Limitless Praise
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I want to start off tonight a little bit different. And I need your participation. For the next few minutes, I want to hear what God has done this week. So anybody can start it off, don’t raise your hand or anything, just stand up and declare a way that you have seen God move or work this week. It can be in the life of a child at your site. It can be something you’ve seen in a friend’s life. Or it can be something that God has done in your own life this week. Keep it short. Keep it simple. No long stories. Just declarations of what God has done.
And Go!
Thank you all so much for sharing! This has been a fantastic week, and my prayer for all of you is that this does not stay here. This is not a experience that ends with this week, but you carry what you have seen God do for the rest of your life.
Show picture of split Red Sea
So if we were take all that you have just declared, all that you have just seen, and turn that into a song or a poem, we would be doing what Moses and the Israelites did in . So I know we didn’t go that far in the story last night, but maybe you went and read it or you just remember it from another time. But after Pharaoh let the Israelites go after the 10th plague, he changed his mind. Shocker. And he went after them. God, still protecting Israel and still showing his power, split the Red Sea for the Israelites to walk across, and then closed the waters on the Egyptian army that was chasing after them. God had saved Israel from their slavery!
And whenever God works, their is always a response. In fact, that is what worship is! It is responding in awe and wonder to what God has done. And so we have talked about 3 different ways that we try to put limits on a limitless God this week: God’s purpose, God’s passion, and God’s power. Tonight we finish with how we should be limitless: our praises to God. God deserves limitless, eternal amounts of praise and worship. And yet we put limits on when and where and how we worship.
We are going to look at a snippet of the Israelites song of praise to see how they responded and how that can show us a bit of what praise looks like.
1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord. They said:
I will sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted;
he has thrown the horse
and its rider into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
This is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.
11 Lord, who is like you among the gods?
Who is like you, glorious in holiness,
revered with praises, performing wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand,
and the earth swallowed them.
13 With your faithful love, you will lead the people
you have redeemed;
you will guide them to your holy dwelling
with your strength.
.
Praise for who God is
Praise for who God is
The Israelites praise God just based on his character. If you remember back to Monday night, we said that it all starts based on who God is. It all starts based on God’s character. And our praise of God is no different.
Take a look at all the different adjectives used to describe God.
Lord
Highly exalted
strength
my song
warrior
glorious
holy
revered
faithful
loving
leader
redeemer
God in his holiness is worthy of our praise because he is the only true God. If we were to simply stop right here. Praise God for who he is, that would enough to say that our praise of God should be limitless. There is enough just in his character to praise and worship God for all eternity.
But God’s character does not allow him to simply stop there, but his character leads God to act. It leads God to do things such as rescue his people. To do things like split the Red Sea for his people to escape slavery.
Praise God for what he does
Praise God for what he does
The Israelites praised God for God fighting on their behalf. He defeated the greatest army in the world in order to save them! He redeemed them, purchased and saved them from the Egyptians. He performed wonders and miracles. He revealed his steadfast, faithful love. And there is only one way to respond to that: praise!
That’s what many of you did just now! You declared and praised God for his saving work! Kids received salvation this week! You received salvation this week! God gave you a new appreciation and a new desire to rest in his redemption and his work this week!
And that doesn’t end here. God is constantly at work, and there will be limitless opportunities to praise God for what he has done. God is at work in your families. Some of you had parents that were on the brink or are on the brink of divorce, and God has brought redemption to your family. A person will be getting baptized in your church in a few weeks, praise God. I know a couple weeks ago England had 6 get baptized, praise God for what he has done.
You didn’t know how you were going to pay to come on this trip, but God provided. Praise God. You passed the 9th grade when you didn’t know if you would. Praise God. You saw the gospel planted, praise God. There is new life in your family, praise God. You woke up this morning, praise God. God spoke to you in your quiet time this morning, praise God. You were able to extend forgiveness and release bitterness by God’s strength, praise God.
Take stock of what God is doing. Pay attention to all the different ways that he is moving in your life and around you. And respond to that! Praise him in any and all circumstances!
But here’s where I think we always have to go back to: “The lord is my salvation.” The Lord saved me 19 years ago. The Lord saved you 1 year ago, 10 years ago, 5 years ago, 8 years ago, 1 day ago, however long it is. And there are times where I can catch myself forgetting what that truly means. The Lord is just as much my salvation today as he was 19 years ago. I cannot speak enough praises for how God has saved me. How God has rescued me from the death I deserved. How God has rescued me from my sin. How I would be nothing and nowhere without his salvation. The Lord is my salvation, and I will praise him forever for that. Don’t take that for granted. The Lord is your salvation. Praise him. Don’t forget it. Don’t take it for granted. Don’t think you’ve made it. But remind yourself daily that the only reason we have salvation is not because of what we did or because of what we do to keep it, but it is only because of the work of our Lord.
We praise God for who he is, we praise God for what he has done, and we praise God for where he is taking us.
Praise God for where he is leading
Praise God for where he is leading
13 With your faithful love, you will lead the people
you have redeemed;
you will guide them to your holy dwelling
with your strength.
God lead the people of Israel to the Promised Land, eventually. Moses knew that God’s faithful love would not leave them, but that he would lead them to where he wanted them. Not by their own strength, but by God’s strength. Now, we if you know the story, you know the Israelites tried their hardest at times to not follow where he was leading. And God had to take them on some detours to get their attention again. But Moses praises God for what he knows God will do in the future.
Where is God leading you?
Where is God leading you?
Where is God leading you? Where is God taking you? Individually? I cannot tell you the specifics, but I can tell you this. God is always leading you closer to himself. God is always leading you deeper into the relationship with him. So you can know this: if where you are going is taking you farther from Christ, you are not following God’s lead. If where you are going is a distraction to your relationship with Christ, you are not following God’s lead.
Some of you in here have no idea where God is leading you because you are not paying attention. You are wandering off on your own doing your own thing. You have stopped your growth at salvation, but God is saying, “Follow me, I have places to take you. I have purposes for you to follow. I have works I want you to do.” Others have no idea where you are going because God isn’t concerned about you knowing your destination, he’s only concerned that you are willing to follow him. You say, Yes I’ll follow you Lord. Just tell me where we’re going. And God is saying, nope. Follow me regardless. You’ll find out where we’re going when it’s time. But I need you to begin following now.
When you go home tomorrow, you know there’s some changes you have to make to truly begin following Jesus. And when that happens, you can praise God for the future. You can praise God knowing that he has great plans for you. He has plans to use you for his glory. And praise God.
But remember God is not just the God of Moses, but the God of all of Israel. And he has plans to lead the people corporately. What are God’s plans for the future of your student ministry? Where are y’all going? Are you praising God already for the lives he is going to impact through your whole youth group? Praise God for the future salvations. Praise God for the future baptisms. Praise God for the future life change.
Because listen, students, if you begin to praise God for the future, you’ll begin to think in terms of the future. You’ll begin to think in terms of others being able to praise God for salvation. You’ll begin to notice the people that God has placed in your path. Praise God for what he will do in the future, and he will begin to place people in your present that he desires to work with.
These children here this week are not the only people who need God’s salvation. You have a whole school filled with lost friends and classmates. You have a whole school who is just as lost as the children here. Praise God that he has placed you in that school. In that community. And praise God that he has the power to change lives. And praise God that he has the passion to care that they are lost. And praise God that he is going to use you to make a difference in their lives. That he is going to use you to share the good news of salvation with them just as you have here. Praise God forever and ever.