Pointers on Praise
One Sunday a visitor showed up in a more formal, liturgical church than he was used to attending. The church was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. That made it all the more obvious when this visitor got excited about something the minister said and he shouted out “Praise the Lord!”
What was second nature to this newcomer was behavior that shocked and even scared the faithful in this setting where they were not used to such exuberant expressions of worship. Nobody had ever done anything like that before.
One of the regular attenders leaned forward and tapped the man on the shoulder and whispered, “We don’t praise the Lord around here.”
Someone seated nearby heard this exchange and they said, “Yes we do. It’s on page 15 of the Lectionary.”
I am happy to report that we do praise the Lord around here. This morning, I want to offer you Ten Pointers on Praise. We will have to write fast because I want to get back to some more of these good testimonies we have been hearing. This may be the fastest ten points you will ever hear. Are you ready?
1. We can praise God collectively. It is good for us to praise God together.
2. We can praise God individually.
And our praise should not be limited to a Sunday morning worship experience or at a celebration like this. It should be a part of who we are as God’s kids. We can and should learn to praise God corporately, but we also need to praise God individually.
It is good for us to praise the Lord. The Bible tells us that…
3. God inhabits the praises of His people.
In other words, God dwells in the presence of His praise. Praise is not merely a reaction from coming into His presence. Praise is a vehicle of faith which brings us into the powerful presence of God!
4. The Bible instructs us again and again to praise the Lord.
Psalms 106:1 (NLT)
1 Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
Psalms 107:8 (NLT)
8 Praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done.
An entire chapter sums up an appeal to give praise to our heavenly Father…
Psalms 117:1-2 (NLT)
1 Praise the Lord, all you nations. Praise him, all you people of the earth.
2 For he loves us with unfailing love; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the Lord!
5. There is power in your praise.
One of the reasons that praise is so powerful is #6…
6. Praise gets our focus back where it belongs…on God.
7. Praise helps us keep a biblical perspective on life.
When our focus is on God, and we have a biblical perspective on life, everything looks different. And the good news is that praise is something we can all do. Nobody has to be left out. That’s because we can all choose to praise.
8. Praise is an act of the will. We do it on purpose.
Sometimes praise is natural and sometimes it is intentional.
Psalms 145:21 (NLT)
21 I will praise the Lord, and may everyone on earth bless his holy name forever and ever.
Take Paul and Silas for example. There in that lonely prison cell, do you think they felt like singing at midnight? You don’t feel like praising God when you are in jail. You especially don’t feel like praising God when you are in jail at midnight. But that is what they did. As an act of the will, they chose to praise on purpose. It was an expression of their faith and their trust in Him.
Psalm 150 gives us further instruction on how to praise the Lord.
Psalms 150:1-6 (NIV)
1 Praise the LORD. 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 tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute,
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.
We have cause for praise today. We sang it earlier in this service; “God is good all the time and all the time God is good.” Do you believe that? I do. We intentionally choose to praise God when we come together in worship. We praise on purpose.
I should point out that all of the testimonies in this morning’s service are included on our website - Seymour First Online - located at www.SeymourNaz.org.
You can simply go to the homepage and to the right side of the screen there is a tab called “testimonies.” Click on that link and you can read all of the testimonies that were submitted in their entirety. There are some incredible stories of what God has done and is doing in the lives of people just like you and me.
You will read powerful statements like…
“There is always hope for those who believe in and rely on God.”
“God delivered me.”
“I am beginning to live in the center of God’s will and it is the greatest experience of my life.”
“I know that the Lord has blessed me and my family in so many ways that I can’t begin to thank Him enough.”
“I’m not the same person I was.”
“The Lord was definitely been with me.”
“I have learned that if you truly put God first in your life you can have peace in your heart.”
“I’ve learned about total trust in God.“
“God has been so good to me, and opened so many doors in my life. I just want what
He wants for my life.”
“Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and He is my Savior.”
I know what some of you are thinking. I was going to submit a testimony, but I got busy and never got around to it. The door is still open. You can email me with your testimonies anytime this week. Just write 2007 Testimony in the subject line so that I will know that you intend for the testimony to go on the website and we’ll get them posted as soon as possible.
I do reserve the right to edit the testimonies that are submitted. For instance, if you send in a testimony that says something like “thank God for giving me the grace to put up with my miserable boss for another year,” I am going to edit your testimony. Do you hear me, Landon (Youth Pastor). Keep it appropriate!
Some of you might say, well what has happened in my life isn’t all that wonderful.
We have already heard from some who were facing less than desirable circumstances in their lives, but God has used those circumstances for good. That’s the promise of…
Romans 8:28 (NIV)
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
It is all about perspective. Don’t miss out on an opportunity to tell others about the wonderful things that God has done in your life. What have you learned? How have you grown? What has God been up to in your life in the past few months?
We have heard stories of healing, deliverance, God’s direction, and God’s provision. People have spoken of the effectiveness of ministries like Celebrate Recovery, Small Groups, Worship, and more.
We celebrate the Colts winning their division. We celebrate weddings, and new babies. We celebrate graduation, the New Year, a new promotion, and all kind of less significant things. I think it is time we celebrate the work of God in the lives of His people. That’s a celebration that has eternal significance.
Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
My prayer is that this service will inspire and encourage every one of us to live the life He has called us to live in 2008. May we be reminded that He is able to do more than we ask or imagine.
God knows where you are today. He knows your name. And He is able. He is able.
In this New Year, I have made two commitments:
9. I will praise Him for what He has done.
God has blessed me so much. He cares for me, delivers me, heals me, and cleanses me. He forgave me of all my sins. He gave me the incredible gift of eternal life. He keeps me and He loves me. He extends His mercy to me with the dawn of every new day. I praise Him because He has promised to never leave me or forsake me. He guides my footsteps each and every day. He saves and sanctifies me. I praise Him because He has made a difference in my life. But most important of all…
10. I will praise Him for Who He is.
I praise Him because He is the Almighty God.
He is the Alpha and Omega…the beginning and the end.
I praise Him because His love is undying and unconditional.
I praise Him because He brings victory.
I praise Him because of He is the Great God; worthy of all my praise.
I praise Him because of His Amazing Grace.
I praise Him because my chains are gone.
I praise Him because I am free in Jesus Christ.
PRAYER
