Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is
an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,
with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.
We invite you to connect with us from wherever
you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our
mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed
by this week's sermon. Well, today we continue
our sermon series from the Psalms called Songs
for the Journey. The book of Psalms, as you may
know, is called the songbook for the church.
And the word psalm even means that. It means
song sung to harp music. Well, the harp has kind
of vanished from our contemporary music. Well,
here's a funny story, by the way. When I was
eight years old, my mom and dad put me through
a music course so I could taste and see musical
instruments. And after a year of that, I knew
it. I wanted to play the harp. So on the day
that I came back home and I told my mom and dad,
I want to play that. I couldn't even finish because
they bought me a piano. So anyway. The harp has
kind of left the stage. It's still a great instrument,
by the way. Kind of left the stage for the singing
of worship songs and psalms. And like here at
ECB, we have replaced it for more contemporary
music. But forget about the musical accompaniment
for a moment. The psalms includes language to
express our deepest thoughts and emotions to
God. Whether those are feelings and thoughts
about praise and thanksgiving, or about pain
and desperation, even our complaints to God,
it's all captured there in the Psalms. Songs
written by people like you and me, inspired by
the Holy Spirit. Well, those of you who don't
like to sing probably don't want to hear this,
but did you know that God commands us over and
over and over in Scripture to sing to Him? It's
true. Even for the grumpy ones who don't like
singing and worship like this all the time, God
commands us to sing. Like here in Colossians
3, which says, Let the message of Christ dwell
among you richly as you teach and admonish one
another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns,
and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with
gratitude in your hearts. Apparently, to have
the message of Jesus dwell in us, come alive
in us we have to sing songs why is that well
it's because god made us embodied people so next
to a mind and a heart and a soul god has given
us a body and when we sing we use our vocal cords
and our hands in clapping and lifting up for
our body to announce to our mind and our heart
and our soul, hey, there is some truth coming
and it really needs to land in the deeper parts
of your being. So songs and music enable that
what we know with our minds that we are so good
at to really enter those places where it really
has to land, you know, in our convictions, in
our feelings, in our emotions, the deepest level
of our being. That's what songs and music are
capable of. That's why God is commending us over
and over to sing. Songs connect our head and
our heart and our souls and aligns them on truths
about God and ourselves. If you ever had those
moments when you were singing a worship song
by yourself or in church, And you were just overwhelmed
by the goodness of God. And all you wanted to
do was shout your praises to him. Have you had
those moments? It's what songs and music do to
you. Have you had those moments where you were
singing a song and you became so vividly, vibrantly
aware of your desperation and need for God and
tears began to flow from your eyes and you cried
out to God. Have you had those moments? It's
what songs do. This is why God commences over
and over to sing. We just need to make sure that
we sing the right songs. And I mean this now
more in a proverbial sense. The playlist we sing
along with every day has more songs on it than
just God -inspired songs, you know? And that's
confusing. I mean, God says this about him and
me, but my friends tells me this, and my spouse
has a different opinion. And the influencer I'm
listening to in my podcast series says something
completely different, and the culture around
me sends me messages that are different all together.
Here's a nice experiment for you to do when you
get home today. Collect a few mobile phones.
If you only have one in your home, ask your neighbors
or friends. So a couple of mobile phones, put
them on your table. Open YouTube or Spotify on
those phones. Select different songs and then
play them all at the same time at the same volume.
Okay? And then try to sing along with one of
these songs. Well, let me spare you having to
go through the hassle of that experience. You
cannot. When all those songs are playing at the
same time, at the same volume, you will not be
able to sing along with the song that you want
to sing along with, even if you know that song
really well. Why is that? It's because of the
noise of all those other songs. It's very confusing.
You will not be able. However, when you turn
up the volume of that one song on your playlist
that you desire to sing, you turn down the volume
of all the other songs, the words. and the melody
becomes clear, you can sing along with that song
and allow the truth of that song to really land
in those places where it needs to land. So that's
what we want to do in this sermon series, Songs
for the Journey. So we are journeying through
life as followers of Jesus. We want to put together
a really good playlist of songs. And although
we no longer have the melodies of the original
Psalms, that would be cool, right? Hearing also
the melody. We don't have the melodies, but we
do have the incredibly rich truths of the words
of those Psalms. And because those words are
inspired by the Holy Spirit, they are alive and
active, and they're able to change us. So that's
what we're doing, songs for the journey. And
today I want to have a look with you at Psalm
139, a psalm that may be a favorite to some of
you. And when you know Psalm 130, you know that
it is packed with some really incredible things.
It speaks of God as the all -knowing one, an
ever -present one, an almighty one, and the holy
one. How do you pack that in a 40 -minute sermon?
You don't. Actually, I don't because I don't
think I can, which is why I chose to just focus
on the first 10 verses of Psalm 139 that address
a very specific attribute of God that needs to
be on repeat on our playlist, and that is this,
God knows me. Let me read the first 10 verses
of Psalm 139 for you. Oh Lord, you have examined
my heart and you know everything about me. You
know when I sit down or stand up. You know my
thoughts even when I'm far away. You see me when
I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything
I do. You know what I'm going to say even before
I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great
for me to understand. I can never escape from
your spirit. I can never get away from your presence.
If I go up to the heaven, you're there. If I
go down to the grave, you're there. If I ride
the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest
oceans, even there your hand will guide me. and
your strength will support me. That's a good
song, isn't it? That's a rich song. And do you
see the intimacy that's going on between David
and God? And what is underlying this song and
the way David addresses God is that God personally
knows David. and personally knows us, you and
me, for the matter. We're going to look at this
a little bit later, but before that, we first
need to address another important reality about
God, and that is this. God has ultimate knowledge
of everything. One of the key themes in Scripture
is that God is omniscient, all -knowing. God
knows everything. about everything. Psalm 147
says that God's understanding has no limits.
Go figure. Did you know that God never has to
learn any new thing? That he never needs to sweat
to go through an exam because he already knows
everything? God knows more about astronomy than
the best astronomer. He knows more about biology
than the best biologist. He knows more about
theology than the best theologian. He knows more
about leading nations than the best world leader.
By the way, God knows more about women than men
do. And he knows more about men than women do.
And he knows more about teenagers than parents
do. God knows everything about everything. God
has ultimate knowledge of everything there is
to know. Don't you ever dare God for a game of
trivia unless you want to be crushed. Because
he will beat you big time. And when we need to
go through an often painstaking process of learning
new things and putting a lot of time and effort
in learning those things and doing research here
and there to come to know things only to forget
them when we get older because our brains are
no longer able to remember those things. Not
so with God. God's knowledge is immediate. God's
knowledge is comprehensive. It has no limits.
And God's knowledge is without deterioration.
He never forgets anything. That is, he only forgets
our sins when we have confessed them. That's
also true about God. That's the only thing that
he decides to forget. Other than that, his knowledge
doesn't deteriorate ever. That what Google and
AI can tell you about a certain topic, God already
knew that. And by the way, God already knows
that what Google and AI... Don't know yet. God
has ultimate knowledge of everything. That's
impressive, isn't it? And if that doesn't blow
your mind yet, here is one more thing about God's
knowledge. God's knowledge transcends time. Whether
it's things in the past, things in the present,
things in the future, God knows it all at the
same time. In Isaiah 46, God tells us about himself
that he knows the end. From the beginning. So
God knows things even before they exist. God
knows every single day that you and I will live
before we have ever lived those single days.
David speaks about that later on in Psalm 139.
That's the verse that we haven't read and will
not read today. God knows the past, the present,
and history. all at the same time. Why? Because
he is outside of our concept of time. It's impressive,
isn't it? If this is too much for you to understand,
that's okay. It happens to me all the time. But
just realize it. God has ultimate knowledge of
everything. And as we learn from David in Psalm
139, not just everything, also, God intimately
and completely knows me, knows you. This is how
David opens his song with these words, O Lord,
you have examined my heart and you know everything
about me. David addresses God with an understanding
that he was personally known. It's one thing
to believe and say that God knows everything
about everything. It's something else to believe
and say that God knows everything about you.
And as we learn from David today, the fact that
God knows everything about you is not an unsettling
thing. It's a deeply fulfilling thing. As human
beings, One of our deepest longings is to be
seen, to be known, and to be accepted. We crave
it, one of our deepest cravings. This is why
we ask people, even total strangers, to follow
us on Instagram, and we hope that many will like
what we post or retweet, so much so that every
15 minutes we're on our phone to check how many
likes or hearts or whatever emojis we've got
on our posts. This explains why we're often devastated
when people ignore us and reject us and unfriend
us. Because it fuels the fire of our insecurity.
We want to be seen, we want to be known, we want
to be accepted. When the youngest of four, four
siblings, and with quite an age gap with my older
two brothers and my sister, and as I grew up
as a child and a teenager, I often felt as the
left out one, especially when we had family dinners
on Sunday afternoons and my older siblings were
talking about things that I had no idea about.
I mean, they were in their 20s. I was in my early
teens. I mean, jobs didn't mean anything. I couldn't
relate to their stage of life. And as they didn't
show any interest in my life and the things that
were making my day tick. I would often withdraw
from those family gatherings to be by myself
in my room, allowing all those negative notions
to get to me, feeling miserable, to be honest
with you. And this turned out to be one of the
major areas of discipleship in my years of following
Jesus. And I came to understand that if I don't
seek to be first known by God intimately and
completely, I get all these unhealthy emotional
attachments which make me feel miserable. We
crave to be known, to be seen, to be accepted,
to be recognized. And God is the only one who
can fulfill that longing in us. Don't expect
it from anyone else, will you? Expect it from
God because he does intimately. and fully knowing
you and knowing me, and shaping us into people
with a healthy identity. So what is it that God
knows about you and about me? Well, David tells
us. For starters, God knows our actions. You
know when I sit down or stand up. You see me
when I travel and when I rest at home. You know
everything I do. Whatever you undertake, God
knows it. Whether it's the mundane things like
brushing your teeth or eating your breakfast
or playing board games. Or the bigger things
in life like who to date and what job to take
and where to move to. He knows about the things
that you do in broad daylight. But he also knows
the things that you do in secret in the darkness
of the night. God knows it all. God knows our
actions. God also knows your motives and my motives.
As David says, you know my thoughts even when
I'm far away. What we do, our actions, are motivated
by our motives, right? By our thoughts. That's
how we work. And where actions are visible, our
motives are often not visible. And let's be honest,
we often like to keep it that way, right? We
act a certain way toward people, but boy. If
they would only know what we were thinking, if
they would only know our motive behind it, well,
let's not get there. I'm so glad that my motives
are not visible. Well, they are to God. God knows
your thought life. God knows your motives. God
knows your intentions even while they are still
developing in you. That's what David means by
far away or afar. God knows our motives. God
also knows our words. Even before they come out
of our mouth, God already knows what we're going
to say, whether it's words to people or words
to him. Did you know that you cannot tell God
anything that he doesn't already know? You can't.
You can't share anything with God that makes
him say, huh, I didn't know that. By the way,
it makes some people wonder about their prayer
life. Here's how the wandering goes. Well, if
God already knows what I'm going to ask for,
we're going to tell him, why should I even bother
about praying? You know why God still wants you
to pray and me to pray? Because he loves to hear
and enjoys it so much when his kids share about
what's going on in their lives. A couple of months
ago, two of my daughters, Elisa and Norcia, they're
on the basketball varsity team of their school,
and they had a tournament in Penang, Malaysia.
And the school, the organizing school, Dalat,
they offered a live stream to parents at home
from the schools that were traveling in. So you
could watch the basketball games of your kids,
which Chanukah and I did while we were doing
ministry. We also watched the games. So every
game we watched, and we saw our girls' moves
and scores. We saw their joy and disappointment.
We saw their excitement after winning the tournament.
Go Eagles! We saw all of that. So by the time
they got home and began to share about what they
had experienced during those days in Penang,
Malaysia, we knew everything that they were going
to tell us. But do you think that as a dad I
said, skip it? A little bit faster. I know that.
I mean, I saw you play. Boring. Of course not.
Because I'm a dad who loves my girls. I'm deeply
interested to hear what's going on. And I desire
to be invested in their lives. The same with
God. God is so interested in your lives. God
desires to be so invested. In your life. That
he loves to hear you share the things that he
already knows. The things that you're excited
about. The things that you're worried about.
The things that excite you. The things that you're
dreaming of. The things that are hurting you.
He loves to hear you say it to him. Because he
is a really, really good father. Who is deeply
interested and invested in your life. So God
knows your actions, he knows your motives, and
he knows your words even before we do. It's crazy,
right? Not only is it crazy, for some of us,
knowing this can be a very unsettling reality.
Because hey, if God knows everything about me,
Even those things that nobody knows about me,
even those things that I'd like to keep hidden
and in secret, what is he going to do with that
information? I mean, knowledge is power. Is God
going to expose me? Is God going to use that
information against me? Is God going to... beat
me up because he now knows what I'm doing and
thinking and speaking and all of that. Some of
you have been raised with the idea, with the
concept that God is an angry God. A God who is
always watching over you, waiting for that moment
where you fail, when you fall, so that he can
beat you up and he can say, ha, I got you again.
Others of you, because of your experiences in
life, have a view of God as someone who is distant
and indifferent. He couldn't care less about
your life. And perhaps you're even blaming yourself
because of the things that you have done or you
have not done. And therefore you think, hold
on, God. If you are all -knowing, I'd rather
hide from you. than to engage with you. If that
is how you view God, I want to tell you today
that this is not who God is. God is not surveilling
you, okay? God doesn't use CCTV cameras in hidden
places to watch over you. God is not planting
secret bugs behind the curtains to hear everything
that you're saying. so that he can really beat
you up whenever there is something that you say
or do wrong. God is not surveilling you. You
know what he is doing? God is lovingly watching
over you, ready to place his hand of blessing
upon your head. That's how David says it in verse
5. You go before me and you follow me. You place
your hand of blessing on my head. Wow. God is
surrounding you, yes. Hemming you in, as other
translations say. But not to control you. Not
to squeeze the life out of you. But to guide
you. To care for you. To love you. To strengthen
you. To place his hand of blessing upon your
head. That's how God wants you. To view him.
And how you view God, it's the most important
thing in your life. I think A .W. Tozer said
it once. How you view God is the most important
thing in your life. And I like it how the theologian
J .I. Pecker once said it. Living becomes an
awesome business when you realize that you spend
every moment of your life in the sight and the
company of an all -knowing and an ever -present
God. That's life. That's the amazing business
of life. When you know that God knowing everything
about you is not a threat, it's not unsettling
at all, deeply fulfilling. God knows you and
God lovingly watches over you, ready to bless
you. It's overwhelming, can be overwhelming.
And you're in good company if this is too much
to understand. Oh, you're in good company because
David fell dead. I see a claim, exclaimed in
verse 6, such knowledge is too wonderful for
me, God. Really? Wow, it's too great for me to
understand. It's overwhelming, right, to think
that God knows everything about you. and still
wants to hang out with you. It's overwhelming.
Don't try to understand it, will you? Did you
know that God has never ever asked us to understand
Him? Never ever do we find in Scripture a command
from God saying, hey, your job is to figure me
out so that at some point you can say, ah, that
makes sense. God has never asked that. God will
never ask us to understand him. Why? It's impossible
to understand him. His ways are so much higher
than our ways. His thoughts and plans are so
much bigger than our thoughts and plans. So don't
try to understand him. You know what God is asking
of us? Know me and trust me. So if what you're
hearing this morning is too much to comprehend
like it was for David, like it is for me, can
I encourage you, don't try to understand it,
but receive it, believe it, appropriate it, and
live it. Will you? Allow that what you hear and
understand with your mind to really land in those
deep places of your soul where it is supposed
to land. Well, as David continues his song in
verse 7, of Psalm 139, he reveals another aspect
of God that I want to briefly talk about. This
is what David says. I can never escape from your
spirit. I can never get away from your presence.
If I go up to heaven, you're there. If I go down
to the grave, you're there. If I ride the wings
of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
Even there, your hand will guide me and your
strength will support me. If you box in those
verses like I have done on this slide, and when
you read them out of their context, you can come
to a conclusion that David felt like a prisoner
of God. Boy, he's always there. Can I really
not shake him off my back? I mean, I go there,
God is there. I go there, God is there. I go
there, God is there. What is up with this God?
You can interpret that. And maybe you even feel
like that. Oh, God is always there. But that's
an out of context interpretation of what David
is saying. These are not the words of someone
who felt like a prisoner of God. These are words
of a guy that sought the presence of God and
found the presence of God in his everyday experience
of life. In the first and second Samuel, those
are really including the storyline of David.
We understand the experiential side of things
that David is proclaiming here. Lord, wherever
I go, you're there. Wherever I am, you're there,
God. You're always there. What David wants us
to know is wherever I am, God is there. And wherever
I'm going, God is already there. Not only does
God know everything about you, he is also with
you. all the time he surrounds you by his presence
today tomorrow next week next month next year
whether you're here in bangkok when you're on
vacation when you're traveling for business and
when you're leaving this part of the world to
go and live somewhere else god is omnipresent
that's the word that theologians give to this
you can leave it to a theologian to make things
complex right omnipresent which means is god
is ever present god is always there. What is
he doing? Guiding you with his hand, as David
says, supporting you with his strength. Knowing
this is a very deep and significant truth for
me and my family in this season of transition
that we're in. We're three weeks away from our
last Sunday. with you here at ECB. June the 1st
is the last time that we get to worship with
you before we do our final packing and then leave
this you, this place, this city, this country
that we consider our home. And there are days
where that reality hits us, deeply so. It unsettles
us. It overwhelms us. It's hard. To say goodbye
to the people that we love and the place of ministry
where we have seen God at work in incredible
ways over the past years of ministry. I mean,
it's hard to see our girls, our daughters, maneuvering
through this season of saying goodbye. So yeah,
truth be told, it's hard and it unsettles us.
You know what helps us? Significantly so in this
season? It's knowing that God is the one who
is calling us out into this new place of being
and ministering. And it's experiencing God's
presence in big ways and in small ways in our
moments of unsettledness, overwhelmedness, and
sadness. God shows up all the time, making sure
that at least most of the times, we experience
deep peace amidst the unsettledness. It's God,
loved ones. Jesus is able to give the kind of
peace that no one else is able to give. It's
God's presence that gives you the peace. So I
want to encourage you because I know that we're
not the only ones in a season of transition.
In a community like ours here at ECB, transition
and change and moving in and moving out and the
unknowns and the uncertainties, it's a reality
to many of you. But I want you to know, God is
with you where you are right now. God is already
there where you will be going, looking after
things that you didn't even have the time for
to look into. And God will be with you every
step of the way from here to there because he
is an ever -present God ready to bless you, ready
to guide you with his hand, ready to give you
his strength, his comfort, and his peace. That's
our ever -present God. Amen? So those were the
first 10 verses of Psalm 139. but I don't want
to finish yet. Because there is this response
of David at the end of the psalm, after he has
acknowledged God as the all -knowing one and
the ever -present one, and there is some more
in the psalm that we had no time for today to
look into, but at the end of his song, David
responds with a prayer, and it's such a good
prayer. that I don't want us to miss out on that
part of the psalm. This is what David prays.
Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me
and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything
in me that offends you and lead me along the
path of everlasting life. That's a good prayer.
Ever prayed that prayer? Maybe? It's the kind
of prayer that takes David's understanding of
God, his theology, to a place of real life, raw
discipleship. By the way, this is Discipleship
101. And write it down, if you will. Discipleship
101 is this. Theology only becomes profitable
if you make it personal. One more time. Theology
only is profitable when you make it personal.
It's exactly what David is doing here. What does
this look like for David? Well, knowing that
God knew everything about him was not at all
alarming to David. As a matter of fact, knowing
this was reason for David to honestly reflect
on his life with God. Lord, if there is anything
in me that offends you, I need to know it. Would
you tell me, Lord, if there is any anxiety in
me because I trust my ways more than I trust
your ways, let me know, Lord, because those are
things that get in between you and me, and I
don't want that. So after letting me know, would
you help me? Would you lead me? along the path
of everlasting life. Help me get rid of those
things. That's discipleship. That's bringing
our commitment of following God to a place of
getting real with God. So no, the fact that God
fully knows you is not threatening. It's not
unsettling at all. Not only is it fulfilling,
it's also an invitation for us to get real with
God. It's an invitation to us to get our theology,
our knowing of God, knowledge of God, to a place
of real and raw discipleship. And discipleship
requires change. And change requires honesty
with ourselves, often brutal honesty with yourself.
And there's no better place to get real about
yourself than with God because God is a safe
place. God already knows everything there is
to know about you. Yes, also the ugly and the
dark stuff, he already knows. You don't need
to be ashamed. You don't need to feel guilty.
You just need to get real with him. God is a
safe place, loved ones. So let's get real with
God. Shall we? And by the way, for the better,
let's get real with each other as well. Discipleship
is a bit raw and is a little bit messy. No, not
a little bit. It's very messy. Let's get real
with God. Let's get real with one another. You
know what will be the result? If you make this,
that what we just read, your daily prayer, change
in you. will be the result, increasingly so.
You know what else? The experience of freedom
and fullness of Jesus will be your experience,
increasingly so. Okay, so we're getting toward
the end of this study, of this song. And for
those of you who like quick summaries, I mean,
we have some practical people here right now.
Maybe you're now asking, well, Pastor, What are
a couple of truths, maybe two or three, make
it simple and concise, that you want me to have
on my playlist on repeat after what you have
said this morning? Well, thank you for asking.
Here are two truths that I really would like
for you to have on repeat on your playlist. Ready?
Here we go. Truth number one, God knows your
worst and your best, and he loves you the same.
Can you say that? Can you now make it personal
and change the you's and so with the me's? Here
we go. God knows my worst and my best and he
loves me the same. Do you believe that? The author
Jerry Bridges in his book, The Discipline of
Grace. explains the good day, bad day mentality
that is going around in Christian circles. What
is that mentality? Well, let me explain. Good
day is a day on which you had spent time with
God, you made godly choices, you resisted temptation
really well, and so on and so forth. And because
it was a good day, you believe that God loves
you a lot. Because it was a good day. The bad
day, on the other hand, is a day on which you
didn't keep your spiritual disciplines. Actually,
you fell for temptation. You treated your friend
or your spouse not so rightly. You did all kinds
of stuff. And because of that, God is really,
really disappointed in you. As a matter of fact,
he gives you a couple of challenging circumstances
to teach you a lesson on this bad day. That's
the good day, bad day. And by the way, it has
found its way in a lot of Christian circles.
Maybe after hearing this, you recognize yourself,
hold on, that's kind of how I see God as well.
On good days, he loves me a lot. On bad days,
I'm not sure if he would approve of what I'm
doing. And therefore, he probably loves me a
lot less. This is not the gospel, friend. If
this is your mentality, that's not the good news
of Jesus, okay? This is the good news of Jesus.
God is so rich in mercy and he loved us so much
that even though we were dead because of our
sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from
the dead. It is only by God's grace that you
and I have been saved. What you do or don't do
doesn't change God's love for you. That's the
good news of the gospel. Even while you and I
were in our most unlovable condition, dead because
of our sins, that's pretty unlovable if you ask
me, God already loved us. And God's love for
us, even in that unlovable condition, was His
motivation. forgiving us jesus to save us and
the application of that is called grace okay
there is nothing that you can do that will make
god love you more or that will make him love
you less that's good day bad day mentality that's
not the gospel okay nothing that you will be
able to do can make god love you less The same
Jerry Bridges that I referred to earlier said
this. I love what he says. Your worst days are
never so bad that you are beyond the reach of
God's grace. And your best days are never so
good that you are beyond the need of God's grace.
This is grace. This is grace. is grace and God
continues to apply grace to our everyday life
and therefore you're never too far away not to
receive it grace and you're never too close not
to need it let me also say this the fact that
God loves you on your worst day and your bad
day, worst day and your best days, doesn't mean
that he condones, that he approves of all your
actions, all your motives, all your thoughts,
and all your words, okay? That's why he wants
us to get real with him. Because when you're
out of shape, spiritually, emotionally, God loves
you too much to keep you in that shape, and he
wants to get you back into shape. That's why
he invites us to get real with him. Which brings
me to the second thing, the second truth for
all of you who like quick summaries. God knows
your potential, and he is transforming you toward
that goal. God not only intimately knows who
you are today, he also intimately knows who you
are becoming. God is changing you. You know that,
right? And we're called in scripture God's workmanship
or God's masterpiece. And when you know how artists
work, like painters and, what's it, sculpture?
People who make sculptures, what is it called?
Yeah, hard word for someone who is ESL. When
you know how artists work, you know that they
begin with the finished product in mind, right?
When a painter begins to paint, he or she already
knows, that's the outcome. That's the finished
product I'm working on. But when you walk into
the room where the painter is painting, in the
process, you know what you see? Some broad strokes
of paint, some blobs of green, yellow, and red,
and it makes you wonder, it looks like nothing.
It's a mess. What are you doing? And the painter
would tell you, hold on, hold on. I know the
stages I need to go through to get to that place
of finished. I know the potential of that painting,
what I'm still making. That's a picture that
God wants us to have of him. God is an artist.
God is a painter or a sculptor. God is an artist
making us into something. You know who is the
finished product that he has in mind? It's Jesus.
That's the prototype that he is looking at. Like
Romans 8 .29 says, God knew us in advance and
he also chose us to become like his son. That
is Jesus. So that's our potential, becoming like
Jesus. And yeah, that takes time to get there,
right? We're talking Jesus here. So God goes
through the stages. God transforms us every step
of the way. And you may be wondering, like wondering
when the painter's making this painting, say,
well, God, I don't think it's going anywhere.
What I see is a blob of green and yellow on a
canvas and a couple of broad strokes. It's messy
what you're doing. If you feel like that about
your journey of discipleship, can I just encourage
you, trust the process. Because the process is
being undertaken about the master artist. And
his name is God Almighty. God knows what he is
doing. God knows the stages that he needs to
be taking you through. Stages of transformation.
Some are a little bit easier than the others.
But he is forming you. He is shaping you into
becoming like his son Jesus. Do you want to become
like Jesus? I do. Anyone else here wanting to
become like Jesus? Let me encourage you, God
is doing it. Let me also encourage you in saying,
we'll get there after a lifetime plus one day.
Or the moment Jesus returns and right thereafter.
That's when we will be like Jesus. While we're
here, God is working. He's a master at it. He
knows what He is doing. Every stage, every step
of the way. What a song, right? Psalm 139, put
it on repeat on your playlist. There is also
songs made about this psalm, so there is melodies
and all of that, but make sure that these words,
these truths are on repeat on the playlist of
your life so that your soul and your heart can
be immersed with what your mind already knows.
As I close, I want to ask you one question. Are
you allowing God to know you? Is it possible
that God has been speaking to you this morning
about your reservations to fully engage with
Him? Because the idea of being fully known by
God threatens you and unsettles you. Could it
be that you are hiding for God? Because your
view of him is one of he is surveilling me, he
is watching over me, ready to beat me up whenever
I go wrong in my actions, my motives or my words.
Could it be that this morning you've become aware
that you are actually doubting God's love for
you and with that his motive for him wanting
to know you? If these are things you are struggling
with, you're wrestling through at this moment,
we're here for you to help you. We're here for
you to pray with you. So if the Lord has been
speaking and revealing to you things in this
realm, I encourage you to come after this worship
service. We're here. For as long as we need to
be here to pray with you, to be there for you,
to be still with you, but I invite you, come.
God desires to be invested in your life. So come
and allow Him to know you. I want to ask all
of you to bow your heads and let's quiet ourselves
for a couple of moments before I pray. Father,
you are here. And your presence is evident this
morning. Lord, you have used me to speak words
that I believe you wanted me to speak. But I
acknowledge that my teaching was incomplete as
it always is. And that there is more that you
want to unpack and reveal to us. So would you
do that, Holy Spirit? Make us aware of those
things in our lives that are offensive to you.
Make us aware of any anxious thoughts we pray
with David. And Lord, help us to follow you on
your way of life everlasting. So Lord, as we
bow before you and quiet ourselves, continue
your ministry, Holy Spirit. In this moment, in
the hours and the days to come, Holy Spirit.
Minister to your people. Minister to me. Thank
you for wanting to be involved deeply into our
lives. Thank you for intimately and completely
knowing us. Father, your grace is enough. There's
nothing that we can do To make you love us more
or make you love us less, your grace is enough.
Thank you, Father. It's in the name of Jesus
that we pray. Amen. If you are looking for community
or are in need of prayer, we welcome you to engage
by sending us an email to office at ecb .asia
If God is calling you to support our ministries,
you will find giving options on our website.
And remember to join us next week. God bless
you.