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You know. Hey pretty legs. It's it's good to be back. I got a few weeks away and some sabbatical time and some vacation time with my family. So I just want to say two things about that. Never one. Thank you because that is important to me into my family important to my soul to do that and also for our team across all of our campuses that that you know, I can go away for three or four weeks and man. I don't worry about a thing.
In fact, I forgot all about you guys. No, I didn't I prayed every day for you. And for Prairie Lakes I did every day. Hey just exciting thing. I want to share with you right now next weekend. So that'll be the the weekend of August 14th. We are installing two new campus pastors Manny Pollard in Decorah and Andy Sayer in Osage and we are so excited and grateful and I know that Decorah and that oh Sage are Are super pumped for this next season to begin, so I want to just we'll talk about it next weekend a little bit too. But I want to be praying and asking God to really bless those two campuses next weekend and I want to say this just a special shout out to to Pastor Chris who who went to decor for about the last year and has really been the interim CP. He's gone above and beyond for the kingdom. He's gonna above and beyond for the church and he has got the core on a great foundation. So Pastor Chris, thank you. Thank you for what you did. All right, so we got to get cracking here and I'm ready to go and I hope I remember how to do this. So hey, we're in the series called Psalms in real life and Chip Pastor chip kicked it off a couple weeks ago and he kind of gave us this big introduction to it. And and so we started walking down and kind of the the point of walking through these Psalms and why we call it real life this man these these Psalms by real people in real life situations who who act like us in all things.
Happy sad frustrated angry and sorrowful. Joyful, right? So it really is it's raw and it's beautiful in his poetic all of those things just like our lives so chip started off then last week Pastor. Jesse just did a great job with something. We really like to talk about very often which is songs or songs of lament right songs of Sorrow, it was so beautiful because I've I personally have gone back to that time and time again when when you feel frustrated with God or yourself and you don't know how and listen Jesse just nailed it. That's one is the summary so great. It's okay to tell God how you truly feel right because he knows us it's not okay to make you feelings the whole truth. Okay, we know that we can't trust sometimes how we feel about ourselves as you tell God about how you feel.
Tell yourself about who he is. Not that this was gold right here how you feel plus who God is equals the whole truth and that was a beautiful way to approach Psalms of lament and if you haven't seen that one yet. I would urge you to jump online and and go back and watch that. So here's what we're gonna do this week. We're gonna we're gonna swing from lament Psalms of lament to kind of the it's in a sense the opposite Spectrum, which is Psalms of of praise and and and and we're gonna talk through that. In fact, I'm gonna give you four practices. We're gonna sit in one song not to give you four practice. I want you to see this is very cool. So when chip started this whole thing and the Book of Psalms off, he said this he said look it's divided the book of Psalms 150 total is divided into four books. Okay. So section one book one ends with Ford chapter 41 book two ends of chapter 72 book three ends with chapter 89 book four ends with 106 and 150, but I want you to see this this is this is the coolest thing and it tells you kind of how crucial this idea of praises and how much it matters.
So here's the ending verse of 41 72 89 and 106 ready. Here we go at the end of 41. Here's what it says. Praise be the Lord the god of Israel from Everlasting to Everlasting. Amen. And amen. Okay, here's the last verse at the end of 72 Book 2. Praise be the Lord God the god of Israel who alone does marvelous Deeds praise be to his glorious name forever, May the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen. And amen.
Here's the end of book three Psalm 89 praise to the Lord praise be the Lord forever. Amen. And amen. And here's the end of 106 book 4. You ready? Praise be the Lord the god of Israel from Everlasting to Everlasting. Let all the people say amen, praise the Lord, right? So just just catch this with me. It's pretty obvious.
The praise is a big deal. It's not just a suggestion from God. It's a it's a command that we praise him and it's something Praises something that flows and should flow from followers of Jesus. Oh, that's not on everybody's a follower of Jesus. I know some of us are on the journey. That's why we're a no matter church, but when you get sick of yourself and you realize that you can't fix yourself and you can't save yourself and you can't be good enough for God and you rely on Jesus you finally surrender and you step over the faith line what we call the faith line and you finally say Jesus you died for my sin you roast from the grave I confess and I believe and when you trust him you become a follower now when you become a follower of Jesus What flows from that relationship is this thing called cold praise and and just because we're sitting in Psalms and we think of Praise we think of Psalms a lot. Here's what we have to recognize it's not just limited to the Book of Psalms, but throughout the whole Bible and the New Testament is filled with this this picture.
Praise this call to praise this command to praise this push to praise. And in fact, if you if you look at I'll just pick out one. Okay, first Peter Peter the Apostle like the lead Apostle Peter wrote this and in the middle of chapter 2, he wrote to the to these Believers he said to them but you are a chosen people God chose you a royal priesthood a holy nation God's special possession and look what he says about him.
All this is true that you may declare the Praises of him. Who called you out of Darkness into his wonderful light? So this praise right? It's a big deal this and it's it's part of this walk with God as part of this relationship with God. And so here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna sit in the last Psalm. We're gonna go verse by verse through the last song it's Psalm 1:50 and we're gonna sit in Psalm 150. And here's what I want to happen. I want I'm gonna show you right out of this Psalm verse by verse I want to show you these four practices of Praise now Psalm 150 is the last 150 of these Psalms. It's the last one. It's kind of the the Capstone if you will for for this entire collection and here's what I want. I want us to learn from it, but not just learn for our head not just have a philosophy but I want us to move from philosophy of yeah Praises. Yeah. Yeah, praise. I want us to move from philosophy to practice.
Want us to move from good idea to good action. I want you to move from head. to Heart to hands and the practice of praise So let's sit in 150 and I'm going to start with the first practice from the first part of the first burst. So here's here's here's practice. Number one. Okay practice number one is this praise is the starting point if we begin to practice praise as a starting point, I think it will change everything. I think it'll be revolutionary for for all of us. Okay, not not some kind of magical mantra.
but when you move to to your life as a starting point for who you are as a starting point for what you do as a starting point for how you act as a starting point for how you re Act and if you put praise in that place, it'll it'll change everything. So let's go to 150. Here's the first part of the first verse and it stands alone at the Top If you want to look it up in your Bible That's all gonna be on the screen, but get your Bible. Here's what it says in one a of 150 simply says this praise the Lord.
Period it just starts there and he makes this Capstone declaration. All that's been said life is good life is bad life is easy life is hard life is frustrating life is is enjoyable right all those things and they get to the end and he says simply this praise the Lord Now before we're going to farther, let's just kind of Define it now. There's lots of ways to find it. I'm a simple man. I'm a simple Iowan. So so the definition that I like to kind of practice and follow because here's what it does for me. It kind of gives me a posture picture as I Define it here's what Praises looking up to.
And acknowledging right? So it's a it's a it's a posture. It's a it's a heart looking up. It's a ice a posture looking up but it's not just that it's acknowledging his place in the universe. and in your life looking up to and acknowledging his place in the universe and and in your life now just sit with me on this one for a minute.
If we begin to practice this that praise is the starting point. What if we were to reorient our lives around this principle? What if we were to start shaping everything we do around this, right? So listen, none of us would argue with this.
Hey gratitude is super important. None of us would argue that we wouldn't and in fact it gratitude is kind of the the latest thing for the last few years and Science and psychology are kind of catching up with what you know, God's truth that's ancient truth of God, right? And here's what they're telling us.
That gratitude actually changes you. When you move from from a position of bitterness or sourness or or or sorrow, and you just start to to practice gratitude almost whether you feel like it or not, right so that they have these. Hey injured a with three things you're grateful for or do a gratitude journal or every day. You got to say thank you for something and scientifically proven that begins to kind of change your mindset. So none of us would argue with the idea that gratitude is what would be really important, but but here's the deal.
This idea of starting with praise looking up and acknowledging his place in the universe and in my life. Here's what that does. It gets my eyes off of myself. It gets my it gets my eyes off of my problems and get my eyes off of my predicament. It gets my eyes off of my position. It gets my eyes off of my politics.
He gets my eyes off of my grumpy neighbor Here's what starting with praise will do to you. It'll move you. And your starting point and the grid with which you see life.
Will change everything? Just as you start with gratitude, you begin to see things differently. You begin to look for things differently. How much more so When you acknowledge his place in the universe and in your life, here's here's maybe the best example of kind of the starting point. And actually it's it's Jesus. And actually it's in the New Testament.
All of us are very familiar with the Lord's Prayer, right? But it's really not the Lord's Prayer. It's the followers prayer. So they were they were they were disciples were with Jesus in and he prayed and and they looked at him and they said God would you teach us Jesus would you teach us how to pray and that's where we got the Lord's Prayer? Okay, and I want you to notice this about the Lord's Prayer. Here's what he does.
It's in Matthew 6 and this is just 9 and 10. That's just the first part of right so so before he says Hey daily bread and forgiveness all those things. This is how Jesus taught you and me to pray. He said this then is how you should pray under somebody's doing it's clear as Crystal. Here's what he says our father.
in heaven Hallowed be your name Your Kingdom Come your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Do you see it? Do you see what he's teaching us there? He says this is your starting point. You start in this place, you're looking up and you're acknowledging his place in the universe and his place in your life.
My friends listen to me. Listen, I know praise is kind of this. Ah, yeah, listen, keep it simple. looking up acknowledging his place in the universe and his place in my life and I begin to practice that as a starting point for my day from a mind from my heart from my actions.
I literally think this would be a turning point for all of us reorient your life around this around it. Okay, so praise the starting point that's practice. Number one. Let's go to the the next part of of verse 1 and here's practice two, praise God.
anytime And anywhere, okay. So practice one praise starting point practice two, praise God anytime anywhere. And here's what the second part of verse 1 says praise the Lord then it says praise God. In a sanctuary and praise him in his mighty Heavens. I want you to notice something his and his okay. So again, it's it's his place. Okay starting with him.
But praising God Can Happen anytime at any place. I know some of us and maybe you actually grew up kind of with this this idea and maybe you still have this idea that well the praise thing that's that's for Sunday mornings. That's that's when I do that or or praise is just singing and I don't like to sing so, right. Okay, so so go back just a little bit and just just think about this for a minute.
According to this and when you read scripture, here's what you're going to find. Praises limited to a time or a place or circumstances It's not just something that happens on Sunday morning.
It needs to happen as a part of who we are anytime anywhere. And in fact, I want us to start moving right moving to where it just begins to naturally flow from us. So here's an example. I want to give you this example and I think this will push us forward into the into the practice of any time anywhere.
We have a built-in already. You don't have to really change this and some of you really got to change this one. Okay? But we have a weekly Rhythm. One of our next step is a ten regularly. Okay, so attend regularly and we mean this and and it listen. Yes, I like when you're here. Okay. Yes, I like when you when you attend I like when you want. Yes. Yes.
And yes, and thank you. By the way for that. That's not the point. When you attend regularly when you have a weekly Rhythm a weekly practice of Praise that set aside that's put in place.
It's gonna move you to the Natural. Here's what I mean. Every week we say you show up. Okay every week and here's why because you're walking in. And you're walking in with this purpose. I'm gonna sing songs and all of our songs talk about who God is what God has done what God can do or what God will do all of our songs are based on that. We pray together. We read scripture we talk about what God's doing in the bigger picture of Iowa and the world and we and what we do is we get our we get we get looking up.
And and and we acknowledge Him and his place the universe in my life. And that's what we do. Right? So, so if you do that that that's a great practice, please attend regularly. I I would take it even a step further in your practice develop a daily intention of prayer and here's what I mean by that. I mean intentionally and planned Where you're just you're praising God, okay, you're looking up and you're acknowledging. Okay Planet. So for some of us you have a daily time a quiet time a devotional time tag time time alone with God some of us have that kind of set aside and and I say, please do that. If you don't have that Rhythm figure that one out but man a daily intention where you say God, I'm looking up to you God. I'm acknowledging who you are God. I'm acknowledging what you've done a daily intention and it's not just a quiet time. But think about it this way if you could move even past, you know a five minutes a day or a ten minutes a day and what if you what if you kind of change some of the music that you listen to that was that was helping you to look up and acknowledge God okay, or what if you just said I'm gonna pray before every meal don't care what people think don't care if they're looking at me and what I'm talking about is this I prayed with guys at meals and they man they go down the list and God I'm praying for my nieces cat who's stuck.
Tree and God I'm praying for all the treasures of heaven right now just to think of this every time you stuff something in your mouth. You simply say God I Thank you for this. And I know that it all comes from you because you're the god of the universe.
Amen, right and there you go. Right so you're starting some daily intentions. And and here's what I want it to work to here's here's what I think is the like a step of maturity. It's this one When Praise can kind of start to be Moment by moment impulse in in your life, and I think this is developed as you mature, right because here's how I can kind of he's like a measuring step for my walk with Jesus or my depth. Okay. Here's my majoring stick when I naturally see a sunset or have an interaction with somebody or even kind of have something hard happen when I can when I can naturally have the impulse of just going God. Thank you.
God you're man. Thank you. God God you you did that God you painted that even that I just had an interaction with a guy that wasn't kind of made me sad, but but I still walked out to my truck and I said God, thank you God you you are the god of the universe and you God are in control. Listen.
Don't tell me how deep you are. If you don't have this more and more as a part of your life. We Define depth that Prairie likes Church by obedience. And I Define depth in my own life as how am I doing in My Moment by moment impulse of just acknowledging God and looking to him really really no matter what no matter what the circumstances are.
When we're moving more towards Jesus impulse praise becomes a part of us and it's can't Our Praise. This acknowledges looking up acknowledging God can't be based. It can't be based at all on circumstances. We've just read over the majority of the song. We're at the biggest numbers is love man, right? So if I only praise when things are going my way then half my life is I'm not gonna pray so that can't be a can be success. In fact, I want you to see this everybody move from Psalm 150. I want to go the New Testament and I want you to go to acts 16 okay acts 16, so, it's Matthew Mark Luke, John.
Then you get ax and Romans so acts 16. Now in Acts 16, here's what we have. We have Paul and his companions. They're traveling around right? So this is the kind of the middle of the missionary Journeys or he's launching campuses planting churches, right? He's doing all this and you get down to verse 11 of Acts 16 and and they go to this place called Philippi. Look at verse 12 is from there.
We traveled to Philippi a Roman colony and the leading city of that District of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. He tells a story about Lydia who comes to Christ and then the next story in the rest of the chapter is is about this Paul and Silas being arrested. It's about him getting arrested.
So you can read the story this week. I want you to sit in the story this week, but suffice it to say this look at verse 25. It says this so about midnight Paul and Silas listen. We're praying and singing him to God. And the other prisoners were listening to them.
Now they've been falsely accused they've been beaten with an inch of the life. They've been sealed in the the lowest cell the farthest the deepest cell they could get they could be in and in their circumstances. What are they doing? Moment by moment with intention the praising God they're praising him.
And here's what happens when you get to that point in your life when you can look up no matter what you can look up and you can say nevertheless. I acknowledge you as God of the universe. and God Of My Life Here's what can happen.
when the crisis comes your reaction Will change everything? So you'll read the story and here's what happens suddenly. It says in 26 there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken at once all the prison doors flew open and everyone's chains came loose and if it was me, I'd be like Brad got out.
The Jailer woke up and when he saw the prison doors open, he threw his sword. It was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners escaped but Paul shot. It don't harm yourself. We're all here. And here's what the story says. He and all his household. That day stepped over the line to trust Jesus.
He and his family Generations chains from that moment. And what did it start with? two guys Though the circumstances work great. Chose to praise God.
In the moment, here's the cool thing right? He's says this whole household was saved like Generations, right? Now years later imagine this years later, he wrote a letter to the Philippians because remember he was in Philippi years later. He writes a letter back and I can I don't we don't know for sure but right we can assume that that Jailer and his wife and his family or some of them.
Read that letter had that red or LED to them and can you imagine the smile on their face? when they read this from Philippians 4 4 and 5 when Paul says rejoice in the lord always I'll say it again.
rejoice Let your gentleness be Evan to all. the Lord is near listen if you'll Begin this practice, right? anytime anywhere it not only changes you.
That can change the lives of people around you. praise have to do it. We get to do it. All right, let's go to practice three now. Okay. So starting point anytime anywhere. Here's the third practice that I think we can we can begin to develop in our lives.
Praise who he is not just what he's done. I'm gonna be really careful with this one. Okay, really careful. I don't want anybody say about Patrick. God said don't thank God or praise God for what he's done. No, I'm not. I'm not saying that. All right. So look at verse 2 now the next verse and in the song.
He says so praise him now anytime anywhere then he says praise him for his acts of power. Okay, and for his surpassing greatness. All right, so just picture this with me and sit with me on this.
a deeper level of praise is this When you talk to him or you you praise him more for who he is. Rather than what he's done for you. Okay now listen don't.
Gratitude is crucial Thanksgiving is absolutely crucial. We're also commanded to be thankful. Right and praise and thanksgiving are are there they they're like this they're different but they're like this right that they really are. Thanksgiving is generally not always but generally I'm thankful. I'm grateful for what you've done for me, right God. Thanks for my family. I'm really cry. I am and God for that bird and I you know, I'm gonna sit out my front porch or my backswing and not my backswing but my swing in the back of my house. And and and I thank God for my family my kids my grandkids, right all of that and that's all really crucial. So don't misunderstand me.
I think there's something we can get here. I think there's a level that you and me that we can move to. In this idea of Praise in Psalm 100, so, you know back in the storms and 100 in verse 4. There's this phrase. Listen, I want to take this too far, but just follow it with me.
The psalmist says enter his gates with Thanksgiving. And his courts with praise give thanks to him and praise His name now Thanksgiving of Praise are crucial, but I want you to see this. When he was when he was when he was writing this song the psalm.
He was picturing the temple right the big temple in Jerusalem. And remember there were there were there were there were levels and layers to it. Okay. So there's the there's the outer the outer Court there's the all that but then there's these Gates that kind of take you into the to the next spot there's Gates and so he says enter his gates with Thanksgiving. Okay his Gates but when you get through the gates, You enter into the court. You're you're getting deeper into the temple. You're getting deeper into.
proximity with him Well, I don't take this too far, but just sit with me on this. when you praise him when you look up and you acknowledge Him for his place universe.
and in your life and it's a little less about what you've done for me. And more about who you are. Thanksgiving draws you near to God praising for who he is draws you nearer To God you move from the coke that get through the gate.
into the court Thanksgiving will draw you near to God, please be grateful and give him. Thanks. but praise will draw you nearer. in to God So praise who he is not just what he's done. Okay, so they go together but keep that in keep that in your mind as you begin this practice. Here's the last one now, we're going to finish this up.
The fourth practice from Psalm 150 is praised without reservation. Okay, so so listen, I know just just go with me. All right, here we go. So here's the rest of the chapter three through six and it says this praise him with the sounding of the trumpet praise him with the harp and liar praise him with the timbrel and dancing and look by the way. Look, what's at the middle?
The middle of all these these this kind of ways to praise him as dancing. I don't know. Okay, praise him with the strings and pipe Praise Him With The Clash of symbols, praise him with resounding symbols. Let everything there's a breath praise the Lord. praise the Lord Now listen, this is this is kind of the picture that he's painting.
the whole Orchestra every piece the whole choir every piece the whole dance team right every piece. We get a praise him.
with what we are and Who We Are and we should praise without reservation. Okay. Now that's not that I'm gonna I'm gonna go on the limb just for a second here. Okay. I was meeting with a friend of mine and he's from Nigeria has recently moved to Iowa. They've been coming to Prairie Lakes Pastor Sylvester's name and he's a pastor from Nigeria.
So we're having lunch together, you know trying to get to know him and trying to hear his heart and trying to trying to get his story and it's just awesome. He's a great guy. So we're eating at a place called raising canes and he says this we're talking about cultural difference about evangelism and stuff and he goes, oh and Nigeria if I were like in a University cafeteria, and if I felt the Spirit Led, I would stand up on the chair and I would start preaching and I'd be calling people to repentance and confession. I said dude, if you do that here you'll be arrested.
He will be thrown you will be they will take you away in cuffs or people will throw stuff at you or people are literally just kind of walk away and leave their hard hard-earned food on the table doesn't that doesn't go here, right? But but he was saying in in my culture when we come into worship and we on the on the weekly Rhythm right we come in here. So we do we we pray we smile and we laugh and we praise and we shout because because we want to look at God.
And we want to remember who he is and what he's done and what he's like and he said it's just like this and he said, you know, I come to America and I got no, I know I know now listen Prairie Lakes. We're not putting any mandate that you got to raise your hands and worship and please I know you don't want to see me dance even Blood by the spirit. You do not want to see that. Okay?
But here's what I'm saying. Sometimes we hold back our praise in our posture. and our pronouncement for fear of what others might say or think. And if you're holding back from God.
Any form of praise? Because you're afraid of what people might think. It's not a good place to be. So listen, some of us man. This is how we worship I get it and it's a heart posture. Okay. And some of us man, we want to want to go for it. Okay, but listen.
Here's what I've decided in my own life. I'm gonna worry less and less about people think behind me or in front of me. And more and more about what God thinks. If I'll go to a football game and I'll be excited. And I'll jump up and down. Okay, and I'll say yes and I'll put my fists and I'll go yeah, right and I can't tell you how many memories I have of games right of and you know Broncos Super Bowls which are three more than most of your teams.
Right, and I got this, right? But then when I worship the Living God of the Universe I have reservation about expression. Okay. So listen, I'm not saying start jumping around and dancing and shaking. I'm not saying that but man I want to I'm saying is this do not hold back your praise from God.
Because he calls us to it. He tells us to do it. And He commands it and here's what it'll do if you begin to practice. praise if you begin to if you begin to move down those practices if you begin to do that, here's what's going to happen.
It's going to be revolutionary for your heart your mind. Your spirit your outlook it just will. and it will be revolutionary. For the purple around you. praise looking up and acknowledging God and his place in the universe.
And his place in my life. practice praise we're going to do that right now. As a body, let me pray first. Okay, so God. Thank you. We give you glory you're the king.
You're the Creator. You're the one you're the Redeemer. You're the hope. To you goes the glory. And God we are grateful for who you are. For what you've done? For what you're going to do in the name of Jesus. We pray amen.
amen