“How great Thou art”

Were you outside this past Wednesday and Thursday? Did you notice the weather those two days?

Wednesday was still hot and sticky. Still stuck in our Atlanta “hot, hazy, and humid” summer routine.

But then came Thursday morning. Glorious. Beautiful clear sunshine. Low humidity. Cool breezes blowing.

What a glorious reality of the change of seasons that make our world and our lives so blessed and beautiful.

This all gives perfect illustration to what my wife and I told the young people this past Sunday as we taught the Confirmation Class at St. Martin Lutheran Church in Atlanta.

The lesson was on God as Creator of our universe, our planet Earth, and everything in it and on it. The emphasis was on how beautiful His creation is, and how He is The Designer of all the marvelous intricacies we see and experience in our everyday lives. We read and studied Genesis chapters one and two. I invite you so do the same.

The kids gave their witness to the beauty of the seas, the beaches, the mountains, the forests, the rivers and waterfalls, and many other places of God’s beautiful creation they have experienced.

We talked about how the non-believer looks at the beauty of nature and says, “That’s beautiful.” But the believer looks at the beauty of creation and says, “Thank you, God, for Your beautiful creation!”

We talked about how “every design must have a designer.” This includes the design of our solar system, the design of our planet’s orbits around the sun rendering our four seasons, and all the designs that make life possible here on Earth, including water and oxygen and every component that makes life possible. These designs must have a designer. And they do. The Designer is God.

Bringing it closer to each person, we talked about the human eyeball. What a remarkable design that makes vision and sight possible. We certainly did not just “luck into” having working eyeballs. The design has a designer. Yes, of course, God.

Our Lutheran churches say and declare The Apostles’ Creed every Sunday. Maybe yours does too. Christian churches that don’t use those exact words surely have a similar faith statement.

The first of three parts is this, “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.”

And Martin Luther, in his Small Catechism, wrote this:

“What does this mean?

I believe that God has created me and all that exists.

He has given me and still preserves my body and soul with all their powers.

He provides me with food and clothing, home and family, daily work, and all I need from day to day…

…All this He does out of fatherly and divine goodness and mercy, though I do not deserve it.

Therefore, I surely ought to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.

This is most certainly true.”

Amen! This indeed is “most certainly true!” I hope you believe it. I trust you acknowledge it. I pray you are regularly “thanking and praising” God for all this.

And think about this. Our faith statement and our response to God our Creator is only the first part. We haven’t even gotten to the best part about believing Jesus’ coming to our world, dying for our sins, and rising again so that we too might have eternal life. Bam! That makes it even better! Amen!

Which brings me to my next point. Where is the best place and the best way to be reminded of God’s marvelous work of creation? Where is the best place to be given the opportunity to give Him our praise and thanksgiving?

You know the answer. At church!

Our churches are where pastors preach and proclaim the truth and beauty of God as Creator, Designer. Our churches are where we are afforded the opportunity to sing our praise and thanks to God.

So, come to church. Listen to God’s Word. Sing your praise and thanksgiving. Join with others in the God-pleasing congregation of worshippers.

Come to church to find out about God and creation and faith in Jesus. Come back to church to be renewed in the assurance of God’s love and care for you.

Come and sing,

“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,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed,

Then sings my soul…

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!”

(Stuart K. Hine, Manna Music, Inc.)

Yes. God is calling. God is calling you. Come to church. Come back to church.

You will be so glad you did. In fact, you will be eternally grateful.

Amen!