Church at Home – 11 October 2020

Intimations

– You may want to use some of the Engage Worship resources for daily worship during this week

– Christianity Explored course starting 20 October 2020 – Would you like to know more about Jesus in a way that is easy to understand in a small group? We are offering 8 weekly evening sessions on Zoom which will help you understand the One who is at the heart of the Christian faith. Find out more here or e-mail webmaster@broughtybaptist.org

– The Messy Church At Home information is now available on our church website www.broughtybaptist.org

– The Baptist Union of Scotland will be continuing the Prayer Livestream at 7.00pm on Sunday 1st November, 2020.  This will be another significant time of national prayer for our family of churches. Click here to access the event.

JAM Kids’ focus: The Virtual Sunday School. Here is the video for this week’s session “The Parable of the Talents”.

– JAM young adults Ignite Live have a separate programme at 11:15am.  Please contact Gary Torbet – garytorbet@btinternet.com for more details.

Call to worship

Vindicate me, Lord,
for I have led a blameless life;
I have trusted in the Lord 
and have not faltered.
Test me, Lord, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind;
for I have always been mindful of Your unfailing love
and have lived in reliance on Your faithfulness.

8Lord, I love the house where You live,
the place where Your glory dwells.

12My feet stand on level ground; in the great congregation I will praise the Lord.

Psalm 26

We are grateful to Moraig Piggot for selecting the songs for worship for this service.

Our opening song of praise and worship is:

Opening prayer:

Lord we come once more into Your holy presence today with a sense of the privilege and honour we have at our access to You through Your Son our Saviour Jesus.

It is not something we ever want to take for granted, but to come with deep gratitude to You for all Your goodness to us. Once more at the start of another week we want to meet with You today as we sing or listen to Your praises in an on line service and as we bring our prayers and requests to You for Your assistance to us in our times of need.

We come to ask afresh for the forgiveness of our sins and the blessing of the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us for whatever we face in the coming week. Speak to us from Your Holy Word in accordance with what we need to hear today, in the name of Jesus we pray, Amen. 

Let us say together the words Jesus taught His disciples when He said:

‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'”
For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever Amen.

All Age Talk – Moraig Piggot

I am going to ask you some questions this morning about things that you really love the most.

  1. Which type of chocolate do you love the most? I would have to say Smarties, but then I also really love Mini Eggs and yeah Cruchies are good too. Difficult decision.
  2. Where in the world do you most love to visit? I love visiting Cornwall, but then I also really loved New York and Lake Garda in Italy is a favourite too. Can’t decide that one easily.
  3. Who in your family do you love the most? Now this is one of these questions you really shouldn’t answer or best to say I love them all the same!!

Last week when Brian was speaking to us I was reminded of a bible verse in Mark and it says:

Mark 12:30 – “The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 

When I asked you the questions before maybe like me you found it difficult to pick just one thing or person. But when we think about our faith and being a Christian the answer to what/who we love the most is a very easy and simple one- God. Let’s just think for a moment though about what this actually means and how we love our Lord the God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. 

We Are to Love God with an Exclusive Love
If we want to love God, we must love Him exclusively. Exclusive means only him. We are not to worship any other Gods or any other things. 

We Are to Love God with a Surpassing Love
This means we love God most. The love for God that Jesus describes causes us to give up anything and everything that stops our love for Him. Our love for God must surpass not only our love for other people, but also for the things in the world.

We Are to Love God with an Obedient Love
To obey God is to honour Him, something we do for the ones we love. Obedience delights God and shows that we have confidence in Him.

We Are to Love God with a Persevering Love
One of the greatest examples of love is commitment. God wants us to love Him with a love that perseveres. It is easy to love people whom we can see and touch and hear and hug. It is far more challenging to love a God we can’t see, who allows us to go through challenging trials, and who has made us promises that we’ve yet to see. Perhaps this is why Jesus reminds us to love God with all our strength. We must actively engage our minds and hearts to persevere in loving God when the rest of the world tells us we are foolish

We love God with all our heart when we love Him exclusively, Him and Him alone.

We love God with all our soul when we find our satisfaction in Him more than any other person or thing.

We love God with all our mind when we make decisions to obey His every command.

We love God with all our strength when we persevere in the difficult times.

How are you loving God today? Let’s all take time this week to think and pray about this. 

We continue in worship as we sing:

Prayers for others

We give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1) We give thanks for God’s goodness and faithfulness even in the challenges and struggles of life. Thank you Lord that Your love endures forever.

We come to You today living in a world of growing problems and challenges. Here in the United Kingdom, and many other countries in Europe, the challenges of the Covid-19 virus pandemic are on the increase again and increasingly tight restrictions are being placed on many people’s movements in the locations with the fastest increase in numbers and some further restrictions on the rest of the country.

We continue to ask for wisdom for our politicians in Government in Edinburgh and London as choices are made that for some people have very serious possible consequences for their livelihoods or businesses. We realise, Lord, that the pressures upon our national leaders grow as each passing month of restrictions has increasingly tough consequences for many people. Lord help us as a country to ensure that everyone has their basic needs met at this time.

Heavenly Father we also continue to remember the public health professionals together with those working in the NHS and Social Care services. We ask that they might have provided for them this autumn and coming winter all the personal protective equipment they need to protect not only the people they treat or care for, but also for themselves and their families. As the numbers of Covid-19 virus patients are increasing in hospitals we pray that this will not mean other services have to be halted for patients who have already waited in some cases many months more than might have been the case.   

We also hope that those taking time off for holidays at home or elsewhere in the country may be refreshed from their time away from school or work.

In our Baptist Union of Scotland we also remember to pray for:

We pray for the Regional Pastors who are meeting online this week to encourage one another as they seek to provide pastoral support for Baptist ministers across Scotland.

Oban BC – They are so thankful to God for the freedom to worship Him and the ability to gather (albeit virtually) over these past months. We thank God that they have been able to welcome so many people through their online platforms, and for that they praise God! We pray that You would show them how best to be God’s Church and Christ’s Body through these challenging times, so that many people might see His reality and respond to His grace. They are so aware of their limitations, but also so aware of His limitless power. We join with them in thanking you Lord for Your help to them at this time!

Oxgangs Community Church – We thank God with them for the many people in their local community that they have been practically serving in recent months. We pray for them as they invite these people to hear and respond to the hope of Jesus through a new Sunday evening service.

Paisley Central BC – We give thanks with them for the fellowship at Central Baptist Church in Paisley. We pray for the church as they work, witness and worship God in the town. We pray for the outreach opportunities open to the church within the local area.

Peebles BC – We pray for the church family in Peebles as they continue to worship online and seek to serve the community in creative ways during this time.

We now pray for other people with particular needs that are connected to our own families or congregation: Father we pray for those struggling with reduced or no income in recent months that You would enable them to find alternative forms of income in the coming weeks and months to provide for their needs.

We remember those struggling with physical, mental or emotional health needs at this time and bring them before You now …

 We also remember to pray for other people or circumstances that are particularly on our hearts at this time …

 In addition, we bring our own needs to You today…, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.

Bible Reading

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 

Romans 8: 18-28

Before we come to listen to God’s Word let us sing:

The Message

Matthew 5:9 A new approach to our relationships

Introduction

Jesus said: Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God (Matthew 5:9) However, human history records very clearly how seriously we have failed to put this beatitude into practice. From wars in former centuries some of which had a significant religious influence to those of the last century motivated by secular concerns, the carnage of violence and wars is a shocking indictment on humanity.

Now in the early years of the twenty-first century it appears that the world is becoming a more violent and unpredictable place rather than what it ought to be if we followed the maker’s instructions. Writing these words this week with the tragedy of the war in Armenia to add to the lengthy list of ongoing wars is deeply disturbing

But the problem goes much deeper. It is a problem of individual human hearts. How much do I want good quality healthy relationships with other people around me? Bible peace ‘Shalom’ is so much more than the absence of conflict, it speaks about a quality of relationships that blesses and enriches ones another so that the collective blessing is much greater than the individual parts.

The challenge to me and to each one of us at times is this: do I want this God-honouring perspective on inter-personal relationships enough in a context where other people might not share that same desire? Am I will to invest the time and emotional input when there is a real risk that this investment might not be realized if collectively other people are not equally open to being and doing what it takes to ensure progress in this situation or relationship? It can be in marriage or family relationships; amongst friends or work colleagues; or a multitude of other social contexts. What matters in each setting is the heart of each participant –do I want it enough for this relationship to flourish as God desires?   

However, it is not a new problem in the world.  It has been a feature of human history over thousands of years. In the early chapters of Genesis there is a brief reference to an obnoxious individual called Lamech who boasted about killing someone who had unintentionally injured him in some way (Genesis 4:23-24). Then prior to the flood in the days of Noah, a summary of how bad things had got was given in Genesis 6:5:

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

This pessimistic assessment of human society was reinforced in Genesis 6:11: Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence In the centuries that followed there was no evidence that humanity had gained a better approach to settling their differences with one another. By the time of the ending of the AD66-70 war between the Jews in Israel and the Romans probably the majority of the Jewish citizens of that land had either been killed or enslaved –and that was only one dreadful example of violence in the region. In the early modern period Islam spread out of its heartland by military conquest or jihad and various popes of the Roman Catholic Church sought to extend their powers through the launching of crusades –often against other Christian groups not just against Muslim rulers and their empires.

It had been reported that between 1480 and 1941 Great Britain has been involved in 78 wars, Spain in 64, Russia in 61, Austria in 52, Germany in 23, France in 16,  the USA  in 13, China 11 and Japan 9 wars [John Blanchard, Blessed, p.212]. What about the last century, the most secular in human history. Did the decline in religious influences on Governments make matters better in terms of war and peace? Most certainly not!

In World War One alone eleven million military personnel and seven million civilians were killed, with an incredible twenty million others suffering various degrees of injuries. In World War Two, although the total figures are still being debated, at least fifty to sixty million people died in the conflict. There is no doubt that in terms of absolute numbers it has been the most violent in history. It is proof that humanity doesn’t need a religious reason for conflict there are plenty of non-religious ‘reasons’ to behave in abominable ways to one another.        

The good news is that the major powers have not been at war with each other since World War Two, but that is due to the creation of the atomic bomb. A nuclear war might be the last for our species! The war to ends all wars, but not in a good way!

1. The source of the problem

Jeremiah stated very clearly where the source of the problem lies. Jeremiah 17:9 states:

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

Jesus used some graphic imagery to make people stop and think about the problem of human sinfulness in Mark 9:43-47: If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. [46]  47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.

Jesus is not advocating a bit of limb chopping to strengthen our spiritual wellbeing. He was wanting His hearers and readers, then and now, to recognize that the human predicament is not primarily about addressing inappropriate words and actions, although this may be necessary at times, but fundamentally it is about correcting inappropriate ingrained sinful attitudes in our inner being.

A person whose heart is fully focused on living the way they should, will display a control of their speech and actions that reflects what is going on within them.  We are now coming into Spring and the first weeds are in evidence in our gardens. If we ignore them it is certain that within a few months we will have seen them multiply, creating a lot of work to put our gardens in order.

The same principle is found within the human heart. If we allow wrong attitudes to fester; if we permit inappropriate trains of thought to go unchallenged, then we may have a much bigger issue on our hands than was originally the case. Proverbs 16:32 makes this value judgement: Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.

This kind of statement goes completely against much of our present culture where people’s private lives and public lives are deemed to be completely separate spheres. The Bible is abundantly clear that we are whole people and our attitudes, speech and actions in public and private fit together to build a profile of who we really are in the sight of God. It is, therefore, no surprise that there is such an emphasis on being right in our inner person in the Bible.

To a group of Pharisees who were over concerned about whether Jesus’ disciples washed their hands properly before a meal, He explained (in Mark 7) to them that there are much more important issues to work through in life than the ones they were majoring on. In summary Jesus declared:  Again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, ‘Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.’ (Mark 7:14-15). 

In the same way James in his letter to new Christians wrote these words in James 4:1-3: What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within youYou desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.  

We tend to focus on choosing the right words to say in difficult situations, or the right words to write in an email or letter or text message. We may even focus most on the actions we take or don’t take in particular situations. Now these things are important, but the Bible is repeatedly clear that the major work takes place in our hearts and minds.

If we win the battle there then the rest will fall into place. We will then find it easier to chose winsome words of grace in which we will be more concerned with winning over a brother or sister than winning an argument; we will be more desirous of how God views our input then whether we have had sufficient time to get our point across! When our attitudes and then our speech is in line with how Jesus wishes us to behave, it will be significantly less difficult to make the right choices in terms of our actions.   

2. The source of the solution  

The Bible has a lot to say about peace and peace-making. There are around 400 references to peace. In the Hebrew Old Testament it is shalom– a rich word that means so much more than the absence of conflict. It has the idea of wholeness and wellbeing. It contains an understanding of desiring not only to avoid a conflict with someone, but rather to wish a constructive and fruitful quality relationship with the other person or people; it describes ‘right personal relationships that are characterized by intimacy, fellowship, and uninterrupted goodwill’ between two people. 

When the Psalmist in Psalm 122:6-7 wrote: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.’  He was not simply asking God to ensure that there was an absence of war in the vicinity of this city, but that every good blessing would be the experience of the residents of that place.[William Barclay, The Plain Man Looks at the Beatitudes p. 82-3] In the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament, and the New Testament the word is eirene– from which we get the name Irene. According to William Barclay [p.83] this word is found in all of the New Testament books and is used in a variety of ways.

It does refer to peace agreements between nations. In Acts 12:20 the people of Tyre and Sidon wanted to improve their relationship with King Herod and asked for peace. It is used in Acts 24:2-3 of a period of social harmony within a nation. Here Paul is on trial before the Roman Governor of Judea, Felix. The prosecuting counsel for the Jewish religious leaders, a lawyer called Tertullus, began his speech with these words: 

We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation.Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude. 

Luke also uses this word to describe a period of real blessing and spiritual prosperity amongst the young Christian Churches in Acts 9:31: Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

Of course the Bible uses this word to speak of inter-personal relationships. Jesus stressed to His disciples that if the credibility of their witness was to be seen and demonstrated to the wider watching world then it was essential that they: be at peace with each other (Mark 9:50). 

Naturally we should pray for personal inner peace as the aged Simeon did after seeing the baby Jesus. He prayed these words, recorded in Luke 2:29-31: Sovereign Lord, as You have promised,  You may now dismiss Your servant in peace.30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 which You have prepared in the sight of all nations.

Why is this so important? It is because we worship the God of peace (I Thessalonians 5:23). His Son our Saviour is described in the prophetic words of Isaiah 9:6 as the Prince of Peace… In the words of Zechariah produced to express his joy at the birth of his son John the Baptist there are some words about the calling of the One for whom John is the forerunner.

In Luke 1:79 Zechariah prophesied that Jesus will come to guide our feet into the path of peace.  In His last detailed message to His disciples before His crucifixion Jesus said:  Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27).

Paul in his magnificent letter to the Christians in Ephesus explained how in Christ Jews and Gentiles who would have had no dealings with one another quite happily, but who though the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross became brothers and sisters as followers of Jesus. Jesus took away the penalty of our sins and the consequences of them.

The great apostle expressed it in this way in Ephesians 2:13-14: But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility… And Peter in his message to the household of Cornelius in Acts 10 explained to them what it was Jesus proclaimed to the Jewish people in Israel during his earthly ministry. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all (Acts 10:36).

That is in Christ the quality of relationships between believers should reflect however faintly the relationships of Father, Son and Spirit in the triune godhead. That we should then by implication, never be satisfied in accepting lesser qualities of relationships with one another than the constructive and fruitful quality relationship with the other person or people.

The shalom of God should be observed by people coming into a gathering of the local expression of the Church of Jesus Christ. How evident is that in our worship services to guests who join us? How evident is it in Church Meetings and other meetings in our congregation?

3. Working to create a solution Blessed are the peacemakers

Notice what Jesus does and doesn’t say here in Matthew 5:9. It is very important to note that Jesus does not say: ‘Blessed are the people who love peace’. Anyone who loved conflict with other people and rejoiced in broken relationships was either mentally impaired or seriously morally deficient in their thinking processes.

Every person in their right mind prefers good quality relationships with other people! What is it that Jesus is saying here? Blessed are the peacemakers… The bar Jesus is setting for us is not that we are characterized by being peaceful people who seek to have good quality relationships with other people and will not settle for less- as much as it is up to us. It is not that we are characterized by being peace-loving –as that is taken for granted with respect to a child of God.

Our calling is to be peace-makers. That is, such a person who Jesus has in mind here may become aware, for example, of a relational problem in their family circle, in their Church family; in their workplace or in some other setting where they have significant ties with other people. He or she may know that someone needs to do something to rectify the difficulty that has arisen.

They may also be aware that if they seek to get involved in attempting to bring about a reconciliation of relationships or resolving of differences that it may be a difficult path to tread, that may take up a lot of time and effort, and what is more, the participants may not necessarily be grateful to a third party for seeking to assist them. Jesus calls such people blessed because there is an emotional and physical cost, as well as a spiritual one, in giving of ourselves in this aspect of ministry. This is your calling and mine.

There are too many Christians in churches up and down the land whose attitudes, choice of words and actions reflect ‘a bull in a china shop’ mentality, rather than exercising the calling which Jesus called ‘blessed’ here in the Sermon on the Mount. How would other Christians and other people describe you and me with respect to our calling here? This is an intensely serious matter when to live outside our calling risks the loss of the blessing offered by our Lord. Each of us as God’s people in His service need regularly to look into our hearts and ask: ‘how am I getting on in this aspect of Christian discipleship?’ Are relationships around me enriched or strengthened by my presence and contributions or are there other outcomes being experienced too often?  If the latter is true then we need to ask how we can change to be as our default position peacemakers.    

When the United Church of South India began in September 1947 Bishop Lesslie Newbiggin made a point of visiting all the churches in his diocese. Village by village the congregations met with their bishop. In one village an extraordinary sight greeted Newbiggin. An aged Indian man called Sundaram dressed in old RAF equipment carrying a stainless steel baton in his hand led the procession.

With the baton the older man directed the congregation in kneeling and rising. Later he told Newbeggin his story. He was a missionary in Burma when World War Two began. He was captured by the advancing Japanese army and taken to a guard post. All his possessions were taken from him and he was bound and tied up in a corner of the room. A Japanese army officer later came into the room and examined the small pile of personal possessions belonging to the prisoner. He recognised the Bible, but not the Tamil language in which it was written.  He walked over to Sundaram and on his palm of one hand performed the sign of the cross while looking at the prisoner. It was clear that he was asking was the man a Christian. Sundaram nodded.

He had been tied up with his arms outstretched in the shape of a cross. In silence the officer cut the ropes that bound him, gave him back his belongings and pointed to the door. As a token of Christian friendship to a fellow-believer he handed over his officer’s staff.  In a brutal war zone two believers experienced a form of fellowship that reflected the blessed model of interpersonal relationships commended here by Jesus [W. Barclay, The Plain Man Looks at the Beatitudes, p.92]. 

What the Japanese Christian did was a high risk activity given that few fellow officers would have shared his faith, but the gospel of Jesus showed him how he ought to treat another believer even in such a difficult setting as a war zone. There are risks to us modeling this kind of Christ-like behavior; however, are we willing to take a chance and step out in faith to honour our precious Lord and Saviour in the way we relate to other people?     

4. Working to prevent problems arising

In Colossians 3:15 Paul wrote: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful… This word ‘rule’ has the idea of acting as an umpire or referee in a game or sporting contest. In a game like football, for example, the referee only takes action when the rules of the game have been infringed; otherwise it can keep on going for the agreed duration of that half of the game.

Paul’s point was that Christians should live day by day in the light of the rules or boundaries established by our heavenly ‘referee’ and thus avoid Him taking direct action to penalize inappropriate conduct. Proverbs 6:16-19 reminds us of seven things that God detests.  They include: a false witness who pours out lies  and a person who stirs up conflict in the community (Proverbs 6:19). There is something very seriously wrong in the life of a professing Christian who goes around looking for opportunities to criticise the speech and conduct of fellow believers; What sort of things ought we to look out for to avoid problems arising in our relationships with fellow believers? Two particular issues:

(a)Pride (Proverbs 13:10) Pride only breeds quarrels. Behind most acts of sin is a wrong view of self by the person or person who acts in this way. A person may have an inflated view of their self-importance. Pride comes before a fall  Proverbs 16:18 states: Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Paul cautioned against appointing people to leadership positions in the church too soon after conversion for this reason. In I Timothy 3:6 he wrote: He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He is referring back to the fall of Lucifer (Satan) in Isaiah 14:12-15. 

(b) Anger (Proverbs 15:18) A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.  At the beginning of that chapter is the same truth taught in a positive fashion. A gentle answer turns away wrath,  but a harsh word stirs up anger (Proverbs 15:1). Yet there is a place for righteous anger in the light of sinful misconduct. Paul in Ephesians 4:25-27 gave this advice: Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body. 26 ‘In your anger do not sin’: do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold… I think it would be helpful if we echoed David’s prayer in Psalm 141:3: Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.

5. The blessings that flow from peace-makingwill be called sons of God.

The wording here is carefully chosen to make a theological point. It is helpful to quote Paul’s words in Romans 8:14-17 to enable us to grasp what Jesus is saying. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the [Greek ‘huioi’ sons]children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children [Greek ‘tekna’ children]17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.

Jesus is uniquely the Son of God, but through His sacrifice on the cross and the work of the Holy Spirit within us, bring us to faith, we are brought into God’s family and in a lesser sense inherit the privileges and responsibilities of  ‘sonship’ as God’s children; we earnestly desire to live like Jesus and do not want to be satisfied with falling short in this aspect of our Christian discipleship. We want to be perfect like Jesus –and one day shall be beyond this life.

Romans 8:22-24a states:  We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved.

Do we grasp what Jesus is challenging us to be like and which Paul is reinforcing here? It is a challenge to be truly Christ-like in our humble and gracious dealings with one another. I John 3:2 confirms this truth for us: But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Being willing to think of others ahead of ourselves and to leave ultimate judgement to God is our calling. I close with these words of the remarkable J.C. Ryle, Anglican Bishop of Liverpool in the late nineteenth century.

‘Those who try to do good must look forward with patience to the Day of Judgement.. They must be content in this present world to be misunderstood, misrepresented, vilified, slandered and abused. They must not cease to work because their motives are mistaken and their characters are fiercely assailed. They must remember continually that all will be set right at the last day. The secrets of all hearts will then be revealed…The purity of their intentions, the wisdom of their labours and the rightfulness of their cause, shall at length be made manifest to all the world [J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, pp. 102-103] , Amen.

Our song before we come to communion is:

The Lord’s Supper

Jesus invites all Christian who have committed their lives to follow Him to participate in this act of worship. The apostle Paul wrote these words of Scripture in I Corinthians 11:23-26 to guide our observance of Communion.

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ 25 In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 

Prayer: Choose your own words of prayer to give thanks for the bread and wine that represent the costly gift of His body and blood for us.

Take the bread: Jesus said: ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.

Take the wine: Jesus said: This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’

Our closing song is:

Closing Prayer:

Lord, You have called us to be active peacemakers in the gatherings of people we may call our homes or our workplaces, our churches or other social settings; when we are with family members or friends or with acquaintances or amongst those we have not previously met. We are conscious that living this way is at times extremely difficult.

However, You have called us to live this way and with the help of the Holy Spirit we will seek to be people who will attempt to build and maintain flourishing relationships with the people around us. Guide us and grant us the wisdom and strength to live this way in this coming week, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Benediction:  The Grace

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God
and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all evermore, Amen

Wednesday @ 11 service – 7 October 2020

Welcome:  It is so good to see you back in our church building, only third time since Sunday March 15th 2020. 

Opening Scripture verses

You have searched me, Lord,
and You know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
You, Lord, know it completely.

Psalm 139:1-4

Opening praise Lord for the years – 

Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father, we come with joy in our hearts into Your holy presence today.  You are a holy God and so we acknowledge that we must come with reverence before You because we are sinners in need of forgiveness.

But we also come with confidence in the name of Jesus Your Son our Saviour, who paid in full the debt that we owe thorough His sacrifice on the cross in our place. We are also so greatly encouraged because as Psalm 139 explains so well You know everything about us and still love us. You know all the bad thoughts we have considered, the words we regret speaking and the behavioural choices we regret.

Yet there is nothing we could do to make You love us more, or less, because we stand before You today clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus. Because of Your unconditional love for Him we are welcomed with open arms today by our Father in heaven. Help us to glorify You by all that we say and listen to in this service today, for Jesus’ sake Amen. 

Bible Reading

You have searched me, Lord,
 and You know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue
You, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
 and You lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from  Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, You are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there Your hand will guide me,
Your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,’
12 even the darkness will not be dark to You;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to You.

13 For You created my inmost being;
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in Your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand –
when I awake, I am still with You.

19 If only You, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of You with evil intent;
Your adversaries misuse Your name.

21 Do I not hate those who hate You, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against You?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139

Intercessory prayer using Psalm 139

Heavenly Father we come before You in our increasingly troubled world to plead with You to work in so many situations beyond our control. Help us to care enough about others to bring them to You day after day until we see the transformation of these situations.

We are distressed to see the planned launch of another major war by President Erdogan of Turkey, in this case against the Armenian people who have suffered so much at the hands of Turkey over the last hundred years. The pictures of the deliberate destruction of civilian homes and basic infrastructure of civilian life are distressing to us. We pray that the international community will finally have a conscience and wake up to the humanitarian tragedy unfolding before our eyes if no action is taken to stop it.

Lord we are concerned too at the growth in Covid-19 virus infections in parts of our land and although we are pleased that the challenges are nowhere near the scale experienced in the Spring of this year they are still a real concern to us.

We pray for wisdom for our governments in Westminster and Edinburgh that they might make the best choices possible as they seek to support people’s livelihoods as well as safeguard our health and wellbeing. We pray too for those struggling with the mental and emotional strains of the present day and ask that You would bring comfort and healing to them. In the same way we pray for those finding the  pressures of their working environments affecting their health, grant them likewise, we pray, the grace and strength to be able to carry on. 

We come to use the words of Psalm 139 in our prayers today:

You have searched me, Lord, and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and You lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

 Lord it is a real relief that You know me, You know us, better than we know ourselves with our strengths and our weaknesses, those parts of who we are that are beautiful inn Your sight and those that disappoint You or even at times cause You to weep over our sins and our failures.

Yet through it all whether You are rejoicing over us in song when we honour Your name or the opposite, Your love for us is absolutely amazing. We are part of Your family because Jesus died in our place. We are clothed in His perfect righteousness and when You look upon us You see us not as we are now but as we will be one day beyond this life, perfect like Your Son in His perfect humanity.

We are overwhelmed with joy that You see such potential in us to be like Him, help us this day and in coming days to bring more joy to Your heart by the way we live. May the words of Zephaniah 3:17 be said with respect to each one of us in Your sight. The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.

 Lord, I want to thank You for….

 Where can I go from  Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ 12 even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You.

Lord in my workplace or my social setting, in my home or that of my family members You are there. Lord in the things I am struggling with just now, even there You stand beside me.

Lord, I particularly want to bring this person…. Or this circumstance before You…

13 For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I awake, I am still with You.

Lord You are the incredible supernatural God who daily works amazing miracles for the good of Your people. In human terms there are so many examples of circumstances where it appears utterly hopeless, but not where You are involved. Thank you for the preciousness of life and the miracle of the creation of new life from conception in a mother’s womb. 

Lord, I want to bring before You …. where a miracle is needed today.  I don’t even have the right words to know how to ask, I simply want to ask for …   

19 If only You, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! 20 They speak of You with evil intent; Your adversaries misuse Your name. 21 Do I not hate those who hate You, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against You? 22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.

Lord, there are situations in the world that only the word ‘evil’ accurately fits events taking place at the present time. As a God of love and justice You cannot but be angry that humans created to do good can do the very opposite.  

I bring before You ….. and ask that You would transform evil to bring about good in this situation…    Thank you that You have done that in Sudan even this year so no country is beyond hope.

23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Lord, I have to admit my own imperfections and ask You to look in me and show me how I can become more like Jesus in my thoughts, speech and conduct.  In particular, Lord,  I want to bring before You …. with which I need help at this time… 

Thank You Lord for hearing and answering our prayers in the name of Jesus, Your Son our Saviour Amen.

Message from Psalm 139

Psalm 139 Who is the God we worship?

Introduction

Who is it that we worship when we gather together in church, in small groups in homes, in prayer triplets, or even on our own at home?  What is this being like that we declare brought the world into being by the word of His mouth? For example in Psalm 33:6: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth. We cannot see Him, nor His Holy Spirit because they are invisible, but we believe that Almighty God has been revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ who walked this earth two thousand years ago.

John 1:18 reminds us: No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in the closest relationship with the Father, has made Him known. And in one of the most amazing verses of the whole Bible John 1:14 declares: The Word became flesh (a human being) and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

What an amazing testimony from the aged apostle John who looks back more than half  a century with awe and wonder at what he had witnessed in his earlier years and for which he has given his life to tell others about Jesus. Each one of us who has come to faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour, humanly-speaking has done so because someone who had previously come to know Him has taken the time to share something of their story with us. It was an incredible privilege to stand at John’s grave in Selcuk near Ephesus in Western Turkey and give thanks to God for this faithful servant of God who lived and died a faithful witness to our great God and Saviour. 

But we must go back in time a thousand years before the time of Jesus on earth to the writing of Psalm 139. King David has remarkable, God-inspired insight in this Psalm about the One we worship, but it naturally falls short of the fuller New Testament revelation of the God we worship.

However, there is still so much here in this amazing Psalm to inspire and encourage us as we reflect on these wonderful words. This psalm is written in four sections and is a reflection on some aspect of the revelation of who God is. The first section is on His omniscience, that is, that God knows everything. There is nothing to be known or worth knowing that He does not know about His creation or about you or I in particular.

The second section is about His omnipresence. You and I can only be in one place at a time but God is not limited in this way. The third revelation is of his omnipotence, declared that God is all-powerful. We can often be frustrated because there are things we want to do or even need to do but cannot do. There is nothing good that He cannot do.

The final characteristic is concerning His omnirighteousness. We are a mix at times of thinking, saying and doing good things and at other times we fall short of doing what is right, but God is always consistently right in all He does.

This Psalm is not abstract or impersonal theoretical knowledge about God. It is intensely personal and relational. You can sense the depth of relationship between David and the God he is describing in this Psalm. What was true then and possible then is even more possible today when we come to God through faith in Jesus Christ. How can we be certain of that? In John 14:6-14 we can see it explained in these verses where Jesus is in conversation with two disciples first Thomas and then Philip. 

Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really know Me, you will know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.’ 

Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? 

10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? The words I say to you I do not speak on My own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His work. 11 Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it. 

We must leave explaining the details of that amazing passage to another time as we return to Psalm 139, but I want you to grasp something of the amazing privilege we have in knowing God though Jesus. Let us look briefly at this Psalm today.   

1. One who is omniscient (Psalm 139:1-6)

You have searched me, Lord, and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and You lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

‘I know you’, a total stranger in a public setting making this kind of statement might be encouraging to us. However, if the tone of voice was unpleasant and we were in unfamiliar surroundings we might feel threatened and very uncomfortable. The loss of a sense of  control over information about us is a cause for concern.

It is something we warn younger people when they open social media accounts that things they post on line will be there forever, even if we press the delete button. The companies concerned in this case, and more generally other people with good computer skills can without too much difficulty find information about us online.

I have not forgotten a decade ago attending a parent’s evening at our local primary school. It was a session for parents about the dangers of putting information online.  At the end the speaker challenged us to go home and try to find things about ourselves by asking certain questions.  We were assured that far more information would be found about our personal circumstances than we would have been aware of. 

It was an accurate prediction. The sad reality is that this is a mixed blessing. It can be very beneficial. When someone I know was going through some difficult circumstances in another country a few years ago I wanted to contact someone who might have been able to help.  I had only a name and a job title to go on. In less than ten minutes of searching online produced their mobile phone number from a form they had filled in some years earlier. It was entirely appropriate in that context and very helpful. However, nuisance callers can make people’s lives a misery. Identity thieves who steal personal information to access our bank accounts or other financial details can cause very real distress. It is exactly the same technology, however, like many things it can be used for good or ill.

Here David goes much further and says that God knows us in every detail. There is nothing that he does not know. Even all the words we plan to say before we state them. He knows all our thoughts and opinions even when they remain unexpressed in speech. Of course He sees everything we do. A person who wants nothing to do with God will either pretend that He doesn’t exist or ignore the facts that David has explained. It must be unsettling for such a person to know that someone who wants to have a friendship with them knows them so well before they have even met.

How do you feel about what David has explained about God’s knowledge of you in the opening verses of Psalm 139? I think that our response will depend on how we view God. If we see Him as our loving heavenly Father then we will have a more favourable response because we will trust Him to use that information appropriately about us. As a Christian to know that our heavenly Father loved us so much He asked Jesus to die in our place on the cross, so that our sins could be forgiven and subsequently for you and me to be welcomed into His family by faith, demonstrates kindness towards us that is amazing. Even with the limited Old Testament era knowledge He had of God leads David to rejoice and to declare: Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain (Psalm139:6). We might say we are overwhelmed or overcome with positive emotion at how God treats us in the light of His knowledge of us. 

2. One who is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-12)

Where can I go from  Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ 12 even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You.

Little children enjoy playing games of hide and seek.  The very youngest able to pay such a game simply put their hands over their eyes or close them and imagine we cannot see them. An adult in such a game needs to pretend at times about what they can see if the game is to be fun for the child or children involved! The adult knows what is really going on but their knowledge is so much greater. On a completely different level God knows everything about us, not just our geographical locations! What is more David declares that God is omnipresent. We can only be in one place at once. He can be everywhere at once. This is more than my little brain can grasp. But there is so much in the natural world, especially in space, that is beyond our natural abilities to grasp without great difficulties. 

There are adults who try to hide from God.  They know they need to sort out their lives with God or address certain issues that need a resolution, but seek to act as if they can hide things from Him. David has never tried to hide things from God.  He has made some horrendous choices in his life as well as many more good ones. He lived his life very openly and was quite willing to talk about all kinds of issues other people would want to refrain from discussing. There are people today, not just celebrities, who are happy to live their lives in the public domain. The problem is that if your life hits a bad patch there is nowhere for such a person to hide. It is no surprise that the majority of us are much more careful about what we would be willing to share in public with the wider world.

Here David is speaking in general terms of places – places in eternity, or places in this life – anywhere you would care to mention we cannot escape from God. Yet over the years there have been many individuals who have moved geographical locations to get away from God. In the Bible there is the remarkable story of the national religious leader in Israel called Jonah who was called to go to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire to proclaim God’s judgement on them for their barbaric acts of wilful cruelty and ethnic cleansing (Jonah 1:1).  

In essence Jonah replied, God You are too kind to do anything like that and if they repent, unlikely as it seems, they will be forgiven (Jonah 44:1-2). So he declined the assignment and decided to take some time out on a break in southern Spain long before it was a holiday resort so popular with British people! God was not impressed with his course of action and intervened with the remarkable events recorded in the book of Jonah.

Many years ago a friend left this country to go to another to get away from God. He sat down on a park bench in that city exhausted and having run out of his financial resources wondering what to do next. A relatively short time later that day some volunteers from a church in that city that assisted people living on the streets spotted him and asked if they could help! God can meet with us in any place. Has God been speaking to you about your need to commit your life to follow Him? I encourage you to put your trust in the One who wants the very best for you. As a Christian are you feeling alone and struggling right now because life is so hard with so many problems that appear without a resolution? David would encourage each one of us to put our trust in the God who cares for us and will meet with us right where we are.       

3. One who is omnipotent (Psalm 139:13-18)

13 For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I awake, I am still with You.

If the previous section of the Psalm was the panoramic view of the world that was filled with God’s amazing presence, now David turns to write about something equally remarkable. Remember that he lived thousands of years before modern scientific advances enabled us to see pictures of babies growing and moving in their mother’s wombs. Many of us have seen tiny babies responding to events outside their constricted world. We know the ‘what happens’ as an egg is fertilised and the remarkable processes that take place over the next few weeks prior to the unmistakable shape and formation of a tiny child in the womb. Those of us as parents who have had the joy of seeing our little ones growing healthily on scans at a hospital and have the pictures to retain at home have been so blessed. We also have the deepest sympathies for those whose scan pictures reveal the heartache of an empty womb after a miscarriage or the recognition that developmental problems have been spotted in the little one visible on screen that raise serious questions about the future prospects for them. Some of us reading this message will have experienced both the joy and the heartache of these scenarios. 

What David very clearly points out to us is that God is the author of human and other created life. He is the Creator God. He is the one who enables life to come into being and by implication when our time comes He oversees our departure from this life as well. Here, though, the focus is on pre-natal life. There is no computer that even comes close to the remarkable complexity of the human body.  Even with his limited knowledge David overflows with awe and wonder at the gift of new life and the privilege of seeing or holding a new baby.

He wrote in Psalm 139:14: I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 

Are you thrilled at the incredible gift of life God has given to you? Do you share with David that sense of the preciousness of life of each human being from conception to the grave?  Each person is created in the image of God and that makes them of infinite value. He is overflowing with joy. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I awake, I am still with You. 

Do you and I need to focus more on the blessings of the good things we enjoy rather than on our frustrations and disappointments due to the challenges we experience during this covid19 virus pandemic? I challenge myself about that as much as anyone else! 

4. One who is omnirighteous (Psalm139:19-24)

19 If only You, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! 20 They speak of You with evil intent; Your adversaries misuse Your name. 21 Do I not hate those who hate You, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against You? 22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 

David turns in this last section to the world around him and the situations of evil in the world that cause him to be distressed. He is a very emotional and expressive person. The evil in the world around him that he cannot solve is distressing. The list I could cite here of evil being perpetrated around the world is increasingly long. The violence and killing that goes on and on in the twenty-first century is horrific.

The idea that human beings are civilised creatures is increasingly in question in so many places. Here in this beautiful part of North East Scotland we live in a paradise compared to much of the world. Had there not been the virus pandemic I would have been in Armenia this week and might have been scheduled to preach in a Baptist Church in a community facing a barrage of missile and drone attacks on the civilian population by the Turkish Armed Forces with a little help from their Azeri colleagues. The silence of most Western Governments is absolutely shocking. David hands over the situations he cannot resolve to God. You deal with it God –please ensure that justice is done.

However, when we point the figure at others for what they do wrong there are other fingers that point back at us! David ends the psalm on a very personal note in Psalm 139:23-24: 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  

God, I am not perfect either. God, I know there are things I can do better, that I can be a better person and You can help me to more reflect the kind of person You want me to be. He invites God to speak into his life – will you and I do that today? May God help each one of us resolve to be the best we can be for Him, for Jesus’ sake, Amen. 

Closing Song   Guide me o Thou Great Redeemer – 

Closing Prayer

Thank You Lord for the wonder of our creation and growth in our mother’s womb, together with the joy of all that You have done in our lives in the years to date. Help us to have confidence and an expectancy of You working in our lives in the days to come. Encourage us when we are low in spirits to keep going; challenge us when we are complacent or ignoring the blessings we have to enjoy; convict us when we are in the wrong in our attitudes, words or actions, so that we in turn may be a source of joy to You as You see us interact with and blessing other people in the choices we make. Help us together to experience some little glimpses of heaven on earth as we look forward to the wonders of the new creation You have in store for us beyond this life, for Jesus’ sake Amen   

The Benediction:

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God 
and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore, Amen

Our next service is planned for the same time on Wednesday 21st October at 11am.    

Christianity Explored – New course starting 20 October 2020

Would you like to know more about Jesus in a way that is easy to understand in a small group?

We are offering 8 weekly evening sessions which will help you understand the One who is at the heart of the Christian faith. The session topics are below.

Session 1 What’s the good news about Jesus for you and I today?
Session 2 Who was/is Jesus – his identity?
Session 3 Why did he come to earth 2000 years ago and what does this have to do with us today?
Session 4 Why was Jesus killed? Was it simply circumstances or what is a divine requirement by God?
Session 5 Why did Jesus rise from the dead three days later? Fake news or Truth? If Truth, then why?
Session 6 God’s grace towards you and I. Why would I need his grace now and for my future?
Session 7 Accept or reject God. The choice we are offered.
Session 8 Jesus’ offer and invitation to each of us now and for our future.

No lectures. We watch a short film on the session topic, read a short Bible passage on the topic, then have some informal discussion around the topic. It’s also ok to miss a session.

We start on Tuesday 20th October, 7.30pm – 9pm on Zoom. No need to leave the comfort of your own home.

We finish on the 8th December, just in time for Christmas. As Jesus is the reason for Christmas, Christmas may just be that extra special for you this year.

If you would like to take part, contact us via our website, Facebook or e-mail webmaster@broughtybaptist.org

Church at Home – 4 October 2020

Intimations

– You may want to use some of the Engage Worship resources for daily worship during this week

– Christianity Explored course – Would you like to know more about Jesus in a way that is easy to understand in a small group? We are offering 8 weekly evening sessions on Zoom which will help you understand the One who is at the heart of the Christian faith. Find out more here or e-mail webmaster@broughtybaptist.org

– The Messy Church At Home information is now available on our church website www.broughtybaptist.org

– The Baptist Union of Scotland will be continuing the Prayer Livestream at 7.00pm on Sunday 4th October, 2020.  This will be another significant time of national prayer for our family of churches. The theme this month is transformation and it will include stories of personal and community transformation from Pitlochry BC and Sheddocksley BC in Aberdeen. Click here to access the event.

JAM Kids’ focus: The Virtual Sunday School. Here is the video for this week’s session “Doing your best for God”.

– JAM young adults Ignite Live have a separate programme at 11:15am.  Please contact Gary Torbet – garytorbet@btinternet.com for more details.

Call to worship

Sing to the Lord a new song,
for He has done marvellous things;
His right hand and His holy arm
have worked salvation for Him.
The Lord has made His salvation known
and revealed His righteousness to the nations.
He has remembered His love
and His faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
make music to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn –
shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy;
let them sing before the Lord,
for He comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.

Psalm 98

We are grateful to Kevin Clark for selecting the songs for worship for this service.

Our opening song of praise and worship is:

Opening prayer:

Thank you Lord once more for the privilege of entering Your holy presence today. We have no right to come in our own merits, but because of the once-for-all-time sacrifice of Your Son our Saviour Jesus on the cross we can come with confidence before You today.

As the apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 5:1-2: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And werejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

We come as we are before You today asking afresh for the forgiveness of our sins and the fresh empowering we need from the Holy Spirit for the week that lies before us. We remember that

Hebrews 4:16 encourages us with these words:  Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

From whatever circumstances we have come today, Lord speak into our lives by Your Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.

Let us say together the words Jesus taught His disciples when He said:

‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'”
For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever Amen.

All Age Talk – Moraig Piggot

Guess what? I have a package, and I want you to help me open it. First we have to decide which package I should open. Let’s see… what do you think? I have this one (Hold up bag or package with fancy wrapping) or I have this (hold up plain box or bag that does not look appealing).

Okay, which do you think looks more fun to open? Let’s see what’s inside. Why don’t we open this pretty one first…(Look into the box, revealing an empty inside). Oh. That’s a little disappointing, isn’t it? Why don’t we take a peek at the other bag. It doesn’t look as fun on the outside, but let’s see what’s in here… (Look in the bag and find a paper heart inside.)

This looks a lot more exciting than the other one, doesn’t it? So even though the outside was not as fun, inside this had some great!

The Bible reminds us a lot that what matters most to God is not what we say or do on the outside, but what’s on the inside, and the intentions of our hearts. We might act really cool, but we want to make sure we are living for the Lord. Jesus told a story about two men who were praying. One of them went into the church and gave a loud boastful prayer. He thanked God for making him better than other people, and talked about the wonderful things he did. 

The other man Jesus described didn’t even want to go to church to pray. Instead, he stayed home and bowed low, full of sorrow and shame for the things he had done. He begged for mercy and felt unworthy of God’s attention. Jesus said that the man who was humble was offering a more genuine prayer than the boastful man. Humble means you don’t think too highly of yourself. 

We know God always hears us and listens, of course. But if your prayers are meant to make yourself look better, they aren’t really focused on God. God doesn’t want us to boast about anything, even our prayer lives. It’s okay to be happy about something you’ve done, but you don’t want to go boasting about it to everyone. 

When we pray, we want to make sure our hearts are devoted to God. What’s on the inside needs to have a positive purpose. We want to remember that God has given us all we have, including the most important thing, Jesus! That is a beautiful blessing to celebrate. 

So let’s try to remember who the boss is. When we pray, we want our words to go to God, who is always present and loves us. Our heart intent and inner attitudes are much more important than what is on the outside. Why don’t we pray and ask God to help us focus on Him first, shall we? 

Prayer:   Dear God, Thank you for listening to our prayers. Help us to focus on you as the most important thing. May we not boast or brag. But turn our hearts to you. Thank you for your love We love you, God!  Thank you for Jesus In His name we pray, Amen! 

We continue in worship as we sing:

Prayers for others

Dear Lord,

As the nights continue to draw in, may we remember that you Lord are the Light of Life, We pray that Your presence shines in the darkness and that we need not be afraid – for You are a beacon of hope and a comforting night-light to our souls.

We pray today for those who find themselves displaced, despairing and desperate. We pray for refugees and asylum seekers across the world, whether in migrant camps or temporary accommodation. We pray too for the agencies working to help and support people in these challenging situations.

As the grip of the Covid pandemic continues, we pray for those experiencing mental health problems at this time and deep anxiety and uncertainty about the future. We pray for the right support and a listening ear to be made available to those in this situation. We pray too that the existing measures being taken in our country may be sufficient to restrict the spread of the covid-19 virus without the need for more restrictive measures being introduced.

In our Baptist Union of Scotland we also remember to pray for:

We pray for the ongoing planning for Canopy, the online Baptist Union Assembly this year. We ask that the technology being utilised will work as planned and that through the shared events that it will bring our churches closer together as we join together for these three days of meetings and a joint worship service on Sunday 25th October.

Nairn BC – We give thanks for growth in prayer and discipleship as many completed the 24/7 Prayer Course and there are some regular new attenders to our zoom services. Please pray for the follow up to our current Alpha course online and for courage in our witness in our every-day lives. Please pray for wisdom and perseverance as we keep going in our current weekly virtual gatherings but keep alert to opportunities for face to face meetings.

New Prestwick BC – Give thanks for the fellowship at New Prestwick BC as they seek to serve and witness to the people of Prestwick and Newton-on-Ayr

Newton Mearns BC – We praise God for people coming to faith in this community during this time, and that social distancing is no barrier to the Spirit of God! We praise God too for a good first in-person youth service they held just recently. We pray for the online discipling of these new Christians, for the church to find healthy patterns of in-person and online meetings and for the prayer course and wellbeing groups they plan to run this term.

 We now pray for other people with particular needs that are connected to our own congregation:

We thank you for the good news that Nilapu and Susmita have had their first child, a baby boy last Thursday. We pray that both mother and baby may be in good health. We also thank God for Sheila B’s improvement in health this week.

We pray for your comfort for Margaret R and her family in the recent loss of her younger brother.  We continue to remember Ann W as she supports her sister Margaret at this very difficult time and John and Ann S’s niece Rachel likewise going through extremely hard times.

We continue to remember those going through tests at hospital and others still waiting a long time for operations to take place. We pray for wisdom and strength for all concerned.

We continue to remember those members of our congregation in residential care or confined to their own homes.  Help them Lord to sense Your presence with them and to know that they are not forgotten as we pray for them.

In addition, we bring our own needs to You at this time …, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.

Bible reading

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”

13 ‘But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

14 ‘I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’

Luke 18: 9-14

Before we come to listen to God’s Word let us sing:

The Message

Matthew 5:8 My inner motivation

Introduction

Do our personal values and standards really matter or make a difference? The first American Presidential election debate, ahead of the November 2020 election, is taking place on a day when I am working on this message. Does it matter what claims are raised or what promises are made?

As a Christian my answer has to be firmly ‘yes’! Our words and our promises have to be seen as important or they lose their value. How could our families, workplaces and countries operate without attention to this important subject? Yet it appears that integrity in our communications is not as valued today as it ought to be. The deliberate misuse of statistics in campaigning by some politicians or special interest groups or the misrepresentation of products for sale by companies is alarmingly common despite all the laws that supposedly prohibit such behavior. We can all give plenty of examples of this problem today.    

It does go further, though, because there are times when it is questioned whether someone having high standards of personal integrity would fit into the team in particular workplaces or sports. A classic example previously debated in the Scottish media concerned Christian rugby players like Euan Murray. Although he is now retired from the game, the principle behind the question is very important. Can a Christian be as effective as someone without their particular convictions, given all the skullduggery that allegedly goes on inside the scrums! In Murray’s case it was clearly a backhanded compliment because he was arguably Scotland’s best tight-head prop in the professional era and was also picked as a British Lion some years ago as well. If that was not success in his chosen profession, then an explanation is called for! Although it is hard to put into words, we all know what is being suggested here.

The world in which we live is a murky place where many people would argue that a little bit of lying and cheating or low-level malpractice may at times be necessary to get on. From the footballer seeking to gain an Oscar for his diving skills or feigning serious injury, to the accountant assisting his client on the margins of tax avoidance law to the office junior asked to tell the business contact that ‘the cheque is in the post’; in this kind of world a Christian with their high standards could be, some might argue, a bit of a liability or someone difficult to accommodate within the system!

Thankfully there are other people who may not yet share our faith but who also recognize the need for the values we are proclaiming in this context of integrity of motivation and in our communications with other people. We are not alone but it can take courage to stand up for what is right. Yet there are times when as Christians that we struggle to know how we ought to think, act and speak in some difficult situations. Jesus said: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Matthew 5:8) First of all:

1. What is meant by the reference to our heart?

This is not a scientific or biological use of the word with which we are so familiar. In the Bible human beings are understood as spiritual beings made in the image of God. They have a body and a soul; the latter is a collective term that covers everything else in terms of our personality, our rational faculties, emotions and decision-making capability.

The apostle Paul in I Thessalonians 5:23 wrote: May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

In many passages of the Bible instead of referring to the soul the word ‘heart’ is often substituted as an alternative to using the word ‘soul’. This kind of thinking and usage is found in our culture and language as well. The whole notion of Valentine’s Day, and the industry of cards and gifts associated with it, is based on the usage of the heart as a symbol of our love and affection for that special person or people in our lives whom we love, and for whom we might purchase a card or some other gift for that day!

Of course there are some scientists who would reduce the whole notion of love to chemical stimuli, reactions and changes in our bodies, but the vast majority of us, including the majority of scientists know that such a reduction in the meaning of love and its impact on us to chemical formulae is far from adequate. So how does the Bible use the word heart?   

(a)The heart is understood as the place of our emotions King David in Psalm 27:1-3 declared: The Lord is my light and my salvation –whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.

In his case he had in mind his time on the run from King Saul before becoming king of Israel or the many military conflict situations he experienced over the years. He would not be overcome by fear in such a context.  In words familiar to all of us from funeral services, we remember Jesus’ words to His disciples in the Upper Room prior to His crucifixion stating in John 14:1-3:

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Why, because there is a natural fear and uncertainty in the face of death for many people. Jesus wants to give His followers a clear assurance that He has already taken care of our future beyond the grave. In Mark 12:30 Jesus said: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

There is a foundational emotional input to a relationship that we invest in – this includes not only with members of our family and friends, and the range of other people we associate with, but also in our relationship with God.

(b)The heart is understood as the place of our understanding In John 12:40 Jesus, in a quotation from Isaiah 6:10, spoke about the people who had consciously rejected His message in this manner: they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts…; their worldview was such that they had factored out the possibility that Jesus was who He claimed to be; is that not a place some people are in today?

Their secular or other religious views are incompatible with the direct claims of Jesus, so instead of questioning whether their current views need to be reconsidered they upfront rule out the truth claims of Jesus. This was certainly true of many Jewish people of Jesus’ day and in subsequent generations. Paul in II Corinthians 3:14-16 made this statement in reflection on his mission work in his own Jewish communities around the Roman world.

But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

Are our minds open to being shaped by the call and claims of Jesus?

(c) The heart is understood as the place of our thoughts and desires Later in this same sermon, in Matthew 5:28, Jesus stated: I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

The traditional Jewish view was that only the sinful act was wrong, but Jesus sough to challenge that view by declaring that our attitudes and speech must also be controlled appropriately in line with God’s standards.

How is that possible? Through the Word of God; Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that : the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

By reading and reflecting on what we read in the Bible it informs and influences our attitudes to do what is right.

(d) The heart is associated with our conscience On the day of Pentecost Peter preached a powerful sermon that the Holy Spirit used to convict many people of their sins and their need to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Acts 2:36-37 states:  

‘Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.’ 37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’38 Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.’

The heart represents the place of moral conviction and judgement where our convictions are formed in response to our recognition that things need to be changed in a particular way.

(e) The heart is associated with our decision making Daniel 1:8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine; literally, as the NKJV states:  But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies…

Here a brave teenage boy in a foreign land makes choices that his parents would have been proud of, he thought through the options before him and stood up to be counted for his Jewish faith. In II Corinthians 9:6-8 Paul wrote on the subject of financial giving to the Lord’s work:

Remember this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

(f) The heart is described as the place where faith choices are made Romans 10:9-10 states: If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

It is not merely ascent in our heads, but our whole being is involved in the commitment to follow Jesus. By contrast Hebrews 3:12 warns us with these words:

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

We must be wholehearted in our commitment to the Lord and in our service for Him. King David echoed these sentiments in Psalm 57:7: My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.

2. What is a ‘pure’ heart?

(a)The meaning of the word ‘pure’ Blessed are the pure in heart… (Matthew 5:8) The Greek word katharoi Jesus used in this passage, historically in Classical Greek was a term used primarily of physical cleansing. Clothes that were dirty were washed clean instead of being soiled or stained by usage. It was also used in the sense of being ‘unmixed’ that is the substance was pure rather than a mixture or an alloy, for example some gold or silver that was being offered for sale by a trader.

The purity of the gold or silver on offer rightly has a significant impact on the price of the product so a potential purchaser needs to know whether it is ‘pure’ gold or silver! It was used of pure water with no added substances; milk that was not watered down; also of grain that was winnowed to remove all the chaff; of animals that were free from known blemishes; it was also used of a bloodline that was consistently a line of people of the same ethnic heritage with no interbreeding with people of another racial heritage.

It was also used of an army that had been purged of ill-disciplined or inadequate soldiers who could not carry out the orders entrusted to them.  It was used in a religious sense to speak of the person who had met the religious requirements of their faith and was free to participate in the worship services of their god. It was also used in obituaries to pay tribute to someone who was deemed to have lived an exemplary life and who had been a good example to the people around them (W. Barclay, The Plain Man looks at the Beatitudes, pp.72-73). 

In the New Testament there are a number of examples of different uses of this term. In Matthew 27:59-60 the author writes: Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock.

Matthew is describing what happened to the body of Jesus after his crucifixion. Another use of this word comes in the book of Revelation where John from the vision he received is attempting to describe the new Jerusalem and expressed it this way in Revelation 21:18: The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.

Paul uses this term in a semi-legal way in his sermon before the elders of the church at Ephesus in Acts 20:26-27: 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.

He had shared God’s word with them without qualification and imbalance and had sought to present it to the best of his ability in his public proclamations. It was used by Jesus with reference to the Jewish religious practices. He made it very clear that He was abolishing the ceremonial regulations then practiced in the Holy Land. In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19).

The best known usage of the New Testament, though is probably with reference to our cleansing from sin when we come to faith and as we seek fresh cleansing from our sin. In I John1:7-9 it states:

But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

It was stated as a general principle of the work of the Spirit in believers at the Council of Jerusalem in AD48. In Acts 15:8-9 Peter explained that God worked in the lives of Gentiles who came to faith in exactly the same way as believers of a Jewish background. God, who knows the heart, showed that He accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for He purified their hearts by faith.

(b) Purity of heart involves sincerity One of the biggest complaints Jesus had about the Pharisees was hypocrisy. He denounced them sometimes in the very strongest terms, as can be seen in Matthew 23. For example, in Matthew 23:25-26 Jesus declared:

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

There was also a very familiar story He told, recorded in Luke 18:9-14 about the contrast between a Pharisee and a Tax Collector who went to pray in the Temple in Jerusalem.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”13 ‘But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” 14 ‘I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’

This was equally prized in the Old Testament also. In Jeremiah 32:39-40, the prophet declared how God would work to transform His people in exile. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear Me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from Me. Do you and I have singleness of heart serving the Lord with sincerity?

(c) Purity of heart requires integrity King David of Israel had many faults and weaknesses alongside his undoubted strengths. In Psalm 78:70-72 Asaph the Temple worship leader wrote: He chose David His servantand took him from the sheepfolds; 71 from tending the sheep He brought him to be the shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance. 72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skilful hands he led them.

People can be forgiven for genuine mistakes; for inadequacy of gifting that results in lesser accomplishments than they had aspired to. However, a person whose conduct is lacking in integrity and who is found out is in an extremely problematic position. In Jeremiah 17:9-10 there is a very frank assessment of the state of the human heart: The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10 I the Lord search the heartand examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.’  

This matter was frequently raised in the Psalms. In Psalm 51:6 (NKJV) David admitted: Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

In verse 10 of the same Psalm David prayed: Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Will you and I maintain our integrity of words and actions even if others around us adhere to lesser standards?

(d) Purity of heart includes fervency A person who is pure in heart doesn’t settle for just being as good as the next person. Their frequency of attendance at church; their level of commitment to Christian service and the attention to detail in rendering it or the level of their financial giving to His work is not determined by what other people do. This person is passionately committed to honouring the Lord in each area of their lives. The details of what that looks like may vary from Christian to Christian, in some respects, but it would be evident from the self-discipline and determination of that individual to please the Lord that their motivation and enthusiasm for bringing glory to the Lord Jesus was not in doubt. 

Hebrews 12:14 reminds us of this fact. Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Our focus on the basic Christian disciplines of time in prayer and in God’s word and joining together with fellow-Christians for worship, witness and service will bear fruit in time. Paul summarized it this way to Timothy, a young pastor who he had mentored in the faith. Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.  (II Timothy 2:22).  Are you and I pursuing these things in our lives personally and collectively?

3. How do we ‘see’ God?For they will see God. (Matthew 5:8)

(a)It is not with physical sight This is not a physical rare sighting of Almighty God, like the bird watchers who descend on remote spots of the country when an unlikely bird visits this country! In John 1:18 we read: No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in the closest relationship with the Father, has made Him known. Paul, likewise in I Timothy 6:16 stated concerning God the Father: …whom no-one has seen or can see…. Seeing God is sensing His presence with us in a variety of contexts. It may be when we pray or in worship services. 

Jeremiah 29:12-14a Then you will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord.  

Why is it that unbelievers have no comprehension of the presence of God in the world let alone in their lives?

Paul stated in II Corinthians 4:4: The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  Philip, one of Jesus’ disciples asked this question at the Last Supper: Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? (John 14:8-10) It is a spiritual awareness of His presence by a person sensitive to living a God-honouring life.

(b) It produces an awareness of our shortcomings In the book of Job the patriarch was complaining that he did not understand why God was at work in the world in the way He was. When he had an overwhelming experience of God it was a transformational one that brought about a humbling of himself and a turning to God in repentance and a deepened faith. Job 42:5-6 states: My ears had heard of Youbut now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.’ To sense something of the greatness and glory of God will inevitably result in a deepened awareness of our own hearts and place in the universe, a place that too many people today have forgotten in their arrogance and pride.

(c) It produces an awareness of God’s holiness and our call to mission In Isaiah 6:1-8, the familiar passage describing the call of Isaiah the prophet to his life’s work, there is a profound realisation of this revelation.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him were seraphim, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.’ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!

Our desire to see God glorified in the conversion of people yet to come to faith is intensified when we ‘see Him’.

(d) It will be a foretaste of our experience of heaven There is so much about heaven we will not know until we get there, but seeing God through sensing His presence now is a little glimpse of what we will experience in its fullness then. In Revelation 22:4 John writes concerning believers in heaven that they will see His face. What a motivation we have for living a God-honouring life here on earth when this is the future planned for us. May we never forget Jesus’ words here: Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God, Amen.

Our song before we come to communion is: ‘Purify my heart’

The Lord’s Supper

Jesus invites all Christian who have committed their lives to follow Him to participate in this act of worship. The apostle Paul wrote these words of Scripture in I Corinthians 11:23-26 to guide our observance of Communion.

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ 25 In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. 

Prayer: Choose your own words of prayer to give thanks for the bread and wine that represent the costly gift of His body and blood for us.

Take the bread: Jesus said: ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.

Take the wine: Jesus said: This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’

Our closing song is: ‘Restore O Lord’

Closing Prayer:

Thank you Lord for the privilege of being Your child. Thank You for the investment You have made in our lives through Your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Help us this week through all we say and do to live in a way that is honouring to You, and is also an encouragement to others as we continue to experience these challenging times. May we know the enabling power of the Holy Spirit equipping us for all we need to do in these coming days, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Benediction:  The Grace

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God
and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all evermore, Amen