Order of Operations

Um, so we're we're going to worship the Lord this morning. We're going to praise him with song. We know that it's a it's a smaller morning with a lot of people traveling and people that are sick. Um, but it does not matter. We are here and it is an honor to be able to to worship the Lord with you. Would you stand and worship with me this morning?

[Music] Deep in our hearts there is a longing for you [Music] Lord. Here in this moment, there is nothing we want more. And humbly we bow, surrendering all to you. We lay it all down, Lord. Do what you want to do. [Applause] We turn our hearts to [Music] you and we are waiting for you.

So let your kingdom come. Let your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Let your will be done. Let your will be done on earth as it is in [Music] heaven. Wherever you will follow, we will follow you [Music] now. Lord, we receive.

Would you fill us? Would you fill us and send us out? We turn our hearts to you. [Music] We [Music] are for [Music] you. Let your kingdom come. Let your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

Let your will be done. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Let your kingdom come. Let your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Let your will be done. Let your will be done on earth as it is in [Music] heaven.

We lift our praise to God our father. All the honor belongs to you. We lift our praise to God our father. All the honor belongs to you. We lift our praise to God our father. All the honor belongs to you.

We lift our praise to God our father. All the honor belongs to [Music] you. Let your kingdom come. Let your kingdom come. on earth as it is in heaven. Let your will be done.

Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Let your kingdom come. Let your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Let your will be done. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [Music] Daily, daily, I surrender.

Grace for today is all that I need. surprised by a mercy that's new every morning. Awaken my soul to sing. Oh, awaken my soul to see. And I will trust where you lead. And I will trust when I can't see.

Morning by morning, great is your faithfulness to me. And breath by breath, overtaken by one, one step at a time when I'm overwhelmed. Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Awaken my soul to sing. Oh my soul to sing. And I will trust where you lead.

And I will trust when I can't see. Morning by morning. Great is your faithfulness to me. And I will trust with all my heart. You are good. You always are.

Morning by morning. Great is your faithfulness to me. No fear. Be minded. My future is secure. Oh my father.

He has spoken and he keeps his every word. Don't fear be reminded. My future is secure. My father he has spoken and he keeps his every word. And I will trust where you lead. And I will trust when I can't see morning by morning.

Oh morning by morning you'll trust with all my heart you are good. You always are morning by morning. Great is your faithfulness to me. [Music] Your will be done, my God and Father. As in heaven, so on earth. My heart is drawn to selfexaling.

Help me seek your kingdom first. As Jesus walked, so I shall walk. Held by your same unchanging love. Be still my soul. Oh, lift your voice and pray. Father, not my will but yours be done.

How in that garden he persisted, I may never fully know the fearful weight of true obedience. It was held by him alone. What wondrous faith to bear that cross to bear my sin. What wondrous love my hope was sure and there my savior pray. Father not my will but yours be done. When I am lost, when I am broken, in the night of fear and doubt, still I will trust in my good father.

Yes, to one I bow. As Jesus rose, so I shall rise in ransom glory at the throne. My heart restored. All your saints I sing. Father, not my will but yours be done. And as we go forth, our God and Father, lead us daily in the fight that all the world might see your glory and your name be lifted high.

And in this name, we overcome. For you shall see home. Now as your church we lift our voice and pray. Father not my will but yours be done in this name and in this day we overcome for you shall see us safely home. Now as your church we lift our voice and pray. Father not my will but yours be done.

Father, not my will but yours be done. Father, not my will but yours be done. Heavenly Father God, we just thank you so much for your grace, for the good gifts that you have given us, that you give us daily, and that we know are ahead for us. We thank you for your mercy as we consistently fall short in our striving. We find the empty holes in our on our logic and in our um our own expectations and um in our our work that without you, it's just it's just not enough. It's empty and void.

But we thank you for in our stumbling how you come and you meet us and you just lay your hands on us and just ask us to let it go. That we would stop reaching on our own and we would just open our hands up to you and accept what you are offering which is everything that we could possibly need. that we know that even when our days are full and busy, that if we feel like we don't have enough time to meet with you, then we have completely missed the point. Because even in our busiest days, that is all the more the reason why we should come to you and ask for you to fill us, for you to guide our steps. So that no matter what it is that we are walking through, we know that we are walking with you. that your will be done, not ours is all for you, by you, for your glory in your name.

Amen. Amen. Amen. You can be seated. Uh whenever half of our church is traveling, I'm always reminded by this uh old story of a farmer who shows up at a rural church on a Sunday morning and there's only one person that's there. this or a pastor shows up at a rural church on a Sunday morning and there's this one person there that's a farmer and the pastor is kind of discouraged by it and so he's like really thinking about cancelling the service.

Uh and so he asks the farmer and the farmer responds saying, "Well, if only one cow shows up, I still feed him." And uh and so then the pastor, encouraged by the farmer's response, gets up and he says, "All right, I'm going to I'm going to preach my message and I'm going to preach it with passion. and I'm going to preach it with everything that I've got. He even preaches the message. He even then starts thinking about other topics and he starts preaching on those. I mean, he gives this farmer everything that he's got.

And at the end of the service, he even proceeds with communion. And then after communion, he goes and he greets the farmer at the back door and he asks him like, "What what did you think?" And the farmer says, "Well, if only one cow shows up, I don't usually give them the whole load." Um, but I do want to do that today. So, uh, I want to give you everything that we have because again, you're the, um, everyone who's not here, we're just going to let them now be the JV team of our church. You are the varsity team of the church because you guys are here.

And so, um, we're grateful for that. If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to Psalm chapter 1. Psalm chapter 1. As we continue through our Lent and missions um guide and as we continue in our fast to feast series, we we want to look at a couple of things that the psalmist provides for us today that help to to orient our lives to help order our lives in the way that they should um the way that they should be. When I was in school, um I loved math. Uh I don't know why.

I mean, most people don't necessarily love math, but for me, math was a predictable uh there was a predictable component to it that I really enjoyed. And so, I like that. I liked that A plus B equals C. I like being able to have equations. But then, I remember a class where two of us in the same class looking at the same equation came up with different answers. And it confused me.

And it certainly confused my classmate who obviously had the wrong answer because I knew I had the correct answer. Um, but but that's when we discovered that there was this unit of math called the order of operations. Does anybody remember order of operations? All right, it's been maybe a little while, but um this was where you would have a parenthesis filled with an equation and in that equation there would be addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and the temptation would be to jump in anywhere in the parentheses and just do the math. But what order of operations says is you that you can't just do the math according to any sequence that you want. You have to do it in its correct order.

In other words, it's possible to get the math right, but if you got the order wrong, then the whole thing would be wrong. Well, life has its order of operations. For the follower of Jesus, the sequence always begins with the priority of our relationship with God. If I put anything first in front of Jesus, be it my marriage or my work or money or so on, then I make the whole thing wrong. Because what I put first becomes my God. It becomes what I worship.

It becomes what I long for, what I expect to satisfy the desires of my heart. And this has been the tale that is as old as time literally since our beginning in Genesis 1 2 and 3. That if we get the order wrong, if we prioritize creation before creator, if we seek first the world before we seek first the Lord, if we look for satisfaction in God's stuff rather than God our savior, then we reap the way of the wicked and our lives slowly begin to wither away. And so, similar to the order of operations, there is an order to God and his creation. Get it right and it's called righteousness. Get it wrong and it's called wickedness.

And that's what the psalmist had in mind when he pinned the first two psalms. And so as you're there in Psalm 1, I want to show you what he introduces to us as the way of the righteous and the wicked or as we may say today, the order of operations of the righteous and the wicked. And so looking at Psalm 1, starting in verse one, this is what he says. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the is in the law of the Lord. And on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers. Now, I want to stop there for a moment uh before we continue on and just look at a couple of things here. First of all, he introduces this idea of being blessed. Being blessed. Now, in our current day and age, the idea of being blessed isn't necessarily what the Bible would prescribe to us as what it means to be blessed. It might have some of the same feelings or some of the same desires, but it's definitely a different idea.

In our current day and age, the idea of being blessed is whether or not you drive by and you see someone with a massive mansion and you look over and you say, "Man, they're blessed." Or if someone's driving a real nice car, they're blessed. Or someone has a lot of money, they're blessed. Or someone has great health, they're blessed. But that's not necessarily what the Bible refers to it. The Bible refers to it in specifically the Hebrew word for blessed is ashare which actually means happiness.

It means happiness but it's not again the type of happiness that we look at today because in a western culture, western society, we've manipulated the term to mean something that's driven by our circumstances. Like right now I could say so far it's been a good day. Therefore I'm happy. But if I walk outside and a bird drops something on me, no longer am I happy. Right? If I leave here and drive home and we get a flat tire because of the, you know, wonderfully paved roads that we have in Indianapolis, no longer am I going to be happy.

I'm going to be frustrated. But that's not the kind of happiness that this blessed is referring to in Psalm 1. Rather, it's an expression with a feeling of fullness. fullness, contentment, like when you are eating your favorite meal, but you become full and you can't eat another bite. You so love it and you so enjoy it, but you are full and you've had enough. You've satisfied your hunger.

That's what this type of blessed individual is expressing is that I have received fullness and I am no longer hungry. I am satisfied in my contentment. I am satisfied in my happiness. I'm satisfied in my blessedness. And right out of the gate, the psalmist lets this type of person determine what that blessedness is going to look like. It is one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, does not stand in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.

In other words, blessed is the person who does not sin. Like simply put, blessed is the person who does not sin. I remember being in high school and trying to share Jesus with my friends at school and some would listen. Some would give up their youthful ways. Some would follow Jesus and turn their hearts over to him and and listen to him, but others they would not. They would give excuses like, "Well, I just want to have fun first before I become a Christian."

I was like as if like Christians don't get to have fun. Or others would say, "Man, I just I don't want to have restrictions on my life. I want to do whatever I want whenever I want." What they don't realize is that in God's instructions, restrictions are what actually help us be blessed. They didn't realize that. They didn't realize that not having restrictions is actually what leads us to have lives that are withering away, to become wicked, as the psalmist says here.

If you've ever seen an Indie car event, you've probably been amazed by how fast the cars go. I remember when we first moved to Indie, um I went to what's called carb day, which is just it's the Friday before the Sunday. Um, and so they're kind of final doing their final testing laps, their final practice laps. And before moving to Indie, even though I grew up in the South, like I wasn't a NASCAR fan. I wasn't an Indie car fan by any means. Um, I I just never really cared about it.

Uh, and and at the same time, I'm like, all right, it's just four left turns over and over and over. Like, how um how riveting can it be? But I went to that carb day and I remember just walking by the track and like that first car that came around at 220 miles an hour and I felt like it pulled me into the track because it was coming by so fast. I was like, "Okay, I get it." Like this is insane. But what I didn't know was some years ago, I was shocked to discover that these cars, which again go over 200 miles an hour, they don't actually go as fast as they could because each of these cars have been outfitted with something called a restrictor plate.

Motivate motivated by a concern for the safety and well-being of the drivers, Indie Car and NASCAR have mandated these plates so that the cars can't go as fast as they could. And here's the reality. God created us with restrictor plates because we all have basic human appetites which if they are not held in check can actually harm us and harm us and others. Food for example is good created by God for us to enjoy but remove the restrictor plate of self-control and it become deadly. Sex is a wonderful gift but without the restrictor plate of self-control it can destroy marriages. And there's nothing wrong with shopping trip every now and then, but remove the self-control restrictor plate and it can spell financial ruin for individuals.

This is why blessed is the man who walks or whose delight is in the law of the Lord and on that law he meditates day and night. It comes with instructions. It comes with restrictions. It comes with a design, an order of operations that if we follow, we are blessed. We are actually full. We are actually satisfied.

But if we don't follow and we go beyond the limits and beyond the restrictions, that's when we fall into the way of the wicked. But instead, we want to be like this man who is blessed, who is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. You see this type of person is one that listens to the instruction of the Lord, repents of his ways, the life of the righteous and follows Jesus. So the blessed one, the one who follows Jesus and therefore knows the way of the righteous, the life of the righteous. And the wicked one does not get the wicked one does not get the benefits of the righteous, but he instead gets tossed away like shaft.

You see this in verses 4-6. Look at it. The wicked are not so, but are like shaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. You see, there's a difference here in contentment in satisfaction.

For those who are meditating on the law of the Lord, for those who are following Jesus, for those who are trusting in him and practicing the self-control of living within the boundaries that he's created for us, we get to have fulfillment. We get to have satisfaction. We get to have contentment. We get to be in the congregation of the righteous. But for those who choose to go beyond the limits, beyond the restrictions and live as they want to live, you see here that they never get to be content. They never get to be blessed.

They never get to have a level of happiness that actually satisfies the soul. Instead of living a life that is full of joy, they live a life that is slowly withering away but also ending in perish. And therefore for the righteous they experience blessing but for the wicked they experience perishing. And so the big idea here in Psalm one is who are you following? Who are you listening to? Who is your God?

Who is your Lord? Are you blessed? Are you prospering? Are you content? Do you know where the word or where we get the word tantalizing from? It comes from Greek mythology, of course, where the Greek king Tantalus thought it would be cool to steal ambrosia from the gods.

as punishment for his crime. He was condemned to an external to or to an eternal torment of hunger and thirst where nothing would ever satisfy him. When he stooped down to get a drink, the waters would recede. When he reached up to pick some fruit from the tree, the branches would jerk out of reach. King Tantalus lived in a state of perpetual thirst and hunger. And that's all of us.

When we are not in the order of operations that God has provided to us, we hunger and we thirst and we will never be satisfied. We will never quench what only God can quench for us. Everyone in this world knows what it is like to never be satisfied by the things in this life. To be human is to be in constant state of being canalized. That's what it means. No amount of money can scratch us where our soul itches.

Do you know how many depressed people there are right now who have thousands of followers on social media? But on the flip side, there are plenty of people that we've met who have found contentment we never thought possible. One of the most famous passages on the blessing of contentment was written by a man who was incarcerated who someone would look at and say, "This is not a man who is blessed." The Apostle Paul, he broke free from the chains of being tantalized by the world around him by finding contentment in his life from one who came from outside of this life. As the psalmist says at the end of Psalm two, Psalm two, be wise and not foolish, be warned and not unaware. Listen to it.

Psalm 2:es 10-12. Now therefore, O kings, be wise, be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled. Bless, there's our word again, are all who take refuge in him. You see, what we're trying to do as humans is literally just fulfill what God created us for.

God created us to experience happiness, to experience joy, to experience contentment, to literally enjoy God forever. And not only that, but what he did was he also created a creation for us to marvel at the beauty of that God can do. Because as creation experiences and shows us the majesty of the Lord, it shows us the majesty of God. It shows us all that God is is able to do. We are in that able to enjoy creation and let it roll past it to be able to say, "Look how awesome and amazing the creator is." God thought of a mountain and created it.

And we get to enjoy it by, well, some of us enjoy it by climbing them. God created the vastness of the sea. And our people right now are there enjoying it because they've gone to the ocean in order to see. And there's just something about the awe that when you look at it to think that there's something greater than. That's why he created. We get to enjoy it, but it always rolls past it so that we can ultimately see the characteristic and the nature of God in what he has created.

All of humanity actually gets to experience this. Like all of us, like both sinners and saints get to marvel at creation. But the issue that happened in Genesis 3 was that the marveling in creation stopped at creation. Adam and Eve when they first sinned was because they no longer believed God. And they believed that they could find fulfillment satisfaction in creation alone. And they choose to disregard God.

Disregard the limits and the boundaries. Again, we always say, why put the tree in the garden for them to not be able to enjoy? Why put it there? Why why not let them have full free rain? Because there needs to be boundaries so that we understand that we are finite and God is infinite. There needs to be boundaries so that we are always reminded that obedience to the Lord leads to life and disobedience leads to death.

We need to be reminded that there is a God and that there is creation. That there is him in his place and that there are us in our place. That there is subordination between us and him. And that that is the actual beauty of design. That is the order of operations. That is the way in which we actually get to experience blessedness.

that we actually get to be joyful people who are excited about life and enjoying our savior, enjoying our God, enjoying our creator rightly to where we get to wake up every morning and go to sleep every night feeling full. Like that's how he ordered it. That's how he created it. But Adam and Eve believed a lie that that wasn't enough. and that they went beyond their limits, beyond their boundaries. They removed the restrictor plate.

And because of that, all of humanity for now thousands of years have been trying to seek the same thing. We're trying to seek that place of blessing once again, but without the order of operations. The only thing and this is again what our guide is teaching us to do. This is what the Bible is teaching us to do is to help them understand that what they are striving after is never going to provide the satisfaction that only God can provide. It's just true what they are trying to do, what everyone is trying to do. We were in the same boat before Jesus is that we were looking for stuff to satisfy what only a savior can do.

And so there's no amount of money that was ever going to be enough. There's no amount of sex that's ever going to be enough. There's no amount of family that's ever going to be enough. There's no amount of career that's ever going to be enough. I have never never in my life met a non-believer who said and articulated, I have everything I've ever needed. I'm satisfied.

And if they did, if you get long enough into the conversation, you'll realize that they are still striving after something and just don't realize that they're still not satisfied. They're just lying to themselves. And what he's telling us here is we've got to get back to the order of operations. We've got to let the world know that as Ecclesiastes has told us, we are just striving after the wind and its vanity. You're just chasing something that is never meant to satisfy you. And unfortunately, I think us as Christians, we still fall into this category.

We still fall into this boat at times where we forget who we are now and we go back to who we used to be and we still think, man, if I just made more money, if I just had a bigger house, if I just had a nicer car, if I just had a new wife, if I just had fill in the blank, whatever it is, that will then make us blessed. that will make us satisfied. And all we do is we jump right back into Genesis 3 and we commit the same sin as our first parents. We're not satisfied in our savior. We're satisfied in the stuff that he gave us to rightly steward and enjoy so long as it rolls past it and we give glory and thanks to him and what he has provided for us. That's why I love what Paul has shared in Philippians 4.

Remember, blessed, content, happy, so happy, and joyful is the one whose delight and excitement is found not in the ways of this world, but in the instructions from the Lord. Instructions in which we meditate on day and night, studying them and submitting to their commands as if our entire life depends on it. I believe that's why the unwavering, unashamed, and incarcerated Apostle Paul paraphrases something similar to Psalm 1 and 2 by what he says in Philippians 4. Look at look at it with me starting in verse 8. He says this. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

I mean, that goes right back to to Psalm one. the law, delighting in the law and instruction of the Lord, delighting in the word of God. If there is anything in it that is good, that is worthy, that is just, that is honorable, that is true, that is pure, that is lovely, that is excellent, that is worthy of praise. Meditate on that thing day and night. If there's any experience that you've received from the Lord that lands in any of those categories, he's saying don't forget it. Like write it down.

Go back to it so that you can remind yourself. Meditate on it as often as possible. He goes on to say more than that. Verse nine, what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, which is another way of saying you've been walking with me, I spent more than three years with you. Anything that I taught you that was revealed from the Lord in order for me to pass along to you, you've learned it, you've received it, you've heard it, you've seen it, which means not only was he preaching and teaching it, but they were watching him live it and they were experiencing the fullness of the law and instruction of the Lord so that they could delight in it. He's saying, "Practice these things."

Practice these things. I can't remember who said it. I saw it. A friend of mine shared the um the the meme or whatever you want to call it of a quote that said, "Judas heard every sermon Jesus preached." And that one just at first I was like, "Man, what a quote." And then I thought about it more and I was like, "Whoa.

Like I don't want us to be guilty of hearing every sermon and never living it out, never practicing it. I think there's a lie that sometimes we believe that we will come and participate and listen and hear, maybe even see it in others, but we never put it into our own practice. We never conclude the order of operations. We never get to the equals me walking in step with the spirit of God. God communicates to us through his word so that we can receive it so that it transforms us into the image of his son. That when we walk, we walk as he walks.

We speak as he speaks. We think as he thinks. We worship as he worships. We pray as he prays. I love I love that verse. What you've learned and received and heard and seen in me.

Practice these things. And what does he say? And the God of peace will be with you. With you. That sounds like someone who's experiencing blessing, contentment. That sounds like getting back to Genesis 1 and two, right?

Who was with them? God. They were walking with God unhindered in the garden. We want to get back to that idea that when we wake up in the morning and when we lay our heads at night, the God of peace has been with us every step of our day. Because order of operations, we are receiving and listening to and hearing his word. As we focus and as we study and as we participate with him in the word of God, we are receiving it and then practicing it, walking in step with it, doing as it tells us to do.

We are restricting our lives with the restrictions that he gives to us. We are saying no to sin and we are saying yes to worship. We are saying no to certain sins and we are saying yes to certain practices in our lives that actually lead to us saying man that was that day was a good meal and I am satisfied. I am full in what I have received from the Lord today. And that's why I believe Paul goes on to say in verse 10 that when he works his life in that way, when he thinks like the psalmist was thinking and instructing us, he goes on down into verse 10 and he says this, "I rejoiced in the Lord greatly." Greatly.

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly. Like when was the last time we were able to say that? Man, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance.

I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. Therefore, he says, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Again, that that March Madness is going on right now. And I've even seen a couple of basketball players that, you know, have wristbands with John or with Philippians 4:13 on them. And I'm like, look, I I just don't know that someone who's 7 foot and dunks a basketball needs Jesus to help them do that, right? Like, and I don't know why we go out of our minds when they dunk a basketball.

I'm like, you're seven foot tall. you can reach and touch the rim. You should be able to do that. I'm not wowed by that. Now, one of my favorite basketball players growing up was a guy by the name of Mugsy Bo who was like 5 foot4 playing in the NBA. He's one of the guys, if you've ever seen Space Jam, the original one, the good one.

If you've seen that one, he's the small guy on the Monstars basketball team. Now, if he were to dunk a basketball, I might say there might have been an angel help him. And that would be a miracle. When we look at Philippians 4:13, we're not talking about dunking basketballs through Christ who strengthens me. Now, did God give us our unique abilities and wirings? Absolutely.

Absolutely. But I don't think that's what Paul's talking about here. I think what Paul's talking about here is order of operations. That when we are rightly aligning our lives with the Lord and walking in step with what he's provided for us and what he's called us to do, regardless of our circumstances, we are rejoicing greatly. And so that means if you're struggling to make ends meet at the end of the month, guess what? You can still be content in Jesus.

And also, if at the end of the month you have more than enough to make your ends meet and you're putting money back and you're saving, you can also greatly rejoice in the Lord because maybe now you can provide for the one who can't make ends meet at the end of the month. You can serve and you can help. And that's why I believe even when it comes to the members of the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians, it goes on to say that no one was in need. No one was in need, but everyone was greatly rejoicing in the Lord. order of operations is I think we spend so much of our lives worrying about the creation part and not enough time worrying about the creator part. We spend so much of our times going to Matthew 6 for example where he tells us not to worry.

Don't worry about what you're going to eat or what you're going to drink or what you're going to wear. Look at the birds of the air. They neither reap nor sow, but yet the Lord provides for them. Seek first what? The kingdom of God, and all of these things will be given to you. We spend so much time worrying about the things that he's already promised to provide for us, and we don't actually, order of operation, seek first the kingdom of God.

We think if we just ask for all these things that he'll provide them. And he's saying that's that's that's not the order of operations. The order of operations is first seek me. You'll be content and then know just like I mean for example and I I've mentioned this a couple of weeks now babies they don't pray to you. They just scream out and you know that you need them. Like like you know or they know that they need you.

They know that they're going to be provided for because you as a parent, you're going to do it. Like it's how awful of a parent would you be is if you have a child and you never feed them. You know it's what they need and you're going to provide it for them. They don't have to ask you for that. Even as they get older, my children, for example, who are in this room, you know what? They don't ever ask us for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

They don't ever ask that because they know we are going to give it to them. Now, in between that, they will not stop asking for snacks. We are going to give them what they need. The father in heaven sees us as his children and he's going to give us what we need. But he first wants our heart. He wants us.

And what he wants from us is not that we just ask for his stuff, but that we ask for him. That's what he wants from us. That's why literally the first question of the Westminster Catechism is what is the chief end of man? It's that we worship God and enjoy him forever. You you see there that it's not like what's the chief end of man? What's the purpose of us?

It's not that we enjoy God's stuff and thank him for it. It's that we get God that we worship him and enjoy him forever. Now he does throw in creation and he does let us get to enjoy it but it's to enjoy it only to the degree that it is honoring him and worshiping him and not worshiping it. Order of operations and I think that's again where the psalmist comes back to is he wants the people to be experiencing what it means to be blessed. Truly blessed. Truly content.

Truly happy. So happy as it says in in Eschher. I'm so happy man. I want all of us to have that to be able to live each day walking through life regardless of circumstance with a posture of spirit and soul that is just literally exuding. I'm so happy. so happy because I am first seeking the Lord, first seeking him.

And whatever commands he is giving to me, I'm receiving them and I'm restricting my life to walk in them, believing that he knows what is right for me and what is wrong for me and that I'm walking in obedience in whatever that design is. Let's pray together this morning. Father, we thank you once again for your word. We thank you for the psalmist who reminds us that the blessed person is the one who does not sin but walks in step with your spirit. We pray Lord that we would be reminded that it is your law, your word that you have given to us that helps guide us in ordering our lives in such a way that we seek first your kingdom and your righteousness. And that we trust that you will provide everything that we need because you are a good and loving father.

And we need to also understand that the way you provide for us will at times make us feel like we don't have a lot. And at other times we will have plenty and that's part of your design and that's okay. We trust you. We know that you are molding and shaping us and transforming us to become like your son [Music] Jesus. And Father, there's nothing greater that we can experience than that alone. We thank you for the work that you're doing in our hearts right now, in our minds right now, helping us once again to be reminded that we don't need to seek after this world.

that we don't need to worry about our stuff, but that we rise in the morning and whatever is true and honorable and just and pure and lovely, whatever is commendable and excellent, worthy of praise. It's those things that we meditate on and that we think about throughout the day. It's those things that we learn and receive and hear and see and we practice them. We practice them. Not mustering up the effort in our own selves, but mustering up the effort of Jesus who's already lived a perfect life in our place because we could not live the perfect life. It is his spirit that helps us, energizes us to be able to say no to sin and yes to Jesus.

And in that we are able to walk each day with the God of peace knowing that he is with us. He is with us like he was in Genesis 1 and2. And in that, Lord, we greatly rejoice. It's in your name we pray. Amen. As we close this morning, I'm going ask you to go ahead and stand.

We come to the table of communion. And again, order of operation for the church. God provided a couple of things in order for the church to be reminded what we are to think about. As often as we eat this meal and drink this cup, what we are to think and what we are to remember and where we are to put our mind and our heart, what we are to thank. And we are to always come back to the fact that Jesus Christ already did all of the work necessary for us to be in the body of Christ, for us to be brought back into the presence of God. We We don't have to break our bodies and shed our blood in order to be in relationship with God.

That's what Jesus did on our behalf for us. Instead of us dying and going to hell, Jesus took the wrath of God himself for you and me so that we can instead be brought back into the grace of God, adopted as sons and daughters because of what his son did in separating himself. And so if you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross in your place, breaking his body and shedding his blood, this is a meal where we worship him and we think about what he did and we honor him and we rejoice greatly in the work that he accomplished so that we don't have to do this. We thank him. And so I invite you to come down, grab those elements, bring them back to your seat, and at the end of the song, we will partake [Music] together. In Christ alone my hope is found.

He is my light, my strength, my song. This cornerstone, this solid ground firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What hearts of love, what depths of peace, when fears are still, when striving cease, my comforter, my all in all. Here in the love of Christ I [Music] still in Christ alone who took on flesh fullness of God in helpless pain. His gift of love and righteousness scorned by the ones he came to save. Till on that cross as Jesus died.

The wrath of God was satisfied for every sin on him was laid. Here in the death of Christ I live. There in the ground his body lay light of the world by darkness [Music] lay and bursting forth in glorious day. Oh up from the grave he rose again. And as he stands in victory, his curse has lost its crippled me. For I am his and he is mine.

Bought with the precious blood of [Music] Christ. And on Christ the solid rock I stand. All of the ground is sinking sand. All of the ground is sinking s. Say that again. On Christ the solid rock I stand.

All of the ground is sinking sand. All of the ground is sinking sand. No guilt to life. No fear in death. This is the power of Christ in me. From life's first cry to final breath.

Oh Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from his hand till he returns or calls me home. Here in the power of Christ, I'll stand. No power of hell, no scheme of men can ever pluck me from his hand. till he returns or calls me home. Here in the power of Christ, I'll stand.

Here in the power of Christ, I'll stand. Here in the power of Christ, I'll stand. [Music] For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you. That the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed, he took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and he said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also he took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. [Music] For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Father, once again, we just we thank you. We thank you for sending your son Jesus to repair what we [Music] broke, to bring us home, to restore our lives. And God, it wasn't because we were awesome. There's nothing about us that deserved it.

But while we were still sinners and enemies of you, you have demonstrated your love by sending your son Jesus to die for us in our place, to take our penalty, to take our judgment, to take the wrath, and then to forgive us of our sins, to help us write our lives in following you, and trusting you. treasuring you above all else, bringing us back into a relationship with you in which we worship and honor you the way you designed us to do. And in that, we actually get to be blessed and enjoy this life that you have provided to us. Father, I pray that we think about that, that we meditate on that day and night. that there's not a day we wake up without thinking about our creator who gives us the breath we breathe who's planned out every step of our paths our days that are ahead of us. May we be content in him alone.

May we seek first your kingdom and then trust that all these other things will be provided. We thank you Lord. It's in your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Y'all can be seated for just a quick moment.

Again, just want to say thank you for being here today and worshiping with us. Couple of announcements for you that'll come up on the screen as well. Uh but in a few weeks we will be having