“A Sunday of Praise”
(Phil. 4:8-9)
Dr. Richard S. Koole
Chapel Pointe
March 1, 2009
I. Introduction
A. Our need for praise
I read years ago of a mother who had raised six boys to manhood and her work done, had lain down to die. The boys came home to see their mother and her oldest son, a great, powerful man, knelt by her and, wiping the death-dew from her forehead, said to her: “Mother, you have always been a good mother to us boys.”
The tired woman closed her eyes and great tears pushed out under the lids and ran down her wasted cheeks. Then she opened her eyes, looked searchingly into the face of her firstborn and said to him:
“My boy, I prayed more that I might be a good mother to you six boys than for anything else. I was afraid that I should fail in some way to be all that I ought to you, and I never knew whether you boys thought I had failed or not until now. Not one of you ever told me I was a good mother until today.”
B. Today…Giving praise where it is due
1. …and none is due more praise than Jesus
II. Philippians 4:8
A. Philippians 4:8, “Meditate on whatever is…”
(8) Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
B. Have already covered:
1. Whatever is True…Noble…Just…and Pure
…now…
2. Whatever is Lovely
1. Defined
a. “prosphiles”
b. Attractive
c. Pretty
2. Lots of time, effort…and money… making the shell lovely
3. Must look inside of people
a. Hidden in some “ugly shells”
b. “Pretty is as pretty does”
4. Each of us need to examine “insides”
a. What are you doing to get prettier on the inside?
3. Whatever is Admirable
1. Defined
a. “eophema”
b. “of good report”
2. “Tell it not in Gath”
a. David and the death of King Saul
a. Background
b. II Sam. 1:17-20
3. Never pass along a “bad report”
a. Regarding a church or minister
4. …and never in front of the unsaved!!!
4. Whatever is Excellent
1. “arete”
2. Think about ways to serve God with excellence
a. Not just to “get by”
b. To go above and beyond in service
c. People willing to do more, not less
5. Whatever is Praiseworthy
1. Praising:
a. other people
b. God
2. Praising God for what He has accomplished at Chapel Pointe
b. Moving in two years ago
c. Vision for the future
3. Today…the role of music in praising God
III. Our Musical Heritage
A. The great crusades
1. John Wesley.....Charles Wesley
2. Billy Graham.....George Beverly Shea
* “Just as I am”
3. Dwight L. Moody …..Ira Sankey
“Music accompanies all great revivals and does as much as the preaching to instill the Word of God.”
B. Music in the Old Testament
1. After Israel crossed the Red Sea
a. Miriam led the women in a dance with tambourines
b. Exodus 15:20-21
(20) Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing. (21) Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea.”
2. Deborah celebrated the defeat of the Canaanites
a. Judges 5:1-31
3. When David moved the Ark
a. I Chronicles 13:7-8
(7) They moved the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. (8) David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.
b. Watching Jewish folk dancers and singers
4. The prophets’ choir
a. I Sam. 10:5
5. The Coronation of Solomon
a. I Kings 1:39-40
(39) Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon. Then they sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” (40) And all the people went up after him, playing flutes and rejoicing greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound.
6. The Book of Psalms
a. Songs that were sung
b. Our current praise music
7. The dedication of the Temple
a. The splendor of the Temple
1. 40 acres
2. 38,000 workers to build it
b. All 24 major choirs there at once
1. 150 people per choir
2. normally each was there for two weeks
3. all 24 (4,000 singers) there for Passover
4. 120 trumpets!
3. When they sang and played....the glory of the Lord came!
a. II Chron. 5:11-14
(11) The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. (12) All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. (13) The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, they raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Then the temple of the Lord was filled with a cloud, (14) and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.
C. Ephesians 5:18-20
#1 A song in your heart is evidence of God in your heart
a. Ephesians 5:18-19
b. (18) Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (19) Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,
c. The overflowing of the Dam on Hume Lake
d. There’s a new song in my heart
e. God tunes it on the way up
#2 God’s got all kinds of good music
a. v.19.... “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs”
b. defined....
1. Psalms
a. Old Testament
b. the Book of Psalms
1. Singing directly to God….
a. being rediscovered today
b. One of the greatest periods of Christian music
2. Hymns
a. Old and New Testament
b. Whereas Psalms are primarily sung “to God,” hymns are songs “about” God (examples in Phil. 2:5-11 and Rev. 4:11)
c. “Immortal, invisible, God only wise...”
3. Spiritual Songs
a. A personal testimony
b. What God has done for the singer
#3 Singing should be a reflection of your heart
Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, (20) always giving thanks to God the Father for every thing, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
a. Why some songs stick with you all week
1. A song in your heart
b. Music can change your heart
c. The key is the heart of the singer
1. It should shine through
2. When you sing, “My Jesus I love you”
#4 Praise music is one of the best ways we can thank God for what he has done for us
a. For caring for our needs
1. As individuals
2. Chapel Pointe
a. For paying for our sins
1. The punishment we each faced
2. “Jesus paid it all….all to him I owe”
#5 Music prepares your heart for communion
1. Music and the first communion
a. After they had finished the first communion
b. Matthew 26:30
When they had sung a hymn, they went to the Mount of Olives
2. Proclaiming Christ’s victory over your sins
a. I Corinthians 11:26
“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
3. Thanking Jesus for dying for your sins
a. Time for a personal “thank you” for your salvation