Make a joyful noise to the Lord
Let us focus on Psalm 100, a Psalm for giving thanks, which starts off with telling us to “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!” (v1-2) Do you feel like making a joyful noise now when you come to Bronte? Do you feel like singing? When you wake in the morning and you make the decision to join us at church, what are your thoughts? Do you decide to go to church because it is part of your weekly routine? Or is it perhaps because of a burden in your heart that you need to have lifted? Is it possibly because you “Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.” (v3) … and it is our part of the commandments that we are here today? Or maybe you are coming to church because something amazing happened to you and you truly do want to thank the Lord. Whatever the reason, we are to “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” (v4) How very true! One famous quote tells us that “in happy moments, we are to praise God; in difficult moments, seek God; in quiet moments, worship God; in painful moments, trust God and in every moment, thank God.” No matter what we are going through, no matter what our mindset may have started out like, let us be thankful to God for another day, another breath of life, another opportunity! “For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.” (v5) Amen!