Worship Preparation Guide for Sunday, September 2

On Sunday, November 4, Westwood will celebrate our 50^th anniversary.  The theme for this celebration is Celebrating 50 Years of God’s Faithfulness.  For the next eight weeks we will be examining the theme by looking at scriptural examples of God’s eternal faithfulness, and consider how that biblical record applies to our church both for the past fifty years and the years to come.  The sermon series is entitled Faithful.

Before we look at any of the faithful acts of God, we want to consider the faithful character of God.  All that God does is based upon who He is.   In Deuteronomy 7 we read: “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations”.  (Deuteronomy 7:9)  Our God is God, the faithful God!  We will consider this truth both from Moses’ perspective as He originally declared it, and from Paul’s perspective as he confirmed it some 1500 years later by declaring,  “The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” (2 Timothy 2:11-13)

As you prepare to gather with God’s people at Westwood for worship this Sunday I’d ask you to consider this point that we will examine in the sermon: God is faithful to himself.  As I say this I know that many people struggle with this concept.  Does this not make God an egomaniac?  Is this not in some way self-centered on God’s part?   From a human standpoint we frown on and avoid those we believe are focused on themselves.  How are we to understand God’s faithfulness to himself, and how should that impact the way we worship him?

No one, in my opinion, has been more consistent and clear in helping the church understand this truth than John Piper.  In an article entitled “Is God For Us or For Himself?” Piper writes:

That God is praiseworthy, that we ought to praise him, that we will praise him—these are common truths among Christians, and we affirm them gladly. But less often do we hear the truth that the praise of God's glory is not merely the result of his action but also the goal and purpose of that action. He governs the world precisely to the end that he might be admired, marveled at, exalted, and praised. 

Because God is unique as the most glorious of all beings and totally self-sufficient, he must be for himself in order to be for us. If he were to abandon the goal of his own self-exaltation, we would be the losers. His aim to bring praise to himself and his aim to bring pleasure to his people are one aim and stand or fall together.  God conceived the whole plan of redemption in love to bring men back to himself, for as the psalmist says, "In your presence there is fullness of joy, in your right hand are pleasures for evermore" (16:11). God is after us to give us what is best—not prestige, wealth, or even health in this life, but a full-blown vision of and fellowship with himself. (www.desiringgod.org)

In explaining how this relates to our praise and worship of God, Piper quotes C.S Lewis:

But the most obvious fact about praise—whether of God or anything —strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise—lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game—praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians and scholars.

My whole, more general difficulty, about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can't help doing, about everything else we value.   I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are, the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. (Reflections on the Psalms, pp. 93–95)

As you prepare for worship consider that your joy and delight in God would be incomplete if you did not express it, if you did not sing it, if you did not proclaim it in God-exalting, Spirit-filled worship.  “We praise what we enjoy because the delight is incomplete until it is expressed in praise.” 

As a part of our worship service we will sing the “ Great is Thy Faithfulness”.  This could be the theme song for the entire sermon series.  The song is addressed to God; it is sung to Him.  Sing this hymn to God as a prayer as you prepare to gather with your church family at Westwood this Sunday. 

Great is Thy faithfulness," O God my Father, 

there is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not, 

as Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. 

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed thy hand has provided.  

Great is thy faithfulness,  Lord unto Me.