Why is God So Great? | Adam Weber

Once again, looking at the words of this hymn, on the cross, being willing to take on, to bear my burden. Being willing to take on your regrets from 20 years ago, being willing to take on your affair when you used to sleep around back in college, being willing to take on that messy divorce, being willing to take on that thing that you said to your kids, being willing to take on your failures and that one time that you got fired from your job and can you remember how embarrassing it was because of something really stupid that you did, being willing to take on what you did last week, being willing to take on and take away all of my sin and all of yours. ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] So today we are continuing on in our series called Then Sings My Soul, where each week we're looking at a different hymn to explore the stories behind each of these old songs, to look at the scripture that inspired them and why they still matter for all of us here today. To be so clear, our hope in looking at these hymns is not just to reminisce or to appreciate these old songs. That right there is not a worthy reason of gathering. Instead, our hope with these hymns is that these hymns would make our hearts come alive for Jesus, that they would set our hearts on fire for Christ. The other day I had someone, a younger person actually,

stop me and tell me, Adam, this series is amazing and I feel bad for anyone that's missing it and I feel the exact same way. And so today the hymn that we're gonna look at is an absolute classic, How Great Thou Art. How Great Thou Art. This hymn, it was originally written as a poem back in 1885. Again, it's not that old. It was written by a poet who was also a pastor from Sweden, a man named Carl Boberg. And Carl Boberg shared that one day after church on his way back home, he got caught in a thunderstorm. And so he ran to shelter and the storm itself, it was intense. There was loud claps of thunder and flashes of lightning across the sky. But after the storm passed though, there was a beautiful rainbow that filled the sky. Later, Boberg shared this. He shared, after reaching my home, I opened my window toward the sea. The church bells were playing the tune of a hymn. That same evening, I wrote a poem which I titled, O Store Good. In English, this translates to O Great God, which later became How Great Thou Art. Since that time, everyone from Carrie Underwood to Alan Jackson to Elvis have sang this hymn.

But when it comes to this song though, my guess is that for many of us who grew up in the church, my guess is that it brings up some personal memories for us as well. For me personally, even as a kid, even when I hated church, I don't know what it was, I always have loved this hymn, always have loved it. But also at my grandpa's funeral, Grandpa Dolly, my mom played the organ as my oldest brother Hugh sang the words. And I'm just guessing that for many of us, we have memories tied to this song. Now, just to highlight this in our hymn today, each verse, it all points to God's greatness in how great thou art. And so in the first verse, it starts this song by pointing to God's greatness through his creation. Again, every verse, it points to the greatness of God. Verse one, it points to his greatness through creation. Listen to this. It says, O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder. Again, Boberg was in this storm when he wrote it. Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Last week, I took an early flight out and I flew from Sioux Falls to Denver and then from Denver to San Diego. Each time that I looked out my window, I was working on my laptop.

Every time I would take a pause and looked out my window, it looked like a completely different world. I mean, first off, I saw the rolling hills of South Dakota. And I went back to work a little while later. I looked out my window and I saw the Rockies of Colorado. Got on a different flight and then a little later on, I looked out and I honestly had no idea what I was looking at. I was like, what am I looking at? It was sand. I was looking at New Mexico. And then as we started to land into San Diego, I looked out and I saw the Pacific Ocean. And in light of this, just hear this one line again. Again, we're told to consider all the worlds thy hands have made. To be clear, don't just look at the world around you. No, consider them, deeply think about them. Last week on these flights, as I saw the rolling plains, I found myself in awe of God's beauty. And similar to the plains, God's beauty, it has no end. And then as I saw the Rockies, I couldn't help but think about God's greatness and how majestic he is. And then as we started to land into San Diego and I saw the Pacific, I was just struck by God's power and his strength. Just listen to these words from David. David, he tells us, the heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day, they continue to speak. Night after night, they make him known. The other day from my plane, as I took it all in, I just had this awesome sense of wonder fill me. And sure, I was in awe by what I was seeing, but so much more so, I was in awe of the hands that made it all. And friends, this is what happens whenever we actually stop and consider, whenever we take a moment to stop and consider the nature around us, whenever we stop and look at a newborn baby, whenever we actually take a moment to look out our windows at the worlds that we're flying by, when this happens, it moves us. Even if we don't believe in God, it puts us in awe. By the way, human beings are the only living creatures that do this. We're the only ones, that's kind of crazy to think about. Other day, I was in awe of an oak tree, this old oak tree. And as I was standing there looking at its leaves and its branches, my dog, Senator, walked up and instead of him being in awe of the oak tree with me, he walked up to the oak tree and he peed on it. Okay, that's what he did. Again, we're the only living creatures hardwired to notice and to think about and to consider creation. The only problem is we rarely ever do so. I thought this was powerful. Peter Hitchens, who's a believer,

the brother of a well-known atheist named Christopher Hitchens. Peter, the believer, said this. This is the first generation of the human race which doesn't generally see the stars at night. It has blotted them out with street lamps and car headlights and everything else. You simply can't see the stars in most places where human beings are concentrated. It's very hard to expect people who can't see the stars to examine the significance of the stars or to see their beauty. Friends, in a time when we can't see the stars at night, in a time when a majority of the light that we take in doesn't come from the sun, instead it comes from car headlights and street lights and more than any place else, our cell phone screen, it's harder than ever to deeply think about or to consider anything around us. And yet, as the hymn tells us, we need to consider all the worlds thy hand hath made. Why? Because it points us to God's greatness through his creation. Going back to the hymn, here's the next verse, Boberg says this. And when I think that God, his Son not sparing, sent him to die, I scarce can take it in that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, he bled and died to take away my sin.

The hymn's telling us that when I think about God not sparing anything, even being willing to give up his Son, Jesus, to die on a cross for us. Scarce can take it in. I can't comprehend it. I can't fathom that this would take place, that God would do this for us. Friends, in this verse, it's pointing to God's greatness through his son. It's pointing to his greatness through his son, Jesus. Just listen to these words from Paul. Paul tells us, since he did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also graciously give us all things? There's that phrase again. He did not spare. So this week was a huge week in the Weber household. A huge week. My oldest son, Hudson, graduated from high school. A few weeks back. And on Tuesday, he packed up all of his things into his minivan, which he inherited from his mother. And for the next two months, he's gonna be living up in the Twin Cities. And I'm so proud of this kid. He's not a kid, he's a man. He's worked super hard, growing his skills on the electric guitar.

And because of this, he's job shadowing at an amazing church in the cities called Eagle Brook. Well, last month, we were still trying to find a place for Hudson to stay while he was there. And yet, thankfully, we got connected to this awesome couple. They're in their 60s, they're empty nesters, and their names are Steve and Pauline. Well, we had never met Steve and Pauline. And so a few weeks back, Hudson and I, we did a Zoom call with them, and they immediately just started gushing. Immediately, Hudson, we're so excited that you're coming. And just so you know, the entire basement is yours. There's a bedroom down there with a bathroom. You're gonna love it. And also, Hudson, we want you to send us a list of everything that you want us to buy, Hudson. And so give us your grocery list and give us anything that you need for your room. There's probably some things because you haven't lived by yourself before. So give us a list of things. And Hudson, don't be bashful. He must've said that three times. Don't be bashful. Send us the list. We wanna buy everything for you.

And then they asked Hudson, have you found a part-time job yet? Have you found a part-time job? It might be kind of hard with the short two months. They said, if you don't find one, we could probably find a few things around the house and we'll pay you for it. And then they said, and Hudson, we're kind of old, but if you ever get bored, we'd be game, and we'd love to take you to some Minnesota Twins games. And if you've never been to Duluth, Minnesota, we'd be willing to take a trip with you there. And as they kept sharing and sharing and sharing, I was literally thinking to myself, can I live in your basement too? It's like, before I could make the best dad joke ever, Steve said, not joking, and dad, if you and your wife ever wanna come and visit Hudson, there's another big guest bedroom in the basement and we'd love to have you stay there as well. And friends on that note, embrace today. I'm excited to share that I'm putting in my two weeks notice, okay? We're living in some random couple's basement. Steve and Pauline, they seem great. On Friday night, I got this picture from Steve. I like ice cream too, okay? I like ice cream too. Pauline texted me, we had to bring him to experience the world's best ice cream.

I was like, I want the world's best ice cream. But seriously though, this couple, they're going above and beyond with my son. These next two months, they're literally opening up their home, their time, their money, even their grocery list, and they're not sparing anything at all. Just to say it, when you do something like this for my kid, you're instantly pretty stinking great in my eyes. Back to our hymn though, way more than your home and your time and your grocery list, what if you gave up and you didn't spare even your son for another person? Like I'm so grateful for Steve and Pauline, and that day on the Zoom call, they were instantly great in my eyes, but then there's God. And on an infinitely greater level, God has given us everything, like he's not sparing anything, he's even willing to give up his one and only son, Jesus, for you and for me. And so once again, looking at the words of this hymn, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, Being willing to take on, to bear my burden. on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, Being willing to take on your regrets from 20 years ago. Being willing to take on your affair when you used to sleep around back in college.

Being willing to take on that messy divorce. Being willing to take on that thing that you said to your kids. Being willing to take on your failures. And that one time that you got fired from your job, and can you remember how embarrassing it was because of something really stupid that you did? Being willing to take on what you did last week. Being willing to take on and take away all of my sin and all of yours. Him saying that when I think about all of this, once again, I scarce can't take it in. Like I can't fathom it, I can't comprehend it. I don't understand why you would do this. And in response, it's just like, God, how great. Thou art, oh, great God. Once again, through his son, it all points to God's greatness. Continuing on in this hymn, here's the next verse, Boberg goes on to write, "'When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation "'and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart. "'Then I shall bow in humble adoration "'and then proclaim, my God, how great thou art.'" I think for most of us, when we hear this verse, we look at the second part of it, the going home and the being in heaven part, which is wonderful. But in this first line, in this first part, it's actually talking about the day that Jesus will return.

It's talking about the day that Jesus will come back to us here on earth. To make this clear, on Christmas, we celebrate Jesus coming to us, but something we don't talk about nearly enough, particularly in this part of the country, is the day that Jesus will return, the day that Jesus will come back. At one point, Paul talks about this specific instance, and he says, "'For the Lord himself "'will come down from heaven with a commanding shout "'and with the trumpet call of God, "'first the believers who have died "'will rise from their graves.'" Just picture that. "'Then together with them, we who are still alive "'and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds "'to meet the Lord in the air. "'In the air, then we will be with the Lord forever.'" Okay, so this is crazy, right? Just a picture. And for me personally, growing up in my church, we never talked about any of this. And once I started following Jesus myself and I began to read the Bible, just to be honest, I just kind of totally ignored it. But I know for many people hearing about this as a kid, it was scary. Like it was terrifying to think about being left behind. And just thinking about the end times in general

was a scary thing, but I love how this song reminds us, and it tells us that when Christ shall come, what joy shall fill my heart. You see, friends, for those of us who know and follow Jesus, when Jesus comes back, it will be like seeing a friend that you haven't seen in a long time. It's not something to fear. Instead, it's like unexpectedly being reunited with a loved one. There's just this unexplainable joy. If you're anything like me, any time that you watch one of those clips of a dad or a mom coming home from serving in the military and they surprise their kids, there's immediately tears, right? Oh, my God. There's something so great about that, isn't there? Yeah, friends, this clip, it's just a glimpse of what this hymn is talking about. Let me read these words again. When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart. Then I shall bow in. humble adoration, and then proclaim, my God, how great thou art. Friends, this verse, it's all pointing to God's greatness through his return, through his return. And for those of us who know and follow Jesus, there will be no greater day than this day. And that's not an overstatement.

There will be no greater day than this day, the day that Jesus comes back. I know for myself, the longer I'm alive, the more and more I look forward to this day. The day when there will be no more pain or darkness or division. The day when there will be no more heartache or sin in my life or in the lives of others. The day when there will be no more cancer, no more cancer, no more death, no more miscarriages, no more betrayal, the day that for all of us who know Jesus, we will be taken home with him, the one who knows us better than we know ourself, the one who loves us with no strings attached, the one who, whether we know it or not, the one we've been searching for our whole lives. And in that moment, what joy, what joy shall fill our hearts. Going back to the hymn one last time, again, each of these verses is pointing to God's greatness. It's pointing to his greatness through creation. God, help us to consider. It points to his greatness through his son, the one who's willing to bear all things for us. It points to his greatness through his return. And this brings us to the chorus of this hymn. Then sings my soul, my savior God to thee, how great thou art, how great thou art, then sings my soul, not just my lips, but my soul, how great thou art, how great thou art.

This right here is where the title for our series comes from. Our soul, it's the deepest part of who we are. Our soul, it's what makes you, you, and me, me. Again, it's our deepest part. And again, when we understand the greatness of God, then sings my soul. Fun fact, back in high school, I was a two-time All-Stater, not in football, but in choir. Lord, keep me humble, okay? To be clear, though, it's one thing to sing with our voices. In high school, I'd sing songs, and I often had no idea of what I was singing. I didn't even understand it. I really didn't even care what I was singing. So it's one thing to sing with our voice. It's another thing altogether to sing with our soul. Sometimes when I'm in my car, I'll be singing from my soul to God. Sometimes early in the morning, sometimes late at night when I can't express just how grateful I am, I'll sing from my soul to him. Other times when I'm in church, I'll raise my hands, I'll sing as loud as I can, but what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to sing from my soul because he's so great. It's like I can't fully explain the feelings to God, and I'm just overwhelmed by his greatness, and my soul begins to sing. And so right now at all campuses,

this is what we're gonna do. I'm gonna invite our worship teams to come out at this time. In all campuses, I'm gonna invite you to stand right now, if you would. Stand at all campuses, even if you're with us online. It might be kind of awkward, but I wanna invite you to stand, and more than just singing this hymn, I wanna encourage you to sing from your soul. He's so worthy. He is so great of our praise. Let's do that. God is great. Yes more than me, God is great! God be with us all regardless what we've done, no matter what we may face. God is great, but more than this, God is already with us When I in awesome wonder Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made I see the world, I see the world ♪ I see the stars ♪ I see the world, I see the world ♪ I hear the rolling thunder ♪ I see the world, I see the world ♪ Thy power throughout the universe displayed ♪ ♪ Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee ♪

♪ My Savior God to Thee, how great Thou art, how great Thou art ♪ ♪ Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, how great Thou art ♪ ♪ How great Thou art ♪ ♪ And when I think that God is time not sparing, sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in ♪ ♪ That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin ♪ ♪ Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, how great Thou art, how great Thou art ♪ ♪ Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, how great Thou art, how great Thou art ♪ ♪ Oh, how great You are, how wonderful You are, we long to praise, we long to praise, we long to praise You Lord always ♪ ♪ How great You are, how great You are ♪ ♪ When Christ shall come, with shouts of acclamation, and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart ♪ ♪ And I shall bow in humble adoration, and then proclaim, my God, how great You are ♪ ♪ Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, how great Thou art, how great Thou art ♪ ♪ Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, how great Thou art, how great Thou art, how great Thou art ♪ ♪ How great You are, how great You are, we long to praise, we long to praise You Lord always ♪