The God We Worship
Nehemiah 9:1-38
Intro: A fifth grade teacher in a Christian school asked her class to look at TV commercials and see if they could use them in some way to communicate ideas about God. Here are some of the results:
GOD is like a FORD ... He’s got a better idea.
GOD is like COKE ... He’s the real thing.
GOD is like HALLMARK CARDS ... He cares enough to send His very best.
GOD is like TIDE ... He gets the stains out that others leave behind.
GOD is like GENERAL ELECTRIC ... He brings good things to life.
GOD is like SEARS ... He has everything.
GOD is like ALKA-SELTZER ... Try Him, you’ll like him.
GOD is like SCOTCH TAPE ... You can’t see him, but you know He’s there.
GOD is like DELTA .... He’s ready when you are.
GOD is like ALLSTATE ... You’re in good hands with Him.
GOD is like VO-5 HAIR SPRAY ... He holds through all kinds of weather.
GOD is like DIAL SOAP ... Aren’t you glad you have Him.
Don’t you wish everybody did?
. Our sermon title this morning is The God We Worship
. We are back in Nehemiah this morning.
. When last we were in Nehemiah, we saw the people gathered for worship after the walls and gates had been finished.
. Our scripture this morning we see the people back in a worship service.
. The last worship service they had was 23 days ago and they were ready for worship.
. There are many things we see in this scripture but what I want to bring out four things this morning.
. First, The God we worship is to be praised.
.Look at verses 1-5 with me.
. 1On October 31 the people assembled again, and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads.
2Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners as they confessed their own sins and the sins of their ancestors.
3They remained standing in place for three hours while the Book of the Law of the LORD their God was read aloud to them. Then for three more hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the LORD their God.
4The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani—stood on the stairway of the Levites and cried out to the LORD their God with loud voices.
5Then the leaders of the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—called out to the people: “Stand up and praise the LORD your God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting!” Then they prayed:
“May your glorious name be praised! May it be exalted above all blessing and praise!
. The God we worship is to be praised.
. Look at verse 5 again
. 5Then the leaders of the Levites…called out to the people: “Stand up and praise the LORD your God, for he lives from everlasting to everlasting!...”
. The Jewish people knew how to worship folks.
. They would stand for hours praising and worshipping the Lord.
. They confessed their sin to God, asked for forgiveness and then they worshipped.
. They were excited about worship.
. Todd Cogent was the Chaplain for the Houston Oilers and Astros many years ago. He said that after he would have chapel services they would give him tickets for the game.
. One time when he was at the oilers game in the astrodome he watched Earl Campbell run over everybody, his own men included, to get to the goal line.
When he got to the goal line, he put the ball down.
The place went crazy.
People were giving high fives and jumping around.
The scoreboard went off.
The same thing happened when the Astros hit a home run.
It was a ringing shout, because their man scored a touchdown.
.There was praise for the team. Praise for the one who hit the home run or scored the touchdown.
. Shouldn’t our praise for our god be as great as the praise we give others?
. I’m not saying that we should run up and down the aisles giving each other high fives but worship is an event that should be full of anticipation and expectation.
.We come together because all week God has been knocking home runs and scoring touchdowns in our lives.
Worship is a time to celebrate what God has done for us.
. We may have had a great week and we are praising Him for that or we may have had a down week but we praise Him for that also.
. We praise Him because through ups and downs He walks with us and strengthens us.
. The God we worship is worthy of our praise.
. Praise Him this morning in this place.
. After they spent time praising God, the Levites voiced one of the great prayers recorded in scripture.
. In this prayer we can really see the personality of the God we worship.
. We see that the God we worship is:
. A God Who Keeps His Promises
. Look at verses 7&8 with me:
. 7“You are the LORD God, who chose Abram and brought him from Ur of the Chaldeans and renamed him Abraham.
8When he had proved himself faithful, you made a covenant with him to give him and his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites. And you have done what you promised, for you are always true to your word.
. God always keeps his promises.
. The Levites are reminding the people of the promises that God had made to Abraham, the father of their nation, and reminding them that God kept his promise as He always does.
. The Hebrew people were standing on the promises that God had made to the through their ancestors.
. Peanut’s cartoon: Lucy and Linus were sitting in front of the television set when Lucy said to Linus, "Go get me a glass of water." Linus looked surprised, "Why should I do anything for you? You never do anything for me." "On your 75th birthday," Lucy promised, "I’ll bake you a cake." Linus got up, headed to the kitchen and said, "Life is more pleasant when you have something to look forward to."
. Folks we have promises that we can look forward to just like linus.
. We are promised that if we accept the sacrifice that Jesus Christ gave on the cross for us that there is eternal life.
. Look at Romans 10:9-13:
. 9If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.11As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”
12Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him.
13For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”
. Wow what a promise.
. He promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
. Look at Hebrews 13:5 with me.
. “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”
. The KJV reads, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee”
. I did a little research and found that starting in Deuteronomy all the way to Hebrews, God promises not to forsake the faithful 12 times.
. Folks we can stand on and depend on the promises of God.
. Verse two of the old hymn Standing on the Promises goes like this.
. Standing on the promises that can-not fail, when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, By the living word of God I shall prevail, standing on the promises of God.
. Standing, Standing, Standing of the promises of God my Savior; Standing, Standing, I’m standing on the promises of God.
. The God We Worship is a God of Promises.
. Next we see that the God we worship is:
. A God of Patience.
. The prayer praises God for what He had done for the nation of Israel and then praises Him for his patience in dealing with them.
.God had delivered them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea and to the base of Mount Sinai but while Moses was up on the mountain the people seemed to forget what God had done for them. They took all the gold rings and ear rings and melted them down and made a gold calf out of them and started worshipping the calf.
. Look at verses 17-19 with me. “… But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon them,
18even when they made an idol shaped like a calf and said, ‘This is your god who brought you out of Egypt!’ They committed terrible blasphemies.
19“But in your great mercy you did not abandon them to die in the wilderness…”
. If we were to read on in this great prayer we would see examples of how God was patient with the Hebrew people in their disobedience.
. Folks I don’t know about you but I am so glad that the God we worship is a patient God.
. Patience is a hard thing for us mere mortals isn’t it?
. A man was walking through a supermarket with a screaming baby in the shopping cart.
A woman nearby noticed that time and again the man would calmly say: “Keep calm, Albert. Keep calm, Albert.”
Finally, in admiration for the man’s patience as the child continued to wail, the woman walked up to him and said: “Sir, I must commend you for your patience with baby Albert.”
To which the man replied, drawing himself up: “Madam, I am Albert!”
. Patience, something to be admired hard to possess.
. I was having breakfast with my friend on Friday morning and we somehow got on the subject of learning another language. As we talked of that and commented that we would both like to learn another language we also decided that neither of us would have the patience to accomplish it.
. As I said, I am so glad that I have a God who is patient.
. While God is patient, sometimes that patience runs out.
. The Hebrew people were constantly moving from obedience to disobedience.
. Even God eventually had enough of their disobedience.
. Look with me at verses 29&30:
. 29“You warned them to return to your Law, but they became proud and obstinate and disobeyed your commands. They did not follow your regulations, by which people will find life if only they obey. They stubbornly turned their backs on you and refused to listen.
30In your love, you were patient with them for many years. You sent your Spirit, who warned them through the prophets. But still they wouldn’t listen! So once again you allowed the peoples of the land to conquer them.
. Over and over again God was patient with the people in their disobedience but they would not be the people that God had intended for them to be.
. God took his hand of protection off of them and allowed the powers of the day to conquer them.
. Folks God is patient with us but even his patience gets stretched with us.
. I loved the billboard that I saw a few years ago. I was going up I-20 from Covington to Atlanta and looked up and there was this billboard that was all white with black lettering and it said this.
. “Don’t make me come down there” and it was signed
.God
. The God we serve is a God To Be Praised.
. He is a God Who Keeps His Promises.
. He is a Patient God
. But
.He is also a God who can remove his hand of protection because of our disobedience.
. Christian our God loves us and wants to be part of our lives. He is patient with us.
. Have you wandered so far away from him that you are wearing his patience thin.
. He is there waiting for you to come back.
.Non Christian.
. The God we worship here at The Creek is also a loving and forgiving God.
. He proved that when He sent his Son Jesus to die for the sins of all who would accept this way out of their sin.
. Do you know Jesus this morning?
. If you will accept him this morning, You can stand on the promises of God.
Invitation
*** To my Christian brothers and sisters, thank you for taking the time to read this sermon. I ask that you take another second and score this for me. I am always open to feedback so that I can continue to grow in the proclamation of God’s word.
May God bless you as you continue to strive to walk worthy of His calling.
Sources: The Holy Bible, NLT
Illustrations from sermon central
