Sermons

FILTER BY:

← back to list

Nov 19, 2017

Secularity is the Point of the Story

Secularity is the Point of the Story

Passage: Psalms 72:1-20

Speaker: Patrick Lafferty

Series: Psalms

It’s widely held that ours is a more, as it’s called, “secular” age--shorn of its prior attention to the sacred and increasingly, if not exclusively, focused on the tangible, the material. But that sacred-secular distinction is in some ways foreign to what secular originally meant. The spiritual and the material words, while distinct, were still thought of as inseparably related, such that you might say God is the ultimate secularist: interested in everything under the Sun from the perspective of what transcends all things. In looking at one of the so-called “Royal Psalms”--those which sing of an ideal king for Israel and in turn an ideal people to live under him--we’ll see a vision of what a true secularity looks like and discover that unless we’re secular in the true way we’ll end up being sacred in the worst way. You could say of God’s story and our place in it: secularity is the point.

It’s widely held that ours is a more, as it’s called, “secular” age--shorn of its prior attention to the sacred and increasingly, if not exclusively, focused on the tangible, the material.  But that sacred-secular distinction is in some ways foreign to what secular originally meant. The spiritual and the material words, while distinct, were still thought of as inseparably related, such that you might say God is the ultimate secularist: interested in everything under the Sun from the perspective of what transcends all things.  In looking at one of the so-called “Royal Psalms”--those which sing of an ideal king for Israel and in turn an ideal people to live under him--we’ll see a vision of what a true secularity looks like and discover that unless we’re secular in the true way we’ll end up being sacred in the worst way. You could say of God’s story and our place in it: secularity is the point.

Order of Woship

Call To Worship: Psalm 67
Reading: Old Testament: Genesis 12: 1-3
Reading: New Testament: Galatians 3:7-9
Corporate Confession of Sin: from Psalm 139, ”Search me, O God”
Assurance of Pardon: Titus 3:4-8
Central Text: Psalm 72
Sermon Title: "Secularity is the Point of the Story"
Benediction: Revelation 21:5a

11.19.17 Lyrics

11.19.17 Sermon Slides

Illustration

Incredibles - Time to Engage

Readings:

Call To Worship: Psalm 67
LEADER: May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.
PEOPLE: Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you
LEADER: Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
PEOPLE: Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
LEADER: The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, shall bless us.
ALL: God shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear him!

Reading: Old Testament: Genesis 12: 1-3
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Reading: New Testament: Galatians 3:7-9
Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Corporate Confession of Sin: from Psalm 139 "Search me, O God”
Search me, O, Lord
Know Thou my heart
See if there be an impure way in me
Lead me in Thy Way
Lead me in Thy Way
Lead me in Thy Way

Assurance of Pardon: Titus 3:4-8
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.

Central Text: Psalm 72
Psa. 72:1 Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to the royal son!
2 May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice!
3 Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness!
4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!

Psa. 72:5 May they fear you while the sun endures,
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!
6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth!
7 In his days may the righteous flourish,
and peace abound, till the moon be no more!

Psa. 72:8 May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth!
9 May desert tribes bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust!
10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands
render him tribute;
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts!
11 May all kings fall down before him,
all nations serve him!

Psa. 72:12 For he delivers the needy when he calls,
the poor and him who has no helper.
13 He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
and precious is their blood in his sight.

Psa. 72:15 Long may he live;
may gold of Sheba be given to him!
May prayer be made for him continually,
and blessings invoked for him all the day!
16 May there be abundance of grain in the land;
on the tops of the mountains may it wave;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
like the grass of the field!
17 May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun!
May people be blessed in him,
all nations call him blessed!

Psa. 72:18 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
19 Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory!
Amen and Amen!

Psa. 72:20 The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.

Benediction: Revelation 21:5a
Leader: And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints”. . . .And he said to me,
People: Amen

Post-Service Text: 1 Samuel 2:8
He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s,
and on them he has set the world.

Related Scriptures:

  • Proverbs 8:15, 16; 17:7; 29:4, 18
  • Isaiah 49:7
  • Luke 4:16-30
  • James 2:14-26

Quotes:

  • ". . .the trick isn’t to try to convince the reader that Christianity is true but rather to show why it’s interesting, wise and sometimes consoling." - Alain de Botton
  • "Faith that doesn’t work doesn’t work." - D.J. Moo
  • "The Lord commands all men without exception “to do good”. Yet the great part of them are most unworthy if they be judged by their own merit. But . . . Scripture helps in the best way when it teaches that we are not to consider that men merit of themselves but to look upon the image of God in all men, to which we owe all honor and love." - John Calvin
  • "If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this." - C.S. Lewis