"I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you, and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." Psalm 145:1-8
WE MAKE DISCIPLES
We believe that followers of Christ are called to multiply through the proclamation of the gospel from one person to the next and through the ensuing process of relational discipleship. Therefore, we mobilize our people in order to expand God’s kingdom to the neighborhoods and nations until the good news is known.
We desire to take the gospel to the neighborhoods, the nations, and the next generation.
PONDERING THE CHARACTER OF GOD
1. Your greatness is unsearchable (v. 3).
2. I will meditate on the glorious splendor of His majesty and His wonderful works (v. 5)
3. …your awesome deeds (v. 6)
4. …pour forth fame of His abundant goodness (v. 7)
5. …sing of Your righteousness (v. 7)
6. …the Lord is gracious and merciful (v. 8)
7. ...the Lord is slow to anger (v. 8)
8. …abounding in steadfast love (v. 8).
All the attributes of God are ultimately seen and become more alluring in the person and work of Jesus the Messiah.
"Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Matthew 11:11
"But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." Matthew 13:16-17
Meditation: Getting these truths deep in our thinking.
“Meditation is the deliberate, disciplined practice of focusing our attention on a truth or an aspect of reality–ideally, on the truth of the loving presences of Christ in and with us...Meditation means reflecting on truth, letting it sink in. Meditation involves silent musing…taking time daily to sit and ponder what is real.” John White
“Give me a man in love: he knows what I mean. Give me one who yearns; give me one who is hungry; give me one far away in this desert, who's thirsty and sighs for the spring of the Eternal country. Give me that sort of man: he knows what I mean. But if I speak to a cold man, he does not know what I'm talking about.” Peter Brown, Augustine of Hippo, p. 377
"Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town to another due,
Labor to admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv'd, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be lov'd fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me." John Donne, Batter My Heart, Three-Person’d God
2 Timothy 1:7 (Isaiah 40:28-31)
The Response: (vv. 4, 6a, & 7)
APPLICATION:
1. In the heart of a disciple there should be a compelling, invigorating desire to reach the next generation (v. 4) born of the knowledge of God.
2. Believers embrace the importance of fanning our commitment and love into a white hot flame (2 Timothy 1:6, Matthew 5:6) as opposed to the “I've got this…” mentality.
3. Our significance and calling is found in glorifying God and enjoying Him forever as we find ourselves in the gospel story of creation/fall/redemption/restoration.
4. There is a “before” and “after” biblical application of truth as seen in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). We should know, rejoice, and be enthralled and then “do the word.”
“The Christian life is a life of power and activity. This is the thing we constantly tend to forget. It is not just a philosophy or a point of view or just a teaching that we take up and put into practice, but it is something infinitely more. There is a mighty power that enters into us. It is a life that is pulsating in us, and activity by the power of the Holy Spirit.” D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones