The sobering realities of the longer term impact of the Covid-19 virus pandemic are starting to emerge with the collapse of some well-known businesses. The most prominent last week was the Specialist Leisure Group that catered mainly for older people on coach holidays. Some of the best known coach firms in the United Kingdom, together with forty-four hotels have ceased trading.
In the same week another announcement was equally disappointing, Rolls Royce had employed sixteen thousand people in its civil aerospace division in the United Kingdom, but nine thousand redundancies were announced due to the downturn in air travel. Very few people will have no cause for concern in the coming months. The pressures on our politicians have not been as great for many years. We need to pray for them to have the wisdom they need to plan a way forward for our country.
Psalm 90 is one of the oldest Psalms, a composition of Moses, the visionary leader who brought the formerly enslaved Israelites out of Egypt and sought to mould them into a nation over the course of a forty-year period in the desert. It was a time of total change for all these people. The books of Exodus and Numbers record the many complaints brought to Moses from people struggling to accept that things had changed for ever. How did Moses look back on these difficult years and what was his source of strength and hope for the future. May we listen to and reflect on what he had to say to his first readers and hearers, words equally applicable to us today as well.
Our source of hope (Psalm 90:1-6) Lord, You have been our dwelling-place throughout all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God. 3 You turn people back to dust, thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. 5 they are like the new grass of the morning: 6 In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered.
Our anchor point that is unchanging is the eternal presence of God. There has never been a time when He did not exist. The whole created order we see and that scientists investigate once did not exist, but God was there. In our lives, not only under the present emergency conditions, but also into the future things will change quite significantly; yet if we rely on God and trust in Him to guide us into our future we have a source of hope, because there is someone who is trustworthy. Have you put your faith and trust in Him? He alone not only knows what lies ahead of us, but is able to guide and direct us into that future pathway He has prepared for us. In such a time as this we need a guide to help us navigate our way. Jesus in John 14:6 declared: I am the way… Are you following Him?
The shortness of Life (Psalm 90:7-12) 7 We are consumed by Your anger and terrified by Your indignation. 8 You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence. 9 All our days pass away under Your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. 10 Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures, yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. 11 If only we knew the power of Your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is Your due. 12 Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. When we are children or even entering adult life in our late teens it appears we have many years of life to enjoy in the future. How quickly that time passes! Moses urged the people of Israel as well as later readers to live morally upright lives in the sight of God. We are accountable to Him. Therefore, make your time count and don’t let it just drift away. It is too precious for that. Ask God for wisdom to direct you in the best use of your time this week.
Our confidence for the future (Psalm 90:13-17) 13Relent, Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on Your servants. 14 Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. 16 May your deeds be shown to Your servants, Your splendour to their children. 17 May the favour of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us – yes, establish the work of our hands.
Life in the desert was incredibly stressful. Patterns of working had gone. Living in tents rather than more permanent homes had quickly lost its appeal! The uncertainty of the food supply was a regular source of complaint.
How long will it be? (Psalm 90:13) was a question neither Moses then nor any leader today could answer with any degree of certainty. What is essential to grasp is that the only being who can make sense of it all is God. We need to heed the words of Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Our song for reflection today is ‘From everlasting to everlasting’
A worksheet to accompany the video is also available here.
Another option for children is the Virtual Sunday School sessions which give an activity idea too.
JAM young adults Ignite Live have a separate programme at 11:15am on the Zoom platform –parents of teenagers can get a link code by contacting Gary Torbet on garytorbet@btinternet.com
Sunday Evening Prayer Livestream – We will be continuing the Prayer Livestream at 7.00pm tonight (Sunday). This will be another significant time of national prayer for us. Please join in and, if you don’t already do so, would you let your fellowship know about this and put it on your social media. Click here to access.
Call to Worship
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40: 28-31
We are grateful to Fiona Small for selecting the songs for worship for this service. Our opening song of praise and worship is:
We continue to worship the Lord in our second song of praise and worship: How Great is Our God, How Great Thou Art
Opening prayer
Heavenly Father once more it is a privilege and honour to come into Your holy presence today in the name of Your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. We recall the wonderful words of the apostle Paul in Romans chapter five: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
It is incredible that though it may be a long process to gain access for an audience with our Queen Elizabeth II in the United Kingdom, we can come directly into the presence of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in the name of Jesus. What a wonderful privilege and joy! We recognise too the responsibility too of honouring You in our daily lives and come to say sorry for our shortcomings of the last week. Please forgive us once more and empower us afresh with Your Holy Spirit as we start this new week.
Help us to glorify You as we sing Your praises, read the Bible, bring our prayers and hear Your Holy Word expounded to us, 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.
Before we come to the All-age talk we will sing: I believe (The creed)
All Age talk – Alan McRobbie
It’s a story of man who really lived, his name is Phocas. He lived in the fourth century and has been respected through the years as a real precious man of God who lived in Asia Minor, which is called Turkey today. He lived in a city and he had a little cottage outside the city gate in which he grew a garden. The whole story of the man has been written down and has found its way down through the years of history.
The story goes something like this. Travellers passed his cottage garden gate almost all hours of the day and night as they went in and out of the city gate. And out of his love for others, he stopped as many of them as possible. Were they tired? Let them rest themselves, sitting in his well-tended garden. Were they in need of a friendly word? He would speak it to them as he lived for Jesus.
But then quite suddenly one day life was all changed for Phocas. Orders went out from a Roman Emperor that the Christians must be put to death. When the Roman soldiers entered the city they were under orders to find a man by the name of Phocas and take his life. About to enter the city one hot afternoon, they passed in front of Phocus’ cottage and garden by the city gate. In his innocence, Phocus treated them as though they were his warmest friends, begging them to pause a while and rest themselves. They agreed. So warm was the kindness they received that when Phocus invited them to stay the night and go on their way refreshed the next day, they agreed to do so.
As they were sitting down together Phocus asked “And why do you come into the city?” And then they told him that they would answer his question if he would regard it as a secret. Why they were the soldiers of Rome searching for a certain Phocas who was a Christian. And please, if he knew him, would he be so good as to help them find him? After all, he was a dangerous follower of this Jesus about whom the Christians talked and he must be put to death immediately.
“Oh, I know him well,” said Phocas quietly. “And by the way, he’s quite near. Let’s talk about it in the morning.” As his guests fell asleep, Phocas sat thinking. Escape? That would be easy. He had only to leave now under cover of darkness and at daybreak he could be at least 20 miles away and he knew his Christian friends would hide him. And when the threat had passed, he could reappear and once again grow his little garden.
But, the decision to run to safety or stay to die was made without struggle or delay. We can only imagine what he was thinking. Out in his garden Phocas went and began digging in the middle of the night. Was there anything he loved better than this little garden. What were his thoughts as he went on digging? Well, there was still time to run away but Jesus didn’t run. He didn’t run from going to the cross. Or perhaps he thought of his Christian friends to whom he might go for safety, would not his coming put them in danger too? And as for these Roman soldiers that now were soundly sleeping under his roof, they were, after all, only men who were carrying out orders, and if they failed to find their man, their own lives likely as not would be taken and they would die in their sins.
Deeper and deeper Phocas dug. Before the sun came up, he was done and there it was, his own little grave. Morning came and with it the waking of the soldiers. “I am Phocas,” he said calmly. And we have it written down that the soldiers stood still in amazement. They couldn’t believe it. And when they did believe it, they obviously didn’t want to put to death a man who had shown them nothing but love and kindness. But it was a duty, Phocus reminded them, that they were ordered to do. And he didn’t hate them for it. After all, death did not terrify him, his heart was filled with hope of heaven. He had nothing but the love of Christ towards them and moments later it was all over. Phocus died in the garden he loved so dearly and went to be with Jesus.
This is a story of Christ-like love, of thinking of the needs of others before ourselves, and of the hope of heaven for those who are friends of Jesus. What do you take from the story of Phocus for how you want to live?
Our All Age Song is:
Prayers for others
In our country the United Kingdom and around the world
Lord we remember the advice of the apostle Paul in Philippians 4:6 when he wrote: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. We admit that sometimes we struggle with the first thing he wrote here as there are times when we are anxious about things that are outside our control.
Even in this past week there are those in our congregation who will have had health concerns, work struggles, and other issues on our hearts we want to bring to You. However, we recognise the appropriateness of coming with a thankful spirit for the blessings we enjoy. For most of us reasonably good health that has allowed us to go out for walks in the glorious sunshine we have had recently.
Thank you too that the numbers of people contracting the virus and of those in hospital has significantly declined. We pray that this may continue as a pattern in the coming weeks. However, we are particularly concerned for other countries like Brazil where the numbers continue to increase.
We remember too in our prayers the people in the coastal communities of India and Bangladesh that suffered last week from the cyclone that damaged or destroyed many very basic homes and other buildings in poor communities. Lord have mercy on those affected, especially the families of those who died as a result of the cyclone.
We pray too for wisdom for the United Kingdom government and the devolved administrations as the lock down starts to ease. We recognise that there will be many judgement calls that are difficult to make and we pray that the right choices will be made. We continue to pray for good health and strength and for the renewal of energy levels for the NHS and Social Care staff who have done a magnificent job in caring for those affected by this virus. We remember also others in less prominent roles that have also provided invaluable service to their communities and our country as a whole during these difficult weeks. Help us as local communities to keep working closely together to limit the hardship that may be experienced over the coming months.
In our Baptist Union of churches in Scotland:
We give thanks that as Christians, we have hope in Jesus despite the challenging circumstances of life and any stormy seas we may face. Please pray that this global pandemic would bring many people to faith in Jesus.
We pray for the Continuing Ministry Development workshops taking place online this week. Pray for those leading the workshops (‘Building The House of Mission’ and ‘Knowing My Limits’) and those connecting in with the training sessions.
Dumfries BC – They started two Alpha Courses in mid-February on a Sunday lunch time and a Thursday evening. Despite Covid19 the groups are still meeting through Zoom online. Like everyone else they are navigating their ways through these troubled times, innovating and discovering new ways doing church ministry, ministry, supporting one another as well as serving the local community.
Duncan Street BC – We pray for Duncan Street BC in Edinburgh as they seek to make
Christ known in their local community.
Dundee Central BC – We give thanks for those who have been coming to faith and are being baptised and for the appointment of their Woman’s Pastoral Coordinator Karen Keir. Pray for them also as they seek to share their faith in Christ and serve their community at this time.
Dunfermline West BC – We give thanks for the recent renovation of their main worship area and the positive response from the community. We pray that they might see fruit within the community as they reach out; also that they can create relationships where guests can come and in due course use the space they now have available. We pray particularly for the growth of children and families work within the church.
Dunoon BC – They have been doing some interesting outreach recently and have had a number of new faces in the church at services prior to lock down. We pray that the time of separation caused by Corona Virus will not put them off and that the church will provide good support for its members.
We now pray in our own congregation for:
Jim and Jan F and Jim’s son Mark who has come over from Australia; We pray for God’s peace and comfort for them and other family members at this difficult time.
John G We bring before you John and his daughters Alison and Nicola and other family members as they also go through a very tough time.
We are aware of other members who have experienced bereavements or ongoing health difficulties and pray for God’s strength for them at this time. 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
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? 13 Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counsellor?
14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding? 15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. 16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing. 18 With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken him? 19 As for an idol, a metalworker casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. 20 A person too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot; they look for a skilled worker to set up an idol that will not topple.
20 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? 22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. 23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. 24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. 25 ‘To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?’ says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. 27 Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God’? 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40: 12-31
Before we come to listen to God’s Word let us sing: ‘My Jesus, My Saviour”
The Message
Introduction
In Isaiah 39 there is a clear warning from God that one of Israel’s darkest ever days was shortly to be experienced in the Holy Land. The country would be devastated as a result of the war that would occur with the forthcoming regional superpower Babylon, now called Iraq. Did Israel still have a future as a nation, or was it all over? If you want to know what it felt like shortly after the ending of the killing and destruction in that war, read the book of Lamentations.
It is one of the most sobering of books in the Old Testament. However, in the midst of all the pain and darkness there are some wonderful verses about the faithfulness of God in hard times. Lamentations 3:19-25 took the weeping prophet Jeremiah from his deepest agonies to a place of reassurance from God.
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion;therefore I will wait for Him.’
God had a plan for their future. They were not only a people with a past history. Neither are we! God has a plan for your future and mine as well.
Are you thinking? Have I got a future other than this lock down? I am not sure how many more months I could cope with it. For other people there are health issues that dominate their thinking; in some cases family struggles, or relationship tensions, but no matter who you are, at some point in time, you will face real struggles and wonder what lies ahead of you, of if there is anything ahead of you! In all these and many more similar scenarios this Bible passage reminds us that God has plans for His people. He has plans for you and me if we have put our faith and trust in Him.
As individuals, as families and as a church family, we need constantly to be reminded of this fact. Your life is not random or a chance existence. Instead, you are a child of the King of Kings who loves you and cares for you and wants the best for you. However, that does not mean we get what we want or even are necessarily praying for. Do you need to be reassured about your future? Isaiah 40 is one of those passages of Scripture that provides such guidance and teaching on God’s provision for you and for me.
1.Encouragement for God’s people(Isaiah 40:1-11)
(a)The blessing of forgiveness (Isaiah 40:1-2) Comfort, comfort My people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
The context of Isaiah 40 was the past sinful failures of Israel as a nation. She had not lived up to her promises to be faithful to the God who had blessed her in many ways. Turning to other gods of the nations around them and making lifestyle choices that violated the covenant promises agreed in the time of Moses and the exodus from Egypt would inevitably have consequences. We must not forget that the inevitable consequence of their wrongdoing, exile in Babylon and the destruction of the city they loved was still to take place, but God was already planning for their restoration and new start. As a loving heavenly Father He wants the best for His children.
There are times when He answers ‘no’ to our prayers because He can see the unforeseen difficulties we might face if we obtained what we wanted. Sometimes looking back we get a glimpse of why we were spared potential heartache had a relationship continued or a job opportunity been realised or some other scenario unfolded. At the time we could only see the immediate negative response to our request and struggled to understand why God might have seen things differently. We can only accept and live with our present disappointments when we have complete trust in the God of all comfort who loves and cares for us more than we love ourselves.
(b)The comfort of God’s presence (Isaiah 40:3-5) 3A voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
From the declaration of comfort and encouragement Isaiah now speaks about the future about how God can make a way through the most difficult of circumstances. The imagery is of preparation for a royal visit to a community so no expense is spared. All kinds of up grading of roads and buildings takes place, in fact everything is attended to in order to ensure that the short visit goes as smoothly as possible.
The obvious benefit to the community is that some facilities have been upgraded that will be of benefit long after their visitors have departed. The message here is that God will do what it takes to ensure His people get back home after their time away in exile. The exile for them, lock down for us or whatever difficulty you are experiencing will not be a permanent thing because His promises to His people are guaranteed. God will be glorified through the fulfilment of His guarantees to Israel. God will be glorified too through our lives also.
(c)The reliability of God’s Word (Isaiah 40:6-8) 6A voice says, ‘Cry out.’ And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’ ‘All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God endures for ever.’
These verses in continuing this train of thought remind us very clearly that God keeps His promises. His inspired Word is entirely trustworthy and true. We can depend totally on it. Everything else in life is transitory. Each of us can tell our own stories of changes; both in our own lives and in the communities where we live or have lived. Yet this passage gives us this wonderful assurance. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God endures for ever(Isaiah 40:8). We can trust it 100% Praise God!
(d) The certainty of the final outcome (Isaiah 40:9-11) You, who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’ 10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and He rules with a mighty arm. See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him. 11 He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young.
The last part of the opening section of Isaiah 40 proclaims in pictorial language the certainty of God’s triumph in the work He has planned for us to do. It seems extraordinary that restoration to their homeland is not portrayed in the military language of conquest, but in the pastoral language of a shepherd caring for His flock. God’s kingdom expands through evangelism and is lived through social action by people who are motivated by His love in their relationships with one another and other people with whom they interact. In secular eyes and Islamic ones the way of Jesus as described in the Bible seems foolish, but in this glorious vision of God’s plans for the future, both then and now, we can be assured of His triumph in and through the people who follow Jesus, ordinary people like you and me.
2. The greatness of our God(Isaiah 40:12-31)
(a)He created the universe! (Isaiah 40:12-17) 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? 13 Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as His counsellor? 14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten Him, and who taught Him the right way? Who was it that taught Him knowledge, or showed Him the path of understanding? 15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; He weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. 16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings. 17 Before Him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by Him as worthless and less than nothing.
Who can guarantee that all this can happen when this little nation has been brushed aside by the forces of superpower armies like trees and buildings in a raging flood? No mere earthly ruler even begins to fit the description! Isaiah 40:12 has the answer. Only one person, the Creator of the Universe who spoke and brought the world into being and who upholds it by the Word of His power can do it. The same point was made near the end of the book of Job when the subject of the book raised so many ‘why’ questions about what had happened in his life. We are creatures. He is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. This verse speaks of His power to deliver what He has promised. Humans can have aspirations that are beyond our power to accomplish, unlike God.
The second thing that marks out the One who can accomplish all this is His wisdom, as Isaiah 40:13-14 highlights. To ask the question with respect to God – or [who] instruct the Lord as His counsellor?(Isaiah 40:13) is to realise the utter absurdity of the question. Isaiah 40:15 and 17 remind us of the sovereignty of God. How can we be in despair when we serve a God like this! We need to look up and worship such a great and almighty God (Isaiah40:16). Yet how can we offer adequate worship to Him? He is worth so much more than any offering of praise and adoration we could bring! Yet He delights to receive the worship of His children. When we feel down remember to meditate on the greatness of God!
(b)With whom would you compare Him? (Genesis 40:18-20)With whom, then, will you compare God?To what image will you liken Him?19 As for an idol, a metalworker casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. 20 A person too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot; they look for a skilled worker to set up an idol that will not topple. What vocabulary is adequate to describe God? Isaiah looks around at the images used to represent the gods of the nations around them and asks: do you really think this is adequate to reflect the greatness of Almighty God? No! is the only answer we can give to such a question. We serve an incredibly awesome God. To see God in His greatness puts our problems and challenges in perspective.
(c)Awesome in power! (Isaiah 40:21-26) Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? 22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. 24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. 25 ‘To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?’ says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
The God who parted the waters of the Red Sea in Egypt to enable the fleeing slaves to escape the mighty Egyptian Army (Exodus 14:15-15:21) is the God who has plans for His people. The God who caused the walls of the powerful city of Jericho to fall down at exactly the right time (Joshua 6:1-27) when Joshua and the army of Israel went on a praise and prayer walk around its perimeter is the God who has plans for His people. The God who raised Jesus from the dead on the first Easter Sunday is the God who has plans for His people, for you and me! Do you know Him? Have you put your faith and trust in Him? Why not today take that first step of faith and acknowledge the King of Kings and Lord of Lords as King of your life.
(d)The God who restores and renews (Isaiah 40:27-31) Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God’? 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
In every generation there have been times when God’s people felt discouraged, or were acutely aware of a felt absence of His presence. Isaiah was well aware in Isaiah 40:26 that there were people of his day as well as ours who uttered similar words to make this claim. Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God’? What response does the prophet give to people of His day and ours? The answer is given in the familiar words found in Isaiah 40:27-31. God is the restorer of my soul, my hope, my vision for the future, because of who He is, our great and awesome God.
This passage provides great encouragement for God’s people when discouraged because it reveals to us an amazing and wonderful God whom it is our privilege to serve. This is the God who has plans for our lives, individually and collectively, if we will put our hands in His and go forward in faith exercising the calling entrusted to us, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
Our song before we come to communion is: One Day (Before we get to heaven)
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 a powerful song well—known to us: ‘By Faith’
Closing Prayer
Thank you Lord for the privilege of spending this time together in Your presence today. Go with us we pray into the new week that lies ahead of us as we will seek to honour You in the way that we live. We thank you we can enter it with confidence because You go with us each step of the way, 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
Click here to access this week’s session. Our story this week is about a friend of Jesus’ called Philip. You can make your very own chariot and scroll!
The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’14 He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.
I Kings 19:11-14
The reason why Elijah went on to Horeb
Take a step back and consider why this whole situation began. Elijah was familiar with the covenant of God with Israel that was set out so clearly, with its conditions in the book of Deuteronomy, with its blessings for obedience and cursing for disobedience.
On the basis of the covenant he prayed that it might not rain so that the King and the country repented of their sin and turned back to the Lord. For three and a half extraordinary years’ drought conditions prevailed. God honoured His servant and showed that the covenant was still in force.
What was significant of Mount Horeb, the key peak in the Sinai mountains? It was the place where God gave the covenant to Moses many centuries earlier. Exodus 32-33 records the events that unfolded when Israel broke the covenant and Moses was interceding for the nation.
It would lead to the renewal of the covenant and the giving of the Ten Commandments by God to Moses for a second time. The covenant included the following warning against ungodly alliances with the Canaanite inhabitants of the Promised Land.
Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you.13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. 14 Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God
Exodus 34: 12-14
Moses had to go back to the place where the covenant was first instigated by God for that renewal to take place. It is, therefore, most probable that Elijah was doing exactly the same thing in his day as Moses had done centuries earlier.
The flight to Beersheba could rightly be interpreted as getting away from Jezebel, and that southern Judean city was a safe place of refuge. The journey to Horeb from Beersheba, twice as far as he had already come, I believe, was motivated more by a desire to spend time with God at the very place where the covenant was given. Elijah wanted a fresh affirmation of the calling of God to his ministry and a desire for a renewal of the covenant between God and His people. He wanted to hear from God and would not be disappointed.
The encounter with God at Horeb
(Exodus 19:16-19) God told His servant to stand at the entrance to the cave and observe God’s activity. What happened was very similar to Exodus 19 when God first gave the law to Moses. Exodus 19: 16-19 records the following phenomena:
On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, 19 and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
Exodus 19: 16-19
What phenomena was in evidence in Elijah’s day? First of all a violent storm that gusted causing damage even to some of the rocky cliffs near where the prophet was located; then there was an earthquake and after that a fire, but the Lord was not in …the wind…the earthquake…the fire…
These signs were not of judgement for Elijah. After all he had been very faithful to God and had stood firm in his witness. All three of these signs had been used in judgement on the people of God in the Old Testament. Fire had been used on Mount Carmel only days earlier (I kings 18); an earthquake was used, in Numbers 16:16-34, to kill a group of people who opposed Moses and God’s plans for the Israelite nation; one of best examples of a storm to judge a sinful Israelite was on Jonah, recorded in the book of that name, as he fled to Tarshish (Spain) rather than go to Ninevah (Iraq) to proclaim God’s Word.
Here the key is that: the Lord was not in …the wind…the earthquake…the fire… How does God deal with His servant here? after the fire came a gentle whisper The Baals claimed to be nature gods who controlled the weather. Yahweh is Lord of all, who has control over all of creation, but is not a part of it.
The glory of God is such that Elijah covers his face when he listens to His voice. Moses had also been informed that the glory of God was too awesome to look upon (Exodus 33:21-23), so he did not attempt to look at the revelation of God’s glory.
Only when you grasp what was going on here can you understand the sense of wonder John had when he wrote John 1:14 with reference to Jesus: The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Our song for reflection is: ‘Mine eyes have seen the glory’
The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ 14 He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.
I Kings 19:11-14
Elijah’s perspective on the situation had been too narrow. He had turned to look within himself. However, for a moment let us take a step back and revisit I Kings 19:3 using the alternative translation for the first part of that verse: When Elijah saw [that Jezebel was totally unmoved by the divine intervention on Mount Carmel in I Kings 18] that reaction he ran for his life…. Dale Ralph Davies in his commentary on this passage [The Wisdom and the Folly –I Kings, pp.261-262] urges that this alternative translation is more helpful and that it is found in the oldest Hebrew texts.
What difference does this make in practice? After all Elijah is still exhausted and leaves the country at the earliest opportunity! Davies urges us to consider a new perspective on the situation. The prophet had been expecting that Jezebel would ‘throw in the towel’ and concede spiritual defeat in the battle over who was God in Israel. Yet this was far from how things had turned out.
Can you imagine the scene at the palace the previous evening? Jezebel welcomes her husband home and enquires about his day. She notices that he had set out with four hundred and fifty of her eight hundred and fifty pagan clergymen, but returned without any of them. She is livid, ‘stripping the paint off the walls’ with anger that her clergymen are all dead, that the King of Israel allowed it to happen –who’s in charge in this country, a solitary prophet of Yahweh or the chosen ruler of the nation? His protests that the contest was fair and the result indisputable –what else could I have done? -went unheeded as the hard-headed Jezebel moved on to consider ‘Plan B’ for the elimination of the worship of Yahweh in Israel.
Then and now there is a fallacy that if people are more educated that they will make better choices. Unfortunately this is not always the case. People can have all the information in the world, but refuse to act upon it.
Elijah quickly grasped that although a battle had been won, the war was far from over. Jezebel had almost certainly been ordering the assassination of leaders of God’s people in previous years and as he was the only one still ministering in public it was not difficult to guess who was top of her current list!
He was not required by God to make it easy for her hit-man to find him and as he had been directed by God before to go into hiding it was not out of the question that a similar period of time out of the public view might be in order. He is exhausted and very disappointed that the conflict is not over, but his flight into Judah and then the Sinai desert actually had a purpose in God’s bigger picture. His time out of ministry and our lock down time may turn out to be an important time in our lives.
Don’t assume that ‘the real action’ only begins when it is over. It might be that now is the time for which God has prepared us to live for Him. That previous life experience and your gifting might fit you so well for such a time as this!
We will never know all the details of this story. God has given us enough information to show us that with His help no situation is completely hopeless as Elijah had demonstrated against the odds on Mount Carmel.
However, this story also reminds us in this chapter that success in God’s work is hard won and often takes a longer time than we would wish. We need to:
(i) Look Back to stop every so often and reflect on how far we have come in our faith journeys. Take time today to thank God for past successes in your life in hard times. What did you learn about God in those times? What did you learn about yourself?
(ii) Take Stock We know where we started from and we know what we trust will be our ultimate destination beyond this life, but we also need sometimes to pause in the present and ask: What is it that I should be doing at this particular time? God opens and closes doors of opportunity for a reason, even if it is beyond our comprehension.
Instead of lamenting what we cannot do, can we focus instead on looking at what we individually and collectively might do differently at this particular time? There will be some things that will stop when life returns to ‘normal’.
There are initiatives that only run for a very short time because they have fulfilled their purpose. There will be other ways of working that will continue because we have learned new skills and seized fresh opportunities.
However, it is too early to make definitive judgements about our choices. In the heat of the moment we ask God for guidance and seek to do our best, but living by faith can be disturbing because at the time we make choices we are often not certain how things will work out. What issue do you need to bring to God in prayer today? Have you heard His gentle whisper?
Our song for reflection today is: ‘Ten Thousand reasons’
The weeks seem to pass with increasing speed as we adjust to the lock down in our communities. However, it is also clear that a greater number of people are feeling the mental and emotional strain of separation from friends and family and the familiar routines they previously enjoyed.
On this day, another Wednesday, when we have set aside some time for prayer and reflection, we come to remember each other in our prayers for strength to continue our day to day lives.
I Kings 19:9b-10 What are you doing here?
And the word of the Lord came to him: ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ 10 He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.’ (I Kings 19:9b-10)
Elijah had been happy with the dramatic and adventurous calling God had given him. He was a person happy with his own company and more than willing to live a lonely life as an itinerant minister serving the various rural hamlets of Gilead and in training future prophets to minister in other communities in the years to come through the small Bible schools at Jericho and Bethel.
His was a hard life, with many a night spent outdoors in the cold, together with endurance of the burning heat by day. Into that steady and settled work to which he was committed for the rest of his life Elijah’s regular routine had been shattered by the call to address the king of Israel concerning the judgement God was about to visit on His sinful people Israel.
The cumulative pressures piled upon his broad shoulders were gradually taking their toll. No ordinary mortal could have continued the day after the triumph on Mount Carmel as if it was another day at the office! The Covid-19 virus pandemic has come like a most unwelcome visitor into many of our lives that if we are honest had settled into a fairly comfortable pattern. It was not that everything was wonderful, but at least we had a fair idea of what was happening week by week.
By contrast, the opposite is now true for many people. We cannot plan too far ahead because there is too much uncertainty surrounding what may or may not happen in the coming days.
Will a vaccine be found that is completely safe? In the meantime how will my job be affected by the changes in guidelines from the governments in Edinburgh and London? Or will my company survive the lock down restrictions? When will I finally be allowed to go out freely to do what I want again? When will it be possible to gather as before in a church or a school, or a cinema or football ground?
These and so many more unanswerable questions pass through our minds. This chapter of I Kings reveals very clearly the pastoral heart of God, in the way that He deals with His servants in their most vulnerable times. It gives us a window into the heart of God and here in the Old Testament shows us a God of compassion, a term associated uniquely with Jesus in the New Testament, but it is an accurate word to describe the love of God for His people throughout recorded history.
Elijah had sunk into self-pity and despair, recycling his difficulties repeatedly in his own mind. It may be part of the human condition to go through this process at times, but sadly we never feel any better for doing it, because the problems are not changed as a result of this activity.
He had reached the point where he wanted to resign from his ministry because he was weary with it and felt it was time for someone else to take over. All of us can feel this way at times and sometimes with good reason, but not here.
The lesson from this passage is the very opposite: Elijah wanted to quit because of the pressures of the calling, but these stresses arose precisely because he was being effective in God’s service and had more years still to give in this important work. He could not see that, but being on his own that was not surprising.
This is why it is so vital for us to be there for one another to encourage and sustain each other in our service for the Lord. Who might you want to contact today to encourage them at the present time? Ask God to put someone in your mind and sent a message of encouragement to them or even phone them to see how they are getting on.
Our song for today is: ‘ I do not know what lies ahead’
Pointers for our Prayers • What blessings in particular do you want to thank God for today? Take some time to praise God for who He is and then thank Him for the things we can be grateful for in our lives. Give thanks for Robin and Aileen G reaching 60 years of marriage tomorrow.
• Give thanks for the many gifts that have come in for our care packages for the staff of the residential care homes. It is good to see the generosity evident in our community.
• Continue to pray for the Government in Scotland and in the wider UK and for their clinical and scientific advisers, that they may work together effectively at this time
• Pray for our NHS and Social Care Staff as they continue to serve so willingly the many people under their care. We particularly remember Hannah A and the social care staff who have been caring for very vulnerable people under extreme pressures in the last few weeks. We pray that they and all other workers in our country may be able to carry out their duties as safely and effectively as possible.
• Pray for those ill with the Covid-19 virus, in particular John G, that they may soon regain their health and strength. We pray also for people with other health conditions that they may also have access to the medical care they require at this time.
We continue to remember Jan and Jim F especially as Jim has become progressively weaker that they may know God’s peace and strength at this very difficult time. We pray also for Ali T’s parents, Jude R’s grandma and Isdale A’s dad; we also pray for others waiting for hospital appointments to address their health issues at this time.
• Pray for teachers and pupils, and lecturers and students, at different levels of education especially those known to you. That they may be able to work adequately online. Help them to overcome the challenges of technology and the difficulties of communicating effectively through online learning. Help parents also trying to work from home alongside supporting their children doing schoolwork.
• We pray for the emotional and mental health of our nation, especially those of whatever age who are particularly struggling to cope with the lock down and the inability to meet with their families or friends.
• Pray for those recently bereaved that they may experience more of God’s love and comfort at this time, in particular we especially remember Betty and Scott R, Betty W, Eloise P, Elizabeth F and their families.
• Pray for ourselves that we always make time each day to read His word and spend time in His presence.
• Pray in advance for the online meetings and activities throughout this week and the service next Sunday
5 Then he [Elijah] lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.’ 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. 7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.’ 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he travelled for forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
I Kings 19:5-9a
Over recent years there has been much debate about in the British media about the presence of foodbanks in many of the largest urban centres in Britain, including in our own city of Dundee. Should they even exist in the twenty-first century in one of the wealthiest countries in the world? In the current Covid-19 virus pandemic the question has changed to not should they exist but how many are required to take care of the people who need support with food provision in our city or any other context. I thank God we have an excellent network across the city providing for those in need.
Elijah has got himself into such a state that he has not eaten for some days and is possibly also dehydrated having spent so much time exerting himself under the Middle-Eastern sun. How did God deal with His servant who had run away from the line of duty? Did He shout at him to pressure him back into action? Certainly not!
God knows each one of us intimately and treats us very much on an individual basis. He is our heavenly Father and knows that each of His children are different and what might work and be best for one child may not be the case for another. Each of us who are parents love our children equally (I hope!), but we may express that love in slightly different ways to them reflecting their different ages, interests and needs.
How much more God is able to work in the lives of His children for our good and His glory when we are committed to living for Him. In Elijah’s case his big need was sleep. By temperament, some of us may be allergic to work and struggle to fit it into the schedule! Others by nature find it difficult to take time off, knowing that there is always more to be done.
We can feel, sometimes, profoundly guilty taking time off, even if we are entitled to it. I suspect this was the way Elijah was wired. God graciously provided food and water and encouraged him to build up his strength before he was allowed to move on to complete the rest of his journey.
There were serious warning signs here for Elijah. A man in need of sleep, but was sleep deprived; he was a man so stressed that he was not taking in the nutrition his body needed to function properly; all of us need some pressure to get out of bed in a morning and get started on the working day, but too much and we accomplish far less than might otherwise have been the case, as was happening with Elijah.
At such times like Elijah we can feel guilty, a failure and condemn ourselves, even if others are not doing so. The devil is in the condemnation business, not God! Some people sadly think that criticism and condemnation is their primary ministry as well. They can be very efficient at it too. There is something wrong with such a mind-set that is lacking an adequate understanding of the grace of God.
If God measured each one of us against His perfect standards we would all be in difficulties! Elijah here needed food and water and encouragement. Later God would speak with him about his struggles. But in this place God gave him space to rest and be refreshed with the things he needed. Food provision then and now is an unconditional act of kindness to those who need it. We give because God has first given so much to us. It may be to a foodbank or as a gift to thank NHS and Social Care workers or in some other way, but we remember Jesus’ words in Acts 20:35 It is more blessed to give than to receive… Amen
Our song for reflection today is: ‘All the way my Saviour leads me’
We have been clapping on Thursday evenings at 8pm for NHS and Social Care workers who have done a magnificent job under very difficult conditions in helping to care for the most vulnerable people in need during the corona virus pandemic.
This is an expression of our appreciation for them, but it will ring very hollow if the appalling terms and conditions under which some of our social care workers serve are not greatly improved in the not too distant future. Time will be needed for the emotional and mental health strains some have experienced to be healed. There are no quick fixes available.
The problem that overshadows everything (I Kings 19:1-2)
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, ‘May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.’
Israel in the time of the reign of Ahab and Jezebel had been living under a reign of terror. Anyone who opposed the regime lived with the fear that they might be one of the next targets for elimination. In such a climate Elijah was the spiritual leader of the nation. The crisis had lasted more than three years.
A price had been put on Elijah’s head so he had lived in isolation in a rural location east of the River Jordan, prior to enforced isolation in a house in the village of Zaraphath outside the city of Sidon, in the neighbouring country now called Lebanon.
The government in Israel had wanted him dead or alive and had issued an arrest warrant to all the neighbouring countries (I Kings 18:10), but his location was never discovered. He had returned to take a one-man stand against the tyrannical regime and its priests on Mount Carmel in north-west Israel and won with God’s help an astonishing victory against all the odds.
However, the emotional strain of all his labours must have been enormous. The straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back was the message from the tyrannical Queen Jezebel that he was next on the execution list. Elijah had been top of the list for some years already, but this simple reminder tipped him over the edge.
We all have our limits. When we are getting dangerously close to the edge we really start to struggle to do tasks we would normally take in our stride. We need to watch for the warning signs and take action mainly in the form of getting help for ourselves or others close to us to bring us back to a place of safety.
These mental and emotional health struggles are real and can happen to anyone. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, spoke recently in an interview released today about his own struggles with mental health problems last year. He was grateful for good friends who advised him to seek medical help for his condition (BBC News website 18 May 2020). If you are struggling with your emotional or mental health, please don’t let it continue. Instead seek help to assist you in addressing this problem.
The darkness of his emotional night (I Kings 19:3-5a)
3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’ 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. (I Kings 19:1-5a)
Justin Welby in the interview mentioned earlier continued his comments expressing his concern for the future wellbeing of our country: “As we will see as the recession takes hold, loss, grief, and anxiety are traumas. And trauma has to be gone through. You can’t do it just with the stiff upper lip.” He said the whole country had been “compulsorily fasting” and that had caused “huge suffering” for many.
Asked how he hoped Britain would recover after the coronavirus crisis, he said: “We don’t do it with austerity. We don’t do it with class fighting. We do it with community and the common good. And we’re not afraid of spending money that will produce a better society.” Take time to read the words of this Bible passage slowly in I Kings 19:3-5a and see what a dark place Elijah was in. What was Elijah missing here?
(i) Sleep: we all need sufficient sleep. If you are overtired and cannot get a proper sleep – you probably do need to see the doctor to check that there are no underlying causes for your disturbed sleep pattern.
(ii) Perspective: when our emotional and mental health is in a difficult place, it is impossible to get a right perspective on our lives and especially on any difficulties we face. They might appear so enormous that we are overwhelmed. Do you need to seek help? Maybe it would be the right thing in the first instance to talk with a family member or a trusted friend who can give an honest opinion on your state of well-being?
What is most important is that God wouldn’t leave Elijah in that place; neither does He want you to cope with your struggles alone. He can help us come through to the place of restoration, but first He walks with us in the ‘valley experiences’ as we journey towards healing and restoration.
Our song for reflection today is: ‘O love that will not let me go’
Gary, our Youth Pastor and other young Leaders from our church have featured in an interview on Baptist Union of Scotland’s Conversation series. Click above to watch.
Morning worship online has moved to start at 10am and JAM at 11:15am on the Zoom platform.
You may want to use some of the Engage Worship resources for daily worship during this week.
Jam Kids Focus – Navigate Family Series Episode 3
A worksheet to accompany the video is also available here.
Another option for children is the Virtual Sunday School sessions which give an activity idea too.
JAM young adults Ignite Live have a separate programme at 11:15am on the Zoom platform –parents of teenagers can get a link code by contacting Gary Torbet on garytorbet@btinternet.com
Sunday Evening Prayer Livestream – We will be continuing the Prayer Livestream at 7.00pm on Sunday, celebrating the theme of Resurrection Hope with live prayer and news from churches around the country, including from Broughty Ferry Baptist Church this evening. This will be another significant time of national prayer for us. Please join in and, if you don’t already do so, would you let your fellowship know about this and put it on your social media. Click here to access.
Call to Worship
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress… 10 He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’
11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Psalm 46: 1-7, 10-11
We are grateful to Margaret Clark for selecting the songs for worship for this service. Our opening song of praise and worship is:
We continue to worship the Lord in our second song of praise and worship a modern version of Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)
Opening prayer
Heavenly Father once more at the beginning of another new week we come with a sense of anticipation and joy into Your holy presence. As the Psalmist declared: This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it’ (Psalm 118:24 NKJV)
We come today to praise You for the blessings of the past week. Thank you for the particular answers to prayer we received. The difficult tasks that we managed to accomplish with a degree of success. At a most basic level for those of us who have struggled to keep going, we record our gratitude for Your help in just getting through that week.
As we turn to the new week before us we come to confess our sins and ask for Your forgiveness. We also seek the fresh empowering of Your Holy Spirit to help us address the challenges we will face in the coming days. Today we ask that You would encourage our hearts as we sing Your praises, read Your Word and reflect upon it later, in the name of Your Son our Saviour 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.
Our next song to sing or listen to is one new to many of us entitled ‘Holy Overshadowing’:
All Age talk – Moraig Piggot
So I wonder if anyone has learnt any new skills during lockdown or maybe revisited skills, talents or hobbies from a few years ago.
Well I have had to revisit something I used to do. I don’t know if I would call it a skill or talent and it’s certainly not a hobby- it’s called cooking! You see for the last few years Simon, my husband has been doing all the cooking in our house and do you know what he is actually very good at it, in fact I would say he actually has a talent there!
Recently though Simon has taken a new job doing delivers while his joinery business is closed due to lockdown restrictions. The hours of his new job meant that he would not be at home to do anymore cooking. so much to Freya and Hamish’s complete disgust it meant it was back to Mums cooking!
The first night I was making tea I got out Simon’s cookbook, all the equipment and started. This little voice in the background kept saying over and over “just follow the recipe, please just follow the recipe, don’t make up your own version.” This of course was Hamish! I must admit when it said gravy I thought I would be mixing gravy granules with boiling water not following two pages of instructions about have to make it from scratch!!
Anyway it’s safe to say that we all look forward to Friday nights when Granny kindly pays for a take away to be delivered to our house and the two days off that Simon has each week to take back over with the cooking. We won’t even mention the evening that I set the oven to the wrong setting and we had to wait an extra hour for tea!
As we have said to before these are strange and different times that we are living through, so many people are feeling out of their comfort zone and so many people are having to do things in ways they are not used too. For me having to cook again isn’t really a hardship but for so many people what they are going through right now on a daily basis is really tough.
Kevin has already told us this morning about the staff from local care homes in Broughty Ferry who are working incredibly hard right now and so many other front line and key workers continue to do the same.
In these times God needs us as a church fellowship and community to use a skill and talent we all have and share- the ability to show his love, support and kindness to those around us. In the bible there are so many verses that remind us about this, in John 13 34-35 its says
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
And in 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 10 it reminds us that we should use the gifts Gods has given us to serve others as HIS faithful stewards. As a church we are so thankful for everyone who has been showing Christ’s love through the different ways they are supporting people in our fellowship and beyond. Through prayer, giving and practical acts of kindness. So once again we are asking you to show Christ by serving others, please pray about how you could support our care package for care home staff- through donations of goods or money.
Boys and girls I have an extra special task for you this week- I need you to make cards, pictures and love hearts for the staff in the care homes that we can include in our care packages. Remember to tell them what a wonderful job they are doing, thank them and let them know that they are our care home heroes. When you have finished them please put them through my letter box when you are out for your daily exercise or if you don’t live near me email me a photograph of it and I will print them out.
Let’s all remember to never stop doing little things for people because sometimes these little things occupy the biggest part of their heart.
Our Children’s Song is: God Suit On
Prayers for others
In our country the United Kingdom and around the world
As the economic toll of the Coronavirus Pandemic begins to bite across the world, we pray for those people who have lost their jobs and for the self-employed whose incomes have dried up. For wisdom and direction for owners of and managers in companies, together with Trades Union representatives seeking to grapple with how best to take their companies forward in the coming days.
We pray for mental health organisations who may be receiving a lot of calls just now from people struggling with their mental health during this current situation.
We continue to pray for our NHS and Social Care staff, together with other workers providing essential services in our communities, that they may not only have the right equipment in their work places, but also that appropriate social distancing measures can be maintained as greater numbers of people return to work in England this week.
In Scotland we pray for the Church of Scotland and other Christian denominations that were due to hold their annual conferences this month and who have had to cancel their meetings. Please give wisdom to the national leadership of these denominations as they seek to reschedule meetings for later in the year or into 2021.
In our Baptist Union of churches in Scotland we pray for:
Chris Withers (Army Chaplain, Ripon) – Please pray for Chris as he journeys with the recruits in his new chaplaincy posting in Ripon and as he seeks to listen, support and encourage them. Pray for opportunities to be able to share the gospel with the recruits.
Drumchapel BC – Please pray for the church fellowship in Drumchapel and their pastor Rod Cox as they seek to be salt and light to their community at this time.
Dumbarton BC – We thank God that their CAP Life Skills course is now running and that their recent partnership with The Haven in Kilmacolm has resulted in some of their residents becoming regular attendees. We join with this congregation in their prayer request that they will see many people in their area coming to faith through the prayer activities of Awake Dumbarton.
Dumfries BC – We’re thankful to God for the baptisms we had recently and for the clear Christian testimonies of each of those who were baptised. Our Youth and Community worker, Andy Feather, has indicated that he will be moving on to take up a Pastor in Training opportunity on the Isle of Man, please pray for Andy, Claire and their children.
We now pray in our own congregation for:
We come now to pray for particular people on our hearts at this time. These include: Jan and Jim F with Jim’s ongoing health challenges; Jean, John H’s mother in Orchar, and Jude R’s grandmother who have contracted the covid virus; also for Ali T’s mum Norah in hospital and for her dad Frank at home. Also Isdale Anderson’s dad for recovery of health after a recent fall.
We are conscious other people are waiting for delayed operations in hospital or needing tests to address health concerns, we pray for peace of mind and patience as they wait for a longer time than usual due to the Covid-virus crisis. We pray too for those living in residential homes or confined to their own homes over the longer term, that you would give them the strength to cope with the sense of isolation that will be experienced particularly at this time.
Thank you Lord for hearing our prayers as we bring them in the wonderful name of Your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen
Bible reading
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.
6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
50I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’
55 ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
I Corinthians 15: 1-11, 50-58
Before we come to listen to God’s Word let us sing: ‘I want to walk with Jesus Christ’
The Message
Introduction
What are you focussing on at this time? What are your hopes and aspirations in the coming months and maybe into the next year or two? For some of us it will simply be to get through this Covid-19 virus pandemic and get our lives back to ‘normal’. Naturally, there is no-one living on this planet who would want to continue in this state of uncertainty about the future for any longer than necessary.
However, assuming this pandemic is brought under control in the not too distant future, what is it you are focussing on as your motivating force for the future? What is it that is your passion in your heart at this time? The apostle Paul who had accomplished so much for God wrote these powerful words to the congregation in the bustling port city of Corinth in Greece.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain (I Corinthians 15:58).
Paul’s passion in life was sharing the good news about Jesus and with his church-planting teams starting new Christian congregations in the towns and cities across the Roman Empire. This verse encapsulated in a few words his motivation for Christian service. Let us look at it briefly:
1. The command to obey
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you (I Corinthians 15:58a)
(a) Therefore… This verse is the summary conclusion to the whole of I Corinthians 15, a long chapter that explains very clearly the solid ground on which we stand in believing the good news of the Gospel of Jesus. It is not the wishful thinking of a few religious people, but the extraordinary revelation of God to more than five hundred people in the six weeks following the crucifixion, death and bodily resurrection of Jesus that first Easter. This was a large group of people, none of whom were expecting this event to take place but whose lives could never be the same again once they had encountered the risen Lord Jesus Christ. The list concluded with the writer of this letter Paul himself.
By way of personal testimony it includes every genuine believer who has encountered the risen Lord Jesus by faith and experienced His love and mercy in their lives in subsequent years. It raises the obvious question: Have you met with the risen Lord Jesus by faith? Have you acknowledged Him as your Lord and Saviour? Have you taken that step of faith away from living for self to living for God through Jesus?
Paul spends the majority of this chapter talking through the extraordinary significance of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. He challenges other views that denied the bodily resurrection of believers who have left this life, because by definition if Christian believers are not raised to life again after death then it naturally calls into question the resurrection of Jesus! If that event did not happen then the gospel he and we proclaim would not be true.
The vast majority of religions could not be shown to be true or false in terms of an evidence test. By contrast with Christianity, if the events of the first Easter had not happened then Christianity could not continue. But many great minds have failed in their attempts to dismiss the credibility of the accounts of that first Easter. Too many eye-witnesses could give personal testimony that Jesus was dead but they met with Him on or after Easter Sunday.
A case in a court of law may succeed on the testimony of one credible witness, but when there are more than five hundred who can testify to an event taking place then, in terms of legal proof, the burden of responsibility is on those who deny the event has taken place because the evidence is overwhelming as Paul has made plain in I Corinthians 15:1-8.
(b) my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. There is a time and a place for being open-minded, listening to other points of view. All of us will have more to learn on any subject we can care to name. However, there are foundational convictions we hold on a range of topics that are non-negotiable.
We are absolutely certain they are true and build our worldview and convictions about other things in the light of the implications of the things we are convinced are true. No subject whether Arts or Science could exist without some assumed convictions on which current explorations are grounded. Paul is absolutely clear that the physical death and bodily resurrection of Jesus after His crucifixion on that first Good Friday is the factual bedrock of Christianity.
We must stand firm on these truths. Our future life beyond this life is linked directly with the death and resurrection of Jesus. Because He rose again from the dead so will we; because He has been welcomed into the Father’s direct presence so one day amazingly will we. The practical blessing of these truths is never more useful than in the latter days of the life of a believer who can be assured of the wonderful things that await them beyond this life.
It is equally the case that we can urge someone who has yet to trust Jesus to do so while they can because this wonderful future Jesus has planned for us is only for those who have embraced Him as Lord and Saviour. The gospel truly is good news but we must receive this amazing gift by faith to benefit from it. Have you done so yet?
(c) Let nothing move you. Paul made this point in his letter to the Church at Colossae. In Colossians 1:21-23a: Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because ofyour evil behaviour. 22 But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation – 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.
The whole purpose of Christian discipleship is to ensure we are properly grounded in the faith. In Ephesians 4:11-16 the apostle Paul explained this purpose in this way:
to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.
15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Will you and I stand firm in our Christian faith determined to give our very best for Him? I hope so!
2. The calling to follow
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord… (I Corinthians 15:58b) Paul has given an exhortation about what we ought not to do as followers of Jesus, now he puts it positively: Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord… (I Corinthians 15:58b); what does this mean in practise for us?
(a) Our prioritiesAt its heart it speaks to us about our priorities; We have an extremely lengthy list of options as to how we use our time outside of the time for work that is essential for paying the bills. The bad news is that for many people the ‘other’ time is more limited than we would like and choices have to be made. Sadly for too many people, even some Christians the Lord gets squeezed out of our schedules, or gets ‘whatever is left over’ when it comes to priorities. Work whether waged or voluntary is something God ordained for human beings as a core feature of our lives.
Paul was very blunt about the sin of idleness on the part of people who could hold down jobs but choose not to do so (See I Thessalonians 3:6-10). This is very different from the predicament of many people of all ages today who want to work and having a real struggle to find meaningful employment or who are off work just now due to the Covid-19 virus pandemic and are uncertain of what their job prospects are in the coming months. In this case we must do all we can to encourage them until they are successful in finding or getting back to appropriate employment.
The tragedy in sinful human society is to value some relatively peripheral jobs in various forms of entertainment and sport with excessive salaries and reward those who undertake some of the most demanding and essential NHS and Social Care-related jobs with low salaries and poor terms and conditions. This is a scandal that must be addressed once this crisis is over. Care for people in our own families is likewise essential. It was a required characteristic for potential church leaders -See I Timothy 3:4-5:
He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?).
However, the hardest choices for many people lie in what they can fit into the remaining hours left in their week, apart from sleep! As you look back over the last week, month or year could you say that you have fulfilled what Paul was asking here in this verse? Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord… (I Corinthians 15:58b). It was a challenge given to an early Christian congregation where too many of the members could not say that this was the case for them.
(b) Christian service The work of the Lord can take many forms some in public and other ministries most definitely in private. I thank the Lord for the many members of this congregation who have been dedicated in their service in their range of ministries from working with crèche and toddlers right up to serving the elderly in residential homes and all things in-between. Paul wanted his readers to commit themselves to serving the Lord as he most definitely was doing.
Hebrews 10:24 states: And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. These words are very similar to Paul’s exhortation in Galatians 6:9: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
There are always plenty of things we cannot do, but what can I do for the Lord at this time is the question we need to answer! The apostle’s exhortation Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord… (I Corinthians 15:58b) is a challenge once more to dedicate ourselves in His service. There are public ministries of evangelism and community service as well as work that is age-specific on Sundays and during the week.
However, there is also much that goes on behind the scenes in pastoral care. I thank the Lord both for the pastoral team officially appointed to watch out for the people on their lists, together with others who make a point of caring for particular individuals who need assistance, and for each one of us who pray regularly for our fellowship whether in prayer ministries or in private prayer times. It is a team effort and everyone is needed to play their part.
If you stop and look carefully you can see a pattern at work. As we step out in faith and go forward for the Lord He opens doors of opportunity for us as we can see in the last few years.
3. The conviction to remember
…because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain (I Corinthians 15:58c). Paul will conclude the letter with similar language with which he began I Corinthians 15. Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain(I Corinthians 15:1-2).
However, Paul has reminded them of the solid ground on which they stand. The death and resurrection of Jesus are facts of history to which there are an incredible number of primary witnesses. It really happened. Now that we know this is true, because He has been raised from the dead we too will conquer the barrier of death by physical resurrection to spend eternity with Him. Sin and death and the devil will all be vanquished in God’s new creation after this life.
Life has its joys and delights but also many frustrations and times of tears. The exciting thing is that unlike an Agatha Christie thriller we know the ending well ahead of the final scene. Jesus has won the victory. He is our coming King. In John 12:32, are words spoken a few days prior to His crucifixion when He made this prophetic statement about the significance of His forthcoming death:
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ 33 He said this to show the kind of death He was going to die.
It was a declaration that people from every ethnic background would come to faith in Him. In Revelation 7:9-10: After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’
Have you joined the winning team? If not will you take that step of faith today? I sincerely hope each one of us will do so, in Jesus’ name, 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 a powerful song well—known to us: ‘By Faith’
Closing Prayer
Thank you Lord for the privilege of spending this time together in Your presence today. Go with us we pray into the new week that lies ahead of us as we will seek to honour You in the way that we live. We thank you we can enter it with confidence because You go with us each step of the way, 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
