SING A NEW SONG: THE POWER OF PURPOSE

We are tuning our lives at St. Johns with our new series, Sing a New Song. In our modern lives, we have unimaginable technology at our fingertips, but we are losing the power of the human touch. We are building artificial intelligence, but there seems to be a loss of intelligence in our schools, and in our entertainment. We have instant communication, but we struggle to get to know our neighbors or to be known by them. There seems to be something wrong with the picture! As we consider the rising rates of despair and depression, we understand that something is not right, yet it is hard to discern what will bring a sense of wholeness and help to our lives! The sermon this week is The Power of Purpose. A deep and abiding question for our lives and our society is; What is our purpose? How we answer this question determines how we use our technology, how we teach our children, how we entertain ourselves, and if we are even concerned about communicating with our neighbors. Our Psalm this week is Psalm 139:1-14. This is a beautiful, yet complicated Psalm that communicates God’s desire to know us, guide us, and give our lives meaning and purpose. It is filled with David’s realization that God’s purpose is to know him without condemnation and to guide him by enhancing his knowledge of God’s power and presence.  He realizes that this living God will never let him go, even when he has made his bed in the worst possible place! As he proclaims God’s goodness and power, he also shares a path for understanding God’s purpose for our lives! We pray that your cup will be filled to overflowing with the sense of God’s power and presence as you read Psalm 139:1-14.

Psalm 139:1-14: For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. ² You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. ³ You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. ⁴ Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. ⁵ You hem me in– behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. ⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? ⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. ⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, ¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. ¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” ¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. ¹³ For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (NIV)