From Strength to Strength
Sermon Recording
Sermon Outline
Speaker: Rev. Scott Strickman
Sermon Series: Psalm 84
Psalm 84 (ESV)
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!
10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!
Sermon Outline
Gathering weekly for worship is a primary means of growing stronger.
1. Forward
v5 “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.”
v7 “They go from strength to strength”
2. Upward
v9 “…our shield… your anointed…”
v11 “For the Lord God is… the Lord bestows…”
Title: A Psalm of the Sons of Korah
v10 “I would rather be a doorkeeper…”
3. Outward
v6 “As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs”
v7 “each one appears before God in Zion”
Prayer of Confession
Lord God, you are a sun and shield, you bestow favor and honor. We admit that despite this, we have not walked uprightly. We have been weak in faith, in commitment, in honor, and in obedience. We have not lived out of strength that is in you, but we have relied on ourselves and have given reign to our foolish desires and instincts. We have envied the strength and status of others. We have revealed our weakness in how we have adapted corrupted views and practices of strength. Forgive our many sins. Hear our prayer, and strengthen us in Christ. Amen.
Questions for Reflection
What attributes or skills does a strong person have? What do you believe to be the key marks of strength?
Does Christianity encourage or promote weakness? In what ways have Christians typically misunderstood strength?
How does strength get corrupted? What are negative examples or expressions of strength in our world?
Was Jesus strong? If so, in what ways?
If Jesus appeared in modern day New York, in what ways might people assume him to be weak? Is there anything he doesn’t have, or that we wouldn’t recognize, that we value or uphold?
How does God’s strength become a source of strength for those with faith in Him?
How can setting our hearts towards a future reality keep us from properly engaging our present reality? How can it strengthen us for our world?
What can make the weekly pattern of gathering with the church more of a source of strength for you? What can you do?
How can Emmanuel as a community strengthen one another? What practices should be a regular part of our meetings and interactions that impart strength?