03 Oct Power Up | Part 4 “The Power of Praise” | Apollo Beach

Apollo Beach went to two services this past Sunday and SoCo had it’s soft launch! NA will be going back to Saturday on October 15.

Financial Peace University is starting this Thursday in NA – please check announcements below for Apollo Beach dates.

UPCOMING EVENTS: GO TO WATERSCHURCH.ORG/EVENTS TO REGISTER

FINANCIAL PEACE (FPU): 9/15/22

DISCOVER ISRAEL (INFO ABOUT THE ISRAEL TRIP): ZOOM MEETING 10/19/22

WOONSOCKET ONLY: TWO FESTIVALS WOONIE IS PARTICIPATING IN AND WE ARE LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO SIGN UP TO SERVE AT THEM.

PUMPKIN FEST – NORTH SMITHFIELD – SEPT 17

AUTUMNFEST – WOONSOCKET – OCT 8 & 9

NA and WOONIE:

FINANCIAL PEACE (FPU):  9/13/22

PING PONG TOURNAMENT: 9/12 – 10/24

DATE CHANGE** ENCOUNTER MEET UP: AGES 19-35 – 9/30/22

SERVE TEAM BBQ: 9/25/22

ALPHA: 9/26/22

CONCERT: DANNY GOKEY, JORDAN FELIZ, AND TASHA LAYTON Oct. 1st Volunteer sign-up sheets are out.  Please contact your Serve Team Leader for how you can take part.

DISCOVER ISRAEL: INFO ON TRIP TO ISRAEL – 10/16

All announcements and the Waters Event Calendar can be found at:  waterschurch.guide

Location Text Alerts:

Pastor Tim has 3 podcasts: The Deep End, the Deep Dive Bible Study on Romans, and 10 questions with Tim only available on timhatchlive./live  Be sure to like and subscribe to the channel to be notified of each new podcast.

The Deep Dive Bible Study Season 6 is returning next week! Sneak peek of “The Kings of Compromise”: https://youtu.be/_c2eM62BFPA

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Key Verse: 2 Chronicles 20

Some of us may have been raised in a church where it was a ‘crime’ to praise the Lord by shouting praises or lifting up hands. Perhaps the church you group up in was more ritualistic and routine oriented.   The scriptures say to lift up our hands and sing new songs to the Lord.  God is worthy to be praised by the people who have been born again and set free by His shed blood.

Ice-breaker:

Q. What was your experience in the church you were raised in? 

3 Levels of Faith in the Face of CHALLENGES: 

Level 1 Faith: PROBLEM – PRAYER – SOLUTION

In this level, when we have a problem we immediately turn to God for help and he provides the solution.  The solution God provides is one that we need, not just one that we want.  It is one we need spiritually.  God doing what he wants, is better than what we want.  He will provide change that brings comfort to us so we can comfort others.

Q. What prayer did God answer in an unexpected way and how did you use the experience to bring comfort to someone else (ie you prayed for a child but the answer was through adoption etc.)?

Level 2 Faith: PROBLEM – PRAYER – SOLUTION – PRAISE

In this level we don’t just pray for a solution but when we see it, we give God praise for it.  We need to be thankful everyday.  We are to remember his benefits. We are to bless the Lord and not forget what He has done. We should look back and never take an opportunity to miss what He has done in our lives.

Q. What ways we can remind ourselves of what God has done and thank him for what he has done in our lives (Do you journal, share with others on what he has done etc.)?

Level 3 Faith: PROBLEM – PRAYER – PRAISE – SOLUTION – PRAISE

We don’t need to wait for the solution to praise God.  We need to learn to praise God into the problem, praise Him before the answer in spite of what we feel inside.  Grown up faith is not what we feel like doing it is the opposite of what we feel like doing. The most powerful thing we can do is praise God into the situation.

2 Chronicles 20:1 (ESV); 17:7,9 (ESV); 19:5 (ESV); 20:1-7(ESV);10, 12, 14, 15, 17-18, 21-22, 27 (ESV)

When we start praying we need to tell God that we are fully aware of who He is. Learn to lift God up, not the problems.  (Follow the example of ‘Our Father…’) We need to tell him we know who he is (2 Chronicles 20:5). We need to talk to God as we know who he is.  We need to start telling our problems how big our God is. God wants us to trust him, he always comes through for us.  He promises in his word He will never leave us nor forsake us.  True prayer goes from knowing who he is to recognizing we don’t have what it takes (2 Chronicles 20: 12).  Sometimes He brings a problem into our lives so we get to the end of ourselves.  Even in the midst of trouble God wants us to shout praise, we need to learn how to lift our voice. We need to put the praise before the problem (2 Chronicles 20:21-22).  Prayer and praise confuses the enemy of our souls. If we want to disarm the enemy of our soul we should praise God when he comes to harm you. 

Q. What can you share about how you praised God in a situation even though he had not yet provided the answer and how powerful was that experience?

1. Praise TEACHES us that God’s people are NEVER alone.

2 Chronicles 20:4 (ESV)

We gather in our Churches – we are never alone.  We cannot give up assembling with God’s people.  We need to ignore the experts and listen to our Father in heaven.  

Hebrews 10:25 (NLT); Acts 2:42,47 (ESV)

Q. When may have been a time when you thought you could do Christianity alone and how did you realize you could not?

2. Praise REMINDS us that God is STRONG enough and BIG enough for any PROBLEM.

We don’t talk up our problems we talk up our God. We need to praise him that is what faith does.  Faith praises God in the face of the problem.  A lack of faith blames God in the midst of the problem.

Q. When have you blamed God for your problems instead of praising and praying?

2 Chronicles 20:6 (ESV)

3. Praise OPENS our EARS to God’s WORD and closes our HEART to our WORRIES.

Something happens physically and emotionally in us when we praise God.  The worship prepares us for God to speak to us

2 Chronicles 20:12 (ESV)

4. Praise AWAKENS our SPIRITS and ENCOURAGES our faith.

Praise gets us alive in the Holy Ghost.  The prayer and praise circuit gets completed when we open our mouth and pray and praise God in the midst of our problems. We can’t just receive and never give God praise.  We need to come back and give praise to Jesus. When we do the circuit is complete and our light starts to shine.  We may have the power of God coming in, but nothing coming out but when we praise God, our light shines.

Q. How has praising God encouraged you in your faith?

2 Chronicles 20:20 (ESV)

Sermon in a Sentence:

I need to learn to put PRAISE before my PROBLEMS