[0:00] Please join me in Psalm chapter 148. When you turn there, you'll notice we're at the very back of this collection of psalms. We have two left. Joe Gibby asked me, he said, what are you going to do with Psalm 150?
[0:11] It's a collection of eight or nine different instruments. And I said, if you'll come to the Christmas festival, you'll see us living out Psalm 150. Ms. Gita and her motley crew of merry men.
[0:23] All right. And the band members are going to be playing. And as it was told, we're going to have, we're going to alternate between them playing. And then also in here, we have a Christmas video and we'll alternate back and forth.
[0:33] It's going to be a lot of fun. Hope you're planning on coming. Get some tickets out to your friends. That song they just sung is probably one of my favorite Christmas songs. I do like Christmas music, regardless of what I said earlier many times.
[0:45] All right. I like Christmas music in the season. That's one of my favorite. And I wasn't looking necessarily to preach on a Christmas theme this Thursday. We have a couple of weeks away. We're going to be in Psalm 148. But as we go through the Psalm, I think you'll see that this is quite fitting.
[1:00] Rejoice, all heaven and nature sing. That is the major theme for this Psalm that we are going to look at tonight. Heaven and nature singing. How many of you in here indicate with the raising of your hands.
[1:13] How many of you enjoy snow? You like a real good snow. Miguel, very excited about it. All right. Let me see that again. That was the vast, really? That's the vast majority of you in here.
[1:23] All right. Does anybody feel as adamant against snow as those people do? All right. Terry does. Matt does. Greg and Jonathan. Not surprised. Jonathan's against it. All right. His grumpy old man over there.
[1:34] Future makings of a great deacon. He's just against it. All right. And but I found it interesting that in this Psalm, it puts snow right in line with hell and fire and dragons.
[1:49] All right. So I don't know what that's saying. But when they're listening, when snow's listed, it's it seems like Terry may be right about it. So the first six before I read it, let me give you what to be looking for.
[2:01] So we're going to look at heaven and nature saying this Psalm, the first six verses here are going to call on the heavens to give praise to God. And that's going to happen. And then at the end of those four verses or five and six are going to tell why the heavens should praise the Lord.
[2:16] And then the second part of the Psalm is going to talk on earth should give praise to the Lord. And that's verses in verse 13 and 14 will tell us why it should. And there's a big word, anthropophore.
[2:29] OK, I'm going to say it. I had it earlier in the day. But it's just but it's not just describing human characteristics of the earth. It is saying that the earth, all of God's creation should praise his name.
[2:42] And so it's just not poetry. It is literally all the earth is commanded to praise the Lord. We've this this portion of Psalms is at the end of it here.
[2:53] We've said that it starts with praise the Lord and it ends with praise the Lord. And we know that's the word of alleluia in the Bible. We have the word alleluia four times in one chapter. It's not in the book of Psalms.
[3:04] Anybody know what chapter of the Bible alleluia is in four times? Revelation, of course, David's family would know that answer. All right. Revelation. That was going to be his guess regardless.
[3:14] Right. What chapter is it in? 19. 5,000 points for the boys. All right. The boys are in the lead. All right. Revelation 19, four different times the word alleluia, which means praise the Lord. And it's more than just let's worship God.
[3:26] It's a command. Praise the Lord. The earth is commanded. The heavens are commanded. You and I are commanded to praise the Lord. And just like heaven and earth, we are given more than ample reason in which we should.
[3:39] And so rejoice this. Let heaven and nature sing. You know that to be a line from joy to the world. The Lord has come. Let earth receive her king. Let every heart prepare him room. And heaven and nature sing.
[3:50] A song about his second coming. And we, heaven and nature will sing as well. And so the Psalms, if you remember, 150 Thursdays ago or so, or even more than that.
[4:02] So that is, that's a long time. That's several years. We start off in Psalm chapter number one with this contrast between the righteous and the wicked. And you probably could say this with me.
[4:12] The blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And his law does he meditate day and night.
[4:23] And he shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water that bring forth his fruit in a season. His leaf also shall not wither. And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The Psalm starts off with this contrast between what the wicked do and what the righteous do.
[4:37] And as it continues throughout the Psalm, you see the key calling of us righteous, or the righteous, and all of creation is the command, the praise the Lord. And so all through the book of Psalms, we see a command, the praise the Lord.
[4:51] And tonight in this Psalm, Psalm 148, heaven and nature. And this Psalm is a pure praise. It means it contains not a single prayer, a plea, or a petition, but it's only praise to the Lord.
[5:04] It's filled with doxologies, which are just words and phrases that we would use in praise. And this Psalm is filled with it. And as God's people, we will never be uninterested in hearing other people praise the Lord.
[5:20] But we also want to evaluate our hearts and consider, Are there things in this world that are calling us to praise the Lord that we're ignoring? All right, Psalm 148. I'm going to read all 14 verses to you.
[5:33] Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens. Praise Him in the heights. Praise Him, all ye angels. Praise Him, all ye hosts. Praise Him, sun and moon. Praise Him, all ye stars of light.
[5:46] Praise Him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded, and they were created. That's our view, the Christian view of creation.
[5:59] He commanded, they were created. He hath also established them forever and ever. He hath made a decree which shall not pass. Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons and all deeps.
[6:11] And it's always interesting when you see the word dragons, not a word we use. David and Jennifer work in a school that are the dragons, one of the weirder mascots. That's an area. But dragons, unknown creatures.
[6:23] How many of you have been to the Creation Museum in Kentucky, the great state of Kentucky? All right. And they have an exhibit occasionally on dragons. There's just unknown animals, dinosaurs, just big animals that they don't have names for.
[6:38] And so, the dragons and all the deeps. Fire and hell, snow and vapor, stormy wind fulfilling His word. Mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars.
[6:50] Beasts and all cattle, creeping things and flying fowl. Kings of the earth and all people, princes and all the judges of the earth. Both young men and maidens. Old men and children.
[7:01] Let them praise the name of the Lord. For His name alone is excellent. His glory is above the earth and heaven. He also exalted the horn of His people, the praise of all His saints, even of the children of Israel, a people near unto Him.
[7:15] Praise ye the Lord. This psalm calls for heaven and nature the same. Another line is enjoyed to the world. It says, Fields and floods, rock hills and plains, repeat the sounding joy.
[7:26] Or no more let sin and sorrow reign, nor thorns infest the ground. May this earth go back to the way it was when God created it in the garden, not filling the effects of sin.
[7:37] Other Christmas songs that we sing, angels from the realm of glory, we sing all creation join in praising God the Father. A lot of our Christmas songs point us to the fact that someday we will be redeemed, that all of this earth will be as well.
[7:51] Throughout scriptures, we're reminded of the power and danger of the earth. The psalmist, they invite us to imagine here in Psalm 148, verse number 8, this windy winter storm as it's summoning the Creator and fulfills His command.
[8:09] Verse 8, fire and hail, snow and vapor, stormy wind fulfilling His word. This strong word picture of a powerful snowy storm and how it is fulfilling the command of the Lord.
[8:24] Remember, Jesus is on the boat with His disciples and He just says to it, the beast still, that there's no force in this world that we could ever say that is a greater force than our Lord.
[8:34] It just does His, it will obey His command. Psalm 104, it tells us that He established an order in creation. He appointed the moons for seasons and the sun knoweth His going down.
[8:47] That God has placed an order to it in creation, then the fall of man, and now the world groans and it waits for the day that it will be redeemed. And we have to have warnings.
[8:58] Creation is, it's amazing. There's two groups of people. I'm one of the ones that in, as a Christian, that I do not allow nature to call me to praise the Lord as much as I should.
[9:12] I spend too much time in buildings, all right? I don't spend enough time looking up. There's been, I've seen some incredible things. I think about Burkina Faso and laying out underneath the stars and Juan Garcia unplugging my air mattress and I got him back the next day.
[9:26] I almost drowned him. He was asleep in the car and I poured water on him and he was about to be the first man to drown in the desert, all right? But it was like a planetarium. Like, you could not avoid the fact that it was amazing.
[9:38] So there's that one group of people, those of us who neglect to be drawn to praise the Lord by looking at what God's done. But then we also, another group, we all have friends and family members.
[9:49] And I'm so glad Zacharias got some new friends since he came here. And we all have friends and family members that they go too far, right? They worship creation. And you could see, because we're made to worship, you don't have a choice in that matter.
[10:02] So you could see how a person could end up in that. They're going to worship the greatest thing they could see. If you follow different groups, you find different tribes, or if you follow history, people are going to worship the most powerful thing that they could see.
[10:14] The sun would be worshipped at times. But we're warned of this. Colossians 2.18, Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.
[10:31] Don't worship angels. On Sunday, we will look at these passages where they're told to fear not. And you can imagine that a person would be fearful when an angel walks into the story.
[10:43] It's going to cause great fear and amazement because it's unlike what we see, the supernatural. In Acts chapter 7, verse 42, it says, Then God turned and gave them up to worship, the host of heaven, as is written in the book of prophets, O you house of Israel, you have offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of 40 years in the wilderness, that worshipping the host of heaven.
[11:06] And I've told you before that when somebody asks me, you know, what's your, is it a zodiac sign or your horoscope sign? I always say something like rhinoceros or unicorn. And then they say, well, that's not a real one.
[11:17] And I'll say, well, none of them are real. You know, and since we're playing a game, you know, I was just going to name some of my favorite animals. You name some of your favorite animals. But we are not controlled by any authority outside of the God of heaven.
[11:30] There's not some thing in play. There's not some karma. There's not some kind of process. There's not some kind of, well, because you're a, I don't even know two different names to say, because you're one and somebody's another one that the laws of nature mean you're going to get along or you're not.
[11:47] We're prideful, selfish people. That's why we don't get along. Not because I was born in January and you were born in August. If you were born in August, I'm sorry. Okay. Not the personal there. That's not the reason. There's not some magical influence upon this world that we submit ourselves to.
[12:02] We praise the Lord. We submit ourselves unto him. And so we're given caution in the Bible. We don't worship creation. We don't worship angels. We don't worship the host. And we don't worship whatever new thing shows up on the scene.
[12:16] And as Christians, we ask for discernment when things come through. You know, whatever quiz that comes through, what kind of person you are, we don't let those things define us.
[12:27] But the world's not divided, as I've said, between those that worship and those that don't. Everybody worships. The world's divided between those of us who worship the creator and those of us who worship something else, mainly creation.
[12:39] And so someday creation, which belongs to God, will be redeemed. The Bible teaches this redemptive scope of God's work. It includes the entirety of all creation. He will redeem it all.
[12:51] In the New Testament, Romans 8, Paul's going to say it like this. Creature was made subject to vanity and the emptiness. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, the garden changed.
[13:04] And all of creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And so it isn't just us that groan in pain. I felt old today because I fell in the hallway.
[13:16] And you know you're young because when you're young and you fall, people laugh. Like, oh, that's funny. But when people are like, are you okay? You're like, I must be old. I've never had so many people concerned about me falling.
[13:28] And it felt different. And so we groan in pain, but we're not the only ones. This earth and creation groan and travaileth in pain together, all of us together. Through Christ, God's renewing creation, and Paul's word, will be delivered from the bondage of corruption.
[13:43] We will in this earth. So the Psalms is poetry. And I'd like to share with you an outline by Philip Brooks on this passage that keeps it in still a poetic form.
[13:57] So Psalm 148. If you have your Bible, I hope you do. You'll follow along here with me. I'm just going to give you some descriptions of the Psalm as I read through it. So where God should be praised. Where the Spirit resides.
[14:09] Praise the Lord from the heavens. Praise Him in the heights. Where the stars revolve. Praise Him, sun and moon. Praise Him, all you stars of light. Where the sky reigns. Ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters above.
[14:21] And why should God be praised? It's all originate. He originated all these things. He commanded, and they were created. And He ordained all these things. He made a decree which shall not pass.
[14:32] Verse 6. So praise Him here on this globe. Verse 7 through 10 talks about the psalmist's views of our planet. This restless sea. The raging storm.
[14:43] These rocky steeps. And the royal scene. Praise the Lord from the earth. Ye dragons in all deeps. Fire and hills. Snow and vapor. Stormy wind. Fulfilling His word. Mountains and hills. Fruitful trees and cedars.
[14:55] All those pictures as we look over planet earth. And then it views all people. The heathen. Kings of the earth. And all the people. And the princesses. All the judges of the earth. From the greatest to the smallest.
[15:07] You are called to give praise. And the cause of praise. In verse 13. Let them praise the name of the Lord. For His name alone is excellent. His glory is above the earth and heaven. And then to the Hebrews. He says.
[15:18] He says. He has exalted the horn of His people. That speaks about His strength. There's a power that we get to enjoy about our Creator. And we praise Him. And then the privilege.
[15:28] The praise of all the saints. Even of the children of Israel. People near unto Him. In a position. People near unto the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. This call of all creation. The praise of God.
[15:39] Is not an empty wish. In Revelation chapter number 5. It tells us specifically. That this will be fulfilled. And as Adam Clark says. Oh what a hymn of praise is it here. It is a universal course.
[15:51] All created nature has a share. And all perform their respective parts. Miss Jeda is trying to get this group of band members over there. And lie. And she's doing a great job.
[16:02] Sorry to embarrass you Miss Jeda. But she is conducting a group of people to praise the Lord. Someday every instrument will be in tune. Every one of us will do exactly what we're created to do. And it will be the most beautiful orchestra ever imagined.
[16:16] When all of the earth praises the Lord as we're commanded. We all do exactly what we were created for. And so we have some reasons we will join the earth in praise. As it's given there.
[16:27] Verse 13 and 14. Namely. Praising God is the surest sign that we're enjoying God as we should. Let me repeat that for you again. Now praising God is the surest sign that you're enjoying God as we should.
[16:41] Verse 13 and 14 tells us. Praise the Lord. His name is excellent. His glory is above the earth. His strength is horn. And the people are nearing to him. And so I'm just going to give you here four different reasons.
[16:53] That you should join the earth and the heavens in the praise of God. First one is. God alone is worthy of the worship, honor, and praise that he deserves. God alone.
[17:04] Nobody else is a contender for the praise that God alone deserves. His name alone is excellent. Verse 13. And then the psalmist is telling everyone to praise God.
[17:16] What they're doing. What all men will do when they speak of what we care about. Praising is what naturally happens. All enjoyment spontaneously overflows in the praise. You hear praise all day long for different things.
[17:30] I would encourage you to listen for it tomorrow. Listen to people who constantly are praising something. And so it's this overflow of an enjoyment of something.
[17:40] And God wants us to be continually praising his name. Because he alone is worthy of the worship and honor. Secondly here. God is immeasurably greater and more glorious than anything on this earth.
[17:54] He alone is excellent. His glory is above the earth and the heavens. His name is above the earth and the heavens. A quote from the book The Weight of Glory. It says. The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them.
[18:11] It was not in them. It only came through them. And what came through them was longing. These things. The beauty. The memory of our own past. Are good images of what we really desire.
[18:22] But if they are mistaken for the thing itself. They turn in the dumb idols. Breaking the hearts of their worshipers. This is the part I really want you to listen to. For they are not the thing itself.
[18:33] They are only the scent of the flower we have not found. The echo of the tune we have not heard. News from a country we have never yet visited. We should be looking and be awestruck with what God's done in creation.
[18:47] And we shouldn't stop there. We should be amazed at the creator. Because it is just the tune of a song we have yet to hear. And so God is immeasurably greater than anything else we can see.
[18:59] And could pass around a microphone and ask you. What is the thing that you have seen in life. That left you most awestruck in God's creation. What was amazing. And every good man in here would name their wife. The first time they met them.
[19:09] That would be the smart answer right. And then outside of that. You would tell us about maybe Italy. The Gabriel family. Or Brett really likes to get lost in the woods and go hiking. I am sure he has seen some of those things.
[19:21] I have told you before. When I saw the redwood forest in California. I was so disappointed. I am like I am from Kentucky. I don't want to drive another hour to see trees. I have seen every tree there is to be seen. But when I got out.
[19:31] I was just. I couldn't speak for a good 30 seconds. All right. And then I. Just it was. It was amazing. But all of those are just the scent of a fire. Which we have not found. Echo of a tune.
[19:42] We have not heard. Number three. God is the only one that could have rescued us. Verse 14. All people are joined in this heavenly song.
[19:52] Because kings of all the earth. And the people of the princes. The judges. Both young men and maidens. And old men. And children. We rejoice. Because he is the one that is strong.
[20:03] That is able to save us. That's what that horn of strength speaks about. That is in the prophecy given at the beginning of Luke. When it speaks about God coming to save us from our sins. Nobody else can save us from our sins.
[20:14] And so we don't waste our God glorifying lives. By waiting to become something else. Before we can glorify him. It lists all kinds of people. Today we can glorify him. Caterpillars glorify God.
[20:26] Before they become butterflies. As well as after. When I was a little kid. At the church I would go to. Before we would go on the Sunday school. They didn't have life groups David. They had Sunday school.
[20:36] And when we would all go to the front. The little kids. We would sing. And Miss Sandy. You might have taught people this song before. It says. If I was a kangaroo. I would hop right up next to you.
[20:47] And I just want to give thanks to the Lord. Something like this. No you don't know this one? And they would just name them. They would just. It might have been a one hit wonder there in Kentucky. All right. And then we would just.
[20:57] We would just like name animals. And like every animal seemed to have a different way in which that animal would worship the Lord. And I would just want to thank you Father for making me me.
[21:08] And I love that song as a kid. I'm going to bring it back. All right. And so. I just want to thank you Father for making me me is how it would end. Whatever the animal was.
[21:19] And so. Here. Everything was made. To worship him. But as God's creation. Humans. That were fallen into sin. We have cause to praise him.
[21:29] Because he is our redeemer. And so we speak with his name about majesty. I want to compare two verses. Verse 13 of this chapter that we're in the psalm. To Micah. In verse 13 it says. Let them praise the name of the Lord.
[21:41] For his excellent. His name is excellent. For his glory is above the earth and heaven. His name is alone is excellent. But in Micah. This famous prophecy about Bethlehem. It speaks of a greater ruler arising.
[21:52] In this little town. And it says in Micah 5.4. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord. In the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. They shall abide. For now. Shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
[22:05] There is a majesty unto his name. Because he is our redeemer. God is our rescuer. And it's his strength. He deserves our praise. And then lastly here.
[22:15] From the end of verse number 14. He has chosen to draw near to his people. Everything that he has done in the great plan of redemption. Is so that we might draw near to him. We would not know him.
[22:26] If he didn't make himself known. We could not love him. If he did not first love us. We could not go to him. We could not draw near to him. If he did not have this plan of redemption. And so why would we hesitate?
[22:37] Psalm 1611 says. Thou wilt show me the path of life. And thy presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. So draw near with a sincere heart. As it says in Hebrews.
[22:48] A sincere heart praises God. And not seeking to praise themselves. Let me end tonight with telling you. What happens at the store. At the end of the book of Job. But most of us want in the book of Job.
[23:01] After chapter 1. Chapter 1 is the most read book. Chapter you know in the book of Job. We all like it. We know what's going on. And then it gets difficult for us. Changing dialogue. And so we want a theological statement.
[23:13] At the end of it. We want it to say. This is what you thought. This is true. This is not true. This is what we want. That's how we want God to answer. But instead God takes Job. On a world tour. He goes to a zoo in essence.
[23:26] Job 12.7. But ask now the beast. And they shall teach thee. And the thousand air. And they shall tell thee. Or speak to the earth. And it shall teach thee. And the fishes of the sea. Shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not all these.
[23:36] And the hand of the Lord. Has wrought us. We discover that for all the other things. God might have us to do. He apparently spends a lot of time. Delighting. And watching these things.
[23:47] That he has created. Eagles soar. And hippos being hippos. And he shows this to Job. And so chapter after chapter. God goes on and on. About storehouses for snow. Or a spectacular night sky.
[23:59] Or a deer giving birth to a fawn. Job 38.22. Hast thou entered into the treasures. Of the snow. Or hast thou seen the treasures. Of the hell. This is how Alexander McLaren.
[24:09] Sums it up in Psalm 148. He says. A line of thought. Which runs throughout the scripture. From its first page. To its last. Namely. That as a man's sin. Subjected the creatures. To vanity.
[24:20] So his redemption. Shall be there. Glorifying. Let me put this in my terms here. Help. Maybe help. You understand. What I believe he's trying to communicate here. Is that because of sin.
[24:32] And the curse. We have been broken. And we're just now. Look at vanity. And emptiness. We worship creation. But because of the gospel. We are now able to praise the Lord.
[24:43] And one of the works of sanctification. Is now to free us. To glorify. And to praise his name. Is to enjoy him. And to see this. And this should happen.
[24:53] As we look at nature. And earth. And so many things. And that doesn't just speak about landscape. That has to do with the human body. It has to do with the way things work. I won't go into detail.
[25:04] But today I was standing by somebody. And life just seems completely. Doesn't seem to make any sense. And I wanted so bad. Just to give a theological answer. That would take away the pain.
[25:15] And the hurt. But I think about the book of Job. And what we could see. Is we could see that we live in a world. That has order. And that we live in a world. That has a powerful God. And when it seems like God's out of control.
[25:26] It still rains when we need it to rain. And God takes care of us. And so there's a constant reminder. That we don't live in a world. That is out of control. But we live in a broken world. That God has.
[25:37] That one day he will redeem. So I'm going to show you. You're going to end the night. With some pictures. I think about what the first church. Would have done in the New Testament. And I think things. That maybe churches do today.
[25:47] They wouldn't have. And we should probably avoid. But there's things that we can do. That they didn't do. That I think they would have done. If they could. That I don't got enough time to explain it. I hope you got on the first go. And one of those.
[25:57] Is to show some pictures. I'm going to show some pictures here. And I can see Apostle Paul setting up a projector. When he says I'm going to teach you here. Through this psalm. I want to show you some pictures. Of creation. Because we don't have time.
[26:08] To get in the church van. And drive around. And let me show you all. But in Job. That's what was happening. In word. And then also. And here in Psalms. We're getting different pictures. So I'm just going to end here. With a few pictures for you.
[26:18] Hopefully to help you see. How powerful the Lord is. So go ahead. Put the first picture up there. Anybody knows what this is? Fungus. Okay. Something like that. This is a microscopic picture.
[26:29] Okay. These are the kind of things. That we never see. But if we had microscopes. We could see all kinds of wonders. We could see things. That are greater than the Grand Canyon. If we could see the depth there.
[26:39] And so there's things. That we can't see. That God has created. And they exist in a way. We don't understand. And me and Einstein. Is the few other people. Understand this. No I'm just kidding.
[26:50] Like I don't. Like I. What holds protons. And neutrons together. And how do they stay in orbit together. And how come when we try to take them apart. Things go bang. We don't know. All right.
[27:00] But there's something going on there. That is a bit beyond our mind. You could take the smallest thing. And zoom in on it. And you get to a place where you'd say. We know so much. But we don't know everything. And you would wonder.
[27:11] And you'd be amazed by it. Another picture here. Some of the greatest things that. The greatest exploration to be left in this world. Is under the sea. There's things that people have never seen. That are amazing. And if you like to go scuba diving.
[27:24] You're crazy. I cannot do that. But if you could go under there. You could see these things. And you would just be amazed. At schools of fish. Multiple colors. That are amazing. That nobody will ever see.
[27:34] But God just created. As a creative God. Showing off. Worthy of his glory. Next picture here. Is an animal. I don't know what it is. But ain't it cute. All right. And God made that.
[27:46] I didn't. All right. Chat GPT. No artificial intelligence. That's a real animal. All right. And that's. He made that. And we look at that. And we say. I can't make that. All right.
[27:57] Next picture here. This would be. This is a beach. I don't know where it's at. But I want to find out. So me and Stephanie Aaron. Give 2024. To trying to find this beach. Wherever it's at. All right. She loves that. Look at the colors there.
[28:08] The gradients. The changes there. The red. And the blue. Nobody's doing that. If you want to be a great artist. Try to replicate that. And you would get within a. Some percentage of trying to replicate that.
[28:19] And people would say. Your painting is amazing. And all you've done is replicated. What our creator. Has done. Some of you might like this next picture. A little better. How many of you like this? Mike is this better for you? You like this better here?
[28:30] Travis you like that? All right. But Terry hates the snow. All right. And your last name's snow. We're going to have to. Work through that. Okay. And so we have. We have this beautiful snow. God covers it. He just gives a glaze topping.
[28:41] Every now and then. In certain parts of the world. It's beautiful. The next one here. Is the. Is the earth. I was going to put. The sky. I was going to put a picture of flat earth. Just to mess with some of you here.
[28:52] But we won't do that. Just the sky. So we can look down microscopically. We can look into the heavens. You get a microscope. Or you get a telescope. Look as far as you can. And a maze. But it continues. And then.
[29:02] Just earth here. And so all of heaven and nature sings. And so praise transforms. The rebellious us in the garden. Who says. I want to know good and evil. I want to be like God.
[29:13] This is what Adam and Eve says. It's. And it brings us to a humble place. Where we say. Oh Lord. Your name alone. Is to be exalted. Praise. Positions us. It portions us.
[29:24] It places us. Where we belong. That is. When we praise God. We acknowledge both to God and the others. That we are not the lords. Of our own lives. He is the greater. And when we praise God.
[29:35] We acknowledge both to God and the others. That the Lord is Lord. And we are not. It's important that we sing out together. You know we have people leading us in song. But we sing together. Because we're using our words to praise the Lord.
[29:47] We are singing these words. We're acknowledging that we are not God. That he is the Lord. I showed you pictures of earth and nature. And you can look at that. But you can see that in one another.
[29:59] Today I held one of the kids that is in our church here. A family was looking after. And for a little bit. And not to get all mushy in here. But I just looked down and I thought. What an incredible story.
[30:09] God's doing something here. And I had a moment where I just realized that. There's a lot of busyness that's going on. But if I would slow down. And not just smell the flowers as they say. But would look at the flowers.
[30:21] I would get a scent of something that is greater. I would hear something that's greater. Which is that our God has created this world. And he alone is worthy of praise. And so I want to encourage you. Let's be all worship leaders.
[30:33] Not just Stephen. Not just Ben and these other people. Let all of us be worship leaders. Looking and pointing to things in this world. That ought to cause us to answer that command. To praise him. I'm going to pray for us.
[30:44] And we will go and pick up our little creations from Awana. And after I pray. We won't sing tonight. Heavenly Father. I thank you for your word.
[30:55] And I thank you for this reminder. To let us be moved to praise you. Not just when we sing songs. But Lord. What we know from your word. When we look out into creation.
[31:05] And what you have done. Lord. We would say that it is. What you have said Lord. That is. It is good. There's so much brokenness in this world Lord. But you are. You are the redeemer.
[31:17] And so we praise your name Lord. From the heavens. We praise you from the heights. We want to praise you from wherever we can be at. All the angels. We want to join them. And all the hosts. We want to praise you.
[31:28] We want to join the sun. And the moon. And all the stars of light. To show that you are great. And that you are wonderful. And you are powerful. And the heavens Lord. And Lord. We want to praise your name.
[31:39] Because you have commanded. You have created this world. You have done that. And you established them. And you made it a decree. In which it shall pass. Where there's an order in this world. It's amazing.
[31:50] Tomorrow the sun will rise. Father. Without any of our help. And it will also set. And none of us will do anything about that. You have done that. And we praise your name. For what you have established. And you have done this through your decree.
[32:01] By with your word. It is powerful. We praise your name. With all the animals. And the fire. And all the forces of nature. That are just fulfilling your word. Lord the sea and the wind.
[32:12] It obeys your command. And Lord as your creation. We do not want to be rebellious. We want to listen. And obey. As well. From the mountains. And the hills. And from the tall trees. And wherever we are at Lord.
[32:24] If we are the kings of the earth. Or if we are among the judges of the earth. If we are young. Or if we are old. If we are servants. Or those in authority. You alone are worthy. Of our praise.
[32:34] And we praise you. Your name is excellent. It is uncontested. Your glory and what you have done. Is above all of the earth. And your strength Lord. For your people. As your saints. As redeemed people.
[32:45] We praise you for your strength. And we thank you. That an all powerful. Mighty God. Would draw near to us. And allow us to know you. We are so very grateful.
[32:57] And tonight we want to praise your name. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.