We Are His People

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

November 20, 2011

We Are His People

Psalm 95

O come, let us sing to the Lord;
   let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
   let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
   and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
   the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
   and the dry land, which his hands have formed.

O come, let us worship and bow down,
   let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God,
   and we are the people of his pasture,
         and the sheep of his hand.

That’s Psalm 95 as we find it in the

New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, 

a familiar psalm,

one we often use as a Call to Worship.

Eugene Peterson has paraphrased these words

in a wonderfully lively way in The Message:

“Come, let's shout praises to God

raise the roof for the Rock who saved us!

…for we [are his]:

the people he pastures,

the flock he feeds.”

“Come, let’s shout praises,

let’s raise the roof!”???

It’s hard to believe Peterson wrote those words

as the pastor of a Presbyterian Church;

We Presbyterians are not exactly shout-out,

raise-the-roof people, are we?

But that’s the point of the psalm;

We should react with passion and enthusiasm

as we acknowledge:

YES, We are God’s people;

YES: God is our Creator, our Maker;

YES: we are God’s precious flock;

YES, we are the people he pastures,

the people he tends,

the people he blesses as he watches over us.

Shout it out: We are God’s beloved flock!

Shout it out and raise the roof with songs of praise and joy,

shouts of thanksgiving,

shouts even of Amen and Hallelujah!

Why shouldn’t we be filled with passion and enthusiasm?

We’ve been given the Holy Spirit.

We’ve been called to follow Christ.

And we’ve been called to this wonderful church,

called to take our place in the community of saints

that stretches back almost 150 years.

We’ve been called to participate actively

everyone of us, as we go about God’s work

following Jesus.

And we do our work in so many wonderful ways:

Joy-filled worship;

faithful nurturing of children and young people;

selflessly reaching out to those in need;

lovingly ministering to one another.

It is Thanksgiving and

we have so much to be thankful for

as we celebrate all the wonderful ministries of this church,

as we welcome new members, 
as we look with confidence to our 145^th year.

I’ve proposed to our Session that next year

we work with Ed White,

a former Executive Presbyter of our Presbytery

and now a consultant with the Alban Institute,

to have him work with us throughout the year

not just one weekend Retreat –

to help us plan for our next five years,

to help us look confidently, joyfully for the path

Christ will lead us down as we look to our 150^th anniversary.

It was C. S. Lewis who wrote,

“Christ says, ‘Give me All.

I don’t want [part] of your time

and [part] of your money

and [part] of your work.

I want you…I want all of you.

[in return] I will give you myself.”

(Mere Christianity, 196)

When you put your Pledge Card in the basket

you’ll be doing more than just offering

your pledge of financial support

for the work we will do next year

in the name of Jesus Christ.

When you put your card in the basket

you’ll be offering yourself anew to God;

consecrating yourself anew,

pledge anew your all,

acknowledging that all you have has come from God,

your Shepherd, your Maker, your Keeper.

“Who then will offer willingly,

consecrating themselves today to the Lord?”

asked King David of the people of Israel,

 the people of God.

“Then the leaders of ancestral houses made their freewill-offerings,

as did also the leaders of the tribes,

the commanders of the thousands and of the hundreds,

and the officers over the king’s work.

They gave for the service of the house of God …

Then the people rejoiced

because [they had all] given willingly,

for with single mind

 they had offered freely to the Lord”

(1 Chronicles 29:5)

Come, willingly, joyfully,

enthusiastically, passionately:

coming singing Amen and Hallelujah;

Come consecrate yourself anew to the Lord our God,

the Rock of our salvation,

and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow.

AMEN