HCF Vocal Team: January 2018

1/7 – Looking for God’s Glory (Psalm 8)

More and more people are taking up the conversation about the existence of God. The theme of this age is, where is He? They ask, “If God exists, why doesn’t He show Himself?” This psalm from David is the answer to that question. God is indeed NOT hidden. Evidence of Him is visible throughout the earth. And David tells us that this evidence expresses the glory and majesty of God. But the central point of this song is not about God’s greatness; instead, David uses the majesty of God as the setup to his amazement at how good God is to mankind. And from this psalm we learn that God is most clearly seen in His kindness and care for people.

God’s Majesty is through all the earth (v. 1, 9)

You can see evidence of God’s greatness everywhere you look – from biology to astrophysics, from the simple gift of life to the joy of being alive

Seen in the heavens (1, 3)

We don’t look up like men have throughout history – but when we do, it gives us a sense of HOW GREAT God is

And how small we are

The beauty of creation can take our breath away – and fill our hearts with wonder

Using the small to show His strength (2)

God is so great that He even uses the very small to display his power

God Is SO Good To Us (v. 4-8)

This is the big point of the psalm – God loves mankind

He doesn’t have to – and no one makes Him care about us

But it is beyond dispute that He does care about us – and that He has given us amazing gifts

We are crowned with glory and honor – beyond the angels who live in heaven itself

He cares for us beyond His love for the angels – He died to rescue us, not them!

It is not OUR beauty that drives this love – it is His love – and we are amazed

QUESTION: Have you marveled at how great God is? Has your heart been filled up with the thought that He loves you, even though you are so small compared to Him? Will we open our eyes to see the glory of God?

1/14 – Giving God Credit (Psalm 9)

COMMUNION

Let’s say you have a moment of brilliance. An amazing idea springs into your mind and you just know that it is one of your greatest. Then pretend you share it with someone in your excitement, and you just know they are going to be excited with you. But instead, they steal your idea and claim it for their own. They get all the credit and everyone thinks they came up with it themselves. That would really be deflating! To have someone take the credit for something you did. Our song from Psalm 9 for today reminds us that we should be careful not to do this exact thing to God. How often do we take credit for what God actually provides and does? David challenges us to give thanks with all our hearts and to recognize the incomparable power of God that is at work in our lives and in our world.

1. Giving Thanks with All Your Heart (v. 1-2, 13-14)

What does this look like?

What should come from hard times?

2. The Lord Always Wins (v. 3-12, 15-17, 19-20)

God never loses – and never will

Do we act like this is true? Do we feel it and speak it and live it?

There is no power or plan that can overcome the Lord - NONE

3. God’s Remembers the Needy (v. 18)

The undefeated almighty God CHOOSES to direct His power towards those who need help

He will NEVER forget…..

Hope will NEVER perish

COMMUNION – Romans 4:18ff – Abrahams hope and ours

QUESTION: What does ‘giving thanks with all your heart’ look like for you? Is your confidence in the Lord Almighty alone? Can you connect that to His heart of compassion for the needy?

1/21 – Is God Hiding? (Psalm 10)

Little kids love to hide. Unfortunately, many of them are not very good at it. Maybe that’s a good thing! They think if they hide their face or close their eyes, no one can see them. If you’re playing hide and seek with a little one, you may have to pretend you don’t see their legs sticking out from under the bed or whatever hiding place they’ve chosen. Generally, it is pretty easy to find them. But sometimes, we feel like God is hiding from us and we can’t seem to find Him. David wrote a song about a moment like this. In this case, wicked folks were acting like God would never call them into account, and David was wondering where God was as they boasted and planned their selfish lives. But David turns His complaint into a prayer of faith. And we can take His example when it seems like God is hiding from us!

1. The Question (v. 1)

Sometimes – YES!

Why?

2. The Boasts and Plans of the Wicked (v. 2-11)

The wicked show themselves – God’s justice becomes more evident

3. The Hope We Have (v. 12-18)

But God will not stay hidden – He will show Himself at the right time

QUESTION: How do you work through the times when it feels like God stands far off? Do you think (like they do) that the wicked are escaping God’s judgment? Or is your faith sure that God will set all wrong things right?

1/28 – More Than A Feeling (Philippians 2:3-4; Matt 14:13-21)

Job Fair

When Dorothy says “There’s no place like home” in the Wizard of Oz, it is her way of summing up her longing to finally get home. There is something about the way a true home “feels”. It’s more than a location or just a place to sleep and eat. You feel relaxed and at ease. You are comfortable with the others around you in the house and feel like you belong. When we talk about our church being a family, we’re talking about the same kind of thing. Since we’re a spiritual family, we are connected by the Holy Spirit and welcomed into the family no matter what. But it isn’t just an accident or something over which we have no control. That feeling actually holds firm and grows as we embrace certain behaviors with passion and faithfulness. Today, we’re going to talk about how serving is central to being a Christian and to any healthy church family.

Our church ‘feels’ a certain way

It isn’t magic or accidental

Some key elements of how God works – and how He’s called us to work and grow

People matter – Jesus is the answer – we want people to see Him and not us – faith is the way we are connected to our Lord

All of these are big deals – all of them

Serve the Lord with gladness

Share Jesus/ the way truth and life

Philippians 2:3-4

1. The antidote for self centered

Most of the problems we struggle with in life originate in our natural human self-focus

Relationship problems, temptation, anger, worry, pride, greed, sexual sin,

2. The answer to a power worshipping world

Big church, small feel – serving together

Done it for the least of these

3. Little Becomes Much

One of the only stories of Jesus’ life that is told in all 4 gospels

What do we learn from this?

Little acts of service in the hands of a mighty God turn into powerful miracles that turn people to Jesus and bring glory to His name

Big calling / God takes our little and makes it profoundly large (5 loaves, 2 fish)

(Bowling)

Videos / testimonials / the WHY

QUESTION: Where can you commit to serve? Where can you explore serving? Can you see how the Lord will use these opportunities to help you get your eyes off yourself?

2/4 – Teen Service

We love our teens. They are some of our most valuable people at Hope. On this Sunday, we get to enjoy them as they share their faith with us. Come and be blessed as young people lead our service with our team of youth workers.

(Dave should have a message description for this as the day approaches)

2/11 – God Our Refuge (Psalm 11, 12, 13)

We’ve seen so many disastrous storms over the past few years and the damage they cause is truly unbelievable. Whether you’re looking at the loss of life or the devastation to property, it is hard to imagine the overwhelming power of hurricanes. Lump in other natural disasters like tornadoes, earthquakes, and wildfires, and we start to realize that we are quite fragile and relatively powerless. Does that mean we are doomed to live scared and running? David often uses the picture of God as a hiding place – a place of refuge and safety. When we are up against forces that threaten to overwhelm us, do we know what David knew: that God is a place we can go to be safe?

1. Where do you hide? (11)

Helpless bird

Targeted and vulnerable

In the Lord I take refuge

2. Trustworthy Words (12)

3. Until I Trust (13)

How long?

Rejoice in salvation

Sing the Lord’s praise

He has been good to me

QUESTION: Do you know firsthand what it feels like to have God as your refuge? When so much of what we hear is untrustworthy, are you still capable of trusting the Lord? Is He your first and only hiding place?

2/18 – The Fool (Psalm 14)

COMMUNION

Mark Twain once said, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” Surely, we can all relate to the idea of being so certain of something only to find out we were absolutely wrong. This same idea plays out in people spiritually. People are so sure that there is no God, or that all roads lead to Him. However, David writes that we would be fools to act, think, or speak like God does not exist. And the stakes are incredibly high. People all tend to reject God in some way, and a day comes for each person when they will be filled with dread. If we recognize that we answer to God Almighty, our dread in this life can lead us to His saving grace. Otherwise, He is only our judge and we will not fare well before Him!

1 Lost People (v. 1-4)

2. Filled with Dread (v. 5)

Now or later!

3. Our God Saves (v. 6-7)

Longing for the promise to be realized – confident in God’s heart for the poor and endangered

The largest danger any person faces is eternity apart from God

COMMUNION – Romans 3 – quotes this psalm – then v. 21-26

QUESTION: Do you live like we have a living, all-powerful God? Is He your salvation and your refuge?

2/25 – The Behavior Of God’s People (Psalm 15)

Different groups of people have different patterns of living. If you travel to Eastern Asia, you’ll notice a different take on how to live honorably from the Chinese and Japanese. If you were to go to Europe, you’d definitely notice a different standard of morality. Even in America, we differ in noticeable ways. If you’re from the Northeast, try going down to the South and dealing with a different mentality on driving. Worse still, watch a Southerner try to deal with our traffic pace and patterns! Similarly, God’s people should have patterns of living that are generally true. In Psalm 15, David talks about the kinds of behaviors that should be typical of those who have given their lives to the Lord.

LIFESTYLE

Blameless / righteous – does what is right

WORDS

Speaks – truth, no slander, casts no slur

Keeps an oath, does not change their mind

ACTIONS

Does no wrong to neighbor, lends money to poor without interest, does not accept a bribe against the innocent

VALUES

Despises a vile person, honors those who fear the Lord

QUESTION: Do we live like we belong to God? Where do our words or actions need to be submitted to the Lord and reflect His character? In what way does belonging to God practically affect our life choices and direction?

3/4 – Exclusive Faith (Psalm 16)

If you’re trying to invest in the stock market, one thing they tell beginners is that it is good to ‘diversify’. Basically, that means you don’t want to do all of your investing in one fund or one realm in case something unforeseen causes that particular area to fall apart. Having your investments spread out can help you be protected. But with God, that same principle would bring you ruin. Many through history have tried to cover all their bases by worshipping many gods. The thought was that if one god were to be false or weak, at least we were also serving other gods who could still help us. But the true and living God is not one of many, and will not be served as part of some spiritual portfolio. Instead, He demands exclusive faith. Much like a marriage only works when the relationship is completely exclusive of other romantic connections, God is only truly ours when we worship Him alone.

3,4 – the people I embrace vs those who chase other gods

Why?

1 – safety

9-11 – my confident hope

2 – anything good,

5 – you alone are my portion, my cup

6 boundary lines in pleasant places (what you give is perfect and enough)

7, 8 – guide

QUESTION: Do I honor those who reject my Lord, aspiring to their life in some way? Is God enough for me? Is He my hope and my trustworthy guide for this life?

HCF Vocal Team

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Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Special Music - January - February 2018

Message Descriptions - January - February 2018