Opening:      Last week you may have seen the total eclipse that crossed the United States. It was absolutely spectacular. It would have been nice to be at some of those locations along the path of totality but we have the technology to see this magnificent event even though not there, though obviously not the same. As I watched some of the live shots, I heard people screaming with joy saying “Oh my goodness” / “Oh my God” but yet did they turn away from their sin and worship Him. Solar eclipses are more numerous than I realized as Nasa shows us in its Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: “During the 5,000-year period from -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 3000 CE), Earth will experience 11,898 eclipses of the Sun. The statistical distribution of eclipse types for this interval is as follows: 4,200 partial eclipses, 3,956 annular eclipses, 3,173 total eclipses and 569 hybrid eclipses. That means that, every 1000 years you have 840 partial eclipses, 791 annular eclipses, 635 total eclipses and 114 hybrid eclipses. That works out to 2-3 eclipses of all kinds each year, and about 2 total solar eclipses every 3 years and that’s not even counting the Lunar eclipses. This is so precise they can tell us the date, time and duration and exactly where it will occur. So these amazing eclipses are happening all the time. That’s not even talking about everyday the sun shining and the moon lighting up the sky. The northern lights dance, the stars number the sky and lightning electrifies and thunder roars all showing God’s power.

                As Christians, everyday we are reminded of the promises God has given us in His word. Genesis 15:1 “After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. 2 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” 4 Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” Deuteronomy 10:20 “Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. 21 He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. 22 Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.” So every time you see the stars in the sky remember the promise to Abraham. Jeremiah 33:14 “The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. 15 “‘In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’ 17 For this is what the Lord says: ‘David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of Israel, 18 nor will the Levitical priests ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices.’” 19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 20 “This is what the Lord says: ‘If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, 21 then my covenant with David my servant—and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me—can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. 22 I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars in the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.” We serve an amazing God. We are surrounded with His promises. 

      

    Holy Is the Lord                                         The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

    God of Wonders                                      Mac Powell & Danielle Young      

    Indescribable                                                Steve Green

     

    Scripture:    1 Chronicles 16:24 “Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. 25 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. 26 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. 27 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place.” Psalm 47:1 “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. 2 For the LORD Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth. 3 He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet. 4 He chose our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loved. 5 God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the LORD amid the sounding of trumpets. 6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. 7 For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. 8 God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne. 9 The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted.”

     

    Awesome God                                                Rich Mullins 

    He Is Exalted                                                 Twila Paris   

     

    Scripture:    Psalm 145:1 “I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. 2 Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever. 3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. Psalm 68:32 “Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, 33 to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice. 34 Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the heavens. 35 You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!” Psalm 74:16 “The day is yours, and yours also the night; you established the sun and moon. 17 It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.”

     

    Sing Your Praise to the Lord                              Rich Mullins 

    Sing                                                                Travis Cottrell          

     

    Scripture:    Revelation 4:8 “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” 11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created     and have their being.”

     

    Great I Am                                                     Phillips, Craig & Dean

    Holy, Holy, Holy                                              Steve Green 

     

    Scripture: Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

     

    Sing to the King (Live)                                 Umobile Worship                

    Revelation Song                                          Sandi Patti   

     

    Scripture:Malachi 1:14 “For I am a great king,” says the Lord Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.”Deuteronomy 4:39 “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. 40 Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.” Psalm 104:31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works— 32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. 33 I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. 34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD. 35 But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Praise the LORD, my soul. Praise the LORD.”

     

    You Are God Alone                                        The ZOE Group       

    Great Is the Lord                                          Morris Chapman    

     

    Communion:          When we look to the sky, remember and praise him. It seems today that the message of fools light up the sky, like the lights of a city do. When you are in the city or near it you can’t see the magnificence of the lights above you. It is not until you get away from those man made lights that you see brightness of the stars. 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” But we also heed this warning. Deuteronomy 4:19 “And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.” Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” There are many today still looking for signs in the sky and look foolish for doing so. There are many today who have ignored God’s creation and turned from him and have become fools. Just as the God of creation has been rejected so too has his word.

                The day is coming when God will turn his face upon us once again. The promises to Abraham and David will continue to be fulfilled. He will once again pour out his spirit on us and it will be a glorious unfolding as we are about to sing. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

                As we take communion today know that if you seek God you will find him and you will remember that our God is Awesome and reigns forever. As the song said “Have we not too quickly forgotten that our God is Awesome God! As we seek Him, God’s word will become alive in your heart. John 14:23 “Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

     

    Glorious Unfolding                                      Stephen Curtis Chapman

     

    Scripture:  Isaiah 40:25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. 27 Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”? 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.