He Is Exalted// Twila Paris Verse 1 He is exalted The King is exalted on high I will praise Him He is exalted forever exalted And I will praise His name Chorus 1 He is the Lord Forever His truth shall reign Heaven and earth Rejoice in His holy name He is exalted The King is exalted on high** Responsive Scripture Reading // Psalm 91:1-16 READER He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” CHURCH 3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. 5 You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. READER 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand,but it will not come near you. 8 You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. CHURCH 9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge— 10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. READER 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. CHURCH 14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. 15 When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” Agnes Dei Michael W. Smith ***Verse *** Alleluia. Alleluia. For the Lord God Almighty reigns Alleluia. Alleluia. For the Lord God Almighty reigns Alleluia! Chorus (English) (You are) Holy, Holy. Are you Lord God Almighty Worthy is the Lamb! Worthy is the Lamb! (You are) Holy, Holy. Are you Lord God Almighty Worthy is the Lamb! Worthy is the Lamb! Amen! Verse (Portuguese) Aleluia aleluia Ao Senhor poderoso Deus Aleluia aleluia Ao Senhor poderoso Deus Aleluia Chorus (Portuguese) Santo Santo É o Senhor poderoso Digno de louvor, Digno de louvor Tu és Santo Santo É o Senhor Deus poderoso Digno de louvor, Digno de louvor Amém *** Chorus (English) (x2)*** All My Hope Reuben Morgan & Jason Ingram Verse 1 (x2) Light in my darkness Peace for my soul You are my rescue You've never let go Chorus All my hope is in You All my strength is in You With every breath my soul will rest in You Verse 2 Here in my weakness Always the same Your love is my shelter Your life is my way Bridge (x2) Constant Saviour Friend forever Lord You have my heart Sure foundation Never failing Lord You have my heart Chorus 2 All my hope is in You All my strength is in You With every breath my soul will rest in You All the earth beneath You All my life before You With every breath my soul will rest in You With every breath my soul will rest in You The Blessing// Brown, Carnes, Jobe, Furtick Verse 1 The Lord bless you, And keep you Make his face shine upon you, And be gracious to you The Lord turn his Face toward you And give you peace Chorus (x2) Amen, Amen, Amen Amen, Amen, Amen Verse 1 Chorus (x2) Bridge 1 (x2) May his favor, Be upon you And a thousand generations And your family, And your children And their children, And their children Bridge 2 May his presence Go before you And behind you, And beside you All around you, And within you He is with you, He is with you Bridge 3 In the morning, In the evening In your coming, And your going In your weeping, And rejoicing He is for you, He is for you Chorus (x2) Bridge 1 Bridge 2 Bridge 3 Chorus (x2) Our Unshakable God Acts 12:1-25 Sermon Notes Today is Mother’s Day. Women figure at key moments in Luke’s gospel and in the ministry of Christ and that is true here in Acts 12. Mary the mother of John Mark: “When Peter realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.” Acts 12:12 Rhoda, a servant girl: “Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.” All of these people are hit hard by the intensifying violence and persecution that takes place in Acts 12. We can find ourselves wondering where God is in these critical moments of life. It seems like these verses aren’t actually true: “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” Psalm 91:11-12 “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand but it won’t come near you, you will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.” Psalm 119:7-8 What do you do when you are encountering incredibly difficult moments which seem unjust and seem like wrong is prevailing or God isn’t listening? The end of this chapter reminds us that God’s ways are not our ways: “But the word of God increased and multiplied. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.” (Acts 12:24-25). What you and I are meant to see here is that the mission of God continues to move from Jerusalem towards the ends of the earth. God uses the hardest moments for His glory and our ultimate good. So what do we need to remind ourselves when we are shaken by life’s hard and unjust or painful events? 1. Do not be mistaken: God is never shaken. (Acts 12:1-5) We are never pleading with a God who is in a shocking predicament. We are always praying to a God who has all power and all hope. We are praying to a God who is at work in even the most unlikely and difficult circumstances for His glory and eternal good of His people. Acts 12:1-5 “About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he has seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer was made for him to God by the church.” Notice the timing of the killing of James and the arrest of Peter – The Passover. Patrick Schreiner writes “Herod not only kills James but ‘arrests’ (sullambano) Peter and ‘delivers’ (paradidomi) him to the guards during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. These same words are used for Jesus’ arrest during the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Luke 22:1,7.” The Passover timing is not accidental. This language by Luke also reminds us that King Herod is now the instrument that God is using to bring His people out of Jerusalem and sending them to the new promised land which is the ends of the earth just like Pharoah with Moses and Pontius Pilate with Jesus. God is working His eternal purpose. Notice the Impact of the Event: The Praying of God’s People and the Displaying of God’s Glory “And when he has seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer was made for him to God by the church.” (Acts 12:3-5) Herod is making sure that no one can rescue Peter or that Peter can escape. God is making sure that when Peter does escape it will be because of a divine intervention that is in response to the prayers of His people. We are meant to understand that humanly impossible situations are not rattling to God but orchestrated by God. God cares but God is not shaken. Prayer is not taking the position of the powerless and the hopeless. It is raising the position of the powerless and the hopeless to the God of all power and the God of all hope. Oswald Chambers: “We tend to use prayer as a last resort, but God wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there's nothing else we can do, but God wants us to pray before we do anything at all. Most of us would prefer, however, to spend our time doing something that will get immediate results. We don't want to wait for God to resolve matters in His good time because His idea of “;good time”; is seldom in sync with ours.” Someone might ask – Why pray if God is already in control? Better Question: Why pray if He isn’t in control? Prayer allows us the privilege of participation in God’s perfect plan. “The nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the Lord; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it. Thus says the Lord God: This also I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for them: to increase their people like a flock.” Ezekiel 36:36,37 God blesses us by allowing us to participate in His kingdom advance in a world of brokenness and evil and corruption. Do not be mistaken: God is not shaken. (He’s actually shaking things up for His purpose and glory. 2. Do not Be Mistaken: God is not Fakin’! We often find ourselves thinking that God cannot be present or at work in our lives, even as God is very clearly leading us or thwarting our enemies. When God acts do you believe that God is leading and working His purpose? Acts 12:6-11“Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, ‘Get up quickly.’ And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, Dress yourself and put on your sandals.’ And he did so. And he said to him, ‘Wrap your cloak around you, and follow me.’ And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, ‘he said, ‘Now I am sure that the Lord has sent an angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all the Jewish people were expecting.’” Mistake 1 - Peter thinks this is just a vision. “He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.” Mistake 2 - The Believers think this is Peter’s ghost. “They said to her, ‘You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!’” *Mistake #3: Herod thinks that this was simply an inexcusable human failure. * “Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. 19 And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined he sentries and ordered that they should be put to death.” (Acts 12:18-19) God is present. God is faithful. God is effectually at work. He isn’t faking this whole kingdom plan. He is working it out before our very eyes. We should see this differently than Herod sees it. III. Do not Be Mistaken: God is not flaking. (Acts 12:20-23) There are two things that we can be certain of as we follow Jesus in His mission: God will keep his promise to exact justice in His time. “Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.” (Acts 12:23) God’s Word will never return to him void. “But the word of God increased and multiplied.” (Acts 12:24) When we are going through incredibly difficult or perplexing times, we can be assured that God will ensure justice and God will ensure fruitfulness. We must trust His timing and His Word.