Before we continue, just by way of clarity for
the Christian Education Fund, that is one of
the two funds that our diaconate oversees. They
oversee the Christian Education Fund and they
oversee the Benevolent Fund that we have in the
church. And as I was recognizing just the different
kind of faith -based schools that we have in
the area, the CEF Fund is an associative... fund
for our Reform Christian Day Schools. So that
would be your Lansing's, your Highland, your
Crown Point, and your Ileana. That that fund
is there to help promote and sustain those schools.
My recognition of knowing that there are other
kind of private faith -based schools in our area
mainly is because right now there's a lot of
wait lists going on in a lot of those churches.
God is doing, or in those schools, God is doing
an amazing work in a lot of those schools. And
I don't know if you guys are aware, but Highland
Christian, the association, there's a lot more
to approve. over the last couple months, a sale
and a purchase of a school in Hammond. And so
one of the things we're going to see is kind
of the extension of that Reformed Christian Day
covenant kind of school day model in Hammond,
which is exciting, and that's going to be a new
chapter for everyone, but I just wanted to cover
that, especially as we brought in new deacons.
You still have to come to orientation, deacons,
tomorrow, but that is one piece that you will
learn about. Today we celebrate a significant
moment, right? In the life of Munster Church,
we just witnessed and were a part of actively
the installation of elders and deacons. People
called to serve and to shepherd and to lead.
This is not just a formalized process that we
do kind of just for whatever. It is a reminder
that leadership in the church is the matter of
divine calling. God in his sovereignty. gives
us this process and we can trust it, as the Bible
says, a trustworthy process. But in contrast,
as we kind of mark this important occasion, we're
also reminded that leadership within the church
goes hand in hand with the relationships we build
with the body of believers. I always say that
you guys called me to lead, that if I'm leading
and no one's behind me, you guys have not called
me just to go for a walk by myself. Same goes
with the elders and deacons that are already
installed, the new ones that have been installed
as we go and start this new chapter of leadership.
So whether it's elder or deacon or member or
pastor, we need to be intentional about how we
live together in Christ. I think that is the
key piece, is in Christ. And Psalm 54 speaks
to the trust that we have, especially in moments
of celebration, and as we're going to see today,
hardship. These are tough psalms for David to
write. There has been slander, there has been
gossip, there has been trust that has been broken.
In this psalm, David is facing betrayal from
the Zephanites. They went to Saul to kind of
give David up. And what we see is he turns to
God in prayer. And I think that that reaction
to me, you know, when people wrong me or when
people harm me, we have just a very kind of flesh
-like reaction to want to harm them, right? And
that's where I, especially in kind of counseling
psychological terms, we learned very early on
in my degree was hurt people hurt people. And
I know for a lot of us, we've been unfortunately
victims of that, or we may have been the cause
of some of that hurt. But that cycle of hurt
is there. Until you bring God into the equation,
until there's a prayer for forgiveness and a
turning of whatever thought, word, or deed it
is. David's situation wasn't just about survival,
but for his need for community, his need for
God's people to care for one another in times
of distress. So as we walk through this psalm
today, it's a prayer that I'm sure all of us
have prayed or I can guarantee one day you will
pray. Asking for God's deliverance. God's deliverance
is such a powerful thing in our life, whether
he's delivering you from some hurt and pain that
you've caused yourself or other people have caused
on you, or delivering you for stop hurting other
people. That deliverance works both ways. When
God opens our eyes to our sin, that's a big deal.
We shouldn't just be like, all right, and just
kind of move on. No, that is a big deal. That
God's deliverance is a necessity in life. And
it's a necessity for us to create intentional
and supportive relationships in the body of Christ.
The body of Christ. And here's how you know that
the body of Christ is active and doing a good
job. When they are there for you in difficult
times. Even difficult times that you've caused.
The church should be a place where we know we're
going to screw up. We're going to hurt each other.
Sheep are going to bite sheep. It happens all
the time. Shepherds bite sheep. Sheep bite shepherds.
We could get into the analogy all day, but it
would probably get weird. But understand that
God's deliverance is there for all of us. Myself
included. The five that were installed included
in all of us. But the first is when life gets
difficult, it's recognizing the difficulties,
not making it more difficult, and at first, stopping.
When we talk about repentance, you talk about
it as turning 180, and it's not always just this.
Sometimes it is. But I think there's a really
holy moment when we're walking, whether in a
sin or whatever, that point where we have to
pause and we have to reflect. of what God is
doing. That God may be bringing this up, may
be bringing a correction, a discipline, or calling
you to help and love and support. You have to
pause first. I don't know about you, I love just
walking. I don't want to pause. I don't want
to stop. I don't want to reflect. And unfortunately,
then God has to do it in a pretty aggressive
way, and it hurts. So let's start first with
a prayer for rescue. First two verses that David
has, a prayer for rescue. Psalm 54, starting
with verse 1. O God, save me by your name and
vindicate me by your might. O God, hear my prayer.
Give ear to the words of my mouth. I think this
is a beautiful way to start. It's a plea for
rescue. David recognizes that he is surrounded
by the enemies who have betrayed him, but he
knows that his only hope lies in God's deliverance.
And here's the thing. For the believer, That
deliverance can look one of two ways, maybe three.
He can deliver you out of it. Those people can
accomplish their goal, which ultimately for David
was to kill him, and David knew he'd be with
God forever. Or that third way be some kind of
reconciliation. I don't think that's what David's
looking for this time around, the third one.
It was either take my life, oh Lord, or deliver
me out of this by getting the people that are
hurting him. Save me, O Lord, by your name. Vindicate
me by your might. His prayer is a cry for immediate
action from God. Let's pause there for a minute.
That word immediate is a funny word. That word
immediate is a stressful word, is a frustrating
word. It's a word that we can get angry by because
we want God to answer us or to deliver us or
to free us from immediately. And why do we do
that? Ever thought about that? Why do we want
immediate deliverance? Anyone want to take a
stab at it? If you're a guest here, I like to
ask questions and wait for responses. If they're
really hard, I'll put dinner or lunch or coffee
on it. There's a weight to the scale of reward.
Why do we want it immediately? Because we're
what? We're scared about something. If it's done
immediately, I don't have to be scared anymore.
Someone else? Say that again, Doug. I think that's
what Rick was talking about being scared of.
We don't want to suffer. All this bad stuff's
been happening to me. I don't want to suffer.
I want it out. And what kind of God are you that
makes me suffer a little while longer? Or, we're
the one doing the hurting and the pain, and we
just want to stop. We want it to be okay. We
want the forgiveness. We just want to act like
nothing happened. Both hold true. We want it
done immediately because we're scared and we
don't want to suffer because we don't like consequences
for our actions. I whisper that because I could
say it loudly but half of you would probably
leave because we all do it. But our actions have
consequences. The actions of those that were
betraying David had consequences. We see it throughout
the scripture. David's cry is an acknowledgement
that he is not alone in his struggles. His enemies
have sought to isolate him, to destroy him, but
he knows that God's deliverance will restore
him. Where the enemy wants to destroy, even if
you're the one at fault, the Lord wants to restore.
God is about restoration. He's about raising
you up, putting you back together, even when
you are your own humpty dumpty and you fall and
you break. He wants to be there to put you together.
David's prayer is for rescue. In essence, it's
a prayer for restoration, to be brought back
into that right relationship with God and his
people. This is crucial when we think about leadership
and community in Munster Church. No matter what
board you're on, whether you're on a committee,
whether you're an elder or a deacon, maybe you're
going to be one of the three cadet counselors
or one of the teachers going into Lighthouse.
You are a part of a team. And that's why leadership
is so important. Because it's not just about
managing tasks. It's about being present for
one another in times of distress. Elders, deacons,
especially the five new guys. I can't promise
you an easy orientation is going to be fun. We're
going to talk about a lot of stuff tomorrow,
right? But I have no idea what the next day is
going to be. That's unfortunate about it. You
already signed your name. But that's the unfortunate
thing about the life of the church because it's
filled of sinners. It's led by a sinner. Its
leadership are sinners. Elders and deacons, leaders
in the church are called to build relationships
that reflect God's justice, mercy, and compassion.
I don't care if you're, like I said, a teacher
on a committee. I don't care if you're on building
and grounds and your job is to help beautify
the church or fix the doorstop back there that
breaks every other week. Whatever it is, we are
called to reflect those things. There's a responsibility
there. Lord's Day 12 teaches us that the name
of Christ is a powerful name. That it is in Christ's
name alone that we are rescued from sin and evil.
Just as David prayed for rescue by God's name
too, we are reminded that our salvation is found
in Christ alone. That is the name by which we
gather as a church. It's the name that unites
us as a body. And it is through his name that
we are... power to build those intentional relationships
that reflect his love. But here's the flip side
to that restoration, that God's name, Christ's
name, is also about reconciliation. He came to
restore broken relationships between God and
humanity and among his people. If you are in
Christ, and I am in Christ, and we are in conflict,
hurt and pain, both ways, one way, doesn't matter.
If you are in Christ, I am in Christ, we should
be able to restore, but there's still fear and
there's still consequences. Yes, would I love
it if we could just take a portal out of that
conflict, bloop, right, and go over and find
ourselves without all of it? Absolutely. Not
going to happen until we're in glory. We are
called to reflect Christ's reconciling work,
ensuring that no one in our community is left
isolated or forgotten. You're going to see some
changes over the next couple months and years
in the way elders engage their districts, right?
The way that we want to be intentional with getting
together as a body of Christ. You're going to
see that. You're going to hear that. We want
you to be a part of that. It's very exciting.
But we need to know that God is the one who's
doing the restoration, and we need to reflect
on that work. And it starts with prayer. One
of the things, and we started Evan, and you're
going to hear more about it at the congregational
meeting, but starting in July, Evan is going
to become our pastoral intern. He's in seminary,
and that's going to be part of his role. And
one of the things that Evan will be tasked with
in his internship is to resurrect, good church
word, our prayer ministry. And I know that there
are many of you that have been a part of that.
It actually made it on our history board about
how intentional we are to pray. And it's not
that we've forgotten how to pray. It's not that
we just don't pray at this church. We do it every
Sunday. But one of the things that I'm excited
about starting again is the praying apart. That
we're going to have a rotation of people for
a half an hour before service come and lift this
church up in prayer. And then the beautiful thing
is that it's going to be raised then to prayer
with the elders and deacons in intentional time
right before service. Right? That I then take
the prayers of those, of that group to my seat
as I'm preparing for the service. And really
what I'm doing is just playing over and over
the 1990s Bulls entry, like just to get myself
hyped up for coming up. Don't worry about it.
It's my curse. But understand that we want to
be praying as a people. We want a prayer night
during the week. These are things that we need
to get back to. And David reflects that today.
He reflects why we need to do it. Praying not
only for our own needs, but the needs of those
around us. So in this season of leadership transition,
ministry transition, new ministry starting up,
ministries continuing this fall, we need to bring
it to God in prayer. We need to commit to praying
for our leaders and one another. We need to bathe
in the name and authority of Jesus to 14 Ridge
Road and all of the ministries that come out
of this. I was reminded by a congregation member
a couple months ago, you know, that as these
ministries are starting up, Satan is set to attack
them. Of course. Why not attack during the startup
mode? Because it's easier than to just let it
go. It's too hard. It's too bad. We don't have
the right people. Done. We need to ask God to
guide us in building those relationships to reflect
love and mercy and justice. But first, we need
to acknowledge something. The reality of betrayal
and evil. Verses 3 and 4 remind us of that. When
David writes this, For strangers have arisen
against me. Ruthless men seek my life. They do
not set God before themselves, Selah. Behold,
God is my helper, and the Lord is the upholder
of my life. David acknowledges that evil surrounds
him. His enemies are not just hostile, but active
in plotting against him. These are not strangers,
but those who know him. that have betrayed him.
In the face of this betrayal, David does not
deny the reality of evil and calls it for what
it is, wickedness. The wickedness that seeks
to destroy him. And here's the rub, friend. You
and I have wickedness in us. I don't revel in
saying that, right? We don't have the, you know,
what would wickedness do, right? That would be...
WWWD, and that's just dumb. But understand that
we have that war going on in us, and it's which
one are you going to feed today? Which one are
you going to feed tomorrow, your wickedness or
your righteousness? All of that is the work of
the Holy Spirit. Not that the Holy Spirit's calling
you to be wicked. Don't hear that. But when we
are being wicked, we have that conviction. That's
the Holy Spirit saying, stop what you're doing,
pause, and turn. Because, friend, we have that
inside of us each and every day. Betrayal and
evil are real. And we are not exempt from experiencing
them. And we're not exempt from doing them. Betraying
others, right? Being evil towards one another.
Yet despite this betrayal, David still trusts
in God that he will deliver him. David's honesty
in acknowledging the evil he faces is an invitation
for us to do the same. That's what I love about
David. That's why he kept his anointing. Life
within the church as a community is not free
from difficulties. At times, there might be a
betrayal. There might be a misunderstanding or
a hurt. But again, if you're in Christ and I'm
in Christ, we can figure this out. But you want
to know what kills that? Rumors. You want to
know what kills that? Gossip. There's a reason
why discipline in the church, a mark of the true
church, is done in a confidential way. Did you
hear how both were charged this morning? Keep
all sensitive matters among you. That might be
within their person. We try not to do that as
elders and deacons for having one person carry
that burden. That is too hard for any man. But
within the small group of elders or the elders
themselves, the diaconate, whether one, two,
or all of them, or the council, the thing that
hurts the most as I work with pastors throughout
our denomination and outside of our denomination
are pastors that can't trust their leadership.
They can't trust their leadership when things
of confidential natures get breached. What a
mistrust, distrust, and breaking of trust when
that stuff happens. The scripture makes it very
clear that we are to be witnesses in the highs
and lows of life. Maybe as we're working through
a conflict in the church, what makes that conflict
worse, what makes that scar last, what makes
that bruise very visible? Gossip. When things
go out into the church, people that should have
no knowledge of what is going on because sensitive
manners need to be taken seriously and sensitively
get out. And you may say, oh, but I'm not a gossiper.
But I will put that in a prayer request tomorrow.
I may even make it anonymous. Some of the things
that I've heard in the church in 20 years, right?
It's astounding to me how people use prayer requests
as gossip. You understand, I only say first names
because you all say your last name's weird and
I don't want to get it wrong, right? I don't
go through diagnoses on stage because unfortunately
I prayed the wrong cancer over somebody and people
get upset. We keep it simple. Why? Because God's
complex. He gets it. Our prayer list is simple,
right? Because it's A, not our story to tell
all the time, but God knows. You can pray for
this person for being in the hospital. You don't
have to pray that you just be with the hands
of the doctors for that colonoscopy. You can
laugh. That's weird. Why would we put that down
there? Just pray for the procedure. God knows.
When it comes to hurt and pain and gossip, I
have heard it more times than not. In prayer
groups, in small groups, all of these things.
We just want to pray for the Smiths. As they
go through their divorce. What? That information
should not be shared. Yet we do it and guise
it at prayer requests. That's so dumb. And it's
hurtful. Why do we have to do that? Just say
we pray for the Smiths. The Smiths are not getting
divorced, by the way. That was just a name I
made up. I don't even think we have Smiths here,
so it doesn't matter. But understand, we do that.
And that is how sheep can hurt sheep. Let's get
to our catechism. Lord's Day 12 speaks of the
reality of sin and evil in the world. Christ
is our prophet, priest, and king, actively confronts
evil on our behalf. Through his death and resurrection,
he overcomes the power of sin and death. Even
the sin and death we cause each other. As members
of the body, we are too called to confront the
evil in the world around us. relying on Christ's
victory to equip us in the battle, and that is
not just sharing someone else's thought online,
but actively confronting, actively talking, actively
working through that reconciliation. Acknowledging
the reality of evil does not mean giving in to
the fear or the despair, the fear or the consequences,
right? As Rick and Doug talked about, and those
are true. We are not called to flee those. Sometimes
God needs to sit us there in front of all of
that to teach us. I guarantee most, if not all
of us, have been on the receiving end of that
look in the mirror. And we ask you guys to do
that, and myself included, the last week of every
month. As a community, we must support one another
in this battle and build relationships that are
honest and open about struggles we face while
pointing each person to the victory of the cross.
Building those relationships and creating community
that is honest first starts with confessing our
sins and our struggles. Not trying to put on
our Sunday best, not trying to put lipstick on
a pig, but being honest with where we are in
our lives. our struggles. So let's commit to
walk with one another through life's challenges,
knowing what David knew, that God is faithful
to deliver us. And as we land the plane, we land
the plane in confidence, right? Confidence in
God's deliverance. Verses five through seven,
where David writes, he will put the evil to my
enemies. In your faithfulness, put an end to
them. With a freewill offering, I will sacrifice
to you. I will give thanks to your name, O Lord,
for it is good. For he has delivered me from
every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph
on my enemies. Now that's an interesting way
to put it, right? That David is looking for God
to intervene and deliver him from his enemies.
There are things, right? There are imprecatory
psalms that David wrote. 16 maybe, in all of
the Psalms. And that is literally, God destroy
my enemies. And you could read that a little
bit here. In our context, I don't think we're
going to pray that, right? Especially if our
enemies are one another in the church. That prayer
ministry is going to be real bad if that's what
our goal is, right? So -and -so said this about
me, get him. That should not be our prayer ministry.
Deliver me, but first look inward. We need to
look inward, as David did, expresses his confidence
in God's deliverance, even before his enemies
are defeated. David speaks with the assurance
that God will repay the wicked and deliver him
from their hands. But David doesn't direct God
in how to do it. Friends, we love to do that.
When someone hurts us, or when we get brought
into a conflict, we love. to try to direct as
a conductor to the band of how God should sick
him. That's not our role. Our role is to give
it to God, to leave it in his hands, and allow
him to do the work. David's confidence in God's
faithfulness is unwavering, and he responds to
God's true deliverance with gratitude and with
worship. Confidence in God's deliverance is not
based on current circumstances, but on God's
proven faithfulness. God has been faithful in
your life. Lean on those times when life gets
hard. Lord's Day 12 teaches us that Christ is
our ultimate deliverer. His victory over sin
and death gives us complete confidence that God
will deliver us from all harm. In Christ, we
have the assurance that God's promises are true
and we can confidently trust in him, even when
we're walking in that sin. As a church, we are
called to live with the same confidence, knowing
that Christ already has secured the victory.
His confidence should shape the way we relate
to one another, encouraging others to always
trust in God's deliverance, to live with hope,
no matter the trials that we face. So let's commit
to being a church that builds relationships of
hope and encouragement. Our relationships should
reflect the hope that we have in Christ. Check
those relationships this week, friends. If your
relationship with one another here in the church
is based on gossip or drama or whatever, stop
it. Because that doesn't reflect the call of
Christ. That does not reflect and do justice
to the deliverance that God has given us in this
life. And whether we're here today in this and
it's a small thing that we really can easily
do or it's massive and go, this is going to hurt.
This is going to take some work. God deliverance
is real, and we need to live with confidence
in that faithfulness. Psalm 54 calls us to trust
in God's deliverance, especially in times of
hardship, betrayal, and opposition. It also calls
us to build a community that reflects God's faithfulness
and deliverance, supporting one another through
life's challenges. So as we celebrate the installation,
of new elders and deacons, as we walk into this
week with your opportunity to start praying for
them and their families daily, let us remember
that we pray for all of us, that we all have
an active part in the body of Christ. The toenail
can't say to the earlobe, I don't need you, so
we need to pray for all of us as we try to do
this thing called church here at 214 Ridge Road.
So my summer challenge. Let's commit this week
to building intentional relationships within
our church family. Let's seek out those who are
in need of support, offer a listening ear, a
word of encouragement, a prayer for deliverance.
Together as a community, we will grow in faith,
trust, and confidence in God's faithful deliverance.
Let's pray.