WEBVTT 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:23.280 If you want to turn in your own Bibles to Psalm seventy-eight for today's reading. 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:26.000 Maskil of Asaph. 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:28.960 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:31.839 Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:34.159 I will open my mouth in a parable. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:40.079 I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:48.719 We will not hide them from our children, but tell them to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might, and the wonders that he has done. 00:00:49.039 --> 00:01:08.079 He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments, and that they should not be like their fathers. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:14.959 A stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:19.040 The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle. 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:23.040 They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:26.000 They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:28.640 In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:36.319 In the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoon, he divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:40.560 In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light. 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:44.959 He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:49.599 He made streams come out of the rock, and caused waters to flow down like rivers. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:54.159 Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the most high in the desert. 00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:57.760 They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:02.000 They spoke against God, saying, Can God spread a table in the wilderness? 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:06.000 He struck the waters so that the water gushed out and streams overflowed. 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:09.199 Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people? 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:12.960 Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath. 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:20.240 A fire was kindled against Jacob, his anger rose against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power. 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:27.599 Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, and he rained down on them manna to eat, and gave them the grain of heaven. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:36.560 Man ate of the bread of the angels, he sent them food in abundance, he caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led them out to the south wind. 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:44.560 He rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas, he let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings. 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:48.400 And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved. 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:58.240 But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them, and he killed the strongest of them and laid low the young man of Israel. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:02:59.759 And so it reads God's word. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:01.360 Good morning, everybody, by the way. 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:02.240 My name's Mark. 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:04.879 I'm one of the leaders here at City Church. 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:08.080 You're very welcome, especially if you're new or visiting with us. 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:12.319 This morning, uh, we in the summertime go through the Psalms. 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:14.319 We've been doing this for years at this point. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:19.439 We started at Psalm 1, and as you will tell from our reading, we're now at Psalm 78. 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:29.120 And uh this morning and next week, we're looking at this one rather long Psalm and doing them as all age talks. 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:35.360 So kids are in with us as well, and you might be picking up some of the details from the Psalm and go, Oh, an all-age talk. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:37.360 And you know, the Lord killed the young men of Israel. 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:40.080 Happy, happy Sunday, children. 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:54.400 Um, but we're going to look at actually what this has to mean for us because really this first half of the psalm, or really the psalm as a as a whole, and we'll get into some of the detail next week, really has one point. 00:03:54.960 --> 00:04:02.479 Is one point, and that point is to remember what the Lord has done and to pass it on. 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:17.120 The details of the psalm, so we're talking about what has happened in the past, is the psalmist reminding people what God has done and his past faithfulness, despite our sin. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:21.040 He has remained merciful and kind. 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:30.319 And so he is helping us to remember what God has done in order that we might remember and pass it on. 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:31.439 That's the big idea. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:34.319 Remember and pass it on. 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:37.279 So let's play a game. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:38.800 Who's up for playing a game? 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:39.839 Okay. 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:44.800 They all said yes, but it's going to include all of you. 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:45.360 Okay. 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:48.639 So if you're here for the first time, you're like, oh, we're never coming back. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:49.360 Sorry. 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:51.759 Um, here's the game, right? 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:54.800 What we're gonna do is we're gonna play a game of pass it on, right? 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:58.240 So I need two volunteers. 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:01.519 Uh let's so let's let's do boys. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:06.480 Let's let's do uh let's go here, let's do older boys because we need we need somebody who's gonna be fast. 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:09.920 So uh yeah, so Maxi, yeah, come on up, come on up, come on up. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:18.399 Okay, so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna give these young men a uh a short three-word message, right? 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:25.120 And you're gonna run up this side right to the very back and see what is sitting up at the back there. 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:30.800 Yeah, you're gonna tell what I say to you to him, and then he's going to pass it on to the next person. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:33.439 And you've got to you've got a whisperer, say it. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:38.079 This is not Chinese whispers, it's not about, oh, you know, I'm just gonna make up something random. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:40.000 We want the message to make it down to the front. 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:42.800 If you mangle the message, your side will not win. 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:52.560 If your side wins, I have a basket here full of chocolate and sweets and jellies for everybody on your side. 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:57.120 So you've got it, you're gonna get a three-word message and you've got to pass it on. 00:05:57.199 --> 00:06:05.120 And the winning, uh, the winning team is the person who, when it gets down to the front, they uh they run and tell tell me. 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:12.879 So, Leon, maybe you'll be the the last person on this side to be and you could be the last person on that side. 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:14.160 No, no, that's fine. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:17.519 And and so you gotta run and tell me what the message is, okay? 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:19.519 So you guys come forward, I'm gonna tell you what the message is. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:22.560 I'm gonna turn my mic off because that would that would ruin the game. 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:23.439 What is it? 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:24.160 Hoping God. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:29.680 Hope my god! Yes! Well done. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:32.000 Was it still hoping God? 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:35.360 What what what did you hear? 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:40.160 Help from God! Oh wow. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:42.959 Commiserations, guys. 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:46.560 Probably, probably best because there's more kids on this side anyway. 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:49.759 So thank you for taking one for the team. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:57.839 So, what what you can do, I'll tell you what, tell you what I'll do, is actually I will leave, I will leave the basket, and there's an honor system. 00:06:57.920 --> 00:07:00.560 So, you guys, we're we're watching you guys, right? 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:15.680 This side, as you leave this morning, you can pick up a packet of either Hammibow Starmix or little Milky Way uh fun size bars from uh from the uh from beside the communion table here as you go this morning. 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:16.639 So that's your prize. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:17.600 Well done to this side. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:19.439 Let's give them a round of applause. 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:24.160 So sit down, sit down, guys. 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:35.279 So we're remembering, we're remembering and passing on a message, and the message was to hope in God, and that's exactly what the psalmist uh wants us to do. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:46.720 That's why he is helping us to remember and to pass on the message so that people, our children, generations yet to come, would hope in God. 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:48.720 Let me remind you what the psalmist has said. 00:07:49.199 --> 00:08:01.839 He said in verse 6 that the next generation might know them, that the children yet unborn and arise and tell them to their children, so that they would set their hope in God. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:05.439 Now, hope is kind of a strange thing. 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:12.800 Hope we might say, well, if you're Irish, you might say something like, I hope Spain beats England. 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:15.279 Later. 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:16.160 Right? 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:21.199 But obviously, we don't say that in my house because I'm married to an English person. 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:25.600 So we we hope, rather, that England will win. 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:30.160 Uh, and that uh and that Alcaraz wins the man's singles finals as well. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:33.519 So Spain gets a little bit of something, but hope it's kind of a toss-up. 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:37.039 It might or it might not happen, but that's not what hope's like in the Bible. 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:40.159 Hope is much more like this in the Bible. 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:42.799 Hope is like a rope. 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:44.159 Did you know that? 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:46.080 That hope is like a rope. 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:51.200 And the thing with the with a rope is that it matters what you attach it to. 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:59.200 If you're trying to climb up something or if you're trying to get something to hold your wit, you need to attach it to something that's really, really solid. 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:04.879 Now, I've attached the rope currently to my wallet, right? 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:09.840 Which represents all of my worldly wealth and income, right? 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:16.080 And if I try to have it hold my wit, no, it doesn't work. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:16.879 Right? 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:19.679 And my microphone comes off. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:25.200 I must rather attach my hope to something that is far more solid. 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:37.600 See, if we attach our hope, our sense of place in the world, our security in the world, in material things like our wealth, it will never hold us stable. 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:50.879 But if we attach it to something that is firm, that is immovable, that cannot be shaken, then it can hold us through even the most strenuous and difficult times. 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:53.120 It can hold our weight, right? 00:09:53.679 --> 00:10:07.039 That is why the psalmist wants us to hope in God, because when we attach our hope to God, we're attaching to something that is outside of circumstances that can never be shaken, that can never be taken away. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:09.440 And that is what the psalmist wants us to do. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:14.639 That's why he's saying, remember what God has done and pass it on. 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:26.559 Now, the next question is, what does, I'm much more out of breath doing a kid's talk than I am normally. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:28.960 Time to go back to the gym, right? 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:37.279 Question then is, what is it that God wants us to remember and pass on? 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:43.919 What does Asaph, the man who wrote this Psalm, say that we should remember and pass on? 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:46.799 And I think there's three things here in this Psalm. 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:49.679 Let me give them to you real quickly and then we'll talk about what they mean. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:11:02.480 The first thing that Asaf wants us to remember and pass on in order that we might hope in God, that solid and firm thing, is we want to remember and pass on who God is. 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:05.840 We want to remember and pass on who God is. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:22.879 This Psalm is full of descriptions of the character of God, his might, his power, his ability to save, his mercy, as well as his justice and commitment to good things and to holiness. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:28.080 We pass on, first of all, who God is. 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:39.440 Parents, when we're teaching our children about our faith, we're not simply teaching a set of uh prepositions or a list of rules. 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:44.000 We're passing on the character of a person. 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:48.639 We're passing on to our children who God is. 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:56.480 We want our children to be captivated by who he is, to fall in love with him and his greatness. 00:11:56.639 --> 00:11:57.360 That's the first thing. 00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:09.279 Now, the second thing that the psalmist spends most of his time talking about is that he wants us to remember and to pass on first who God is, but then what God has done. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:17.840 Verse 4 talks about the wondrous deeds that we would pass on to the next generation. 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:27.279 And then he goes on to tell us about great battles or the plagues and the uh the escape through the Red Sea. 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:32.799 Our faith has its roots in history. 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:38.799 Our God acts in history, in the events of the past. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:41.200 He has revealed what his character is like. 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:49.600 And so we recount these stories, we tell them to one another, we tell them to our children in order that we might remember what God has done. 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:55.840 Because when we remember what he has done in the past, that helps us to trust him in the future. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:57.120 That's the second thing. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:13:05.759 The third thing, so remember what who God is, what God has done, and then thirdly, we remember what he has said. 00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:12.559 Verse 5 talks about how God established a testimony in Jacob. 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:13.919 Don't worry too much about that. 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:20.720 He appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach their children. 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:25.840 God has spoken, he has said something. 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:28.639 Verse 5 talks about God's law. 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:33.759 God's law is much more than just do this and don't do that. 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:39.360 It is instruction about how to live the best life. 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:42.480 Because the best life is the gospel life. 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:45.279 The best life is living God's way. 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:48.480 And God very kindly speaks to us. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:49.600 Isn't that amazing? 00:13:49.840 --> 00:14:03.120 That the God of all creation, the God of the universe, would speak in a way that we can understand in order to help us to live a life that is good for us and brings him glory. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:05.279 So we pass on three things. 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:06.720 Who can remember what they are? 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:07.919 What are the three things? 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:12.480 So that so the end result is that we would hope in God, but what are the three things? 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:13.360 Olivia. 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:18.720 Yeah, so we want to listen to what uh what God has said, yes? 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:24.879 Who God is, remember and pass on what we're gonna remember and pass on, Isla. 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:27.919 Who God is, what he said, and one more, the middle one. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:29.440 Who can remember the middle one? 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:32.960 What God has done in the past. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:34.320 Well done. 00:14:34.559 --> 00:14:46.480 So we in order to set our hope in God, we remember and pass on those three things: who God is, what he has done in the past, and what he has said. 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:55.519 That is what fuels and grows trust in each one of us, grown-ups and young people. 00:14:56.399 --> 00:15:07.039 That as we get to know who God is, as we see what he has done in the past, and as we listen to his voice, that is how our faith is strengthened. 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:11.200 That is what helps us to hope in God. 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:15.759 Now, let's just push into that a little bit more. 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:18.559 What does it mean to set our hope in God? 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:23.200 Well, it involves every part of us. 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:25.759 It involves every part of us. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:27.759 Isla, would you help me for a second? 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:29.679 Would you stand up here on the rug? 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:33.759 You're gonna be my helper for this. 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:39.200 So it involves every part of us hoping in God. 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:43.039 The first thing it involves is it involves our head. 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:48.080 When we get to know who God is, that means that we learn things. 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:49.360 That's why we've got the cry. 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:56.320 Okay, this is for is for the head, okay, because we're learning things about God and his character, who he is. 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:01.120 We learn them, we teach them to one another. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:04.559 We want to learn about how powerful God is. 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:08.080 We want to learn about how loving God is, how merciful he is. 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:13.519 We want our minds to be blown by the amazing majesty of our God. 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:24.080 It's one of the things that we seek to do in uh in city kids is to have children leave screen six on a Sunday going, wow, isn't God amazing? 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:32.720 Because when we know God better, this is what the Crown says, when we know God better, that helps us to trust God better. 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:35.360 When we know God, we'll trust God. 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:43.759 It's very hard to trust someone that we don't know, that we've just met for the first time, that we just encountered on the street. 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:47.519 But as we get to know people, we begin to trust them more. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:55.120 And it's the same with our relationship with God that as we learn more about Him, it helps us to trust Him more. 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:57.919 And so we teach one another, how do we do that? 00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:00.159 We do it here, we're doing it right now. 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:01.919 We do it over in screen six. 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:03.679 Screen six is not childcare. 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:04.559 Did you know that? 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:10.000 Screen six is just as important as what happens in here. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:25.920 In fact, there are some aspects in which it is more important because that is future-proofing ministry, that is future-proofing the church, helping children to trust in Jesus from a long from a young age that they might continue with him. 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:34.319 We do it in our community groups, and we should do it in our homes, teaching our children, teaching one another who God is. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:36.880 Now, here's the second one. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:41.839 It's not just our head, it's not just head knowledge, but what is this? 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:43.839 Our heart. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:45.440 And what does the heart say? 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:47.279 Love God. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:48.720 Where does the heart go? 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:50.240 Does it go here on the shoulder? 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:51.200 No? 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:52.240 Where does it go? 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:54.319 It goes right over here, right? 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:55.680 There we go. 00:17:56.960 --> 00:18:14.160 The psalmist wants to remind us about what God has done, and he does so by telling us a story, little mini stories, little snapshots from Israel's history. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:21.519 He doesn't just give us God's CV, a list of things that God has done, he tells us a story. 00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:23.440 Why do you think God tells us? 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:28.079 Why do you think the psalmist tells us a story about what God has done? 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:31.039 Olivia, what do you think? 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:43.839 Stor yeah, stories help, they they help us to listen, they eng, they engage us, they're more interesting. 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:44.720 Yeah. 00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:47.759 Have you ever read a story, young people? 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:52.799 Have you ever read a story that has had a scary part in it? 00:18:52.960 --> 00:19:00.000 And even though you know that it's just a book, that actually your heart starts to beat faster and faster. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:02.799 We've been having that, haven't we, in the Dreamkeeper saga, haven't we? 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:04.640 There's been some scary bits, isn't there? 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:08.559 Uh uh or have you ever watched something? 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:18.960 So you've watched a movie and something sad has happened, and you know that it's just a movie, but you find that your eyes are getting messed up. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:24.400 That that may happen to me from time to time. 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:28.079 Uh, but you have you ever have you ever cried at a movie? 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:28.720 Yeah? 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:29.200 Yeah. 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:29.920 Yeah? 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:30.319 Yeah. 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:30.880 Yeah. 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:32.799 We cry together, don't we? 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:45.599 Or or what about have you ever watched a great battle or a great fight like in like in Star Wars or at the end of Lord of the Rings, or the end of Harry Potter, or something? 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:47.440 Or a Narnia, right? 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:55.759 A great battle, and the good, the good guys win the battle, and you almost want to jump up and punch the air and go, yes, they won. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:03.759 You ever or well, I mean, what is a what's a football match, but a 90-minute story? 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:08.720 There will be a great story told this evening. 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:12.160 Now, for the English, it might be a tragedy. 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:17.200 Full of weeping and gnashing of teeth. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:21.359 But for the Spanish, it might be one where they jump up and they punch the air. 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:24.799 Or, or, for balance, it could be the other way around. 00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:28.799 But a football match is a 90-minute story. 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:34.000 Why does God tell us what he's done in the form of stories? 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:51.759 Because he wants to move our hearts, he doesn't want to just tell us things about himself, he wants to stir our emotions, he wants to help us to feel right feelings, and so to think, how amazing. 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:52.799 You ever thought about this? 00:20:52.960 --> 00:21:15.200 How amazing would it have been to be one of the Israelites walking on the bottom of the sea with those great walls of water and the wind ripping through, and you see the you see the fish silhouetted on the side of the ocean, and you're walking on dry land. 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:32.160 Or imagine, imagine for a second, that you were one of the Israelite soldiers, and you're standing in your line with everybody else, and Goliath comes pounding out with his great spear, and you think, he's after me. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:35.920 And you're kind of you begin to kind of shake in your armor. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:42.799 And then and then what happens is this this little shepherd boy comes up and you think, well, how's he gonna help us? 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:45.039 And you get even more scared. 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:50.799 Then how much are you gonna be punching the air when you see Goliath fall? 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:59.440 Or imagine what it would be like to stand with the women on Good Friday. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:06.480 When Jesus dies on the cross, and how sad that that would feel, and how sad they must have felt. 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:15.279 And then how much do you want to punch the air when you see Jesus three days later walk out of the grave, never to die again? 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:26.000 See, God tells us what he's like in story because he's not just filling our head with bullet point truths about him. 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:28.400 He's after our heart. 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:33.759 He wants to move us to feel right feelings towards him. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:42.640 And then the third thing, so we remember who God is, what God has done, and then we listen to what God has said. 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:44.640 So you can put your hand up inside there. 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:45.359 There we go. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:47.359 You got a nice comedy hand. 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:50.400 And what does the hand, what does the hand say, girls? 00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:51.680 You hold you hold it up. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:53.359 Live for God. 00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:55.759 Live for God. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:28.799 Because once we have learned about who God is, we trust him more, when we've had our heart stirred by what God has done in the past, then those things together will make us want to and help us to live for God, to obey what he has said, to set our hope in God is to listen to his voice, to listen to his word, the Bible, to follow what he says, knowing that he made us and that he knows what's best. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:34.799 Parents, let me remind you of something that the psalmist says right at the start here in verses 7 and 8. 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:51.759 So the psalmist wants children to set their hope in God, verse 7, and forget not the works of God, but keep his commandments, and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God. 00:23:52.799 --> 00:24:06.960 We teach our children to set their hope in God in the prayerful hope that their faith might be stronger, more vibrant than ours. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:25.680 We might not count ourselves, God might not count us amongst the stiff-necked generation that rejected God, but every parent's hope is that our children would carry on that torch, that flame of faith, and that it would shine more brightly in them than it even did in us. 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:26.480 Amen? 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:27.440 Amen. 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:37.759 That faith and love for Jesus would not divide down the generations, but multiply. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:39.200 And how do we do that? 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:41.359 Well, we remember and we pass on. 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:42.240 What do we pass on? 00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:49.599 We pass on who God is, what God has done, and what God has said. 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:50.799 Thank you, Ali. 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:55.599 You can take those off and I'll hold them up here. 00:24:55.759 --> 00:24:56.480 Thank you, Donna. 00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:03.039 So as we finish, how do we do those things? 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:13.599 How do we help one another to hope in God by remembering who He is, what He has done and what He has said, and passing it on. 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:16.160 Let me give you four things as we close. 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:19.759 First, you need to see it as your job. 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:29.759 You need to see it as your job to pass on, to remember and to pass on who God is, what He has done and what He has said. 00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:44.160 That it's not just the job of the professional ministry class, it's not just my job or Ben's job or Peter's job to be the ones who teach and who pass on in order that people might hope in God. 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:47.759 That it's something that the whole community together does. 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:53.519 That just as everyone was involved earlier in the game, and this side will be much better. 00:25:53.599 --> 00:25:55.519 You guys have some work to do, right? 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:06.640 It's all of our responsibility to be telling one another, reminding one another, because we're prone to forget what God has done. 00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:08.559 See, it is your job. 00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:09.200 That's the first one. 00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:16.640 Second one is remember the old stories and tell some new ones. 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:19.200 Remember the old stories and tell some new ones. 00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:37.119 You want to remember all of the stories that the psalmist recounts here of God's people being saved through the Exodus, or of the salvation that is that is bought for us at the cross of the Lord Jesus. 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:44.079 And we also tell those stories of faithfulness in our lives day by day. 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:51.519 That as we sit around our kitchen table, as we sit in community group, having dinner together, recalling and recounting. 00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:52.480 Oh, do you remember? 00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:57.279 Remember a couple of weeks ago I asked you guys to pray for uh for this thing? 00:26:57.440 --> 00:27:00.720 Well, actually, the Lord really came through for me in that. 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:02.480 And I just want to update you guys. 00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:04.319 I want you to rejoice with me. 00:27:04.400 --> 00:27:06.640 Or do you remember that person that we were praying with? 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:10.799 They've just accepted an invitation to come to church. 00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:12.240 Would you continue to pray for them? 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:24.880 Pray that the Lord would move in their hearts as we uh as we meet together on Sunday to tell old stories and new ones of God's great, continued faithfulness and mercy. 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:34.079 Third, this psalmist wants us to warn and to comfort one another. 00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:43.920 There's lots of warnings in this psalm of actually people hardening their hearts against God, of walking away from him, and God's anger at their sin and rebellion. 00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:54.480 So there's a warning not to fall away, there's a warning to keep on remembering, to keep on passing on, to keep your hope in God, in that firm, immovable thing. 00:27:56.559 --> 00:28:10.799 And there's also a comfort that even though our faith isn't very strong, you know, Jesus said that if I'm weak, that if I'm lost, he will come to me. 00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:20.400 We see God pursuing his people all the way through this, continuing to be merciful to them. 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:23.920 And so forth and finally, the fourth thing that we do. 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:25.119 So, what do we do? 00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:27.279 We see it as our job. 00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:31.039 We remember the old stories and tell new ones. 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:43.920 We hear the warning and feel the comfort of God's pursuing his people, and then finally, we make much of our savior, we exalt our savior together. 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:49.359 So much of this Sam points us in shadows to Jesus. 00:28:49.599 --> 00:29:00.880 You know, you know the thing that your your kids have been learning in in City Kids over months now is we've been looking at the Old Testament and we've been seeing how the Old Testament relates to who? 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:03.599 Relates to Jesus. 00:29:05.039 --> 00:29:13.279 There are so many shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament, and the psalmist brings them out here. 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:45.519 That Jesus is the one who on the cross was submerged under the waters of God's judgment, that we might walk free on dry land, that he was the rock that was split in two, that gives life-giving water to his people, that he's the bread that rained down from heaven, God's miraculous life-giving provision, that all who feed on him by faith would live. 00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:51.519 The next generation will set their hope in God. 00:29:52.480 --> 00:30:00.960 When we together rejoice and marvel in our Savior now, then they will know God's grace. 00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:04.319 That God's grace always triumphs over sin. 00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:08.160 Maybe it's not just the kids that need to hear that. 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:11.200 Maybe that's not even a message for parents. 00:30:13.119 --> 00:30:28.240 But wherever you are, the call of this is to set your hope in God, to remember what he has done for you in the past, supremely in the cross of the Lord Jesus, in his death for you, and his resurrection to give you new life. 00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:35.200 He overcomes your sin by sending a savior to rescue you. 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:46.640 So, whatever your hope is in, whatever you're attaching that rope to, set your hope in God.