Life is like a tapestry that we see from the back with all its loose threads, a hint of a pattern but knots and an apparent lack of order add to the scene before our eyes. All our human friendships and relationships; efforts at school and work experience; successes and failures and everything else that makes up the lives we have lived –one day at a time.
Sometimes we gain a sense of perspective on what takes place and on other occasions we are puzzled and confused. Sometimes from the heart we cry out to God why? And may not get an answer like Job of old; the chances of it all ending happily ever after seemed as remote as it could possibly be.
Yet out of the tragedy that had befallen these women God was to bring something good that was beyond their expectations. There are times when we suffer the untimely death of a loved one or maybe the irreversible breakdown of a marriage or a bitterly disappointing business failure in which years of personal investment of our time and efforts and love, in the relationship contexts, or we are in the midst of very trying circumstances that could go on for years it would be unnatural if we never had some difficult and dark days in which we struggle to see how any good could come out of such situations. Or how things could possibly get better for us?
We remember that the scene began with a remarkable young woman in the midst of the wreckage of her personal circumstances who commits her life to the God of Israel who without a glimmer of hope before her begins a remarkable journey into an unknown future, relying only on God. The book ends with a genealogy –not usually most people’s favourite type of literature! But here the ethnic minority woman in Bethlehem becomes part of the family of Israel’s greatest king- David. Her marriage to Boaz produced a son Obed who was the grandfather of King David. What an amazing outcome! We are familiar with the story and know its happy ending, but such an ending was far from the thoughts of these women making the weary trek to Bethlehem. Yet in and through this situation Ruth was a blessing to so many people.
As we struggle to address the fallout from the Covid-19 virus as a society and equally find it so challenging to come to terms with the racism still so evident in our world, and so much more… The story of Ruth reminds us once again of an extraordinary God who takes great delight in using very ordinary people to accomplish great things in His service, Amen
Romans 8:28 reminds us of an encouraging truth: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him.
This is the point of principle we need to always keep in mind each day of our lives. Even in the midst of the suffering and hardship many are experiencing around the world due to the effects of the Covid-19 virus pandemic God works for the good of those who love Him. Even in the midst of the struggles for racial equality God works for the good of those who love Him.
You can add any number of other challenges in the world today, but the message of that verse will still be the same.All of us have times when we are waiting expectantly for news. In the summer holidays many young people are usually hoping to hear good news regarding school examinations that can have an impact on their future careers, though this year it is particularly stressful for teachers and students alike due to the disruption of the education provision at every age level.
For other adults it can be news regarding possible jobs they have applied for, or whether their jobs have been saved after the disruptions of recent months; for others it is finally getting that hospital appointment that had been put on hold, or a range of other things. For those who have broken the law of the land in a serious way it is the verdict of the jury that they have to wait for.
At times the tension can seem unbearable as we seek to find patience to wait for the good news and encouraging outcome for which we hope and pray in these situations. Here was one of the ‘longest’ days of Ruth’s life. She had to wait at home while Boaz went to the city gates to convene a meeting with the expected kinsman-redeemer, the nearest blood-relative to the late Elimelech, in the presence of ten elders of the town of Bethlehem.
A crowd would have gathered standing around while this small group of men sat on the floor and discussed the future of this young woman. Both the two main men in the story were older men; the one whose name we do not even know had been most reluctant to get involved in the situation.
There is no evidence that he had even been in touch with Naomi or Ruth since their return to Bethlehem, but we cannot place too much weight on the lack of evidence as this is a very short book with a clear focus on the actions of two people Boaz and Ruth. It is clear, with hindsight, that this other man never considered being the kinsman-redeemer for Ruth as chapter four makes plain.
However, at the time, she had every right to be worried as she was not intending going back to Moab and would have felt obliged to accept the verdict reached by this local council of elders. For Ruth who had come round to the idea of marrying Boaz it would have seemed most unfair that she was in effect to be married after some kind of public auction, albeit mitigated by the fact that only men from the clan of Elimelech were eligible to come forward! Naomi had counselled her with these words in Ruth 2:18: Wait my daughter, until you find out what happens.
Waiting patiently is something that many of us, including myself, find difficult, we want the issues before us sorted out and quickly. Be encouraged with these amazing words from Isaiah 30:18: Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him! Amen
Our song for reflection today is: ‘God is working His purpose out’
There are times when events in Bible times seem so close to our own culture and context, but many others which appear to belong to a culture and social context that appears to be entirely foreign to our own experience. Naomi has noticed that Ruth appears to be getting on very well with Boaz and that he appears to have a genuine affection for her. He had been very careful to maintain an appropriate distance between them, yet at the same time looking out for Ruth and her welfare.
It is possible that this man, a widower, had counted himself out of the reckoning for obtaining Ruth’s hand in marriage, both on the grounds of there being younger maybe better-looking young men who had taken a fancy to her and more probably because he was not the closest male relative who could function as the kinsman-redeemer for her (Ruth 3:12). Naomi explains to Ruth that Boaz was a close relative and invites her to wash and dress in her best clothes and go down to the threshing floor and in effect propose marriage to him. In a culture where women as well as children were rarely heard or seen in the public arena it was an extraordinary suggestion.
Ruth was not to be seen to be pushy, in fact she was asked simply to lie down and sleep next to his feet. Why was he sleeping in a field rather than in his bed at home? The reason is that he did it to provide security for the grain harvested to ensure that some or all of it was not stolen during the night. It was a lonely place as his employees and any temporary workers had long since gone home for the night. He did not expect to have company and would get a shock when he woke up in the middle of the night.
Naomi made a prophetic statement in Ruth 3:4: He will tell you what to do. It was an invitation to Ruth to place her faith in this man. It is a beautiful picture of our calling to place our lives in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you trusted Him? Is He Lord of your life? Are you confident to place every area of your life in His hands or are there parts of your life that you hold back thinking (but never saying!) that you can do a better job? Have we not all tried to give the Lord a hand at times? Thinking and sometimes even politely suggesting to Him that the reason why our prayers have not been answered in the way we wanted is because the Lord is so busy that we ought not to burden Him with as many things to do. And if He doesn’t mind we will take the issue back from Him and take care of the matter ourselves, though we are more than happy for Him to bless our feeble efforts to sort out our own lives!
How did Ruth respond to this proposal from her mother-in-law: I will do whatever you say, Ruth answered. What a parallel to Mary’s words to the angel Gabriel in the New Testament, in Luke 1:38: I am the Lord’s servant, Mary answered. May it be to me as you have said. Is there an issue that you or I am struggling with today or over these past few weeks, months or even years and which we need to entrust to His care? Ruth as a young believer sets a powerful example for us.
Our song for reflection today is: ‘My heart is filled with thankfulness’
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.
The Messy Church At Home information is now available on our church website www.broughtybaptist.org.
We will be continuing the Prayer Livestream at 7.00pm. 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. The link to access the event is here.
JAM Kids’ focus:
Here are the links to the new series from Out of the Box for JAM Kids age group.
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
Call to worship: Psalm 89:1-2, 5-8:
I will sing of the LORD’s great love for ever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. 2 I will declare that your love stands firm for ever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself. 5 The heavens praise your wonders, LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. 6 For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings? 7 In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him. 8 Who is like you, LORD God Almighty? You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
We are grateful to Helen Rice for selecting the songs for worship for this service
Our opening song of praise and worship is: ‘Waymaker’
We continue to worship the Lord in our second song of praise and worship: ‘All who are thirsty’.
Opening prayer
Thank you Lord that You are amazing. We come with a sense of awe and wonder at what you have done in bringing this world into being and sustaining it year after year. We are such a privileged people to live in this beautiful part of Your creation. We are so conscious that we live in a troubled world with so many problems and difficulties.
However, we are so grateful that we can come with boldness in the name of Jesus into the presence of our heavenly Father with our praises and our prayers. We so much appreciate the blessed Holy Spirit working in our lives enabling us to accomplish all we have done in the past week.
As we gather today we come humbly confessing our sins and asking once more for Your forgiveness. Thank You for the reminder in the Bible that: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9).
We also ask for the enabling power of Your Holy Spirit to strengthen and equip us for the week that lies ahead of us. Speak Lord through Your Holy Word that we may sense You speaking into our lives in accordance with our needs, during this time of worship. We bring our praises and our prayer in the wonderful and precious name of Jesus, 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.
Children’s (All Age) Talk
by Helen Rice
During this pandemic we have heard about normal people being described as Heroes as they have stepped out and bravely helped our communities and our nation. Our NHS staff, Care Home workers and Social care workers, Police, Paramedics, Teachers in hubs, Shop workers, delivery drivers to name just a few who have worked either on the frontline or in direct contact with the public. Others are volunteering to help their community and we’ve heard of stories of tremendous fundraising such as Captain Tom Moore and plenty more who we won’t have ever heard about.
When you hear the word Hero you might think about Super Hero’s such as Spiderman, Superman or Batman. They all look very normal too but each of them can change into a superhero with super powers. Jesus also looked very normal, in fact, that’s why many people didn’t believe he was a King. Spider man, Super Man and Bat Man are make believe with make believe powers. But Jesus is Real with Real supernatural powers!
We not only have a Real Super Hero watching out for us but he also wants to be our friend too and has done something amazing for us as we will hear about in this video of Jesus helping his good friend Lazarus.
Let us pray – Heavenly Father, we are thankful that Jesus is our Best Friend. We praise him, we love him, and we thank him for dying on the cross so that we might have everlasting life. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
The All Age Song – Superhero
Prayers for others
Thank you Lord once more for the privilege of praying for other people:
We give thanks that we are Jesus’s hands and feet on earth and can give a voice to the voiceless. We pray for issues of injustice, inequality and poverty whether locally, nationally or globally and ask that God would show each of us how we can partner with him in bringing justice to these situations.
We pray for those today who may once have worshipped God in our churches and who now find themselves jaded, faded, perhaps disillusioned by church and far from God. Pray that God might fan into flame any embers in their hearts during this time – perhaps through communication from a Christian friend.
In the Baptist Union of Scotland today we remember to pray for:
Peter Dick (Finance Director, BUS) – Please pray for Peter as he seeks to diligently manage BUS finances so that we can continue to support our churches across Scotland with many different kinds of resources.
Easterhouse BC – Pray that during this unprecedented time, God would continue to do new things in our hearts personally and together as a Church, as we seek to be His people in our families, frontlines and community. Pray we will receive His rest and look to Him for fresh vision in these days as we go forward into an exciting & new phase of the Church’s life.
Elgin BC – Like many other churches we are seeking to adapt to the challenges and opportunities that the current crises brings upon us. We are grateful for the technology that enables us to ‘meet’ and pray that through it all God will be honoured and glorified drawing many to Himself In these days.
Ellon BC – Please pray for God’s leading as we journey through these unusual times. That we would be a church that cares and sustains each other and that others will see something of Christ in that. Pray too for us as we look for new ways to serve the local community and that the current ways would also prove to be a blessing. We ask too for God’s leading and wisdom as we seek to make final decisions on a building project.
Erskine BC – Give thanks that we have been able to create a weekly online programme which is then made available through our church Facebook page and You Tube and that we can then use Zoom for fellowship. Give thanks that telephone calls and video meetups have kept the majority of our members, and regulars, in touch.
We pray too for the ongoing work of the Christian Churches in our land that You will help us be the best witnesses we can be in our local communities at this time. We thank you for the other churches in our local community and ask Your blessing on their work as we pray similarly for our own activities this week. In particular we pray for other people with particular needs that are connected to our own congregation:
The Nyguist family after John’s recent death and the Ford and Goodfellow families after the recent funerals of Jim and John respectively; we pray that You would comfort and uphold them and other families recently bereaved at this time.
We pray for Claire M and her family at this time after Bill’s death yesterday. We also remember Nina G after her recent admission to hospital and pray for a full recovery of her health and strength. We are aware of other, particularly older members who have ongoing health difficulties and pray for God’s strength for them at this time.
We pray for those exhausted with heavy work schedules that you would renew their health and strength, and for those struggling with the limitations of lock down that you would give them Your peace at this time. In particular, we remember … 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
When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple.
2 The priests could not enter the temple of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled it. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the LORD above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshipped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, ‘He is good; his love endures for ever.’
4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the LORD. 5 And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God.
6 The priests took up their positions, as did the Levites with the LORD’s musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the LORD and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, ‘His love endures for ever.’ Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.
7 Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the LORD, and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings, because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions. 8 So Solomon observed the festival at that time for seven days, and all Israel with him – a vast assembly, people from Lebo Hamath to the Wadi of Egypt.
9 On the eighth day they held an assembly, for they had celebrated the dedication of the altar for seven days and the festival for seven days more. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the LORD had done for David and Solomon and for his people Israel.
11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace, 12 the LORD appeared to him at night and said: ‘I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
13 ‘When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there for ever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 17 ‘As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, “You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.”
19 ‘But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple which I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, “Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?”
22 People will answer, “Because they have forsaken the LORD, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshipping and serving them – that is why he brought all this disaster on them.”’
II Chronicles 7:1-22
Before we come to listen to God’s Word let us sing: ‘Speak O Lord’
The Message
Pre-recorded video message available below.
II Chronicles 7:14 If My people…will humble themselves and pray
Introduction
Many years ago when fountain pens and ink were used by children in school and desks were still issued with ink wells, the following incident apparently took place in a classroom. It began with a question out of the blue from a child to the teacher: ‘Is God everywhere?’ asked the child. ‘Yes dear’ said the unsuspecting teacher keen to move on to the work in hand. ‘Is he in my inkwell, then?’
A significant pause occurred as the teacher sensed the conversation might be heading in an unprofitable direction. A less than convincing ‘yes dear’ was repeated by the teacher. The child then quickly blocked off the top of the inkwell and exclaimed triumphantly: ‘Got him then!’
What is your understanding of God –who He is and what He is like? It is easy to smile at this child’s naivety, but how big is your view of God and mine? Do we try and fit God into a metaphorical ‘box’ of our own creation. Do we try and limit Him to work in ways that we have already determined? In effect, are we simply using prayer as a means to get Him to confirm what we have already decided is going to take place already?
Our vision of who God is will have a significant impact on how we pray and the passion with which we pray for Him to work. Solomon had at this time grasped something of who God is and this motivated his passion to pray for his nation. II Chronicles 6:18 states: 18 ‘But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You. How much less this temple that I have built! 19 Yet, Lord my God, give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in Your presence.
Do you have a glimpse of this awesome God who reigns? Do you stand in awe of this majestic King who reigns over the universe? Do you bow with a sense of awe and wonder at the prospect of the return of the Lord of Lords who will come to reign for eternity?
We serve an incredible being, One who is too marvellous for human words to describe; too pure to tolerate iniquity; too holy to look upon sin, but too gracious to treat us as we deserve because of our sins. Instead showering His great love upon us in Jesus whose once-for-all-time sufficient sacrifice for sin took in full the punishment for our sins, so that instead of condemnation we might be welcomed into God’s family. This is our God! Do you know Him? Do you love Him? Do you serve Him?
II Chronicles 6-7, Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the Temple, are central to the theology of the books of Chronicles and at the heart of the Jewish faith concerning the covenant between the children of Abraham and Yahweh, who made that agreement with their forefather Abraham roughly four thousand years ago. It is a powerful restatement of where these people and their nation stood in relation to the promises of the covenant with their Sovereign Lord. Solomon will plead the promises of God. He is determined to ask the Lord to honour His own name through deliverance of His people from a series of unwelcome situations.
The culmination of this encounter with the Lord will come in II Chronicles 7:12-14: The Lord appeared to him at night and said: ‘I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a temple for sacrifices.13 ‘When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among My people, 14 if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
What a glorious promise! What an incredible invitation! What a solemn responsibility! God here invites His people on earth to participate in His glorious work through intercessory prayer. We are not called to say prayers, instead to pray from the heart crying out: ‘Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’.
Solomon and his prayers (II Chronicles 6:14-42)
(a) The One addressed in prayer (6:14-15) 14 He said: ‘Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven or on earth – You who keep your covenant of love with Your servants who continue wholeheartedly in Your way. 15 You have kept Your promise to Your servant David my father; with Your mouth You have promised and with Your hand You have fulfilled it – as it is today.
Do we have this confidence in God as he did that day? It is the basis of successful praying that we believe in the One to whom we bring our petitions. We can take prayer for granted or even our relationship with God, but to grasp the amazing honour that is ours in coming directly into the presence of the King of Kings is an amazing privilege. To keep before us what is truly the significance of prayer will keep us active in it when we are tempted to drift in our prayer life and neglect to safeguard its place in our daily routine.
(b) The past relationship with God (6:14-17) 17 And now, Lord, the God of Israel, let Your word that You promised Your servant David come true.
On the basis of Your past promises I come with a sense of expectancy concerning what You will do in the present and into the future. God is unchanging. Psalm 90:1-2: 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.
Hebrews 13:8 reminds us: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today for ever.
Our time on earth is but a moment in the context of eternity, but we come to One who knows the end from the beginning before the world began. Therefore we come with confidence to Him.
(c) The plea to God (6:18-21) Yet, Lord my God, give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. 20 May your eyes be open towards this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays towards this place. 21 Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray towards this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling-place; and when you hear, forgive.
In Jesus’ name we have free access to come to God in prayer (see Hebrews 4:16); ancient Israelites had to come through a human priest.
(d) The special occasions when people will pray (6:22-40) taking oaths in legal matters (6:22-23); after a defeat in war (6:24-25); in a time of drought (6:26-27); when natural disasters strike (6:28-31); when the country is going to war (6:33-34); when experiencing captivity and exile from the promised Land (6:36-40); each of these are seen as major collective crises where particular divine intervention is required.
(e) His concluding plea to God (6:41-42) God will You glorify Your name, in accordance with what You have promised, which by definition must be for the collective good of Your people also. In effect, Lord align our heart’s desires to seek that which is according to Your will –now that is powerful praying – how did God respond to that powerful plea?
The Response from God (II Chronicles 7)
(a)God’s visible response by fire (II Chronicles 7:1-10) When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. 3 When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshipped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, ‘He is good; His love endures for ever.
This was neither the first nor the last time when God manifested Himself to Israel with this particular visible sign. After the appointment of Aaron and those with him to their priestly and serving roles, and all the appropriate ceremonies and sacrifices had taken place, Leviticus 9:23-24 states:
Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 24Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell face down.
Our God reigns! Another example of the same phenomena came in the time of David’s rule after he had sinned by ordering a census of the armed forces. On the very place where God had directed David to purchase the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite and offer a sacrifice as atonement for his sin- and collectively that of the nation –something carried out in full. I Chronicles 21:26 records:
David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. What is especially significant is that a generation later on that very spot Solomon stood praying for the nation and pleading with God: When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple…(II Chronicles 7:1).
This was holy ground, because God was in that place. God had been exalted and His people – and visibly their king –had humbled themselves before Him, and seen their prayers answered. Does it matter enough to us to see God answer our prayers for His glory and consequently our good? Covenant blessings are conditional on covenant obedience by God’s people Jew or Gentile in every generation.
(b) God’s answer to His praying people (II Chronicles 7:11-18) 11 When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace, 12 the Lord appeared to him at night and said: ‘I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. 13 ‘When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among My people, 14 if My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that My Name may be there for ever. My eyes and My heart will always be there.17 ‘As for you, if you walk before Me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe My decrees and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, “You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.”
Notice the key revelation from God was not dramatic or in public, but when Solomon was in bed one night thirteen years later (See I Kings 6:38-7:1, 9:10). Over the years in reading the Bible I have often failed to spot the lengthy time gaps between prayers for God to work by various people and the time it took to receive the answer to their prayers. How we need patience to wait God’s timing on so many things, in so many situations in our lives. The length of time is not determined necessarily by the earnestness of our prayers or the holiness of our lives, though both are important aspects of Christian discipleship.
God works on a much longer timescale than we do –failure to grasp this can cause us to become discouraged because of a lack of a visible response to the Gospel when we reach out to people, but when we do grasp it we can put into perspective current blessings and challenges. God is not like a heavenly version of Santa Claus who delivers his gifts because it is that date on the calendar again. If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves– what does that mean in practice here?
It requires a changed attitude with respect to oneself, a renunciation of putting self on the throne where God alone should be honoured and adored. This is one of the hardest things you and I can ever do. Humility is despised in our culture and taken advantage of –yet it was a characteristic of Moses [Numbers 12:3: Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth], who led a demoralised bunch of slaves and transformed them into a nation on the verge of inheriting a land God had promised to them.
It was a characteristic of our Lord Himself that the apostle Paul highlights in that hymn of praise in Philippians2:8: And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death –even death on a cross!
We sing: ‘It’s all about You Jesus…When the music fades All is stripped away And I simply come Longing just to bring Something that’s of worth That will bless Your heart I’ll bring You more than a song For a song in itself Is not what You have required You search much deeper within Through the way things appear You’re looking into my heart I’m coming back to the heart of worship And it’s all about You, It’s all about You, Jesus I’m sorry, Lord, for the thing I’ve made it When it’s all about You, It’s all about You, Jesus –Michael W Smith [CMP1016]
This is so easy to say but so hard to practise. Why? Because there are key moments in our lives when we so desperately want a particular outcome to our prayers that we cannot conceive of an acceptable alternative outcome! Do you / do I need the help of the Holy Spirit to come to this place in our lives? Undoubtedly on some occasions more than others –what about today? This is not something we can do in our own strength –only in His! If there have not been any times in your life when you have not seriously struggled with either accepting God’s will or finding it as a Christian then you are an exceptional person, as it is the norm.
It was for Jesus in the wilderness before He started His earthly ministry and endured the temptations of the evil one and as His ministry drew to its climax on the cross in Gethsemane and probably on a number of occasions in between. Wrestling with injustice, wrestling with tough choices for ourselves or other people is part of our human experience. Anyone who thinks following Jesus means your problems are over has been seriously misled.
What He promises is to stand with us in the storms of life and in humble dependence on Him be overcomers in Jesus’ name. Humility, that is a conscious heartfelt desire to put God and His will first in our lives, in whatever circumstances, is the position with which we come to the other requirements from God in this verse. and pray… this is the opposite of self-assertion, acknowledging God’s right to make decisions and ‘judge’ our life choices. The word in Hebrew here rendered pray is related to a verb meaning ‘judge’ in Hebrew. …and seek My face this is a single-minded determination to find out as best we can what the Lord wants us to do with our lives, sometimes in more general terms and on other occasions in very specific terms. …and turn from their wicked ways… this points to a conscious act of will; after discerning what God would have us do, the decision is made to follow that course of action, not just for a day but for the rest of our days, as far as we are able with His help.
This is what the human author of these words was inspired by God to write for our instruction and walk with God. The theory of being a Christian is the easy bit. The hard bit is living it in real situations with flesh and blood human beings in daily life.
(c) God’s warning to His people (II Chronicles 7:19-22) 19 ‘But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from My land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple which I have consecrated for My Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, “Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?” 22 People will answer, “Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshipping and serving them – that is why He brought all this disaster on them.”’
Covenant blessings in Abraham, or New Covenant in Christ are two-sided God’s part and ours; both parties must be faithful in fulfilling their obligations for blessing to follow. God has not changed. He will keep His promises. Let us pray…! Amen
Our song before we come to communion is: ‘O breath of life’
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: There is a Redeemer
Closing Prayer Thank you God that you are interested in us both personally and collectively in our families and church families, as well as in our wider nation; Help us as a country to honour You in the laws we pass in our parliaments and in the way we live our lives as citizens. As Christians we want to be bold in speaking the truth of the Christian message, but also desire Your help in living out our faith in practical ways in our daily lives. Grant us the strength we need to accomplish all that we need to do this week, in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, Our Saviour, 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
Remember tonight the national online prayer service at 7pm on Facebook.
Living by faith is extremely impractical in the eyes of many people. Ruth came back to Bethlehem with no recognisable source of income and no known opportunity for paid employment at a time in history when there were no government schemes to care for the poor. We are thankful for the welfare state and in the UK for the extraordinary government scheme that pays a high proportion of the wages of people laid off temporarily until the lock down regulations are withdrawn. She had no guarantees of any assistance but trusted God to open up a way for her and her aged mother-in-law.
The issue for all of us is this: Will you and will I carry out the big or small task or tasks that the Lord lays on our hearts in coming days? Ruth was determined to take God at His Word. She had no prior expectations of what the Lord could or would do for her, except that she would trust Him to take care of her future and that of Naomi, while at the same time doing all that she could at a practical human level to make that a reality. ‘Work as hard as you can as if everything depends on you’ and ‘pray as hard as you can because everything depends on God’ have been Evangelical slogans down the years and have stood the test of time. Ruth would find out that God would not let her down and we too can experience that for ourselves as we commit our lives to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. What did God do for Ruth? He provided:
God’s Man (Ruth 2:1, 4) Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side from the clan of Elimelech, a man of standing, whose name was Boaz (Ruth 2:1). The author of the book of Ruth, in Ruth 2:1, allows us to grasp the key point ahead of schedule, that the man Ruth will meet is a close relative of Naomi’s late husband Elimelech, whose estate on his death passed to Mahlon, Ruth’s late husband on his father’s death. This brief explanation sheds a great deal of light on the remaining parts of the story. It was not luck or chance that this happened. It was God preparing the way to honour this young women. God has not changed. He is ‘Jehovah Jireh’ the God who provides what we need.God’s Place (Ruth 2:2-3) Ruth…said to Naomi Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour. Naomi said to her Go ahead my daughter. So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz who was from the clan of Elimelech.
At the human level some people would say Ruth was lucky that she went to a field where the owner was sympathetic. As Christians we do not believe in luck or chance by contrast to many people in our land we believe in a sovereign God in whose safe hands we entrust our lives. We declare that in spite of our circumstances sometimes not because of them we affirm that there is a purpose to our lives and a plan for us which our loving heavenly Father has prepared. As a Christian community of believers we are here to pray for one another and to support one another through these difficult times, as well as rejoicing with others in our midst who have much to celebrate.
For Ruth and Naomi they had come to an end of their own resources but in the providence of God He was several steps ahead of them in His provision of a place for them. God’s place was back home in Bethlehem. Chapter one verse 22 indicates the wonderful timing of their arrival. It states: that these ladies were arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning. May we in our time of need remember the words of Peter in I Peter 5:7: Cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you.
God’s Method (Ruth 2:5-7) Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters Whose young woman is that? The foreman replied She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters. She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now except for a short rest in the shelter.
God will not work ‘supernaturally’ when ordinary means are available. At the appointed time soon after dawn before the hottest time of the day had begun Ruth presented herself with other widows and poor people looking for grain at the fields of the farmers engaged in harvesting their crops. Ruth is polite and asks permission to work in this particular field and the foreman agrees to her request.
Ruth was noted as a careful and diligent worker. She was not expecting handouts instead seeking to work to provide for herself and her elderly mother-in-law. Boaz and others present were impressed with the attitude of this young woman. When challenges cross our pathway the Lord expects us to do what we can personally to address the issues we face but can also use other people to be part of the answer to our prayers.
There are occasions when we have a miraculous answer to our prayers yet this is not the normal way issues are resolved in day to day living. However many of us can testify when we were literally at the end of our own resources that we have had some wonderful answers to our prayers.
God’s provision (Ruth 2:8-9) Ruth was noted as a careful and diligent worker. She was not expecting handouts instead seeking to work to provide for herself and her elderly mother-in-law. Boaz and others present were impressed with the attitude of this young woman. When challenges cross our pathway the Lord expects us to do what we can personally to address the issues we face but can also use other people to be part of the answer to our prayers. There are occasions when we have a miraculous answer to our prayers yet this is not the normal way issues are resolved in day to day living. However many of us can testify when we were literally at the end of our own resources that we have had some wonderful answers to our prayers.
God’s Grace (Ruth 2:10-13) At this she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me –a foreigner? Boaz replied I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband –how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.
Ruth recognised that she had no right to presume that this man would demonstrate such kindness to her as a foreigner. She could only hope for his mercy and generosity. Why had Boaz decided to act in this way? Because he had been greatly impressed by what he had seen and heard of Ruth’s conduct first in Moab and then back in Bethlehem towards Naomi. He knew that Naomi had no right to expect Ruth to come with her –once her husband had died she was free to go back to her family and seek another arranged marriage. However Boaz held the view that the Lord honours those people who honour Him even if they are not consciously motivated to recognise their actions within that perspective. God has not changed! Amen
Our song for reflection is: ‘How firm a foundation you saints of the Lord’
We come once more to the middle of another week in which I invite you to set aside some time today for prayer and reflection on our own lives and church community, as well as for others in the wider community and further afield . Ruth1
Your people will be my people and your God my God Naomi was making the right decision to go home to Bethlehem, but she had not dealt with the wrong decision she and her husband had made. It was most unfortunate that she faced the triple tragedy of the loss of the three most important people in her life in a very short space of time.
No-one, absolutely no-one can experience such a traumatic loss without very serious struggles to adjust to the new painful reality. However, at least in Bethlehem she would have friends or extended family members who would have tried to assist her, but to face these deaths in another country was particularly difficult so far from home. Naomi planned to compound her past failure by seeking to cover up what had happened in Moab by seeking to persuade her daughters-in-law to stay behind in their land and return to their families.
In Old Testament law the Jewish people had been told by God not to live in these territories where the lifestyles were inconsistent with the faith they proclaimed and most importantly not to marry outside their Jewish faith. Naomi’s two sons when of marriageable age had only Moabite girls to choose from! What else could they have done in that culture and context? I have a conviction that Orpah and Ruth had adopted the Jewish faith as their own when they married into this family.
This is only my reading of the situation –it is not explicitly stated as fact in the Bible, but it would explain the reactions of the young women especially Ruth later in this passage. Unfortunately, Naomi wants them to go home so that she does not have to explain why she had two Moabite daughters-in-law. This was a wrong motivation and her counsel was deeply suspect at a time when these two young widows, probably in their late teenage years, were mourning the loss of their husbands. Their willingness to go with Naomi to Bethlehem at potentially great personal cost is amazing.
However, the focus in this section of the story is not on Naomi, or on Orpah the daughter-in-law who chooses to go home, but on Ruth. Ruth 1:16-18 states: But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.’ 18 When Naomi realised that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
The easy option for Ruth would have been to go back home to her parents as well. But her faith in God in this situation is both inspirational and challenging to us today.
It is inspirational: There is no hopeless situation when God is at work. We may not be able to see a way out of our difficulties, but He is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine… (Ephesians 3:20). Many of us today are struggling with the consequences of the Covid-19 virus pandemic. Whether it is our physical, emotional or mental health it is for some of us a new situation that we feel out of our depth to cope with. Here this courageous young woman displays a maturity beyond her years. As a relatively new believer in God she takes Him at His Word and will in time see that faith vindicated. Let us pray for the gift of faith in God or as a Christian a strengthened faith to trust God to get us through this difficult time.
It is challenging: The ‘elephant in the room’ here is that in addition to the crisis all are facing, Ruth goes to Bethlehem as a person with a different ethnicity without any assurance she will be welcomed by others in that community. We know the gist of the story looking back, but in real time Ruth may have had some genuine fears of how welcome she would be in that conservative Jewish cultural context.
Fast forward more than three thousand years, humankind has made far too little progress in promoting racial equality. Recent events and the stories some of us have listened to of the lived experience of Black people in our midst are distressing. The challenge to face going forward is this: will we keep listening and not just move onto the ‘next’ issue. Will we also pray asking God how we can play our own part individually in changing our communities for good in the coming days?
Our song for reflection is: ‘We’ll walk the land’
Pointers for Prayer • We praise God for the reduction in numbers of people contracting the Covid-19 virus and a consequent decline in the numbers of deaths in our country. We are deeply grateful to the NHS and Social Care staff who continue to support those who have contracted this illness. However, we also pray for wisdom for the Governments in our country as health care services that have been put on hold are restarted enabling doctors’ surgeries and dental practices to reopen.
• We pray for wisdom for our Police Forces, together with local Government and legal authorities, when decisions are taken regarding matters of law and order at the present time including encouraging better practice from a minority who ignore the lock down guidance and in policing demonstrations and other responses following the killing of George Floyd on 25 May in Minneapolis. We pray that as a society each of us may be more aware of the need to oppose racism and ensure that Black Lives Matter.
• We pray for those teaching in our schools, colleges and universities, seeking to prepare for the next academic year at a time when the future is so unclear, together with young people and their families attempting to juggle work and family life alongside supporting their children in their school work.
• We pray for employers and employees in so many workplaces with deep concerns how their work might take place safely in the coming months. We also remember those now out of work and young people seeking to gain their first jobs that each might find a place of work that fits their gifts and experience.
• We continue to pray for the families that have been bereaved and ask for God’s strength and comfort in their time of sorrow.
• We remember those who are unwell and pray for God’s healing and restoration of health and strength. We particular pray for Claire and the Marshall family as Bill’s health has declined rapidly in the last few days. We give thanks that Nina G is now home from hospital and for Jeanne P having her 85th birthday this week.
• We pray for those struggling with continuing isolation in their homes or residential homes and older members of the church in particular who are finding the strains of recent months particularly difficult.
• We pray for ourselves and our families and our own specific needs; also that we always make time each day to read His word and spend time in His presence in prayer.
• We pray in advance for the online meetings and activities for all ages in our church family throughout this week and the service next Sunday.
Naomi and her husband Elimelech had made a wrong move to go to Moab. They ought never to have been there. A bad choice was followed in the next few years by the sad deaths of her husband and children. Many of us have made bad decisions maybe changing jobs and realising with hindsight that the ‘grass was not greener’ elsewhere; or maybe work decisions that had negative lasting consequences.
Each of us by virtue of our fallibility and humanity will look back and see things that now we would have done differently. The new element in this story is found in Ruth 1:6. When she heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of His people by providing food for them Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.
It appeared on the surface to be the easiest choice to make –serious shortages of food in the land where she sought temporary support as a refugee, plenty of food back home – I’ve got to go home. However, to go home meant admitting that they ought not to have gone to Moab in the first place. It was an issue of pride. All of us at times say or do wrong things but to apologise and admit we made a mistake is hard.
For others of us letting the past go with respect to our failures or those of other people is the problem. At the heart of our faith is grace –that is the recognition that we have received the undeserved love of love and if God treats me better than I deserve then I ought to reflect that in my own conduct and relationships.
We need, though, to take a step back and admit that the famine was real. In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land (Ruth 1:1). It was a time of real hardship and suffering for all the people who lived in that area regardless of their ethnicity, social class or any other key feature of their identity. This could not be wished away, even prayed away because God had permitted this tough time to happen in the land.
The issue to face is simply this: How should I respond to the crisis situation before me? These events don’t affect people equally. Those individuals with a previously higher income had the ability to make choices not open to the poorest families in the land. In our country we have been living with the Covid-19 virus pandemic. It has had a huge impact on all of our lives.
However, we do have a choice in how we respond to it. If one crisis was not enough to handle in 2020, a second burst into our consciousness through the brutal killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Once again we including Mr Floyd could never have imagined what happened on that fateful day. These events could not be airbrushed from our collective history.
The question to face is simply this: How will I react to the situation before me. In the Covid-19 virus pandemic so many people in our communities stepped up to offer to help their neighbours or other people in need. The virus and the lock down are very real, but how we seek to respond to it is what will have the biggest impact on our own lives and those of others around us. Now the second crisis is much harder to deal with because institutionalised racism has been around for a long time. What will define us individually and collectively is how we respond to this situation.
We all have made mistakes in the past in the choices we made. However, are we willing to ask: ‘Lord is there something I have been missing? Help me to see with Your eyes what needs to be done, even today. Past failure is never final while we have breath left in our bodies. Both as individuals and as a society we have opportunities to make some changes for the better. We need to ask: ‘Lord show us the way’, for Jesus’s sake Amen.
Our song for reflection today is: ‘Breathe on me breath of God’
The book of Numbers in the Old Testament is not likely to be the favourite part of the Bible for many Christians. It focuses on a lot on the day-to-day travels, troubles and complaints of the Israelites wandering through the desert as they slowly made their way to the Promised Land led by their longsuffering leader Moses.
Here were a very large number of people living in a confined space in the desert with not too much to do and certainly outside of the basic tasks of daily living there was very little else to do in an era long before the invention of the internet and social media! However, in Numbers chapter twelve there are two remarkable pieces of information communicated about His views on Moses, the leader of the Jewish nation, together with His views on racism and interracial marriage.
It is not common to hear many sermons preached from the book of Numbers or on the subject of God’s approach to people holding racist views about those who look different to themselves. What does God think on these two topics?
Moses (Numbers 12:6-8) When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, reveal Myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. 7 But this is not true of My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. 8 With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord.
Moses heard the literal voice of God and had actual audible conversations with Him. There could barely be a higher form of commendation of this man than revealed in this observation. God approved of this man and his conduct and through this choice of the means of communication with him demonstrated to anyone who was interested that Moses was living a God-honouring life.
The problem was that not everyone in the Israelite camp was thrilled at Moses’ leadership or some of the choices he made. The books of Exodus and Numbers see plenty of these complaints listed with grumbling over the food and water supply. Did anyone think it was going to be easy for in excess of one or even two million people to be fed and watered adequately in the midst of a desert?
The first thing we learn about the life of Moses was that no matter what he did someone wasn’t happy and often they were quick to make it a public issue. In this passage two people in his own family take issue with a major decision he made and were not afraid to criticise him openly for doing so. In reflection – how quick I am to criticise someone else for holding a different view to me? How quick am I to post a social media response in the same context?
The answer for the vast majority of us is sometimes yes I can be guilty of that. Let us endeavour to be quick to praise helpful constructive posts, but much slower to respond when we disagree, especially when we strongly disagree. Let us try genuinely to seek to understand where the other person is coming from as this can be quite significant. After all, if someone God greatly honoured goes through these difficulties then I cannot expect to be guaranteed an easy time either.
Interracial marriage (Numbers 12:1-16) Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2 ‘Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?’ they asked. ‘Hasn’t he also spoken through us?’ And the Lord heard this…The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.(Numbers 12:1-3,9).
If this is Moses’ wife he married in the desert prior to leading the Israelites out of Egypt, then the anger of his siblings Aaron and Miriam is astonishing. It is years later that this racial problem had festered inside his brother and sister before finally coming out.
When you have a serious difference of opinion with someone please don’t pretend it is not real or assume that you have a monopoly of insight and truth on your side and that the other person ‘must’ be wrong.
What did they object to? First, Moses had married a woman who was a black African. She probably had come from one of the countries we today call either Sudan or Ethiopia. By contrast, they were fairer brown skinned people, typical of the majority of people from the countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea.
Secondly, they resented the fact that he was in the public eye more than them, leading the nation when they would have liked a turn at doing his job. There was clearly some jealousy of their little brother and his successes. We have no way of knowing which came first, but in public at least the attack on their brother was over his choice of marriage partner on racial grounds.
What did God have to say about their objections to interracial marriage? Numbers 12:9 states: The anger of the Lord burned against them, and He left them.
God viewed their racist attitude as so serious an issue that it led to a suspension of their fellowship with Him. They had to repent of their sin and Moses pray on their behalf for God to lift His judgement on them. As we look within our own hearts, have you or I ever thought less of someone because their racial origins were different to our own?
Have you or I treated someone less well because they have a different racial background in our family circle, workplace, social setting or even in our church? Honesty can be painful, but the good thing is that when we repent of our sins God is willing to forgive us and allow us a fresh start in our relationship with Him. Failing to get this right can have tragic consequences.
At the present time we need to stand with those who have suffered most with racism and discrimination and affirm with them that Black Lives Matter. We cannot and must not forget how seriously God viewed this sin of Aaron and Miriam. Nor must we keep silent because it is costing too many lives today. May we all resolve to treat each other as equals in the sight of God, for Jesus’ sake, Amen
Our song for reflection today is: ‘Purify my heart’
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
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. 2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?
5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honour. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8
We are grateful to Dave Rowe 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:
Opening prayer
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! We come with a real sense of joy and anticipation into Your presence once more today. You are the amazing wonderful God whose love towards us never ceases to amaze us and Your grace towards us is far greater than we ever deserve. We are humbled by Your kindness to us day after day.
Today we come once more seeking to meet with You, to worship and adore Your holy name. Thank you for the wonder of Your creation that reflects something of Your splendour. We are so privileged to live on this inhabitable planet with all the resources required for a healthy and fulfilled life. For many of us we are grateful on our daily exercise to experience some of the beauty around us in the flowers and the trees and to have the blessing of hearing to listen to the birds singing in the trees.
Once more we seek Your forgiveness of our sins and the fresh empowering of Your Holy Spirit as we commence another week. Speak Lord to our hearts from Your Word and give us the desire to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit into our lives, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
Let us say together the words Jesus taught His disciples when He said:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever Amen.
All Age talk
You will have noticed that we have all had to learn some new words and terms during the weeks of the lockdown. Hardly a day goes by without someone using words that we had hardly ever used before never mind knew what they meant eg pandemic, R Number, contact tracing.
We’ve also had to get used to hearing a lot of abbreviations being used on the news etc. Let’s see how many you know:
Start off with an easy one: NHS?
What about COVID?
Or WHO?
Here’s another one that’s been in the news a lot this week – BLM?
That’s Black Lives Matter
You don’t have to be a person of colour to believe that those words are true. And it was good to see many people with white skins marching in the streets last week in favour of black people getting treated more fairly.
But could we not also say this – ALM?
ie All Lives Matter
That’s what the Bible would say. If you look on the church Facebook page you will find a verse from the book of Galatians in the New Testament. It is taken from a letter that was written around 2000 years ago to some Christians in Turkey. In The Message version of the New Testament it reads:
“In Christ’s family there can be no divisions into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us we are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship to Jesus Christ.”
The letter writer, Paul, could have added other things to his list of divisions – black and white, rich and poor, educated and uneducated – the important thing is that the Bible teaches that everyone is important because – JDFE.
Ie Jesus Died For Everyone
Everyone can receive God’s love, his undeserved kindness and his forgiveness. No one is excluded. That means if we are followers of Jesus we must do the same. Treat everyone the same. No matter who they are. And speak up for those who are not treated equally and fairly.
Our Next song is:
Prayers for others
Thank you Lord once more for the privilege of praying for other people:
We pray today for the many refugee camps across the world now becoming infected with Covid-19, and particularly the camp in Kutupalong, which houses more than 850,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Social distancing is virtually impossible in these camps, so we pray that the spread of Covid-19 would somehow be contained.
We continue to pray for the people of the United States of America and increasingly in conversations elsewhere in other countries, including the United Kingdom, as we grapple with the appalling legacy of racism in our respective countries. We acknowledge that the primary focus of this debate is rightly in America following the appalling murder of George Floyd. We plead for wisdom and courage for those in positions of authority to know how best to make the necessary structural changes to ensure that in the not too distant future that another family is not going through what this family has had to face.
We continue to pray for all those affected by the recent cyclone which struck Bangladesh. We pray for the emergency services as they try to rescue people in the midst of Covid-19 social distancing measures, which is an added pressure. We pray for those who are fearful to leave unsafe homes due to the panademic.
We give thanks for the many charitable organisations across the UK whose work provides valuable services, important research and support to many people. As these charities struggle with a big drop in their fundraising income, please pray for creativity and wisdom as they seek to close the fundraising gap.
As Scotland begins to slowly emerge from Lockdown, we pray for safety and continued protection for people as they start to live in the ‘new normal’ for the foreseeable future.
We pray for those working in the hospitality sector, which has been devastated by the impact of Covid-19. We pray for those who have lost their jobs or those who don’t know yet if they will still have a job or not. We also pray for wisdom for business owners trying to work out future plans.
We pray for young children who may be finding life hard just now and who are not fully able to articulate how they feel. Pray that creative ways will be found to allow children to express their feelings about this difficult time of isolation from friends and family.
At the same time we give thanks for the surge of interest in prayer by many people across the UK, and indeed the world, at this time. Pray for a turning of the tide and for an avalanche of God’s love and mercy to descend through the power of the Holy Spirit to soften hearts, bring conviction and change lives.
In the Baptist Union of Scotland today we rememberto pray for:
Frances Bloomfield Convenor, BUS – We pray for Frances as she works with Martin, the General Director, in preparing agendas for Trustee and Council meetings and as she chairs these meetings online at the current time.
Dunrossness BC, Shetland – We are thankful to God for their engagement and transition to church gatherings online. They ask us to pray for increased devotion towards God in their congregation which would inspire listening, creativity, participation, desire and focus in order to be a caring and missional church.
We pray too for the ongoing work of the Christian Churches in our land that You will help us be the best witnesses we can be in our local communities at this time. We thank you for the other churches in our local community and ask Your blessing on their work as we pray similarly for our own activities this week. In particular we pray for:
The Ford and Goodfellow families after the recent funerals of Jim and John respectively; we pray that You would comfort and uphold them and other families recently bereaved at this time.
We pray for Nina G after her recent admission to hospital and pray for a full recovery of her health and strength. We are aware of other members who have ongoing health difficulties and pray for God’s strength for them at this time. We pray for those exhausted with heavy work schedules that you would renew their health and strength, and for those struggling with the limitations of lock down that you would give them Your peace at this time.
We bring our own needs to You at this time … in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.
Bible reading
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.
5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. 13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you – guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
II Timothy 1:1-14
Before we come to listen to God’s Word let us sing:
The Message
II Timothy 1:12:My confidence for the future
Introduction
There are plenty of people in the world who seem so full of confidence in their actions. But I think it likely that there are even more who at least inside themselves are very much the opposite and lacking in self-confidence. Over the years there have been a few, mainly gamblers from the Republic of Ireland who have bet some incredible amounts of money on a single race at the Cheltenham Horse racing festival. To risk more on one race lasting a few minutes than most people in this country own in total seems incredible.
However, although his confidence in himself was limited, the apostle Paul had great confidence in God taking care of him and his future. II Timothy 1:122 states: That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Do you share his confidence in God with respect to your future?
It is my sincere hope and prayer that we all have confidence in God for what lies ahead of us. He knows what is best and has planned the pathway ahead of us. He is our guide who will go with us each step of the way. Praise God for that. A popular car sticker when I was in High School said this: ‘Don’t follow me, I’m lost!’ If this is true spiritually then it is very sad. However, as Christians we follow the One who declared Himself as the Way (John 14:6). Therefore, we ought not to get lost because we are following in the footsteps of our guide – our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. What does Paul say here in the last surviving letter that he wrote prior to his execution in the reign if Nero in the 60sAD.
1. My resolution (II Timothy 1:12a) I am not ashamed…
Or as the latest edition of the NIV states: Yet this is no cause for shame. Our faith is not based on our feelings. When we are ‘in love’ with someone, how we feel about our day might depend on whether you got a letter, text, WhatsApp message, Instagram picture or even a phone call from them! For Paul his focus and passion in life is centred on his faith in Jesus Christ and his desire to share Jesus with other people.
To endure what Paul went through in the course of his Christian work (See II Corinthians 11:16-33) would have been too much for many of us. We marvel at his capacity to overcome all kinds of verbal, physical and psychological abuse on his travels across the Roman world. This letter is the summary of his thoughts shortly before he died. Even at this time when he is being incredibly positive there was an incident that he recalled that hurt him deeply. It states in 2 Timothy 1:15: You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
For a man as intense as Paul, for whom loyalty by his friends really mattered this was a tough time. Yet just when he was feeling at his lowest his mind then turned to a friend whose support was unwavering over the years. May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus (II Timothy 1:16-18).
These names will mean almost nothing to you and me, but there are other names of people in your life who have been a great help to you. Take a few moments today privately to thank God for particular individuals who have encouraged you maybe in the recent past or even this week. It may even be appropriate in some cases to send a brief message of appreciation to them. Yet in his time of need Paul was not alone in being abandoned, the first disciples abandoned Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane at the time of his arrest shortly prior to His crucifixion (Mark 14:50).
Disciples of Jesus will have tough days when others let us down, but we may on other occasions be the one who disappoints someone else so just as we might seek forgiveness when we fail, we have to be willing to forgive others when they seek forgiveness from us. What do we learn of Paul here from these words? He is firstly:
(a)Not ashamed of Jesus His consistency of witness both publically and privately over around three decades was inspirational. He was fearless as a witness for Jesus. In Acts 1:8 it records Jesus declaring: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
The apostle Paul had contributed as much as anyone to the fulfilment of this prophetic word. It would take till the end of the last century to see the goal in sight of a Christian presence in every people group on earth and at least part of the Bible translated into every major language spoken on earth. How did believers then Christians today accomplish so much?
The gift of the Holy Spirit is the key here. Jesus at the Last Supper stated in John 15:26-27: When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father – the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father – He will testify about Me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with Me from the beginning.
It was so hard at times as Paul made clear in I Corinthians 4:10-13: For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honoured, we are dishonoured! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world – right up to this moment.
(b) Not ashamed of other believers Timothy, the recipient of this letter was asked to remain loyal to his father in the faith (II Timothy 1:8), something we understand he was committed to doing. The call to perseverance was something Paul repeatedly appealed for. I Corinthians 15:58 was one of his clearest articulations of this truth. 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.
2. My faith (II Timothy 1:12b) I know whom I have believed…
The key here is whom I have believed because it is not his self-will or stubbornness that is key. It is not his spirituality or his exemplary Christian service, but God in whom he trusts. He has absolute confidence in his heavenly Father. There are times when our earthly parents or other family members and friends cannot help us. But God is the One who makes all the difference. Why is Paul so confident in God? He is:
(a)The source of his salvation (II Timothy 1:9) He has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time… I am not saved or assured of eternal salvation because of what I have done but because of what He has done for me. When did God plan our salvation? Again in verse 9: before the beginning of time…
Sometimes an earthly parent will admit that a child was a surprise baby, very welcome but not a planned pregnancy. There is no-one in God’s family like that. We have always been in His plans. Praise God for that. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul wrote these words: In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will (Ephesians 1:11).
God desired a people to be part of His family – you have always been wanted and welcome. Thank God when an earthly parent can say that from their heart to their child. However, an even greater blessing is that God views His children in that way as well. We are saved for a purpose He has saved us and called us to a holy life … Or as Paul put it in Ephesians 2:8-10: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. The person who is truly a child of God will want to do good works in response to the love of God. In other words we are saved for them not by them.
(b) The ground of his salvation (II Timothy 1:10) …but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. The key word here is ‘now’. Prior to the coming of Jesus in the world it was unclear exactly how God would bring salvation to the world. The coming of Jesus, as Paul explains in II Timothy 1:10, makes all the difference. What did Jesus do?
(i)He abolished death He was the one who died and came back to life again. He was separated from our Father in heaven on the cross so that we might be spared that fate in eternity. Without the good news of the gospel Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:4: But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. What difference did the gift of salvation make? And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6); Paul was so sure of the future prepared for us beyond the grave that he describes the future as if it had already happened! The consistency of early Christina witness was that these usually powerless often enslaved persons gained a self-worth and identity of priceless proportions ‘in Christ’, through their union by faith in Him.
(ii) He brought life and immortality Because Jesus rose from the dead so shall we. Because He is at the right hand of the Father in heaven so shall we be with Him in eternity. Paul wrote in I Corinthians15:26 in the chapter on the significance of the bodily resurrection of Jesus: The last enemy to be destroyed is death and in I Corinthians 15:54: 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.’ Hallelujah!
3. My assurance (II Timothy 1:12c) …and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him… God whose grace saves us from our sins will give us the aid we need by the power of the Holy Spirit to continue on the journey of faith through this life until we enter eternity.
Paul wrote in Romans 8:14,16:For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
However, we have a responsibility to do our very best to ‘train’ ourselves in God-honouring living alongside the assistance of the Holy Spirit. In his letter to the Church at Philippi Paul wrote: Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil His good purpose.
It is He who guarantees that we will be with him forever. The people in whose lives God has begun ‘a good work’ will see Him bring it to completion when we enter eternity. Or as Paul puts it in Romans 11:29: For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. Therefore, we live out our faith with an assurance that our future is secure in His hands.
4. My destiny (II Timothy 1:12d) …until that day. Paul is physically confined in Rome and aware his execution will come any day at the hands of the brutal Emperor Nero. However, he is a willing ‘prisoner’ of Jesus Christ rather than a captive of Rome. He views himself as spiritually free. Later near the end of this final letter he will write these words: For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing (II Timothy 4:6-8).
Do you have that same assurance should your departure time be near? I trust this is the case for us all, for Jesus’sake, Amen.
Our song before we come to communion is:
The Lord’s Supper
Jesus invites all Christian who have committed their lives to follow Him to participate in this act of worship. The apostle Paul wrote these words of Scripture in I Corinthians 11:23-26 to guide our observance of Communion.
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’25 In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Prayer: Choose your own words of prayer to give thanks for the bread and wine that represent the costly gift of His body and blood for us.
Take the bread: Jesus said: ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.
Take the wine: Jesus said: This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’
Our closing song is:
Closing Prayer:
Thank you Lord for Paul’s amazing confidence in you, that through the tough times and the good that you would go with him every step of the way; thank you that as we begin another new week that we too can be assured of your holy presence with us. Guide and direct us in the choices we make and in all that we do, 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
What does it mean? It seems very simple and straightforward and who in their right mind would be opposed to doing what is right? Even in the word itself ‘righteousness’ there is a clue to the nature of our behavioural choices- ‘righteousness’; the Bible contains references to both personal and collective or national ‘righteousness’.
In Romans 1:16-17, there is a call for individual or personal righteousness, to turn from our sins and to Jesus Christ: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’
Paul’s words are a declaration of His personal response to the good news of the gospel. But in Proverbs 14:34 it is a call to a nation, in the first instance the nation of Israel, but then to the governments of all nations to conduct their national affairs in the light of the biblical standards for good governance.
This standard with respect to the Covid-19 virus pandemic should mean how well we as a society have cared for the most vulnerable in our midst. Have the values we are demonstrating by our actions, or the lack of them, matched the principles the Bible advocates of taking care of the most vulnerable in society as well as looking after ourselves.
For example, in our city of Dundee, from the City Council to the voluntary agencies that include the food banks, as well as many individuals in their own streets or neighbourhoods, we have committed ourselves to do everything in our power to ensure everyone has the food they need to eat each day during the difficulties caused by this pandemic.
In the first few weeks of lockdown this was a bigger challenge than many realise, but working together it is most encouraging how successful were the collective efforts of so many people in our city; to our friends in the United States, on top of handling the pandemic that has left an additional forty million people unemployed so far, it is how their national and state governments address the systemic issue of racism at a structural level that allowed for the appalling events to take place recently in Minneapolis. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people. It is a mirror against which our collective choices are measured. What does it mean to live by the words of this text? It involves:
Repentance for sin
It takes real courage to put our hands up and admit what we did was wrong. It takes even more courage for a President or Prime Minster to do the same with respect to our nation. Sadly, there are few votes to be won with admitting our recent faults.
An opposition party would use such an acknowledgement as a reason why this other party should not be in office. You cannot win in apologising for past errors in the country either, as there are plenty of people who would say the past is irrelevant, concentrate on what lies in front of you today.
Yet a sincere heartfelt message will be appreciated. On 30 or 31 May 1997 then Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed an apology for the failure of the British Government to provide assistance to the Irish people enduring the horrors of the potato famine 150 years earlier. His ‘words were welcomed by John Bruton, the Irish Prime Minister, who said: “While the statement confronts the past honestly, it does so in a way that heals for the future.” ’(Kathy Marks, ‘Blair issues apology for Irish Potato Famine’ The Independent, 2 June 1997)
However, unless words and actions go together words of apology ring very hollow. In America right now we need to see religious and other community leaders stand up and be counted in addressing the vile sin of racism and helping their communities to hold elected officials to account; we need political leaders at state and national level to do the same and plot a course of action that dismantles the structural discrimination that has allowed events to happen like that in Minneapolis. This will at the highest level require a genuine heartfelt apology for failing African American citizens
Practising what we preach
Truth matters! If governments make public statements on a subject that appear to be seriously questionable then it undermines the whole policy statement in which the claims were made. There are many examples that could be given here. Obviously at a personal and collective level the vile sin of racism has to be as far as possible eradicated from our society.
It is easy to say words on this topic. But how willing are we to seek to get to know people who are different from ourselves? How open are we to listen to their experience of the world and in some cases the discrimination they experience? It is too easy to point the finger at the structural racism in other counties that may appear to have much bigger issues to address, and ignore things we need to address as a society at home.
It is rightly a concern that religious and ethnic minorities in some overseas countries have been deliberately discriminated against in the distribution of food supplies during this Covid-19 virus pandemic. But there are also issues to address at home. For example, in the social care sector in our country we employ many gifted staff from overseas to care for some of our most vulnerable citizens, but how are they treated in their terms and conditions of service?
If a government claims to want to practice an ethical foreign policy, for example, as some do, then there are some big changes that will have to be made. Western and other Governments will have to stop interfering in the governance of other countries where they should not be meddling.
The tragedy of relatively recent events in Iraq and Syria is a case in point. The suffering caused to ordinary people in both these countries as a result is appalling. This challenge does go deeper still. It will mean, for example, big questions about the trade in arms overseas. The famine in Yemen which is potentially catastrophic for millions of already poor people was to a large degree brought about as a result of the military intervention of its larger neighbour Saudi Arabia using primarily American and British made-weapons. Are we willing to lose some well-paid defence jobs that will be the inevitable price of selling less weapons to other countries overseas? These are just some of the many questions that our text raises Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.
Our song for reflection today is: ‘O Lord the clouds are gathering’
