12+1 Core Values: Praise Generating | Rachel Ann Thong

You're listening to a message to go from ex church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

So I want to ask this question, even as we

talk about praise generating, which is our tenth value?

Who woke up this morning.

Like you jumped out of a bit and you were

singing and chirping?

Can I see show of heads? Wow? None? Really none,

I guess not most of us? Not morning people? Okay?

Who woke up on the wrong side of the bit

like you woke up feeling really from being.

No one? No one?

No one wants to answer. Y'all don't know what. Oh

you'll haven't woken up yet, still have a sleep?

How many you had to drag yourself like really force

yourself up?

You? No, you are on my meaning? Yeah?

How many of you couldn't wait to come into God's

house and praise him like you look at this morning like,

oh my goodness, I can't wait, and you get ready?

I want to go to God's house to praise him,

to praise the King of kings.

Yeah.

Yeah, maybe it's somethings in our hearts, but we don't

let to say.

Now all of us came in here this morning with different,

different feelings right, always coming with different feelings, different posture

of our hearts, maybe due to what we've been going

through this week, or this month, or this year, or

someone's maybe even for the past few years. Maybe in

many years. I don't know, so I was maybe going

through wilderness like the Israelites. How many years was that for?

Do you? But I want to share this morning that

there's a way for all of us to enter His

courts with praise, no matter what we're feeling, no matter

what we're going through. And I thought be good if

we start off reading this passage to other case from

Psalms one hundred.

I want everyone to turn to your.

Bibles, your physical bibles, your e bibles.

Let's read and declare this together.

Even before I go into the word in Psalms one hundred,

it's only five verses, so we can actually memorize this.

If you're looking for memory verse for this week? What

do you memorize these five verses? If you're there, then

you say amen. If you're still searching, say hang on,

I see some still looking searching in Salm's one hundred.

More people there yet, say amen? If you're there, Okay,

more voices, all right? Let's read this together. Psalms one hundred,

Reading from verse one, make a joyful shout to the Lord.

So okay, you can read whatever version. Okay, even if

it's different words, just read it. I want you to

declare it with your mouth. Verse one, make a joyful

shout to the Lord. All you lends, serve the Lord

with gladness, come before his presence with singing. Know that

the Lord, he is God. It is he who made us,

and not we ourselves. We are his people, And the

sheep of his passions was for enter into his games

with thanksgiving and into his cause with praise. Be thankful

to him and bless his name. For the Lord is good,

his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endors to all generations.

Can I hear an amen?

Amen? If you read this right, it says, you know,

and to his gags with thanksgiving, and to his cause with.

Praise, bless the Lord. Does it anyway? Does it say

because we feel good because we had success yesterday, because

we had a good year, good month, No, none of that.

All it says is because he he created us. It's

for the Lord, right, He's mercy. It's all because of him,

and nothing to do with us.

Yeah.

So if our focus is right and our focus is God,

I praise you for who you are, not because of

what I'm feeling or what I've gone through or what's

on my mind. I suppose you you made me. He's

our creator Church, right, We didn't make ourselves. We are

his people, and we bless his name. We are thankful

to him because he is good. He is good, and

he's mercy and yours to all generations, not just my

parents' generation, not just my generation. No, it's my death

birthday today, by the way, he celebrated yesterday.

Yeah, not just my.

Parents' generation, not just my generation, my kids, my children's children,

children if if Jesus is not that yet, but it's

mercy and deals to all generations.

Amen.

Deal.

Yes, I think all you need to say, amen, say

just like you know out.

Of it's okay, don't need it's good you want to.

Hear the kids are the ones responding out of the

mouth of babes house for praise.

Amen. Amen.

So let's start off with that praise has nothing to

do with us, everything to do with God, anything to

do with our Creator. So wherever I say praise generating right,

where does this come from It comes from X chapter

two versus forty seven. A. Maybe you want to read

that quickly chapter two, Come, I may you turn a

few verses in their kid the rest of it. Yes,

actual the two verse forty seven. So before that verse

forty six, right, say so, continuing daily with one accord

in the temple and breaking bread from house to house

they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart

was forty seven. Praising God and having favor with all

the people, and the Lord added to the church daily

those who are being safe, right, they met daily. They

were in houses or you have your homes. And it

started from the early church. So the early church they

were what did they say that they were one? They

were one in one accord, right, and they met daily.

They had one heart, one mind. They were together, and

that unity, the sharing, the carrying, experiencing the Holy Spirit together.

They just couldn't keep their joy to themselves. That's why

it's about right. They couldn't keep it to themselves. They

were praising God, but having favor with all men. It

was it was the result of what their experience, and

it couldn't keep that join to themselves. It became a

continual habit of praise. It's a daily, daily rhythm, playing

play of words praise.

It was daily rhythm.

And the fact that they said having favored with all men,

I think they were also praising people, generous with their words,

encouraging others, praising others, you know, praising God and then

also being generous with our words to people.

Was it because there were no challenges? No persecution?

The church went through a lot of persecution because they

were the ones like, what's this weird new teaching?

Right?

It wasn't because there had no challenges, no perscution, No,

but they found something worth celebrating. There's something worth celebrating,

and no circumstance could take that away from them. Yeah,

have we found something worth celebrating?

Come on, church?

Have we found something worth celebrating? Or it's still thinking

and trying to figure it out, you know, has it?

Has it really been up and down all the time?

Or have we really found something that grounds us set

every day? I have something to praise God for?

Come on?

Is our praise reserve for certain occasions only? Like Sunday service?

Was Pasaden or Albert here is? Like, come on, church,

let's praise gods the reserve for church conference when everyone's like,

ohh hip.

Or chemps.

Or Christmas, mister, or is it a daily posture of

our hearts? This praise a daily posture of our hearts.

You know, when Christ came into into our lives at

Pascna said this, but he made it positive.

We were minus.

We were minus, and when Christ came down, the cross

is positive, right, The Cross is positive, and we should

always be positive. We should always have something to praise

God for even when things are going bad for us.

You know, there's nothing in our lives per se, you know,

our lives on earthly and nothing to praise, nothing, nothing

good to say about what we're going through.

But God is good even though we are not. We

are not good. The things are going through.

May not be good, but God is good and man,

so there's always something to praise God for. Let's look

at your zo point one. Okay, even before we go

into the power of the town. Why is it called

praise generating? What do you think of anything of generator?

You have to.

Have to hon yes, then, and this the generator makes right.

It generates. That generator generates something. Okay, so the word

generating it means to make, to create, to bring something

into being.

If we generate a code.

Hey, I know, I think I generate a code and

come out with a quote, all right, and create create

a code, so to generate praise? Right, why call it

praise generating because it means we create praise.

We make it. We started.

We don't praise because someone gave it to us or

something gave us.

The praise.

We don't borrow or we take it from something or

someone and then pass it on, can pass it on? No,

we created, We churn it out. Turn out that that praise.

You know what was the first thing you're talking about?

A tongue here at a power of tongue? Was the

first thing got touched when the Holy Spirit came upon

the disciples.

Do you remember what was the first evidence of the

Holy Spirit? Yeah, the tongue? The tongue.

Why because our tongue is really hard to control Holy

Spirit to come in and take over. In James Chapter three,

verse six, right, it says, and among all the parts

of the body, the tongue is a flame or fire.

It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body.

It can set your whole life on fire, for it

is set on fire by Hell itself. But seven people

can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and fish,

fish cantamer, but no one can tame the tongue. It

is restless, Uh restless. My son has learned to make

this alien sound with his tongue. Did that as you'll

show you? I don't know, it's I don't know.

Rue.

We're all like, what is it really coming off of

your mouth? It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Instead,

a Bible says about our tongue, Isn't it true when

we think about it? A lot of times you have

to bite our tongue so that we don't say something wrong.

The tongue can.

Build up, I can also destroy right. The tongue can heal,

but also can hurt, can wound. The tongue can lift up,

can also crush. How many of you being crushed by

someone's tongue before? Don't look, don't look at the person

beside You're okay? Someone out there crush you with words?

You know what reason?

I was?

I was thinking if people say they love God, right,

how mean of you? How many of us love God?

Yeah?

Come, on, don't be shy. You really love God. Put

your hand up. Come on.

If people say they they love God, right, but they

say they hate Christians, believers or even the Church. I

was thinking to myself, it is proof that they don't

really love God. It says right here James three, nine

to ten. We did we bless our God and Father

talking about the tongue still just that we ran into

us eight and we did we curse men.

Who have been made in this simulitude of God.

Am I pronouncing right, similitude simul tude, I guess similitude

of God. Thank you allergy gus out of the same mouth,

proceed blessing and curse and cursing, my brethren, these things

ought not to be so.

We bless God, we say we love God, but I

hate that brother, that sister.

I cannot say this word where my kids around You

say a bad word, say it's not bad, but just

cannot simply use it.

My brethren, these things are not to be so.

Why, I mean people, We can bless God all we want,

but if we keep cursing men who is made in

the image of God, or worse still.

If if we curse the church, who is the church.

The Church is the bride of Christ. The bride the

Church is the body of Christ is the heat. We

had a body. How is that possible?

You can't bless the heat and then curse the body, right,

you curse because the whole hold personally old being.

And listen, we can't bless the groom and curse the bride.

Imagine her husband's husbands, oh, fiances, or the boyfriends you

think about, right, and you're about to get married, and

you're looking forward to meeting your bride, to seeing your

bride walk down the aisle, and then a friend comes up.

To you and who thought you're bright? Just you your bright?

Oh?

How would you feel? How would you feel? What would

you do?

Say?

You're not gonna let that person go? Right? Can you

imagine how God feels when? If not when if.

We speak badly, if we curse his bride, We the church,

brothers and sisters, friends, just be very careful, think about

the groom, Think about what Christ is feeling. Yeah, we

can say we love you, Jesus, we bless you, but

what we're saying about our brothers and sisters that is

hurting him as well. Yeah, it's only in God's mercy.

You know, it's only by God's mercy. He didn't strike

us by lightning. Who had been spoken ill about the Church?

I'm sure all of us at some point our lives

have you know, have had hearts, have had I don't know, unhappiness, disagreements.

But let's let's not do that. Friends, Let's not separate

Christ and is Bright. We are one. We are one

within the body is one with him. Christ. The body

we are Christ. The hate we are the body. We

are one with Him.

And I just want to pray for forgiveness right now,

even for for all of us who at some point

may have spoken against your church, your people, our brothers

and sisters who are created in your image. Not forgive us, Okay,

forgive us. Maybe we didn't know what we were doing.

We were hurt, we were angry, were offended. But I

we just ask for forgiveness. Now we know that the

Church and You are one. And not help us to

even as we bless you, to also bless your church,

bless your people Jesus name, Amen.

Amen?

Yeah?

Sorry, so yeah, So what are we generating without tongue?

What are we generating without tongue? We can't choose a right,

Come on, let's choose to bless instead of criticize or complain.

Or chatchy. I don't know, I just dot to see words.

Choose to be. Yeah, let's not. Let's not.

Human very quick to criticize and complain and it's human nature, right,

But this week, whenever we think, oh I want to

complaint and criticize this thing, just think I want to

let's let me change it to bless, bless, bless? Can

we speak life and encouragement instead of discouragement? Very easy,

you know, to discourage someone else, and it's very easy

for us to also get discouraged by people's words.

Can can really spoil your whole day, whole week, whole

year in.

Fact, right if if you're the kind that will keep

playing whatever that person say in your mind. So let's

not be the one to speak discouragement. Don't hopeless, cannot

trying to get that they go out, that will cap out.

Can we speak words that bring healing, heal someone, not hurt,

not wound. I know sometimes it's it's really unintentional. We

really know that it will hurt someone. But let's ask

the Holy Spirit too to help us be s and stiff,

to remind us we want to say something, shop a

bit on our slaver and oh yeah, okay, shouldn't say that?

Can we praise God?

We give thanks instead of always asking God, why why am.

I going through this?

Let's glorify him, honor him. Even things are going well,

let's glorify him. All right, So why don't let's practice this?

Is this is very simple actually and short message, but

we do some practical okay, so let's practice. I wanted

you to look at one of your neighbors and speak

a blessing or praise to them. All right, Now let's go.

Than's do rather.

Doing well?

Yeah, all right, turn to one more, one more neighbor,

one more neighbor and do the same compliment, praise, bless

some thinking very.

Hard what to say? Yeah? Yeah, so go to see

you Ariel, miss you.

M hm?

Because then way every day really every day? Wow?

Are you?

Let me ask what's it? What's it? Hard or easy? Easy?

For some people?

Easy words can just roll out for some doing okay

for some of the hard right, it's like you what

to say? So maybe we need to practice more?

Yeah?

Can we do that every time you meet your brothers

and sisters? I think of how to bless them with

your words, how to praise them, how to give a compliment,

not saying be fake, but genuinely, genuinely bless them, genuinely

compliment them goes out of the abundance of our heart.

Our mouths speaks Amen, Amen, okay a point number two

point number two ex spechally you following. Praise is a choice,

not a feeling someone saying Amen. Some days there will

be nothing worth praising, Like I wake up on the

wrong side of bit. Yesterday was a bad day. My

staff was getting to me, my superiors. I didn't happen.

I'm just saying, superior supervisors on my back this morning.

I have tons of dead lives. Maybe gladness is missing,

joy is missing, energy is low. Your heart feels dry.

You've been sucked dryly the whole day yesterday you woke

up still dry. Maybe there's there's nothing worth praising on

some days. But if we read from scripture right, how

people chose to praise even though there wasn't any good

reason for it. Hey, by nature and by world's standards,

you only praise when when there's a reason to learn

something's going well. When it's going well, that's when you

praise someone as long as we bring that into our

spiritual lives as well. Right, but this is not God's principle.

This is not principal the Bible. So let's look at

two disciples. What did they do when the circumstance was

really grim and hopeless?

And guess who.

Wants to take a guess of who two disciples they

chose to praise?

Quiz queez.

Let your guests just shout out any name of disciples.

They were going through a really tough situation.

Yeah, and.

Wow, very good area know your Bible story, Yes, Paul

and Silas. So background is that Paul and Silas and Sabio.

Who may not be familiar with the story, they cast

out a demon out of a slave.

Girl, right, and her masters were furious because they.

Couldn't make any profit out of them anymore. Right, she

was possessed by spirit or of divination, so she could

she was doing fortune telling fortune telling. So they brought

Paul and Silence to the magistrates by the judicial officers,

accusing them of causing trouble in their city. And this

is what happened in ex Chapter sixteen, verse twenty two,

twenty four. It says, the magistrates toll their clothes, commanded

them to be beaten with rods. I went in Google

and like, I want to see what the rocks look like.

I didn't get a pictured because I don't know. It

looks quite. It's stick, you know, it's like a lot

of elm or birch branches would like tied together. That's

what the Romans used to carry around. And when they

laid many stripes on them, many not?

Why not?

And these not a small Rota Rota children knows like

many Rotans tied together, laid many stripes on them. They

threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely.

Having received such a charge, she put them into.

The inner prison.

So it's probably darker, deeper in darker, and fasten their

feet in the stocks. It's probably cold. They were definitely bleeding.

It's called it's dark.

They're bleeding. They're in pain. They're uncomfortable because they're they're fast.

They can't even walk around right, their their feets are

their feet are in stocks. Don't think any of us

have been through that kind of suffering before. No one here,

and I pray we never will.

So the circumstances didn't change, hadn't changed yet, Right, But

what did they do? What did they do? Church? What

did they do? They praise? They praise?

Verse twenty five, It says, but at midnight, Paul and

Silas were praying, singing hymns to God, and the prisoners

were listening to them. The circumstances didn't change. In pain,

you know, I don't know how many was in pain

and praise God. We'll be growing, crying maybe, but singing hymns,

singing hymns to God, and everyone was listening. All the

prisoners were listening. You know, can we can we be

radical enough right to praise even in the lowest of times,

when you're going through your worst season. Can you be

readticald enough to praise till everyone around you is.

Looking at you. What suppose there's nothing to be thankful for,

nothing to praise for, and he's.

He's praising God, still giving God glory, Still have a

smile on your face.

Maybe then want to be hard.

But can we get to the place even in the valley,

everyone stops to look at us because we can still praise.

Wow?

He imagined the testimony, the impact that we have on

people because if if things are going well for us,

the same as everyone else. If things are going well

and we're happy, and you know, we're praising God, normal lies, natural, natural,

thank God, praise God.

Things are going well, things not going well, I still

praise God because he is good.

He's good, and it's mercy and deals and I don't

know why I'm going through this, but he has a

plan and he starts are higher and his ways are higher,

and I trust him and He's still worthy to be praised.

Imen.

That's what this value is about. Praise generating church. We

can generate praise from within. It's not based on what

we're going through. And we look at if we look

at the Old Testament, Hebaku shows the same spirity. We

read this in one of our homes a couple of

months back. Hebacook Chapter three, verse seventeen to eighteen. You

have that in your books there? What does it say?

Come and read that together? One two three.

Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be

on the vines, Though the labor of the olive.

May fail, and the fields yield no food.

Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,

and there be no herd in the stars.

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will join

in the God of my salvation. Amen. Though though nothing's.

Going well, there's no fruit, there's no results, nothing, I

can't see anything. Yet, yet I will rejoice. How powerful

is that when says that, yet I wur joy in

the God of my salvation.

That what yet? Yet?

Is the hinge between reality your heart, reality, our yeah,

terrible reality.

It's a hinge between.

That and our faith, our living, active faith that we

can still say, yet I'm going through all these things

not but yet I will still praise you.

I will still rejoice.

And the decision to praise does not wait for the circumstance,

circumstance to change. Like they praised first and then and

then the prison doors were broken, and you know that,

you know, I mean, yeah, the story after that the

prison doors open.

Uh, there's this, there's this who's all out to know?

To know?

Donut men who grew up with donut men?

Egg of you?

You know know what I mean. It's a song about earthquake.

It's an earthquake. Jill is a rocket, it's an earthquake.

Jail is a rolling, it's an earthquake. The doors are

popping tonight. Yeah, it's that story and and I used

to love it. I know all the young ones will

get me like world kids. Kids songs are kids songs.

But when they were praising, the doors pop opened, right,

and then the jailer. The jailer and his whole family

are safe because of that. I'm sure there are many

more preson ess also. But you know the story is

but the Jada.

So can we praise even though the circumstance hasn't changed,

but we know that it may and it will.

After we praise. So I want us to look at

this as well.

Judah, so I heard the phrase Judah first and extra

we sometimes have a session Judah first. So how you

don't know what I'm talking about. It's only like one

yo maybe coming out one more? Yeah, fourth one there

called Judah first. Out Let me explain why. Judah was

the fourth son, fourth son of Jacob and Leah. And

when he was born, Leah said, this time I will

praise the Lord. That's what he said, this time, praise

the Lord. So she named him Yehuda or Judah. And

what Judah means praise, praise or thanksgiving. In Judges chapter twenty,

verse eighteen. This is where this phrase Judah first comes from.

Just twenty VERUS eighteen says when Israelites ask God who

should go into battle first? What God say, Judah go first? Yeah,

Judah should go up first. So that's the first tribe

that went out Judah first. Praise first before they enter

into battle. Praise when first, Judah went first. Are we

in a battle? Are you about to enter the battle?

Are you in the midst of a battle? Praise first.

Praise as you enter your battle. Praise to break discouragement, fear,

and your heavy burdens. Praise when you least feel like it,

and then when you releast feel like it, that's when

you need hit the worst. Like I was saying, right,

sometimes we just by faith first. Yeah, I don't feel

like it feels like I'm lying.

If I say.

If I jump around, clip my hands, leave my hands,

feels like a lie. No, But we just do it

first by faith. Praise first, Praise first. Then see your victory,

just like Judah. Praise first the witness your breakthrough, keep

praising it. I knows it may take a while, but

just keep praising. Don't wait for the answer, don't just

wait for the healing, the breakthrough.

Don't wait for the.

Success, the promotion, the race. Praise first, praise before the race,

praise first. You know it's not You may be thinking, yeah, easier,

easier say than done.

I know it's easier.

It is.

Easier to say it. I know I was.

I will also go through my moments of yeah, now

I appreciate his worthy right then something will happen makes

me feel like not praising. But yeah, it may not

be easy, and the reality is maybe we can't even

do it on our own. We can't do it on

our own and by our own strength. Do you know

what the good news is? Do you know what good

news is?

Church?

The good news is we're not left to do this

by our own strength. Why because we have the Holy Spirit.

We have the Holy Spirit the same power Church. The

word power is dunamis what's the picture there?

Do you know what it is compassed?

I don't know how touching or dynamo or how do

we know what? Okay, dynamo donamis dynamo power? You know, generator.

The same power that dells in us is the same

power that raised Christ from the death.

Right.

He is that dynamos, that power is that dunamis dunamis power.

Is that dynamo dead.

Lives in us. He generates praise in us.

Even when there's no harvest, there's no fruit, there's no reason,

no reason to praise.

The Holy Spirit helps us.

And I feel that's that's the only reason why Hollensiders

could praise in the prison, the only reason why the

disciples could continue praising although it came to the faith

continue praising God when they met, even though there's persecution.

But the Holy Spirit was with them and he is

in all of us.

Amen.

Imen, your neighbors say, the Holy Spirit is your dynamo. Yeah,

so the other neighbor, the Holy Spirit is generating praise

in me. We praise by faith, be praised by faith,

not by our feeling, not based on our feeling.

It is faith.

It is a choice. It's a choice. It's not just

a feeling. And that's why we have this this value

and it's not just praising.

God is one.

But again, when we talk about men, right, I think

praising men sometimes that's even harder because God did hurt you, La,

but your brother might and your sister might, and that's

when we still need the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit.

Help us to love, help us to praise, help us

to bless that person even though that person may have me.

Wow, we need the Holy Spirit.

So remember that Holy Spirit is our generator, our dynamo. Hey,

he's the one that generates praise even when it's hard

for us. But we praise my faith. And what does

it say in Hebrews? Faith please us God?

Right?

Without it we cannot please God. So we need faith.

We need to praise. I know it's very early, but

again I wanted to put into.

Practice or Extreme can get ready to lead us and

want us to really praise. I know we can be

a bit quiet, and if we're not used to clapping

our hands or not used to shouting and not used

to singing out loud, then it feels very awkward or

again and we don't feel like it. But it's not

just a word to tickle our ears. Let's really still

something within our spirit today. I want a Holy Spirit

stir something in our spirits that even after this we

can praise and we don't feel like it, we will

be the ones generating praise. Yeah, so yes, thank you, Extreme.

We do a praise song. Yeah, we do a fast song.

And when everyone up on your feet, no matter what

you're going through, no matter what you're feeling today, no

matter what. And it's also it's not based on our

personality or character. I'm shy and I'm quiet, so I

cannot praise God like the crazy excuse teachers dancing around.

Not all exist teachers are extraverts. Sound so shishak quiet one,

But no that's not not take good John. But it's

not about how we feel or how people look at us.

It has been between you and your creator, between you

and the King of kings. Doesn't he deserve our best?

You see you know pastors and some speaker, so you

you can go to your favorite show.

How many men, Spider Man, I don't know if you're

a cheeringer, Remember we show and we win and watch

and like what everyone's cheering when.

Transformers, the first Transformers when it came out and watched us.

I think I was in campus Wow when.

Optimus Frank came out right home whom I was cheering

because all.

Our childhood childhood cartoon, real real roadwork about.

We can go to our favorite football game, watch our

I don't know how we can go to many things.

Michael Jackson, are you who's KidSing to Michael Jackson?

Now?

I just introduced my kids to Michael Jackson now every

day listening to Black and White and beat It, And.

I don't know where there was.

A good idea, but they learned about him from their

friends and all their friends trying to do the moonwalk there. Ah.

But yeah, when they watch out the concerts, people are

like crying there screaming when they watched Michael Jackson ride.

But always you and cheers.

You just like, come on, come on, Creator the Universe,

King of kings. He deserves our highest praise, not that

football team, not Michael Jackson, not Spider Man, not Transformers.

So I want to no matter what we're feeling today,

between you and God, don't look at me, don't look

at Brasaden, don't look.

At your neighbor.

You You've got your best praise because he deserves it,

not because of why you're feeling, not because.

Of who you are, but because of who he is.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit aschurch dot org. We

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this week is going to be a good week a

hit for you, God bless