SPEAKER_00: Good morning, everybody.
SPEAKER_00: Just one sermon.
SPEAKER_00: That hadn't happened in four years almost.
SPEAKER_00: I'm excited.
SPEAKER_00: When I was in high school, I worked one summer uh for a construction company.
SPEAKER_00: And uh because I played football, I had to, we had practice every afternoon at 3:30, and so I needed a job that was flexible enough to start early to allow me to get to practice on time.
SPEAKER_00: And so this particular job was well suited in terms of its schedule.
SPEAKER_00: I would get there at 6 in the morning and be done by 3 in time to make it to the high school and get dressed to play football.
SPEAKER_00: I worked at St.
SPEAKER_00: Stephen's on the Green.
SPEAKER_00: Many of you know that uh uh facility, nursing home, and uh assisted living facility.
SPEAKER_00: And if you go to the back of the facility, you will still see some of my handiwork there.
SPEAKER_00: Sidewalks poured with perfection.
SPEAKER_00: Even the roundabout I was involved in, well, just doing the labor for candidly.
SPEAKER_00: But my boss uh was by far and away what I will take most away from that summer.
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't the way that I learn how to pour sidewalks or or build roundabouts, but rather it was my boss.
SPEAKER_00: He was the most horrible man I've ever known.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, truly, he was the most rude, vulgar, crass, demeaning, demoralizing person I have ever been around.
SPEAKER_00: And every day he took his uh time to make sure that you knew that you were the object of his eternal wrath.
SPEAKER_00: Well, one day a company photographer was coming around taking pictures, I suppose, of all the superintendents.
SPEAKER_00: They were updating their website, and so took a picture of this particular superintendent, my boss, and uh and a few days later delivered a copy of the picture to him, and I saw him throw it in the trash.
SPEAKER_00: Well, that was my opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: I went and got that picture out of the trash, and I kept it with me.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I taped it to my desk in front of where I studied all through the rest of high school and college to remind myself that if I didn't work hard, I'd be working for that guy again.
SPEAKER_00: I still have the picture.
SPEAKER_00: It's important to remember, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: To look back and to reflect on uh on things.
SPEAKER_00: And memory is uh has is a powerful tool.
SPEAKER_00: Smells will do it, sounds will do it, sights will do it, all kinds of things call us to remember.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what I want to do this morning is I want us to remember God's faithfulness on the last Sunday of the year as we look back to God's faithfulness to us as a church family and in our community all through 2019.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to do it through the first seven verses of chapter 78 of the Psalms.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 78, this is what God's Word says.
SPEAKER_00: Give ear, O my people, to my teaching.
SPEAKER_00: Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
SPEAKER_00: I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known that our fathers have told us.
SPEAKER_00: We will not hide them from their children, but tell them to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
SPEAKER_00: He had 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.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we thank you for this beautiful reminder of your faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: And we pray as we reflect on your faithfulness to us as a church body over the past year and the next few moments that you would give us your Holy Spirit to do so.
SPEAKER_00: And we pray it in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: The Christmas lights that dot the outline of roofs during holiday time will always take me back to a time when Kim and I were newly married, living in St.
SPEAKER_00: Louis.
SPEAKER_00: For a newly married couple, both in school, money, of course, was tight, trying to work different odd jobs to make ends meet, in addition to the part-time jobs that we also held.
SPEAKER_00: And there was one family in particular that I suppose cared for us in a really unique way.
SPEAKER_00: They recognized the financial stress that any young couple in our situation might experience.
SPEAKER_00: And so every Christmas, they paid us an extraordinary amount to put Christmas lights on the outline of their roof.
SPEAKER_00: Now, they did it really to help us.
SPEAKER_00: They could have put it on themselves, or they certainly could have paid someone much less than what they paid us.
SPEAKER_00: But they did us, they did it in order to help us make ends meet in what was an expensive time of the year.
SPEAKER_00: And every time I see Christmas lights that outline the shapes of roofs, it takes me back to remember that family and their generosity as they demonstrated God's faithfulness to me.
SPEAKER_00: Well, about a week ago, as we were headed home during the night, one of uh the members of our family in our car made a remark about how pretty one particular house was in its roof outlined with lights.
SPEAKER_00: And that gave us an opportunity to talk about how God was faithful to use this particular couple so many years ago to provide for us in a remarkable way.
SPEAKER_00: And it's important, isn't it, to remind ourselves and each other of God's faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: It's important because we forget it.
SPEAKER_00: We forget it when times are difficult or when things are busy or when we're frustrated or when life is going well.
SPEAKER_00: It's important to remind ourselves and also each other to stir each other up by way of reminder of God's faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what I want to do today.
SPEAKER_00: I just simply want to say from Psalm 78, God is faithful.
SPEAKER_00: I wonder if you remember uh the story.
SPEAKER_00: I've told it before because it's so impactful to me of my first sermon in seminary.
SPEAKER_00: I had gotten worked up into uh theological lather, and at one point I had exclaimed with great uh fervor, if you'll be faithful to God, he'll be faithful to you.
SPEAKER_00: And then I sat down after I finished my sermon, and the professor stood up and said, Well, that's not true.
SPEAKER_00: Uh sheepishly or nervously, I said, Which part?
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Well, the part where you said, if you'll be faithful to God, he'll be faithful to you.
SPEAKER_00: It's not true.
SPEAKER_00: God is faithful, period, full stop.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, God is faithful in spite of and because of your faithlessness.
SPEAKER_00: And that was a turning point in my uh journey as a believer, as I began to see God's faithfulness expressed to me and to his people, regardless of my faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's what Psalm 78 says.
SPEAKER_00: God is faithful, period, full stop, despite our faithlessness.
SPEAKER_00: So, what does that mean for us?
SPEAKER_00: Two things.
SPEAKER_00: The first one, remember to remind yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Remember to remind yourself of God's faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to what the psalmist says.
SPEAKER_00: I will open my mouth in a parable, verse two.
SPEAKER_00: I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known that our fathers have told us, and verse 5.
SPEAKER_00: He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commands our fathers to teach their children.
SPEAKER_00: These phrases that seem strange and, well, even dark, the word dark is used.
SPEAKER_00: Utter dark sayings from of old sounds cryptic, but it's not.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's it's things that we know, verse 3, things that we have heard and things that we have known that our fathers have told us.
SPEAKER_00: What's the psalmist saying?
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, remember to remind yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Remember to remind yourself of God's faithfulness to you in the past.
SPEAKER_00: Remember to remind yourself to God's faithfulness to you and to the people that have come before you in the past.
SPEAKER_00: What might those things be?
SPEAKER_00: Verse 5: a testimony in Jacob, a law in Israel.
SPEAKER_00: That's two ways of saying the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: And the the verses that follow, the next, well, Psalm 78 is 72 verses, 72 verses long.
SPEAKER_00: So for the next however many verses, the psalmist will recount instance of after instance of God's faithfulness to God's people.
SPEAKER_00: He'll say, Remember the time that he brought you out of Egypt with a strong and mighty hand.
SPEAKER_00: Remember when he parted the Red Sea.
SPEAKER_00: Remember when you whined in the desert and God provided manna.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, remember, remember.
SPEAKER_00: It's important to remember to remind ourselves of God's faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I recognize that we're not um, for the most part, we we aren't um physical descendants of Israel, but we are spiritual descendants of Israel, and we serve the same God, the same God who drove uh the uh Pharaoh's army into the Red Sea and covered them over again, the same God who provided for the people manna from sky, quail that filled the ground, water from the rock, his testimony written in stone by the very finger of God.
SPEAKER_00: Remember.
SPEAKER_00: Remember to remind yourself.
SPEAKER_00: And as you get in the habit of remembering something daily, especially things that you're fond of, it becomes fun to do.
SPEAKER_00: I uh I have a phone, I wonder if it would pop up on my phone right now.
SPEAKER_00: It does, it has a reminder there, right there.
SPEAKER_00: I have a reminder that was sent by one of my children that comes on my phone every morning at 8 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: that says, I am the best parent in the world.
SPEAKER_00: So there you have it.
SPEAKER_00: And I frankly I need that reminder because mostly I don't feel like the best parent in the world.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I feel like the worst parent most of the time.
SPEAKER_00: And it's a really useful way of remembering something that one of my children wants me to remember.
SPEAKER_00: I wonder what creative way that you can do in your life to remember to remind yourself of God's faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: But not only remember to remind yourself of God's faithfulness, that's the first thing, but the second thing is this remember to remind others of God's faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: Remember to remind yourself, and remember to remind others, verse four, we will not hide them from their children, but tell the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might and the wonders that he has done, verse six, 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.
SPEAKER_00: What's the psalmist saying?
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, remember to remind others.
SPEAKER_00: Not just remember to remind yourself, but remember to remind others.
SPEAKER_00: Years ago, Covenant Presbyterian Church, which is the church that I grew up uh uh worshiping in in Homewood, uh, had a capital campaign for building a children's building, and this was their theme verse from uh chapter 78 that the next generation might tell the next generation the glorious deeds of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And the whole message throughout the campaign was one of we're building a building to build a tool to teach the next generation the glorious deeds of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Why is that?
SPEAKER_00: Because we recognize something that the psalmist is saying.
SPEAKER_00: The psalmist is saying it's just because you know something doesn't mean your children know it in their heart.
SPEAKER_00: Just because you know something doesn't mean your neighbor knows something in his or her heart.
SPEAKER_00: It's not automatic, you see.
SPEAKER_00: It's something that they need to be reminded of, and then not only reminded of, but to internalize to see that the saving grace of Jesus Christ is something that is available to every single person.
SPEAKER_00: If they would confess Jesus as Lord with their mouth and believe in their hearts that God raised him from the dead, they shall be what?
SPEAKER_00: Saved.
SPEAKER_00: And it takes a village to do it, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_00: I I one of the most moving uh funeral services I have ever attended was just a handful of years ago, as uh one of uh, well, it was a it was a man with a young family, a few young girls who died in a plane crash, and one of his best friends got up in the service to share, and he got up and he was holding the book of church order, the pres the PCA book of church order, and I thought, well, this is gonna be odd.
SPEAKER_00: And he opened to the baptismal vow page, and he read that baptismal vow that you asked the congregation, do you, as a congregation, promise to undertake the responsibility of the care and nurture of this covenant child?
SPEAKER_00: He says, remember, all of you who raised your hands, these are your children now to raise to, now that their father is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to say to you, Lord forbid that.
SPEAKER_00: But that's our job as a covenant family.
SPEAKER_00: So not only remember to remind yourself, but remember to remind others of the glorious deeds of the Lord so that they might set their hope in God.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, one exercise that I did towards the end of the year, this year, was write a reflection, it was really just a self-reflection for my own benefit of God's faithfulness in 2019 to us as a church on a month-by-month basis.
SPEAKER_00: And I just went back to January and I wrote all the things that I could remember, the thing, the ways that God was at work in Cahapa Park Church.
SPEAKER_00: And then I went to February and on down the line.
SPEAKER_00: And and um, so what we're gonna do today is something that we've never done before.
SPEAKER_00: I've actually asked uh children from 12 different families to come and read a reflection, that reflection.
SPEAKER_00: Now I've tweaked it a little bit so it's not just a personal reflection, it's a it's a corporate reflection reflection.
SPEAKER_00: And each reflection ends with the phrase, thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us.
SPEAKER_00: And so after each child reads that phrase at the end of their paragraph, we as a congregation will responsively say the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithful faithfulness to us.
SPEAKER_00: So uh if you're one of my readers, will you come up and line up according to your month?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, David, you're off.
SPEAKER_00: You're in January.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, buddy.
SPEAKER_01: 2019 began with a season of rejoicing.
SPEAKER_01: Just one month earlier, our church was facing a large financial deficit.
SPEAKER_01: God stirred in his people to give generously and sacrificially, not equal gifts, but people made equal sacrifices.
SPEAKER_01: And we collected the largest amount in December on record, over$390,000.
SPEAKER_01: And so we began the year of rejoicing in the way God had provided in ways who cannot be believed.
SPEAKER_01: We also saw God raise up new leaders.
SPEAKER_01: We ordained and installed new elders and deacons, a key indicator of church health and the willingness of the congregation to nominate and elect new qualified and trained officers.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in January.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in January.
SPEAKER_02: In February, our church hosted eight church planters from all over the United States in our seventh year of church planter training ministry called Cohort.
SPEAKER_02: Our church's kitchen was used by some of the ladies in our church to provide fantastic meals.
SPEAKER_02: Members provided housing, and some gave the use of their cards.
SPEAKER_02: And all of us contributed toward their travel, making the only cost of the church planters time.
SPEAKER_02: Two of our daughter churches, Cross Creek Church in Rossbridge, and Christ Church in Trustwell, also participated in the training of the church planters along with a number of lay leaders within our church.
SPEAKER_02: The end of February was sweet in its sadness too.
SPEAKER_02: It was sweet seeing six families respond to the call God had placed on their lives to join the new Homewood Church Plant, and it was sad seeing them go.
SPEAKER_02: In all these things, we remain committed to the belief that church planting is the most effective way people come to Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And so by the grace of God, we will continue to plant churches in the years to come.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in February.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in February.
SPEAKER_06: The angels in heaven rejoiced when 14 of our covenant children professed their faith in Jesus Christ and we were received into church membership.
SPEAKER_06: If this were all that happened in 2019, it would be enough.
SPEAKER_06: Fourteen new people will populate heaven.
SPEAKER_06: We began preparing our hearts for Easter with the distribution of our lived and devotionals.
SPEAKER_06: What a blessing to study God's word together as we awaited the celebration of our risen Lord.
SPEAKER_06: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in March.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in March.
SPEAKER_00: Great job, reading.
SPEAKER_07: The celebration of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_07: It's the foundation of being a Christian.
SPEAKER_07: Without the resurrection, we are lost.
SPEAKER_07: We celebrated Easter through worship on Good Fridays.
SPEAKER_07: And Easter Sunday.
SPEAKER_07: The corner release is this album and perfect times for Good Fridays.
SPEAKER_07: We worship a new word.
SPEAKER_07: It's remarkable.
SPEAKER_07: Missionaries from countries around the world.
SPEAKER_07: Worship with music from the corner room.
SPEAKER_07: We even got an order from Australia.
SPEAKER_07: We celebrated the arrival of spring with a church workday.
SPEAKER_07: An also married dinner with a woman spring works there.
SPEAKER_07: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for his faithfulness to us in April.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in April.
SPEAKER_06: Nothing says bay at Cahaba Park like Barbecue and Cornhole.
SPEAKER_06: God blessed our spring picnic with beautiful weather, great food, and a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_06: We had our largest Sunday school class ever as we learned about technology and parenting.
SPEAKER_06: Most of our parents were left scared to death, which drove us to pray.
SPEAKER_06: We also took an important step in furthering the protection of our youngest members, the implementation of a new job protection policy.
SPEAKER_06: Many people worked very hard to create it, and we are grateful.
SPEAKER_08: May concluded with many of our people taking a much needed vacation, including our college.
SPEAKER_08: It was great seeing our college students return and celebrate all that God was doing in their lives with a Taco Mama catered lunch.
SPEAKER_08: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in May.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in May.
SPEAKER_04: If spring, picnics define May, then Vacation Bible School owns June.
SPEAKER_04: We have the largest number of VBS kids we have ever had, including over 80 volunteers.
SPEAKER_04: We sing of the Lord's faithfulness, we memorize scripture, we ate good food, we learned about the Moana Refuge, we played games, made crafts, and learned of the goodness of God.
SPEAKER_04: And best of all, Pastor Murray got to preach on stage with a lion.
SPEAKER_05: We also sent a team to Costa Rica for the second year in a row.
SPEAKER_05: It seems God is building a beautiful partnership between the missionaries and locals in Costa Rica and our people.
SPEAKER_05: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in June.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in June.
SPEAKER_06: The church planning cohort year came guys came back for their third and final trip.
SPEAKER_06: We pray as they go back to their churches that God would use them to raise up generations of believers.
SPEAKER_06: Daddies and daughters date and dance the night away as people from our own congregation act as servers for the people.
SPEAKER_06: Children from our own church and those in the community learned about God's creativity in Studio C, an arts camp celebrating the visual, musical, and culinary arts.
SPEAKER_06: A team from CPC also traveled to Ireland for 10 years of continued partnership.
SPEAKER_06: By God's grace, Graystands Presbyterian Church in Ireland is sending a team in the summer of 2020 to help us with our VBS.
SPEAKER_06: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for our faithfulness to us in July.
SPEAKER_06: The first faith and work forum event was kicked off as we heard how one of the local teachers sees himself as a part of God's big story.
SPEAKER_06: It was so encouraging to hear how God is using him to live his life as a mission to redeem Birmingham for the glory of God and the good of the city.
SPEAKER_06: Our church members hosted three different community gatherings in different parts of our city where people live, work, and play.
SPEAKER_06: God is beginning to use these gatherings to teach us all how to interact with and love our neighbors well.
SPEAKER_06: K groups also began in August.
SPEAKER_06: For some, this meant to return to similar faces and others a fresh group as we made room for the new people among us.
SPEAKER_06: The start of a fall routine was delayed as much as possible with Super Sunday.
SPEAKER_06: The water might have been a little higher that month, but we had a blast.
SPEAKER_06: Thank you, Lord, for that your faithfulness to us in August.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in August.
SPEAKER_00: Great job.
SPEAKER_06: September.
SPEAKER_06: It's going to be exciting to see what God does with these men over the next year.
SPEAKER_06: Your generosity is so gracious to these church planters, thank you.
SPEAKER_06: We heard from our second faith and work forum speaker.
SPEAKER_06: She's a local professor and counselor, and shared how she sees how her particular gifts are used to build God's kingdom.
SPEAKER_06: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in September.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in September.
SPEAKER_06: Welcome to our newest staff member.
SPEAKER_06: God provided a new female director, and we are all excited to see what God will do through Kelly Selberg.
SPEAKER_06: In Cahaba Kids, we played, made crafts, and sang.
SPEAKER_06: We even sang during Christmas at home.
SPEAKER_06: Our church widefall festival was a blast.
SPEAKER_06: We had a number of people come for elder prayer for healing of various illnesses as the Bible tells us to do in James 5.
SPEAKER_06: God worked in all of them, but in two specific instances, God cured the person of cancer.
SPEAKER_06: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in October.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in October.
SPEAKER_03: It was a beautiful time of worship.
SPEAKER_03: And our and our pastor Mary, who got to sneak in and sit on the back row, said this was the most moving experience of 2019 for him.
SPEAKER_03: We celebrated Thanksgiving with family and friends and collected the largest angel tree we've ever had.
SPEAKER_03: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in November.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in November.
SPEAKER_06: December began with a wonderful time celebrating Christmas at home.
SPEAKER_06: It doesn't get any better than chicken fingers and desserts followed by Christmas carols and hymns.
SPEAKER_06: We also learned from another faith and work event, this time as a Sunda school.
SPEAKER_06: Our church staff had an ugly sweater-themed Christmas party.
SPEAKER_06: If you wanted pictures, ask me and I'll show you.
SPEAKER_06: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in December.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us in December.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Y'all can go have a seat.
SPEAKER_00: Grandmother's Prayer Group, Women's Ministry, Leaders Meeting and Praying, Golden Girls, Bible Studies, Discipleship, Life is Mission, Sunday School, Community Gathering, Supper Club 7, Missionaries, Mornings of Prayer, Foundations, Fridays, New Members joining, members sent out to church plants, new jobs and businesses started, prayer for occupations, faith and work, men's regional lunches, youth Sunday night fellowship, births, marriages.
SPEAKER_00: But it all wasn't easy, was it?
SPEAKER_00: We had challenges too, people leaving for different reasons, budget concerns, sickness, serious sickness, relational struggles.
SPEAKER_00: But in all of it, all of it.
SPEAKER_00: Or even if you don't remember that.
SPEAKER_00: When you forget that God is still faithful.
SPEAKER_00: So as we close 2019, and as we look towards God's faithfulness to us, whatever that might mean in 2020, remember, friends, to remind yourselves of the faithfulness of God, and remember to remind others too, that the coming generation might proclaim the glories of God.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we thank you for your faithfulness to us in 2019.
SPEAKER_00: And were we to be here all of 2020 recounting deed after deed, it wouldn't be enough time.
SPEAKER_00: And so, in our simple minds and forgetful hearts, we just simply say thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Words that couldn't even begin to describe our gratefulness, we still say thank you.
SPEAKER_00: And we pray that you would remind us of your faithfulness to us in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And we pray it in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.