LaGrave Live, August 23, 2026

LaGrave Live LIVE Morning Worship Service 08-23-2026 The Way of Wisdom: The Wisdom of Worship About The Service: We will conclude our Way of Wisdom sermon series. Pastor Jonker will preach on Psalm 73 which is considered a wisdom Psalm. His sermon is called “The Wisdom of Worship” Order of Worship: https://lagrave.org/wp-content/uploads/2026-8-23-AM-Order-of-Worship.pdf About the Church: We are a traditional CRC church in the middle of Downtown Grand Rapids, MI, worshipping at 8:40am, 11:00am, and 6:00pm. (10:00am and 6:00pm during the summer months) We'd love to hear from you: Connection: https://www.lagrave.org/contact Let us pray for you: Prayer: https://www.lagrave.org/prayerrequest/ Giving: https://www.elexiogiving.com/App/Giving/lagr107178 The August special offering is for Covenant House. Covenant House Michigan (CHMI) provides shelter and hope to young people aged 18-24 who are experiencing homelessness or victims of trafficking in Grand Rapids and Detroit. Their mission is to serve all youth who come to their doors with unconditional love, absolute respect, and relentless support. Listen on the go: Amazon Music: https://bit.ly/LGPodAmazonMusic Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3tuOdwQ Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/LGPodGoogle Soundcloud: / lagravecrc https://soundcloud.com/lagravecrc Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3yXDFaT Follow us! Facebook: / lagravecrc https://www.facebook.com/lagravecrc Instagram: / lagravecrc https://www.instagram.com/lagravecrc Website: https://www.lagrave.org #LaGrave #LaGraveCRC When Worship Changes What You See: Wisdom for a World That Looks Upside Down Summary Wisdom Begins in the Life of Worship The service frames wisdom not merely as intellectual knowledge but as a way of life formed through God's Word, confession, prayer, community, and worship. The opening readings from Colossians emphasize putting off the old self and putting on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and love. The prayers repeatedly identify God as the source of wisdom and ask for help in walking wisely in everyday life. This establishes the central theme that biblical wisdom must be practiced, not simply understood. Worship is presented as one of the primary ways believers are continually reoriented toward that path. Mentoring as Wisdom Put Into Practice A major congregational segment highlights the church's partnership with Kids Hope USA and Congress Elementary. Allison Klink describes how mentors give students consistent, individual attention and how children eagerly anticipate their weekly time together. She also explains the Blue Ticket Store, which rewards positive behavior and is supported by church volunteers and donations. The testimony stresses measurable changes in attitude, confidence, academic growth, and school behavior while also emphasizing that mentors themselves are changed by the relationships. The invitation to become a mentor presents service to children as a practical expression of Christian love and faithful community involvement. The Spiritual Crisis of Psalm 73 The sermon turns to Psalm 73 and the struggle of Asaph, who nearly abandons the way of wisdom because he sees arrogant and wicked people prospering while his own faithful life seems difficult. The preacher illustrates that struggle through an imaginative modernized story in which Asaph is a hardworking, financially strained church musician who compares himself with an apparently carefree and successful former classmate named Biff. Biff represents a life of wealth, confidence, pleasure, attention, and worldly success that appears to contradict the claim that God is good to the pure in heart. Asaph's envy leads him to question whether keeping his heart pure has accomplished anything. The sermon argues that this ancient spiritual conflict remains recognizable in contemporary life. Worship Changes the Perception of Reality The turning point in Psalm 73 comes when Asaph enters the sanctuary of God. According to the sermon, worship changes his perception because it places his circumstances within a larger spiritual and eternal reality. What looked successful from the perspective of envy and comparison begins to look temporary, while the difficult way of wisdom begins to look meaningful and enduring. The preacher describes worship as something designed to lift people out of distorted cultural assumptions and help them see what is true. The lesson is that human willpower and knowledge alone are not sufficient to sustain a wise life; believers need the worship and communion of God's people. The Sanctuary, God's Presence, and the Way of Wisdom The sermon explains the tabernacle as a worship space that symbolically drew Israel into the holy presence of God and recalled Mount Sinai. Its courts, the Ark of the Covenant, and its sacred imagery are described as helping worshipers understand that they were approaching the throne room of God. From that perspective, ordinary judgments about power, success, status, and security are challenged. The preacher then connects this imagery to Christian worship by saying that the church building itself is not the tabernacle; Jesus is the tabernacle through whom believers enter God's presence. From that vantage point, the way of wisdom can be seen as the way of life even when it is difficult. Worship as Freedom and Strength for the Week The sermon closes with a story about worship at Celebration Fellowship Church in the Ionia prison. The preacher contrasts the guarded, distrustful atmosphere of the prison with the warmth, welcome, prayer, singing, and fellowship found inside the worshiping community. One inmate says that when he worships and prays with his brothers, he sometimes forgets that he is in prison and feels free. The preacher presents that experience as an example of what worship is meant to do: lift people out of fear, temptation, pressure, and distorted cultural messages so they can see that they belong to God. The closing prayer asks that the congregation leave worship ready to walk the way of wisdom for another week in the world.