New City Church

Making disciples. Period.

214 Spencer Street NE, Grand Rapids, MI  49505
Sunday mornings at 10:00
Directions

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

for the North End Community Ministry / food pantry
visit http://necmgr.org or call (616) 454-1097

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Mission
    • Beliefs
      • Historic Creeds and Confessions
    • Core Values
    • Leadership
      • Council of Elders
      • Deacons
  • Experience New City
    • Worship
    • City Groups
    • Discipleship
    • New City Sisterhood
    • Serving the Body
      • Spiritual Gifts
    • Childrens’ Ministries
    • Youth
    • Membership
  • Resources
    • Sermons
      • Miscellaneous (various topical sermons)
      • From Garden to Garden: the Story of the Bible (a topical sermon series)
      • Real Jesus. Real Followers. (a sermon series in Mark)
      • A Brief Study of Spiritual Gifts (a topical sermon series)
      • Church Calendar (an on-going topical sermon series)
      • What Is the Church? (a topical sermon series)
      • Cosmic Christ: Divine Truth For Our Earthly Reality (a sermon series in Colossians)
      • Genesis: the Origins of [Re]Creation (a sermon series in Genesis)
      • Acts of Jesus (sermon series in Acts)
      • Spiritual Disciplines (a topical sermon series)
      • Jude (a sermon series in Jude)
      • A Cruciform Life: Being Shaped by the Cross into the Shape of Jesus (a sermon series in 1 Corinthians)
      • Christian Community (a topical sermon series)
      • Let’s… (a topical sermon series)
      • A Slaughtered Lamb Reigns (a sermon series in Revelation)
      • Together (a topical sermon series)
      • YHWH: Missionary to the Nations (a sermon series in Exodus)
      • Sexual Ethics and the New City (a topical sermon series)
      • In Christ: There Is No Other Gospel (a sermon series in Galatians)
      • What On Earth Is the Church? (a topical sermon series)
      • Come and Believe: the Gospel According to John (a sermon series in John)
      • Politics and Christian Unity (a topical sermon series)
      • Life As the Body of Christ (a topical sermon series)
      • Covenant God: the Foundation of Our Faith (a sermon series in Joshua)
    • Child Protection Policy
    • The Gospel Coalition
    • Desiring God
    • Urban Transformation Ministries
    • North End Community Ministry
  • Contact us
  • Sermons
  • Upcoming Events

a joyful noise

May 6, 2020 by J-T

There are few things more exhilarating than cheering with a massive crowd. Last Fall my son Trey took me to a University of Michigan football game—not just any game: Notre Dame. It was raining when we parked and stood in line for the bus to the stadium. It rained as we got off the bus and walked into the stadium. It rained during the entire pregame warmups. It rained nearly the entire time. Well, if I recall correctly, it stopped briefly during the third quarter and fourth quarters. The rain, however, could not stop the enthusiastic cheering. At the beginning of the game the numerous Notre Dame fans were loud and boisterous and if Notre Dame had a good play they made sure to let the Michigan fans know about it. By the end Michigan fans had 45 reasons to cheer while Notre Dame fans had only 14 reasons. While the ND fans had quieted down, the overall volume had not diminished. If anything, the Michigan fans cheering by the end of the game were louder than the Michigan and Notre Dame fans cheering together at the beginning of the game. The stadium was loud. We stood the entire time, and not because of the rain. We were caught up in the moment, in the enthusiasm of cheering for our beloved Maize & Blue.

Imagine the day when we are all gathered around the Lord in his stadium—the new earth. Imagine the day when all of his people from every tribe and language and people and nation from human history, and we’re all gathered around his throne cheering. That’s the image of Psalm 98:

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it! Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

Psalm 98:4–9 ESV

One day that noise will be the greatest noise ever heard. Loud instruments and loud voices. The psalmist calls creation itself to join in the singing. The sea, the rivers, the hills. The entire earth should join the people of God praising him. As John wrote in Revelation,

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Revelation 7:9–12 ESV

What if our lives were filled with this sort of loud cheering now? What if we were known for our effusive praise of our great God and Savior? What if, instead of cheering for our football team or our political party or our favorite music band or our favorite television show, we were known for a joyful noise offered to our God? What’s stopping us? Let’s make a joyful noise to the Lord today. Let’s seek opportunities to tell others how great he is, for who he is and for what he has done.

Filed Under: Council of Elders

Give online

Search newcitychurch.org

Recent Posts

  • why do we worship together on Sundays?
  • let’s celebrate Christmas every Sunday
  • Moses and Mission BBQ and the Sabbath
  • how should we vote on Tuesday? quietly.
  • whence comes a peaceful and quiet life?

Location

Sundays at 10:00AM 214 Spencer St NE, Grand Rapids (on the corner of Plainfield Ave & Spencer St., just north of Leonard St.)

Mailing Address

214 Spencer St NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49505

Copyright © 2023 · Outreach Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in