WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.020 Well, if you could keep your Bible open at the 00:00:03.020 --> 00:00:05.379 Lord's Prayer be great to have it there in front 00:00:05.379 --> 00:00:09.300 of you as we look at it now and It'd be suitable 00:00:09.300 --> 00:00:14.720 for us to start by praying. So let's pray Father 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:17.719 we thank you that you speak to us and we ask 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:21.600 father that you would help us now To see what 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:26.260 an amazing God you are please Help us to have 00:00:26.260 --> 00:00:29.519 our minds blown this morning By what a great 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:32.740 God you are. And we ask this in Jesus' name. 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:38.100 Amen. Well, for a free cup of coffee, can anyone 00:00:38.100 --> 00:00:43.500 tell me who this is? The planets are a bit of 00:00:43.500 --> 00:00:49.960 a clue. Galileo's close, not quite. Too much 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:54.259 Bohemian Rhapsody if you think Galileo. That's 00:00:54.259 --> 00:00:57.890 Nicholas Copernicus. Now if you know Nicholas 00:00:57.890 --> 00:01:00.829 Copernicus, for the longest time people thought 00:01:00.829 --> 00:01:03.950 that the earth was the centre of the universe. 00:01:04.530 --> 00:01:07.609 They believed that the sun, the stars and other 00:01:07.609 --> 00:01:10.849 planets all rotated around the earth. But in 00:01:10.849 --> 00:01:15.010 1530, Nicholas Copernicus made a massive discovery. 00:01:15.769 --> 00:01:20.129 The sun, not the earth, is at the centre of the 00:01:20.129 --> 00:01:24.629 universe. Now that was a massive paradigm shift 00:01:24.629 --> 00:01:27.829 for people, wasn't it? It became known as the 00:01:27.829 --> 00:01:32.650 Copernican Revolution. It changed the way we 00:01:32.650 --> 00:01:38.650 see our place in the universe. Now this might 00:01:38.650 --> 00:01:41.890 come across as a bit bold, but I hope today we 00:01:41.890 --> 00:01:45.450 have a Copernican Revolution. Not a scientific 00:01:45.450 --> 00:01:50.549 one, but a spiritual one. See, our default position 00:01:50.549 --> 00:01:54.129 is to put ourselves at the centre of the universe, 00:01:54.170 --> 00:01:58.390 isn't it? To think everything revolves around 00:01:58.390 --> 00:02:03.209 us, around me. Life is about expressing myself, 00:02:03.629 --> 00:02:08.750 my happiness, what's meaningful to me. At our 00:02:08.750 --> 00:02:12.810 core, we believe life is better when I'm at the 00:02:12.810 --> 00:02:16.750 centre of the universe. But this causes no end 00:02:16.750 --> 00:02:20.250 of problems, does it? It causes conflict all 00:02:20.250 --> 00:02:22.389 over the world. Because if you think you're at 00:02:22.389 --> 00:02:24.129 the centre of the universe and I think I'm at 00:02:24.129 --> 00:02:26.430 the centre of the universe, we're going to have 00:02:26.430 --> 00:02:30.650 a problem, are we? Anger, violence, wars, all 00:02:30.650 --> 00:02:34.449 stem from people thinking that they or their 00:02:34.449 --> 00:02:38.509 tribe are at the centre of the universe. See, 00:02:38.509 --> 00:02:40.169 putting myself at the centre of the universe 00:02:40.169 --> 00:02:43.490 seems like a good idea, but it actually just 00:02:43.490 --> 00:02:47.400 causes so much conflict and chaos. It doesn't 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:51.979 really work. And so that's why today I'm hoping 00:02:51.979 --> 00:02:56.620 we'll have a Copernican revolution that will 00:02:56.620 --> 00:03:01.360 see God is really at the centre of the universe. 00:03:02.740 --> 00:03:06.900 That our lives will align with that reality that 00:03:06.900 --> 00:03:11.180 he's at the centre of the universe. So why should 00:03:11.180 --> 00:03:17.050 my life revolve around God? Why him? That's what 00:03:17.050 --> 00:03:20.569 I want to show you today as we look at hallowed 00:03:20.569 --> 00:03:23.909 be your name and Here's the big thing. I'm hoping 00:03:23.909 --> 00:03:29.430 we'll see from today God deserves to be honored 00:03:29.430 --> 00:03:35.250 so pray that he would be God deserves to be honored 00:03:35.250 --> 00:03:37.729 so pray that he would be if you're someone who 00:03:37.729 --> 00:03:40.270 has God at the center of the universe That's 00:03:40.270 --> 00:03:41.710 what you're gonna believe. That's what you're 00:03:41.710 --> 00:03:45.740 gonna do God deserves to be honored so pray that 00:03:45.740 --> 00:03:47.680 he would be. And there's three aspects to that 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:51.000 that we're going to look at today. Firstly, God 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:53.740 deserves honour. Is he all that he's cracked 00:03:53.740 --> 00:03:57.919 up to be? Secondly, we pray for God's fame. That's 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:01.159 one of the ways we pray. And then thirdly, we 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:04.379 praise God's name in our prayers, as well as 00:04:04.379 --> 00:04:06.580 in the way we live and sing and other things 00:04:06.580 --> 00:04:10.219 as well. So let's have a look. This is what Hello 00:04:10.219 --> 00:04:12.819 Be Your Name is all about. And let's start with 00:04:12.819 --> 00:04:17.899 the first bit. God deserves honour. Now that's 00:04:17.899 --> 00:04:21.120 the assumption that's built into hallowed be 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:25.959 your name. What's hallowed mean? It's not herald 00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:29.819 be your name. What's hallowed? Hallowed is to 00:04:29.819 --> 00:04:35.480 make holy. It's to treat as special, as precious, 00:04:36.019 --> 00:04:41.420 as sacred. Many years ago I would go visit my 00:04:41.420 --> 00:04:45.430 grandmother's house. and she had this big cabinet 00:04:45.430 --> 00:04:49.769 of fine china that just sat there. We never ate 00:04:49.769 --> 00:04:53.850 from it. I think it was there for when the Queen 00:04:53.850 --> 00:04:58.250 decided to come over. It was treated as special. 00:04:59.449 --> 00:05:02.310 You know, I couldn't go practice my golf pitching 00:05:02.310 --> 00:05:05.629 and chipping in that room for obvious reasons. 00:05:07.189 --> 00:05:11.250 That was hallowed. That was holy. That was sacred. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:15.079 The opposite of hallowed would be to treat it 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:19.079 as common, as nothing special. Imagine if rather 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:21.459 than having it in the cabinet, only saving it 00:05:21.459 --> 00:05:23.860 for the Queen, if every night we pulled out the 00:05:23.860 --> 00:05:28.379 fine china and we had some fast food on it. That'd 00:05:28.379 --> 00:05:30.259 be the opposite of hallowed, wouldn't it? That'd 00:05:30.259 --> 00:05:36.100 be normal, run of the mill, every day. Now what 00:05:36.100 --> 00:05:39.100 does it mean when we say hallowed be your name? 00:05:40.199 --> 00:05:43.910 We're saying God's name, the reputation that 00:05:43.910 --> 00:05:48.889 reflects his character, needs to be treated as 00:05:48.889 --> 00:05:55.730 holy and hallowed. We're praying that we'd honour 00:05:55.730 --> 00:05:59.470 God in our own hearts and that others would honour 00:05:59.470 --> 00:06:04.310 him too. That his name wouldn't be blasphemed 00:06:04.310 --> 00:06:07.149 and besmirched, that it wouldn't be dragged through 00:06:07.149 --> 00:06:11.899 the mud. but that it would be adored and loved. 00:06:13.980 --> 00:06:16.199 You know, why is it so horrible when Christians 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:20.259 sin? I mean, look, there's not just the human 00:06:20.259 --> 00:06:23.660 hurt, which is bad enough, isn't it? What makes 00:06:23.660 --> 00:06:27.420 it so bad is that it reflects badly on our God, 00:06:27.579 --> 00:06:31.439 doesn't it? It brings His name through the mud. 00:06:33.459 --> 00:06:38.079 We love our God. Because he's been so loving 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:43.439 to us. And so that's why we want people to think 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:49.019 highly of him. Imagine you stayed in the most 00:06:49.019 --> 00:06:53.060 amazing hotel that you've ever been to. I was 00:06:53.060 --> 00:06:56.339 taking my mum for a little drive along the Esplanade 00:06:56.339 --> 00:06:58.060 and we were seeing some of the beautiful hotels. 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:00.339 I don't know which one's the good one. But imagine 00:07:00.339 --> 00:07:03.980 you stayed at the good one. And the staff just 00:07:03.980 --> 00:07:07.459 bend over backwards for you. They go above and 00:07:07.459 --> 00:07:11.139 beyond, always with a smile. The facilities are 00:07:11.139 --> 00:07:14.100 luxurious. There's not even a light switch that 00:07:14.100 --> 00:07:17.279 isn't working. Everything works perfectly. The 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:19.800 rooms are palatial. There's games for the kids 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:23.899 in a 24 -7 kids club. That's the dream. There's 00:07:23.899 --> 00:07:27.519 a spa that's just heavenly. And the price was 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:30.319 amazingly cheap. And they throw in all these 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:34.100 deals, free ... meals, free minibar, all of it. 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:36.839 And it's so good by the end that you say, well, 00:07:36.860 --> 00:07:39.319 I don't normally do this, but I'm going to write 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:43.660 a review. And you give them five stars. You say, 00:07:43.860 --> 00:07:48.660 this is the best hotel I've ever been at. Now 00:07:48.660 --> 00:07:50.699 imagine next week you go out for coffee with 00:07:50.699 --> 00:07:53.660 some friends and they start bagging that hotel 00:07:53.660 --> 00:07:58.759 that you went to. What are you going to do? You 00:07:58.759 --> 00:08:01.949 jump in and defend it. Oh, what are you talking 00:08:01.949 --> 00:08:04.550 about? This is amazing. This hotel is fantastic. 00:08:04.970 --> 00:08:07.970 Oh, you should stay there and try it again. I 00:08:07.970 --> 00:08:09.470 don't know what happened when you went there. 00:08:09.470 --> 00:08:11.589 Maybe you were just a jerk. I don't know. Like, 00:08:11.829 --> 00:08:15.110 you'd be defending it and honouring it and promoting 00:08:15.110 --> 00:08:18.350 it because you think this is an awesome hotel. 00:08:20.350 --> 00:08:22.350 Well, for Christians, that's what it's like with 00:08:22.350 --> 00:08:28.629 God, isn't it? God deserves honour because He 00:08:28.629 --> 00:08:33.029 is so good. Okay, hang on a sec, Brendan, but 00:08:33.029 --> 00:08:39.029 why? What's so great about your God? Well, in 00:08:39.029 --> 00:08:43.970 the Bible we find he's an almighty creator. He 00:08:43.970 --> 00:08:48.529 made everything, every good gift on planet Earth 00:08:48.529 --> 00:08:52.870 comes from him. Whether beauty, art, friendship, 00:08:53.169 --> 00:08:58.070 food, morality, games, sex, family, sport, love, 00:08:58.389 --> 00:09:03.639 all of it comes from him. What an awesome God. 00:09:04.580 --> 00:09:07.519 I mean, here's how the Bible puts it. You are 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:09.860 worthy our Lord and God to receive glory and 00:09:09.860 --> 00:09:13.620 honor and power. For you created all things and 00:09:13.620 --> 00:09:16.399 by your will they were created and have their 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:21.039 being. Put another way in Romans 1. For although 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:24.220 they knew God, they neither glorified him as 00:09:24.220 --> 00:09:27.120 God nor gave thanks to him. But their thinking 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:29.779 became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:32.080 That's the problem, isn't it? That people look 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:34.799 at God and they go, oh, I don't want to honour 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:38.240 him. Then I've got to kind of like submit to 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:40.100 him and listen to him and treat him as if he's 00:09:40.100 --> 00:09:42.299 there. I'm just going to suppress him out of 00:09:42.299 --> 00:09:45.559 my life and not give him thanks for all that 00:09:45.559 --> 00:09:49.740 he's done for me. No, God deserves to be honoured. 00:09:50.810 --> 00:09:54.330 And that's just for the creation he's made. He's 00:09:54.330 --> 00:09:56.970 not only the creator, he's a sovereign king. 00:09:57.549 --> 00:09:59.809 He's not like the deistic god that people often 00:09:59.809 --> 00:10:02.470 talk about, the one, you know, he sets the watch 00:10:02.470 --> 00:10:05.470 and it's like he winds up the universe and goes, 00:10:05.750 --> 00:10:08.210 okay, let's let it run. I'm off to do other things, 00:10:08.389 --> 00:10:11.509 mow the lawn or whatever God's gonna do. No, 00:10:11.509 --> 00:10:14.850 he's there intimately involved in every aspect 00:10:14.850 --> 00:10:18.590 of creation. He's ruling over every single atom, 00:10:19.029 --> 00:10:25.730 every single event. That's who your God is. And 00:10:25.730 --> 00:10:30.049 not only that, He's a gracious Saviour, gracious 00:10:30.049 --> 00:10:35.610 and merciful, abounding in steadfast love. I 00:10:35.610 --> 00:10:40.210 mean, so many, we ignore our Creator and reject 00:10:40.210 --> 00:10:42.490 Him every day, even though He's done nothing 00:10:42.490 --> 00:10:45.649 but good to us. People all through the world 00:10:45.649 --> 00:10:48.769 do it. And does he smite us right away? No, he 00:10:48.769 --> 00:10:51.230 gives us opportunity to repent. Actually, he 00:10:51.230 --> 00:10:57.330 loves us so much that he sent his son to absorb 00:10:57.330 --> 00:10:59.710 the punishment that should have been ours for 00:10:59.710 --> 00:11:04.950 our sin and rebellion. I was reading about a 00:11:04.950 --> 00:11:09.009 skydiver a little while ago named Aaron Topher, 00:11:09.009 --> 00:11:13.750 I think it is. He went on a tandem skydive with 00:11:13.750 --> 00:11:17.019 somebody here in Australia. And as they went 00:11:17.019 --> 00:11:20.159 down, something went horribly wrong with the 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:23.320 parachute. And they started plummeting toward 00:11:23.320 --> 00:11:28.580 the earth. And what Aaron Topher did is he twisted 00:11:28.580 --> 00:11:33.320 himself so that he got the full brunt and impact 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:39.279 of the ground. He died so that the guy he was 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:46.240 with could walk away alive. Now, why do I tell 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:49.440 you that? Because that reminds us of the God 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:55.120 we have, doesn't it? We have a God who sent His 00:11:55.120 --> 00:12:00.000 Son to absorb the full wrath and judgment, righteous 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:02.039 and holy judgment that should have been ours. 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:06.360 He absorbs that. It's as if He takes us and turns 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:09.940 us to one side and He copps it so that we will 00:12:09.940 --> 00:12:14.750 be spared, so that we will escape. Here's how 00:12:14.750 --> 00:12:19.269 the Bible puts it. Worthy is the lamb, that's 00:12:19.269 --> 00:12:22.590 talking about the Lord Jesus, who was slain to 00:12:22.590 --> 00:12:26.009 receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength 00:12:26.009 --> 00:12:30.649 and honour and glory and praise. Jesus is the 00:12:30.649 --> 00:12:33.110 one who was slain for us. He experienced God's 00:12:33.110 --> 00:12:37.470 anger and judgment in our place. That makes him 00:12:37.500 --> 00:12:40.519 worthy of power, wealth and wisdom, strength, 00:12:40.860 --> 00:12:44.539 honour and glory and praise. He deserves our 00:12:44.539 --> 00:12:51.500 worship. But not only that, our God is a righteous 00:12:51.500 --> 00:12:55.720 judge. One day he's going to set everything in 00:12:55.720 --> 00:12:59.600 the universe right. All the injustices we see, 00:12:59.659 --> 00:13:02.659 all the problems in the world, when Jesus returns, 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:07.549 it's all going to be sorted out. Now, honestly, 00:13:07.789 --> 00:13:12.409 that's just the tip of the iceberg. We've barely 00:13:12.409 --> 00:13:15.389 touched on who God is. We could talk about God's 00:13:15.389 --> 00:13:18.029 holiness, God's wisdom. You know, we could talk 00:13:18.029 --> 00:13:21.450 about so many more attributes about who God is. 00:13:23.370 --> 00:13:27.850 But don't you reckon a God like that deserves 00:13:27.850 --> 00:13:34.490 honour, praise and worship? Imagine for a second 00:13:34.750 --> 00:13:38.129 you were going to start a religion. Maybe some 00:13:38.129 --> 00:13:39.590 of you have thought about doing that. I don't 00:13:39.590 --> 00:13:41.929 know. Please don't. It's probably not going to 00:13:41.929 --> 00:13:45.350 end well. But say you were going to start a religion 00:13:45.350 --> 00:13:48.710 and you had to dream up a god for everyone to 00:13:48.710 --> 00:13:53.850 follow. Do you reckon you could design a god 00:13:53.850 --> 00:13:57.250 as good as the god I've just explained to you? 00:13:58.769 --> 00:14:01.429 I think what happens when people dream up religions 00:14:01.789 --> 00:14:03.909 is they end up with a God who's just a bigger 00:14:03.909 --> 00:14:08.529 version of themselves, limited by their values, 00:14:08.730 --> 00:14:13.929 their concepts, their thinking, who doesn't blow 00:14:13.929 --> 00:14:15.870 your mind, who doesn't challenge your thinking, 00:14:16.169 --> 00:14:18.509 who doesn't make you go, wow, he's infinitely 00:14:18.509 --> 00:14:21.330 greater than I ever imagined, I need to worship 00:14:21.330 --> 00:14:24.909 him. They're just bigger versions of themselves. 00:14:27.090 --> 00:14:29.830 That's what the gods of other religions are like. 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:33.779 Man -made gods that people have dreamed up. Have 00:14:33.779 --> 00:14:36.279 you ever thought about, you know, jihad in Islam? 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:41.679 72 virgins for the jihadists. Now, you can't 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:43.659 tell me that doesn't sound like a man -made god 00:14:43.659 --> 00:14:48.639 to you. But the God of the Bible is so radically 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:54.059 different. He wasn't dreamt up. He came down. 00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:59.120 He revealed himself in the Lord Jesus. And he 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:02.159 showed us that he's infinitely greater than anything 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:05.759 we could concoct. At the same time, he's holy, 00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:08.860 he's merciful. At the same time, he's good, he's 00:15:08.860 --> 00:15:12.919 powerful. He's just better than we could ever 00:15:12.919 --> 00:15:18.139 dream up. He's infinitely great. And that's why, 00:15:18.139 --> 00:15:20.659 by the way, heaven won't be boring. You know, 00:15:20.659 --> 00:15:23.320 sometimes my kids say to me, Dad, isn't heaven 00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:28.350 going to be really boring? No. Because what are 00:15:28.350 --> 00:15:30.129 we going to be doing in heaven? We're going to 00:15:30.129 --> 00:15:33.690 be getting to know and enjoying that God who 00:15:33.690 --> 00:15:38.289 is infinitely good for all eternity You're never 00:15:38.289 --> 00:15:39.850 going to sit there in heaven after a billion 00:15:39.850 --> 00:15:43.490 years and go Yeah, right. I think I get God now. 00:15:44.269 --> 00:15:48.470 Is there anything else? No, it's always going 00:15:48.470 --> 00:15:55.019 to be mind -blowingly epic See, the God of the 00:15:55.019 --> 00:15:58.220 Bible deserves honour. He deserves to be the 00:15:58.220 --> 00:16:01.460 centre of the universe. And if you don't think 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:04.799 he does, if you're still here and you're thinking, 00:16:05.159 --> 00:16:07.519 I should be at the centre of the universe, I 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:10.639 actually doubt you know God very well or yourself 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:14.980 very well. You're thinking too highly of yourself 00:16:14.980 --> 00:16:18.279 and too little of God. I mean, think about it. 00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:20.720 You're essentially saying, who does God think 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:25.409 he is? God or something? That's kind of silly, 00:16:25.570 --> 00:16:30.649 isn't it? If that's where you're at, can I ask 00:16:30.649 --> 00:16:34.250 you to do something? Come read the Bible with 00:16:34.250 --> 00:16:37.909 me. Let's go have a coffee and if not with me, 00:16:37.909 --> 00:16:40.370 find another Christian here at church, but come 00:16:40.370 --> 00:16:43.570 read the Bible with me and let's go through and 00:16:43.570 --> 00:16:47.210 see together how awesome this God is. I want 00:16:47.210 --> 00:16:50.049 to show you that he's better than you ever thought. 00:16:52.809 --> 00:16:55.429 But if you're here today and you know that God 00:16:55.429 --> 00:16:58.789 is worthy of honour, worship and praise, if you 00:16:58.789 --> 00:17:01.230 know that He rightfully should be the centre 00:17:01.230 --> 00:17:05.569 of the universe and is, then what are you going 00:17:05.569 --> 00:17:10.869 to do? I know, live a life that glorifies Him. 00:17:12.369 --> 00:17:16.289 Fantastic answer, that's brilliant. But you know, 00:17:16.329 --> 00:17:22.750 as good as that is, even that's beyond us. I 00:17:22.750 --> 00:17:26.869 can't worship God properly unless He saves me, 00:17:27.009 --> 00:17:32.329 helps me. I mean, He's worthy of greater worship 00:17:32.329 --> 00:17:37.650 than my little life on earth can ever give. So, 00:17:37.690 --> 00:17:40.849 yes, let's worship God with our lives, but first 00:17:40.849 --> 00:17:45.650 and foremost, we need to acknowledge that God 00:17:45.650 --> 00:17:48.150 is greater than we could ever worship Him. We 00:17:48.150 --> 00:17:52.539 need to ask God to actually glorify His own name. 00:17:53.420 --> 00:17:56.420 And that's our second thing. Yes, God deserves 00:17:56.420 --> 00:17:59.339 honour. So what should we do in response? First 00:17:59.339 --> 00:18:05.519 and foremost, pray for God's fame. Pray for God's 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:10.420 fame. See, when we stop and pray, hallowed be 00:18:10.420 --> 00:18:17.839 your name, we're praying to God for God. Because 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:21.430 we know He's the only one who can truly do this. 00:18:22.650 --> 00:18:25.089 See, when we pray like that, such prayer is putting 00:18:25.089 --> 00:18:30.430 God at the centre instead of us. It's like if 00:18:30.430 --> 00:18:34.049 my kids were to buy me a Father's Day gift. You 00:18:34.049 --> 00:18:36.470 know what has to happen when my kids buy me a 00:18:36.470 --> 00:18:37.950 Father's Day gift? They say, Dad, I want to get 00:18:37.950 --> 00:18:39.930 you a Father's Day gift. Here's what has to happen. 00:18:40.069 --> 00:18:43.309 I need to give them the money. I need to take 00:18:43.309 --> 00:18:45.849 them to the store. At least Laura does. And I 00:18:45.849 --> 00:18:48.230 need to tell them what to buy. No, please, I 00:18:48.230 --> 00:18:52.230 don't want another pair of socks. Actually, it's 00:18:52.230 --> 00:18:56.210 okay if they do. But they need me to actually 00:18:56.210 --> 00:18:59.990 honour me properly. And it's like that with glorifying 00:18:59.990 --> 00:19:04.509 God. We need his help to honour and worship him. 00:19:04.710 --> 00:19:08.470 And so that's why we need to pray about it. Prayer 00:19:08.470 --> 00:19:11.769 is us acknowledging our dependence upon him. 00:19:13.679 --> 00:19:16.059 So what will it look like? Do we just need to 00:19:16.059 --> 00:19:18.619 every day wake up and say, hallowed be your name? 00:19:20.740 --> 00:19:25.519 No, I think we need to pray into that more. We 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:27.960 can go through the Bible and see concrete examples 00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:31.119 that align with that. I mean, the one we looked 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:35.240 at today from Exodus 33, 18. Moses prays to God, 00:19:35.779 --> 00:19:40.299 please show me your glory. That's hallowed be 00:19:40.299 --> 00:19:44.720 your name, isn't it? Then God puts Moses in the 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:48.440 cleft of a rock, passes by proclaiming his name, 00:19:48.900 --> 00:19:53.059 gracious, merciful yet just. But I love that 00:19:53.059 --> 00:19:57.559 prayer. What a prayer. Please show me your glory. 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:01.500 Show me what you're like. Show me how great you 00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:08.000 are. Make your name known to me. Imagine for 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:11.000 a second if everyone at Northern Hope woke up 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:15.720 each day and prayed, our Father in heaven, hallowed 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:20.680 be your name. Father, please show me your glory. 00:20:22.019 --> 00:20:27.480 Humble me. Open my eyes. Help me to see new things 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:31.539 about you today, about how great you are. Help 00:20:31.539 --> 00:20:34.660 me to savour the things I already know about 00:20:34.660 --> 00:20:43.059 you. Help me to grasp more of your love. What 00:20:43.059 --> 00:20:45.119 do you think would happen if we all did that? 00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:51.880 I suspect God might actually answer that. I think 00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:56.559 we might get a deeper hunger for God. It would 00:20:56.559 --> 00:21:00.440 mean more people are at growth groups. It might 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:02.500 mean we'd have to order in a bunch of books about 00:21:02.500 --> 00:21:05.079 God so that people could get to know Him better, 00:21:05.220 --> 00:21:07.299 so that they could understand their Bibles better. 00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:10.799 I think we'd have to put out more chairs at church 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:13.440 because wow we've just got more people coming 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:15.539 in because these Christians they're so joyful 00:21:15.539 --> 00:21:17.819 and magnetic as they come to know their God. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:24.980 I think we'd all have a deeper joy and contentment. 00:21:25.420 --> 00:21:27.559 Think people would leave church and come to church 00:21:27.559 --> 00:21:31.799 with a spring in their step and a deep anticipation 00:21:31.799 --> 00:21:34.299 as to what's going to happen when they come. 00:21:35.779 --> 00:21:38.420 I think you'd find there'd be less little squabbles 00:21:38.420 --> 00:21:42.910 in church. in friendships, in marriages, because 00:21:42.910 --> 00:21:46.990 people be thinking less of me and more about 00:21:46.990 --> 00:21:50.170 their Father in Heaven who deserves to be worshipped 00:21:50.170 --> 00:21:54.769 and praised. And I reckon there'd be a greater 00:21:54.769 --> 00:21:59.609 servant -heartedness because we know a God who 00:21:59.609 --> 00:22:02.269 doesn't sit in an ivory tower and let us suffer. 00:22:02.569 --> 00:22:06.509 We know a God who comes into our world and bears 00:22:06.509 --> 00:22:11.899 the punishment we deserve, suffers with us, That 00:22:11.899 --> 00:22:15.680 creates joyful service and a loving community. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:23.279 Wouldn't that be great? But it starts with praying, 00:22:24.420 --> 00:22:29.880 hallowed be your name. Praying into that. And 00:22:29.880 --> 00:22:32.640 that's just if we pray this for ourselves. What 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:35.220 about if we prayed this for others too? What 00:22:35.220 --> 00:22:37.220 if we prayed, Father, may your name be honoured 00:22:37.220 --> 00:22:40.160 not just in my heart, but in the heart of my 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:43.059 family members, my spouse and my kids. And please 00:22:43.059 --> 00:22:45.420 glorify your name at Northern Hope this weekend 00:22:45.420 --> 00:22:48.400 in the preaching, in the activities, in the services, 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:51.339 in the kids' church. And Father, not just at 00:22:51.339 --> 00:22:54.819 Northern Hope, enable your name to be praised 00:22:54.819 --> 00:22:58.299 in Cairns, in Australia, all over the world. 00:22:59.500 --> 00:23:02.440 People marvel at your majesty. Father, please 00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:05.279 plant churches throughout Cairns. We want to 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:08.599 see people adore you, Father, because you're 00:23:08.599 --> 00:23:13.460 worthy of it. What would happen if we prayed 00:23:13.460 --> 00:23:18.839 that? I wonder if God's answer would be that 00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:22.779 His Word dwells more richly in our homes, as 00:23:22.779 --> 00:23:26.640 people read their kids' Bibles together at the 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:29.859 dinner table, as they talk about God, that there'd 00:23:29.859 --> 00:23:35.670 be more excitement about what's going on. I think 00:23:35.670 --> 00:23:40.250 we'd be more bold in our evangelism because we'd 00:23:40.250 --> 00:23:42.269 see that people don't just need Jesus as much 00:23:42.269 --> 00:23:46.690 as that's true but that God is worthy of their 00:23:46.690 --> 00:23:51.609 worship. Praying like this would be immensely 00:23:51.609 --> 00:23:54.730 powerful. It would change us, it would change 00:23:54.730 --> 00:24:01.450 others and it would bring God glory. In their 00:24:01.450 --> 00:24:04.130 book, A God -Sized Vision, Colin Hanson and John 00:24:04.130 --> 00:24:08.369 Woodbridge survey revivals in the last 300 years. 00:24:10.049 --> 00:24:12.450 And at the end of the book, they list five traits 00:24:12.450 --> 00:24:14.549 that happened in every one of these revivals. 00:24:15.170 --> 00:24:18.930 It's kind of like the pattern. And topping the 00:24:18.930 --> 00:24:24.329 list is persisting in prayer. Some prayed for 00:24:24.329 --> 00:24:28.849 a decade until revival broke out. It wasn't easy. 00:24:29.109 --> 00:24:31.329 Some, it was just a few who got together and 00:24:31.329 --> 00:24:34.430 prayed but they persisted in prayer because they 00:24:34.430 --> 00:24:37.150 yearned for God to be glorified and so they prayed 00:24:37.150 --> 00:24:38.789 and they prayed and they prayed and they prayed 00:24:38.789 --> 00:24:46.990 that he would be. Do we yearn for God to be glorified 00:24:46.990 --> 00:24:51.609 like they did? Do we look around and see people 00:24:51.609 --> 00:24:54.230 ignoring God when we go to the shops and think, 00:24:54.390 --> 00:24:56.950 that's criminal. I need to pray about that, that 00:24:56.950 --> 00:25:00.349 these people would become worshipers of the one 00:25:00.349 --> 00:25:06.190 true God. Is the heartbeat of our prayers God's 00:25:06.190 --> 00:25:09.269 glory and that we'd know him better or is it 00:25:09.269 --> 00:25:12.930 our earthly desires for the stuff that we want? 00:25:15.289 --> 00:25:18.549 Hallowed be your name. It does so much. It gets 00:25:18.549 --> 00:25:21.670 our priorities right. It gets our hearts seeing 00:25:21.670 --> 00:25:25.269 that God is at the centre of the universe, not 00:25:25.269 --> 00:25:32.809 me. But not only should we pray for God's name 00:25:32.809 --> 00:25:35.450 to be hallowed, you know what we should do when 00:25:35.450 --> 00:25:40.650 we pray? We should actually spend time hallowing 00:25:40.650 --> 00:25:45.980 it. Here's our third point. When we pray, praise 00:25:45.980 --> 00:25:51.799 God's name. Praise God's name. If you're someone 00:25:51.799 --> 00:25:55.779 who uses the Lord's Prayer as a template, this 00:25:55.779 --> 00:25:59.599 is a great time to praise God for who He is and 00:25:59.599 --> 00:26:02.920 thank Him for what He's done. And this shouldn't 00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:05.880 be done begrudgingly. Actually, when we do this, 00:26:06.259 --> 00:26:10.440 it's a delight. Here's how C .S. Lewis put it. 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:14.279 He says this. I think we delight to praise what 00:26:14.279 --> 00:26:18.359 we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses 00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:23.420 but completes the enjoyment. It is its appointed 00:26:23.420 --> 00:26:26.920 consummation. It's not out of compliment that 00:26:26.920 --> 00:26:29.299 lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful 00:26:29.299 --> 00:26:32.680 they are. The delight is incomplete till it's 00:26:32.680 --> 00:26:36.079 expressed. It's frustrating to have discovered 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:38.200 a new author and not be able to tell anyone how 00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:41.059 good he is, to come suddenly at the turn of the 00:26:41.059 --> 00:26:44.839 road. Did I jump ahead? To come suddenly at the 00:26:44.839 --> 00:26:48.460 turn of the road and upon some mountain valley 00:26:48.460 --> 00:26:50.839 of unexpected grandeur and then to have kept 00:26:50.839 --> 00:26:54.380 silent because the people with you care for it 00:26:54.380 --> 00:26:58.660 no more than a tin can in the ditch. Or to hear 00:26:58.660 --> 00:27:01.519 a good joke and find no one to share it with. 00:27:02.059 --> 00:27:04.680 The Scotch Catechism, that's not a whiskey that's 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:07.980 talking about a Scottish Catechism, says that 00:27:07.980 --> 00:27:11.700 man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him 00:27:11.700 --> 00:27:16.059 forever. But we shall know then that these are 00:27:16.059 --> 00:27:21.480 the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. 00:27:22.099 --> 00:27:25.700 In commanding us to glorify him, God is inviting 00:27:25.700 --> 00:27:32.740 us to enjoy him. Don't you love that? Enjoying 00:27:32.740 --> 00:27:39.480 God is how we glorify Him. Praising Him completes 00:27:39.480 --> 00:27:43.880 our enjoyment. If you want deep satisfaction, 00:27:44.019 --> 00:27:46.019 joy and delight, there's no getting around this. 00:27:46.279 --> 00:27:50.299 You need to know God well. Know what He's done 00:27:50.299 --> 00:27:54.720 for you. Know how good He is. And then praise 00:27:54.720 --> 00:27:57.680 Him for it. That will bring you deep delight. 00:27:57.880 --> 00:28:02.380 Thanking Him will take your joy to a whole other 00:28:02.380 --> 00:28:09.079 level. So, what's this look like? Well, it's 00:28:09.079 --> 00:28:13.720 to get to know God. To meditate on the scriptures. 00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:20.859 Yes, even read a good theology book. See what 00:28:20.859 --> 00:28:25.160 God is like. And then it's to do things like 00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:28.720 each day count your blessings. And I mean that. 00:28:28.819 --> 00:28:31.660 Literally count them. You can get your fingers 00:28:31.660 --> 00:28:35.680 out if that helps. Count up your blessings and 00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:39.680 thank God for them. Lord, thank you so much that 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:41.579 you sent your son to diamond for me. Thank you 00:28:41.579 --> 00:28:45.440 so much for the greenery and the ocean and the 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:47.940 barrier reef and there's just so many wonderful 00:28:47.940 --> 00:28:51.799 things that I get to enjoy here in Cairns. Thank 00:28:51.799 --> 00:28:55.900 God for the things around you. And then praise 00:28:55.900 --> 00:29:01.200 God for an attribute. and adore Him for it. Father 00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:06.440 I praise you that you are wise, that you know 00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:12.660 better than I do. You're an awesome God. And 00:29:12.660 --> 00:29:16.480 if you do those things, you're actually letting 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:21.700 God take centre stage in your life. And worshipping 00:29:21.700 --> 00:29:24.680 Him won't be a drudgery, it will be a delight. 00:29:27.880 --> 00:29:32.180 Okay, let's recap. We started by asking, why 00:29:32.180 --> 00:29:36.000 should my life revolve around God? And we saw 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:40.720 it's because God deserves to be honoured and 00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:43.700 so pray that he would be. That's what we're meant 00:29:43.700 --> 00:29:45.160 to believe, that God deserves to be honoured 00:29:45.160 --> 00:29:47.819 and what do we do? We pray that he would be. 00:29:48.640 --> 00:29:51.920 And we saw three things. We saw that God does 00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:54.599 deserve honour. We saw that we need to pray for 00:29:54.599 --> 00:29:58.400 God's fame and that we need to also praise God's 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:02.119 name. That's what hallowed be your name is all 00:30:02.119 --> 00:30:07.900 about. So what's this all mean for us practically 00:30:07.900 --> 00:30:11.880 though? Well there'll be some of us here today 00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:15.019 in church who've never had a Copernican revolution. 00:30:17.640 --> 00:30:20.420 Your heart is still putting yourself at the centre 00:30:20.420 --> 00:30:23.059 of the universe right where God belongs. I mean 00:30:23.059 --> 00:30:26.339 he's there but in your heart you've got it all 00:30:26.339 --> 00:30:31.180 distorted. And I hope you've seen today, not 00:30:31.180 --> 00:30:33.539 only is that dangerous because it means you're 00:30:33.539 --> 00:30:36.759 not in right relationship with God, but it's 00:30:36.759 --> 00:30:39.460 actually robbing you of joy and satisfaction. 00:30:40.299 --> 00:30:43.539 Because each one of us is built to enjoy that 00:30:43.539 --> 00:30:49.140 God and to know Him more. God deserves to be 00:30:49.140 --> 00:30:52.019 the centre and it's better for you if He is. 00:30:53.859 --> 00:30:58.150 So if you don't know that God, Make today the 00:30:58.150 --> 00:31:01.230 day that you have a Copernican revolution or 00:31:01.230 --> 00:31:03.950 at least start working out whether you should 00:31:03.950 --> 00:31:08.950 have one. Maybe talk to God about it. Say to 00:31:08.950 --> 00:31:11.470 Him, Father, if you really are there, if you 00:31:11.470 --> 00:31:13.549 are the centre of the universe, if you deserve 00:31:13.549 --> 00:31:17.309 to be worshipped, please make that clear to me. 00:31:20.230 --> 00:31:22.650 But for many of us here, we have experienced 00:31:22.650 --> 00:31:27.660 this Copernican revolution a long time ago. You 00:31:27.660 --> 00:31:33.279 know that God deserves honour, that He's infinitely 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:36.140 greater than you know, and that each day you're 00:31:36.140 --> 00:31:37.839 going, yes, I know that's what you like, God, 00:31:37.859 --> 00:31:41.559 and I need to know more of you. And you've seen 00:31:41.559 --> 00:31:43.900 the way it's changed your life when you've had 00:31:43.900 --> 00:31:49.319 God at the centre. But you also know it's hard 00:31:49.319 --> 00:31:53.599 keeping Him there, isn't it? There's a tug of 00:31:53.599 --> 00:31:57.599 war for every Christian, isn't there? God's spirit 00:31:57.599 --> 00:32:01.180 lives within us, but we also have a sinful nature. 00:32:02.680 --> 00:32:04.559 And these two are pulling against each other 00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:09.180 all the time. And we need God's help to keep 00:32:09.180 --> 00:32:13.039 in step with the spirit, to keep pulling back 00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:17.960 towards God at the centre of my life. And the 00:32:17.960 --> 00:32:21.700 way we do it, one of the key ways is to pray 00:32:21.700 --> 00:32:26.430 into hallowed be your name. That's the heartbeat 00:32:26.430 --> 00:32:30.549 of a healthy Christian life. You know, like they 00:32:30.549 --> 00:32:35.009 used to say, all roads lead to Rome. Well, all 00:32:35.009 --> 00:32:38.950 roads lead to glorifying God, don't they? To 00:32:38.950 --> 00:32:42.849 hallowed be your name. So I want to ask you, 00:32:42.869 --> 00:32:46.670 how can you do that better this week? Is there 00:32:46.670 --> 00:32:49.369 just one thing from today's sermon that you can 00:32:49.369 --> 00:32:54.369 try? How can you pray into hallowed be your name? 00:32:54.490 --> 00:32:59.630 more consistently. Because God is at the centre 00:32:59.630 --> 00:33:04.670 of the universe and you know it's such a delight 00:33:04.670 --> 00:33:14.009 when you live with Him there. Let's pray. Father 00:33:14.009 --> 00:33:17.890 we want to thank you so much that you're an awesome 00:33:17.890 --> 00:33:22.650 and wonderful and powerful God. And we pray that 00:33:22.650 --> 00:33:28.329 you would help us to bask in who you are, to 00:33:28.329 --> 00:33:32.329 savour it, to enjoy it, to never tire of it. 00:33:32.829 --> 00:33:35.849 Please Father, we need you to soften our hearts, 00:33:37.049 --> 00:33:40.529 that we may honour you and worship you as you 00:33:40.529 --> 00:33:44.869 deserve. And Father, we ask that you would glorify 00:33:44.869 --> 00:33:48.390 your name, not just here at Northern Hope, not 00:33:48.390 --> 00:33:52.589 just here in Cairns. but all throughout the world. 00:33:53.369 --> 00:33:57.230 Please, Father, bring glory to your name, which 00:33:57.230 --> 00:34:00.650 you rightly deserve. And we ask this in Jesus' 00:34:00.869 --> 00:34:02.190 name. Amen.