Sermon Tone Analysis

The Greatness of God #3

 

Follow up to Week 2 Preview of Week 3

 

 

*Discussion Time*

Tell a small group around you …

1) What have you learned or experienced about holiness this week that was meaningful to you?

2) If you wrote a hymn, prayer, or poem on p 25 and are comfortable, share it with your group

3) what is the “essence of God’s Character?”

(p18)

4) how do you define holiness?

(p15)

5) why was Isaiah afraid when he saw God’s holiness?

6) what one thing do you sense God most wants you to do in response to this week’s study?

*Last week’s* Memory verse –

Psalm 48:1 – “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, in the City of our God, his holy Mountain”

 

*This week’s* Memory Verse –

Isaiah 6:3 – “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory.”

*This coming week’s* Memory Verse –

Deuteronomy 10:17 – “The Lord your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of lords the great, the mighty, and the awesome God”

 

 

*Mountain Top in Isaiah this week*

*Isaiah 40:10-11, 21-22, 26*

 

 

Do we overuse the word AWESOME?

What kinds of things have you used or heard the word used for recently?

(DISCUSS)

Are those things ALL AWESOME?

Did it surprise you maybe?

Did you think, “wow that’s better than me”

Did you think “that’s the best I’ve experienced”

But did it really FILL you with AWE, blow you away, strip away words for description, make you fearful, remove all explanatory words?

Probably not

 

 

What does AWESOME mean?

We just quoted it in Dt 10:17

That verse says he is GREAT, MIGHTY, AWESOME

Great – /gadowl – ~/gaw-dole~/ large in number, intensity, in importance loud, older, great, distinguished/

Mighty – /gibbowr - ~/ghib-*bore*~/ strong, mighty, strong man, mighty man, brave man/

Awesome – /yare’ - ~/yaw-*ray*~/ to fear, revere, be afraid, to stand in awe of, honour, respect, to cause astonishment and awe, be held in awe/

 

Have someone read - READ Isaiah 40:10-11, 21-22, 26

 

We have lost or never gained a true wonder and appreciation for the greatness of God

I think we are often more impressed by when an average person pulls off the lucky or fortunate amazing thing than when greatness reproduces greatness.

I saw a video the other day of a high school kid tossing a basketball into the air, jumping over another kid, catching the ball off the bounce, taking it through his legs and dunking it.

Now that was a pretty amazing thing.

And the gym full of people went CRAZY.

Why because it shocked them that he did something they had never seen anyone do.

Now, if Michael Jordan or Lebron James, or Carmello Anthony had done this we would still think it was cool, but not be as crazy cause we say, “yeah that’s what Michael does”.

Tiger Woods hits a hole in one and we think “there he goes again”

But this week, I saw where a lady in her 60’s had TWO hole in one’s and we think … that’s amazing

 

I saw a video on the internet today of some college kids at Texas A&M – they call themselves “dude perfect” they are video sensations making basketball trick shots and filming them.

They shots look fake they are so outrageous.

They say they are all real and are happy that people think they are fake.

Their latest shot is taken from the upper deck of Texas A&M football stadium with a goal down on the track.

They throw it and make it.

Amazing?

Perhaps … Course it probably took hundreds of tries to pull it off.

But what’s amazing is these guys Christian young men and are going to sponsor 1 child through compassion international for every 100,000 hits they get on youtube.

Well they are over 3.3 million hits so far.

But is that AWESOME? 

* *

*GOD is AWESOME*

But sometimes we lose our sense of wonder for his awesomeness, either because we haven’t taken time to notice it for ourselves OR because we just expect it.

Just because he’s great, doesn’t lessen the wonder of who he is.

Let me give you a few things quickly that I saw in our Mountaintop Passage in Isaiah for today

 

In this passage we can see the awesomeness of God.

When we realize how awesome God is and we see how insignificant we are, if we are not careful and do not have the right perspective, we could become depressed and discouraged.

But that is NOT the purpose of this study, nor of this chapter in Isaiah’s prophesy of God’s Word.

Look first with me at the opening of Chapter 40.

I used to sing a version of these verses in college as a music major.

They are in Handel’s Messiah.

The Tenor solo “Comfort ye” comes from the beginning of this chapter.

Look at vv 1 and 2. 

“Comfort my people says your God”

“Speak tenderly to my people”

“Her sin has been paid for”

 

So, take comfort in the Awesomeness of God.

Our leader in this study has suggested we look at these selected verses in Chapter 40.

This is one of the great chapters in all of Scripture.

But we look particularly at these 5 verses 10-11, 21-22, and 26.

Look at this awesome outline of an awesome God in v10

 

No matter your situation or circumstance tonight, God IS AWESOME and if you cry out to him, he will show up and he will reveal himself.

It will not always be when you want or how you want but he will show up in HIS purpose and HIS plan and HIS personality and it will be AWESOME

 

Isaiah writes SEE … or BEHOLD … LOOK … PAY ATTENTION

 

The Sovereign Lord – that’s the word “Adonai” again … the dominion of God, that is Jesus Christ … combined with Yahweh the Covenant Name of the Essence of God or the Father …

The Lord COMES – /bow’ – go in, enter, come, go, - / God comes when we cry out and reveals himself … he comes with Power, Ruling, Reward and Recompense

 

Let’s see them each quickly

 

The Dominion of and the Essence of God will come and reveal His Awesome self to you …

 

*1.

With Power (Might)*

What kind of Power does our Awesome God have?

/Power – chazaq ~/khaw-*zawk*~/ strong, stout, mighty, firm hard, strong one/

But as I look at these verses, I see his awesome power

 

*  A.*

To *Create* All v26

Why does the world so fight to reject God’s hand in creation?

Because if he isn’t strong enough to create all why should I turn to him for the strength for what I am facing today.

And if he didn’t create me he doesn’t have a right to instruct me for life.

Isaiah writes, look around … take a long look … WHO CREATED all these?

If you came to my house and came up into our bedroom, you might say “who made that bed?” and I would say “Tom Kennedy” … you would say “really, hmmm I’ll bet he could make me a bed, but I don’t need a bed, I just need a footstool, but if he can make that big beautiful bed, I’ll bet he could make a footstool.”

If you had been in my office today you might have heard me listening to Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”  If he were still alive you might say “wow I don’t need a whole Symphony written, but I just need a new song for worship, but if he can write that, I’m sure he could write a little song to go with the service”

 

You look at a majestic waterfall, a glorious sunrise, a moon in orbit, a bird in flight, a human heart pumping wonderfully … and you say “I don’t need a sunrise, or an ocean or a moon, my need is a footstool, and a little song compared to that, but if GOD DID THAT … Oh I think he can handle it”

 

He has power to Create

 

*  B.*

To *Care* for ..

Tends his flock like a Shepherd

/ra’ah - ~/raw*-ah* ~/ to pasture, tend, graze, feed, to be a friend of, a companion, a special friend/