Finding Faith and Contentment in Liturgical Worship
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Good morning. Welcome to our friends and family service. This is a kind of unique service today. What we're going to do throughout the service, we're going to pause and they'll scream like this will come up. And then I'm going to explain why we do what we do. A lot of people are intimidated by liturgical worship. And so we're going to try to demystify that for you a little bit. I was raised, just so you know, Southern Baptist. Later I was Methodist. Later I was Evangelical Free. So I couldn't hold the job was the problem. But my heart always kind of leaned toward the history of the church. And what liturgy is about, we call it three -strings worship, is word. We believe the word of God contains all things that pertain to life and godliness. We believe that it's without error in its original autograph and all of that. So the word of God is essential. [00:04:27] (60 seconds)
Our service is divided into two parts. The first part is known as the Liturgy of the Word. And it includes all of our opening worship music. It will include, coming up, four readings. Old Testament, New Testament, Psalm, and Gospel. And usually those who are knit together in the prayer we pray at the beginning is known as the Collet. And that Collet really sort of incorporates the theme of the service and collects us, if you will, and helps us to channel our worship in a corporate way, in a corporate direction. So this first part, all the way up until we take the offering, is known as the Liturgy of the Word. The Sermon will be in there and all of that. So that's sort of the intellectual, the mind piece, if you will. And then at Communion, we'll share the piece. And that launches us into the second half of the service, which is the Liturgy of the Table, meaning Communion. And it's sort of a deeper, more spiritual thing. We encounter the mystery of God and Communion, that God is somehow mysteriously present in that sacrament. And so it's a shift, if you will. We're having heard the Word of God preached, heard the Word of God read. We've dwelt on that. We've done our creed. After all of that, then we move into this time of Communion with God. And that's the goal of the whole service. It culminates here at the altar with us sharing in Communion, in Communion with God and with one another. [00:21:07] (105 seconds)
Cheaters get ahead, and they never seem to suffer the penalties for their bad behavior. While the guys playing by the rules, well, they never seem to get a break. In fact, one of the great struggles for people down through history is this question. Why do bad people prosper and good people suffer? Turn in your Bibles to Psalm 37. A question really comes up a lot in our lives individually. [00:36:27] (35 seconds)
Why do dead -beat dads get away with neglecting their responsibilities? Why do guys who falsify travel reimbursements never get caught? Why do business executives in a large company pay themselves six -figure bonuses, and the government just bails them out when the company goes bankrupt? Why do bad people seem to always get away with everything? Those questions have been asked from the earliest days of recorded history. In fact, the oldest book in the Bible, Job asks, why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? They spend their years in prosperity, and they go down to the grave in [00:37:01] (48 seconds)
Yet they say to God, leave us alone. We have no desire to know your ways. Who is the Almighty that we should serve Him? What would we gain by even praying to Him? And to make it worse, we seem to get no answers when we pray. God, I've tried to live a Christian life, and yet when I prayed that you would heal my daughter, save my business, restore my marriage, you were silent. Where are you, God? Why do people who don't even profess Christ, who don't even pray for your intervention, why does their child get to live? Why do they prosper? Don't you care? Are you even paying attention? [00:37:49] (49 seconds)
Psalm 37 is a powerfully emotional poem written by King David, and he asks these very questions. He's looking back over the years, he's kind of reminiscing, and he states that what eventually becomes apparent to everyone is that bad people seem to prosper while good people lag behind. And it's not like we want the evil guy to suffer, but we can have wondering why God allows him to just keep getting away with it. In other words, what good is being good? [00:37:56] (37 seconds)
It feels like we're in the middle of the Super Bowl sometimes, and the referees have taken a break. Nobody seems to be enforcing the rules, and to make matters worse, we live in a corrupted culture where lines of morality have really, really been blurred. [00:39:33] (19 seconds)
A few decades ago, a person could be a devout believer, and largely because of that, because they were a member of a church, they were well -respected in the community. In fact, it was expected that well -respected people were church people. Back then, the culture revered morality, but I have to tell you, those days are gone. [00:39:53] (25 seconds)
It's tougher and tougher to be a Christian in this culture. And soon the day will come when it will not be possible to be admired as a citizen and a Christian at the same time. Christians are being demonized. [00:40:14] (16 seconds)
It's tempting to envy evil, and it's tempting to compromise so that we too can be successful. But the problem is that we as believers are too Christian to really enjoy sinning, and we're too fond of sinning to really be Christian. And we're caught in that awkward in -between place. [00:40:21] (23 seconds)
There's a strong temptation for all of us to compromise, especially when we see the wicked prosper. That's why David wants not to become envious of the wicked. And he gives us a very good reason for it. In verse 10 of chapter 37, it says, that for evildoers are going to be cut off. But those who wait upon the Lord, they're going to possess the land. Evil people may seem to have the advantage, but David is telling us that ultimately, good will win out. [00:41:36] (36 seconds)
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Our service is divided into two parts. The first part is known as the Liturgy of the Word. And it includes all of our opening worship music. It will include, coming up, four readings. Old Testament, New Testament, Psalm, and Gospel. And usually those who are knit together in the prayer we pray at the beginning is known as the Collet. And that Collet really sort of incorporates the theme of the service and collects us, if you will, and helps us to channel our worship in a corporate way, in a corporate direction. So this first part, all the way up until we take the offering, is known as the Liturgy of the Word. The Sermon will be in there and all of that. So that's sort of the intellectual, the mind piece, if you will. And then at Communion, we'll share the piece. And that launches us into the second half of the service, which is the Liturgy of the Table, meaning Communion. And it's sort of a deeper, more spiritual thing. We encounter the mystery of God and Communion, that God is somehow mysteriously present in that sacrament. And so it's a shift, if you will. We're having heard the Word of God preached, heard the Word of God read. We've dwelt on that. We've done our creed. After all of that, then we move into this time of Communion with God. And that's the goal of the whole service. It culminates here at the altar with us sharing in Communion, in Communion with God and with one another. [00:21:07] (105 seconds)
Cheaters get ahead, and they never seem to suffer the penalties for their bad behavior. While the guys playing by the rules, well, they never seem to get a break. In fact, one of the great struggles for people down through history is this question. Why do bad people prosper and good people suffer? Turn in your Bibles to Psalm 37. A question really comes up a lot in our lives individually. [00:36:27] (35 seconds)
Why do dead -beat dads get away with neglecting their responsibilities? Why do guys who falsify travel reimbursements never get caught? Why do business executives in a large company pay themselves six -figure bonuses, and the government just bails them out when the company goes bankrupt? Why do bad people seem to always get away with everything? Those questions have been asked from the earliest days of recorded history. In fact, the oldest book in the Bible, Job asks, why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? They spend their years in prosperity, and they go down to the grave in [00:37:01] (48 seconds)
Yet they say to God, leave us alone. We have no desire to know your ways. Who is the Almighty that we should serve Him? What would we gain by even praying to Him? And to make it worse, we seem to get no answers when we pray. God, I've tried to live a Christian life, and yet when I prayed that you would heal my daughter, save my business, restore my marriage, you were silent. Where are you, God? Why do people who don't even profess Christ, who don't even pray for your intervention, why does their child get to live? Why do they prosper? Don't you care? Are you even paying attention? [00:37:49] (49 seconds)
Psalm 37 is a powerfully emotional poem written by King David, and he asks these very questions. He's looking back over the years, he's kind of reminiscing, and he states that what eventually becomes apparent to everyone is that bad people seem to prosper while good people lag behind. And it's not like we want the evil guy to suffer, but we can have wondering why God allows him to just keep getting away with it. In other words, what good is being good? [00:37:56] (37 seconds)
It feels like we're in the middle of the Super Bowl sometimes, and the referees have taken a break. Nobody seems to be enforcing the rules, and to make matters worse, we live in a corrupted culture where lines of morality have really, really been blurred. [00:39:33] (19 seconds)
A few decades ago, a person could be a devout believer, and largely because of that, because they were a member of a church, they were well -respected in the community. In fact, it was expected that well -respected people were church people. Back then, the culture revered morality, but I have to tell you, those days are gone. [00:39:53] (25 seconds)
It's tougher and tougher to be a Christian in this culture. And soon the day will come when it will not be possible to be admired as a citizen and a Christian at the same time. Christians are being demonized. [00:40:14] (16 seconds)
It's tempting to envy evil, and it's tempting to compromise so that we too can be successful. But the problem is that we as believers are too Christian to really enjoy sinning, and we're too fond of sinning to really be Christian. And we're caught in that awkward in -between place. [00:40:21] (23 seconds)
There's a strong temptation for all of us to compromise, especially when we see the wicked prosper. That's why David wants not to become envious of the wicked. And he gives us a very good reason for it. In verse 10 of chapter 37, it says, that for evildoers are going to be cut off. But those who wait upon the Lord, they're going to possess the land. Evil people may seem to have the advantage, but David is telling us that ultimately, good will win out. [00:41:36] (36 seconds)
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