Power of Song in God’s Promise | Courtney Beard

Chapters

• 0:00 Scripture Reading And Setup
• 2:10 Series Context And New Lens
• 6:50 Why Songs Matter: Four Purposes
• 13:10 The Luke Playlist: Four Songs
• 18:55 Zechariah’s Silence And Promise
• 24:32 Mary And Elizabeth: Joy That Leaps
• 30:35 A New Song Needs New Sight

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:06

Hi, my name is Ashley Alasco and I'm a ninth grader at Benisha High School. Today I'll be reading Psalms chapter 40, verse 3. A new song for a new day rises up in me. Every time I think about how he breaks through for me, ecstatic praise pours out of my mouth until everyone hears how God has set me free. Many will see his miracles, they'll stand in awe of God and fall in love with him. This is the word of the Lord.

SPEAKER_01: 1:34

Somebody give God some praise in here. How are you feeling? Come on, you look good today. I see you with your colors on today. I don't know if you're celebrating your home team or Christmas, but I'll just say it's probably gonna be Christmas today. Do me a favor, tell the person beside you, I'm so glad you came today. Tell the person on the other side, you look good too. And then ask the person in front of you, do I need a breast mint? Let me know now. Let me know now. There's a lot of H words in church. I don't want to get caught up. We are we are finishing this sermon series and we've been talking about Christmas and what it's like. And Pastor Lawrence has been preaching the last two weeks, and really what he's been doing is he's taking this story that seems a little familiar to us, and he's helping us to see it from a different vantage point. He's helping us to see it from a different lens. I don't know if you've been able to uh stay along the last two weeks, but we're seeing Jesus. We're seeing everything to go along in this Jesus and Christmas story from a different place. And if you watch any NFL football, you guys know that the camera that you look at the uh playthrough can determine if it's a touchdown or if you're out of bounds. And so I'm enjoying all of these different lenses that we're watching it through. And this week I want to talk about the power of a promise and a song as heaven reaches earth. I want to read that scripture one more time that she just read for us. It says, A new song for a new day rises up in me. Every time I think about how he breaks through for me, ecstatic praise pours out of my mouth until everyone hears how God has set me free. Many will see his miracles and they'll stand in awe of God and fall in love with him. The message translation says, He taught me to sing the latest God song, not the old one, the latest God's song. Who in here felt the presence of the Lord during worship just now? Did the worship team kill it or what? Was it good? They were singing a song you may have been familiar with, but it felt like the latest God song. And here's what this sermon series has been about it has about been about how a promise can lead us to perspective, and that perspective leads us to praise. Now, I don't know about you, I am old enough to remember when TV shows had theme songs. And so as a kid, I would come home and uh this show wasn't out then, but you would watch it on TV because it would say, There's here's a story of a man named Brady who was okay. You know that one right there. You you kind of know that one, and you kind of knew that this guy was coming on TV who had six kids and a dog and an Alice. And so there were these theme songs, and theme songs will help you to know what's coming next. And so if you sing it right, then you knew it. There's another theme song that said, uh uh in West Philadelphia, born and raised on the playground, is where I spend most of my days, mention it to some b-ball outside of the school when a couple of guys they were okay, whatever. And so you know that one. And then you get to the end, it's like, and I pulled up to the house about seven or eight, and I yelled to the cab, yo Holmes, whoo, almost somebody said see you, somebody said smellulator. Got it. We're almost there. Yo, homes, smellulate. Look to my kingdom. I was finally there to sit on the throne as the prince of you. Better know your part. Come on, that's a good choir. That's a good choir. If all of y'all could walk up here next week for Christmas and be the choir, that'd be good. Your part is just Bel Air. And so songs absolutely matter because songs let you know what's about to come. In the word of God, you'll see songs all over the place. Let me give you four of the reasons why songs are present and why songs are there. Here we go. Number one, a song is there for response. God has done something and I'm responding with the song. I'm literally singing to the Lord a new song. What is your new song that you want to sing? Thank you, Jesus. Praise the Lord. One, two, three, release them. What is your song you want to sing? Response is your song. But what's another one? Remembrance. What is your song of remembrance? There are songs in the Bible that help us to remember where God has brought us from. Some of us have had some unique experiences this year that you need to figure out what your song is to remember how God brought you through. You remember in June and July when you almost called it quits, or in August or September when you said, I don't know if I can make it, or things begin to look funny in February, and you have a song because you're standing here. Here's a third reason why songs appear for repentance. Lord, would you help to change the way that I see this thing? Will you help me to change the way that I see me? Will you help me to understand the way that I see your son? And here's a fourth way through revelation, through us forecasting what's going to happen. And many of us will probably need to find our song or revelation for where we're walking to. Because in the Bible, they would sing about someplace that they were going, even though their reality looked different. And that's what you call faith. You may need a faith song that rises up on the inside of you. Maybe you're in school trying to finish, and you may need to have a song. I'm going to pass these tests, and then I'll be working in my field. And somebody will say, That's weird, until they see you passing the test and working in your field. Every song sounds crazy until it becomes the seed, and then it becomes your promised land. And so in the Bible, they're starting to sing about places that they're going to go. And this is where we find ourselves. Because all throughout time, we have used music in a way to help us. In neuroscience, they say that music and melody help you to recall things and remember things. Hence why we have A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K. And all the kids think elemental P is a word. Because we don't articulate, we just say elemental P. They're like that's what's your favorite letter? Elemental P. That's it. So, and but it helps us to remember things when there's a melody attached to it. So maybe you have to walk up to your husband next time and say, Honey, don't forget to take out the trash next time. Can you pick up after yourself next time? Do the laundry, please. Maybe at work, you can go up to say, I need a race, and they'll say, HR is that way, you're fired. You want to figure out what is the melody that you're supposed to put on this thing. Why? Because melodies matter in the Bible, in Luke, uh chapters one and two. Luke writes this brilliant piece where he's giving us four songs that really convey the story of Jesus. I call it my Luke playlist. I call it the jams if I could. Jam, jam number one, play number one, Mary's song. Mary has a song. Jesus will change everything. What's song number two on the track? It's Zachariah's song. Jesus will fulfill God's promises. What's song number three? It is the angels' song. Even the angels had a song. Jesus will birth heaven's announcement and play song number four for me, would you Siri? Song number four is Simeon's song, which is Jesus will reveal the light. There's a playlist that God has been playing the whole time and pushing us and getting us to understand that the story of Jesus is bigger than we think is actually a song in motion. So how does this whole thing start out? Let's back it up. Let's flip it, let's reverse it for a second. So you have Luke open opening up, and Luke says he's writing to his friend. He says, I'm writing this so you'll have the full account of what's happened in the gospels. I know you've heard other accounts, but let me give you my studied account because I was there. And Luke goes on to say, and there was a man named Zechariah who was a priest who had a wife who was barren. And the angel came to them named Gabriel and said, Zachariah, I need to talk to you. Now at this point, Zachariah is in the temple because he is a priest. And while he's in the uh temple and he's a priest, he goes in there to do his regular duty. But while he's in there, God happens to meet with him. God meets with him while he's doing his daily duty. God meets in him while he's doing the work of the Lord. I wish I could go back to last week's message and read here, Pastor Lawrence preaching that all over again. That God meets you right at the work. And so there he is doing the work, and God meets him there and says, Hey, I know your family's been barren. I know you haven't had a kid, but you and your wife are gonna have a son. His name's gonna be John, and he's gonna be the front runner for Jesus. And Zachariah, who's an older man, he's just like, I don't understand how this is gonna work because I'm old. You want me to have a kid and you want me to start at age 44 for the Indianapolis Colts? How am I gonna do that? Because I'm old. Shout out Philip Rivers. We are praying for you, brother, that you would see next week. Amen. Because I'm in my 40s, I know what it's like to run. I've chased a toddler before. I've never run from an athlete, though. Zachariah is like, hey man, I'm I'm old. How is this gonna happen? And then Gabri says to him, says this, he says, you know what? You're gonna be mute, you're gonna be quiet until you are holding your promise. And I always read that and thought, man, how mean is that this? He's telling this guy, you won't be able to do anything. That's weird because Zachariah is a priest. What kind of priest doesn't have a voice? How are you gonna bless me? How are you gonna pray for me? How are you gonna show up for me? But when Zechariah came out, they said that you could tell that he saw something and he was unable to speak. He could just point to what he was pointing at. This reminds me later on when Jesus was being revealed to the disciples, and one guy came up to him and they said, I see Jesus, but can anything good come from Nazareth? And then they tell him, He said, Come and see. I imagine Zachariah said, I can't speak, but if you follow my story, you'll come and see how Jesus is doing something big inside of my life. And so Zachariah can't speak, and in my mind, I'm thinking to myself, maybe he can't speak because it's unnecessary for him to doubt any further. Sometimes it's better for us just to be quiet. Who in here grew up in the house where they say, if you don't have nothing nice to say, then don't say some of y'all got traumatized when you said it again. You said he said anything at all. Ooh, Jesus. Let me speed it up just just a little bit faster. And so that happens. A little bit later on, that same angel goes and meets with a with a girl named Mary who's in a town called Nazareth. Nazareth is kind of a throwaway little part of town, nobody's ever thinking about it. And Gabriel goes to this girl named Mary and says, Guess what? You're it, you've been chosen. This is your day. You are gonna birth the Messiah. Mary's like, Who, me? I don't even know him, man. He's like, Yes, you. And she says, All right then, I'll rock with this. He says, Oh, by the way, your cousin Elizabeth, she's pregnant. Go and holler at her. She goes over to Elizabeth's, and when she walks into Elizabeth's home, Elizabeth's baby begins to leap. The baby on the inside of her. She said, Oh my goodness, Mary came to see me and my baby leap. That's how I know that who you're carrying is a Messiah, and Holy Spirit begin to come alive on the inside of me because what's on the inside of me began to leap. I pray that you get around some people that when they come around you, your joy begins to leap again. Your faith begins to leap again. When is the last time your dreams begin to leap on the inside? But truth be told, some of us are not around people that help us to leap. Some of us are surrounded by people that only leech. You had a dream, but now it's drowning. You had joy, but now it's jaded. You had peace, but now it feels like you're paralyzed in a constant state that I don't know what to do next. Some of us feel like I'm literally living with a cloud over my head. And on the other side of that cloud happens to be the sun that you're looking for. Yesterday I flew into this glorious city, and I know when I was flying here, I said, I didn't know that there was water this far in California. And I looked again and said, That is not water, that looks like one giant cloud. And I looked at for 30 minutes, we flew over this cloud. Then I said, This cannot be real. And then I landed and started driving. I said, Wait a minute, we're under a cloud. And somebody told me, they said, This cloud has kind of been here for a long time. I told my wife, I said, Girl, I should have, when I should have put the sun in my pocket when I came here and brought them some sun. She said, It's all right, boo, you already hot enough. I said, Okay, girl, which camera am I on? I see you, girl, and I'll see you in a few hours. My girl said, I was hot by myself. You want to know what I recognize though? Above the clouds, the sun was still shining. Some of us may have feel like we've walked into this season with a cloud over our life, but above the clouds, the sun is still shining. And the sun will shine through, and you'll be able to feel the promises of God peek through whatever's been hanging over you. And so in this moment, right here, we get to point number one. Point number one is this is this a new song starts with new sight. Psalm 43 says this a new song for a new day rises up in me. I pray that a new song begins to rise up on the inside of you. I pray that you begin to hear a new melody. Why? Because a new song for a new day rises on the inside of me. And Mary's song is this thing that we discover in Luke 1. What is Mary's song? The word is called Mary's song the magnificent. Because when Mary starts her song, she starts by saying, Oh, how magnificent is the Lord! Oh, how magnificent is your name! Oh, how magnificent is your word unto me. And in that magnificent place, they decided we're gonna call this Mary's song. See, when Luke wrote all of this, he had a theme to it. He could write it like scripture, but he said, This part right here needs to be written like poetry because it needs to flow out like a melody. Because it wasn't just Mary speaking, it was her turning poetry into a song. So it's written like a song. And Mary, after encountering Elizabeth, and Elizabeth begins to bless Mary. Mary's only response is to give God praise through song. There are some moments in your life that something happens that's so unique that the only thing that'll be able to come out of you is the song of the Lord. You'll be able to sing, thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah! How great thou art! Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, blessed assurance, or you'll be able to say, Thank you, Jesus, for all that you've done. I give you praise, I give you gratitude. There's a season where only a song of praise can come out of you. And Mary, she has this moment and she says, He has looked with favor on me. I pray that today you begin to walk out of here and realize that God has looked at favor with favor on your life, sitting in your seat as somebody whose favor is resting on your yes, favor is resting on your perspective, favor is resting on you. But beside you is a seat that somebody at Christmas needs to be sitting in that's not in the building right now, and favor is already resting in that seat for them. Who's the person that you're invited for Christmas that's gonna sit in a seat called favor so they can hear what Mary heard? He has looked with favor on me. Your new day deserves a new playlist. Some of us have been listening to the same playlist over and over and over, and it's time for a new playlist. Notice this with Mary though nothing outside changed, but everything on the inside changed. That's what I love about peace. Peace says that it may not change outside in this reality, but everything on the inside of me has absolutely changed. It may not have changed what's in my hands, but what's on the inside of me has changed. This is why I love my prayer time with the Lord because I get to the point where I say, God, if nothing out here changes, change me so that way how I encounter this ends up changing. And if you change me, I'll change that. Some of us got to recognize that the change on the inside is greater than the change on the outside. Your new day deserves a new playlist. And so here's Mary giving a response. And if you read through this song of Mary, I don't have time to preach it the way I really want to, but if you read through this whole song of Mary, Mary begins to bless the Lord, and it looks like she pieced these words together, and it seems like it's random, but it's not random at all. When Mary is actually doing it, she's piecing together this song that out of the overflow of her praise happens to be about 10 to 15 scriptures that comes out. She she remembers Hannah's prayer. Hannah, I got you. She remembers a little bit of Isaiah. Come here, Isaiah, I got you. She remembers a little bit of the Proverbs, I got you right here. A little bit of the prophets, and she puts it all together, and the song of praise she gives happens to be the word of God. This is good because sometimes God does something so special in my life, and I relegate him to wow. Amazing. Oh, that's cool. Someone comes and gives their life to the Lord, and their life gets radically changed, and I say, Wow. Somebody gets off of drugs, they break the chains of addiction, and I say, Wow, that marriage that I know that couple was crazy because I've seen their craziness firsthand. They actually made it and survived, and now they're healthy. And I just say, Oh wow, that's cool. There are miracles around us every day that we see, and when we don't see it through the lens of the gospel, we can just say, Wow. Mary said, Not good enough. I want to put some scripture back on this holy moment. God, you're good. You have chosen me. You have favored me. You you favored this moment. What is gonna come out of you when the next miracle hits? Will it just be a while? Or will you be repeating God back to God, the wonders of his word? Mary had a song. That song wasn't a statement, it was a song. It wasn't just spontaneous, it had some depth to it. It wasn't just her talking about the promises, those promises turned into praise. I love this right here. She talked about the history and the resume of God. Your song is your signature. That's how we know what song is gonna come up next. I told somebody earlier at the earlier service, I said, who remembers this? Sunday, Monday, happy days, Tuesday, Wednesday, happy day. Oh, even the young folks know it. I love that. I saw the generation, like, yeah, I know that one reverend. I got you, yo. I got that one, I know what that one is. They're like, Yes, what is that? That is your signature song. Everyone has a signature song. Here's Colossians 3:16. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you sing. Let the message of Christ, each person has a message of Christ, how you view the gospel, let it dwell among you richly as you sing. That word richly means with abundance, with fervor, with might. Let it roll out of you. What is your song that you're singing? Mary sang her song. Point number two is this the song in you is a sign to others. Somebody say evidence. I love that. Evidence. I had down that it was just a sign, but I then I wrote down that it's evidence because sometimes we need to review the evidence of God's resume of how good He's been, so someone else. Can see, I'm holding the evidence of his faithfulness. My life is the evidence of his faithfulness. My demeanor is the evidence of his faithfulness. The fact that I'm no longer traumatized and triggered by that. The fact that I no longer have rage behind that is the evidence. The fact that I'm still standing here and I'm still breathing and I'm still in my right mind and I can still smile is the evidence of God's goodness. Who in here is holding some evidence today? Where are you? The people that are holding some evidence. Let me hear the evidence, people. I'm here, I got some evidence, Pastor. I'm holding the evidence. I know the evidence. My life is the evidence. And you're looking at 2026 and saying, and my kids will be the evidence. Oh, that baby said, Amen. Oh, let me just work with this. Let me just work with that for a second. Because the adults set the example, the baby found some evidence and said, I don't know what I'm gonna say, but I'm gonna say what you said because you responded to God and y'all said amen. And the baby jumped up and said, Amen. And that is how you change the world. And there's always that one person that's like, Wow. Psalm 43 says this until everyone hears how God has set me free. There's a song in you so everyone can hear how God set you free. How did God set you free? What's he been doing inside of your world? Here's what I love about this Zachariah song. Remember, Zachariah couldn't speak. He's finally holding this baby that he was promised. And they say, What's his name? Zachariah writes it down because they try to argue with what they want to name it. They said, You cannot name it that because no one else in your family has ever been named this. Let me help you. In 2026, you will be able to name things in your family that happened good for the first time, and you'll be the first generation of that. No one else has ever had it because you'll have your Zachariah moment. And then he began to open his mouth and he began to speak. And they call it Zachariah's song. And what he said, which looks like a statement, became his song of the goodness of God and how he was a front runner. Why? Because that breakthrough turned into a song, and that song shifted their belief. Everybody began to hear about it. Point number three: your song creates space for miracles. Your song creates space for miracles. You're going to sing a song this week. That song is going to be that invitation of somebody coming and sitting beside you next week. They're going to have many opportunities to encounter the gospel. And that seat beside you is already ready for a miracle. Because this week, when someone says, How do you have so much joy? You're going to be able to sing the song of Jesus. Well, let me tell you about what he did this year. Here's how I'm still standing. Here's how I've made it. Yes, life has throwing me some curveballs. And yes, the thing hasn't changed, but God changed me. Why? Because your song creates space for miracles. In this moment, we see this thing called the angel's song. Gloria in Excelsius. It says, suddenly, a great company of the heavenly hosts appeared praising God. Let me bring us up to speed. Here's a moment where Jesus, the birth is there, and there are some shepherds that get interrupted by an angel. And then they can begin to hear the angels in heaven beginning to sing over them and singing about the miracle that's happening. And they aren't explaining, they're making an announcement. I pray that you begin to hear the announcement of God over your life. I pray who in here has ever uh heard the worship team singing, heard you singing, but you said to yourself, It feels like there's more people singing. Maybe that's heaven leaning into your scenario, starting to sing with you and through you and about you in heaven making an announcement about you. Here's heaven making an announcement about Jesus with the angels. It says, Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared praising God. Why? Because point number one says your song creates space for miracles. The miracle is that the baby is here, the miracle is that the light that changes the darkness is here, the miracle is that the promise is here, the miracle is that Jesus came to earth because earth was lost and needed a connection point with God again. And Jesus said, tap me in dad. I got this one. The miracle is the breach that we have. Point number four. Here's the last one. Your song turns witnesses into worshipers. Somebody's watching your life, and there will be a witness of what God is doing, and that will literally turn them into a worshiper. Here's my question: if I view your life, would I be a worshiper or a warrior? Would I sit on the edge of my seat and say, I whatever will they do this time? Or will I sit on the edge of my seat and say, They've told God about their problems, and now they're telling their problems about how big their God is. What will it look like? Will your story make me a worshiper or a warrior? I want to live a life. So what this baby just did is what others do. He says, Somebody responds and says, hallelujah, and somebody says, Amen. Why? Because that worship made them a witness. There's a guy named Simeon. Simeon's been working in the temple, and they're bringing Jesus as a baby to be circumcised. And Simeon's been made a promise. You're gonna see the Messiah. And here's Simeon, he's getting a chance to see the Messiah. And all of a sudden, when he sees him in the temple, he has a song in his heart to sing. This makes Psalm 40 and 3 make sense. They will stand in awe of God and fall in love with him. Simeon's song says this my eyes have seen your salvation. My eyes have seen the redemption. My eyes have seen that Jesus has always been the answer and always will be the answer. My eyes have seen his redeeming power. My eyes have seen the fact that I get a second chance because of Jesus. Here's what I recognize your sound carries someone else's salvation story. There's a sound on the inside of you. There's a song. Somebody told me at the first service. They said, Pastor, when you begin to start talking about this stuff, something inside of me began to leap. And I said, You didn't have Taco Bell, did you? They said no. They said that it must be the Holy Ghost. Something inside of me said, I can have a second chance. Something inside of me said, There's a song for me to sing. Something inside of me said, I'm gonna fill this seat beside me. And it's not gonna be because I had osmosis and almost invited them. It's gonna be because I want to let my song sing. On the way here, I saw people wearing their jerseys of the local team. I'm a commander's fan. I don't wear my jersey much out. We don't have much to have a song about yet. We're still trying to find some revelation. We thought we we thought we had somebody that could take us to the promised land, but uh keep praying for us. And so uh, and so I I saw the local team, and I saw another team too. They thought they were a holy team that has a little star on there. What don't worry about it. Um, and uh yeah, that joke is so much better here than in Texas, I'll tell you that. I didn't have to wonder what team he was representing. Because before that guy could ever make a statement, his life was assigned. This is who I represent. I wonder if you were to put on the jersey of Jesus, if people would see it this week. What does that jersey look like? It looks like your love, it looks like your kindness, it looks like you're wearing your joy, it looks like you're wearing your peace. Or maybe some of us are standing like Mary, and there's Mary with an angel that said, You're pregnant. And I can imagine Mary say, I don't feel pregnant. You're carrying a baby, I don't have any morning sickness. You're carrying a baby, I still look like the same on me. It is possible for something to be hidden on the inside of you, and you not hold any of the symptoms yet, but you just hold on. The evidence is coming, the evidence of your joy is coming, the evidence of the notes that you've been taking, they're coming. The evidence of the hope of glory that lives on the inside of you, it is coming. You just need to one, two, three release it. Do me a favor, stand on your feet. Everybody in here with some evidence. That's everybody in here with some evidence, stand on your feet with me. This last scripture, it says, a new song for a new day rises up in me every time I think about how he breaks through from me. Can I just push you for a second? Would you take 15 seconds and just think about how God broke you free this year from everything that the enemy tried to throw with you at you? Would you take 20 seconds and just think about it? And while you're thinking about it, is there anybody in here willing to say, yes, that's me? I'm the one that broke out because something tried to grab me and God set me free. Where are those people at? That you said that was almost me. I was almost in a trap, I was almost in a snare, I was almost held down, I was almost held back, I almost died, but I'm still standing here. A new song rises up in me every time I think about how he breaks through from me. Ecstatic praise pours out of my mouth until everyone hears how God has set me free. What kind of praise? Estatic praise, exciting praise. God, I'm gonna give you the best of my joy. And then he says, Many will see his miracles, they'll stand in awe of God and fall in love with him. Will you allow God to use your story as the final period of this season to say, so people can stand in awe of me, and so that way they can fall in love with me. Would you give God some praise in here one more time? Come on. If you're here today and you're like, Pastor Courtney, I'm in. I want God to be able to use the song of my life. I'm willing to allow the Lord to sing through me. Use my life as a symphony. I want people to know who Jesus is because they see something in me that looks like the hope of glory. If that's you, just lift your hands. I want to pray for you and pray for your week. I see your hands up, hold them up high. Do me a favor. There you go, hold them up high. I see you all over. I wish I could be like one of those old preachers who started counting people, but I'll just say 300 people. There you go. Father, in Jesus' name, use our lives, use our stories, use our families, use our yes, use our frail places, use the places of strength inside of us. Lord, you have access to our heart and you have access to my habits, you have access to my hope. Literally, build something inside of me that is a strong melody that the world can see and that I can sing that looks like the story of the cross. In Jesus' name we pray. It is so I am yours, and this season ends with you getting praise. Somebody say amen and give God some praise one more time. Come on.