(2 Samuel 6)(1 Chron 13-16)
The crux of today's sermon was
1. David was mindful of God's presence. He wanted to be near Him. (that's why he wanted to bring the ark of covenant back to the city of David, Jerusalem)
2. David did not obey God's instructions on how to bring the ark back and caused the death of Uzzah.
3. David right the wrong and brought the ark back in a proper manner. (Ark was left in the house of Obededom who was a levite and God blessed the family.later the Levites brought it back.. )
4. God is a holy God. He cannot tolerate anything done in an unbiblical manner. We must be people of the Bible, doing things from a biblical perspective.
5. Make sure the Lord reign in your house. Let Him be honoured in all we do or speak.
"Christ is the head of this house, the unseen guest of every meal, the silent listener to every conversation."
6. People are gifted to serve the Lord.(Rom12:1), many people were involved in bringing the Ark back, each one fulfilling their own God-assigned task rightfully and joyfully.
7. The joy of having God's presence. David's dancing is an expression of joy because God was with him there and then, dancing was also in David's culture back at that time(just like how the Indians and Africans worship God). It is not an act of worship as what the charismatic churches explain it to be. Worship as reverence before the Lord God Almighty, dancing is neither in our culture or an act of worship.
8. Let Christian spouses support their partners in service for the Lord. (Not like how Michal despised David's action)
--Thanksgiving--
Thank God for keeping me attentive throughout sermon today. Knowing the usual Tingyu would doze off or stray away, (well I still do once twice thinking of the lesson and relating it to my life), I actually thought the lesson was very relevant and intriguing.
--My 2 -cents worth--
Quite often I do wrong things at the wrong time, right thing at the wrong time and vice versa, so the topic today caught my attention. At first I thought it was Uzzah who did the right thing at the wrong time but realised he did right thing at the right time what... only to find out later that it was David who did it and caused the death of Uzzah. I still cannot grasp the reason why Uzzah had to done because all he did was simply, to me, a natural human reaction.
The lesson to me was that I ought to be constantly desiring for this powerful God's presence. Not only do I need to know he's there, I need to know how to fear Him! He's this HOLY God that cannot stand anything that's done unbiblical manner, to put it in simple terms, disobedience to God; He can struck anyone dead at anytime. Pastor said "If God has not been gracious, we would all have been struck dead." How true! We are often the antagonists in God's story, testing His patience. At that time I really appreciate what Jesus has done for us, dying on the cross to take God's wrath away from us. I cannot imagine if I were to live in the time of David, I'll probably be dead a hundred times. God is the Lord of Hosts, King of all kings!
As Pastor moved on to the part about how we as people of the Bible ought to do things/see things in a biblical perspective, it reminded me of the conversation between my colleague and boss. Angela reminded me that I ought to have done something about it, which I wonder why I find it hard to. We often felt obligated to speak well in front of our bosses or seniors, not to offend them, in case we get demoted or something. But as people of the Bible, should we continue to live this way as the non believers do or make a strong stand politely to point out the immoral thoughts or acts, even to our bosses. So I'm going to leave them a note on the day I leave the company. Pray that I'll have the wisdom to write politely, humbly and point out what was wrong.
God blessed Obededom when he took care of the Ark. Let my motivation to serve the Lord be not our wish to be blessed physically (wealth, health and the like) but simply because God deserves to be honoured and worshiped. Someone told me before, its not as if God doesnt know the motive deep down in our hearts, we can deceive all the people around us but not this all knowing God who looks at our hearts. I ought to do my little part to serve God and contribute my little to the building of His big Kingdom.. :)
I saw unity of God's people when the Ark was brought back to Jerusalem in the proper way. Did God designed it to be so, so that the people of God can witness to the world as one. I was imagining how each worker did their part happily because they knew deep down they were serving the Almighty. They were gladly involved no matter how small their role was and I guess I ought to adopt the same kind of attitude. Many times I thought its always a better idea to be found serving in church camp or those so-called 'big' ministries, having a 'higher' position in the ministries would then equate to 'serving well'. Not quite here. Its still the heart of service that God looks at, no matter how big or small the job is. Finding joy in the small things that I do, all for God.
Seeing how David dances in front of God is such a wonderful sight because it was an expression of extreme joy. God's presence in the house of David! I need to dispel the old thought of dancing being an act of worship that my friends sometimes tell me. N me too want to dance before the Lord.Dance name : REJOICE!
The crux of today's sermon was
1. David was mindful of God's presence. He wanted to be near Him. (that's why he wanted to bring the ark of covenant back to the city of David, Jerusalem)
2. David did not obey God's instructions on how to bring the ark back and caused the death of Uzzah.
3. David right the wrong and brought the ark back in a proper manner. (Ark was left in the house of Obededom who was a levite and God blessed the family.later the Levites brought it back.. )
4. God is a holy God. He cannot tolerate anything done in an unbiblical manner. We must be people of the Bible, doing things from a biblical perspective.
5. Make sure the Lord reign in your house. Let Him be honoured in all we do or speak.
"Christ is the head of this house, the unseen guest of every meal, the silent listener to every conversation."
6. People are gifted to serve the Lord.(Rom12:1), many people were involved in bringing the Ark back, each one fulfilling their own God-assigned task rightfully and joyfully.
7. The joy of having God's presence. David's dancing is an expression of joy because God was with him there and then, dancing was also in David's culture back at that time(just like how the Indians and Africans worship God). It is not an act of worship as what the charismatic churches explain it to be. Worship as reverence before the Lord God Almighty, dancing is neither in our culture or an act of worship.
8. Let Christian spouses support their partners in service for the Lord. (Not like how Michal despised David's action)
--Thanksgiving--
Thank God for keeping me attentive throughout sermon today. Knowing the usual Tingyu would doze off or stray away, (well I still do once twice thinking of the lesson and relating it to my life), I actually thought the lesson was very relevant and intriguing.
--My 2 -cents worth--
Quite often I do wrong things at the wrong time, right thing at the wrong time and vice versa, so the topic today caught my attention. At first I thought it was Uzzah who did the right thing at the wrong time but realised he did right thing at the right time what... only to find out later that it was David who did it and caused the death of Uzzah. I still cannot grasp the reason why Uzzah had to done because all he did was simply, to me, a natural human reaction.
The lesson to me was that I ought to be constantly desiring for this powerful God's presence. Not only do I need to know he's there, I need to know how to fear Him! He's this HOLY God that cannot stand anything that's done unbiblical manner, to put it in simple terms, disobedience to God; He can struck anyone dead at anytime. Pastor said "If God has not been gracious, we would all have been struck dead." How true! We are often the antagonists in God's story, testing His patience. At that time I really appreciate what Jesus has done for us, dying on the cross to take God's wrath away from us. I cannot imagine if I were to live in the time of David, I'll probably be dead a hundred times. God is the Lord of Hosts, King of all kings!
As Pastor moved on to the part about how we as people of the Bible ought to do things/see things in a biblical perspective, it reminded me of the conversation between my colleague and boss. Angela reminded me that I ought to have done something about it, which I wonder why I find it hard to. We often felt obligated to speak well in front of our bosses or seniors, not to offend them, in case we get demoted or something. But as people of the Bible, should we continue to live this way as the non believers do or make a strong stand politely to point out the immoral thoughts or acts, even to our bosses. So I'm going to leave them a note on the day I leave the company. Pray that I'll have the wisdom to write politely, humbly and point out what was wrong.
God blessed Obededom when he took care of the Ark. Let my motivation to serve the Lord be not our wish to be blessed physically (wealth, health and the like) but simply because God deserves to be honoured and worshiped. Someone told me before, its not as if God doesnt know the motive deep down in our hearts, we can deceive all the people around us but not this all knowing God who looks at our hearts. I ought to do my little part to serve God and contribute my little to the building of His big Kingdom.. :)
I saw unity of God's people when the Ark was brought back to Jerusalem in the proper way. Did God designed it to be so, so that the people of God can witness to the world as one. I was imagining how each worker did their part happily because they knew deep down they were serving the Almighty. They were gladly involved no matter how small their role was and I guess I ought to adopt the same kind of attitude. Many times I thought its always a better idea to be found serving in church camp or those so-called 'big' ministries, having a 'higher' position in the ministries would then equate to 'serving well'. Not quite here. Its still the heart of service that God looks at, no matter how big or small the job is. Finding joy in the small things that I do, all for God.
Seeing how David dances in front of God is such a wonderful sight because it was an expression of extreme joy. God's presence in the house of David! I need to dispel the old thought of dancing being an act of worship that my friends sometimes tell me. N me too want to dance before the Lord.Dance name : REJOICE!
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