Psalms: Poetry to Shape the Imagination

Psalms: Poetry To Shape The Imagination – February 5, 2023

Psalm 51

Pastor David Cay

Sometimes people mess up- they can make mistakes that haunt them for the rest of their lives. Some people feel such shame that it weighs on them every day. And perhaps you can relate on some level because everyone has messed up in some way before- everyone has made some serious mistakes.

But the Bible gives us hope. No matter what we’ve done, we find a God that still loves us and wants to restore us. The Bible also gives the necessary tools that can help us find freedom in times of regret.

So, my big question today is: How can we recover when we have failed morally?

Our Bible passage tells us, we need remorse, and restoration.

Our passage is based on the famous story of David and Bathsheba.

Psalms: Poetry To Shape The Imagination – January 29, 2022

Psalm 107

Pastor Tim Nguyen

God is working in each and every one of our lives in these unique ways. Every one of us has a special story to tell and we’re meant to tell it.

There’s an interesting command here Psalm 107, for those who have experienced God’s salvation and God’s goodness, they are to tell their story. And for me, that raises a question. Why? Why can’t we just say, “God is good. His love is constant. Trust him.” and then leave it there and move on.

Psalms: Poetry To Shape The Imagination – January 22, 2023

Psalm 90:1-12

Pastor Enoch Chee

Why does a good God allow suffering in the world?

You’ve probably heard this question before. It’s a common question, and it’s an important question. People need to resolve a contradiction in their minds between a God of love and a God who almost seems to cause suffering on purpose. So it helps to be prepared to answer that question. But we also need to answer this question on a personal level. Because sooner or later we’re going to go through hard times. And it really helps to know why we’re suffering.

Our big idea today is that God makes us suffer in the short term so that he can satisfy us in the long term. My goal today is to show you this idea from our Bible passage, and I’ll also talk about some practical ways that this idea can change our lives.

Psalms: Poetry To Shape The Imagination – January 15, 2023

Psalm 148

Pastor David Cay

Sooner or later we asked ourselves the questions “what am I doing? Why am I even here?”. It might happen in school, or in a relationship or in a career.

If you don’t find an answer, you’ll be tempted to give up or you may even become bitter at your own life. But our Bible passage today gives us an answer to why we’re here – it gives us a clear idea on why God put us on this earth. And if we can get this, we can have the right perspective on all kinds of things.

Things like why are we in school, or why are we at our job, or why are we in this romantic relationship.

So, my big idea today is that God made us for two things:

1. God made us to glorify him.

2. God made us to enjoy him.

We’ll see these themes in our main Bible passage which is Psalm 148.

Psalms: Poetry To Shape The Imagination – January 8, 2023

Psalm 69

Pastor Tim Nguyen

How can we deal with our troubled thoughts?

I’m willing to bet that all of us have troubled thoughts, negative emotions, and unwanted feelings. And it is rare to find someone who deals with them well. Some people ignore it until it leads to a broken guitar. Some people cope with unhealthy addictions. Some just act out impulsively on their feelings.

But as Christians, we have a better way to deal with these and it’s to go to God. And God asks and EVEN PLEADS with us to come to him with our heaviest burdens.

My big idea today is, we need to go to God to be HEARD and we need to go to God to be HELPED. We see this in both the New Testament and in the Old Testament.

Psalms: Poetry To Shape The Imagination – January 1, 2023

Psalm 137: 1-6

Pastor David Cay

If our sole focus is in acquiring luxuries and comfort (the “good life”) then we will find ourselves disappointed.

We will miss out on what’s best and I can say that because our Bible passage today talks about something that’s even better. Today we are starting a new series on the book of Psalms. It’s a book of prayers – model prayers that God’s people have prayed through history.

Our psalm today is prayed by people who were figuring out their priorities in life.

These people had a choice between two lifestyles: a lifestyle based on comfort, or a lifestyle based on faith. Their story reminds us that we all need to choose between comfort and faith.