This Is Your Life, From Start To Finish
Psalm 63: 1-4
Intro: How many remember the old TV program called “This is your life”? For us younger folks, it was a TV program that started in 1952 and this original series lasted until 1961. There were spin offs and copycats but none were ever as popular as the original. The way it worked was that each week, a celebrity would be lured to a location close to the studio by a friend or acquaintance. They would then be surprised with the news that they were the featured guest on this week’s program. They would be taken to the studio and a review of the great accomplishments of their lives would begin. They would give accolades of their lives and family and friends would be there with gifts and presents that celebrated their life. The show was very successful for nine years.
. As I thought about and prayed through what God would want me to share with you on this day that we are honoring our seniors, I was led to Psalm 63 and especially the first four verses.
. As we examine this scripture, we are going to see a model for our Christian life.
. For our seniors here this morning, I hope this will help you as you look back and look forward to your walk with the Lord.
Lets read our scripture. Psalm 63:1-4
. 1 O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory.
3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!
4 I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
. Christian, Senior, This is your Christian life.
. Look at verse 1 again.
. 1 O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.
. Our Christian life, your Christian life began and begins with a search for God.
. We may not understand exactly what we are searching for but it all began with a search.
. The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with one of the main computers. He dialed the employees home telephone number and was greeted with a child’s whispered, "Hello?"
The boss asked, "Is your Daddy home?"
"Yes," whispered the small voice.
"May I talk with him?" the man asked.
To the boss’ surprise, the small voice whispered, "No."
The boss persisted, "Is your Mommy there?"
"Yes," came the answer.
"May I talk with her?"
Again, the small voice whispered, "No."
“Well, is there someone else there I might talk to?" the boss asked the child.
"Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman."
"Well then, may I speak with the policeman?"
"No,” whispered the child “he is busy"
"Busy doing what?" asked the boss.
"Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman," came the whispered answer.
Now the boss was growing concerned and just then he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the ear piece on the phone, the boss asked, "What is that noise?"
"A hello-copper," answered the whispering voice.
Alarmed, the boss nearly shouted: "What is going on there?"
In an awed whispering voice, the child answered, "The search team just landed the hello-copper!"
"Why are they there?"
There was a muffled giggle as the child said, "They are looking for me!"
. We all search for something.
. We all start our Christian life with a search.
.Our Christian life began with our soul thirsting for something or someone to fill an emptiness that is inside all of mankind.
. Many of us tried all sorts of things to fill that void.
. We try to do it with relationships with spouses or friends and acquaintances.
. There is nothing wrong with these relationships but they will not fill the emptiness that creates this search in us.
. We try filling this void with activities and hobbies. Sports or partying.
. There is nothing wrong with a good party but that never fills the void that we are searching to fill.
. David, in this psalm, describes how our body, our soul, our very being longs to be filled.
. We long to be filled and God is the only thing that will fill this void.
. We hear of the drive that adopted children have to find their birth parents. This desire and drive is in them because there is something missing in their life that needs to be present.
. We are born separated from God through our sin. This separation creates a void in our lives that can only be filled as we reconcile ourselves to and with our creator.
. We do this through the belief in Jesus’ sacrifice for this sin that separates us from God.
. Your Christian life begins when you find God through the death of Jesus Christ.
. After you have searched and found God trough Jesus Christ, You worship and serve him.
. As you live this precious life that God has given you, you praise and worship him.
. Look at verses 2&3 with me.
. 2 I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory.
3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!
. Lord I have seen your power and your glory in my life.
. Lord you have sustained me with your love and power as I have traveled this world.
. In good times and bad, you are there.
. Think back on your life, can you see the presence of the Lord in your life?
. Last Sunday before Pam and I left home for church, Pam turned on the TV and Joel Olstien was there in all his splendor on the screen. I usually turn the channel when he appears because I have many issues with his theology. I listened for just a minute and realized that he was talking about Joseph and his struggles in his life.
. As I was preparing this message, God brought that example back to me.
. If we look at our Christian life or walk as some call it, we would all probably identify with Joseph.
. Joseph’s life is full of up’s and downs, just like almost everyone’s life is.
. Joseph had a life filled with love from his father and dreams,(literally), of grandeur and power.
. From these heights, he fell into betrayal by his brothers and slavery.
. He was blessed by God during these times and again rose to a position of authority even within the ranks of the man he was sold into slavery with.
. I’m sure he felt that things were going pretty good for himself. After all, he had been sold as a slave and was now head of the household.
. Alas, he was betrayed and beaten down again. He was falsely accused of raping the master’s wife and thrown into prison.
. During all of this, he learned to depend on God and never lost his faith in God.
. He went from prison to prominence through God’s help in interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh.
. Joseph’s life, while spectacular in its up’s and downs, was much like your Christian walk.
. I’m sure that most, if not all of you, have had your up’s and downs in life.
. Maybe they were not as spectacular as Joseph’s but to you, they were just as meaningful.
. Through it all Joseph stayed faithful and realized that God had allowed all of these things to happen in his life to bring him to places where He could use him.
.Joseph rose to become the number two man in all of Egypt and a famine brought his family to him in Egypt and at the family reunion, look at what he said as he talked to his brothers.
. Genesis 45: 5-8
. 5 But don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.
6 This famine that has ravaged the land for two years will last five more years, and there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
7 God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors.
8 So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.
. God has been with me.
. God has allowed all these things to happen so He could use me as I have gone through my life.
. I praise god for all of that.
. I have seen him, I have gazed upon his power and glory and majesty.
. Through all of this, I have seen his unfailing love.
. David wrote this psalm while he was in the wilderness, hiding from his son Absalom.
. Even in the midst of all that was surrounding him, he realized that God loved him and he could feel God’s love and power in his life.
. Think back on your life for a minute this morning.
. Can you see how God has brought you through all the ups and downs in your life?
. Can you see his love and mercy in your life and how he has walked with you?
. How he has molded you through the mountains and valleys of your life.
. He has been able to use you, wherever you have gone.
. He will use you here in this place also.
. This is where right now you can say:
. I see you in your sanctuary; I see your love and your power. This is where I will praise you.
. Praise God we are still here and still kicking folks.
. Here is where we are to praise him because it is here that he has placed us.
. This is your life Christian.
. Praise God in this place this morning.
. Thank him that he has given you a place, a sanctuary to lift him up and praise him.
. In your Christian life you have searched and found God. You have seen him in all the circumstances of your life.
. Now, you must resolve to praise him here on this rock we call earth until you go home to be with Jesus for eternity.
. Look at verse 4 with me.
. 4 I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
. David writes that I will praise you as long as I live.
. Folks, just because we are getting more mature in this life, it does not mean that we stop praising God.
. I titled this sermon this is your Christian life, from start to finish.
. David says that he will finish his life praising God.
. How are you finishing folks?
. One by product of surgery is that you have a lot of down time.
. One day during my downtime I watched a movie that I had never seen before. It was called “Money Ball”.
. This was a true story of a general manager of a baseball team that revolutionized the way they looked at baseball players. I’m not going to bore you with the story but; at the very end of the movie, he was talking to his assistant and they were reviewing the past year and the success that they had. He looked at his assistant and said, we did a lot of amazing things this year but we didn’t finish well.
. In the psalm, David writes that we need to finish well.
. We need to praise God for as long as we live. As long as we have breath, we are to praise God.
. My question to you this morning is how are you finishing?
. God wants us to finish well.
. He wants us to praise him for as long as we have breath in this body that He has given us.
. Are you finishing well?
. Just because we are getting older and maybe a little slower, doesn’t mean that we can’t praise God as long as you live.
. Seniors, I challenge you this morning, as I do every senior appreciation day, finish well.
. God is not finished with you yet.
. As long as you have life in this frail body, you need to use it praising God.
. That way, when we stand before the master, we will hear the words recorded in Matthew 25:21.
. “…Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful …”
. Are you finishing well this morning?
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
Illustration from sermon central
