Order, Words, & Voices 11.17.14

Order, Words, & Voices – 11.17.24, Isaiah 5-6, Woe

Pre/Post Worship Music – Spotify – Open and Close

Lighting of Christ Candle Cricklins

Songs King of My Heart CCLI Song # 7046145 Billy/Linda

Passage/Prayer Isaiah 5:1-7 Isaiah

Song Goodness of God CCLI Song # 7117726 Billy/Linda

Impact/Message Woe Rick

Song How Great Thou Art CCLI Song # 4768151 Billy/Linda

Community/Closing Peace Rick

Closing Music Glorify Thy Name CCLI Song # 1383 Billy/Linda

Record message on memory card. – leave Room above Speaker’s head

Christ Candle (Slides) (Billy softly plays during final line) Cricklins

– Peace is not found in institutions, peace is found in God.

-Hope does not come from governments, hope comes from God.

-Grace does not lie in the hands of kings, queens, dictators, presidents, or any person of power, grace lies in the hand of God.

-Love is not controlled or hoarded by the powerful, love is freely given from God.

-Mercy and compassion cannot be denied, both are found in the humble life of Jesus.

-While kindness and caring are not a human guarantee, they are a constant in the life of Jesus.

-Power, influence, arrogance, entitlement, manipulation, physical strength, and deceit, are not voices of truth, truth comes from the Spirit.

-Direction is not found in agendas, direction comes from the Spirit.

-We do not worship the creation or the created, we worship the God of creation.

-Our hope is not in the promises of this world, hope is in the God of eternity.

-Amen.

Music (Slides) Billy/Linda

King of My Heart CCLI Song # 7046145

Verse 1

Let the King of my heart

Be the mountain where I run

The fountain I drink from

Oh He is my song

Let the King of my heart

Be the shadow where I hide

The ransom for my life

Oh He is my song

Chorus

You are good good oh

Verse 2

Let the King of my heart

Be the wind inside my sails

The anchor in the waves

Oh He is my song

Let the King of my heart

Be the fire inside my veins

The echo of my days

Oh He is my song

Bridge (X4)

You’re never gonna let

Never gonna let me down

Ending

When the night is holding on to me

God is holding on

When the night is holding on to me

God is holding on

Passage (Slides) Isaiah 5:1-7 Isaiah

I will sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard:

My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.

He dug it and cleared it of stones and planted it with choice vines;

he built a watchtower in the midst of it and hewed out a wine vat in it;

he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded rotten grapes.

And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,

judge between me and my vineyard.

What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?

When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield rotten grapes?

And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.

I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured;

I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.

I will make it a wasteland; it shall not be pruned or hoed,

and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;

I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,

and the people of Judah are his cherished garden;

he expected justice but saw bloodshed;

Righteousness but heard a cry!

Join me in the prayer of Jesus,

Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed be your name.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

Forgive us our trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us.

And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

Music (Slides) Billy/Linda

Goodness Of God CCLI Song # 7117726

Verse 1

I love You Lord

Oh Your mercy never fails me

All my days

I’ve been held in Your hands

From the moment that I wake up

Until I lay my head

I will sing of the goodness of God

Chorus

All my life You have been faithful

All my life You have been so so good

With every breath that I am able

I will sing of the goodness of God

Verse 2

I love Your voice

You have led me through the fire

In darkest night

You are close like no other

I’ve known You as a father

I’ve known You as a friend

I have lived in the goodness of God

Message Rick [Leave Screen Share up for entire message]

[Title Slide]

The first 5 chapters of Isaiah, assuming we accept the chronological placement of these chapters in our Bibles, tell us, actually they tell Isaiah, about the people of Judah, the Southern Kingdom. Remember, though, the Israelite tribes split after the reign of King Solomon due to a dispute over who should be the next king. So, even though the united Kingdom of Israel was no more, they are unified in the sameness of their reality. The harsh reality was that these same 5 chapters were also about the people of the southern Kingdom, Israel.

In reality, the dismal news that came to Isaiah about Judah, which was also true for Israel. They were important words to all of the Isrealites… and, are actually words to us in the year 2024 – which is how the words of prophets usually work, they are usually for more people and more time periods than claimed. However, this time around it seems more than ever that these words must have our attention. Now, as we add on chapter 6 we come to a very important moment in Biblical history in our history. Listen to Isaiah’s words about this pivotal moment.

[Slides for each section of passage]

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

And the seraphim were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

And I cried, “Woe to me!”. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

The Lord said, “Go and tell this people: “They are ever hearing, but never understanding; they are ever seeing, but never perceiving.

I will make their heart calloused; I will make their ears dull and close their eyes.

Otherwise, it is possible they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and then turn and be healed, which they are not yet ready for.”

Then I asked the Lord, “For how long, Lord?”

And the Lord answered: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitants, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until I, the Lord, have sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.”

Isaiah 6:1-13

[Title Slide]

Context

Judah’s King Uzziah and his father Amaziah were considered good kings except for the fact that they did not destroy the idols of the false gods – which was a common negative trait of Kings up to this point, and back to the first King.

However, in Israel, whether Uzziah and his father had been good Kings, Uzziah, a relative of Isaiah, began to become a bad king as he became more powerful. His arrogance came to a climax when he attempted to absorb the, take over, the power and practice of the Priests. The politicians, starting with the king, were attempting to destroy the line between the secular government and the religion of the people.

This was common, this is still common, and, usually the religious institutions would see this as a power building hope for religion but it never ended up that way. When faith and politics were intertwined, politicians always come out on top, and religion suffered, it was diluded and diminished. Religion was/is an avenue for the politicians and rulers to accomplish their agendas, at which time their power is formidable and religion is then given a seat far in the back of the bus.

We see this today in the USA, and, probably more than anywhere else in this country, Oklahoma politicians are attempting to make Oklahoma the center of this effort. Ten Commandments in Jail cells, Bible, purchased with money from taxpayers’ of all faith as well as taxpayers’ are demanded in public school classrooms, taxpayer money given to religious schools, and this past week our secretary of Education made a with him talking about prayer with the order that it be shown to all NPS students and their parents. And, in doing these things, politicians are already taking over the role of the church in order to train up our children in the politicians limited perspective of faith, scripture, and even truth.

[Slides for each section of passage]

But when Uzziah had become strong he also grew proud, to his destruction. For he acted unfaithfully toward the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to make offering on the altar of incense.

But the priest Azariah went in after the King, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor; they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to make offering to the Lord,

but for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to make offering. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.”

Then Uzziah was enraged. Now he had a censer in his hand to make offering, and when he became enraged with the priests a defiling disease broke out on his forehead, in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense.

When the chief priest Azariah, and all the priests, looked at him, he was diseased on his forehead. They hurried him out, and he himself hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him.

King Uzziah had a defiling disease to the day of his death, and being diseased lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace of the king, governing the people of the land.

II Chronicles 26:16-21

[Slide]

Where are our voices as the temple is blatantly defiled? Where are our voices as our political leaders cozy up to faith leaders, all the while destroying our faith institutions? Where are our voices when religious celebrities guide us, and the politicians, down this destructed path.

Isaiah asked these questions, we need to ask these questions.

[Title Slide]

So, the people had disregarded God, just as their political rulers were destroying the religious institution. For the people, religion had become an external activity, it had no heart and no soul. They still put on their religious looking costumes and spoke the holy sounding language but their hearts were unholy.

In this moment, as Isaiah stood inside the temple before God who was sitting on the throne, this burden of the people weighed heavy on Isaiah’s mind.

And, unbeknown by the people or Isaiah, in this moment of Isaiah’s face to face with God, he and the people of Israel were just 1-2 decades away from Assyria’s invasion and conquering of Judah, and just 140 years before Babylonia would conquer Judah. Regardless of how much time they had, Isaiah knew that, in the minds of people this was forever and no need for urgency, if it did happen their descendants would face it. It would not be their problem. But, God was preparing the people for their time in exile/slavery so he dulled their minds and hearts until they were ready. Mentally and spiritually, they were not to their ‘Woe’ moment yet, and, their ‘Woe’ moment was going to be crucial to the survival for the all the Israelites

[Slides for each section of passage]

This was Isaiah’s ‘Woe Moment’, His calling from God Moment
Elijah surrendered to God’s call on a mountain, with fear and timidity.
Jonah surrendered to God’s call inside of a huge fish, with arrogance and bitter resentment.
Isaiah surrendered to God’s call in his ‘Woe’ moment, with sorry, devastation, and open hands.

[Slide]

Woe moment, He had recognized the state of the people but in this moment he recognized his own unholiness. Open Hands to release those things (list of Jonah’s things he grasped) that he held to that could have kept him from receiving his call.

[Slide]

Elijah had sweaty hands

Jonah had clinched fists

Isaiah had open hands

[Slide]

Regardless, God called them all…inviting each of them this opportunity to be a part of what God was doing.

[Slide]

And, to be a part…all they had to do was to recognize their Woe Moment.

[Slide]

And to say…”Here Am I, Send Me”

[Leave Slide up until Song]

(Slides) Billy/Linda

How Great Thou Art CCLI Song # 4768151

Verse 1

O Lord my God

When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds

Thy hands have made

I see the stars

I hear the rolling thunder

Thy pow’r thru’out

The universe displayed

Chorus

Then sings my soul

My Savior God to Thee

How great Thou art

Then sings my soul

My Savior God to Thee

How great Thou art

Verse 3

And when I think

That God His Son not sparing

Sent Him to die

I scarce can take it in

That on the cross

My burden gladly bearing

He bled and died

To take away my sin

Verse 4

When Christ shall come

With shout of acclamation

And take me home

What joy shall fill my heart

Then I shall bow

In humble adoration

And there proclaim

My God how great Thou art

Community (Slides) Rick

Fall-Advent Sermon Series, ‘My Eyes Have Seen”, Next Sunday –

11.24.24, ‘Indestructible’, Jeremiah 36:1-8, 21-23, 27-28, 31:31-34; Jeremiah & Josiah

We Need A Little Christmas, Simple Advent. December 1
Advent Luncheon/Budget Vote, December 8 following worship

Closing Peace (Slides) Rick (Slides)

Leader: May the peace of the Lord go with you.

Response: And also with you.

Closing Music Billy/Linda

Glorify Thy Name CCLI Song # 1383

Verse 1

Father we love You

We worship and adore You