Refuge Church (Utah)
Third Stone: Covenantal Worship
Pastor Brian Sauvé preaches Part III of this Short Series on the Church.
Well, this sermon is something of a reminder to those of you who have been with us since November of last year when I preached a four-part sermon series on this topic. And that sermon series is entitled, From Zion's Hill, Liturgical Warfare. If you haven't heard that, if you weren't with us at that point, I'd encourage you to go watch or listen to that sermon series. It is one of the foundational, like I said, this is a stone under our feet as a church, the structure and content. and nature of our gathered worship on Sunday mornings. But what I want to do this morning is to remember together what it is that we're doing when we gather as a church to worship our God together on the Lord's Day each week. This is obviously one of the most important things about our church. It's one of the things that we do week in and week out, and Lord willing, we'll continue to do week in and week out for our lives and the lives of our children. so on through the agents. And so obviously, it would be important that we understand what it is that we're doing and why we're doing it so that we can pursue the gathered worship of God with zeal, but also with knowledge. So we're going to look at this topic in three parts together this morning. First, we'll walk through the five main parts of our worship liturgy and remember what it means when we say that our liturgy is an act of covenant remembrance.
First, we'll walk through the five main parts of our worship liturgy and remember what it means when we say that our liturgy is an act of covenant remembrance. and even covenant renewal and why it has the shape and elements that it does, why all of that matters. This will take most of our time this morning as we look at really the meat of what actually we do when we gather together and why each of those elements matter, why the order that we do them in is the way that it is. Secondly, we'll briefly remember why it's essential that our liturgical warfare, which is what it is when we gather to worship. It is not just singing or praise. It's also word. and warfare together. We'll remember why it's essential that that be congregational, meaning something that we do, not something that someone else does while you watch, right? But this is our worship. It's congregational. Finally, we'll remember why the worship liturgy ought to be transcendent, or we could say rich, rich and transcendent, not flippant or shallow or pragmatic or trite, and we'll end there. So first, let's walk through those five parts of the service here, the contents. When I say the word liturgy, by the way, you've heard me say that several times already. The word liturgy simply means the contents and order of our gathered worship. The order of service is an over-simplification
liturgy, by the way, you've heard me say that several times already. The word liturgy simply means the contents and order of our gathered worship. The order of service is an over-simplification of what a liturgy is. Every church has a liturgy, whether it's the low church, megachurch, liturge of, you know, announcements, then a skit, and then the fog machines turn on, and then there's a drum solo, and then there's a TED talk, and then at the end of that, you take some mount and do it, a cracker, you know, that's still a liturgy, even though they'd never use the word to describe it. It's not just churches that have call and response that have liturgies. Liturgy is inevitable. It's just the shape and contents of our gathered worship. Well, our liturgy, again, you see why reformed theology is a stone under our feet, because this is really a part of that reformed theology, is how you go about the worship of God in the gathering on the Lord's Day. Our liturgy is, it stands in the great river of the reformed tradition and also follows the logic and the order of the covenantal worship of the old covenant. So what we see is that the shape of our service follows the logical ordering of worship in the old covenant that you can even see in a book like Leviticus. Sometimes we make the mistake in the New Testament era of thinking that there was the old covenant, and then that was a
of worship in the old covenant that you can even see in a book like Leviticus. Sometimes we make the mistake in the New Testament era of thinking that there was the old covenant, and then that was a separate book, Old Testament, and then that ended, and now we have the New Testament, and we kind of look back over our shoulders at what they used to do with like a mystified look in our eyes, and we say, thank the Lord that we don't have to do any of that anymore, and now Jesus came and he started a new thing. Well, not quite. Jesus came as the fulfillment and culmination of all of the Old Testament. And so actually, everything that we do in the New Covenant, everything we do as the New Testament Church, finds its roots in the shape and the promises and the textures of the Old Testament scriptures. Worship is no different. Think about this ordering that you find in Leviticus chapter 1 of temple worship. First, God calls the worshippers to draw near to himself, but not empty-handed. They're to bring a sacrifice, and that sacrifice will represent. the worshipper. It will actually represent the worshipper. The animal is sacrificed in place of the sinful worshipper. Number two. So substitution of sin and sinner is happening in the temple worship. Number three, the priest will cut up the animal. We could say the priestly sword would cut up the animal
of the sinful worshipper. Number two. So substitution of sin and sinner is happening in the temple worship. Number three, the priest will cut up the animal. We could say the priestly sword would cut up the animal and put that animal in those pieces on the altar to be burned and rise up in consecration, to be received as a meal for God, the smoke being a pleasing aroma for God. And so the worshipper, again, identified with the animal, is rising up before God as a pleasing aroma. Fourth, God receives the sacrifice as a pleasant aroma, a meal. According to Leviticus 1-9, it's a food offering. And so God doesn't just have the smoke rise before him. He actually receives it. He says yes to it. And he communes. with the worshipper through that. The shedding of blood has taken place and there's cleansing of sin and now a feast. And then fifth and finally, the sacrifice is complete. And so God through his priests sends the worshipper out into the land, the kingdom, renewed and empowered to serve Yahweh and whatever work that Yahweh, the Lord, has given him in his own place. So he comes to the temple. taken before the Lord in consecration and the sacrifice and worship, and then he's sent back
taken before the Lord in consecration and the sacrifice and worship, and then he's sent back out. Our gathered worship follows the same logic. But what's changed is that all of the shadows that were present in that worship, all of these things that pointed forward to something greater than themselves, things like an animal pointing forward to the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God. Right? The priest, looking forward to Christ as our priest. All of the shadows have given way to the substance, but the same. ordering is fundamentally present. Another way that we could say this is that our worship is covenantal, meaning that in our gathered worship, we come together as God's covenant people to worship the Lord who made and fulfills the covenant of our salvation. We call on him to remember and see his covenant through. We hear the word of the covenant and we eat the feast of the covenant. Well, what is the covenant. The covenant is God's agreement, his promise to save us through Christ, to really oversimplify it. That's what we're doing. We're coming together as the people who have been saved as a result of God's covenant promises. We are his covenant people to remember that covenant, call on God to continue to see it through to forgive us and receive us and teach us and conform us to the image of God and ultimately bring us together to glory. And so along that grain, that grain,
call on God to continue to see it through to forgive us and receive us and teach us and conform us to the image of God and ultimately bring us together to glory. And so along that grain, that grain, the New Testament doesn't come, cut a big hole in the tree, and then put something new in. it continues in the same grain. It grows up out of that. Our liturgy has five parts corresponding to each of those. Every week, this is what you're walking through with us, whether you're new and you had no idea that this is what you were doing. This is what we're doing. First, the call to worship, where the minister stands up and greets the people in the name of the triune God, grace, mercy, and peace to you in the name, or from God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We read a passage of scripture wherein God calls us and invites us into his presence to worship him. And it's important that we begin this way and we begin the service with God's call for us to worship him. Because what we don't want to be taught over time is that worship is something that we initiate and then we make God do something. No, even our worship is something. God invites us to participate in. God initiates. God begins. God speaks first. God invites us. We don't just come into his presence
God initiates. God begins. God speaks first. God invites us. We don't just come into his presence unbidden. We come in as his people who are invited. When you think about the scenes and attitudes in the presence of God in the scriptures, you'd understand why this would be the case. Like John the revelator and John won, this man who fellowshiped and knew the Lord Jesus very intimately. He even describes himself in the gospel of John, as we saw on Sunday school class this morning, as the one whom Jesus loved, the disciple whom Jesus loved. And yet that John, when he was taken before the Lord, on the Lord's Day, in a vision, and seized the Lord Jesus, which you can read in Revelation Chapter 1, it says, and when I saw him, I fell at his feet. as though dead is what John says. So being in the presence of God is not a trifling sort of thing. It's not something that you just like, yeah, you know, I woke up, I wandered in five minutes late with a snack in one hand, and I kind of like an ear pod in the other hand, so that I could listen to a podcast if the sermon got too boring. And then I sort of like the songs came on, and if I really liked one, then I would see, you know, you are good, good, oh, oh. I really like that part, but I don't like the bridge of that song, and then I'll leave early because I've got a golf course tea time at Riverside,
then I would see, you know, you are good, good, oh, oh. I really like that part, but I don't like the bridge of that song, and then I'll leave early because I've got a golf course tea time at Riverside, 1125. So, you know, that's not how we come before the living God. We come before the living God as a terrible, and in the old King's English word awful, full of awe, presence of this fearful fearful creator who's all powerful and who actually makes kings and rulers, you know, tremble if they were to understand a millionth of his presence. So we don't make light of God's invitation. We would not dare come unless we were called. But the glorious reality of the covenant, and this is why it's so important, our worship is covenantal. It's God making a promise and seeing that promise through to his covenant people, is that God does invite us. This is Hebrews 4, 14 and 16, and then I'll read part of Hebrews 10, 19 to 23. Think about the realities of the new covenant here. It says, since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. So what does that mean? Christ came down. We didn't go up and get hold of him and bring him down to earth. The God man came down. He passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God. Therefore, let us
The God man came down. He passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God. Therefore, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin, let us then with confidence. draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and help in our time of need. Chapter 10 of Hebrews, verse 19. It says, therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places, how, by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is through his flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful. The door into God's presence is very narrow, but it is open to his people. There's only one door. It's Christ. You may not come into his presence without dying unless you come through Christ, and yet for his people, the door's open. And the door is open not on the basis of your works. Again, as if you, you went up to heaven and tugged on God's robe and brought him down to earth. No, the robe is open. The door is open because God opened it. He sent his son. He made a door.
you went up to heaven and tugged on God's robe and brought him down to earth. No, the robe is open. The door is open because God opened it. He sent his son. He made a door. He made his flesh the door. We passed through on the basis of the blood of Christ. And so we come near to God as he calls us, just as the saints of the old covenants did, with what? With sacrifice in our hand. They brought an animal, but our lamb has already been given. It's Christ. And so we bring what? We don't come empty-handed. We don't say the lamb has been given. We're not saved on the basis of our work, so we come empty-handed. No, we actually come with a sacrifice. What is that? It's you. When we come on the Lord's day to worship the Lord, we don't come empty-handed. We come with ourselves, and we give ourselves, and we offer ourselves to God. We say, let us be taken up and burned up and consecrated and brought before the Lord. Lord, this is exactly what Paul is talking about in Romans 12, 1, and 2. He says, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, by the gospel of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. So God's called us into his presence, and what we immediately
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. So God's called us into his presence, and what we immediately reckon with them is that we need to move into the second part of our liturgy. We need to move into the second part of our liturgy. If we do the call to worship right and you understand what it means to be in the presence of God rightly, even as a Christian covered in the blood of Christ, it should immediately bring us to desire to confess our sin to the Lord and say, you know, even now, Lord, we still struggle struggle with the flesh. Even now, we're reminded of our weakness. We're reminded of our need for your grace. And so we move to the confession of sin each week. We remember things like Psalm 66, where we are taught to sing. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. And you might say, well, that's Old Testament. What does that have to do with me? Well, no, this is the same logic that Peter uses when he exhorts husbands in 1 Peter 3, verse 7. When he says, essentially husbands, treat your wives gently as the weaker vessel. in order that your prayer does not be hindered. Another way we could say that is, if you regard iniquity in your heart, the Lord will not hear you. Husbands. It's just one sin.
in order that your prayer does not be hindered. Another way we could say that is, if you regard iniquity in your heart, the Lord will not hear you. Husbands. It's just one sin. And so we don't come before the Lord, cleansed by his blood, and say, well, we haven't sinned anymore. We're justified. We're being sanctified. We're being set apart. And so we're commanded, things like this gracious invitation of God on James 516, to confess our sins to each other. We know the promise of God that Pastor Dan read. 1 that if we say we have no sin, we're liars, but if we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And so the confession of our sin isn't something we just do once and then forget. It's like we don't eat once and then stop. We don't pull weeds out of our garden once and then stop. No, it's a regular, ongoing part of our sanctification to confess our sins, to be free in our confession, to be a people who live, in the light of Christ. Because we are justified by His grace and declared righteous, because we know that those whom he called he also justified, but we also know that those whom he justified, he also glorified. And so we continue to walk in sanctification. We kneel before the Lord in confession of sin, which reminds us even bodily of our humility before God as his covenant
he also glorified. And so we continue to walk in sanctification. We kneel before the Lord in confession of sin, which reminds us even bodily of our humility before God as his covenant people. The minister stands up and assures the people that God's grace has been given. This is why we say every week, lift up your heads and hear the good news. Because what God loves to do when his people freely confess their sin is to cleanse them of all of their sin and give them a clean conscience and strengthen them for the work of fighting that sin tomorrow and the next day and the next day. And so all of this is in remembrance of and growing out of and dependent upon the pardon of God's people through Christ. Having confessed our sins, now we move into the third portion of the service, which is the consecration of His people by the word. Consecration just literally means to set apart, to make holy. A holy thing is something that has been set apart for special divine use by God. And as a people, we are a holy people. We are set apart by His word for good works. consecration happens relentlessly in scripture through the scriptures, through the word of God, through the activity of God's word. And so that's why this portion of the service is marked by
through the activity of God's word. And so that's why this portion of the service is marked by a lot of Bible, by the reading of the Old and New Testament, the pastoral prayer where we obey specific passages of the Word of God, and especially by the preaching of the Scriptures. In this portion of the service, the Word of God, the Word of God, and especially by the preaching of the Scriptures. is sanctifying us in the presence of God. And so even though the call to worship and the commissioning at the end both have the word of God in them, it's not that this is the only part where the word of God lives, this consecration portion of the service is ringing with the voice of God. And the picture, if I could give you a picture from that old covenant liturgy, is that when the priest cut up the animal on the altar, this is what the pastor is doing, with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, during this portion of the preaching. It says in Hebrews 412, the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. So the old covenant, liturgy, the priest would cut up the animal. Remember, the animal represents the worshipper so that it could arise before God as a food offering, as a meal of peace and communion between the people and their God, well, now the sword of the spirit cuts us up and makes us a fit offering.
as a food offering, as a meal of peace and communion between the people and their God, well, now the sword of the spirit cuts us up and makes us a fit offering. Again, remember the language of Romans 12, that we present our bodies as living sacrifices, which is our spiritual worship. And then what does he do right after that? He connects it to the ministry of the Word, which does what? It transforms us by the renewing of our mind, that by testing and discerning, what is the will of God? How do you do that? How do the people test what is good and perfect? You do what the Bereans did. You open the scriptures. And you say, what is true? What is happening? And where is the gap between those two things? The Word of God is what renews us through the work of the Spirit. So we're transformed in the renewal of our minds through the Word of God. This is, again, why the sermon is not just an exercise in education, and it's not just a lecture. It's why the sermon. the preaching of the Word of God ought to be relentlessly applicational, meaning it comes down and it's supposed to cut us and identify where the flesh needs to be circumcised, cut away, where it needs to be cut away from us, so that we can walk in holiness. It's why the Word of God pierces us. It's why it convicts us of our sin.
where it needs to be cut away from us, so that we can walk in holiness. It's why the Word of God pierces us. It's why it convicts us of our sin. It's why you shouldn't just always have sermons week after week after week that don't call all the people of God to transformation and renewal and confession and repentance as we come into the presence of God. This brings us to the fourth element of the service, which is the communion feast. Communion. Remember, covenants come with signs, which means they come with visible and tangible symbols that communicate the nature and the glory of the covenant. Covenants come with signs that communicate the nature and the glory of the covenant of the covenant. of the covenant. So one of the signs of the new covenant is the communion meal. Communion meal. God said there's going to be two signs in the new covenant, baptism and communion. And so when you look at that and you think about what that communicates to us, it becomes very clear what is at the heart of this relationship as God's covenant people in the new covenant. It's washing in baptism. It's washing. You are to be a clean people cleansed by the pure water. And it is to be a place where we commune with God through the work of the cross. Think about what it means to be invited to a meal. It means that you are being received.
Think about what it means to be invited to a meal. It means that you are being received. It means that you are to be nourished. It means that you're at peace with somebody. You don't have, you know, a nice meal with your enemies. It's not what you do. If you, if someone invites you to sit down and they say, come to my house, eat with me, what does that mean? means I receive you. It means let's be strengthened with this same food. Again, it mirrors the order of the old covenant worship, which was a food offering to God, a meal for God. Again, according to Leviticus 1. In our offered worship, we are consumed, living sacrifices. And then in our worship, we consume. We eat with God. We eat the bread of Christ's body given for us. We drink the wine of his blood spilled for us. And this meal is meant to nourish us and strengthen us and to bring our eyes week in and week out, no matter what the contents of the sermon is, whether we're in numbers, and I'm preaching on a genealogy and explaining how that text connects to the story of Scripture and connects to us and calls us to repentance and faith, no matter what the text of Scripture is, the whole order of our worship relentlessly brings us to this meal. Why? So that week in and week out, we are always brought to be strengthened by what?
Why? So that week in and week out, we are always brought to be strengthened by what? the cross by the body and blood of Christ, the heart of the covenant. This is why it's, you know, so much of our modern worship has basically been a stripping away of every element except the thing that makes sense to us as moderns, because we tend to think of people as like brains on a stick, where we just have information problems, we just need education. And so a lot of the time, a modern worship service is basically like an introduction with a song and then a lecture, a TED talk, and then an outro that has some music in it, so it's just not awkward. You know, there's something at either end, so it's not just like, well, I guess we're talking. Well, a fully-orbed new covenant liturgy ought to bring us through the whole remembrance of the work of God and the covenant, of his salvation, of his gospel. And that's why, you know, is the service about the gospel? It's always about the gospel, whether or not the sermon is focused on penal substitutions. attonement, which is good and glorious. We focus on it a lot. But even if the sermon doesn't talk about penal substitutionary atonement, that Christ took the penalty of our sin, gives us the record of his righteousness by faith, and raises us to new life in him, even if that particular doctrine isn't at the center of the sermon, what's still there? The gospel of the kingdom of God, the remembrance
of his righteousness by faith, and raises us to new life in him, even if that particular doctrine isn't at the center of the sermon, what's still there? The gospel of the kingdom of God, the remembrance of God's covenant work in the gospel. So at this point in the service, we've been called into God's presence, confessed our sin, sung to the Lord, worshipped him, we've heard his sanctifying, convicting, sinner-renewing word, and so now we've eaten with him, communed with him, and are ready to be sent. After the meal, what happens? Well, you go, you go out strengthened by that food to do the work of the kingdom. This is the commissioning, the commissioning to the work of the kingdom. We stand up from that table. We go out, strengthen, and ready to do the good. works that he's set before us. Ephesians 2.10, this passage we bring up quite a bit, tells us that we are new creations in Christ, created in Christ Jesus, for good works, which he has set before us, that we might walk in them. So as we go out, we're new creatures, we're strengthened by his word, and he's put good works in front of us. Like, we didn't come up with these. They're not our original idea that if we do them, it's by his grace working in us to willing to be. It's by his grace working in us to to work for his good pleasure, and yet they are real good works that we really walk in. And so we go out, and in our week on Tuesday, you discover that God appointed this week for one
to work for his good pleasure, and yet they are real good works that we really walk in. And so we go out, and in our week on Tuesday, you discover that God appointed this week for one of the good works that you were to do was to be really patient when a three-year-old was throwing things at you. And you were like, thank you, Lord, for giving me this good work to walk in. I can demonstrate patience to this three-year-old who is raging at me like the nations, and casting the cords of restraint from himself, and saying, as for me, I have set my king on Zion, and it's me. And you say, sorry, buddy, let me in love explain to you that you are not actually God. If you were, it would be big trouble for everybody. Praise the Lord, you're not. Here's a spanking. Here's correction, because you're my son and I love you. You're my daughter and I love you. Good works. Well, that's why we end the service each week with this commissioning where a minister gets up and commissions us, calls us, gives us a charge, therefore go and do, is the nature of this charge every week, and it ends with God's blessing. It ends with God's blessing. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling, to present you blameless before the glory of his great, therefore go with his blessing. So we go as God's cleansed, communed, strengthened, and blessed people who are commissioned for his work. And so we can say, you'll notice that these all have seized at the beginning of them.
So we go as God's cleansed, communed, strengthened, and blessed people who are commissioned for his work. And so we can say, you'll notice that these all have seized at the beginning of them. There's a call to worship, a confession of sin, a consecration by the word, a communion meal, and then there's a commissioning to go out and do the work of this kingdom. All of this is covenant, remembrance, and renewal, remembering what God has promised, what he's done in us, calling on him to continue seeing his covenant through, as he shows himself faithful to us, even in the good works that we're going to go out and do this week as his bright and salty people, not in the way that modern people talk about salty people, but in the biblical way. You know, holy, not sassy, is what I mean. So briefly, I want to point at these last two things that our liturgy is therefore congregational. It's also transcendent and rich. It's congregational in that if you notice all of that, the shape of that service is God calling us to worship. Right? It's God calling us to confess our sins. It's God consecrating us by his sword. It's God communing with us in the meal. It's God. commissioning us to go out. You might wonder, like, especially as you bring your kids in the service, you're like, I stand up, I sit down, I kneel, I sing, I sit down, I say stuff, I hear, I say some more stuff,
commissioning us to go out. You might wonder, like, especially as you bring your kids in the service, you're like, I stand up, I sit down, I kneel, I sing, I sit down, I say stuff, I hear, I say some more stuff, I get back up, I sit back down, I come up, I eat some stuff, and then, you know, it's like there's a lot of participation in this. Why? Because you're not a brain on a stick. And because this is not the dispensing of religious goods and services by a religious professional that you pay your tithe to receive. No, we worship the living God together as the covenant people of God. Worship is congregational. Relentlessly in Scripture, sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly as we read in the Psalms. So the Lord instructs us to pray, our Father, who are in heaven. Give us today, our daily bread. Paul says that in every place he desires men would lift holy hands without quarreling. He says in 1 Corinthians 11 that the occasion for the Feast of Communion is when you come together. We're not just to sing to God privately. We are to sing to one another in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. All of this communicates what we are and what we're doing. We're a body. We are not bodies. I said last week, we're a bride, not a harem. We are a people, a holy nation, as Peter reminds us, not individual citizens, kingdoms to ourselves. This is why the historic liturgies of the Reformed Church and why our
We are a people, a holy nation, as Peter reminds us, not individual citizens, kingdoms to ourselves. This is why the historic liturgies of the Reformed Church and why our liturgy is deeply participatory. Finally, our liturgy, and this is something I say, and I hope that it's true, and I believe that it's true, and I look forward to it every week myself because I believe it's true, but it's something that we can always grow in, is that our liturgy is rich. It's supposed to be rich, as opposed to flippant, or shallow, or cute, or lowest common denominator. It's supposed to be rich like if you've ever had the butter that they make in Europe that has extra fat, like 85% fat content, it's rich like that. It's not 1% milk, which is water pretending to be milk, in the words of Ron Swanson. I did not intend to bring him up, but there you go. It's rich like if you've ever had a drink of McAllen 18 purple box. It's rich. Can I get an amen? It's like plum cake. It's not like a saltine cracker, right? It's not like bread and water kind of, it's supposed to be a rich feast and not a flipping or boil down or pop culture filtered pragmatism of megachianity. It's not
and not a flipping or boil down or pop culture filtered pragmatism of megachianity. It's not entertainment. It's intended to connect us to the ancient things and to the deep wells. It's supposed to connect us to our spiritual forefathers and the great cloud of witnesses that since they are gathered around us. Let us end with confidence. Let's go. Let's in faith as they did. So worship is the engine of culture. Let us not have a one cylinder taking along. Let's put a V8 in that thing. Worship is the engine of culture. Worship is the engine of culture. Let me end with this final exhortation. And it's simply to remind you what I said at the beginning. This is truly a foundation stone in this church. Meaning, if you were to pull this out, and just say next week, and from now on, we got a $50,000 gift come in. And so, you know, the reason we haven't had smoke machines and cameras and stuff is because we just didn't have the money for it. Well, guess what? All your dreams are answered. We've got cameras. We've got lights. We've got the smoke machine. I bought a new wardrobe. It's much tighter. You know, it's more hair product. And the sermons are going to be 60% shorter. If you were just to take this out and kind of like, you know, replace everything with a megachurch aesthetic and a modern worship liturgy,
And the sermons are going to be 60% shorter. If you were just to take this out and kind of like, you know, replace everything with a megachurch aesthetic and a modern worship liturgy, kind of lowest common denominator, aesthetic. And let me say, even if you were to keep the sermon the same, the contents of the sermon, you wouldn't just be changing something aesthetic. You wouldn't just be repainting the walls of different color in the church. If you were to do that, this really is a stone under our feet. Everything we do is built on this. You couldn't change. You couldn't change. this or flippantly rearrange it without changing who we are becoming over time together. And so my exhortation to you is to defend this thing with your life, to throw your weight into it. So let's put your chest into it. When you say your thanks beads to God, when you give your amends at the reading of God's word, when you sing God's Psalms to God, sing them with conviction. When you pray and confess your sins, confess your sins. Think ahead of time. Think ahead of time. Be prepared. When you come here on the Lord's Day, come with hearts prepared and in fear of God and in awe of God to receive from God. Don't wander in
hearts prepared and in fear of God and in awe of God to receive from God. Don't wander in flippantly. Five minutes late. Complain about the piano being out of tune. The sermon not being very good. And then leave, we're not working, we're not here for you. We're here to worship. the living God together. Obey the word with zeal, whether I preach it particularly well one week or not. And there are going to be weeks where my sermons are not great, where they're boring, where I don't thread the needle very well, where they're too long. There are going to be weeks where you don't like the songs that we sing. They're going to be weeks where we forget to print the bulletins, and there are going to be weeks where the children are very zealous in making their joyful noise to the Lord. And yet, remember that when we worship the living God, that when God's people worship their God and remember His covenant, the nations are converted, walls of Jericho fall down before the singing and trumpeting of God's people. We are transformed in his image. Cities are taken. Hell is plundered. It happens when God's people worship their God. Everything flows out of the temple. Everything flows out of the temple. Amen? Let's pray. Father, we do thank you. that you have given us such a rich inheritance as a people standing here in the stream
Father, we do thank you. that you have given us such a rich inheritance as a people standing here in the stream of history that you're writing in 2022, that you've given us such a rich inheritance that we have incredible songs and books and prayers and liturgies and riches that have been handed down for us by our forefathers. We thank you especially, Father, that you have given us the rich storehouse of your word, that you have preserved it. So we ask, Father, that you ask, Father, that you you would continue to use it to conform us into your image, that you would be glorified in us as we worship you. We ask for your mercy and patience as we stumble our way forward in learning these things. But we do ask, Father, that in 10 years, in 20 years and 50 years, that we would be a people who would make the walls of this place ring with the sounds of singing and confession and joy and obedience. And so we pray in Jesus' name for His glory and our joy. Amen. Thank you.
Thank you.