Worship Series: The Sound of Worship (Ps 145)

Snippet of Sermon by Pastor Raymond Fong from Wesley Methodist Church

INTRODUCTION

The Psalm is dedicated to praising God and in the preface, it says, "David's Psalm of Praise." It was deemed to have been one of David's last few psalms. It is written in the acrostic linguistic style i.e. each stanza starting with a letter in the Hebrew Alphabet. There are 22 Hebrew alphabets but in the Psalm there are only 21 verses meaning that 1 letter was omitted perhaps by the scribe during the copying process. This Psalm is recited three times a day by Israelites: twice in the morning and once in the evening. It was believed that doing so, one would definitely be blessed.

SERMON

There are 3 characteristics to the sound of worship.
1. Loud & Joyous: The word "extol" (ruwm) means to lift up on high. This is not only an outward expression but it also indicates the inner posture of the worshiper. That posture consists in:

• Humility (Shaa): to prostrate oneself before the Lord.
• Reverence (Yare): to fear the Lord.
• Service (Abad): readiness to work, labour, serve the Lord.

This posture determines the sound that we produce in worship. v 2 "I will Praise (Halal) your name" means to boast, to rave, to show off energetically. So there is a place for the loudness of worship unto the Lord. John Wesley himself in his Directions for Singing wrote, "Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan." It is alright to give ourselves in adoration spontaneously and loudly much like the flash mobs we see today, people coming together in the streets spontaneously, with great energy, singing and dancing together.

Reflection Questions:
a. What actions of God will blow you away?
b. Examine your problem accepting loudness in worship.

Shout for joy the Psalmist says. It is commanded of us. Loudness does not always mean that it will be chaotic. That's why in the Directions for Singing written by John Wesley are these words:
"Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.
 

Sing in time. Whatever time is sung be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it; but attend close to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can; and take care not to sing too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first."

Do not sing in such a way as to become a distraction to others. There is a place for togetherness.

2. Creative and Fresh: In v 10, all the saints are invited to praise the Lord. In

• Psalm 96:11-12 "Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. ¹² Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy."
• Psalm 98:8 "Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;"
• Psalm 8:2 " Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger."

Because God is creative, when his creation praises Him, it's creative as well. In many places in Scripture, we are exhorted to "sing a new song" to the Lord e.g. Psalm 91:6; Rev 5:9; Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 49:1; Isaiah 40:3. "His mercies are new every morning," so our sounds of worship are to be creative as well. Here are some ways to be creative:

• Instrumental Harmony: We may use different musical instruments just like the way David employed the lute and the harp etc. We can use even the Chinese er hu.
• Arrangement and Improvisation: He shared how at one worship in his church, they had the use of an Irish bagpipe before carols were sung etc.
• Vocal Expression: We may at times decide to sing without the use of music. He shared how he had the experience of listening to the Yi people in China who sang in 3 part harmony, blending their voices naturally. These people had no musical or vocal training, yet they were making creative sounds to the Lord.

3. Individual and Personal: The Psalm began in a big way, every part of creation is to praise the Lord. Yet in v 21, David concluded the Psalm like this, "My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD". He had been through a lot in his life: his own folly, the betrayal of friends, of his own son etc. yet he had experienced God's deliverances time and time again. He had experienced both vicotry and defeat in the various seasons of his life. So from his heart comes a different song, a mature song of praise.

Reflection Question:
c. If all of life is a song to the Lord, what is the sound like? What is the sound of your worship to the Lord?

John Wesley's Directions for Singing (Click on this link)

Worship Series :The Beauty of Worship (Psalm 96)

Sermon Snippet by Mr Christopher Chan

INTRODUCTION

Some say that this Psalm is written in the context of the exiles hearing about the possible return to Israel. Therefore, it has many similarities with Isaiah 40-55. The Psalm looks like a declaration of God’s reign in response to Israel’s exile.

SERMON PROPER

 

I.  Invitation to praise God our King (v.1-3)

 

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN PS 96 & ISAIAH 40-55
• Proclaim good news, tell of His salvation (Isa 40:9; 52:7,10; Ps 96:2)
• God’s reign (Isa 52:7; Ps 96:10)
• Life or salvation for all (Isa 49:6; 52:7,10; Ps 96:2)
• God’s will for justice (Isa 42:1-2; Ps 96:10-13)
• “Sing to the Lord a new song” (Isa 42:10)
• A new song sung in response to the “new things” God is doing – Israel’s return from exile, a “new exodus”
• We celebrate our spiritual exodus and sing a new song to the Lord!

We remember that at the 1st exodus, the people broke out into song when they crossed the red see in Exodus 15. Now God is bringing a second exodus to pass and will be doing new things in their midst, the Psalmist invited the people to sing a new song to the Lord. Today in that same pattern, we are to worship the Lord and praise him for the new things that he has done. All of us have had a spiritual exodus as well. Before we were in Christ, we were condemned to death, enslaved to sin, living in darkness. But God has delivered us in Jesus having brought us from darkness into his light and set us free from the former enslavement to sin. Because of these things that God has done, we want to join the Israelites to sing about God;s deliverance and make the words of the Psalmist our own joyfully, boisterously.

This Psalm is also missionary in nature as it calls on the whole earth to praise God and make him known. Praise is the OVERFLOW of a forgiven soul. Illustration: Football fans go into a frenzy when their favorite club wins and they are filled with tremendous excitement to inform others about their club's win. Thsi is what our worship should be like. What passions do you have when it comes to the good news of Jesus Christ? Are you filled with that same exxcitement? Too often it is not so.

Perhaps our problem is our over-familiarity with God's goodness. Familarity robs us of our joy and our excitement. How can becoming familiar not cause us to find it boring and we lose our excitement? We need to open ourselves to experience once over and over again the greatness of the truth that God has given to us. Only that can bring that new freshness into our lives. Then we will have more reasons to praise God. Have we indeed stopped at some point in our experience of the newness that God brings, so that our spirits are jaded and there is no impetus to praise flowing out of our souls.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1.      Have we been praising God joyfully, exuberantly? If we are bored, why is that so? What has happened to the outflow of your forgiven soul?

2.      What must you do to experience daily newness that God wants to bring into your life?

3.      Have we been making Him known?

II. Recognize His attributes (v.4-9)

The Psalmist makes a list of God’s attributes:

•         Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised (v.4)
•         He is to be feared above all gods (v.4), we tremble in His holy presence (v.9)
•         God is the Almighty Creator (v.5)
•         Splendour, majesty, strength and beauty (v.6)
•         Give Him glory and praise, bring an offering (v.7-8)

All the gods of the peoples are worthless. He is not like all the others. So all of this come together, we want to give him glory and praise and bring an offering. here is just a sampling of the reasons to praise God. The Psalmist makes the declaration, “the lord reigns, his justice and righteousness.”

III. Celebrate His righteous reign (v.10-11)

We live in a broken and fallen world, we can speak to it and declare also that the Lord reigns, there will be no evil and pain ever again at the end of time. That's our confidence. Inspite of the fallenness that we see around us, this is a wonderful declaration.

CONCLUSION
What does all this have say to us about the beauty of worship?

As we gather as the people of God, how does it come across to us as beautiful? The answer is not direct. We have come across some of the wonders of the world e.g. Statue of Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, the Taj Mahal in India but these pictures don't do justice to the real thing. But even though some of us can only google and see the online pictures of these wonders, they can still inspire us to see how magnificent these places are. The pictures alone spontaneously cause us to gasp, utter an admiring wow, praising it for its beauty and ability to inspire.

Worship should be like that: it should be a wow experience as we take in all things beautiful since all beauty is a pale reflection of the true beauty of God. It is important to remember that the beauty of worship is similarly determined by the object of our worship. What is the true focus of our worship? We do see this beauty as we reflect on who he is and what he has done. However, we have often traded this by making ourselves the center of worship albeit unintentionally. This happens when we make ourselves the primary concern.

Dale Rosenberger quotation: “It is strange and painfully ironic how in the name of worshipping God we put ourselves at the centre of all things and make ourselves the measure of all things. Did everybody “get something” out of worship? Was I inspired? Were my needs met? we ask. On the basis of self-referential questions, we decide whether or not worshipping God was successful or meaningful. But the point of worship is pleasing God. Pleasing ourselves comes in a distant second here. The pleasure that borders upon deep, abiding joy derives from pleasing God or, perhaps better, “enjoying God,” as one confession has it. Quite simply, worship could be very powerful, even intensely pleasurable, if we moved ourselves out of the way and allowed God the rightful place front and centre. Frankly, it is a measure of our self-absorption that something so essential to worship as this hardly occurs to us.”

What is our central concern at worship, who are we desiring to please? Most of the time we are absorbed about how it impacts us rather than how it has brought pleasure to the Lord. Giving priority aimed at pleasing God than pleasing our congregation and ourselves is an important change to make when we worship. Ps 96 captures the beauty of worship because it is so God centered about who he is and what he has done. If we make him our primary concern, we will experience this beauty of worship. Bring the focus back to God. Let Him "take His rightful place" in our midst.

 

Take Your Rightful Place (Response song written by speaker)

In the splendour of Your holiness
We bow in loving adoration
In the glory of Your presence, God
We stand in awe of You

There’s no one more worthy of all honour
You deserve our greatest praise
Our freedom is found in our surrender
As You take Your rightful place

Let every heart
Let every part of our lives
Be wholly Yours, O God
Let our greatest aim
Be Your pleasure and praise
Come and take Your rightful place

 

Justice and Steadfast Love (Obadiah 1)

Snippet of Sermon by Dr Chan Yew Meng

INTRODUCTION

As human beings we aspire to learn what can we learn throughout our lives but we fail to remember that increased knowledge increases pride. Since the beginning of time, human beings have refused to trust in the Lord. In Gen 11:4 is recorded for us the story of the Tower of Babel. The Tower is the climax of human pride and vanity. Such excessive ambition often causes us to develop a sense of over confidence and we begin to lose our focus on what we are doing. Illustration (taken from Carol Mann, The 19th Hole (Longmeadow), quoted in Reader’s Digest ): Golf immortal Arnold Palmer recalls a lesson about overconfidence: It was the final hole of the 1961 Masters tournament, and I had a one-stroke lead and had just hit a very satisfying tee shot. I felt I was in pretty good shape. As I approached my ball, I saw an old friend standing at the edge of the gallery. He motioned me over, stuck out his hand and said, “Congratulations.” I took his hand and shook it, but as soon as I did, I knew I had lost my focus.

On my next two shots, I hit the ball into a sand trop, then put it over the edge of the green. I missed a putt and lost the Masters. You don’t forget a mistake like that; you just learn from it and become determined that you will never do that again. I haven’t in the 30 years since.

Edom was the target of Obadiah's message cf V 2-15; 16-21. It was located south of Judea and the Dead Sea. The struggle between Israel and Edom had a long and unpleasant history and it began very early in Rachel's womb when the ancestor of Israel and Edom were being birthed together.

Human pride is deceiving. The Lord declared that He would bring Edom's misplaced pride down from its high places. v 9 says, “In that day,” declares the Lord, “will I not destroy the wise men of Edom, those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?" God will ensure that there will no longer be wisdom in Edom. She will not be saved.

Why did Obadiah condemn Edom? From vv11-14 - God charged them as having behaved more
like an enemy to Judah instead of a close relative. When the Babylonians attacked, quite a number of residents from Judah turned to Edom for assistance. But Edom gloated over them v 11-14 recorded how they blatantly betrayed them, looted them, murdered them and handed them over to the enemy.

In Lamentations 4:22 we hear their lament over the sins of Edom against them. "But he will punish your sin, Daughter Edom, and expose your wickedness." Obadiah proclaimed that smug and presumptuous Edom has committed sacrilage and blasphemy in taking advantage of God's possession. She will not go unpunished. Edom never respected the sacredness of human life. She killed them and sold them, eradicating the people of God who live under God's jurisdiction.

What can we learn in times of turmoil? Faith in God is crucial. Even though the prophecy of the exile of Judah has come to pass, God is still in charge ruling over all the nations. edomitesa will find this insultig. Aaliyah inGos is indispensable. How can the Babylonians be under God's control when they treated the people of God badly? How can God be in control? In the minds of the skeptics, their relationship with God is unique. Mt Zion is being punished for her idolatry, but even during these moments of judgment, God is not severing ties with Israel.

As a brother, Edom should not have added on to Israel's misfortune. Her crime will be punished. In v 15 & 18, the Lord says, "As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head... Esau will be stubble, and they will set him on fire and destroy him. There will be no survivors from Esau.” God will take action against the injustice experienced by Judah.

He gives Judah hope through his word of judgment. Survivors from Zion will reclaim the land and democracy will nbe conumfeqnd a chance to Edomite realize that their problems..Human wisdom brings accoitqility.... Judah will be delivered. God is still in control as they look for the future.

The Church is easily deceived by a sense of pride, accomplishment, innocent bystander wOnnocent ystnader of anudah, watch silently rlnrpn then take say do we choose the softer options of pebeing not involved in peoplels who sqlnipniißp IEord of hope to survivors,, repent fr toe kobo bspthe Curch has yone has a chance that God owillnbie wnoith rusa to play in thcommn wit ty pf god.Evr.oconosiripmo we hv heard quite a number of l

It is easy to offer only prayers or others soft options. Sometimes we can do more. But it will require us to delve into the mire and uncover what is needful to uphold justice. How do we respond to the Preacher's observation in Ecclesiastes 3:16, "And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment—wickedness was there, in the place of justice—wickedness was there." ? Ecclesiastes seeking justice and speaking up we need to know what justice is. justice can be quite complicated.

Examples:
1. Former South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun committed suicide in May 2009 by leaping to his death from a hill behind his house, the government announced.Korean former president took a bribe of 6 million dollars had committed suicide. The news of Mr. Roh’s death came as a shock to the nation, which, unlike Japan, does not have a strong history of political leaders and other notables committing suicide to take responsibility for real or alleged offenses.

On Saturday, villagers from Bongha paid tribute to Mr. Roh, lining up along a road, crying, as his coffin passed by. By evening, hundreds of mourners and supporters had converged in downtown Seoul, laying long-stemmed white chrysanthemums at a makeshift altar.

However, Roh's suicide resulted in a sudden positive shift in domestic perception towards the late President, leading one critical professor to comment, "How could he become an instant saint upon his suicide?"^[100] Such shifting perception once again left his successor, President Lee Myung-bak,  vulnerable to criticism. Perceptions of an excessive investigation on Roh's alleged improprieties boosted support for the opposition Party (itself formed when Roh's then unpopularity made it a liability to be associated with him), giving them enough leverage to demand that President Lee Myung-bak apologize for the "politically motivated" investigation they claimed caused Roh's death, and discipline those responsible.

What happened to the injustice that was suffered by those whom he acknowledged in his suicide note? It was all drowned in the midst of that national reaction to his suicide.

2. Hong Kong students and parents, with popular participation, are conducting nightly peaceful protests in front of the Legislative Council. They are protesting the national education curriculum put forward by the government, which many charge with being an attempt to brainwash the young.
The Hong Kong Federation of Students are planning a strike, facilitated by the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

There is an array of protesters, from those conducting hunger strikes to those who come by after office hours to join the discourse. Prominent figures, including some lawmakers themselves, speak nightly in front of gathered crowds, who peacefully convene in large numbers.

The protests are focused squarely on the national education debate, with the crowds asking the government to ditch the proposed changes. Chief Executive CY Leung has so far refused.

Students protested against national and moral education, fought for their rights and future.l. Increase in the number of people to take part in elections... Young people took the lead... Minimal to cast a vote in the election..l subsequent problems, those against moral education... Failed to understand that these are 2 separate matters and complain long with the pervious issue...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19407425

We want to choose the softer options. introducing Christian ethics.. justice cannot be understood as retributive justice enforced on those who break the laws. in Christian traditional justice involves the always meant a norm for the a requirement indistinguishable to honor the image ofOd be in other people. Our justice needs to mirror God's justice. It is not just about finding the right punishment. Filed covenant the covenant of God in that way, the committed a blasphemy. S'more than that. When the church reconsider its role in the public square. We need to educate each one to understand , to respond appropriately.

Minor Prophets: When Calamity Strikes (Joel 1:13-20)

Snippet of Sermon by Rev Dr Gordon Wong

 

INTRODUCTION
Many pastors are afraid to speak from the minor prophets because it makes them uncomfortable for fear of misrepresenting God as cruel or unfair.

SERMON PROPER
Joel preached in the wake of a major widespread crisis as we can see from v2 of Ch 1. Looking at vv 4-7 we learnt that locusts had been attacking their precious  harvest. Everything has been stripped bare. Their joy had dried up. During such crisis, most preachers will focus on God's help etc. but not Joel. He speaks of God as their terror v15. He used the pun on the name of God used here, "Almighty Shaddai" with the word for destruction "Shod". from Shaddai" It is destruction not help that is coming from the almighty. Instead of saying something comforting, Joel is sounding the warning, "things will get worse..." Instead of singing "O God Our Help in Ages Past," Joel says in 2:12 "O God our Horror in Ages Present." What must we do in the face of the warning?

It is easy to misunderstand Joel like Job's friends. Illustration: There was a man, Harold whose son died together with other children during a school trip. In responding to his grief, his Christian friends replied, “You may have sinned and God wants you to repent.” Harold asked, "What sin have I committed?" His friend continued, "You might have done something sinful.  If you are willing, I will go through the 39 categories of sin in the bible and find out." Harold could not believe in a god who is cruel enough to punish first before telling him what terrible sin he had done. It goes against reason. No wise or loving father would punish a child without telling him what he is punished for first. And God is no stupid parent. This idea that his son's death must be a punishment from God was something Harold could not bring himself to believe. He rejected this god.

Harold is correct in rejecting such an unbiblical idea of God. Our God does not punish us without telling us first. Joel does not make the mistake of Job’s friends. He never specified any specific sin that his readers need to turn away from. He doesn't assume that they have sinned but sees the terrible crisis as a loud cry to call them to return to God with all their heart. Rather, what he says as a correct respond to the crisis is to turn to God in fervent prayer and recommitment, similar to what Jesus taught in Luke 13.

In Luke 13, Jesus referred to two incidents/accidents:
V 1 There were Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Were these men worse sinners compared to those who survived?

V 2-4 Building accident: 18 died when the tower in Siloam fell on them. Were they more guilty or course not?

The point that Jesus wants to make is for listeners not to make that simple equation that all who suffer calamities must have sinned one way or another. In v 5 Jesus urges his listeners, “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish” to turn to God in repentance.

Each national or personal crisis is a loud alarm, drawing our attention to turn to God. Now is the time to renew your relationship to God, with all your heart, mind and strength. Because crises happen all the time, it is easy to become callous/indifferent to the tragedies in our world. Each tragedy should be an impetus, a reminder that life on earth is very fragile and can affect us at any moment, so we must not delay to turn to God.

If we were to ask, “What have I done wrong?” that specific sin is only known to you. Only you will know. Only you can answer that question in that particular time in your life. If you are honestly unaware of any sin, there is no need to go witch hunting, to invent a sin to confess to God. We should not allow any counselor or friend to dig up some secret sin whether imaginary or a previously forgiven one, in the light of that crisis.

What then should one do in this case? Just do a general confession of sin and renew your commitment to live for God, to return to the Lord fervently with all our hearts. Now is the time to worship God in Spirit and truth. If at the time of crisis, you know there is a particular sin and you are indirectly, persistently stubbornly continuing in sin,  you don't need God to tell you. The message is clear that you have been listening for some time now in your own conscience.

V12-13 What type of repentance is God looking for? How to repent? What Joel pointed out is that any superficial show of repentance is not important. In the old testament, the metaphor for the mind and will is the word, “heart” and the metaphor for the emotion is the word, “kidney”. What God desires is a firm resolve with our minds and will to stop sinning and start in a new direction.

Illustration: The story is told of a shoplifter who writes to a department store and says, "I've just become a Christian, and I can't sleep at night because I feel guilty. So here's $100 that I owe you."

Then he signs his name, and in a little postscript at the bottom he adds, "If I still can't sleep, I'll send you the rest."

The illustration highlights the truth that we often feel really sorry but do not resolve to repent.

Illustration: Mark learnt it the hard way that his wife of many years has been carrying on an affair with someone in her workplace for 3 years now.  Through her hp, he learnt how much she loved the man etc. He confronted her and offered to give her a divorce. But she didn't want one expressing that she wanted another chance not that this should not be told to the children since she cannot bear their anger and scorn. She promised to stop seeing the man, stop sleeping with the man if only he would give her a chance. Mark forgave her, kept the family together despite the betrayal, not wanting to put the family through the messy nightmare of a divorce. After that, things became so much better, she seemed much more caring. She no longer gave excuses when husband wanted sex. They even went on a family holiday and everything seemed so good. Mark was beginning to feel that somehow they’ll be able to work through the awful past.

Not being able to trust her completely, Mark would check her email account and hp every now and then. Right after their holiday, Mark found an email in her trash box which she had sent to the same man. She had wrote, “I wish you were here with me. Missed you.” Mark confronted her and she confessed that she found it hard to stop meeting him. Her cries may be sincere, but they were not sincere enough. If she had renounced the affair once and for all and was truly repentant, the ending could have been so different. Her failure to repent had brought disaster to her family.

Three weeks before the trip, the family had met with a mini crisis. Her son was caught in an accident and he almost lost his forearm. During that time, Mark’s wife went through a terrible time but there was no reason that her son’s accident was linked to her secret sin. No one suggested that to her. It would be wrong for anyone to suggest that as well. But in her heart, she knew that the incident was a trumpet blast from God. It was a loving warning for her sake, for her family’s sake. When things settled, she did not respond according to the conviction that she had. May be if she had heeded, she would have been able to salvage her marriage. May be she'll experience the grace and forgiveness of God. God calls us to repent. He does not want us to destroy ourselves or our families. The scar on her son’s arm was nothing compared to the pain and emotional scarring of her son’s heart.

The central symbol of the Christian church is a cross. At the cross, another tragedy took place where another son was scarred through no sin of his own. It is the tragic story of an innocent son, how will we respond to this tragedy and crisis? How do we respond to the Son of God who was tortured for our sakes. The only way we can answer the Lord ourselves is to rend our hearts , our minds, our souls, not just our clothes, renew our commitment, to resolve and to repent. Remember Matt Redman’s song, “Blessed Be Your Name”

Blessed Be Your Name

In the land that is plentiful

Where Your streams of abundance flow

Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name

When I'm found in the desert place

Though I walk through the wilderness

Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out

I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name

When the sun's shining down on me

When the world's 'all as it should be'

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name

On the road marked with suffering

Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be Your name

May Joel’s message help us become people who, even in the wake of crisis disaster and crisis, turn to God once more, with all our heart and soul, mind and strength. It is important to turn again to God humbly for our own sakes, the sake of our families and for God’s sake, for God loves us so much.