vacation Bible School (VBS), arguing that the church's mission requires every generation to proclaim Jesus and share the gospel story with one another.
• The Nature of God [00:41:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes Psalm 145 to define God as both a 'personal God' ('my God') and 'the King' (King of Kings), which naturally results in praise.
• Eternal Vocation of Praise [00:43:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that praising God is a daily and eternal habit, extending beyond physical life into the disembodied state and resurrection, unlike temporary earthly activities.
• Eternal Praise [00:43:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that praise is not limited to earthly life or church services but is an eternal vocation that continues after death and through the written Word.
• Communal Worship [00:45:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor emphasizes that praise is a corporate act ('us' not 'you'), rejecting 'Lone Ranger Christianity' and using the analogy of a chorus where generations sing together.
• Wondrous Works [00:47:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines 'wondrous works' as miraculous acts, citing the ten plagues, David's victory over Goliath, and ultimately the salvation of sinners through Jesus Christ.
• Awesome Works [00:53:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains 'awesome works' as acts that inspire awe, including God's judgment and corrective discipline, illustrated by David's sin with Bathsheba.
• God's Goodness [00:55:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes 'great works' as evidence of God's abundant goodness, using the metaphor of 'bubbling up' to describe how believers internalize and celebrate this goodness daily.
• God's Goodness [00:56:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes God's goodness as something that 'bubbles up' within believers, encouraging them to actively seek God's hand daily to appreciate His work.
• Righteousness [00:58:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that righteousness is a gift from Jesus but also involves the power to walk in His ways, describing the process as 'two steps forward, one step back' as God changes believers.
• God's Love [00:58:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines God's love as being 'rich in love' rather than financial wealth, pointing to the cross as the ultimate proof of God's love and willingness to give His life.
• Christian Companionship [01:01:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts a historical anecdote of needing mental support with the Christian reality of having Jesus Christ walking alongside believers daily.

• Sermon Illustration [00:36:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the story of Theodore Roosevelt's 1913 expedition to the Amazon to chart the 'River of Doubt.' He details the extreme dangers (snakes, disease, starvation) and the initial public skepticism that Roosevelt had to overcome by writing a book and giving speeches to prove the journey happened. He uses this as an analogy for Christians needing to 'talk up' their story of God's works to others.
• Sermon Illustration [00:49:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor tells the story of Yossi Ginsberg, an Israeli man who survived a raft ride over a waterfall in the Amazon, endured jungle hazards like quicksand and jaguars, and was miraculously rescued by a local tribe, using it as an analogy for Jesus rescuing sinners.
• Sermon Illustration [00:46:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a chorus where different generations sing different parts (melody, counter melody) to create harmony, illustrating how the church must involve every generation in praise.
• Sermon Illustration [00:56:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the metaphor of 'bubbling up' to describe how God's goodness fills believers throughout the week, culminating in an explosion of praise on Sunday.
• Sermon Illustration [00:59:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor tells the story of Ed Stafford, a British man who walked 4,000 miles along the Amazon River. When he was mentally shutting down after 750 days, a psychologist advised him to imagine his admired former army captain, Mark, walking beside him. This mental trick helped him finish the journey, which the pastor uses to illustrate that Christians have the real presence of Jesus walking with them.

• Pastoral Charge [00:52:28 ▶️ 📄]
  > Accept salvation through Jesus Christ
• Pastoral Charge [01:02:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > To live out the intergenerational calling during VBS, serve the next generation, and pray for teachers and volunteers.

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:03:14] Welcome to Corinth, where our mission is to proclaim and worship Jesus as Lord. If you're joining us here in the room or online, either way, we're delighted that you're here and that we get to worship together today. If you are here in the sanctuary and you're seated along
[00:03:27] this center aisle, we've got a black folder. We call it our friendship pad. We would love for you to grab that, sign in, and let us know that you are here. That is for people who are members or
[00:03:35] non-members. If it's your first visit or you've been here your whole life, we'd love to know that you are with us today in worship. If you are new to Corinth, inside that black folder, you're going to find a blue visitor connect card. You can fill that out in hard copy or there's a
[00:03:49] QR code if you want to fill it out online. Either way you do it, that's going to help us to know that you were a new visitor today so we can reach out to you and it'll help us find ways to connect
[00:03:58] with you and connect you to Corinth. I've got just a couple of short announcements to bring to your attention today. The first is that today is Children's Sunday and that means that this church service looks nothing like any church service anybody in the room is used to. So if
[00:04:14] at some point you find yourself going, wow, this is kind of weird, rest assured everyone around you also thinks, wow, this is kind of weird. But the reason it's Children's Sunday is because Vacation Bible School starts tomorrow, and what we want to do is celebrate our kids all week long. And the
[00:04:31] way we're doing that today is by inviting Corinth kids to lead in worship. So many of the worship leaders you're going to see today are going to be shorter and cuter than the people you're used to
[00:04:39] looking at on a Sunday morning. Now, when you got your bulletin this morning, I hope that you also saw this card right next to it, or somebody handed this to you maybe on your way in. This is a prayer
[00:04:49] card for VBS. We would love for you to walk our campus before you leave today and pray over the things on this card. They're all about Vacation Bible School. And then take that card with you.
[00:04:59] And throughout this week, as our kids are gathering on campus for Vacation Bible School, we invite you to continue praying for them this week. If you've got kids coming to VBS and you haven't yet picked up their packet, you can swing by the Rauw Welcome Center before you leave and
[00:05:13] grab that. That'll make tomorrow morning's drop-off much faster and easier for you, so please be sure to pick that up before you go. Now, in addition to being Children's Sunday, it is also Father's Day,
[00:05:24] and dads, we want to make sure you know that we appreciate you. I love that. Yes, whoever shouted for the dads that was kip good we really let's all agree we should have kip up here doing the
[00:05:37] announcements instead of me um but dads we have some special treats for you if you didn't grab a chocolate bar on your way in grab one on your way out and i suggest you eat it really quickly
[00:05:46] while your kids are not looking if you actually want to be the one to have it next sunday we're going to be back to our full schedule that's an 8 15 blended service 10 45 traditional and 11 o'clock
[00:05:55] contemporary and next week in addition to being back on a regular schedule we're also going to be starting a new sermon series titled Hope Revealed, a journey through Isaiah's vision of the Messiah. So join us next week on our regular schedule as we come back to a new sermon series
[00:06:11] through the book of Isaiah. Now, we have to pause for just a moment and say that Children's Sunday and Father's Day and Vacation Bible School are all really good reasons for celebration. But this is
[00:06:22] always true in my life. I'm sure it's true in yours as well, that celebration and mourning don't always stay apart from each other. We often have to do both at the same time. So now we're going
[00:06:32] to take a minute, and Pastor Nick is going to lead us in a time of prayer for a recent tragedy

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:06:36] that affected our church family. Some of you may have noticed in the news, local news, that last week a man named Rob Agarius lost his life. His life was taken from him very suddenly and
[00:06:57] unexpectedly. And Rob is a Corinth member. He and his family attend here. And when one part of the body hurts, we all hurt. When one part mourns, we all mourn. So I'd love to pray for the Arguelles
[00:07:13] family and also for Corinth. Let's pray. Father, we live in a fallen world where all kinds of evil happens and life is suddenly taken away from us for sometimes crazy reasons. And Father, that we've
[00:07:31] run into one such moment. And so right now, we pray for the Arguelles family and that you, we pray that you would surround them with a palpable experience of your Holy Spirit. May you be very present. God of all comfort, we pray that you pour out your comfort. And as they work
[00:07:49] through the shock, that you would be their rock, holding them up with your everlasting arms. Father, be with us as a church to grieve alongside with them, to support them, to be there for them and
[00:08:03] support them. Father, pointing them to the hope of resurrection that the story is not over, that we have this resurrection hope where we will see one another one day as even as we see Jesus.
[00:08:17] We pray this in your name. Amen. Well, at this point of the service, I want to make sure that we take time to recognize each other as part of the body and to greet each other so go ahead and
[00:08:29] get up grab a hand or two say i'm glad you're here and meanwhile kids up through fifth grade

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:08:35] come forward for children's message hey guys can anyone tell me what today is yes you're right it is father's day it's a very special day the word father can mean many things a father can be a dad
[00:10:14] or someone who is like a dad a father can also be someone who starts something like our founding fathers. Sometimes a father is a preacher or a teacher. Maybe you have a wonderful dad who does

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:10:26] special things with you. Maybe he takes you camping or on special trips. Maybe he plays soccer or football with you or he takes you shopping or to get an ice cream cone. Maybe he teaches you how
[00:10:35] to do things like ride a bike, how to fish, or maybe play a musical instrument. Maybe your dad reads the bible with you and teaches you about God. Tell me something about your dad. He makes
[00:10:52] money for you? That's good. He's nice. Those are all great things. He's funny. Yeah. Not everyone

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:11:05] knows their father, and not everyone gets to see their dad all the time, but luckily we have a father in heaven who loves us all the time, no matter what. In the Bible, there's a story about
[00:11:15] an older man who became like a father to a young man. The older man's name is Paul, and the young man's name is Timothy. The Bible doesn't tell us anything about Timothy's real dad, but we know
[00:11:25] that Paul, an older man, wrote letters to Timothy and taught him about God. He was like a father to Timothy. He even told Timothy what to do when he had a stomach ache. He also told him not to pay
[00:11:35] attention to people who told him he was too young to do anything for God. We can learn so much from

[00:11:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:11:42] our fathers. The Bible says, listen my sons to a father's instruction, pay attention, and gain understanding. Proverbs 4.1. God is our heavenly father. He will never leave us. He even said he would be a father to those who don't have a father. Isn't that wonderful? Let's pray.
[00:12:00] Dear Lord, thank you for our wonderful fathers and father figures. Thank you for putting people in our lives that can be a father to us. And most of all, thank you for being our Heavenly Father.
[00:12:09] In Jesus' name, amen.

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:12:28] Good morning, church. We're so glad that you're here today. I'm Chelsea, and this is Cassie, and we're in charge of music for VBS this week. I know it may have been a couple years since the
[00:12:43] last time some of y'all were in VBS, but I'm a firm believer that you're never too old for VBS.
[00:12:49] So everyone is going to stand up and everyone is going to dance and sing with us this morning.

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_14]
[00:12:54] Well, the worship this morning is from the preaching text, Psalm 145.

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:15:41] I will exalt you, my God, the King. I will praise your name forever and ever.
[00:15:45] Every day I will praise you and extol your name forever and ever Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise His greatness no one can fathom King David, as he writes this psalm, then goes on to talk about reasons for praising God
[00:16:02] Why do we praise God?
[00:16:04] But because of who he is and what he does We're going to join David in that praise right now as we stand together in worship Please stand

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:16:15] When he does, he saves us. This is our God, made so we can earn. When he does, this is our God, King Jesus.
[00:18:46] Out of that pit, he did, of our sin, nobody but Jesus. Out of that pit, he did, he did, for all of our sin, nobody but Jesus.
[00:19:10] Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh Who gets it for me and prays? No part of it but Jesus Who rescued me from that grave? Yahweh, Yahweh This is our God, this is who He is, He loves us
[00:19:36] Our God, this is what He does, He saves us We praise you because you are great and good.

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:23:57] Thank you for all the wonderful things you have done for sending Jesus to save us.
[00:24:01] You are strong and everlasting, God.
[00:24:04] When we are weak, give us strength.
[00:24:06] When we are worried, help us trust you.
[00:24:09] Thank you that you never grow tired and that you are always with us wherever we go.
[00:24:16] Help us to follow you, obey you, and remember all the good things you have done for us.
[00:24:21] Help us to use our words and actions, show others how wonderful you are, so that more people will know you and praise you. In Jesus' name, amen.

[00:24:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:24:35] Please be seated. So our next song is a special treat for you. It's actually two pieces from the children's musical that we recently put on here at Corinth, The Pilgrimage, that was written by our own Dr. Peter Corneliuson. So Corinth kids are going to be singing our offertory, and while
[00:24:53] they do that, it's the time that we encourage you to share your tithes and offerings. There's going to be information on the screens about ways that you can do that, and there are so many things that
[00:25:02] our resources do when we pull them together, but it feels like this week, the best thing for you to think of is that every dollar that goes into our offering boxes or to online giving, a portion
[00:25:11] of that helps us put on Vacation Bible School, where 250 kids this week, 250 kids from our

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_14]
[00:25:17] community, are going to hear the message that Jesus loves them and he died for them. Okay, just want to

[00:28:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:28:48] make sure you knew. Dear Jesus, thank you for loving us and caring for us every day. Thank you for giving us everything we need and for blessing us in so many ways. We are grateful for the gifts
[00:29:00] that have been given today. Please bless these offerings and use them for your glory. Help our church to proclaim and worship you as Lord. Through these gifts, help us grow in faith.
[00:29:15] Extend hope to people who are hurting and serve others with your love. Teach us to trust you, follow you, and share the good news of Jesus. May everything we do help more people know you
[00:29:24] and praise your name. We love you, Jesus, and we pray all these things in your name. Amen.

[00:29:46] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:29:46] This is from Psalms 145 to 1 through 13. I will exalt you, my God, the King. I will praise your name forever and ever. Every day I will praise you and exalt your name forever and ever. Great
[00:30:03] is the Lord and most worthy of praise. His greatness no one can fathom. Our generation commands your works to another they tell you of mighty acts they speak of the glorious vendor of your majesty and i will meditate on your wonderful works they tell you of power your awesome works
[00:30:18] and i will proclaim your date great deeds they celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing on your righteousness the lord is gracious and compact compassionate slow to anger and rich in love the lord is good to all he has he has compassion on all he has made all your works
[00:30:36] praise you, Lord. Your faithful people exalt you.
[00:30:40] They tell you of glory, and your kingdom speak of your might. So all that people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
[00:30:48] Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all the generations. This is the word of God for the people of God.

[00:31:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:31:07] So during VBS week, our kids are going to sing a lot of songs. They're going to do the dance, just like the one we did earlier in the service. But what you may not know is that our kids also learn hymns during Vacation Bible School. There are two on
[00:31:17] the set list this week that they're going to be learning. One of them is All Creatures of Our God and King. We're actually going to do the hymn version of that. The words will be on the screen,
[00:31:26] but if you want to follow along, it's number 15 in your red hymnal. Please stand as we sing

[00:31:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_14]
[00:31:31] together All Creatures of Our God and King. You know, before we jump into our scripture

[00:35:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:35:04] for this morning, Psalm 145, I do want to point out that the scripture is really right along the lines of what we're trying to do with VBS, Vacation Bible School. You know, here at Corinth,
[00:35:17] our mission is to proclaim and worship Jesus as Lord. And as we'll discover through this psalm, we can't really do that mission. We can't execute it without every generation involved. And so our hope in Vacation Bible School isn't simply to run a program. It's to make a difference in lives so
[00:35:37] that if there are families out there who are not tied into a church that holds to the truth of the gospel, we want to bring them in and share what kind of difference this can make. Now, as I open
[00:35:50] up our sermon together, let's turn to the Lord in prayer. Lord, we are so grateful for your word, the word that can speak so powerfully into our lives just when we need to hear it. And so, Father,
[00:36:04] my prayer is that you would speak exactly that way. You know where each individual is on their journey. Tell us what we need to hear. Thank you for this wonderful word. It may be a blessing. May
[00:36:17] I get out of your way, and may you just take front stage going forward. Amen. Well, when Teddy Roosevelt failed to win a third presidential term, he decided to do something different.
[00:36:33] He decided to go to the Amazon You know, not everyone decides to go for the Amazon And I don't think he knew what was involved there Now, Mrs. Roosevelt, she did not like the idea
[00:36:47] She thought, like, you know, you got some health issues That's kind of a risk But he was determined So then what she did is imposed upon their son Kermit Roosevelt And said, Kermit, it's true
[00:37:00] You just got engaged and you got stuff going on but would you mind going with your father down to the Amazon?
[00:37:06] He might get hurt, right?
[00:37:07] So Kermit reluctantly agrees.
[00:37:09] They go to the Amazon along with 17 other men.
[00:37:14] They set out to chart this river called the River of Doubt, 1,000 kilometer river.
[00:37:21] And they were going to walk along this river and figure it all out and have this adventure of their lives.
[00:37:28] Now, little did they know what was waiting for them in the Amazon rainforest.
[00:37:32] You see, in the Amazon rainforest, when you're on the forest floor, you can't really see.
[00:37:38] Because as I understand it, it's just so dark.
[00:37:41] The sunlight does not penetrate, and it's like dark as night in there.
[00:37:45] You can barely see in front of your face.
[00:37:47] And in the Amazon rainforest, you've got all kinds of creatures.
[00:37:51] You've got anaconda snakes.
[00:37:52] You have ants that have a venom that makes you feel like you've been shot by a gun.
[00:37:58] You've got quicksand here and there.
[00:38:00] You've got indigenous people who don't take too kindly to other people traveling through.
[00:38:07] You've got all kinds of dangers, but nevertheless, it was an adventure.
[00:38:12] And so they undertake this adventure and they move their way down this river of doubt and they run into all kinds of problems.
[00:38:21] Their food supply runs short.
[00:38:23] They start having to ration food.
[00:38:25] The mosquitoes are bad.
[00:38:27] People are catching malaria.
[00:38:29] It's weakening them.
[00:38:30] people are suffering from fever. They lost two or three from their party through various circumstances. It was turning, this adventure might have been a nightmare, but they made it back.
[00:38:46] And when they made it back, people raised doubts. They said, you've never, you didn't walk that thousand kilometer river. You're just, you're just making that up, Teddy Roosevelt. And so what Teddy Roosevelt and his son Kermit had to do was to get out there and take public speaking opportunities
[00:39:02] to let them know exactly where they were and what they saw and what they did. He even wrote a book about it to prove that they were there. You know, Psalm 145, when you look at it, Psalm 145, I believe
[00:39:17] that this psalm was written at the end of David's life. And maybe some one clue is it's at the end this altar, and he's looking back on his life, and it's the sum of praise. Because David's life
[00:39:31] was a life adventure, but it was a life where he could bathe in praise. And it's not just praise for him, but it's for all generations to come together and tell the story and talk God's name
[00:39:46] up. You see, just as Teddy Roosevelt and his son Kermit had to talk up their story, we've got a story to tell. We've got a story about a God who has worked in our lives, and our job is to talk
[00:39:59] him up. And talk him up, not just to the outside world, but talk him up, mothers to daughters, fathers to sons. Talk him up intergenerationally, because this is what David calls us to.
[00:40:12] So here's the point. If you're going to summarize what I'm trying to say, let me summarize it in this sentence. Because of what God does, we must all, young and old, talk them up to each other. That's my big takeaway for this morning. That's what VBS is about,
[00:40:32] but in this sense, like this is just, friends, this is our church business, talking them up to each other. So that just raises the question, well, what does God do exactly? And this morning, I want to talk about that. First, he performs wondrous works. Look at the first four verses
[00:40:52] of Psalm 145. This is what David says. He says, I will exalt you, my God the King. I will praise your name forever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name forever and ever.
[00:41:07] Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. His greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another. They tell of your mighty acts. David begins and he says, I will exalt you, my God, the King. Psalm 145 is a transcription. It's a script. It's a literary
[00:41:29] artifact of someone who has encountered their God. And what is this God like? What do we know about this God? Well, at least two things. First, he's a personal God because in my Bible it says
[00:41:42] David calls God my God. He's my God. He's not just a God or someone else's God or my grandmother's God. He's my God. I've made him my own. I've owned him. He's my personal God. Oh, what a sweet, sweet
[00:41:57] thing it is for you to be able to say, this just isn't my parents' God. This is my God, too.
[00:42:06] The second thing we know about this God is that he's king. Notice, not just a king, but the king.
[00:42:18] Many times in the Psalter, God is called king, but there's only two places in the whole Psalter That God is called the king This is the second final time As if the whole Psalter climaxes on this
[00:42:30] A note of recognition of who God is God, you are not just a king You are the king You are the king of kings You are the chief king of all And everything belongs to you
[00:42:41] Jesus Christ is not just my God He's my king The king of the universe And that was true for David And I hope it's true for you Well, as a result of considering his God and his king, what happens?
[00:43:00] Well, I tell you what happens.
[00:43:01] He praises God.
[00:43:02] And that's what happens when you encounter God.
[00:43:05] The result is natural.
[00:43:06] The result is praise.
[00:43:08] And David says, I praise him daily.
[00:43:10] Verse 2, every day I will praise you.
[00:43:15] Now, we all do daily stuff.
[00:43:19] Last night, kids, did you brush your teeth?
[00:43:22] You told your parents to brush your teeth.
[00:43:23] Did you brush your teeth?
[00:43:25] Well, you do that daily.
[00:43:26] Most people do that daily.
[00:43:28] And maybe, many of you this morning, some of you, I hope, showered.
[00:43:34] A lot of people shower daily.
[00:43:36] And then, you know, with breakfast, maybe you take your daily vitamin.
[00:43:40] And you do all those things daily.
[00:43:41] There's certain things you just do daily.
[00:43:44] What did David do?
[00:43:45] He praised and exalted God daily.
[00:43:48] And how long did he do that?
[00:43:51] Forever and ever.
[00:43:53] And I tell you what, friends, David's not lying.
[00:43:56] You say, well, David died, didn't he?
[00:43:59] Didn't it just, didn't the praise just go to the point that he died?
[00:44:02] No, his praise went on.
[00:44:04] Here's why.
[00:44:05] David knew that even after he died, that God would transport him to himself and bring him to his very presence.
[00:44:13] And even in a disembodied state, David would still be praising the Lord.
[00:44:17] And then at the time of the resurrection, when God raises David up, he would be praising the Lord this time in a body once again.
[00:44:25] And that's our story too.
[00:44:27] When God encounters us, he just doesn't expect us to praise when we're at church.
[00:44:32] He doesn't just expect us to praise during the week.
[00:44:35] He doesn't even expect us to praise just during the course of the lifetime.
[00:44:38] Our praise is going to be forever and ever.
[00:44:40] This is an eternal vocation.
[00:44:42] Nothing else you do in this life will last as long as your calling to be a praiser of God.
[00:44:48] Think about that, friends, and how important praise is.
[00:44:54] But here's the other way that David praises forever.
[00:44:57] because he's written all this down 2,000 years ago.
[00:45:01] And every time we read this Psalm 145 or recite it or sing it, what we're doing is we're hearing David's voice praising God with us, you see?
[00:45:13] We're not praising alone.
[00:45:14] David is right here.
[00:45:15] He's with us this morning praising us through his words.
[00:45:19] And so he really is praising God forever and ever.
[00:45:23] But notice this.
[00:45:24] It's not just David who's praising.
[00:45:25] Look at verse 4.
[00:45:26] It says, one generation commends your works to another.
[00:45:30] They tell of your mighty acts.
[00:45:31] Aha.
[00:45:33] How big is that?
[00:45:34] Because, you see, praise is not about you primarily as an individual.
[00:45:40] It's about an us.
[00:45:42] Praise is something we do.
[00:45:44] And that's why there's no such thing as Lone Ranger Christianity.
[00:45:47] Because if you're a solo Christian, there is no way you can live out verse 4 where you're praising God, commending works to another generation.
[00:45:56] it's almost like this it's almost like God has brought us into this chorus where he gives one generation the melody the next generation the counter melody and together when they each sing their parts they finally come together in this harmony and Corinth Reformed Church cannot be
[00:46:15] Corinth Reformed Church unless every age every generation is doing its bit and coming together and we're supporting each other and and we're getting involved in our children's lives and we care about our covenant children, and we want to see more covenant children added to our mix.
[00:46:32] And we're doing that. Why? Because this is mission critical. We cannot truly praise the Lord as a church unless every generation is involved. Well, this just takes us to verse 5. What does David say about verse 5? What are they praising God for? They speak of the glorious splendor of your
[00:46:49] majesty, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. Everyone's talking about wondrous works.
[00:46:59] What does David mean by wondrous works?
[00:47:04] Well, if you were to study this in the Bible, this word wondrous, it has to do with the unusual.
[00:47:12] It has to do with the miraculous.
[00:47:14] It has to do with, wow, Yahweh through Moses when Moses is standing before Pharaoh and Pharaoh doesn't want to let the children of Israel go.
[00:47:24] And here's what Yahweh says.
[00:47:26] The God of Israel says, he says, I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with wondrous work. And what he meant was that if Pharaoh doesn't listen up, God was going to strike Pharaoh in Egypt with the ten plagues. Remember the ten plagues? I'm sure the Egyptians
[00:47:46] remember the ten plagues. I mean, do you remember the first plague, the plague of water turning into blood? Can you even imagine what life would be like? Have you ever thought about what life would be like, if every time you turned on the kitchen tap, blood would come out. Every time you
[00:48:05] flush the toilet, blood, you just see more blood. You go to the local restaurant. I mean, I've had to tell the waitress, waitress, the spoon is greasy. Could I get a new spoon? I've had to tell
[00:48:15] the waitress, waitress, I think there's lipstick on that glass. Could I get a new water glass? But I've never had to tell the waitress, you know, I think there's blood in my water glass. But that's
[00:48:26] what the Egyptians would have to do. It was this amazing, wondrous thing that God had done. And David would have read about that in his candy copy of the Old Testament. So what's he talking about
[00:48:37] with these wondrous works? He's talking about the cool stuff God did. But not just in the pages of Scripture, but also in his own life. Think about how David started off when he faced this giant
[00:48:49] guy named Goliath. Against all odds, he took him down. That wasn't David. That was a wondrous work that God wrought through David.
[00:48:58] And what about the battle of the Raphahim where David's taken on the Philistines and God says, David, don't do anything until you see the wind blow through the trees.
[00:49:09] And then you go and you'll beat them good.
[00:49:12] And he did.
[00:49:14] And that wasn't just David's strategy.
[00:49:16] That was because God was doing another one of his wondrous works.
[00:49:20] You know, God does all kinds of wondrous works in our lives all the time.
[00:49:24] Let me tell you the story about Yossi Ginsberg.
[00:49:28] Yossi Ginsberg was a guy who was Israeli.
[00:49:31] And as a young man back in the early 80s, he went down to Bolivia and he hooked up with three other people and they went looking for gold in the Amazon.
[00:49:41] Then two of them parted this way and two of them went that way, Yossi and another guy, and they built this handmade raft.
[00:49:48] And they said, well, maybe, you know, if we go this way, it'll be helpful.
[00:49:51] And they get on the raft and they're floating and they're floating and they're floating and they realize they're headed right for a waterfall.
[00:49:59] And with the rapids all around them, the other guy says, I think we need to get off.
[00:50:03] And Yossi says, I don't think so.
[00:50:04] I think we need to get off.
[00:50:05] I don't think so.
[00:50:06] Well, the guy gets off.
[00:50:07] And Yossi rides that raft over the waterfalls and he barely survives.
[00:50:14] And now he's alone in this dark jungle that rains non-stops, rains so much, He started having mold growing on his skin He had to deal with the quicksand Two times he fell into a pit of quicksand
[00:50:33] And miraculously pulled himself out He had to deal with the torrential downpours And taking shelter He even had to wrestle a jaguar In the middle of the night And he treats day by day He walked back up the river
[00:50:45] And he would feed himself with eggs from the nest But he was slowly starving to death and he thought he was good as gone.
[00:50:53] But tell you what, then a miracle happened.
[00:50:56] Because what happened was this local tribe who normally wouldn't care about such things decided to care and said, let's go out and look for him.
[00:51:04] Now, they didn't think they'd find him because the rainforest is a big place.
[00:51:08] It's the size of the contiguous United States.
[00:51:12] It's one of the most underpopulated parts of the world.
[00:51:14] How are you going to find a guy who's just like passed out, lying down under some riverbed somewhere?
[00:51:21] but they found him, and they brought him back.
[00:51:26] And as a result, Yossi Ginsberg has spent his whole career, the past 40 years, talking about those three weeks as a motivational speaker, talking about the miracle of his rescue.
[00:51:40] And as amazing as that rescue story is, let me tell you about another rescue story, and it involves a guy named Jesus Christ.
[00:51:47] Because you know what Jesus did?
[00:51:49] Jesus came to us while we were yet sinners.
[00:51:52] Jesus had no reason to die for us.
[00:51:54] He had no reason to rescue us.
[00:51:56] He had no reason to go looking for us.
[00:51:58] But that's exactly what we did.
[00:52:00] And when we were passed out next to our Amazon River, almost left for dead, Jesus found us.
[00:52:05] He pulled us out of the pit.
[00:52:07] God demonstrates his own love for us in this.
[00:52:10] While we were yet sinners, what did Jesus do?
[00:52:13] Christ died for you.
[00:52:16] The fact that you know Jesus Christ is the wonder of wonders.
[00:52:19] If you want to know what the wondrous deeds are, what wondrous works are that David's talking about, I can't give you a better wondrous work than your salvation.
[00:52:28] And if you're not saved yet, if you don't know him, then you better take advantage of the saving work of Jesus Christ.
[00:52:34] Here's the second thing that David talks about.
[00:52:37] He talks about performing awesome works.
[00:52:41] First, there's wondrous works.
[00:52:43] God also performs awesome works.
[00:52:47] Verses 5 and 6, they speak of your glory, splendor, your majesty.
[00:52:51] I will meditate on your wonderful works.
[00:52:54] They, that generation, will tell the power of your awesome works.
[00:52:57] What do we mean by awesome?
[00:53:02] The word awesome here means not just awesome like, hey, how are you doing? I'm awesome, man.
[00:53:07] That's not it.
[00:53:10] Awesome really means full of awe or striking somebody with awe, making the hair on the back of your neck stand up with awe. That's the kind of work that David's talking about here. And there are awesome works
[00:53:29] in the Bible, works of judgment that God brings on Pharaoh's army that David must have read about and said, those are awesome works. God will write a few awesome works in David's life too.
[00:53:44] Maybe you know the story, one spring day when the armies are out, David's walking around on the roof, so he's a young lady and you know marriage is a covenant and marriage means staying in your lane
[00:53:58] and you stay into that lane until death do us part well David had an improper lane change let's just say and he paid the price for it and it was a severe price you know what the awesome works of
[00:54:16] God. Tell us about God. God is good, but he doesn't play around either. And he can be a severe God.
[00:54:29] And so here's the thing. We all have stories about how God, when we got, when we made our own improper moves, when we got our own citation, God got us back on track. And sometimes it's helpful,
[00:54:44] especially for younger people, to not hear about our successes, but how we drop the ball.
[00:54:50] and how we got on a course. But the God we serve got us back to where we needed to be.
[00:54:56] And when he does, that is an awesome work. Here's the third thing I want to talk about is the great works that he has. The great works. I will proclaim, verse 6, your great deeds or great
[00:55:11] works. Yes, these are wondrous works. Yes, they're awesome works. But most of all, they're great works.
[00:55:22] and there's three things we can say about this greatness first what what does the great works tell us about god first it tells us about his goodness i know this from verse seven because look what it says they celebrate your abundant goodness the generations they celebrate your
[00:55:43] abundant goodness the goodness of god the great one of the great works of god is his goodness to us god was good to david and he he said even though he's king of israel he said there's one
[00:55:55] thing I really want in life is to dwell in the temple of the Lord. That's, just give me that.
[00:56:01] I don't need the king stuff. I don't need the status. I don't need the authority. I don't need the money. Just, just let me be with God. That's where David was at. He just wanted to taste of the
[00:56:10] goodness of God. And you know, God is good to us all the time. What I love about this verse, this, this word celebrate in my NIV says they celebrate your abundant goodness. The word really means to
[00:56:24] bubble up. Do you get that? Like to bubble up. It's almost like what God does is He's good, directing goodness to us, you know, Monday through Saturday. And when it's like putting, it's like putting bubbles in your water, in this bubbly water. And so we walk around
[00:56:46] and we're just, we're just bubbling up. And as we're bubbling up, we're getting filled with God's goodness. And how do we do that? I'll tell you how I do that, because one thing I do at the
[00:56:59] end of every day, I'd stop and I'd say, God, where have I seen your hand today? And I'd think back of the day, and I'd look for God's hand, and where I see God's hand, I see God's goodness. And when
[00:57:10] I do that, I feel the bubbles coming up. And so, you know, David says when they celebrate your abundant goodness, they let it bubble up. You know, it's kind of like, you know, you get to this place
[00:57:26] where you're getting filled up. Monday, it's Tuesday, and you get more bubbles. Tuesday, you got more bubbles. Wednesday, you got more bubbles. Thursday, you got more bubbles. And then Sunday comes. And what's Sunday about? Sunday's about the bubbles all coming out and exploding
[00:57:44] because you can't hold it in anymore. That's what our worship should be like. If you're coming into church Sunday by Sunday and you're not bubbling? It's because you aren't appreciating the goodness of God that is working within you. Secondly, it's his righteousness. David knew that
[00:58:05] God was working in his life, pouring in this righteousness, showing him the righteous ways, changing him day by day. Friends, we can't earn our righteousness. Jesus Christ gave you guys the gift of righteousness, but now he gives us the power to be righteous and walk in his ways.
[00:58:19] that is one of his great works. And when I look back on my life, I just see slowly, slowly, two steps forward, one step back, God changing me so that my ways might conform more and more to his
[00:58:32] ways. And God can do the same thing for you so that your life is right. Third thing, finally, his compassion and his love. Verse eight. This is what it says. The Lord is gracious and
[00:58:43] compassionate, slow to anger, and rich in love. Rich. God wants to make you rich. Not in your bank account. He wants to make you rich in love. But you have to receive it. And I have to think there's
[00:59:03] some of you here this morning, you don't feel very rich in love. Your cup is empty. God wants to fill your cup and make you rich with love. Where does it start? I want to show you where love starts.
[00:59:18] Look at the cross of Jesus Christ. If you ever doubt that God would love you, why did he send Jesus? If you ever doubt Jesus loved you, why did he hang on the cross for your sins? Jesus loves you
[00:59:29] so much that he's willing to stretch out his arms and give his life for you. Don't ever doubt the great work of the love of God or his righteousness or his goodness.
[00:59:42] You know, I just closed with this story.
[00:59:43] A guy named Ed Stafford in 2010, a British guy decided he wanted to walk the Amazon River.
[00:59:51] So he goes to Peru and he charts out a 4,000 mile walk along the Amazon River, keeping the river on his left, all the way to Brazil, where it opens up in the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean.
[01:00:06] and he says, I'm going to do this, and he did do it. It took 860 days to go 4,000 miles as he worked his way through the jungle with a machete, step by step by step, and
[01:00:22] 750 days into the journey, he was mentally shutting down. He had fought everything for this journey, and he just couldn't do it, but he had his computer, and he's able to get internet, and he contacted this guy who's a psychologist and said help me i i just can't do this anymore i'm
[01:00:42] just i'm like at the end of my rope and the guy says here's what you need to do think about someone you admire and he and he said okay what's his name his name is mark what do you like about mark well
[01:00:57] mark's a guy i knew back when i was in the army mark was a he was a good man he was also he was one of these Christian types. He was righteous. He knew right from wrong. And third thing is he
[01:01:10] really cared about people. That's what I really liked about this captain I knew back in the British Army. His name was Mark. He says, good, here's what you need to do. I want you to imagine
[01:01:20] that Mark is walking with you, holding you by the arm as you're going through the Amazon.
[01:01:25] And he said that transformed his whole journey, that little mental trick. All he needed was somebody to walk beside him. And at the end of the journey, he jumped into the ocean successful, carried along because someone walked with him who was good, who was righteous, and full of love.
[01:01:47] The difference is we as Christians, we have someone real, and that's Jesus Christ who walks with us every day. As we're on this exploration, as we're on this journey that's sometimes is treacherous, we can praise God knowing that we're leaning on his everlasting arms. Let's pray.
[01:02:07] Father, we got you, and we praise you, and you got us most importantly. Thank you for this calling you have for us to be an intergenerational church, to sing your praises one to another.
[01:02:23] Help us to live this out at VBS this week. I pray for the teachers, the volunteers. I pray on behalf of Corinth for every conversation. Lord, these are opportunities for one generation to commend your works to another. Father, would you put that into work for your glory? And this week, give us
[01:02:41] opportunities to serve the next generation or the upcoming generation to your glory as well. Amen.
[01:02:51] Well, one song that the Rainforest Kids this week will be singing is Leaning on the Everlasting arm. So we're going to join them and sing in that. So I'm going to ask you to stand as we sing the

[01:03:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]
[01:03:03] VBS version of this old familiar hymn. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face

[01:05:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:05:29] shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give peace. Amen.