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Magnify Jesus (Psalm 34:3)

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MOTIVATE

  • Amazon rainforest covers 5.5 million sq km – – – “lungs of the world” and produces 20% of world’s oxygen.
  • Yet 17% rainforest destroyed last 50 years. That’s a football field every minute.
  • Luigi Cani sought to make difference.
  • 5 years of planning / purchased seeds compatible with ecosystem / procured 12 legal permits / scientists & engineers / dropped massive biodegradable seedbox that dispersed over the area.
  • Satellite monitoring tracked progress and sees a 95% germination rate offering hope for significant ecological restoration. 

That is VBS! Many people stepping up to make a difference by working together with various skills to plant seeds that will grow for generations.

VBS

  • 70% of Christians come to faith before the age of 18; and percentages drop drastically the older adults become.
  • 1 in 4 baptisms of Southern Baptists are from VBS
  • VBS is unifying mission with 15 hrs in 1-week vs 4-6+ month investment in a family
  • VBS is unifying fellowship with all generations serving and spending time together
  • VBS is unifying joy with memories, decoration themes, and activities that bring joy
  • VBS in my life planted significant seeds for the gospel
  • VBS helps train the next generation of church leaders and community difference makers

EXAMINE

Psalm 34:3 “O Magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

  • Psalm34 is an acrostic
  • Ps34 superscription: Of David, when he changed behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out and he went away.


David

  • Young shepherd boy who killed Goliath in Gath.
  • While David became quickly hailed through Israel, he also became hunted by Israel’s jealous king Saul. Over the years, David must flee Israel for safety after many attempts on his life by Saul.
  • 1Sam 21 – – –  David eventually flees secretly to Gath. But citizens see the man w/ Goliath’s sword & he’s easily identified. They capture him and bring him to Abimelech, king of Gath.
  • David pretends to be insane by foaming at mouth & writing on doors & walls. Abimelech sends him away – who wants to deal with that?

*Side note: many view those with mental health challenges as something to sidestep or shun, but Jesus interacted: stepped to, spoke to, touched, embraced, cared, healed.

  •  1Sam 22 – – –  David is sent away, and he goes to a cave. He reflects and prays, likely spends time making music & singing – and writes Ps34. “And everyone who was in distress, and everyone in debt, and everyone bitter in soul, gathered to David. And he became commander over about 400 men” (1Sam 22:2)

1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.

It is easy to praise God in positive life circumstances. But when problems pile up and troubles multiply, our faith becomes revealed and character is formed.

  • We magnify with a God-centered perspective of life. God is in the details of the highs and lows, the twists and turns.

Illus: MI-7 has multiple callbacks to prior movies. One is to the first with a character who was a CIA agent at Langley where Ethan Hunt (Cruise) breaks in to steal a file disk. The computer agent William Donloe loses his job due to the theft. We learn that he was sentenced to CIA operations in Siberia as a punishment. After a series of events (no spoilers), Hunt wants to apologize to Donloe. However, Donloe says, “No apology necessary. While it appeared bad, it was the best thing in my life bc w/o the circumstances I would not have met my loving wife and understood my life purpose.” WHAT A PERSPECTIVE!

Gen 50:20; Rom 8:28 “What appears as suffering, God intends for a greater story… God is working together all things for His glory and our good.”

> If you’re going thru a difficult time you’re not alone. Like David in the cave, God will bring people with similar distress to support you in ways you couldn’t imagine on your own. This is the marvel of the church – a place with people from different backgrounds who would not be together apart from a shared reception of grace.

It is easy to praise God in positive life circumstances. But when problems pile up and troubles multiply, our faith becomes revealed and character is formed.

3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!

Magnify (gah-DAHL) = promote or boast

  • Knowing God, we cannot boast enough! And we do not make God great, He already is…
    • God is creator of sun, stars, sky, salsa!
  • We magnify God by seeing Him accurately.
    • Microscope views tiny and makes big
    • Telescope makes big and far visible as small 
  • Invited to magnify God
    •  David says “with me” implying his own relationship.
      – – – We cannot promote what we don’t possess; that would be hypocritical.
    •  Together = Christianity is a family; a team of magnifiers of God, making His name famous and known in every arena of our life.

> Everyone has means to magnify God. If you have breath, you have means:
Ps 150:6 “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD”

VBS lessons helped us understand how to magnify God

  • Mk 10:13-16 welcome children like Jesus.
    •  Society only values children as a $ sign. They are discarded if it profits; and they are displayed if it rewards. BUT Jesus declared that children belong in God’s kingdom; they are part of the church as much as anyone else.
    •  Ps 78:4-7 “We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD; His power, and wonders He has done; His truths and instructions which He commanded our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet born, and they in turn would tell their children.”
  • Mk 4:35-41 turn to Jesus in our storms.
    •  Jesus sent the disciples into the storm. Jesus also brought a pillow to sleep on the boat. He wanted the disciples to understand how to be comfortable being uncomfortable. If Jesus controls the wind and waves, then we need to remember that God is bigger than our storms and struggles.
    •  Whirlwinds are the dust of God’s feet at work. (Nahum 1:3)

Jesus also brought a pillow to sleep on the boat. He wanted the disciples to understand how to be comfortable being uncomfortable. #Mark4

  • Jn 4 build bridges w/ different people  
    •  Jesus spoke to Samaritan woman. He crossed multiple bridges…
      • Social: men with womenRacial: Jews with SamaritansReligion: Samaritan syncretismMoral: 5+ husbands
       Jesus purses people who have deeply wounded souls and excess spiritual baggage. His grace can transform any haunted past into a hopeful future.
    •  Communication > Condemnation
  • Jn 3 deepen spiritual relationship.
    •  Jesus teaches Nicodemus religious good works are still incomplete for what is required to enter Heaven. You must be “born again” = die to self and alive to God.
    •  We don’t want to go through religious motions; we want a sincere relationship with God. And that only occurs when God becomes more than a Sunday checklist.
  • Mt 6:25-34 release anxiety by prayer.
    •  Jesus talks about birds not shopping at grocery stores or having food pantries. Jesus tells about flowers not having clothes closets or shopping at a mall. Yet, birds are well fed and flowers are splendidly clothed. Likewise, God’s people need not be in hurry or worry mode. We release our anxieties by praying for daily bread, and trusting our Heavenly Father to care for our every need.
    • Everyone has 3 buckets:
      • In my control: initiate.
      • Out my control: wait & pray
      • Within influence: communicate

PSALM 34:4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

APPLY/TAKEAWAY

July 5th the TX Guadalupe River surged > 20’ in < 90 min and killed 80+. Yet, Coast Guard Scott Ruskan helped bring 165 to safety. In an interview, he said, “We did a lot of good, but the mission is not over. There is still a lot of others unaccounted for.”

The reason we invest in Spring Egg Hunts, Summer VBS, Fall Trunk-N-Treats / AHG & TL / Youth Group / Home Groups is bc the mission is not over and there is still more unaccounted. SPBC exists to grow godly generations by equipping people to gather in faith, grow in hope, and go in love.

It starts with you.

> Have you tasted and seen the LORD is good?

> Will you magnify the LORD together with us as a church family?

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