Real Praise! The unending kind

14 Sep Real Praise! The unending kind

14 September 2026

Real Praise…the never-ending kind!

I flipped on the TV the other afternoon in between things & caught a few minutes of the National Football League game being played at the MCG. At one point they announced the attendance was 100,021. And when that number flashed on the big screen at the MCG the crowd, which was already pretty loud, went berserk. I think it was some sort of attendance record. But within a few hours, the crowds would have emptied the stands, the train stations, & the carparks, and there would have been something of a graveyard silence settling over the once noisy grounds.

I’ll take nothing away from the athletes, the sponsors of the game, the broadcast crew, the stadium workers, or those in attendance…but I’m a bit weary of the short-term high, the quick hit of excitement that fades as swiftly as it arrived, the temporary thrill that doesn’t last. As exciting as the game appeared to be, it is now part of history & few outside of the grounds that day will remember it at all, & those who were there will have forgotten much of it by this time next week. I’m confident the players were already prepping for their next game before the plane landed back in the USA. This world is chock full of those brief buzz moments that just don’t hang around or make any difference in the shape or trajectory of human life.

But Saturday morning in our Living Water Prayer Time…we read words like these to prime our praying:

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
    to sing praises to the Most High.
It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning,
    your faithfulness in the evening,
accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, a harp,
    and the melody of a lyre.

You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me!
    I sing for joy because of what you have done.
But you, O Lord, will be exalted forever. (from Psalm 92)

When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” This means that all of creation will be shaken & removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful & please God by worshiping him with holy fear & awe. For our God is a devouring fire. (Hebrews 12:26-29)

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
    The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
    night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word;
    their voice is never heard.
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
    and their words to all the world. (Psalm 19:1-4)

What you hear in the consistent witness of Scripture is that the God who has loved us & chosen us as his own from before time began calls forth from us a response that last longer than the final siren…longer than four quarters or a long weekend. Real praise…the never-ending kind begins on the first light of the first day of Creation, echoes through the darkest places of this world, shouts in triumph as Christ defeats death, sin & evil on Easter & reaches an eternal unceasing crescendo when Christ returns to claims us finally for himself, & the new heaven & new earth are given to us from the Father.

I want to spend my life sharing that assured anticipation & inviting others to join us in it.

Now…some opportunities to learn how to do that:

• Sunday September 20^th – we begin a new worship & teaching series: Living Words. In any endeavour or vocation, there’s often a unique vocabulary that only the experts or insiders know. It can often be that way among Christians. We use words that people outside the church have never heard before or use in very different ways. Over the next few weeks we’ll take some of those words & ask ourselves, “What do you mean when you say ______?” And we’ll fill in that blank with words like, “love, gospel, disciple, repentance…” One of the ways we learn to share our faith in Christ is by ensuring we know what we’re talking about so that others can hear, understand, & come to trust in Jesus for life in abundance.
• Sunday 27^th September – Annual InterSport Lake-to-Lake Run-n-Ride – Worship begins at 12:00 noon with a shared lunch in the Guide Hall. Please share this with other people who may not yet have heard this news.
• Sunday 4^th October – Giving Beyond Ourselves & Morning Tea – It’s going to be a great day!

God bless you with his peace!

John