This morning I preached a sermon to an empty room. Our church was unable to meet because of the outbreak of the coronavirus. My message was from Psalm 25. You can find the full manuscript of the sermon below. If you have any questions feel free to comment. Blessings.
Month: March 2020
“Hallowed Be Thy Name” Matthew 6:9b Sermon Manuscript
Introduction
This morning, we continued an expository sermon series through the Lord’s Prayer. Christians throughout the centuries have prayed these 70 words (in the KJV) from the lips of Jesus. Below is an excerpt from the sermon followed by a link to the full manuscript.
At Lake Wylie Baptist, we believe that God builds his church through his Word. For more expository sermons like this, visit lwbaptist.com/resources.
Sermon Excerpt
Notice, as well, that this is a request, “Hallowed be thy name.” When we pray these words, we are asking God to do something with his own name. We’re praying that he would make his name separate, set apart, and reverenced; which leads us to ask a question. Is God’s name not holy? I thought holiness was a basic attribute of God. How could his name lack holiness such that we should ask for it?
Well, the fact is that God’s name is holy. There is nothing lacking in his name. There is nothing inadequate in God or his name. What is lacking, what is inadequate, what is missing is a holy reverence for God’s name on the earth. The human beings that God created have not and do not ascribe to God’s name the kind of worth and value, and reverence that he is due.
In fact, if you look down a few lines you’ll see the words, “in earth as in heaven.” That phrase can be applied to all of the first three petitions of the prayer:
- Hallowed by thy name, in earth as it is in heaven.
- Thy Kingdom come in earth as it is in heaven.
- Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
In heaven, God’s name is treated as perfectly holy. Isaiah 6 gives us the vision of the throne room of heaven where God sits and rules over all of creation. And it is in that throne room that the angelic hosts fly around the throne day and night crying to one another “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God almighty!” So honored reverenced is God in heaven, that the seraphim won’t even look at his glory. They cover their faces with their wings.
But that is not how God’s name is treated in the earth. On earth, God’s name is treated often treated either with contempt or simply with a thoughtless attitude.
Sermon Manuscript
“Our Father Which Art in Heaven” Matthew 6:9a
Introduction
Yesterday, I began an expository sermon series through the Lord’s Prayer. Christians throughout the centuries have prayed these 70 words (in the KJV) from the lips of Jesus. Below is an excerpt from the sermon followed by a link to the full manuscript.
At Lake Wylie Baptist, we believe that God builds his church through his Word. For more expository sermons like this, visit lwbaptist.com/resources.
Sermon Excerpt:
The Lord’s Prayer could actually be called The Disciple’s Prayer. It’s the Lord’s in one sense because it comes from the Lord Jesus. But, it is a prayer that is given by the Lord to his disciples, his followers. And many people have wondered: should we recite the words, or is it just a model for us? And the answer is both.
The prayer occurs twice in the New Testament; first, in Matthew’s gospel, as a part of a sermon that Jesus preached. Then, in Luke 11, Jesus’ disciples approach him and ask, “Lord, teach us to pray.” To which, Jesus responds, “When you pray, say…” In other words, “Say these words.” We are commanded, by the Lord Jesus to repeat the words he gave us. This means that true Christian prayer, which is pleasing to God and acceptable to him can be done in 20 seconds. This is the perfect prayer for new Christians. It’s the perfect prayer for children. A 3-year-old can learn these words. If you are just learning how to pray—learn these words and tell them to the Lord with all your might—and God will love it.
On the other hand, in Matthew’s account, the prayer is given as a model. Jesus says, “Pray then like this…” In other words, even if you don’t say these words, your prayers should follow this example or this pattern. So, you can pray long prayers, that use the structure of the Lord’s Prayer to guide your own. So, pray that God’s name would be holy. Pray for the coming of his kingdom. Ask him for your daily needs, forgiveness of sin, and strength to face trials. And do it all with many words.
Jesus spent entire nights alone in prayer to God. He challenged his disciples, “Could you not watch and pray for one hour?” When we read the Psalms, we are reading prayers; 150 of them, many of them very long. So, use these 70 words as a model for long prayers.
Full Manuscript:
The Glittering Tinsel of Rationalism
Hardly a century after the once glittering tinsel of rationalism, now that materialism is sounding its retreat in the ranks of science, a kind of hollow piety is again exercising its enticing charms and every day it is becoming more fashionable to take the plunge into the warm stream of mysticism.
Abraham Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism (1898)