Dear Faithful Seed Sowers!

It is my prayer that we are learning to grow in the grace of Christ each day. I have been thinking about the wonderful hymn, “How Great Thou Art.” I encourage you to take a minute and YouTube your favorite version of this song and sing at the top of your lungs.  Pause and ponder the powerful lyrics and the deep meaning behind the words.

This is an inspiring hymn of praise and adoration, reminding us of God’s unlimited power and love. Although written in 1886, the hymn has become familiar to congregations everywhere around the world.
It especially became an international favorite after the Billy Graham Evangelistic Team used it in their crusades during the late 1940’s and early 1950’s.

The original text was written by a Swedish pastor, Carl Boberg, in 1886. While visiting a beautiful country estate, Boberg was caught in a sudden thunderstorm. The awesome and violent lightning and thunder quickly ended, leaving clear,  brilliant sunshine and the calm, sweet singing of the birds in the trees. Falling on his knees in awe and adoration of Almighty God, the pastor wrote nine stanzas of praise. Swedish congregations began to sing his lines to one of their old folk tunes. The text was later translated into German and Russian and ultimately into English by the Reverend S. K. Hine and his wife, English missionaries to the people of the Ukraine. When war broke out in 1939, it was necessary for the Hines to return to Britain, where Mr. Hine added the fourth stanza to this hymn. These four stanzas by Stuart Hine have since ministered and inspired God’s people worldwide:

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy pow’r thruout the universe displayed!

When thru the woods and forest glades I wander and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees, when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze.

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in—That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin!

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart! Then I shall bow in humble adoration and there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!

Refrain: Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee; how great Thou art, how great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee; how great Thou art, how great Thou art![i]

Worship
The first three verses of Psalm 145 teach us so much about worship. When we think of God and His greatness, what is it that we can give to God? The only thing that we can give to God is our praise — our worship.

In the first three verses are three nearly parallel lines — “I will praise you — I will praise you everyday — I will praise you forever and ever.”

“I will praise” you. Praise is worship; it is acknowledging God to be who God truly is. God is the Sovereign Lord of creation. God is holy, just, righteous, merciful, awesome, and majestic. God is with us forever and ever. Say it with David, “I WILL PRAISE YOU, GOD!”.

What worship is not: worship is not coming to God in order to get things from God. Worship is not confessing our sins or pleading for grace, though these things flow naturally from worship. Worship is simple but so difficult for so many. Worship is acknowledging God to be God. Indeed, it is doing precisely what David does in the remainder of this Psalm.

 I will praise you “every day.” David is not going to praise God merely on the Sabbath, though the seventh day (or for us the first day of the week, Sunday) is explicitly set aside for that purpose. Rather, David is going to praise God “every day,” Monday through Sunday. Wow! What a profound statement! Especially in our culture today when so many people are disconnecting from church and worship of God, here is the word of God reminding us to praise God every day. Worship is not just one hour a week. Worship is a 24/7/365 deal. Let’s get on it.

I will praise you “for ever and ever.” “For ever and ever” means more than merely “to the end of my days, until I die.” It means “forever,” indicating David’s belief he would be worshiping God in heaven even after his worship on earth was ended. Fantastic! Forever and ever and ever and ever.

Friends, the Good News for us today is that we will be worshiping God forever and ever–along with the other redeemed saints from all the other ages of world history. Can you only imagine that? Praising God with Peter and Paul and Mary. Praising God with Bonhoeffer. Praising God with Calvin. Praising God with Luther. Praising God with Augustine. Praising God with Mother Teresa.

The “so what” question is right here, right now. “Why don’t I practice worshiping God right now?”

If we were to break down this wonderful Psalm, we would say that David praises God for his greatness (vv. 5–7). David does not stop with praising God for His greatness, David praises God for his grace (vv. 8–13a), his faithfulness (vv. 13b–16), and his righteousness (vv. 17–20).

Here’s your “so what” homework:

• Praise God for His greatness!
• Praise God for His grace!
• Praise God for his faithfulness!
• Praise God for his righteousness!

Yes! Try it right now. Right here as you finish reading this SEED OF FAITH, let that mustard seed of faith grow. Tell God why you think God is great! Tell God about His great grace for you! Tell God about how faithful God has been to you. Thank God for his righteousness. We got this. You can travel to work, school, the grocery store and the mall and thank God for the many beautiful things you see or hear. Thank God for His grace: his glorious riches at Christ’s expense. Wow, you could drive cross country on that one. Look back over your life and thank God for His faithfulness to you. Lastly, praise God for His righteousness. Tell God you want to walk rightly, you want to follow Jesus and you need daily help and strength to do that.

Let’s practice this wonderful advice from David and Psalm 145. And after you are done with this great PRAISE session, play the song and sing along.

HOW GREAT THOU ART. What an opportunity we have to be able to turn our lives into a song of praise.

God loves You and so do I,
Dave

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him. The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,  to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Lamentations 3:21-26

Dear Faithful Seed-Sowers,

Do you know the famous hymn, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness?” The verses are familiar to many Christians, it is a well-known hymn written by Thomas O. Chisholm (1866–1960):

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father!
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not; Thy compassions, they fail not:
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

The story of how Chisholm came to write his great hymn reveals a profound truth about God’s faithfulness. Some of our great hymns are written in response to a dramatic spiritual experience. That is not the case with “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”. This hymn was not the product of a single experience but of a lifetime of God’s faithful care. Not long before his death, Chisholm wrote:
“My income has never been large at any time due to impaired health in the earlier years which has followed me on until now. But I must not fail to record here the unfailing faithfulness of a covenant keeping God and that He has given me many wonderful displays of His providing care which have filled me with astonishing gratefulness.”[i]

“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam,” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. John 9:5-7

Dear Faithful Seed Sowers,

We are back in the Gospel of John.  I encourage you to take some time to slowly read John 9:1-41.  Put yourself in the story. Where are you? Who are you?  And then put the story in you–how do I make this word of God relevant in my life today? Wrestle with God’s word because it really is new every morning.

As we enter into this story, we find the blind beggar sitting at the gate of the temple. He is not expecting a miracle. He has been blind from birth. He cannot see Jesus. The disciples see the beggar and ask Jesus who sinned, the blind beggar or his parents. Jesus says, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” John 9:3

Wow! Pause and ponder that! This miracle is going to take place so that the work of God might be displayed–in the blind beggar’s life, in his parents’ lives and in our lives. Maybe a few good “so what?” questions to kick-off the message are:

Where am I blind?

What is my blind spot in life?

How is the work of God being displayed in your life?

How is something really hard and heavy in your life going to be used for God’s glory?

Let us remember that the blind beggar did not pray for sight. At least, we are not told that he did. He was a beggar. It is a beggar’s task to beg. But he did not beg for sight. He is sort of akin to the beggar on the street corners here; waiting at the stoplight, hoping those who catch the red lights will be generous. The blind beggar’s condition was hopeless; what is the use of asking for something that everyone knows cannot happen!? The blind man certainly did not expect the miracle that was about to be performed by Jesus. The beggar was begging for a way to survive the day. He would be back tomorrow and the next day and the day after that—begging. Just as he had since anyone can remember.

Jesus sees the man and goes to work. I want to tell you right now that Jesus sees you! Jesus knows where you are–that is just the kind of God He is! Jesus knows where we are blind and He know our blind spots that continually cause us to fail. And–he’s walking by as you cry out.

Jesus goes to work. He spits on the ground and makes some mud with His spit. Now that is a whole different sermon. Jesus makes the mud and puts it on the eyes of the blind man and tells him to go to Pool of Siloam and wash.

It was simply put, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (v. 7). It was simple; it contains only seven words. It was personal; it was directed to the blind man and to him alone. It involved a test of obedience; for it involved a response to the Lord Jesus Christ. Has the Holy Spirit (the identical twin of Jesus) ever spoken to you? Ever whispered a command to you? He has to me—and it has never been more than just a few words: give that beggar $10, fill that kid’s car up, call this person, go visit that person. If you are learning to listen to God’s voice—remember this, listen for those short give-or-take-7 words–and then go do it. (Remember, the voice of the Holy Spirit will never contradict Scripture, or fulfill it.)

Do you know that the distance between the Temple Gate and the Pool of Siloam is around 70-80 yards? Almost the length of a football field.

Can you enter into this story?
You have been blind from birth. You cannot see the man who is talking to you. All you feel is this wet mud being put on your eyes. Then you are told by the man to go to the Pool of Siloam. Have you ever thought, how did the blind man know which way to walk? How did he maneuver around a crowd of thousands in order to get the pool?

I think this was really a test of obedience. Are you in this story? Jesus just put mud onto a blind guy’s eyes and told him to go wash in the pool that is 100 yards away through a crowd of thousands. (And sometimes I am put out because I just want to punch my card in the payment finder, fill my car with gas and go–and then I hear—”Dave, you see that kid. That kid over there is hungry—buy him some food.” The blind beggar is now on his way to the pool of Siloam. He is blind. Remember that.

I believe that in the same way, the gospel, the Good News that comes to us is simple— “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” It is personal; you must believe. Above all, it is a test of obedience; for the question is, “Will you believe? Will you trust Jesus?”  Listen if you are hesitating, let the blind man be your guide.

If you are hesitating, you are blinder by far than the blind beggar. What did he do? He was blind, but as the old Puritan divine John Trapp quaintly observed, “He obeyed Christ blindly.”

SO WHAT?
How are you and I doing being obedient to Jesus?

The blind man could not see Jesus, but Jesus saw him. Moreover, when he saw him, he saw him as a man who needed his help. Jesus alone saw him in this way. The disciples looked at the man and saw him as a sinner. “Who sinned,” they asked, “this man or his parents?” The passersby saw him as a beggar. “Isn’t he the man who sat and begged?” The Pharisees saw him as a tool to maneuver to trap Jesus. But Jesus—well, Jesus saw him as a man who needed help, and gave him more than he asked for or dreamed of–his SIGHT.

Here we are, at that famous time of the message: SO WHAT?

What does this message have to do with me?

Where am I in this story?

I believe that there are two kinds of people in this world — GRACE STEALERS and GRACE GIVERS. Are you are grace-giver or a grace-stealer?

THIS RIGHT HERE is your homework for this week, and really forever. Every day—stop and take an inventory of who you are. Take an inventory of where you may be blind. Look at your life, your family, your neighborhood, your schools, your job, your church—and ask yourself this question: AM I A GRACE STEALER or A GRACE GIVER? And then…get ready…and hear this:  JESUS IS PASSING BY YOUR WAY Today and every day.

Let us pray, “Jesus—Where we lack…help us. Where we are blind, give us sight. Where we have become grace stealers, grace destroyers, grace killers—change us…and make us more like you. Teach us how to see the truth and help the truth to set us free…free to be grace givers… like you.”

As my wife and I travel on airplanes, we always buy 4 coffee cards for the flight attendants who will be on our service. Our son taught us that simple act of kindness. Really. Think about it. That is a hard job. Anyway, we gave our card to the chief attendant who passed them out sometime during the flight. One of the attendants came up and asked if we were the gifters. She then told us when she was in training, her roommate (also in training) was on the flight on 9-11. With tears in her eyes, she said, “Thank you for writing, “We remember” with a scripture on this card.  YUP. Sometimes Jesus asks things of us that we cannot comprehend. DO IT ANYWAY.

See you Sunday

God loves you and so do I,
Pastor Dave
www.theseedchristianfellowship.com