RHCC Worship August 11, 2024

Jesus and there isone more powerful the Christus GL your my on your [Applause] [Music] oh my God forever you e for e e e e e e e e hope everyone had a wonderful week and uh glad to be back in the house of the Lord this morning um have a thank you Carter says to our church family we are so thankful for all the cards calls texts and expressions of sympathy received during the illness and passing of our brother Bobby Smith special thanks to Pastor Barrett Terry Heiser and those who helped in any way with the meal for our family your prayers gave us comfort and strength love Clifford and Wanda Smith and family so continue to keep them in your prayers um as we move forward other announcements that we have offering boxes are located around the church give as you feel led want to uh get this out get it on your calendars now on October 26th we will be having a fall Gathering out at the hardens for a good time of Fellowship uh who knows they've got some Haunted Woods out there maybe we'll go on a Haunted Trail uh walk or something like that but just a time as a church family to get together to uh to fellowship and uh more details will be to come so as we move forward get closer to that uh keep your eyes and ears open for that uh gree share will be August 20th uh at 6 o'clock from 6:00 to 7 if you have any questions you can talk to Kathy Fox about that uh Men's breakfast September 7th at 700 am so encourage you all to come out and participate um Fellowship uh for for Men's breakfast school lunch in will be August 20th as well I believe there's a sign up out in the uh Annex there's also a table out there for school supplies so um if you have school supplies you want to donate place them on that table to help the teachers out Bible study will be Wednesday this Wednesday from 6:30 to 7:30 encourage you it's a it's a good time of of learning a little more in depth about God's word we're in Joshua right now so encourage you to come out to that any other announcements that I have missed yeah okay Eugene yep so Eugene bro's uh celebration of life will be September 1st they've asked the churches in town to contribute desserts so there's a signup sheet out there um if you could help out in that way that would be greatly appreciated uh one thing that I do want to mention um you you can kind of see that the stage looks a little different than normal uh we had a wonderful week at vacation bible school this week we on average had around 40 kids um each and every night um that had fun you'll get to see later on um they're going to do a couple songs for us that uh is exciting it was just nice to see these these young kids uh get excited and start of the week to the end of the week just how they lightened up and and learned more about God's word so it was a great time of of that so any other announcements and and thank you to everyone who helped in some capacity with that so any other announcements if not I think that's all we have for announcements let's stand for the reading of God's word good morning morning I'll be reading 1 Timothy 12-17 I thank Christ Jesus our lord who has given me strength that he considered me trustworthy appointing me to his service even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man I was shown Mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief the grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance Christ Jesus came into the world to save Sinners of whom I am the worst but for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me the worst of sinners Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life now to the king Eternal Immortal Life now to the king Eternal Immortal invisible that the the only God be honored glory and ever and ever amen let's sing uh hymn 311 this is this world is not my [Music] home this world is not my home I'm just of passing through my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue the Angels beckon me from Heaven's open door and and I can't feel at home in this world anymore oh Lord you know I have no friend like you if Heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do the Angels beckon me from Heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore they're all expecting me and that's one thing I know myi pardon me and now I go I know he'll take me through I am weak and Po and I can't feel at home in this world oh Lord you know I have no friend like you if Heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do the Angels beckon me from Heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore I have a loving savior up in glory land I don't expect to stop until I stand heav open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore oh Lord you know I have no friend like you if Heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do the Ang beckon me from Heaven open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore just up in glory land will live eternally the Saints on every hand are shouting Victory their songs are sweetest praise dri back from heaven and I can't feel at home in this world any oh Lord you know I have no like you if Heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do the Angels Be Me from Heavens open door and I can't feel at home in this [Music] world Amen you may be seated what do we have in the way of Praises this morning thankful for the cooler weather amen amen Clifford re from a lot of time Serv there you go there you go it is it is so yes Steve spent 43 43 years so thank you for your [Applause] service what yes Josh and today you're getting in trouble for that later we'll let you deal with that happy birthday Steve what other Praises do we have yeah yeah it's just a great opportunity to serve and and to see these kids even you know we had high school helpers and and kids that just stepped up and and the adults that just put it all together so thank you so much and and those that helped U with donating supplies and stuff thank you all everybody had a big hand in it what other Praises do we have what do we have in the way of prayer requests yes pray for your parents as they're putting insulation in the ceiling you don't think they'll do that uh skillfully or there there could be an incident understand I do pray that that all goes well other prayer requests that we have continue to keep the Canon family in your prayers as uh as uh they continue to mourn the loss of of Braden Canon so um keep them in your prayers yes the hospital yesterday okay gotcha we keep heing your prayers years old yeah yeah long road ahead yeah yes okay pray that your dad's heart gets back into Rhythm yeah no fun other prayer requests if not let's go to the Lord and pray prayer father we come before you and you know all of our hurts you know all of our needs and and father we just lay those at your feet and uh know that you will be with those that need your comfort um in the time of loss we we pray for those that are seeking diagnosis and and treatment and father pray that you would just be with the doctors and that you would Point them in the right direction that they would have Clarity and and be able to help those that are hurting in in that regard and father for those that have been in accidents and just pray that you would watch over them and their days ahead would be filled with less pain and that the recoveries could be qu quick and Swift um through that we thank you for this time that we get to get to gather together to open your word to study your scripture to sing songs of praise to gather around your table just that we we do that and we we do not take those things for for granted father but we we come to you and we lay that all at your at your feet so that you can Lift us up in all of our times of need God we pray that as we go throughout this service the things that are said and done would be pleasing and glorifying to you it's in your son's name that we pray amen let's stand as we cons continue singing praise the [Music] Lord his Mercy is [Music] more stronger than Darkness new every morning our sins they are many his Mercy is [Music] what love could remember no wrongs we have done omn on knowing he counts not there some thrown into a sea without botom more sure our SS they are his Mercy is [Music] more praise the Lord his Mercy is [Music] more stronger than Darkness new every our sins say are many his Mercy [Music] is what patience would wait as we constantly R what father so tender is calling us home he welcomes the weakest the V is the poor our sins they are many his Mercy is more praise the Lord his Mercy is [Applause] more stronger than Darkness you every morning are sins they are made his Mercy is [Music] more what riches of kindness he on his blood was the pain his life was the cost we stood neath the dir we could never [Music] aford and our they are many his Mercy is more so much more [Music] his Mercy [Music] is stronger stronger every morning our sins there are made his Mercy is my [Applause] his Mercy is [Music] more stronger than Darkness every our sins there are many his Mercy is more our sins there are many his Mercy is more oh our sins they are made his Mercy is full [Music] [Music] Lord from Sorrows deep I call when my hope is Shen torn and Ru from the fall hear my desperation for so long I've plad and prayed God come to my rest res you even so the Thor remains still my heart will [Music] praise storms within my TR Soul questions without anwers on my faith these B those R God be now my shelter why are you cast down my soul hope in him who saves you when the fires of all grown cold cause this heart to praise you oh my soul oh my soul put your hope God my help my rock I will praise him sing Oh sing through the Raging stor you're still my God my salvation [Music] [Music] [Music] should my life be torn from me every worthy pleasure when all I possess is grief C be in my treasure be my vision in the night Be My Hope and refuge to my fath is turn to side Lord my heart will praise you oh my soul put your hopeing God my help my rock I will PR him sing Oh sing through the ring storm you're still my God my salvation all my soul P toing God my help my rock I will prise him sing sing through the ring sto you're still my God my salvation [Music] good morning good morning before we begin communion meditation this morning we'd like to invite everyone that is believer we have uh stations set up around here and we ask that uh that you do be a believer to partake I'll be reading from 1 Corinthians 11:23 through 29 for I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me in the same way after supper he took the cup saying this is the cup of the New Covenant in my blood do this whenever you drink in remembrance of me for whenever you eat of this bread and drink of this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes therefore whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of of the Lord a man ought to examine himself before he eats the bread and drinks the cup for anyone who eats and drinks without re recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment upon himself when Christ went willingly to the Cross he was innocent and righteous before God taking our place he carried our sin and guilt on him to the Grave when he rose again he left that sin in the grave and lived again so that we all who believe could live again because of Christ's obedience actions to to the father's will Jesus proclaimed is proclaimed as holy his Holiness is why as Believers we are commanded to commune together in a New Covenant with the Lord this communion is specifically for believers because the emblems represent a holy body and Holy Blood this is why it is important that non-believers abstain from the Lord's Supper Holiness is tied to these emblems and for that reason even Believers should examine themselves before partaking take taking the Lord's supper with unconfessed and unresolved sin is considered unworthy an unworthy Manner and therefore a sin against the body and blood of the Lord confessing our sin to the Lord it removes us it renews us and it lets us enjoy the true Freedom Christ provides for us these emblems are physical reminders of what he has done for us communion is a time of rejoicing and Thanksgiving as Believers we are now covered with Christ's righteousness before God let us pray father as we take this time for communion we thank you and rejoice that you have given us a perfect sacrifice one that we could never duplicate one that we could never come close to to put Before You by trying to do our best and put in front of you you provided a perfect sacrifice and it's because of this plan that you have put in in our place that that we have the opportunity for eternal life we thank you for this plan we thank you for your son Jesus and it's in his perfect Holy Name that we pray [Music] amen for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] w for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] any BBS kids anybody else okay are you ready to Jungle Jam y all [Music] right let's go to the jungle and this is our plan toing made by The Great I Am Journey from Genesis to re to know where you're going andar we let's [Music] you jungle Jam again I am can you jungle Jam I am [Music] oh let's go to the jungle and this is our Discover Secrets made by The Great I Am journey fromis to to know where you're going and learn where we begin let's go hey hey hey can you hear our jungle Jam hey hey hey the G with the I am he hey hey can you hear jungle Jam he hey hey you he what the I [Music] [Music] oh we start with creation corruption catastrophe confusion Christ the cross and consum and [Music] Jesus can you hear jungle Jam again I am he hey hey can you he our jungle Jam hey hey hey you am [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] good [Applause] job God spoke the word and there was light made the Sun and Moon so we can sleep at night he created all things animals and trees and don't forget he made the manity [Music] manity swiming in the sea it's manity God Made It All Creatures Great and creatur Small he made you and me and no mistake he made the man [Music] is he made the big gorilla he made the butterfly he made the three to SLO the really slowmo guy he created all things animals and trees but don't forget he made the manity manity manity swiming in the sea it's a manity God made it all creatures great and creatures small he made you and me and no mistake he made the man and [Music] see pink rib a Dophin go God made that and he made the D Frog as a matter of fact green parents well he made that too the best of all he made me and you God made it all creatures great and creatures small in you and me and know the sake he made the manity God made it all creatures great and creatures small you and me and no mistake he made the man [Music] [Applause] how much fun was that that was fun and uh if you want something really good fun you can talk to Terry Heiser he has a couple video clips of some other dancing that took place by some um other folks besides the kids so you guys can work that out with him but I know where he lives and you know what he does for a living right so anyways good time was had so at this time we are pleased to have uh Ty cross uh Tai was a very influential part of Barrett's uh Ministry and planted a church up in Garder Kansas and has been there and and did that so uh we're glad to have Ty with us and before Ty comes if you are in junior Church um you can go with Miss Debbie and Miss Lesley so Ty it's yours thank you Tyler I really hate to follow up VBS songs with the most Downer of all the Psalms we're going to be looking at Psalm 88 this morning and uh you'll understand why I said that so let me just put a little buffer between that and and when we get in um my thanks to Tyler for filling in for me I was supposed to be here last week as many of you know and um it started off in herbal Iraq with a text message saying your flight has been delayed 7 hours to Istanbul right away I knew I was going to miss my connection to the states and I did and so I spent an extra night in Istanbul Turkey got another ticket to Chicago on the flight to Chicago we make an emergency landing in Goose Bay New Finland and as I sat on the tarmac in goosebay New Finland I called Tyler and said I don't think this is going to work and uh so he got last minute uh notification that that I wasn't going to be here and so thank you again for that Tyler and one more quick thing um so I was a pastor for 20 years at at Fellowship Bible Church in Garder and that's where uh I had made my connection with with Barrett and Megan and um so I've retired from that stepped down this about this time last year was my last Sunday and I now work for an organiz ation called up Global and we partner with local Believers and leaders who are planting churches in the most unreached places on Earth and so the reason why we were in first in anara turkey and then herbal Iraq that we were training and discipling new Believers from Iran um the church is growing at about a 20% annual rate rate in the country of Iran they are hopeless the regime has beat them down if you believe them and I have no reason not to they would say that 80% easily of the population of Iran hates the regime but it's 20% who have the power and who are oppress them and they are looking for answers and they are finding it in Jesus so in the 10 days I was there we baptized six individuals um we train believers who are as young as two weeks in the faith a veteran believer in Iran is about two to three years and it was just an incredible joy and privilege uh to meet with these who are gathering in just this in houses today maybe a a large House Church would be six people um we we were able to connect with two men and one of their men's Sons three three new Believers in an area in of Iran that to date had been for the most part completely unreached they may be the only three Believers in their entire State and so we uh I just I would just ask you to remember the Believers in in in the country of Iran and it uh they had some amazing stories they they grew up obviously in the most for the most part in Muslim families some of whom practiced Islam some of whom didn't but um God has reached out to them in amazing ways and they're coming to Faith so praise God for that after losing the love of his life after only four short years of marriage see entered into what can only be described as a a dark time in his life and if you've suffered loss like that you can understand he shared about it in a very brief book called A grief observed and in that book he wrote these words meanwhile where is God this is one of the most disquieting symptoms when you are happy so happy that you have no sense of needing him but if you turn to him then with praise you will be so welcomed with open arms but go to him when your need is desperate when all other hope is vain and what do you find a door slammed in your face and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside after that silence you may as well turn away after losing seven sons and three daughters in one catastrophic storm as well as most if not all of his livestock followed then by being stricken with swords from head to toe job entered into what can only be described as probably the darkest spiritual storm recorded in scripture and he wrote these words in Job chapter 30 resp spoke these words I cry out to you God but you do not answer I stand up but you merely look at me you turn on me ruthlessly with the might of your hand you attack me you snatch me up and drive me before the wind you toss me about in the storm I know you will bring me down to death to the place appointed for all the living and amid his own spiritual Darkness a man named hemon not not hmon not the enemy in the Book of Esther but heeman one of David's Court musicians and the author of Psalm 88 wrote these words why Lord do you reject me and hide your face from me well if these words offend you I I would offer that for some reason you have a struggle being honest with God in fact it's it's altogether possible that your relationship with God suffers not because you experience Darkness from time to time but because you're afraid of being open and honest with your feelings in the darkness that come time to time if you sit back and you say well you I I could never say anything like that to God without I hope it's doesn't offend I but I would offer if that's what you're thinking you have a small God and a small theology we come to a text this morning that's often ignored and skipped over it's Psalm 88 it's a Psalm of lament there are a few of them in the alter Psalm 42 for example you may remember the psalmist writes why my Soul are you downcast or depressed Psalm 77 the writer asked will the Lord reject forever will he never show his favor again has his unfailing love vanished [Music] forever and if we're truthful we've probably asked questions at least like that in our lifetime to No Satisfaction until such time that we need no longer have the answer will we be satisfied in the end job didn't need to know the reason for his suffering only that God was in control of it likewise CS Lewis likewise heon likewise you and me so I've mentioned that Psalm 88 is written by a man named heon not familiar to us but uh very familiar to the people in and around Jerusalem we don't know the occasion of his pain we don't know what brought on Psalm 88 it seems to be highly personal it's not a it's not one of those National mourning for the the State of Affairs in Israel but I think God made sure that heeman didn't write the specifics that way you and I can't compare our suffering with his if we knew the source of his suffering we might conclude that his suffering was greater than ours and and so therefore you know you have that IDE well I should I should just shut up I should just close my mouth I should stop my complaining and as a result you can circumvent what God wants to do in your life or we conclude that his suffering is less than ours and we could say well Psalm 88 has nothing to teach me my suffering is worse if we if we learn anything from the Psalms of lament let it be this that the Psalms of lament like 88 are expressions of sorrow and they are important expressions of Sorrow that teach us valuable lessons about God and about ourselves lessons that we would never know otherwise and so before we dig in if you if you if you will allow me I just want to offer three things to remember when we are in this place of lament or sorrow it happens to all of us If we're honest and these three points come from The Book of Ecclesiastes one of the elders at my church and and I just finished teaching an adult class on the Book of Ecclesiastes and it was so rich and it has much to say about death and how we approach death and and darkness as well and so let me just let me just yeah give you these three things before we act this is the longest introduction to a sermon by the way in history but before we still get into Psalm 88 I'd like to offer three things about lament first God ordains times or seasons of mourning and weeping God ordains them you're familiar probably the most familiar part of Ecclesiastes is chapter 3 there's a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens and just a little bit after that he lists some of the seasons or times and one of them is a time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance like like VBS I guess right so in all of our life experiences from crib to coffin along with seasons of planting and reaping and loving and keeping and scattering and dancing and laughing and building all of which you can find in Ecclesiastes 3 God has also ordained for us Seasons where the right and proper thing to do is to mourn and to weep it is the intention of that season for us to mourn and weep why but we'll get to that second lesson about Psalms of lament God Alone in his time and in his way will make everything beautiful that is his promise this was the Forgotten and neglected gem for me and we went when I studied restudied Ecclesiastes it's Ecclesiastes 3:11 and if you ever hear anyone quote Ecclesiastes 311 that's usually the second part about God setting eternity in our heart but it's preceded with this phrase he has made everything beautiful in its time he has set eternity in the human heart yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end listen to that truth listen to that promise he has made everything beautiful in its time Naomi needed to know that didn't she when she traveled with her husband from Bethlehem became a refugee in Moab A Stranger in a Strange Land and what happens her husband dies and not long afterwards her two sons die and if you went up to Naomi at that point and said you know what Naomi go think she' to maybe hit you it's a hard truth to to coni to believe especially in the darkness but did God make everything beautiful of course he did in her family line comes David from Whose Line comes Jesus God will make everything beautiful in its time Mary and Martha have a brother Lazarus who's sick and onto to the point of death and they send word to Jesus come heal because they believe he can heal their brother their sick brother but Jesus intentionally remember in John 11 he in intentionally delayed his going and he arrives after Lazarus has been dead for days and if you had told Mary and Martha that when Jesus delayed and he it was too late to save his brother if you'd have said to them God will make everything beautiful in his time they'd have probably hit you but what does Jesus do he calls Lazarus out of the Tomb and he proves that he is the resurrection and the life because God will make everything beautiful in its time it didn't matter if it's a 4-day delay like it was for Mary and Martha or a 40-year delay he'll make everything beautiful in its time we need to remember that in periods of Darkness the Bible is replete with story after story that proved this point and so in those moments and you'll have them it's a beautiful truth to remember God's ordained it he will also make everything beautiful in it again then why thirdly lament just like laughing and dancing is intended to result in worship Ecclesiastes 3:14 this is our why why do I why should I have to go through any dark time in my life Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that everything God does will endure forever nothing can be added to it nothing taken from it God does it so people will fear Him Revere Him worship Him so with that as our background we finally now arrived to Psalm 88 and I'd invite you to turn in your Bibles and read with me let me reading from The New International Version Lord you you are the God who saves me day and night I cry out to you my prayer comes before you turn your ear to my cry I'm overwhelmed with troubles and my life draws near to death I'm counted among those who go down to the pit I'm like one without strength I am set apart with the dead like the slain who lie in the grave whom you remember no more who are cut off from your care you've put me in the lowest pit in the darkest depths your wrath lies heavily on me you have overwhelmed me with all your waves you have taken me from my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them I am confined and cannot Escape my eyes are dim with grief I call to you Lord every day I spread out my hands to you do you show your wonders to the Dead do their Spirits rise up and Praise You Is Your Love love declared in the grave your faithfulness in destruction are your wonders known in the place of Darkness or Your Righteous deeds in the land of Oblivion but I cry to you for help Lord in the morning my prayer comes before you why Lord do you reject me and hide your face from me from my youth I have suffered and been close to death I have be I have borne your tears and am in despair your wrath has swept over me your Terrors have destroyed me all day long they surround me like a flood they have completely engulfed me you have taken from me friend and neighbor darkness is my closest friend what do you notice there's no end there's there's no last verse yet my hope will be strong in you yet you are the god of my there it it doesn't it's not there is it not in Psalm 88 and Psalm 39 the only two Psalms that end this way after expressing lament Psalm 77 says what God is as great as our God you are the God who performs Miracles at least there is hope in that Psalm 42 in the midst of honest expression why my soul are you downcast why so Disturbed within me put your hope in God for I will yet Praise Him My Savior and my God but unlike these Heman drops the pen in fact in the original Hebrew language the very last phrase darkness is the last word of this Psalm clo my closest friend Darkness how do you how do you stop a s there now I'm not trying to talk you into being in a dark place I I hope you don't mistake me this way but Dark Times come don't they yes we've experienced them we've lived through them if you haven't you will one of my good friends was preaching at like opening Chapel of of our alma mater so we had all all those College freshmen and sophomores and the Juniors and the seniors you already know everything and he said you know what the the best days of your life are ahead of you and so are so are the worst we might as well accept that so it makes sense to be prepared now to be patient with others who may be there to learn the truth now before it's hard to believe the truth that God's silence does not mean his absence and so for all the darkness in this Psalm I would offer that there are glimmers of light so let's try to find those would you pray with me please before we dig in Father we don't have the answers of life we wonder why a lot especially in moments of Darkness of hurt and hardship and so I pray this morning God that through the words of heeman in Psalm 88 words that you preserved for us words you want us to read and know I pray that in these words we would find you and praise you even in in the darkness we ask in Christ's name amen all right if you're a note taker a few points if you're not a few I don't have any more points so it's just a few points either way first of all I'd like us to see that darkness is a path to go through even for mature believing Christians darkness is a a path to go through even for mature believing Christians and see Darkness isn't just doesn't happen to us because we're immature Darkness doesn't happen to us just because we lack Faith Darkness may very well be and often is for mature believing Christan heon was one of David's Court musicians job was a righteous man darkness is for anyone and I should add the path of Darkness May last a very long time now that doesn't mean that in all the time that we're walking through this Darkness we can't find any Ray of joy we can't find any laughter we don't go around in sackcloth and Ashes the entire time but it comes to us and it may last a good long time it it's what we call the Dark Night of the soul and it's not just an eight hour period that we sleep we're talking we're not or and now and we're also not talking about common outer darkness that we all live in called the world that's not the darkness we're talking about this darkness is a deep abiding Darkness I think you could sense that from the psalm it's altogether possible in fact it's most often possible that the things on the outside may be going bad but inwardly we're sensing God's exper God's power and I hope that's the the case with you but that's not what's Happening Here hean is feeling abandoned by God and others he feels as though he's under God's Wrath and as he interrogates God much like job did it's right there for all the world to see we're here 3,000 years later in Rich Hill Missouri reading these words that God preserved for us where heon says youve you've put me in this place God you've made me repulsive to my friends I'm overwhelmed with trouble and so I think we have to ask the question what good is there for us to read this why shouldn't we just skip over this one well let me give you my attempted an answer and usually when I'm stumped for an answer I go to my my main source of the not my main source I go to The Andy Griffith Show but not this time this time I'm going to The Princess Bride where Prince prin Buttercup looks at who she thinks is the dread pirate Roberts and says you mock my pain you remember what Wesley says back to her life is pain highness anyone who says differently is selling something one of the greatest Arguments for the authority of the Bible is the authenticity found in the Bible it's honest the Bible isn't selling anything is it Jesus was not selling anything was he to the disciples in the upper room the night he was betrayed he said these words John 15:20 remember what I told you a servant is not greater than his Masters if they persecuted me they will persecute you also that must have been an eye openening statement just a little bit later chapter 16 same occasion all this I have told you so that you will not fall away they will put you out of the synagogue Jesus isn't selling anything in fact the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God and I wonder if Thomas turned to nathani did he say kid kill no I think he said thrill no he said kill a little bit later Beyond in this world you will have trouble how more honest can you be how more authentic can the word of God be this is clearly what we have to look forward to Christianity is not a fourleaf clover is it so where is the light in this Darkness I I would tell you it's because it's a mercy from God that he sets before us you and me realistic expectations this is the way it's going to be in this world don't be surprised by it it's a mercy that Jesus prepared his disciples it's a mercy that God is honest about seasons of hurt and pain and darkness otherwise it would be God would be deceptive and manipulative but he's not not these things happen to us all the new in faith the old in faith and if we expect all roses and chocolates then we'll fall apart during hardship but if we expect them if we expect that there will be seasons of mourning and weeping we can handle them better not perfectly but better secondly I'd like us to see that Darkness another ray of light in this Psalm is that Darkness may be your very best opportunity to learn about God's grace now without tearing this Psalm apart it's clear that the author is interrogating God as I said much in the same manner as job he says he says things that I I wonder if later he regretted but we don't know there's some bad theology in this Psalm we don't turn to this psalm for theology you have put me in the lowest pit in the darkest depths your wrath lies heavily on me you've overwhelmed me with all your waves you've taken me from my closest friends I I I'm counted among those verse four who go down to the pit I'm like one without strength I'm set apart with the dead like the slain who lie in the grave whom you remember no more wait a minute hon your boss David wrote in Psalm 139 if I go to the heavens you're there if I go to the depths you are there there's not this is not a Psalm we turn to for good theology it's just an expression of lament there's also a fair amount of exaggeration from my youth I have S suffered and been close to death so and again I ask it in a different way what does it say about God that we have this Psalm in our Bible I think one of my favorite authors the late Tim Keller had a brilliant Insight he offers that I am speaking for God I am the god God of this writer even though he's not getting it right and so to us I'm not your God because you do and think everything right but because I'm a God of Grace Derek kidner said the very presence of these prayers in scripture is a witness to God's understanding God knows how men speak when they are desperate we don't always speak accurately theologic ically correctly third ray of light Darkness offers us the opportunity to grow in our faith I can still I can still remember my Old Testament Professor when we were in The Book of Job saying there's a world of difference between complaining about God and complaining to God God can handle every one of our complaints habach how long Lord do I have to put up with this job if I could stand in a trial with you I'd come out ahead people have complained to God for Millennia but that's a far different thing than complaining about God job brought his complaints to God heon is bringing his complaints to God day and night I cry out to you I call to you Lord every day I cry to you for help Lord in the morning my prayer comes before you we can learn from heeman that in his intense pain whatever it was and wherever it came from it did not paralyze him instead it prompted him to renewed and fervent prayer I don't know if it's called if if it would be CL classically called the dark time but I I remember when my son was um sent to Afghanistan and I I I just it's not like I I was depressed but I I began to think I'm getting overwhelmed during this I can't I can't handle this whole deployment worrying it it's gonna it's going to just stifle me and so I prayed it drove me to more fervent prayer by stating that that his prayer meets the Lord in the morning what heon is suggesting is that for him prayer is the first thing in his daily schedule it's not his last resort it's his first impulse nothing like Darkness will do that for you now probably a little late a little background on heeman in 1 Chronicles 6 we have a list of men who David put in charge to serve as Court musicians and we read these words in verse 33 here are the men who served together with their sons from the coites hmon the musician the son of Joel the son of Samuel hon is the grandson of the high priest Samuel that's a pretty good spiritual pedigree later in 1 Chronicles 25: 5 heon is referred to as the king's Seer or prophet and that God blessed hon with 14 sons and three daughters and it says in order to exalt him or in order to show God's favor toward him and yet here's hon saying from my youth I have suffered and been close to death well no it's I know it feels that way but that's not the reality so all this helps us reveal the intensity of heon's Darkness he hadn't suffered since his youth there's no indication he was on the verge of death God in fact exalted him he didn't put him in the lowest pit now that doesn't make hean a liar it makes him a human a real person just struggling with real problems this seeming contradiction then is where we learn our lesson about spiritual growth in dark times for the longer the darkness lasts the more human praise and that's a very good thing if his relationship with God was simply transactional in other words I'll follow you God as long as you do good things for me then he would have stopped praying a long time ago turned his back on God and sought relief somewhere else this is if we can go back this is actually the what the trial of job is all about Satan was sure that if job were stricken with calamities and loss that job would in Satan's words surely curse you God to your face in other words Satan says the only reason job worships God is for what God has done for him and not simply for who God is he worships because of the benefits in that's in essence Satan is saying to God he's not loving you he loves himself and he's using you this is where spiritual growth comes into action and why James that trials are the best soil to grow our faith because it's in the trials it's in the testing of our faith it's in the dark times that we find out do we really believe God and trust God or are we simply using God for the company benefit package and for all he's going through if it's just a relationship of what have you done for me lately heeman would have stopped calling to God a long time ago but it's in this darkness that he grows spiritually and lastly let's look at it this way where's the the greatest ray of light in this Psalm is that it is a reminder of the Gospel why would God include a Psalm where a suffering man would say such things about him well maybe one of the best lessons is to learn the gospel see there are three primary components of H struggle right abandonment wrath and darkness he felt abandoned by God and others he felt God's Wrath he s Darkness now I ask you in the gospel we see Jesus getting what hmon thought he was getting betrayed by one of his Apostles and he was abandoned by the rest wasn't he while on the cross Jesus cried out to God why have you forsaken me and as because the totality of God's Wrath was placed on Jesus for the sins of the world World start to finish and then Matthew 27 and Mark 15 tell us that even though the crucifixion took place at 9:00 a.m. Darkness came over all the land until noon abandonment wrath and darkness three key elements of the Gospel so with all that let's go back do you hear the echoes in the room of Ecclesiastes 3 he has made everything beautiful in its time I can't tell you how he will make things beautiful no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end I can't tell you how long your Darkness May last I can tell you that he hears Us in the darkness and that he will make everything beautiful in its time let's pray we hang on God to your precious promises we thank you for the honesty of your word the truths for all of us to read and see for ourselves in Psalm 88 that life can be very hard and we can struggle and we can be in darkness and we we can struggle with why but we know we know who is in charge and you God you are in control and we rest in your promise that you'll make everything beautiful in its Time For That We Praise You In Jesus we pray amen let's stand as we sing Our closing song and if you have a decision to make we encourage you to do so hymn number 31 my Jesus I love [Music] thee my Jesus I love thee I know Thou Art mine for thee all the father of sin I resign my gra Redeemer My Savior art thou If Ever I love thee my Jesus is now I love because thou first paron me and puras my on Cal tree I love thee for wearing the thorns on my brow if I love the my Jesus is now in manions of glory and [Music] inless I'll ever adore the in heaven so bright I'll sing with the glit crown on my If Ever I love the my Jesus is I want to let you guys know that back here in the Breezeway we have daily devotionals um these are by Seasons um and so I would encourage you they're day-by-day devotional pocket size big size whatever but encourage you to take those and go through those so just want to make you guys aware of that if you were not aware of that and let's repeat now the Great Commission whenever Jesus said therefore go make displ of all Nations them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey I have commanded you and surely with you to the very end of the age Clifford would you close us in prayer Our dear heavenly father it's been good today to be in Fellowship to hear your word proclaim Lord we thank you for Ty bringing the message today about times of darkness and all of our lives that come to us either now or in future and Lord we know that there is no other that we can turn to in those times you are the only one you have given us breath giv us life and we thank you for that we thank you for your your plan that you sent your son Jesus into the world to die for our sins and Lord we we look at that and we see that that light as we look through the darkness we see him he prepared the way for our lives eternally as we live this this this Earth this world Lord be with us as we go forth this week maybe be willing to share Jesus with others that they may know that [Music] well God all blessings flow praise him all creatures here Bel Praise Him Heaven host praise Father Son and Holy [Music] Ghost praise God go out and be the light [Music] right oh Jesus [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] K can Comm [Music] You Are Holy King Alm mighty [Music] Ang Heaven Jesus [Music] Jesus the highest the [Music] IUS [Music] Jesus king [Music] Jesus Jesus [Music] [Music] you the highest stand I stand [Music] Jesus Jesus