00:00:01
S1: Today on bold steps, Mark Jobe has a timely message about breaking through the gloom.
00:00:06
S2: When I see someone with joy serving God with gladness, it makes me attracted to what they have. When I see someone grumpy, sad, discontent, unsatisfied, unhappy, it makes me say, hey, I don't want what they have because there's enough of that going around in the world.
00:00:38
S1: Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is founding pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Well, with all the sadness and worry and darkness in the world, it can sometimes be difficult to see the good in life. So how would you define yourself? Are you typically full of joy or do you find yourself feeling gloomy? Mark, let's address this head on today.
00:00:59
S2: You know, Wayne, if you live in the same world that I live in. Turn on the news. Listen to the radio. It just seems to be full of bad news, violence, war, tragedy, just a lot of bickering, fighting. And it's easy to just succumb to that. And so I believe as followers of Jesus, we need to deliberately and intentionally work on breaking through the gloom that surround us. Psalms 100 is an amazing chapter that really has some principles that help us, I think, poke our head over the clouds and above the gloom.
00:01:40
S1: Psalm 100. If you want to join us there in Scripture, and this may be just the antidote you need today for how you're feeling. So let's break through the gloom now here in Bold Steps with Mark Jobe.
00:01:51
S2: As I mentioned earlier, I've been seeing a lot of anger, a lot of depression, a lot of frustration, a lot of sadness and a lot of gloominess throughout Chicago. And not just Chicago, but throughout the world that we live in. And it's easy to get sucked into that dark, gloomy perspective on life. All you have to do is turn on the 10:00 news. Watching ten minutes of news can depress you. There's stories of ISIS encroachment in the Middle East, racial divide, protest in the streets, economic collapse here in Chicago. There's always a story of someone getting shot and killed. Some act of violence, someone being jumped. The economists worry about a collapse of the economy. We see fighting among the top echelon of our political society. Distrust for the government has invaded our society at large. There's an insecurity around the world about what does this future hold? And it's easy for people in this atmosphere to get worried, to get anxious. In fact, a university in California did a survey recently, an extensive survey among Americans, and discovered that the top worries and concerns of Americans are. These. Chapman University discovered that 60% of the Americans worry about the corruption of. Government officials like this worry that there's a lot of corrupt politicians in Washington. 41% worry about terrorist attacks like. What if it happens in our city? What if it happens in our neighborhood? 39% of Americans worry about not having enough money for the future. And what will happen when I retire? Will I be living in the poor house? Can I pay my mortgage? Can I send my kids to college in three years? How's the economy going to be? Will there be another collapse like in 2007? 38% of Americans worry about being a victim of terror, domestic or international terror. 38% of Americans worry about someone they love dying. What if my husband dies? What about my 19 year old son? That's out to 1:00 in the morning in Chicago. He's not home. This is a crazy city. What if something happens to him? 37% worry about economic or financial collapse of our nation. 35% of people worry that someone that they love will become seriously ill. I mean, there is despair all around. I talked to one person recently that works in the social, uh, social service sector. And he told me that, that the suicide hotline in Chicago has been ringing off the hook these last couple of weeks. That they can't keep up. There's been an escalating demand of suicide council because a lot of people are afraid, concerned, worried about the future, discouraged about where our country may be going or may not be going. Concerned about the world, looking at where we're raising our kids and worried what's going to happen when my five year old is 20 years old? What kind of world will they be living in? What? What are we going into? This future looks dark black. Discouraging. I was thinking about this not too long ago. I do a lot of traveling, and I was thinking about some of my take offs from the O'Hare airport, and there's been times when I've been on the runway at O'Hare airport, and it's drizzly and dark and gloomy. Looks like the weather's terrible. And then that airplane starts to take off and it starts to go down that runway. As it begins to catch speed, the front wheel of the airplane begins to lift off, and pretty soon all wheels are off the ground. And as I look out the side window, the engines of the airplane roaring my head pulled back a little bit because the impetus of the engine wings and I start looking out the window and. And I see that the the city becomes smaller and smaller and smaller. It looks gloomy, it looks dark, it looks rainy. And then we go into the clouds. And as we go into the clouds, it even gets darker because all I can see is clouds going by. It looks like the world is this dark, gloomy, confusing place. But as the airplane continues to escalate and it goes further and further above. Then suddenly something happens. The higher it goes. Eventually the nose of the plane breaks through the clouds and above the clouds you see this bright, beautiful, sunny day. You see under the clouds. It looks like the whole world is gloomy. But when I get above the clouds, I realize, no, the sun is just as bright as it's always been. It hasn't hidden itself from Chicago. The sun is bright. The day is clear because all I have to do is get above the gloom. To realize. The sun is still shining. The warmth is still there. This is a beautiful day. And for some of us, spiritually, it's the same way. some of you are living under a cloud right now, and you feel like this world is dark and gloomy. But today, my hope is that you would start to navigate above the clouds of doom and the atmosphere of doom that you feel. My hope is that you would raise your head above the cloud of the circumstances, the political atmosphere that we live in, the violence of Chicago, and that you would begin to grasp and see a little bit of the glory of God that is above the clouds, and you will realize God is still on the throne. He is still powerful, high, lifted up. He has not lost his power. He has not lost control. God is still on the throne of this world. And so in order to look at that a little bit better, I want to turn your attention to Psalm chapter 100. How many of you have a have trouble remembering where to find something in the Bible? How many of you say, I know it's somewhere in the Bible? I just can't remember the chapter and verse. Well, this is going to be an easy one to remember. This is Psalm 100. Say it out loud. Psalm. What? So today I want to talk to you about really what it means to keep it 100. Now that has a double meaning, but for us it means keeping it 100 with Psalm 100 and learning to take on a 100 attitude that is found in Psalm 100. From now on, when your attitude starts dipping, when you start getting gloomy, I want you to think to yourself, hey, I want to keep it 100. You don't know what that means. Just ask your 20 year old 16 year old. They'll tell you all about that. So to break through the gloom and to keep it 100, I want to read to you Psalm 100. Psalm 100 says this make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him. Bless his name. Yeah. For the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100. So if you're wanting to break through the gloom today, and if you're trying to figure out how you can take a better attitude on life, I want to give you four things that that Psalm 100 tells us to put into practice if we're going to break through the gloom. Are you ready? Number one, if you're taking notes, write this down. Make some noise. Sometimes you just need to make a joyful noise. He starts out in Psalm 100, and we're not sure exactly who the author of Psalm 100 was. David wrote a lot of these psalms, but it doesn't articulate who the author was. It could have been another psalmist, but the first thing that he says is this. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. I was thinking about that for a moment. Make a joyful noise. And I thought, you know, sometimes when we're happy, we want to make noise. When we're sad. How about it? You don't want to be around noise. Sometimes when someone seems like something's bothering them, we say, hey, are you okay? And they say, yeah, I'm okay. Why do you ask? Well, you seem quiet when? When we're sad, we get quiet. We isolate. We don't want to be around noise because we feel like, no, I don't feel like noise. I'm not, I don't feel like being around a lot of people that are celebrating. I want to be quiet. But when you're celebrating, hey, how about it? If you're excited about something, you want to be around a bunch of other people that are celebrating, you want to be around some noise. When the Cubs won. Yeah, some of you wanted to be around some noise. And I know some of you were watching it on television, cranking it up, celebrating, but it wasn't enough. You got in your car and you drove all the way to Wrigleyville, to the crowd and the mess of Wrigleyville. I know a bunch of people did. My daughter did the dough to the crowd of why you want to be around some people that are celebrating, cheering, shouting. You want to be around some noise. When you're excited, you want some noise, you want some celebration because you feel it inside of you. And so screaming and yelling and celebrating. I want to tell you something about the people of God. I believe that joy is part of the attitude that should characterize us as people of the living God.
00:13:21
S1: You're listening to Mark Jobe here on Bold Steps, a message titled breaking Through the Gloom. And before we continue this good lesson, we just want to say thank you to our bold partners, Mark. These are faithful listeners who donate every month and we so appreciate them.
00:13:35
S3: That's right. And by the way, you help us break through the gloom.
00:13:38
S1: That's true. Yeah. That's right.
00:13:39
S3: As we read these comments and messages, as we just have a growing team of people that are supporting bold steps, it really is encouraging to us. So thank you.
00:13:50
S1: Yeah. Here's an example of what our bold partners accomplished through this program. Here's a listener in Lima, Ohio, Linda, who says doctor Mark Jobe is a wonderful encourager of God's Word weekday mornings from me. I'm grateful for his love of Jesus and the word that he shares through his messages that help me grow in my walk with the Lord. Keep on keeping on for the kingdom. Linda says.
00:14:10
S3: Hey Linda, thank you for your encouraging message. I'm glad that you're listening every day. Uh, we're hanging out every day. And Wayne, we have another person. This letter is from Brandon in Medina, Ohio, and he wrote and said, thanks for being a surrendered vessel, teaching the body of Christ and ministering to me on my way home from work for lunch. I pray your ministry continues to flourish and minister to the church body, new believers, and those. The Lord leads your way to receive the good news of the gospel. Brandon, thank you for your encouragement. I'm glad that we get to hang out before your lunch time. I eat lunch with a lot of people, Wayne. I'm trying to. I'm trying. I got to watch my weight because a lot of people eat lunch with me around the country, and I appreciate that.
00:14:57
S1: That's good to know. Well, those are just a couple of examples of how your partnership with us is making a difference. So if you want to help us continue bringing the gospel to new listeners in your own community and across the world as well. Sign up today to become a gold partner. And when you choose to give a gift of $30 or more each month, you'll be qualified for 50% off the retail price on all Moody Publishers resources in the online store at moody publishers.org. Resources such as Gary Chapman's The Five Love Languages That Classic Book or Moody Bible institutes, Bible commentary, those resources and more are 50% off when you become a bold partner at $30 a month or more. Sign up at bold steps.org. All right, here's Mark job. Now continuing. Today's message is titled Breaking Through the Gloom here on Bold Steps.
00:15:50
S2: Once in a while, I'll visit a church and go in there and I'll ask myself, did someone die? Because the attitude and there's like a funeral. You walk down the pews and look at people and they're like. It's like, did someone give us lemon juice at the front door? Why are we so somber and quiet and look almost mad in the house of God? In fact, I believe that the Bible tells us that actually, as people of God, we're a joyful people. It tells us in Scripture that the kingdom of God. In Romans chapter 14, verse 17, for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Galatians chapter five, verse 22 for 23 talks about the fruit of the spirit. What happens when someone is full of God and it says, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things There is no law. The very second thing it says is that our characteristics as people of God is joy. That we are to be characterized as people full of joy. What does that mean? Some people walk in this church and people are clapping and celebrating and loud music and, and, uh, and singing and they say, well, pastor, is that even allowed in a church? I mean, are we supposed to do that? Can we laugh in church? Can we clap in church? Can we celebrate when people are getting baptized? I mean, is that even proper to do? The way I read my Bible is that we are to make a joyful noise. We are to be a people that celebrates the goodness of God like no one else on earth. Should be celebrating the fact that God is good. Now I know I talked to some men and they said, well, I'm just not that kind of guy. I just, you know, I'm just not emotional. They tell me that in church and I see them like this, and then I see them at the bears game and suddenly the non emotional guy there screaming, yelling, jumping, taking off their shirt, painting their face up and like, no, I don't think it's about that. I think it's about what really excites you. And I think that we as the people of God, are excited about the kingdom of God and the glory of God. And joy should be what characterizes us. Because part of being joyful means that you say, well, I'm just not. I'm a pessimist. Maybe you're an optimist or you say, I'm a realist. I view myself as a realist. Who knows who's on the throne in this world. And when I know that God is on the throne, it makes me an optimist because I know who holds my future. I know who's on the throne. And so although I'm a realist, I know that God is on the throne, high and lifted up. So knowing that God is on the throne makes me an optimist. So the psalmist says, make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. And then he says, serve the Lord with gladness. As we serve the Lord, there's a gladness, not a gloomy sadness in our service. I run into people that say, okay, I'm going to serve the Lord. It's my turn to serve the Lord. But they're not a glad servant. They're kind of a grumpy servant. Have you ever had a grumpy server at the restaurant that you go to eat at? And they say, kind of like, what do you want? Kind of throw the menu at you and just seem impatient and roll their eyes. You ever had that? It makes me not want to tip them. But the other hand, have you ever had someone that's happy? Hey, how are you doing this morning? Some about waitresses or servers. That seems like it gives them the permission to call you babe and honey. how are you doing, babe? How are you doing, honey? It's like I don't even know you. You're calling me babe and honey. You know, I don't know. There must be this incognito sort of subculture world that says, if you're a waitress, you can call people honey and babes. I, I don't know what it is, but, you know. Hey, how you doing, babe? How you doing, honey? Yeah, happy. And when they're happy, it makes you feel like. Yeah, they're they're happy to serve. They like their job. They're energized by it. They come by and ask you, is everything okay? Can I serve you? And it makes me want to tip them a bigger tip because I feel like, hey, here's someone that's enjoying their job that's into what they're doing. Listen to me, people of God. I believe that as we serve God, people should be attracted to our joy because they see us following Christ, not with the sad, forlorn spirit. Kind of like, well, I just have to follow God. You know, it's just a tough thing, you know? But we're excited about serving the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. The one who has given us life, saved us, forgiven us, and given us a the future. When I see someone with joy serving God with gladness, it makes me attracted to what they have. When I see someone grumpy, sad, discontent, unsatisfied, unhappy, it makes me say, hey, I don't want what they have because there's enough of that going around in the world. And he says, hey, make a joyful noise unto the Lord. Serve the Lord with gladness. And then it says, come into his presence with singing. Ephesians chapter five, verse 18 through 19 talks about being filled with the spirit. And when someone is filled with the spirit, in other words, filled with God, they speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. They sing and they make music in their heart to the Lord. When you are filled with God, you start singing. When people are full of joy on Fridays, people tend to hum a lot more. Ah, he said, why are you so happy about. It's Friday. Saturdays here. I don't have to go to work. There's something about when our heart is full of joy that we tend to sing. But I believe that there's something. There's something else going on here. Sometimes we need to sing in order to see our hearts start to get full of joy. You see, it's easy to sing and hum. And when we're happy. But what about when we're not happy? And it's time to just to make a joyful noise. Sometimes when you're not happy, you need to start just making a joyful noise. I believe that's the power of worship. We devote about 20 minutes to worship in this place when we can, a little bit longer. And I know for some of you, like you're enduring it just standing and we got to stand long. But I want to I want to encourage you, when you truly sing along to these words, you are literally lifting up your voice with a whole bunch of people around you that are saying, Lord, you are good today, God, we are thankful for who you are. God, we bless your name because there's no one like you. There's something powerful about corporate worship that invites the presence of God and brings the joy of God in us. Sometimes we have to sing. Some of you need to try it occasionally. And the psalmist says, make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all you people. Not only do we need to make a joyful noise, but the second thing the psalmist tells us to do is to know who is God. Know who is God. Remember that you belong to God and he belongs to you. Verse three says, know that the Lord, yeah, he is God. You know, sometimes in the middle of all the chaos, all the bad news, all the circumstances, you need to stop and remember who is God. You need to stop and remember that God is God and you're not. You can't save people change people fix people, turn people around. But God can. You can't turn the economy around, but God can. You can't heal cancer, but God can. You can't change someone's attitude, but God can. You can't fix your cousin's marriage, but God can. You can't forgive sins, but God can. You don't know the future, but God does. You can't see into the future what's going on, but God does. You can't climb a mountain, but God can overcome any obstacle. God is able. So remember who God is. The psalmist says, be still and know that He is God. Some of us in the middle of our chaos and trouble were so busy and worried, running around. And sometimes you need to be still and remember who God is. And then he says, it is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. When you stop and remember that He is God, and that God knows your story and that you are his, I want you to think about this for a second. God is not a distant character. This generic force in the universe that doesn't know your name, the God of Scripture is a God that knows your story and knows your name. And before you were born, he knew you. Before your parents even know knew you, he knew you.
00:25:40
S1: That's an important point that Mark will continue when we return for tomorrow's program. You're listening to Bold Steps and a message titled Breaking Through the Gloom with Mark Jobe. Today's lesson really dug into some of the more difficult realities we face in this life, while providing the biblical outlook and response that we need to have. And right now, here at Bold Steps, we're offering a special resource that takes the same hard hitting approach to the subject of culture. You know, Mark, it feels like our culture grows more hostile to the Christian faith with each passing day. A lot of believers are looking around and feeling like strangers in their own land, like they're living in exile. That's actually the picture behind this month's Bold Step gift, a book called The Church in Babylon.
00:26:20
S2: Yeah. So if you've felt like that, that, hey, your Christian values, your faith seems stranger and stranger in the culture that we live in, then you're not just imagining that.
00:26:35
S1: You're not alone.
00:26:35
S2: No. And by the way, the Bible talks about the end times getting worse and, uh, but Erwin Lutzer, our good friend Erwin Lutzer, pastor of Moody Church on Moody Radio, written several books. He's written a book called The Church in Babylon, heeding the call to be a light in darkness. And he, he takes the story of Daniel, who was thrust into a pagan culture surrounded by it, immersed in it. But yet Daniel did not lose his way. In fact, he ended up influencing that culture.
00:27:10
S1: He stood firm.
00:27:11
S2: Yeah, yeah. So this is really important. How to live faithfully as exiles in a culture that no longer shares our value. This will encourage you if you have felt a little bit overwhelmed by the culture around you.
00:27:25
S1: Now to give and request your copy of The Church in Babylon, visit us online at bold steps.org/give or call us at 800 D.L. Moody, that's (800) 356-6639. Or if you'd prefer, you can send your donation in the mail by writing to us at Bold Steps, 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60,006 ten. And before we close today, we want to remind you that if you ever miss one of these daily messages on the radio, you can catch up any time from anywhere by subscribing to the Bold Steps podcast on your phone or mobile device. Open up your favorite podcast app and search for bold steps with doctor Mark job. And don't forget to click the subscribe button and leave a five star review or a comment to help other listeners learn more about the program. We also have two YouTube channels you'll want to explore. Our main channel, Bold Steps with Mark job, offers teaching clips, behind the scenes moments, and extended video content. And then, for those who like to watch full radio programs like this one, be sure to subscribe to the Bold Steps with Mark Job Programs. Well, I'm Wayne Shepherd, and as we end our program, I just wanted to remind you to join us tomorrow for the final half of this message titled Breaking Through the Gloom. That's coming up Tuesday on Bold Steps with Mark John. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of the Moody Bible Institute.
S1: Today on bold steps, Mark Jobe has a timely message about breaking through the gloom.
00:00:06
S2: When I see someone with joy serving God with gladness, it makes me attracted to what they have. When I see someone grumpy, sad, discontent, unsatisfied, unhappy, it makes me say, hey, I don't want what they have because there's enough of that going around in the world.
00:00:38
S1: Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is founding pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Well, with all the sadness and worry and darkness in the world, it can sometimes be difficult to see the good in life. So how would you define yourself? Are you typically full of joy or do you find yourself feeling gloomy? Mark, let's address this head on today.
00:00:59
S2: You know, Wayne, if you live in the same world that I live in. Turn on the news. Listen to the radio. It just seems to be full of bad news, violence, war, tragedy, just a lot of bickering, fighting. And it's easy to just succumb to that. And so I believe as followers of Jesus, we need to deliberately and intentionally work on breaking through the gloom that surround us. Psalms 100 is an amazing chapter that really has some principles that help us, I think, poke our head over the clouds and above the gloom.
00:01:40
S1: Psalm 100. If you want to join us there in Scripture, and this may be just the antidote you need today for how you're feeling. So let's break through the gloom now here in Bold Steps with Mark Jobe.
00:01:51
S2: As I mentioned earlier, I've been seeing a lot of anger, a lot of depression, a lot of frustration, a lot of sadness and a lot of gloominess throughout Chicago. And not just Chicago, but throughout the world that we live in. And it's easy to get sucked into that dark, gloomy perspective on life. All you have to do is turn on the 10:00 news. Watching ten minutes of news can depress you. There's stories of ISIS encroachment in the Middle East, racial divide, protest in the streets, economic collapse here in Chicago. There's always a story of someone getting shot and killed. Some act of violence, someone being jumped. The economists worry about a collapse of the economy. We see fighting among the top echelon of our political society. Distrust for the government has invaded our society at large. There's an insecurity around the world about what does this future hold? And it's easy for people in this atmosphere to get worried, to get anxious. In fact, a university in California did a survey recently, an extensive survey among Americans, and discovered that the top worries and concerns of Americans are. These. Chapman University discovered that 60% of the Americans worry about the corruption of. Government officials like this worry that there's a lot of corrupt politicians in Washington. 41% worry about terrorist attacks like. What if it happens in our city? What if it happens in our neighborhood? 39% of Americans worry about not having enough money for the future. And what will happen when I retire? Will I be living in the poor house? Can I pay my mortgage? Can I send my kids to college in three years? How's the economy going to be? Will there be another collapse like in 2007? 38% of Americans worry about being a victim of terror, domestic or international terror. 38% of Americans worry about someone they love dying. What if my husband dies? What about my 19 year old son? That's out to 1:00 in the morning in Chicago. He's not home. This is a crazy city. What if something happens to him? 37% worry about economic or financial collapse of our nation. 35% of people worry that someone that they love will become seriously ill. I mean, there is despair all around. I talked to one person recently that works in the social, uh, social service sector. And he told me that, that the suicide hotline in Chicago has been ringing off the hook these last couple of weeks. That they can't keep up. There's been an escalating demand of suicide council because a lot of people are afraid, concerned, worried about the future, discouraged about where our country may be going or may not be going. Concerned about the world, looking at where we're raising our kids and worried what's going to happen when my five year old is 20 years old? What kind of world will they be living in? What? What are we going into? This future looks dark black. Discouraging. I was thinking about this not too long ago. I do a lot of traveling, and I was thinking about some of my take offs from the O'Hare airport, and there's been times when I've been on the runway at O'Hare airport, and it's drizzly and dark and gloomy. Looks like the weather's terrible. And then that airplane starts to take off and it starts to go down that runway. As it begins to catch speed, the front wheel of the airplane begins to lift off, and pretty soon all wheels are off the ground. And as I look out the side window, the engines of the airplane roaring my head pulled back a little bit because the impetus of the engine wings and I start looking out the window and. And I see that the the city becomes smaller and smaller and smaller. It looks gloomy, it looks dark, it looks rainy. And then we go into the clouds. And as we go into the clouds, it even gets darker because all I can see is clouds going by. It looks like the world is this dark, gloomy, confusing place. But as the airplane continues to escalate and it goes further and further above. Then suddenly something happens. The higher it goes. Eventually the nose of the plane breaks through the clouds and above the clouds you see this bright, beautiful, sunny day. You see under the clouds. It looks like the whole world is gloomy. But when I get above the clouds, I realize, no, the sun is just as bright as it's always been. It hasn't hidden itself from Chicago. The sun is bright. The day is clear because all I have to do is get above the gloom. To realize. The sun is still shining. The warmth is still there. This is a beautiful day. And for some of us, spiritually, it's the same way. some of you are living under a cloud right now, and you feel like this world is dark and gloomy. But today, my hope is that you would start to navigate above the clouds of doom and the atmosphere of doom that you feel. My hope is that you would raise your head above the cloud of the circumstances, the political atmosphere that we live in, the violence of Chicago, and that you would begin to grasp and see a little bit of the glory of God that is above the clouds, and you will realize God is still on the throne. He is still powerful, high, lifted up. He has not lost his power. He has not lost control. God is still on the throne of this world. And so in order to look at that a little bit better, I want to turn your attention to Psalm chapter 100. How many of you have a have trouble remembering where to find something in the Bible? How many of you say, I know it's somewhere in the Bible? I just can't remember the chapter and verse. Well, this is going to be an easy one to remember. This is Psalm 100. Say it out loud. Psalm. What? So today I want to talk to you about really what it means to keep it 100. Now that has a double meaning, but for us it means keeping it 100 with Psalm 100 and learning to take on a 100 attitude that is found in Psalm 100. From now on, when your attitude starts dipping, when you start getting gloomy, I want you to think to yourself, hey, I want to keep it 100. You don't know what that means. Just ask your 20 year old 16 year old. They'll tell you all about that. So to break through the gloom and to keep it 100, I want to read to you Psalm 100. Psalm 100 says this make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him. Bless his name. Yeah. For the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100. So if you're wanting to break through the gloom today, and if you're trying to figure out how you can take a better attitude on life, I want to give you four things that that Psalm 100 tells us to put into practice if we're going to break through the gloom. Are you ready? Number one, if you're taking notes, write this down. Make some noise. Sometimes you just need to make a joyful noise. He starts out in Psalm 100, and we're not sure exactly who the author of Psalm 100 was. David wrote a lot of these psalms, but it doesn't articulate who the author was. It could have been another psalmist, but the first thing that he says is this. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. I was thinking about that for a moment. Make a joyful noise. And I thought, you know, sometimes when we're happy, we want to make noise. When we're sad. How about it? You don't want to be around noise. Sometimes when someone seems like something's bothering them, we say, hey, are you okay? And they say, yeah, I'm okay. Why do you ask? Well, you seem quiet when? When we're sad, we get quiet. We isolate. We don't want to be around noise because we feel like, no, I don't feel like noise. I'm not, I don't feel like being around a lot of people that are celebrating. I want to be quiet. But when you're celebrating, hey, how about it? If you're excited about something, you want to be around a bunch of other people that are celebrating, you want to be around some noise. When the Cubs won. Yeah, some of you wanted to be around some noise. And I know some of you were watching it on television, cranking it up, celebrating, but it wasn't enough. You got in your car and you drove all the way to Wrigleyville, to the crowd and the mess of Wrigleyville. I know a bunch of people did. My daughter did the dough to the crowd of why you want to be around some people that are celebrating, cheering, shouting. You want to be around some noise. When you're excited, you want some noise, you want some celebration because you feel it inside of you. And so screaming and yelling and celebrating. I want to tell you something about the people of God. I believe that joy is part of the attitude that should characterize us as people of the living God.
00:13:21
S1: You're listening to Mark Jobe here on Bold Steps, a message titled breaking Through the Gloom. And before we continue this good lesson, we just want to say thank you to our bold partners, Mark. These are faithful listeners who donate every month and we so appreciate them.
00:13:35
S3: That's right. And by the way, you help us break through the gloom.
00:13:38
S1: That's true. Yeah. That's right.
00:13:39
S3: As we read these comments and messages, as we just have a growing team of people that are supporting bold steps, it really is encouraging to us. So thank you.
00:13:50
S1: Yeah. Here's an example of what our bold partners accomplished through this program. Here's a listener in Lima, Ohio, Linda, who says doctor Mark Jobe is a wonderful encourager of God's Word weekday mornings from me. I'm grateful for his love of Jesus and the word that he shares through his messages that help me grow in my walk with the Lord. Keep on keeping on for the kingdom. Linda says.
00:14:10
S3: Hey Linda, thank you for your encouraging message. I'm glad that you're listening every day. Uh, we're hanging out every day. And Wayne, we have another person. This letter is from Brandon in Medina, Ohio, and he wrote and said, thanks for being a surrendered vessel, teaching the body of Christ and ministering to me on my way home from work for lunch. I pray your ministry continues to flourish and minister to the church body, new believers, and those. The Lord leads your way to receive the good news of the gospel. Brandon, thank you for your encouragement. I'm glad that we get to hang out before your lunch time. I eat lunch with a lot of people, Wayne. I'm trying to. I'm trying. I got to watch my weight because a lot of people eat lunch with me around the country, and I appreciate that.
00:14:57
S1: That's good to know. Well, those are just a couple of examples of how your partnership with us is making a difference. So if you want to help us continue bringing the gospel to new listeners in your own community and across the world as well. Sign up today to become a gold partner. And when you choose to give a gift of $30 or more each month, you'll be qualified for 50% off the retail price on all Moody Publishers resources in the online store at moody publishers.org. Resources such as Gary Chapman's The Five Love Languages That Classic Book or Moody Bible institutes, Bible commentary, those resources and more are 50% off when you become a bold partner at $30 a month or more. Sign up at bold steps.org. All right, here's Mark job. Now continuing. Today's message is titled Breaking Through the Gloom here on Bold Steps.
00:15:50
S2: Once in a while, I'll visit a church and go in there and I'll ask myself, did someone die? Because the attitude and there's like a funeral. You walk down the pews and look at people and they're like. It's like, did someone give us lemon juice at the front door? Why are we so somber and quiet and look almost mad in the house of God? In fact, I believe that the Bible tells us that actually, as people of God, we're a joyful people. It tells us in Scripture that the kingdom of God. In Romans chapter 14, verse 17, for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Galatians chapter five, verse 22 for 23 talks about the fruit of the spirit. What happens when someone is full of God and it says, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things There is no law. The very second thing it says is that our characteristics as people of God is joy. That we are to be characterized as people full of joy. What does that mean? Some people walk in this church and people are clapping and celebrating and loud music and, and, uh, and singing and they say, well, pastor, is that even allowed in a church? I mean, are we supposed to do that? Can we laugh in church? Can we clap in church? Can we celebrate when people are getting baptized? I mean, is that even proper to do? The way I read my Bible is that we are to make a joyful noise. We are to be a people that celebrates the goodness of God like no one else on earth. Should be celebrating the fact that God is good. Now I know I talked to some men and they said, well, I'm just not that kind of guy. I just, you know, I'm just not emotional. They tell me that in church and I see them like this, and then I see them at the bears game and suddenly the non emotional guy there screaming, yelling, jumping, taking off their shirt, painting their face up and like, no, I don't think it's about that. I think it's about what really excites you. And I think that we as the people of God, are excited about the kingdom of God and the glory of God. And joy should be what characterizes us. Because part of being joyful means that you say, well, I'm just not. I'm a pessimist. Maybe you're an optimist or you say, I'm a realist. I view myself as a realist. Who knows who's on the throne in this world. And when I know that God is on the throne, it makes me an optimist because I know who holds my future. I know who's on the throne. And so although I'm a realist, I know that God is on the throne, high and lifted up. So knowing that God is on the throne makes me an optimist. So the psalmist says, make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. And then he says, serve the Lord with gladness. As we serve the Lord, there's a gladness, not a gloomy sadness in our service. I run into people that say, okay, I'm going to serve the Lord. It's my turn to serve the Lord. But they're not a glad servant. They're kind of a grumpy servant. Have you ever had a grumpy server at the restaurant that you go to eat at? And they say, kind of like, what do you want? Kind of throw the menu at you and just seem impatient and roll their eyes. You ever had that? It makes me not want to tip them. But the other hand, have you ever had someone that's happy? Hey, how are you doing this morning? Some about waitresses or servers. That seems like it gives them the permission to call you babe and honey. how are you doing, babe? How are you doing, honey? It's like I don't even know you. You're calling me babe and honey. You know, I don't know. There must be this incognito sort of subculture world that says, if you're a waitress, you can call people honey and babes. I, I don't know what it is, but, you know. Hey, how you doing, babe? How you doing, honey? Yeah, happy. And when they're happy, it makes you feel like. Yeah, they're they're happy to serve. They like their job. They're energized by it. They come by and ask you, is everything okay? Can I serve you? And it makes me want to tip them a bigger tip because I feel like, hey, here's someone that's enjoying their job that's into what they're doing. Listen to me, people of God. I believe that as we serve God, people should be attracted to our joy because they see us following Christ, not with the sad, forlorn spirit. Kind of like, well, I just have to follow God. You know, it's just a tough thing, you know? But we're excited about serving the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. The one who has given us life, saved us, forgiven us, and given us a the future. When I see someone with joy serving God with gladness, it makes me attracted to what they have. When I see someone grumpy, sad, discontent, unsatisfied, unhappy, it makes me say, hey, I don't want what they have because there's enough of that going around in the world. And he says, hey, make a joyful noise unto the Lord. Serve the Lord with gladness. And then it says, come into his presence with singing. Ephesians chapter five, verse 18 through 19 talks about being filled with the spirit. And when someone is filled with the spirit, in other words, filled with God, they speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. They sing and they make music in their heart to the Lord. When you are filled with God, you start singing. When people are full of joy on Fridays, people tend to hum a lot more. Ah, he said, why are you so happy about. It's Friday. Saturdays here. I don't have to go to work. There's something about when our heart is full of joy that we tend to sing. But I believe that there's something. There's something else going on here. Sometimes we need to sing in order to see our hearts start to get full of joy. You see, it's easy to sing and hum. And when we're happy. But what about when we're not happy? And it's time to just to make a joyful noise. Sometimes when you're not happy, you need to start just making a joyful noise. I believe that's the power of worship. We devote about 20 minutes to worship in this place when we can, a little bit longer. And I know for some of you, like you're enduring it just standing and we got to stand long. But I want to I want to encourage you, when you truly sing along to these words, you are literally lifting up your voice with a whole bunch of people around you that are saying, Lord, you are good today, God, we are thankful for who you are. God, we bless your name because there's no one like you. There's something powerful about corporate worship that invites the presence of God and brings the joy of God in us. Sometimes we have to sing. Some of you need to try it occasionally. And the psalmist says, make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all you people. Not only do we need to make a joyful noise, but the second thing the psalmist tells us to do is to know who is God. Know who is God. Remember that you belong to God and he belongs to you. Verse three says, know that the Lord, yeah, he is God. You know, sometimes in the middle of all the chaos, all the bad news, all the circumstances, you need to stop and remember who is God. You need to stop and remember that God is God and you're not. You can't save people change people fix people, turn people around. But God can. You can't turn the economy around, but God can. You can't heal cancer, but God can. You can't change someone's attitude, but God can. You can't fix your cousin's marriage, but God can. You can't forgive sins, but God can. You don't know the future, but God does. You can't see into the future what's going on, but God does. You can't climb a mountain, but God can overcome any obstacle. God is able. So remember who God is. The psalmist says, be still and know that He is God. Some of us in the middle of our chaos and trouble were so busy and worried, running around. And sometimes you need to be still and remember who God is. And then he says, it is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. When you stop and remember that He is God, and that God knows your story and that you are his, I want you to think about this for a second. God is not a distant character. This generic force in the universe that doesn't know your name, the God of Scripture is a God that knows your story and knows your name. And before you were born, he knew you. Before your parents even know knew you, he knew you.
00:25:40
S1: That's an important point that Mark will continue when we return for tomorrow's program. You're listening to Bold Steps and a message titled Breaking Through the Gloom with Mark Jobe. Today's lesson really dug into some of the more difficult realities we face in this life, while providing the biblical outlook and response that we need to have. And right now, here at Bold Steps, we're offering a special resource that takes the same hard hitting approach to the subject of culture. You know, Mark, it feels like our culture grows more hostile to the Christian faith with each passing day. A lot of believers are looking around and feeling like strangers in their own land, like they're living in exile. That's actually the picture behind this month's Bold Step gift, a book called The Church in Babylon.
00:26:20
S2: Yeah. So if you've felt like that, that, hey, your Christian values, your faith seems stranger and stranger in the culture that we live in, then you're not just imagining that.
00:26:35
S1: You're not alone.
00:26:35
S2: No. And by the way, the Bible talks about the end times getting worse and, uh, but Erwin Lutzer, our good friend Erwin Lutzer, pastor of Moody Church on Moody Radio, written several books. He's written a book called The Church in Babylon, heeding the call to be a light in darkness. And he, he takes the story of Daniel, who was thrust into a pagan culture surrounded by it, immersed in it. But yet Daniel did not lose his way. In fact, he ended up influencing that culture.
00:27:10
S1: He stood firm.
00:27:11
S2: Yeah, yeah. So this is really important. How to live faithfully as exiles in a culture that no longer shares our value. This will encourage you if you have felt a little bit overwhelmed by the culture around you.
00:27:25
S1: Now to give and request your copy of The Church in Babylon, visit us online at bold steps.org/give or call us at 800 D.L. Moody, that's (800) 356-6639. Or if you'd prefer, you can send your donation in the mail by writing to us at Bold Steps, 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60,006 ten. And before we close today, we want to remind you that if you ever miss one of these daily messages on the radio, you can catch up any time from anywhere by subscribing to the Bold Steps podcast on your phone or mobile device. Open up your favorite podcast app and search for bold steps with doctor Mark job. And don't forget to click the subscribe button and leave a five star review or a comment to help other listeners learn more about the program. We also have two YouTube channels you'll want to explore. Our main channel, Bold Steps with Mark job, offers teaching clips, behind the scenes moments, and extended video content. And then, for those who like to watch full radio programs like this one, be sure to subscribe to the Bold Steps with Mark Job Programs. Well, I'm Wayne Shepherd, and as we end our program, I just wanted to remind you to join us tomorrow for the final half of this message titled Breaking Through the Gloom. That's coming up Tuesday on Bold Steps with Mark John. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of the Moody Bible Institute.
