Worship in All Circumstances: Awe

How you guys doing? That's awesome. So if you've been here for the last six months or seven months,

my name is Tobin. I've got a little fan up here, so I've got a little work on that.

My name is Tobin, and I'm one of the pastors here. About five and a half years ago, God allowed us

to some crazy people, and Christina and I, and about 35 other people, to go on a journey

to help become a new family in this part of Hong Kong. And so God allowed us to plant a

Watermark Community Church. And so this is my last sermon here for a while. If this is your first

time, you're probably going, that's great. And if you're there for a long time, you're probably going,

that's awesome also, which is good. And so to finish this journey we've been on, or at least to

finish this leg of this journey, to think about what the next step will be and just how God's been

working in our life, I was praying about what to share, and I felt like I needed to start with a

confession, and I needed to confess to all of you something that I've been struggling with for like

43 years as a Christian. And if you have been listening to the sermons, the series on Psalms,

if you've been listening to just the worship today, after the music's team up there, I felt like I could

just shut up, come up, and do communion, and that was an awesome thing. But they told me I have to do a

sermon, and it can't be more than an hour long. So, but I wanted to confess something to you guys,

you know, and I'll share it in a story. It was September 1st, 1999, and Christina and I had

just come back from China. We'd been ministering in China, a big Asian country above us, which you

would say the most foreigners, and they usually say, oh, you're in Japan. Yeah, no, that's not the

big Asian country we've been in. And we came back to have our first kiddo, Rachel. So Rachel and

Christina was pregnant with Rachel, and you know, we came back, and we just thought we were so with it,

you know. Some of you are about to have kids, some of you who have had kids, some of you don't want

to have kids. You know, there's all these books you can read, and all these classes you can take,

and all these things that just make you feel like you are so confident, and you can do it,

and you can have the baby in the taxi, you can have the baby in the kitchen, you can do anything,

you know. And so I thought that we were just really in control of our lives, and it was going to be an

awesome, smooth delivery. And so we went in on the September 1st, but it didn't turn out so smooth.

After about 16 hours of labor, I mean, Christina's pushing for hours, and she's just exhausted.

And I still don't understand why she wouldn't let me video this birth. I mean, I tried to get her to

video the birth forever, and I showed her the camera angle, and it was going to be very modest,

but it was going to be awesome, right? And so instead of me talking about it, I could be showing it to

you right now. But for some reason, she said, no videoing in the birth room. So I just have to

explain it. And after about 16 hours, she just was not doing good, and we didn't understand what

was going on. And the doctors came in, and he said, you know, the baby's in distress. And the minute he

said that, he picked up a phone, and he called, and it went from the doctor and the nurse, and

Christine and I, about four of us, to like 20 people. And we had these teams in there, and they

were ready to come in and do a c-section and get rid of the distress and trying to get Rachel out.

And it was just crazy. The guy was saying, you know, if she doesn't come this time,

if she doesn't come this push, we have to take your wife, and we have to just do the surgery

right here, because the kid's heart rate is not looking good. And all this learning that I did,

all this studies, and all these classes, and all these things that gave me such confidence,

in the middle of this craziness, you just felt helpless, right? I mean, you're just like,

oh man, that's out of control. You felt like this weak. You know, I went in feeling like,

oh, I could do it. And you're in it, and it's like, you're like that small. You're insignificant

to what's happening, you know, because you were at the forefront of it with your wife, and then

everybody comes in, and you're pushed off to the side, and you're out of control, where you thought

you were in control, but you realize you weren't really in control. But you had this illusion that

we're in control, and then you're just watching these things happen, and praying, and you know,

those last push came, and Rachel popped out, and man, I was exhausted, and I was just watching

Christina, you know, and I know she was just like, worn out, and we both just, we just started crying.

I mean, literally, we just started, just overwhelmingly, we felt like this kind of sense of God, and God

was present, that God was active, that God was in control, that God was doing something amazing,

and we just felt this sense of wonder, and this sense of awe of who God is, and what He's done.

And you know, I thought about that for my whole Christian life, but not really until that moment.

And I realized then, and many, many, many times afterwards, that you know, that God is always

present. God is always at work. That God is never resting in your life. That God is always

pursuing you. I don't know if you know that. I mean, I know that sometimes here, but I don't

really know it here. But then I come into those holy moments, and births, and when people who love

the Lord die, and you realize that God is doing His thing, and that me, I should be in wonder,

and I should be in awe of Him all the time. Because there's never a time that He's not working.

There's never a time that He's not loving. There's never a time that He's not active. There's never

a time that He turns His back on His children. And I have this confession to make, and the confession

is this, that in this crazy world, in my craziness, sometimes I lose focus of Him. I forget God.

You know, I've been keenly aware of it over the last couple years, and in my life, what I realize

happens, when this happens, this void kind of happens in my heart, and in my life, and I've been

reading a lot of C.S. Lewis over the years, and Paul Tripp has helped me kind of explain or understand

what's going on in my spiritual life, and they talk about that we have this void, but it's a void

of wonder, that we've lost our wonder of God. That we've replaced this awesome, powerful, wonderful God

with something else in our life. And the truth is, what I am learning, that I want us to learn as a church,

and I want you to know, that whatever you put in there, whatever you put into your wonder vacuum,

whatever you put into your, this place of emptiness, whatever you do, that you, you're going to start

to become like that thing. That whatever you fill your heart with, if it's anything but God,

you're going to become like that. So if you're filling it up with your work, if you're filling

it up with your relationships, if you're filling it up with your studies, if you're filling it

up with your future, if you're filling it up with your, your health, if you're filling it

up with anything but the Creator, that we're just saying about, you're going to become like

that 28,000 28 hundred years ago it's a psalm that the girls read no I'm not

crying it's just allergies David had the same struggle that I have David has the

same struggle that you had most Hebrew historians say that he wrote this psalm

either after or during the night that he was about to face Goliath and so you can

think of this night that he's about to face his champion of Gath in the valley

of Elah the armies of God are here the armies of the Philistines are here they've

been calling out God's people for months and months and no one comes no one

changes and also this little 16 year old boy comes in and he says hey this is not

right and he's going to fight this giant for God and I just wonder what he was

thinking of that night before he went into that fight I mean I wonder where

his focus was I wonder what were the things that were concerning him because

it was a winner-take-all battle whoever won was going to take everything and

everybody else was going to be killed and the psalmist as our daughter and Abby

read it says that David came out in the midst of his crazy world he looked up into the stars and God

spoke to him and he said these words oh Lord our Lord Yahweh Adonai it's God's holy name I mean

God's name is so holy and powerful to God's people that they wouldn't even speak it

outwardly because they didn't want to be disrespectful to him they had reverence for him

Yahweh Adonai it means the God who was the God who is the God who is to come it's the word it means I am

one when God spoke to his people in captivity in Egypt he said it meant that he's the God who sees

that he's the God who hears that he's the God who cares for you that he's the God who is always

at work in your life and in my life.

How majestic the words mean wonderful, awesome, intimidating is your name.

It's your character.

The most important thing to a Hebrew person was your name.

It meant your reputation.

It meant who you are.

It meant everything about you.

Okay, so like before we left for our sabbatical, I was downtown.

I was meeting somebody, and I ran into this guy from Nigeria.

And we were talking.

And we're giving our names.

And I said, so what's, I'm Tobin.

What's your name?

And he said, my name is Runny Poo.

Runny Poo.

R-U-N-N-Y-P-O-O.

So that kind of took me back a little, right?

Because I never ran into a guy named Runny Poo.

And he's Nigerian, and we're talking.

And I didn't know, I didn't want to call him Mr. Poo.

Because that was just too weird, right?

And I didn't want to call him, hey, Runny.

So I was just calling him R-R-P, you know.

Hey, R-P, what do you think about this?

But in David's day, amongst the people of God, the name meant everything.

It was who you were.

It was what you did.

It was who you worshipped.

It was what you didn't do.

It was how you did your family.

He says, how majestic is your name and all there are.

If you have displayed, in the Hebrew it means to give gifts, put on display for all to see your splendor,

which means his awesomeness, his character.

It goes on in verse 1, and it says, above the heavens.

And circle that, because in Hebrew that's a really important word.

Whenever you see above the heavens throughout God's word, it means that the author or the poet,

they're trying to describe something so big, something so awesome, something so vast,

something so numerous, so wonderful to count, like Texas.

They would say, above the heavens, Texas.

Because that's a joke, okay?

I know I've not been around for a while, but that's a joke, okay?

But he would say these words because that's how Hebrew people would describe something so awesome.

And he was saying, God is so awesome.

Because all the other gods lived in a little territory, or they lived in a little temple.

But our God is everywhere.

And there's nowhere that you are right now, and there's nowhere that you're going to go next week,

and there's nowhere that you're going to go four years from now.

And there's nowhere that you're going to go for eternity if you're God's people.

But he's not there.

And that he's going to take care of you.

So his name was massive.

Verse 2, he says, from the mouth of infants and nursing babes.

He meant from the weak, from those who have no ability to save themselves.

And David is thinking about himself before he goes to Goliath.

You have established strength.

You've made things great.

You've given glory because of our enemies, because you want the enemies to cease.

You want their mouths to be shut for all those who oppose God.

Verse 3, when I consider, when I look along, when I'm aware, when I look at the heavens,

when I look at everything that you've made, the moon and the stars which you have fitted together.

Verse 4, what is man?

And the Hebrew word is a very interesting word there.

It means weakness.

It means broken.

It means dark.

It means fallen.

It means weak.

It means frail.

And David, as he looks up into the sky and he sees awesome, awesome things, he's thinking about what's going to happen.

He's thinking about God's creation.

And then he's thinking about himself.

And he said, what am I that you take thought of me?

And that word basically just means remember.

The passage says that God remembers you.

In the Son of Man, anyone who's born of man, that you care for him.

The Hebrew word means to not forget.

I know there's a lot of people in here who feel like God's forgotten them or never even met them.

But the passage says that God never forgets you, that he's always caring for you, that he's never leaving you alone.

He's never neglecting you.

The Hebrew actually means that God's thoughts are always on you.

Think about that.

You're going to work tomorrow or you're going to class or you're going someplace where it's going to be difficult, where it's going to be hard.

You don't know what's going to happen.

You're unsure of what it's going to look like when you come out of there.

God's word says, the psalm says, that God's thoughts are always on you.

There's never a time that God is not thinking about you.

There's never a time that God is not going before you.

There's never a time that he's not ordering your life.

So in my final sermon, I want to share three things.

I know we do that all the time, but it just seems to work that way.

Three things that I have been struggling with.

Three things that I've been trying to cling to in the craziness of our world.

The craziness of our light.

Our life.

And my prayer is that it watermarked that you guys, that we would continue to cling through these things.

And the first one is just found in verses 1 and 9.

And it's just basically our focus.

What is your focus?

And as I've been trying to think through this in my life for 43 years as a Christian, this is the way I understand it.

So I'm going to write it down in Tobin words.

It might not make sense, but this is what I think.

It says, the Bible says that your life is only going to make sense.

That you can only measure or evaluate who you are and what you've done and where you're going.

You can only truly do that if you begin with God.

Maybe another way for me to say it or as I've been thinking about it is if you're in here right now and you're looking for meaning,

you're looking for love, you're looking for purpose, you're looking for a relationship or experience,

if you're looking for anything else and it doesn't have God at the beginning of it,

this passage says, and the Bible says that you and I are going to be disappointed.

That we might feel good for a little while, but we will not ultimately feel good

because the Bible says that you and I were made to filter and to focus everything in our world,

everything in Hong Kong, everything that comes through us,

everything that we experience when we step out this door, when we're living right now,

when we're in our family.

You and I, everything we sense, we were made to filter through God.

God made you, and you are to filter everything through Him.

God made you, and you are to filter everything in our world.

How quick you get things done.

If somebody really wants you, that's the only way you're valued.

In America?

And in Hong Kong?

I mean, I know I'm going to step on some toes, but it just blows me away, guys.

Man, America, we kill more babies than any country in the world before they're born,

and yet we give billions of dollars

to help people with a Zika virus

to protect their baby inside of them.

And that just blows me away.

What is going on there?

But what's going on there is the truth of this passage

that your worth, your value in the world

is only determined by what you can do

and if somebody wants you.

But in this psalm, what it says is that God made everyone.

That everyone in here has God's fingerprint upon them.

That everyone is special.

Every one of us was made like a mirror

to reflect God's glory, to reflect God's majesty.

That he's given everyone in here,

everyone outside, everywhere you go,

he's giving every person ultimate worth and ultimate value.

Not because of what you've done.

Not because of what you haven't done.

Not because of what you can do.

The psalmist says that God does this based on nothing in us,

but only because he is massive

and we are finite.

And in Hebrew, the words actually say that God

steps and kneels down to you and I.

So think about that.

Wherever you go today,

wherever you go tomorrow,

whatever you've done,

whatever you haven't done,

whatever you don't do,

whether you're dirty,

whether you're clean,

or whether you're rich,

or whether you're poor,

or whether you're broken,

the passage says,

in Hebrew says,

that God's fingerprints are on you,

that God's watermark is on you,

and that there is never a time

that God is not thinking about you.

So this week,

when you leave here,

and you start to freak out about something,

like what's going to happen tomorrow?

How am I going to do that?

What's going to happen in this situation?

This week, when you leave here,

and you start to fear about something,

like your kid's health,

or your finances,

or your job,

or whether you're going to get married,

and all these things are incredibly important,

this psalm,

and all the rest of the Bible,

says that Yahweh, Adonai,

the creator of all things,

never stops thinking about you,

and that he will never give up on you.

I don't know how you feel when you hear that,

but to me,

coming from a family,

that my worth was only determined

by how good I was,

how well I made in sports,

how good my grades were,

at 10 years old,

when I heard this message,

it changed my life.

The passage says that you and I

are made in God's image,

that we were made to reflect his glory,

and that is our position in life.

Now the problem is,

and the problem that I have,

and the problem that Tobin has,

is that I forget this,

and I turn away from God,

and instead of just reflecting God's glory,

and when you reflect God's glory,

you start to look like Christ,

but instead of that,

I get my identity from other things.

I look around at creation,

I look at things that have stuff,

and things that are going to give me meaning,

and things that are going to give me purpose,

and I start to reflect those things in my life.

I look at the things in Hong Kong.

I think of things of the world.

I start by putting Tobin in the center of your life.

No, putting Tobin in the center of my life.

You put yourself in the center of your life,

and you start saying things like this.

What about my life?

What about my happiness?

What about my story?

What about my stuff?

What about my future?

What about my reputation?

And if you live in this void of awe and wonder long enough,

you start to say things like,

Oh, Tobin, our Tobin,

how majestic is your name in all the world?

Now, hopefully you're not saying my name in there,

but I'm pretty sure that you have people in your work

and in your home

who put their name there.

And that's what happens when we forget.

That's what happens when we change our focus off of God.

That's what happens when we forget that we're made in His image.

I start thinking about my needs and my feelings

and my comforts and my wants.

And you know what?

Sometimes I even demand that God does stuff for me.

I know that you guys probably never struggle with that.

But there are times in my life when I have lost focus on God.

I demand that God does stuff for me.

And in this craziness, in this world,

you know, sometimes I just,

I don't put God at the center.

God's not the hero.

God's not the beginning of my story.

I put myself in the beginning of that story.

And what I find, and maybe this isn't true to you,

but it's true for me that when I do that,

I realize that I start getting angry with people.

You ever been angry with somebody?

I realize if I don't have God at the center of my life,

if I don't begin with God,

if I don't say that God is my hero,

I start to get angry with people.

Sometimes I get angry with God.

I'm just confessing to you guys

because we wanted to be a church that is,

you know, sometimes,

sometimes when I don't start with God

at the center of my world,

sometimes when I don't make God my hero,

and sometimes when I don't begin with God,

I start to fear.

And I start to worry.

Anybody in here ever worried?

Anybody in here ever fearful?

How about what's going to happen next?

You know, what I'm learning in my life is

if God isn't my focus,

if he's not my beginning,

that sometimes I even get jealous.

And I get envious.

I look at the stuff people have around me.

I look at things my colleagues have.

I look at things my competitors have.

And I get jealous

because I want those things

because God isn't at the center of my life.

God isn't there to satisfy me

and to love me

and to take care of me.

So I'm looking for all these other things.

And you know, sometimes,

sometimes if I let that void go for a long time,

God becomes distant to me.

Has God ever been distant to you?

You're praying

and you're praying.

You're waiting for him to speak.

You're waiting for him to move.

You're waiting for him to do something.

It's silence.

Coldness.

And I realize it's because on my journey,

I've changed my focus.

And I put things in place instead of God.

And I start to depend on people instead of God.

And I get angry.

I get envious.

I get fearful.

I get jealous.

Anybody in here like that?

So how are we doing?

I want to just,

I always say that, right?

Really, how are you doing?

Anybody in here fearful lately?

Anybody in here gotten angry lately?

Anybody in here ever complained lately?

Anybody in here ever been disappointed lately?

Anybody been jealous?

Guys,

the passage says,

and the Bible says,

that you and I

are on this constant journey

to find meaning,

purpose,

identity,

order,

to validate our lives,

to make sense of everything going on.

We're on this constant journey

with all these things going on in our world,

our circumstances.

And it says in this passage in Hebrews,

and it says in this passage in Psalms,

and it says in this passage in all of the Bible,

that unless we start with God,

unless we put God at the center,

unless we focus on Him,

if we don't put God at the center of our studies,

we don't put God at the center of our week,

we don't put God at the center of our work,

our lives,

our emotions,

our feelings,

our identity,

our singleness,

our money, our kiddos

unless we start with our focus on God

the passage says

what's going to happen is that we're going to end up lost

in his creation

because we're going to look for other things

for meaning

we're going to realize that when we open our fist

they disappear like

a vapor

so what are your eyes turned towards today?

what are the things

that you're focusing on

right now in your life?

the Bible says

that whatever that is

you're going to become

like that thing

or you're going to become

like that person

and I don't need to tell you that

because you live around people like that all day

they live for money

they become like that

they live for their company

they become like that

they live for sex

they become like that

they live for power

they become like that

in the Bible

in the Psalm

God is trying to draw us back to Him

and to show us that without Him

nothing means anything

anything

it's a really simple message

but it's still taking me 43 years

to learn it

does that make sense?

we have a picture here

hopefully

we have a slide

so this is

anybody tell me what this is?

kids

what is that?

come on

it's terrible

okay

so this is

from Apollo 8

the first manned mission

to the moon

on our first morning

they look out their window

and they

see the earth rising

now think about this

this event

1968

December 24th

no

I didn't watch it

I was only 5 years old

most of us probably weren't born

Franklin was probably there

and a couple other people

Mike was probably there

Franklin was working at McDonald's

and Mike was working for Harvard

or something like that

but not many of us were there

but the awesome thing about this

is the guys

Mike's were on

and as we're looking back to space

and this is the pinnacle of manhood

this is the pinnacle of us

man's creation

this is the event

that has defined us

this would be like you making

the head of the university

or you becoming

the guy who's in charge of Morgan Stanley

or Credit Suisse

or Citibank

or HSBC

is there anybody in charge of HSBC

I'm not sure

but this would be like

this would be like the pinnacle

of your career

your whole life

but this is for 2,000 years

mankind has gotten to this point

and there's three guys

in this lunar land

that look out of the earth

and their words are

I feel lonely

I feel lost

it's dark

it's scary

can you imagine that

you've made head of your bank

Credit Suisse

and they come and interview you

you've done all these things

everybody wants this done

and say

well how do you feel

you go

I feel lonely

I feel lost

I feel lost

I feel like life

has no meaning

and then there was silence

and the three astronauts

started to read

in the beginning

God

God created the heavens

and the earth

the earth was formless

and void

darkness was over

the surface of the deep

and the spirit of God

was moving on the surface

of the waters

and God said

let there be light

and there was light

and God saw that

the light was good

and God separated the light

from the darkness

and God called the light

day

and the darkness

he called night

and there was evening

and there was morning

and one day

then God said

let there be an expanse

in the midst of the seas

of the water

and those three astronauts

at the pinnacle

of mankind's achievement

read all of the book

of Genesis

over the air

and you realize

that without God

at the center

without God

at the beginning

without God

as our focus

nothing else

makes sense

and you're going

to be able

to accomplish

whatever you're going

to be accomplished

and you're going

to be able

to do whatever

you want to do

because we have

very capable

very with it

very smart people

at Watermark

and I'm always amazed

at how smart people are

and how capable they are

and what they can do

but what this passage says

and what these astronauts

knew at the pinnacle

of mankind's experience

is that it's meaningless

unless you begin with God

does that make sense

to me

I'm always

in awe of that

especially as I meet guys

who want to become

the head of this

or the head of that

and they're doing it

on their own

so here's the last question

how do we change

we know our focus

we know Tobin's problem

how do we change that

how do we center our lives

on the right things

how do we like the psalmist

focus on God

how do we like David

put God in the right place

how do we frame our journey

as a person

as a church

as whoever we are

as a family

how do we frame our journey

with God

for some of us here

I believe

and I realize

you've never had

your focus on God

probably for many of us

in here

we've probably never really

focused on God

God has not been

the center of our story

I mean if you're honest

you have to say

that you

have been

the center of your story

for many of us in here

our hope has only been

on us

and I'm just keeping it real

because I was

in the exact

same

place

I focused on myself

and my focus

on my

and what I could do

and who I was

and what I knew

and the passage says

that we have to get right

with the Lord

and so for many of us here

what I would pray for you

what the elders

would pray for you

what the staff

would pray for you

is that you would just

look at this passage

right here

that you would read it

tonight

before you went to bed

that you would

look at Jesus Christ

that you would realize

that he's God

that you realize

he became man

that you realize

as the psalmist says

that he stoops down

for you

to serve you

that you'd realize

that he lived

a perfect life

that you realize

that Jesus had

a perfect

intense focus

that you realize

that Christ

lost everything

that he died

a perfect death

so that you

and I

could gain

everything

my hope for you

if you've never had God

at the beginning

that you've never had God

at the center

if God's never been your hero

that you would just

come real with that

and confess that to God

because he knows that

and that you would think

about all that Christ

has done for you

that he's done

everything perfectly

so that you don't

have to be perfect

and that all that

he's asking of you

is to trust him

to place your faith

in him

and allow him

to be God

in your life

and to take care of you

there's some of us

in here

who call ourselves

God's people

already

and my prayer

for us

and for me

is that we would just

continue to ponder

this passage

that we would continue

to think of God

we'd continue to think

of his love for us

we'd realize

how each one of us

is fearsome

and awesome

and wonderfully made

in God's eyes

that we'd realize

that every person

we bump into

whether it's at IFC

or in our home

or in our work

or in our eating place

that everyone there

has ultimate value

and ultimate worth

and they're made

in God's image

and God has placed

us in their lives

to speak

and to reflect

God's glory

God's mercy

and God's grace

and I think

that some of us

we need to repent

and we need to confess

as God's people

that we've had

our mirrors

turn too long

at something else

besides Jesus Christ

if you're like me

that's something

you probably have to do

many times

every day

and my prayer for you

is that you would do that

that you would allow God

to be God

in your life

that you would trust him

on this journey

that he has you in

and that you would focus

on the beauty of Christ

and realize

how awesome

and how wonderful

he is

does that make sense

I'm trying to keep it

as simple as I can

understand it

so the next time

you start to worry

about

your job

or you're not making

managing director

or you're not getting

the grades

that you want to get

or your professor

you have Samson

and he's really hard

on you

in psychology class

and you're like

I don't even know

if I'm going to get

a C in this class

and you're just

really struggling

with those things

what my prayer for you

is that you would

open up Psalm 8

and that you would read

that the God

of all things

has called himself

into a relationship

with you

that the God

who made the stars

the God

who put the stars

in the sky

the God

who takes care

of the stars

in the sky

the God

who gave

his only son

for you

surely

if he did

all those things

you can trust him

with your work

you can trust him

with your singleness

you can trust him

with your grades

you can trust him

with your kids

health

you can trust him

the next time

you get angry

it's going to happen

once you leave here

because you're not

going to get

that right parking space

or you're not

going to get that food

or you're not

going to get

something happening

and that guy's

not going to propose

to you

like you want him to

because he's

just really slow

because he's

an Australian

but he needs

to get on the ball

soda

the next time

that happens

and you get

a little frustrated

you come to Psalm 8

and you read it

and you realize

that the God

who hung the stars

the God

who knows

every hair

on your head

the God

who sees

who hears

who knows

every thought

every concern

every bad thing

every good thing

that you've done

with wrong motives

that God

gave his son

for you

if he can do

all those things

he can take care

of you

the question is

are you going

to let him

are you going

to let him

go to ..

whereflat

who hears

how to

coming

is

how to

are you

....