1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Amen. 2 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:37,000 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 3 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:07,000 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 4 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,520 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 5 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:59,980 www.fema.org. 6 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:29,980 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 7 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:59,980 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 8 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,260 For more information, visit www.fema.org. 9 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:49,020 This morning, last Sunday of July, moving in to August, I'm going to go ahead and have a word of prayer, and then we'll read from the 104th Psalm, and then we'll sing and worship together. Let's pray. 10 00:05:49,020 --> 00:05:59,980 Father in heaven, I just ask that you would be with us this morning as we gather together. We thank you for the encouragement that we find in our brothers and sisters in Christ. 11 00:05:59,980 --> 00:06:29,960 We thank you for this family that you have made us a part of. We thank you for your goodness toward us, toward your blessings that you have poured out on us. We thank you for your presence in both the good and in the difficult times, and we ask this morning as we come that you would help us to see your glory, that you would help us to see your truth, that you would be encouraged and comforted and corrected. 12 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:59,940 Amen. We're going to begin by reading from the 104th Psalm in just a minute, sort of fitting the theme of where we are in Isaiah 40, looking at God's greatness and the fact that he is incomparable. You can't compare him to anything. In the 104th Psalm, it is simply a recounting of God's sovereignty and his power over all creation. 13 00:06:59,940 --> 00:07:16,940 And so, it ends with this resolve after seeing how God has worked in and through and by creation. So, if you would be standing as we go ahead and read from the 104th Psalm, verses 33 and 34. 14 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:41,920 They are in the top part here. We'll open it up right in the first part. We'll read this together. We're going to read that at the end of our service. 15 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:57,920 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to Him, for I rejoice in the Lord. 16 00:07:57,920 --> 00:07:59,920 This is God's Word. 17 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:57,900 This is God's Word. 18 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:20,920 This is our God. This is who He is. He loves us. This is our God. This is what He does. He saves us. He bore the cross, beat the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim. This is our God, King Jesus. 19 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:48,920 Remember that fear that took our breath away? Faith so weak that we could barely pray. But He heard every word, every whisper. Now those altars in the wilderness tell the story of His faithfulness. 20 00:09:48,920 --> 00:10:08,920 Never once did He fail, and He never will. This is our God, this is who He is, He loves us. This is our God, this is what He does, He saves us. 21 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:32,920 Before the cross, feed the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim, this is our God, King Jesus. This is our God, this is who He is, He loves us. This is our God, this is what He does, He saves us. 22 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:56,920 Before the cross, feed the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim, this is our God, King Jesus. You bore the cross, feed the grave. Let heaven and earth proclaim, this is our God, King Jesus. 23 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:22,920 I cast my mind to Calvary, where Jesus bled and died for me. 24 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:37,920 I see His wounds, His hands, His feet, my Savior on that cursed tree. 25 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:50,920 His body bowed and drenched in tears. They laid Him down in Joseph's tomb. 26 00:11:50,920 --> 00:12:03,920 The entrance sealed by heavy stone. Messiah still and all alone. 27 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:19,920 Oh, praise the name of the Lord our God. Oh, praise His name forevermore. 28 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:34,920 For endless days, we will sing Your praise. Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord our God. 29 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:48,920 And on the third, at break of dawn, the Son of Heaven rose again. 30 00:12:48,920 --> 00:13:03,920 Trappled air, where is your sting? The angels roar for Christ the King. 31 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:17,920 Oh, praise the name of the Lord our God. Oh, praise His name forevermore. 32 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:30,920 For endless days, we will sing Your praise. Oh, Lord, oh, Lord our God. 33 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:46,920 You shall return in robes of white. The blazing sun shall pierce the night, and I will rise. 34 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:59,920 Among the saints, my gaze transfixed on Jesus' face. 35 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:15,920 Oh, praise the name of the Lord our God. Oh, praise His name forevermore. 36 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:44,920 For endless days, we will sing Your praise. Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord our God. Oh, praise the name of the Lord our God. Oh, praise His name forevermore. For endless days, we will sing Your praise. 37 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:59,920 Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord our God. Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord our God. 38 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:16,920 Amen. 39 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:46,920 Amen. 40 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:16,920 Amen. 41 00:27:44,920 --> 00:28:03,920 ...to gather around the table in a few moments. We'll be in Genesis 21 and Genesis 16 to lead our hearts to see the goodness of God. 42 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:06,920 And so before we do that, we're going to sing "Turn Your Eyes." 43 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:42,920 . . . . 44 00:28:42,920 --> 00:29:10,920 Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. 45 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:38,920 Turn your eyes to that hillside where justice and mercy embrace. There the Son of God gave His life for us, and our measureless death was erased. 46 00:29:38,920 --> 00:30:06,920 Jesus, to You we lift our eyes. Jesus, our glory and our Christ. We adore You, behold You, our Savior ever true. Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes. 47 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:34,920 We turn our eyes. Turn your eyes to the morning and see Christ the lion aware. 48 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:50,920 What a glorious dawn, fear of death is gone. For we carry his life in our veins. 49 00:30:50,920 --> 00:31:02,920 Jesus, to you we lift our eyes. Jesus, our glory and our prize. 50 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:18,920 We adore you, behold you, our Savior ever true. Oh, Jesus, we turn our eyes to you. 51 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:48,920 Turn your eyes to the heavens. Our King will return for His own. Every knee will bow, every tongue will shout all glory to Jesus. 52 00:31:48,920 --> 00:32:14,920 Jesus, to You He lifts our eyes. Jesus, our glory and our might. We adore You, behold You, our Savior ever true. 53 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:42,920 O Jesus, we turn our eyes to You. Jesus, to You He lifts our eyes. Jesus, our glory and our might. We adore You, behold You, our Savior ever true. 54 00:32:42,920 --> 00:33:02,920 O Jesus, we turn our eyes to You. O Jesus, we turn our eyes to You. 55 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:27,920 In Genesis, the 16th chapter, and then again, and a few more pages over in Genesis 21, we meet a lady by the name of Hagar. 56 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:34,920 And probably most of us, if we've been around church for any length of time, are familiar with the story of Hagar. 57 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:48,920 She is a servant of Abraham and Sarah. She ends up bearing a son to Abraham when he and Sarah were unable to conceive, and instead of trusting God, they chose to trust in their own wisdom. 58 00:33:48,920 --> 00:34:03,920 Her story is one, I think, of struggle and of hurt and of difficulty, and both in Genesis, the 16th chapter, and in Genesis chapter 21, we find Hagar alone in the wilderness. 59 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:13,920 And in Genesis chapter 16, it's because she is running away from the brokenness and the cruelty and the hurt that has been sort of put upon her. 60 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:24,920 Not things that she has necessarily chosen to be a part of, but things that have been done to her, and her only measure of control is to run, and she runs into the wilderness. 61 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:36,920 And she finds herself by a spring of water, and in verse 10 of chapter 16, the angel of the Lord will appear to her and speak to her. 62 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:46,920 And he gives her a message, a message to return, a message of hope, a message of promise, and then here is what she says in verse 13. 63 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:57,920 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, "You are a God of seeing." For she said, "Truly, I have seen him who looks after me." 64 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:10,920 And so in the midst of the wilderness, alone, and feeling like she has been pursued and treated badly, and in a life full of hurt, she encounters the truth that God sees. 65 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:20,920 She even sees the runaway servant girl in the middle of the desert whose life has been full of pain and difficulty. 66 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:32,920 And then in Genesis, the 21st chapter, it's a very similar situation. Instead of running away this time, she has been cast out, and this time she has the son that has been promised to her. 67 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:44,920 And she is alone in the desert, and there is no more water, and not being able to bear what will happen to her child, she moves away because she says to herself, "I cannot watch what happens." 68 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:53,920 And God, once again, comes, and He speaks to her and is with her, and in verse 19 it says this, 69 00:35:53,920 --> 00:36:01,920 "Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and went and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. 70 00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:09,920 And both times in the wilderness, God brings to her, first of all, the truth and the knowledge that He sees, 71 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:15,920 not just the great and the powerful and the important, but He sees the hurting and the broken, 72 00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:23,920 those who are running from their problems and struggling to try to find peace. He comes, and He sees them. 73 00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:30,920 And then here in Genesis 21, I like this picture that God opened her eyes, and she saw this well of water. 74 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:37,920 A place of refreshment and a place of hope in the midst of the desert, and knowing God doesn't just see her, 75 00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:46,920 but He's the one who refreshes her. And here we come from the wilderness of a world filled with brokenness and hurt, 76 00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:51,920 and maybe we're running away. We're running away from our struggles or our hurts or our problems, 77 00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:59,920 or maybe even running from the consequences of our sin. And here at the cross, 78 00:36:59,920 --> 00:37:08,920 we see the truth that God sees us, but He doesn't just see us. He comes near to us, 79 00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:18,920 and Jesus, God the Son, comes and takes on flesh, lives among us. He dies in our place for our sins, 80 00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:28,920 carrying the weight of all of our brokenness and shame. But maybe we come to the desert, or come to the cross from the desert, 81 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:39,920 in the dryness and thirstiness of a world where nothing satisfies, nothing seems to nourish our souls, 82 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:48,920 nothing seems to bring our thirst to bear. And we come this morning, maybe not running, but just tired and thirsty. 83 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:57,920 And once again, we come to the cross, that spring of refreshment and nourishment as we see Jesus. 84 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:05,920 Who nourishes our soul as the bread of life, who is the living water, who makes us never thirst again. 85 00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:09,920 And we come and we are refreshed. 86 00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:16,920 So whether we are running or in need of refreshment this morning, we come to this table. 87 00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:26,920 And we lift our eyes and we turn our eyes to the God who sees us, and who saves us, and the God who provides for us and refreshes us. 88 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:28,920 Let's go to hymn in prayer. 89 00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:41,920 Father in heaven, I thank you for this meal that nourishes us and refreshes us deep in our souls in the truth of the gospel. 90 00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:53,920 And remind us that so many times we are fearful and we've run, that you are our rock and our strength, and you are the God of our salvation. 91 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:59,920 And that through Jesus, our sins are taken away and we are made new. 92 00:38:59,920 --> 00:39:06,920 And as we come tired and weary and hungry, may you give us rest and refreshment. 93 00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:14,920 May you restore our souls, that even though we walk through a dry and often weary place, 94 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:17,920 to know that you are with us and that you comfort us. 95 00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:25,920 So I ask that with this meal, that you would restore our souls, that you would turn our eyes to you. 96 00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:30,920 And I ask that you bless this bread and this cup. May we proclaim your son until he comes again. 97 00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:33,920 It's in his name we pray. Amen. 98 00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:38,920 If you would, take the bread with me, as Jesus shares with his disciples. 99 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:43,920 And he says, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 100 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:54,920 And if you would, take the cup, as Jesus says, "The blood of the New Covenant." 101 00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:57,920 And as often as you drink this, do this in remembrance of Jesus. 102 00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:13,920 We are moving to Isaiah 40. We'll have a word of prayer, and then we'll dive right into that. 103 00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:23,920 The text as a whole can be found there in your sermon handout. We'll sort of read it as we move through this morning. 104 00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:30,920 Two things to understand about our text is that it revolves around two questions, both sort of restated. 105 00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:38,920 And those questions are, "Who is like our God?" The picture of this text is that God is incomparable. 106 00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:50,920 So, if you would, let's go to God in prayer before we dive into His Word. Father, we thank You that You nourish our souls, that You strengthen our resolve, that You encourage our faint-heartedness, 107 00:40:50,920 --> 00:41:02,920 and we thank You that we are able to come to the table together as a family to be strengthened and nourished. We thank You for Jesus and for grace. 108 00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:20,920 I just ask this morning that as we open Your Word, a text that may at first glance to us seem lengthy and difficult, filled with pictures that may seem distant to us, that You would, as You did with Lydia, open our eyes to understand the Scriptures. 109 00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:31,920 May You help us to see Your goodness and Your greatness, that You would help us to see that there is only one thing in this life that is truly able to be counted upon, and that is You. 110 00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:41,920 May You put things into perspective. May You call us to holiness. We thank You for Jesus, and it's in His name we pray. Amen. 111 00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:51,920 So I don't know if you've ever been in a situation where your brakes had disappeared. It's happened a couple times, mostly safely for me, but I remember one specific time. 112 00:41:51,920 --> 00:42:00,920 I was probably 11 or 12 years old, and we were staying with my Aunt Judy, and they lived in the same sort of house 113 00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:09,920 with my other uncle and aunt and their children. It was very good friends with my cousins growing up, one of the things I was very thankful for. 114 00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:22,920 And during the time when Mom and Dad are away, the cousins and I were playing, and as we do getting into trouble, and my cousin Seth, we decided that we were going to take some bikes and go across the street from their house. 115 00:42:22,920 --> 00:42:29,920 And there was a little mountain, and when we talk about mountains, we're talking about like Vermont mountains, not like the Rocky Mountains. 116 00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:42,920 And there was this little mountain, and up one side was like this really terrible trail filled with rocks. It was like walking up a riverbed, and it wasn't that tall, but at like 12 years old, it felt like we were climbing Everest. 117 00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:54,920 And then down the backside were a bunch of roads, and we said, "Hey, you know what? Let's take the bikes up to the top of this hill," or to us it seemed like a mountain, "and let's ride down the other side as fast as we can." 118 00:42:54,920 --> 00:43:00,920 Just, you know, we were bored. It was summertime. We're going to go out and do something adventurous. And so we proceeded to do this. 119 00:43:00,920 --> 00:43:09,920 Now the thing about when you go to a friend's house and borrow a bike, right, you never get the good bike, right? You never get the bike where the brakes work. 120 00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:19,920 And that was this case, but I didn't know this. So we, like, there's no riding up this back trail, so we hike our bikes up to the top, which was an achievement in and of itself. 121 00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:28,920 So we get to the top, and we're getting ready to go down. And as we're going down to, like, the first big corner, my cousin goes, "Yeah, you only have front brakes." 122 00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:35,920 And it was at that point where I had applied the brakes very hard, and then next thing you know, I'm, like, rolling down the road. 123 00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:44,920 And, you know, I picked myself up and dusted myself off and then just kind of hoped and prayed for the rest of the ride down the hill. 124 00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:51,920 It's like you sort of hope for the best. You don't know where you're going to end up going. 125 00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:58,920 And there's times where life just sort of feels like it might be a little bit out of control. 126 00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:05,920 And sometimes our life feels like it is out of control because our pride and our self-sufficiency begin to wear thin. 127 00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:13,920 And we begin to sort of look at what is happening in our life, and we see that maybe I'm not as in control as I once thought I was. 128 00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:20,920 Maybe I don't have circumstances handled as well as I once thought I did. 129 00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:25,920 This has happened to me a lot as a kid. I would always say to my mom, "Hey mom, look at this!" 130 00:44:25,920 --> 00:44:30,920 And she eventually stopped looking because every time she would look, we'd end up in a trip to the emergency room 131 00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:35,920 because I thought I had it under control and never did. And this happens to our plans in life. 132 00:44:35,920 --> 00:44:42,920 One minute we have everything all figured out and everything all laid out, and the next minute it seems like it's all out of our control 133 00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:48,920 and we're careening down the hill with no brakes. But then there's another way that life can seem out of control, 134 00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:56,920 not just when our pride and self-sufficiency begin to wear thin, but also because of our discouragement and sorrow. 135 00:44:56,920 --> 00:45:01,920 And it may feel like we're out of control and we're sort of stuck in this rut. 136 00:45:01,920 --> 00:45:06,920 And even though we know we should be over here or over there, we're stuck in the same path 137 00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:11,920 and we don't have any control to move to the right or the left, and even though we know 138 00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:17,920 that this is not the place for us, it feels like we just can't get there. 139 00:45:17,920 --> 00:45:25,920 And so in some cases, it's sorrow and discouragement. And in some cases, it's pride and self-sufficiency. 140 00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:30,920 And they're both symptoms of the same problem. It's symptoms of the fact that we're depending on ourselves 141 00:45:30,920 --> 00:45:38,920 to make it work, or something that we have created to make it work. And in the midst of this, there's a third problem. 142 00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:46,920 Because the reality of this isn't just a symptom of a heart that is either proud or sorrowful because it's depending upon itself. 143 00:45:46,920 --> 00:45:52,920 It's a symptom of a spiritual battle, where our enemy is happy to see us out of control, 144 00:45:52,920 --> 00:45:59,920 and careening through life, whether it's in pride or whether it's in sorrow. 145 00:45:59,920 --> 00:46:06,920 And you find that Satan doesn't care which it is, as long as we are there depending upon ourselves. 146 00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:13,920 And so our text this morning, Isaiah chapter 40 beginning in verse 18, is centered around two questions. 147 00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:16,920 We find them in verse 18 and in verse 25. 148 00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:25,920 And this text calls us to stop our headlong rushing and to turn our eyes toward the greatness and goodness of God. 149 00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:31,920 We're called to behold Him, and in beholding Him we find comfort. 150 00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:36,920 Now these questions, in some cases, will gently slow you down. 151 00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:47,920 As we begin to see who God is, in some cases what they do is they take that headlong rush, and they sort of bring us to a gentle stop. 152 00:46:47,920 --> 00:46:54,920 Now in other cases, as I was out throwing the ball for the dog or kicking the ball for the dog, who likes to herd things that move fast, 153 00:46:54,920 --> 00:47:00,920 and not really paying attention to where I was kicking the ball right, kick it right toward a tree. 154 00:47:00,920 --> 00:47:06,920 And he's so focused on that, right? The ball goes into the tree and the dog is right there with it. 155 00:47:06,920 --> 00:47:13,920 Nobody was hurt, and it was kind of hilarious, but sometimes these questions, right, they bring us up short like that. 156 00:47:13,920 --> 00:47:21,920 And so what we're going to see this morning is that in some cases, right, this will bring us to sort of a gentle stop and turn us around, 157 00:47:21,920 --> 00:47:27,920 and then in some cases it's a little bit like hitting a brick wall. 158 00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:36,920 And so this morning we hear these words from Isaiah as he tells us that we are to behold God, and in verse 1, comfort, 159 00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:44,920 and here's our premise, that comfort comes from beholding the incomparable greatness of God. 160 00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:51,920 And all of us have heard things that sound good in theory, but when the reality is to put them into practice, it's much different. 161 00:47:51,920 --> 00:47:56,920 Every project I've ever done around the house, I say, "I can do this in 15 minutes." 162 00:47:56,920 --> 00:48:01,920 Right? Six hours and eight trips to Lowe's later, I'm finally finished. 163 00:48:01,920 --> 00:48:11,920 And this is one of those places for us, because we're not just learning, right? We're fighting against pride and discouragement, not just in our hearts, but in a spiritual battle. 164 00:48:11,920 --> 00:48:17,920 And to hear these words, that comfort comes from beholding the incomparable greatness of God. 165 00:48:17,920 --> 00:48:25,920 It says, "That sounds good, but how do I make that work?" And so our text this morning will help us with this. 166 00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:34,920 And the first thing our text calls us to do is stop and ask this question, "Who is like our God?" 167 00:48:34,920 --> 00:48:42,920 Whether it's the headlong rush of pride, or sort of that discouraged trudging of disappointment and sorrow, 168 00:48:42,920 --> 00:48:49,920 what God does is He interrupts our path to destruction with this question. 169 00:48:49,920 --> 00:48:57,920 And the purpose of this question, whether gently or whether very forcefully, is to bring us to stillness. 170 00:48:57,920 --> 00:49:04,920 Isaiah 40:18 says this, "To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness will you compare with Him?" 171 00:49:04,920 --> 00:49:09,920 I don't know if you've ever had a bad picture taken. Some of you probably never have. 172 00:49:09,920 --> 00:49:16,920 I have frequently had bad pictures taken. And primarily, it's always the picture that's going to be either displayed somewhere, 173 00:49:16,920 --> 00:49:23,920 or that you're going to have to deal with for a number of years. And so I remember my first driver's license here in Virginia. 174 00:49:23,920 --> 00:49:34,920 Very young, like a 23, 24-year-old Brandon. No beard, right, standing there, very different hair, standing there, getting my picture taken. 175 00:49:34,920 --> 00:49:38,920 And I met Rachel, and she was like, "Man, I only date guys with beards." And so I grew a beard, right. 176 00:49:38,920 --> 00:49:42,920 All these things happened. And so here I am, like, you're getting ready to get on a plane one time. 177 00:49:42,920 --> 00:49:48,920 Like, can we see your photo ID? You hand him the photo ID, and they're going, "Is this the same guy who used to be here?" 178 00:49:48,920 --> 00:49:53,920 Because the picture was, first of all, it was a bad picture, right? You always have a dorky look on your face. 179 00:49:53,920 --> 00:50:07,920 But then I looked completely different as well. And the point that he's going to make, and we'll see this sort of play out through the text, is all of these things 180 00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:15,920 that we're hoping for and trusting in apart from God. It's like a really bad picture of the reality. 181 00:50:15,920 --> 00:50:21,920 That none of it really actually does what God does. None of it looks like God looks. 182 00:50:21,920 --> 00:50:26,920 And at the end of this argument, we will see this wonderful comfort that is here for us. 183 00:50:26,920 --> 00:50:34,920 The second question, same thing. "To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him?" says the Holy One. 184 00:50:34,920 --> 00:50:39,920 Same question, just rephrased, and the answer is the same. "There is no one like God." 185 00:50:39,920 --> 00:50:46,920 Now this has a little bit of an edge to it. 186 00:50:46,920 --> 00:50:53,920 It says, "To whom then will you compare me, who is like our God, that I should be like him?" 187 00:50:53,920 --> 00:51:02,920 God says, "Who is there that I should change to be like?" And what he's saying is that there is, once again, nobody. 188 00:51:02,920 --> 00:51:08,920 And God is saying to our hungry souls, "I am all that you need." 189 00:51:08,920 --> 00:51:18,920 And what a question should do, if we are honest, is maybe unsettle us a little bit, and then settle our hearts in God's goodness and greatness. 190 00:51:18,920 --> 00:51:23,920 So the first thing we do is we stop, and we ask. We evaluate. We look at what is happening. 191 00:51:23,920 --> 00:51:30,920 And these questions, right, they're not meant to get information from us, but rather to cause us, in our headlong rush, 192 00:51:30,920 --> 00:51:37,920 to stop and evaluate and say, "Who is like God? Who can I compare God to? 193 00:51:37,920 --> 00:51:41,920 Is there anyone greater than God?" And the answer is no. 194 00:51:41,920 --> 00:51:47,920 And what I love about Scripture is that so many times you have these premises, "Who is like God?" Nobody. 195 00:51:47,920 --> 00:51:52,920 Okay, it's great to say that, but now He's going to go ahead and prove it. 196 00:51:52,920 --> 00:51:58,920 And so we go from stopping to now, we go to this place where we look 197 00:51:58,920 --> 00:52:05,920 and we see the reality. It's not just a premise or a fact, but it's given to us with proof. 198 00:52:05,920 --> 00:52:10,920 You see, we're masters of comparison, right? You want to buy a new TV? 199 00:52:10,920 --> 00:52:15,920 Some of you compare the stats. How bright does it go? How dark does the darkest part go? 200 00:52:15,920 --> 00:52:20,920 Some of you just compare the size. How big is it? Some people just compare the price. How cheap is it? 201 00:52:20,920 --> 00:52:26,920 And we do this, right? This is my favorite grocery store because. This is my favorite restaurant because. 202 00:52:26,920 --> 00:52:34,920 Because. This is my favorite type of car because. And God here is saying, as we begin to see these comparisons, 203 00:52:34,920 --> 00:52:41,920 He's like, "All right, sinners. It's time to stop worshiping other things. Let's do what comes naturally to you and begin to compare." 204 00:52:41,920 --> 00:52:47,920 And so what I love what God does is He takes the thing we naturally like to do, which is compare things, 205 00:52:47,920 --> 00:52:54,920 and goes, "If you're going to compare, compare honestly." And let's take an honest look at what you've been trusting 206 00:52:54,920 --> 00:53:04,920 versus who I am. And what you'll find, there are four areas of comparison in these next couple verses. 207 00:53:04,920 --> 00:53:11,920 The first is idols, or we might say objects of worship. We find this in verse 19 and 20. 208 00:53:11,920 --> 00:53:22,920 An idol, a craftsman casts it, a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains. He who is too impoverished for an 209 00:53:22,920 --> 00:53:30,920 offering can't afford the gold idol. He is too impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot. He seeks 210 00:53:30,920 --> 00:53:38,920 out a skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move. Now, I want us to understand because one of the lies 211 00:53:38,920 --> 00:53:46,920 about idolatry is that are only a prize to other people who have statues they bow down and worship. Idols are ultimately 212 00:53:46,920 --> 00:53:54,920 not carved statues. It is a sickness of the heart that drives us to worship things other than God. And what I mean 213 00:53:54,920 --> 00:54:01,920 by worship is devoting our lives to these things, putting our hope in these things, making our happiness 214 00:54:01,920 --> 00:54:08,920 conditional upon these things. If I can have this, I'll be happy. If I can have this, I'll be at peace. If I can 215 00:54:08,920 --> 00:54:18,920 have this, if I can do this, I'll be strong. And what you have is this picture of worship, which is an undying 216 00:54:18,920 --> 00:54:25,920 focus and a willingness to do anything to get it. And idolatry is simply doing that to anything other 217 00:54:25,920 --> 00:54:31,920 than God. And what you find is it ultimately doesn't satisfy. And if you want a picture of what idolatry 218 00:54:31,920 --> 00:54:37,920 looks at, you should come meet our little dog, Ranger. And his idolatry is anything that you are eating. 219 00:54:37,920 --> 00:54:47,920 If you want to see hyper-focus, eyes locked not onto you, not caring a bit about you, you are just a means of 220 00:54:47,920 --> 00:54:57,920 food delivery. And if he can take it by force, he will. And when he gets it, he eats it. And guess what? Nothing 221 00:54:57,920 --> 00:55:04,920 changes. Still as hungry as he was in the beginning, still as focused as he was in the beginning, and that is the 222 00:55:04,920 --> 00:55:10,920 picture of idolatry in the human heart. Where we say, "This is what I want, and if I can get it, it makes me 223 00:55:10,920 --> 00:55:20,920 happy." And we get it, and we're just as empty as we were before. It's never enough. So see the comparison 224 00:55:20,920 --> 00:55:30,920 in these verses that are being made. First of all, idols are man-made, right? A craftsman casts it. A goldsmith 225 00:55:30,920 --> 00:55:38,920 overlays it with gold and casts silver chains. And then you have a skilled craftsman. But also notice there's 226 00:55:38,920 --> 00:55:45,920 only an appearance of goodness, right? The gold of this statue, or the gold of the thing that we worship 227 00:55:45,920 --> 00:55:51,920 and desire, maybe not physical gold, but that thing that attracts us to it. Notice it only goes a tiny, 228 00:55:51,920 --> 00:55:58,920 tiny layer. A craftsman casts it. This idol has been casted in the first verse with metal, but it's not 229 00:55:58,920 --> 00:56:05,920 solid metal because it's now overlaid with gold, right? The thing that makes it appear valuable is only 230 00:56:05,920 --> 00:56:13,920 on the surface, which means it only looks good until you try it. And then notice this. And it might not be 231 00:56:13,920 --> 00:56:20,920 immediately apparent, but these idols are fragile. You see it in these words in this verse. And cast for it 232 00:56:20,920 --> 00:56:26,920 silver chains. And this is not decoration where you've got some kind of blinged out idol with a bunch of 233 00:56:26,920 --> 00:56:33,920 big chains, right? These are ways of securing it so it does not move because one of the worst things that 234 00:56:33,920 --> 00:56:38,920 can happen for your God is if he tips over, right? Not much of a God if he's constantly tipping over. 235 00:56:38,920 --> 00:56:44,920 But then see it again in the second part in verse 20. He chooses a wood that does not rot. Why? 236 00:56:44,920 --> 00:56:49,920 Because if the base that your idol is sitting upon rots, what happens if your idol tips over? And he looks 237 00:56:49,920 --> 00:56:55,920 for a craftsman with this purpose: to set up an idol that will not move. Now this is not a picture 238 00:56:55,920 --> 00:57:04,920 necessarily of the idol moving in power. The picture is here, the idol can't move because it's set in such 239 00:57:04,920 --> 00:57:11,920 a way that it's fragile and we don't want it tipping over. And it's a bit ridiculous. Elsewhere we find 240 00:57:11,920 --> 00:57:18,920 this comparison. A guy looks at a piece of wood and he goes, "This part will be great for a campfire 241 00:57:18,920 --> 00:57:24,920 and cooking food, and this part I'm going to carve into an idol, bow down, and worship." And here's the 242 00:57:24,920 --> 00:57:33,920 question. How many of us have made something else that we have decorated and placed our trust in? It 243 00:57:33,920 --> 00:57:40,920 may be our carefully curated image. It could be our future plans. It could be our status. It could be our 244 00:57:40,920 --> 00:57:48,920 things. What he says here in the comparison to God is if it's made by man, it's limited by man and it only 245 00:57:48,920 --> 00:57:56,920 looks good and eventually it will tip over. The second way in which these things that we chase do not 246 00:57:56,920 --> 00:58:03,920 compare to God is in human wisdom. Look at this. Do you not know? Do you not hear? Have you not been told 247 00:58:03,920 --> 00:58:09,920 from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? Now these are questions, 248 00:58:09,920 --> 00:58:16,920 but they're not really questions. They're questions worded in such a way that they expect an answer. 249 00:58:16,920 --> 00:58:22,920 Do you not know? Yes, I know. Do you not hear? Yes, I've heard. Has it not been told to you from the beginning? 250 00:58:22,920 --> 00:58:28,920 Yes, it has. These are questions that grammatically are designed as questions, but are as statements. 251 00:58:28,920 --> 00:58:32,920 It's like this. Somebody pulls you over and the police officer goes, "Do you want a speeding ticket?" 252 00:58:32,920 --> 00:58:40,920 The answer is no, right? He's not really asking a question. He's making a statement. And what he says 253 00:58:40,920 --> 00:58:45,920 is that in human wisdom, right, he's talking about God you have known and you've heard since the very beginning. 254 00:58:45,920 --> 00:58:54,920 And just in case you're sort of still stuck on the idols, he says their beginning is manufactured. 255 00:58:54,920 --> 00:59:03,920 And at the beginning here is not the beginning of God, but the beginning of the world in which God created all things. 256 00:59:03,920 --> 00:59:09,920 And what that means, and the picture of what it is for us, is that all that we know never compares to what God knows. 257 00:59:09,920 --> 00:59:16,920 Think about how things change as we move through. Things that used to be told were bad for us are now good for us. 258 00:59:16,920 --> 00:59:27,920 Things that were good for us now are bad for us. Everything changes: hairstyles, fashion, music. Everything is in continual flux. 259 00:59:27,920 --> 00:59:38,920 In the same way the third grader can't do math like a college professor, so human wisdom is constantly, as much as we can learn and know, 260 00:59:38,920 --> 00:59:44,920 but God still is greater, and He is the true instructor. 261 00:59:44,920 --> 00:59:51,920 And what you find here is, if we're keeping track, the things we worship and the things that we know cannot compare to God. 262 00:59:51,920 --> 00:59:54,920 And then He says, "Look at this. Go outside and look at the world. 263 00:59:54,920 --> 01:00:01,920 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth. Its inhabitants are like grasshoppers who stretches out," 264 01:00:01,920 --> 01:00:07,920 and then it talks about God, "who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in." 265 01:00:07,920 --> 01:00:11,920 Right? Compare the power of creation in the world that we look at. 266 01:00:11,920 --> 01:00:14,920 I can't control the heat or the cold. 267 01:00:14,920 --> 01:00:20,920 I can try to control the heat and the cold of the container that I'm in, whether that's a building or a car, 268 01:00:20,920 --> 01:00:24,920 but I can't control it outside. 269 01:00:24,920 --> 01:00:31,920 And here He says, "Look at the greatness of the world in which you live, which humans have a tendency to try to worship as well." 270 01:00:31,920 --> 01:00:34,920 And He says, "Go back to those idols, those things that we worship. 271 01:00:34,920 --> 01:00:39,920 They have to have a base that doesn't rot, chains and ratchet straps to keep them from tipping over." 272 01:00:39,920 --> 01:00:42,920 Look at God. 273 01:00:42,920 --> 01:00:47,920 Your idol over here is ratchet straps, a wooden base that doesn't rot, so it doesn't move. 274 01:00:47,920 --> 01:00:53,920 And now here is God, who is not contained by the earth. 275 01:00:53,920 --> 01:00:56,920 He is not comparable to the things of the earth. 276 01:00:56,920 --> 01:00:58,920 Its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. 277 01:00:58,920 --> 01:01:00,920 He is the creator of all things. 278 01:01:00,920 --> 01:01:05,920 Look at this. Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent to dwell in. 279 01:01:05,920 --> 01:01:11,920 And we might say, well, if you've ever set up a tent, it can be a task sometimes. 280 01:01:11,920 --> 01:01:15,920 Sometimes, but if you're strong enough and you have practice, it goes a little easier. 281 01:01:15,920 --> 01:01:18,920 In fact, we got a new tent last year. We were camping. 282 01:01:18,920 --> 01:01:23,920 Once you get it all unrolled and set out flat, you grab it in the middle and pick it up, 283 01:01:23,920 --> 01:01:29,920 and the poles all lock into place, and you stake it down, and in just a few moments you have a tent. 284 01:01:29,920 --> 01:01:39,920 And the picture here is that as easy as it is for us to put up a canopy or a tent as it is for God to stretch out the stars in the sky. 285 01:01:39,920 --> 01:01:46,920 And maybe you've manufactured something to worship, or pursued knowledge, or tried to minimize God's greatness, 286 01:01:46,920 --> 01:01:52,920 and now we look to God's power. Here, verses 23 and 24. 287 01:01:52,920 --> 01:01:58,920 "Speaking of God, who brings the princes to nothing, makes the rulers of earth as emptiness, 288 01:01:58,920 --> 01:02:05,920 scarcely are they planted, scarcely are they sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, 289 01:02:05,920 --> 01:02:11,920 and He blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. 290 01:02:11,920 --> 01:02:17,920 All human strength, power, positions of importance are empty before God." 291 01:02:17,920 --> 01:02:24,920 Right? We understand portions. Right? The portion that we may feed like a two-year-old, 292 01:02:24,920 --> 01:02:31,920 compared to the portion we eat as an adult, one is big, and one is small. 293 01:02:31,920 --> 01:02:36,920 And that's the picture of the power of the greatest things in this world. 294 01:02:36,920 --> 01:02:42,920 The princes and the rulers are before God. All human strength, all human power, all human position. 295 01:02:42,920 --> 01:02:50,920 That's the picture of the word "princes." Their importance is, all these positions of importance are temporary. 296 01:02:50,920 --> 01:02:55,920 Like crops that are planted, and they're gone. 297 01:02:55,920 --> 01:03:01,920 And so the question is, if these things I've worshipped don't work, 298 01:03:01,920 --> 01:03:10,920 if the knowledge I have is not enough, if the power and the greatness that I can try to trust in is nowhere in comparison to God, 299 01:03:10,920 --> 01:03:17,920 if the political power and the prestige that I have sought, who can I trust? What can I trust? 300 01:03:17,920 --> 01:03:24,920 And what God has done is, in these questions, He has emptied us out, and now He fills us up. 301 01:03:24,920 --> 01:03:30,920 "To whom will you compare me that I should be like Him," says the Holy One. 302 01:03:30,920 --> 01:03:36,920 You see, the things that I have directed my heart to are simply imitations of what I truly need. 303 01:03:36,920 --> 01:03:40,920 The wisdom that we have pursued is constantly changing and being resigned. 304 01:03:40,920 --> 01:03:43,920 The greatness of earth pales in comparison to the greatness of God. 305 01:03:43,920 --> 01:03:48,920 Human strength, human power, human prestige is empty and temporary. 306 01:03:48,920 --> 01:03:55,920 Everything in this world breaks under the weight of our need. Only God can hold us fast. 307 01:03:55,920 --> 01:04:00,920 And so we go from stopping and listening to looking and seeing. 308 01:04:00,920 --> 01:04:06,920 And now we're called to rest and trust, because our God knows us and He keeps us. 309 01:04:06,920 --> 01:04:09,920 Lift up your eyes on high and see. 310 01:04:09,920 --> 01:04:13,920 Who created these? He says, "Go outside." 311 01:04:13,920 --> 01:04:24,920 "Go outside at night and look up to the stars. He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of His might. 312 01:04:24,920 --> 01:04:32,920 And because He is strong in power, not one is missing." 313 01:04:32,920 --> 01:04:38,920 There are two ways that we can stop our headlong rush of pride and discouragement and then turn our eyes to the greatness of God. 314 01:04:38,920 --> 01:04:43,920 The first is to see the emptiness of all the things that we have trusted in. 315 01:04:43,920 --> 01:04:49,920 They're not enough. They're not strong enough. They don't last. The second is to see the greatness of God. 316 01:04:49,920 --> 01:04:55,920 And in verse 26, we're directed to behold His greatness in the stars. 317 01:04:55,920 --> 01:05:01,920 And notice what it says. First of all, God created these. 318 01:05:01,920 --> 01:05:07,920 Secondly, He knows them. And notice how He knows them. He knows how many there are, 319 01:05:07,920 --> 01:05:15,920 calling out their host by number. And secondly, look at this, by name. 320 01:05:15,920 --> 01:05:20,920 Think about what that means. If you look at the stars in the sky at night, God knows exactly how many there are. 321 01:05:20,920 --> 01:05:26,920 And He has a name for every single one of them. And look at what He says. 322 01:05:26,920 --> 01:05:33,920 "And by the greatness of His might, and because He is strong in power, not one is missing." 323 01:05:33,920 --> 01:05:39,920 Have you ever tried to watch a big group of kids, maybe somewhere where there's a lot of other people? 324 01:05:39,920 --> 01:05:45,920 We were at a playground a couple months ago with some extra kids, and there was a bunch of people there. 325 01:05:45,920 --> 01:05:48,920 All right, and you're standing and you're watching, and the whole time you're kind of counting. 326 01:05:48,920 --> 01:05:54,920 You're like, "I see that one, that one, that one. See that one, that one. Where's the seventh one?" 327 01:05:54,920 --> 01:05:58,920 And then you see the seventh one, but number two and three have disappeared, and you're constantly... 328 01:05:58,920 --> 01:06:04,920 I remember coming back from that party and just being tired because I was trying to keep track of where everybody was. 329 01:06:04,920 --> 01:06:09,920 And it was just like six kids. It felt like twelve, but it was just six. 330 01:06:09,920 --> 01:06:14,920 And here is God. Look up at the stars in the sky. He knows how many they are. He knows their names. 331 01:06:14,920 --> 01:06:19,920 But here's the thing. He knows where all of them are at every moment, and not one is missing. 332 01:06:19,920 --> 01:06:24,920 There is never a point where God goes, "I don't know where the sun went. 333 01:06:24,920 --> 01:06:32,920 I don't know where Alpha Centauri went." He knows where every single one of them is at any moment. 334 01:06:32,920 --> 01:06:39,920 And here's the remarkable encouragement of this message. What God does for the stars, He does for you. 335 01:06:39,920 --> 01:06:47,920 God created you. He knows not just how many of us there are, but He knows our names. But more than that, 336 01:06:47,920 --> 01:06:52,920 in the Gospels, Jesus will say that He knows the very hairs on your head. 337 01:06:52,920 --> 01:06:56,920 Now, for some of us, that's more of an accomplishment than it is for others. 338 01:06:56,920 --> 01:07:01,920 But the picture there is not He knows the people who have more hair than He knows the people with less hair. 339 01:07:01,920 --> 01:07:06,920 The picture is that God knows the every detail of who you are. 340 01:07:06,920 --> 01:07:14,920 And that because of His might and because He is strong in power, not one is missing. 341 01:07:14,920 --> 01:07:21,920 And what Isaiah has shown us so far in this chapter, that this remarkable power is not far off from us. 342 01:07:21,920 --> 01:07:28,920 That it's not distant from us. That God is near. 343 01:07:28,920 --> 01:07:36,920 And it's interesting, I've seen a bunch of places in the last week or so running sales with the idea of Christmas in July. 344 01:07:36,920 --> 01:07:41,920 We're halfway to Christmas. Let's sell stuff like it's Christmas. It's Christmas in July. 345 01:07:41,920 --> 01:07:50,920 But for us as Christians, Christmas is bigger and more wonderful than all the celebrations and the gathering 346 01:07:50,920 --> 01:07:57,920 because at the heart of Christmas is this truth, is that God is with us. 347 01:07:57,920 --> 01:08:06,920 In Matthew chapter one, you shall call his name Emmanuel, which means that God is with us. 348 01:08:06,920 --> 01:08:12,920 That all of those things that we have chased and we have sought power, knowledge, position, pride, 349 01:08:12,920 --> 01:08:18,920 all those things that we have hoped in and put our hearts in, they are hollow before the might of God. 350 01:08:18,920 --> 01:08:27,920 But notice this: because of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is missing. 351 01:08:27,920 --> 01:08:31,920 It's not just a message for the stars, it's a message for you and I. 352 01:08:31,920 --> 01:08:41,920 Whether we are humbled in the reality that we can't do it, but God can, or maybe that we're encouraged in the fact that we can't do it, but God can, 353 01:08:41,920 --> 01:08:50,920 the purpose of this is to lift our eyes to the greatness and the goodness of God and see that there is nothing that compares to him. 354 01:08:50,920 --> 01:09:00,920 Let's pray. Father in heaven, may you captivate our hearts and our souls with your greatness. 355 01:09:00,920 --> 01:09:09,920 May we not chase after things that are smaller and weaker. May you rescue us from our pride and from our discouragement. 356 01:09:09,920 --> 01:09:18,920 We know that there is none like you. Help us to worship in spirit and in truth. 357 01:09:18,920 --> 01:09:24,920 May you strengthen and encourage us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 358 01:09:24,920 --> 01:09:32,920 We're going to stand and we're going to sing "Turn Your Eyes." 359 01:09:32,920 --> 01:09:44,920 Alright, set my hope on Jesus. I'm sorry. 360 01:09:44,920 --> 01:09:54,920 When this life of trials test my faith, I set my hope on Jesus. 361 01:09:54,920 --> 01:10:04,920 When the questions come and doubts remain, I set my hope on Jesus. 362 01:10:04,920 --> 01:10:14,920 For the deepest wounds the time won't heal. There's a joy that runs still deeper. 363 01:10:14,920 --> 01:10:23,920 There's a truth that's more than all I feel. I set my hope on Jesus. 364 01:10:23,920 --> 01:10:43,920 I set my hope on Jesus. My rock, my only trust. Who set his heart upon me first? I set my hope on Jesus. 365 01:10:51,920 --> 01:11:01,920 Though I falter in this war with sin, I set my hope on Jesus. 366 01:11:01,920 --> 01:11:11,920 When I feel the fight and sink within, I set my hope on Jesus. 367 01:11:11,920 --> 01:11:19,920 Though the shame would drown me in its sea, and I dread the wave of justice, 368 01:11:19,920 --> 01:11:35,920 I will cast my life on Calvary. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. 369 01:11:35,920 --> 01:11:47,920 My God, my only trust. You set His heart upon me first. I set my hope on Jesus. 370 01:11:47,920 --> 01:12:07,920 I set my hope on Jesus. 371 01:12:07,920 --> 01:12:15,920 Though the world call me to leave my Lord, I set my hope on Jesus. 372 01:12:15,920 --> 01:12:25,920 Though it offer all its vain rewards, I set my hope on Jesus. 373 01:12:25,920 --> 01:12:43,920 Though this heart of mine is prone to stray, give me grace enough to finish. Till I worship on that final day, I set my hope on Jesus. 374 01:12:43,920 --> 01:13:11,920 I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. My rock, my only trust. You set his heart upon me first. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. 375 01:13:11,920 --> 01:13:29,920 My rock, my only trust. You set his heart upon me first. I set my hope on Jesus. I set my hope on Jesus. 376 01:13:39,920 --> 01:13:49,920 We are so very thankful that you are here with us this morning. We'll be back here Wednesday night for our midweek Bible study. 377 01:13:49,920 --> 01:14:02,920 Just a couple things by way of announcement. On August, I think, 13th, we're going to have, that's a Wednesday night at 6 p.m., we're going to have sort of a neighborhood cookout. 378 01:14:02,920 --> 01:14:08,920 We've been asked by a couple of neighbors. We did this a couple years ago, once a month during the summer. 379 01:14:08,920 --> 01:14:20,920 I said, "Are you guys going to have some more cookouts?" So we're going to do that this August, August 13th, just a couple, I think it's like the third Wednesday from now. 380 01:14:20,920 --> 01:14:31,920 So that will be at 6 p.m. We'll have some more details for that. Also, in your bulletin, there's an announcement about the Bible study that we are beginning on September 10th. 381 01:14:31,920 --> 01:14:37,920 If you want to take a look at that, we'll have some more details coming for that as well. 382 01:14:37,920 --> 01:14:47,920 Go ahead and pray. We'll read the verse from the 104th Psalm that was on the screen a bit ago, and then we will sing the doxology and be dismissed. 383 01:14:47,920 --> 01:14:57,920 Father in heaven, just be with us. May we glorify you. We are so thankful that you have gathered us together. May in all things we glorify you. 384 01:14:57,920 --> 01:15:06,920 May we encourage one another. May we reach out with light, your light, into this dark world. Thank you for Jesus. 385 01:15:06,920 --> 01:15:09,920 It's in his name we pray. Amen. 386 01:15:09,920 --> 01:15:21,920 In the 104th Psalm, "May the glory of the Lord endure forever. May the Lord rejoice in his work, who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke." 387 01:15:21,920 --> 01:15:35,920 And this reminder of God's greatness and his power and his bigness, may it go through with us through this week as we move out from here. 388 01:15:35,920 --> 01:16:04,920 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise him, all creatures here below. Praise him, above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 389 01:16:04,920 --> 01:16:06,920 Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.