Make sure you catch up on Songs of Praise from Dundee, available on BBC iPlayer. Click here to view.
This week’s episode features Dundee and Compass Christian Centre. There is some footage of our young people from their trip in September 2019 and an inspiring interview with Hannah.
Please find below notes of our midweek service of worship in our building in Panmurefield
Opening Scripture verses:
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
Psalm 95:1-3
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before Him with thanksgiving
and extol Him with music and song.
3 For the Lord is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
Opening praise: ‘Be Thou my vision’
Opening prayer:
Lord we come with Your joy in our hearts today for the privilege of worshipping and glorifying Your holy name. We are an incredibly privileged people with so many things for which to praise You our great God and Saviour. The apostle Paul in Romans 8:31-32 declared: What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Father, forgive us for those times when we doubted Your good ness to us or failed to display a thankful spirit for all our blessings. Help each one of us to honour and truly worship You each day of our lives as You desire, for Jesus’ names’ sake, Amen.
Bible Reading
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before Him with thanksgiving
and extol Him with music and song.3 For the Lord is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
4 In His hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to Him.
5 The sea is His, for He made it,
and His hands formed the dry land.6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7 for He is our God
and we are the people of His pasture,
the flock under His care.Today, if only you would hear His voice,
8 ‘Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested Me;
they tried Me, though they had seen what I did.10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
Psalm 95
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known My ways.”
11 So I declared on oath in My anger,
“They shall never enter My rest.”’
Intercessory prayer using Psalm 95
Heavenly Father, We come with confidence in Your holy presence today because we come in the precious name of Jesus, Your Son, our Saviour. When we look at the suffering in our world and the many crises around the globe with our confusion, it forces us to come back to the cross to see how much love You have for us as creatures created in Your image when You sent Jesus to die in our place so that we may have life in its fullness as Your children here on earth.
We do recognise that although our scientists and medical specialists are working so hard to care for patients who have been infected with the Covid-19 virus, or seeking to find a suitable vaccine to use to reduce its devastating impact on most people’s daily lives, we know that we must be patient for some time to come before we will be free once again to live in some form of our previous normal ways of living. We ask that You would help us as the human race to appreciate how we might live better on our planet as stewards of the natural resources entrusted to us, as well as share more appropriately the wealth so unfairly distributed into fewer and fewer people’s hands or held by a very small number of global corporations.
We come to use the words of Psalm 95 in our prayers today:
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song.
Father forgive us when our minds are so fixed on what is wrong in the world that we fail to honour and thank You for all the blessings and good things we enjoy. The wonderful blessing for most of us of close family and friends and church family; in particular today I want to thank You for …. being a blessing to me….
3 For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.4 In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. 5 The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.
Lord thank You for the beauty of creation around us. We are so blessed to live near the seashore where many of us at times can walk on the beach or paddle in the water, or simply listen to the sounds of the waves or the birds all around us. Thank you too for the mountains and hillsides and valleys inland, some places we can visit on foot or others to which we must travel to walk or in other ways to enjoy the scenery. In particular, there are special memories of places precious to me, I want to thank You for ….
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before theLord our Maker; 7 for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.
Lord, we come individually as well as collectively to worship You today. In particular, I want to thank You for what I have learned as I read and study Your Word or as I seek You in prayer…..
Thank you Lord that there is nothing too big for You to handle, no situation too difficult or beyond hope. Today I want to bring before You …. with their particular need for prayer….
Lord we thank You that Betty Watson had her hip operation last week and we pray she makes a full recovery of health and strength. Lord, I am also aware of …. in need of prayer and I bring them before You now….
Today, if only you would hear His voice, 8 ‘Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,9 where your ancestors tested Me; they tried Me, though they had seen what I did. 10 For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known My ways.” 11 So I declared on oath in My anger, “They shall never enter My rest.”’
Lord forgive me my sins, both those I know of and those of which I am even unaware. Lord, we bring before You the sins of our nation and its leaders. Where they have put personal or party interests before others, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable citizens; forgive the sins of our country in its foreign policy that has too often focussed on selling arms or other goods that make great profits here, but too often cause misery and disaster for vulnerable people in other places. We are distressed at the astonishingly long queues for even basic food items like bread in places like Syria caused entirely by Western sanctions and the deliberate destruction of their ability to produce sufficient food in their own land. Lord have mercy…
In particular, I want to bring …. (world issue) to You to work in resolving things we cannot change.
Thank you Lord for hearing and answering our prayers, in the name of Jesus, Your Son our Saviour, Amen.
Psalm 95 An invitation to worship
Introduction
This psalm was written after the return from exile in Babylon (Iraq) by the small group of exiles that returned in different groups after the seventy years with no functioning nation in the land of Israel. However, now the situation has changed, homes have been built and occupied and businesses and lives re-established in the land. The Temple in Jerusalem has been restored and rebuilt so that it can be a place of worship once again.
The city too has seen its basic infrastructure rebuilt, including its walls, in the time of Nehemiah as governor. There is much to give thanks to God for in the nation. The generation that lived through times of despair and utter hopelessness, has largely passed away, but a tiny number remained to see the promises of God fulfilled before their eyes in Jerusalem.
The challenges we are facing today are nothing like as severe as the ones they passed through. However, in many countries around the world millions of people are enduring life-threatening difficulties on a scale that is distressing to see.
The starving people in Syria in lengthy queues for basic food supplies and missing out on all kinds of medical supplies in their National Health Service, due to the theft of some supplies by America and Turkey from the north of the country and more generally as a result of unjust sanctions against the Syrian government by certain Western nations including our own. The problems in Yemen and Nagorno-Karabakh, likewise, caused by military weaponry sold by a handful of countries including our own that makes large profits for the sellers at the expense of heartache and tragedy for many ordinary people. Lord have mercy upon us.
However, we are aware that alongside so many people in our city volunteering to help their neighbours and others in the wider community, there are still people struggling with the pressures of daily life, including as yet unaddressed health needs, or the pressures of work responsibilities. The uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 virus pandemic will be with us for some time to come and it is taking its toll on the emotional and mental health of an increasing number of people.
Our politicians, scientists and health professionals are doing their best to help our country through this time, like their counterparts in other countries, but there is so much that they cannot control. Ultimately there is only one person to whom we can turn at a time like this and that is to the Lord as our unknown author directs us in Psalm 95. What does the Psalmist direct us to do in our worship service today?
1. The joy of worship (Psalm 95:1-2)
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song. ‘If only’ might be the cry of our heart when we are currently not permitted to sing out loud in public worship services! We will certainly appreciate it when the day comes when we can return to joyfully singing our loud God’s praises and being blessed by the contributions of our excellent musicians. It does raise the question for me; did I always appreciate enough what a privilege it was to come before the Lord with praise and worship with His people as we gathered Sunday by Sunday? How often do we take for granted the things we expect to be available for us week by week?
Since lockdown restrictions began back in March 2020 we have had to be creative utilising other resources. Many Christians have sung at home in their own homes using hymnbooks they possess. Others have utilised Christian radio or television services online or as we in this church do in services, taking links from earlier recordings of hymns or other songs being sung that we can then use in our services each Sunday on zoom, or via the church website or via the email version of the service.
But just mentioning these different ways in which we offer a Sunday service to people, and I had not mentioned the CDs or DVDs prepared for a smaller number of people, or the paper copies of services printed off for other people in their homes or residential care! God’s praises can still be offered and our thanksgiving expressed for the blessings we enjoy that are received from His hands. We are thankful that we can also gather in smaller numbers on church premises like today. We miss greatly our fellowship with one another that the pandemic restrictions have brought about, but through forms of technology such as phones or computers, or meeting people in public places the majority of us have had some contact with others over recent months.
Our author highlights some different ways to offer our worship to the Lord. In fact, it appears he is concerned that some of the recipients of this Psalm might not have been taking the opportunities to worship open to them as regularly as they might. Therefore, he issues a strong invitation to join with God’s people to honour and glorify His name. How should or might we offer our worship here?
The first exhortation is this: let us sing for joy to the Lord;(Psalm 95:1a) It is part of the human experience of life to want to sing. It is not just in churches that people like to gather to sing. In all kinds of concert halls or theatres, football grounds and in so many more places singing is a part of bringing pleasure to ourselves and to others in daily life. We might also want to add our homes or even our cars as places where we enjoy singing! However, the Psalmist here is specifically speaking about singing God’s praises. He is also exhorting us to do it with joy. That is, to do it with our hearts and emotions as well as our minds and our vocal chords!
We are called in the Bible to be a praising people who take delight in expressing our delight at the privilege of worshipping our great God and Saviour. In the book of Nehemiah there is an account of a worship service held in Jerusalem by a large group of Jewish people who had returned to the land of their ancestors to live when they were free to do so. They had been addressing seriously issues relating to living their lives for God and some of those present had clearly had a sense of failure to live up to God’s standards to the extent that they were weeping in the service.
However, Nehemiah the governor of the land and a real man of God said these words to them, recorded in Nehemiah 8:10: This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Had you ever thought that in praising and worshipping God, not only does He benefit from our adoration, but we are strengthened in our faith as a result of this activity?
The second exhortation is more surprising: let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. (Psalm 95:1b) In most Western Christian Churches worship can be fairly solemn and respectful and that is viewed as the way all services ought to be conducted. However, in many African or African American Churches worshippers may shout out ‘Amens’ or equivalents during the sermon or in the times of praise. It is clear that there is evident biblical sanction for their more vocal expressions of worship and in heaven we may have to get used to some more lively worship than is customary in most churches here in Scotland! After all we have a gospel that is incredible good news that is worthy of being proclaimed to anyone who will listen to us! Praise the Lord!
The third exhortation is expected: Let us come before Him with thanksgiving (Psalm 95:2a) This statement matches Paul’s teaching in I Thessalonians 5:16-18: Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. It also complements the apostles’ advice regarding prayer to the church at Philippi in Greece, stated in Philippians 4:6-7: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
There is something of a pattern in the Bible of the blessing of God being attracted to His people when we are modelling a thankful spirit towards God and other people in daily life. It helps us flourish as people. It is a challenge, in my daily life how easily do I look for reasons to be thankful in various situations ahead of being critical of things that need to be addressed. God desires us to cultivate a thankful spirit towards Him for all the blessings He has given us.
The fourth exhortation is: and extol Him with music and song(Psalm 95:2). We are blessed with a good number of gifted musicians in our church family and we thank God for each one of them and the way their ministries have enriched our worship services, together with thankfulness to God for the team of people who have or continue to lead some of our worship services. Psalm 150, a latter Psalm, is a celebration of the many instruments we can use to glorify God in our praises. Our list of musical instruments today might differ from this list compiled more than two thousand years ago, but it is easy to grasp the point. The worship of Almighty God is meant to be enthusiastic as we raises our voices in praise and thanksgiving and that singing is enriched by the musical instruments that assist us in exalting His holy and majestic name.
2. The reasons for worship (Psalm 95:3-7a)
We could state that the first part of this Psalm is speaking about how ‘how’ we praise and worship God, something we can do on our own, in a small group or with a larger congregation of believers in a more structured worship service. The middle section of the Psalm answers the questions as to ‘why’ we should want to worship God. It is not something we consider when we have nothing else to do. On the contrary, it is the most important human activity on this planet. The older catechisms of Protestant Churches in unison declared that our ‘chief end’ or our most important activity on earth is: ‘to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever’. Now to the average citizen of our country such a thought would be foreign to their patterns of thinking or their daily lives, but not to the author of this psalm. He would have offered an ‘Amen’ or even a ‘hallelujah’ to such a claim. He gives us two reasons why this is the case.
(a)The greatness of God (Psalm 95:3-5) For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. 4 In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. 5 The sea is His, for He made it and His hands formed the dry land.
All of us are brought up to appreciate the kind actions of other people. As children the vast majority of us were taught to always say ‘thank-you’ to a person who gave us a gift or carried out an act of kindness for us. Appreciation for the good works of others is an essential part of the character of every human being.
However, there are times when some people assist others in ways that are worthy of particular praise. For example, a teacher or sports coach that has helped a young person develop their musical skills or sporting talents over many years and now sees them achieve their goals is worthy of praise and public acclamation.
An even greater sense of gratitude might be due to a person who donated a healthy kidney to someone whose kidneys had failed enabling them to continue to live. But, infinitely higher than that is our obligation to acknowledge the greatness of God.
The One who spoke and brought the universe into being out of nothing! The One who upholds and sustains it by His mighty power year by year; how great is our God! We rightly get excited by parts of the creation, for example, the views from a mountain-top, or the sight of the flowers in our garden, and so much more, but we are invited to lift up our eyes and worship the One who brought all this into being. The One who positioned the planet earth so perfectly in its orbit in our galaxy that life of all kinds could flourish is worthy of infinite praise and adoration for His greatness. How great is our God? Will you give the glory to Him for all He has created? It certainly didn’t happen by chance that is impossible!
Psalm 8 focusses exclusively on this topic and includes these verses: 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?.. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:1-4, 9)
It gets even more awesome in the New Testament when we read in John chapter one that the being who carried out that act of creation through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit entered our world as a baby at Bethlehem two thousand years ago in order to become the Saviour of the world. More than half a century after these events the aged disciple of Jesus, John, wrote in John 1:14: The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. How great is our God! Have you put your trust in Him as your Lord and Saviour? I hope each one of us has done so.
God could have created the world and left us to look after ourselves, but amazingly the Bible teaches us clearly about the amazing love and care of God for us as His children.
(b) The care given by God (Psalm 95:6-7a)Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;7 for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.
There are many passages in the Old Testament that speak of God as the Shepherd of His people. Many people, even some non-churchgoers are familiar with Psalm 23. That Psalm begins: The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall lack nothing (Psalm 23:1).
Ezekiel chapter 34 is a lengthy chapter using the same imagery of God as the shepherd of His people. Christians will naturally turn in the New Testament chapter ten where Jesus describes Himself in this way in John 10:11, 14-16:
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep… 14 ‘I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me – 15 just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father – and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
We should naturally want to worship God because of His amazing love and care for us. His modelling of care in the person of Jesus is the pattern given to Christians in general and church-leaders in particular in I Peter 5:2:
Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be;
Do I genuinely care for other people in our church family to pray for them regularly and in other practical ways when and where appropriate? To a lesser degree do we care enough to pray for and in a more limited way support Christian work in other places in our country and overseas? We need to reflect the loving caring God who has done and is doing so much for us.
3. The warning given by God (Psalm 95:7b-11)
The third section of such a beautiful psalm is such a real shock to read. It is like a musician playing beautifully at a concert and then striking some discordant notes that no-one could miss. Why does God through the psalmist need to give such a challenge in a psalm about worship and our invitation to honour the Lord as we ought to do? It is because of the repeated patterns in history of people in earlier generations drifting away from giving God the honour that is due to His holy name. This is why we notice here:
(a) A danger to be heeded (Psalm 95:7b-8a) Today, if only you would hear His voice, 8 ‘Do not harden your hearts… Don’t assume it is only a reminder to other believers to keep their focus on God. It is a constant challenge to my own heart and to yours to maintain our focus on praising and glorifying God, not just when all is going well but also in the midst of a Covid-19 virus pandemic or any number of other adverse circumstances. Do you need to address this issue today and need to ask God for forgiveness for not giving Him the first place in our lives as a Christian? Have other things crept in and you now have a greater joy in participating in lesser things? Nothing should be a greater priority in our lives than in giving Him the worship and adoration He deserves. If this is an issue for you, take the necessary time today to plan how to get your life back on track.
(b) A pattern to be avoided (Psalm 95:8b-10) 8 ‘Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested Me they tried Me, though they had seen what I did. 10 For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known My ways.”
Our author illustrates his message with two examples from Israelite history from the generation that had seen so many extraordinary miracles from God as they were released from captivity in Egypt and forged a new future as a nation under God. The first reference is chronologically later than the second one, but we will reference them in that order following our author here. Meribah – the reference here is to Numbers chapter 20:1-13.
The Israelite community had got themselves into a dreadful state of constant complaining that life was hard and claiming that God was not looking after them properly. The particular cause for complaint on the day in question was the lack of a satisfactory water supply.
God told Moses that He would provide a miraculous intervention to ensure an adequate supply of water that duly happened. But it appears that very few of those present really expected it to happen, including the leaders of the nation Aaron and Moses. What we the consequences of this lack of belief? Numbers 20:12-13 states:
But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust in Me enough to honour Me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.’ 13 These were the waters of Meribah (quarrelling) where the Israelites quarrelled with the Lord and where He was proved holy among them.
We will not truly worship God when we do not trust Him as we ought to provide for our needs in the present and the future. Time and again God is portrayed in the Bible (for example Genesis 22:14) as the One who provides what we need.
The second example was at Massah, a story recorded in Exodus 17:1-7. The events there had taken place many years earlier in the desert wanderings before the Israelites entered the Promised Land under Joshua. As they did in the example above, the nation had become ungrateful to God and was habitually complaining about their lot; on the day in question the particular cause of complaint was the quality of the water supply. The incessant waves of constant complaints became all too much for Moses. But God intervened and utilised Moses as the means of transforming the situation.
The last verse of that account, Exodus 17:7 states: And he [Moses] called the place Massah [testing] and Meribah [quarrelling] because the Israelites quarrelled and because they tested the Lord saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’
These people had lost their trust in God to provide for their needs and also lost a thankful spirit for all the blessings they had received from God. Tragically they had lost their joy by taking their eyes off the Lord. This is why in whatever setting we must find time to prioritise the worship of Almighty God. What were the consequences in that setting?
(c) A punishment to be dreaded (Psalm 95:11)11 So I declared on oath in My anger, “They shall never enter My rest.”
For them it was the generation who missed out on entering the Promised Land. Their children would inherit this blessing. The challenge from the psalmist to each generation of people, including his own, was this: will I covenant to God to cultivate a thankful spirit for all my blessings and to focus on that more than my struggles and difficulties? Will I ensure I find the necessary time to prioritise the worship of Almighty God, both individually on my own and collectively with God’s people? No-one can do it for us, each of us must make our choice. May God help us to give Him the first place in our lives, for Jesus’ sake, Amen
Closing Song: ‘Great is Thy faithfulness’
Closing prayer:
Thank you Lord for the blessing of gathering to worship and glorify You today. Please give us expectant hearts to desire to worship You more fully in the coming days and to cultivate a heart overflowing with gratitude to You and to other people for the blessings You have given to us, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
The Benediction:
Intimations
Call to worship
My heart, O God, is steadfast;
Psalm 108:1-5
I will sing and make music with all my soul.
2 Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
3 I will praise You, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of You among the peoples.
4 For great is Your love, higher than the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let Your glory be over all the earth.
We are grateful to Helen Rice for selecting the songs for worship for this service
Our opening song of praise and worship is: This I believe (The creed)
Opening prayer
Almighty God, we thank You once more for the privilege of entering Your holy presence in the name of Jesus, Your Son our Saviour, through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit who encourages us to bring our praises and our prayers to You.
We recall the words of the heavenly beings in Isaiah’s vision of You in the Jerusalem Temple more than 2,750 years ago. They were calling: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.
We acknowledge that You are truly holy and we are sinners in need of Your forgiveness. Purify us afresh in our thoughts and words and deeds so that we might come before You with a pure heart and a right attitude as we seek to offer our praises and offering of thanksgiving. Help us when there are particular blessings to acknowledge to be a thankful people and individuals that appreciate Your goodness to us. Speak into our lives and circumstances today as we gather in Your presence today, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Let us say together the words Jesus taught His disciples when He said:
‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'”
For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever Amen.
All Age Talk – Helen and Fergus Rice
How we live is a reflection of what kind of person we are inside. Matthew 7:15-20; see also Luke 6:43-45
In Matthew 7 verse 20 Jesus Teaches about Fruit in People’s lives. Watch this video to find out more.
So what does all this mean to us? In Luke 6:43-45 Jesus teaches this,
43 “A good tree does not produce bad fruit. And a bad tree does not produce good fruit. 44 Every tree is known by the kind of fruit it produces. You won’t find figs on thorny weeds. And you can’t pick grapes from thornbushes! 45 Good people have good things saved in their hearts. That’s why they say good things. But those who are evil have hearts full of evil, and that’s why they say things that are evil. What people say with their mouths comes from what fills their hearts.”
When Jesus says that good people produce good fruit, he doesn’t mean the kind of fruit that we eat.
He means that if we are following him, we will want to do the things that make God happy. We will do good things, we will help people, we care for one another, we will share what we have with others, and we will treat other people with respect.
So ask yourself this, what kind of fruit tree do I want to be? A good tree producing good fruit or an evil tree producing evil fruit?
With this in mind can you draw or doodle what kind of fruit tree you want to be? And if you wish you can send your creations to me and we can put them on our church Facebook page. My details (Helen Rice) are in the church directory.
Let us pray – Father, we want to be identified as a good tree, producing good fruit. Help us to do the things we know will be pleasing to you. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
We continue in worship as we sing an all age song: ‘Shine from the inside out’
Prayers for others
Heavenly Father, we come very aware of the growing fears and concerns for the future that many people in our community and country have at the present time. We come to bring before You our Governments in Westminster and Edinburgh as they grapple with the increasingly serious responsibilities associated with the choices they make over restrictions related to the Covid-19 virus pandemic. We pray for all the health service workers and social care workers in our congregation and our city at a time when the virus has been significantly increasing in our city, resulting in a significant increase in numbers in our local Ninewells Hospital. We pray for wisdom and strength for all concerned as they carry out their duties at this time.
We pray for all other workers in various forms of education that they can maintain a good level of support to the young people in our academic institutions. We pray for those working in the hospitality sector who are facing a grim Christmas and possibly into the New Year as they are so limited by what services they can offer. Help them to discern how they and other businesses can survive until the end of this virus pandemic.
We are mindful of the troubles in the wider world and plead with You that a ceasefire and a peaceful solution can be found to the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, that the international community will stop turning a blind eye to all the suffering civilians in that conflict. We pray too for the city of Nice in France that has suffered so much over the years from Islamist violence and killing and now last week the three people murdered in a church by a terrorist. Lord we remember Hamish Rice and the church with which he works in that city, together with other Christians there that they together might be able to promote the gospel of the Prince of Peace and bring hope and peace into that troubled city.
We also bring before You:
Baptist World Alliance – We pray for the BWA staff team. In 2020, a new President and new officers began their five-year terms of service, so we join in praying for God’s wisdom, vision, and protection for these global leaders. We remember that several new team members have joined the BWA staff, and together we stand with many around the world seeking to provide Christ-honouring leadership while adjusting to the realities of working virtually and balancing family and ministry responsibilities.
We pray for the ongoing global response to Covid-19. As part of the “Standing Together” Global Response Plan, BWAid has sent 132 emergency grants to 82 countries this year, but we offer our continuing prayers as they continue to respond to the many needs around the world resulting from the pandemic.
We pray too for the 22nd Baptist World Congress scheduled for July 7-10, 2021. We pray for wisdom as they consider options for this global gathering that will best ensure a safe, accessible, and affordable celebration for our global Baptist family. In the midst of so many challenges in our world, we pray that the Baptist World Congress will be a renewing experience that sparks greater unity and missional impact.
Pray also for the following churches:
Queen’s Park BC, Glasgow – We are so grateful to God – Jehovah Jireh – for His wonderful provision of financial resources for them over the last six months. This is a real answer to prayer as they, like many, had anticipated a downturn with their church doors being closed for so long. We pray for Jamie Sweet the director of their Point Project as he engages in new initiatives within their surrounding community. We pray that the ministry of the Point, in bringing practical help and support alongside pointing people to the Good News, will bring light in the darkness.
Renfrew BC – We pray for Renfrew Baptist as they meet in their church building in a Covid-safe way as well as streaming their services online. We pray for the church as they seek to navigate how best to share Jesus in Renfrew at this time.
Rosyth BC – They began the year with the words Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? (Isaiah 43:19, The Message Bible) Like everyone else they have had to embrace the way the pandemic reduced their resources, curtailed their activities and toppled their plans. We pray that in the midst of these challenges they will truly discern the new thing the Lord wants to do.
We pray also today for churches within our Baptist Union who may be in a pastoral vacancy and looking for a minister. We pray that these churches would know God’s guidance during their vacancy and wisdom for the way ahead.
We also remember in our prayers other people with particular needs that are connected to our own families or congregation: Lord today we particularly want to remember Nicola Livie and her family as her dad goes through major surgery on 3 November. We pray for wisdom for the medical team that will carry out this procedure and Your peace for the family through this difficult time. We pray also for Betty Watson as she recuperates in Royal Victoria Hospital after surgery. We continue to pray for a restoration of health and strength for Anne Maltman and thank God for some improvements in her situation.
We continue to remember others going through cancer treatments or facing other health problems at this time. We remember particularly the Steer’s niece Rachel and Ann Walker’s sister Margaret. We ask for Your strength for them as they face uncertain futures despite the blessings we have of an excellent National Health Service.
We continue to remember all the members of our congregation, and members of some of our families in residential care or confined to their homes through age or infirmity or who are currently unwell and signed off from their work. We pray that You would meet with them where they are and assure them that they are remembered.
In addition, we bring our own and other needs on our hearts to You today…, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.
Bible Reading
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it….The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, ‘This is the one I spoke about when I said, “He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.”’) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in the closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
John 1:1-4, 9-19;
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all
II Corinthians 13:14
Before we come to listen to God’s Word let us sing: ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty’
The Message
The Trinity: I believe in One God Father Son and Holy Spirit
Introduction
Does it matter what we believe about God? Is it important to address God accurately? I hope the answer all of us would give is yes! After all at the human level, getting the names right of other people is important, especially if they have a significant place in our lives. If you as a married person repeatedly called your spouse ‘Jane’ when her name was ‘Mary’ or ‘Fred’ when his name was ‘Mike’, there might be some offence taken –with good reason! Using appropriate words in our communications is very important. Imagine you are attending a community event with a work colleague and you come across some close friends and introduce that person to them as your ‘partner’. Now you might be a teacher and your colleague your stage-partner in the school, but referring to them in an introduction to friends as a ‘partner’ would convey the wrong message in twenty-first century Britain! Using correct names and conveying an accurate impression of our relationships with others is very important.
Our society at the moment is also struggling to know how to handle the heated debate over claims of misgendering with particular reference to the Transgender community. When we get it wrong or we don’t know how to describe or address someone, it can be quite stressful because it matter to us to get it right.
Who we are and our relationships with one another are important, but symbols are also important. For example, a married person who stops wearing their wedding ring and declares to all who will listen that they have discarded it is making a bigger statement than a choice of jewellery! It is a very sad but powerful indicator about their relationship with the person they had married. It is even more important that we understand who God is and how we relate to the Creator of the universe and the Redeemer of humankind.
What is God like? He is different in kind to us, a being that is beyond our understanding yet in His love He has chosen to reveal to us something of what He is like. The Bible’s presentation of God, in contrast to the representations of some other religions, is a living God (Psalm 115:3-8).
He is a personal God who desires fellowship with His creatures and was incarnated in human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:14). He is a spiritual being (John 4:23-24) who desires us to worship Him in spirit and truth. Yet it is something we struggle to understand because God is so much greater than us. However the Christian doctrine of the Trinity is not an explanation of God, it is a description of what we know about Him. Our subject today is as central to the Christian faith as the backbone is to the skeleton in the human body. What does the Bible say about it and what difference does it make to our daily lives and our collective witness as a church?
1. Old Testament pointers to the Trinity
There are quite a lot of things in life that are not straightforward. We have clues or indications of the choices we might make, but we are conscious that we don’t always have all the information required to make an informed decision. Whether it is a police officer seeking to solve a crime or a scientist engaged in practical research to provide a vaccine for the Covid-19 virus all kinds of options will be explored to get a better understanding of the subject under investigation. When we come to the Bible to find out what it is teaching on this subject we must look in quite a number of different passages to get the bigger picture.
‘We believe in One God, in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit’
This statement is the historic Christian declaration of our understanding of God.
In contrast to the polytheism (many gods) of Hinduism, for example, we believe in only One God (Monotheism). Deuteronomy 6:4 states: Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Idolatry, that is worshipping other gods, was forbidden in the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. Deuteronomy 5:7 is very clear: You shall have no other gods besides Me.’ This fundamental belief in the oneness and unity in the Godhead we share with Jews and Muslims. Even in the O.T., however, there are pointers that suggest a Trinitarian understanding of God, even if it is not made explicit until the New Testament. Interestingly enough, the word ‘Allah’ in the Qu’ran is also plural in form.
What are the clues we need to locate in the Old Testament?
There are three statements by God in Genesis 1-11 that indicate the plurality of beings within the One true God. They are in Gen.1:26 Let us make man in our image in the Creation account in Genesis 1. Then after the act of disobedience in the Garden of Eden, God declared in Gen.3:22 the man has now become like one of us. The third reference comes many years later when some people rebelled against God and built the Tower of Babel.
Genesis 11:7 records God as stating: let us go down and confuse their language.
Another passage where the same phenomenon occurs is: Isaiah 6:8 Who will go for us?
In this last passage, Isaiah 6:1 states what Isaiah the prophet saw in the vision he had in the Temple in Jerusalem: In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. In effect saying that he saw God on the throne in this vision; but who did Isaiah actually see? John gives the answer in John’s Gospel chapter 12 vs 37-41, specifying that it was Jesus.
Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in Him. 38 This was to fulfil the word of Isaiah the prophet: ‘Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’ 39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 40 ‘He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn – and I would heal them.’ 41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about Him. This is powerful confirmation of the Old Testament testimony to the deity of Jesus.
(b) The Angel of the Lord is identified with God yet is distinct from Him
Exodus 3:2-6, 13-14 – encounter of Moses with God at the burning bush.
Is there anyone in the Bible who referred to themselves as the ‘I AM’, the eternally present one. In John 8:24 Jesus in debate with other Jewish religious leaders who contested His identity claims used this title: … if you do not believe that I AM [He –God’s anointed King], you will indeed die in your sins. No ordinary human being could make such a claim with any credibility.
In John 8:28a Jesus referenced His future death by crucifixion at their hands, in collaboration with the Roman state who had control of all executions. So Jesus said, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM[He]… Even more remarkably in the final section of the debate Jesus declared that Abraham, the founding father of the nation who had lived thousands of years earlier, had been delighted as he reflected with anticipation on what the future anointed King would accomplish. The majority of those present rejected this claim outright as impossible. How did Jesus respond? ‘Very truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I AM!’
Here in John 8 we find Jesus referring to Himself as ‘I AM’, the very name God uses for His self-designation in Exodus 3:13-14: Moses said to God, ‘Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they ask me, “What is His name?” Then what shall I tell them?’ 14 God said to Moses: I am who I am. [ or I AM the eternally present One] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: “I am has sent me to you.”’ It is, therefore probable that it was Jesus whom Moses met.
The second example comes from Judges 13. This chapter is about an encounter of Manoah and his wife with the Angel of the Lord. Judges 13:9 states: And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of the Lord came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field.’ When the whole matter was concluded, Manoah reflected on what had happened and in Judges 13:22 came to this conclusion: We are doomed to die!, he said to his wife. We have seen God!
Another piece of the puzzle to remember here comes from the New Testament. We need to remember the words of I Timothy 6:15-16 with reference to God the Father that describes Him as one ‘whom no man has seen or can see’, ie invisible. The Angel of the Lord here, and in the other references to this person in the O.T., must be referring to Jesus as evangelical commentators have agreed over the centuries.
(c)The Spirit of God is identified as the personal representative of God
The first reference refers to the Holy Spirit’s involvement in the creation of the world.
Genesis 1:2: ‘The Spirit of God moved across the face of the waters’. The next two speak of the part played by the Holy Spirit in helping the Israelites in their desert journeys from Egypt to Israel. Nehemiah 9:20 states: [in the Wilderness wanderings] You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them.’ And Isaiah 63:9-10 records a reference to: the Angel of His presence [who] saved them’ but in response the Israelites in the desert ‘rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit.’ In the remarkable Psalm 139:7 we have these concluding remarks on the significance of the work of the Holy Spirit. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or, Where can I flee from Your Presence?
(d) The creative power of the Word of God is declared (Psalm 33:6, 9; Genesis 1)
Here the writer of this Psalm echoes the words of Genesis chapter one in declaring that God spoke and brought the world into being.
Psalm 33:6: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth.
Genesis 1:3: And God said, Let there be light…
(e) There is an identification of the Messiah with God
The term Messiah means God’s anointed or special King or ruler. In the cultural and religious context in which this Psalm was written, it had been assumed that the Messiah would simply be a very special but exclusively human person. However, this Psalm indicated that these expectations needed to be changed.
Psalm 2:2: …the Lord and His anointed…and Psalm 2:7: The Lord has said to Me, You are My Son, Today I have become Your Father. This is especially true in the job description in Psalm 2:8: Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. Which King has subjects who swear allegiance to Him around the globe? This is straightforward King Jesus has people committed to follow Him in every land across the globe
This point is reinforced in the Messianic Psalm 110. The first verse pictures God the Father and the one who is His anointed King on the same level in heaven. Psalm 110:1 ‘The Lord said to My Lord, sit at my right hand.’ We also remember these familiar verses from Isaiah that we read every Advent and Christmas time from Isaiah 9:6 where the Messiah is called: Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. It is impossible that these words are describing an ordinary human being.
2. New Testament evidence of the deity of Jesus
There are many verses and passages that could be cited here in support of this biblical truth.
In Hebrews 1:3 the author states this concerning Jesus and His relationship with God the Father: He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. Jesus teaches the same thing when He said, Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father (John 14:9), and the apostle Paul says: For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form (Colossians 2:9).
The writer of Hebrews reinforces this when he quotes Psalm 45:6 and recorded that God the Father was saying: But about the Son He says, ‘Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; It cannot get clearer than that.
Probably some of the best know verses in the New Testament that refer to the deity of Jesus are from John’s Gospel. John reminds us that unlike ordinary human beings like us, Jesus existed from eternity with the Father before He was born as a baby in Bethlehem.
John writes in John 1:1-2: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. There was never a time when the Second person of the Trinity was not divine. After the resurrection of Jesus from the dead His followers grasped His true identity.
In John 20:28, the formerly sceptical Thomas declared: My Lord and My God. Jesus received this worship because it was rightly offered. Paul and Barnabas, Early Church leaders declined similar worship when it was offered in Acts 14 at a place called Lystra, because as Paul declared in Acts 14:15: We too are only men, human like you. Jesus reminded His first followers of the importance of getting this right in our worship of God the Father and Him. In John 5:23 He stated: … that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent Him. Do you give Jesus the honour and worship He deserves to receive from you and from me?
3. New Testament evidence for the deity of the Holy Spirit
Some people and some religions, for example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses that see the Holy Spirit as an impersonal force, but this is not the biblical understanding. The Holy Spirit is a person, and speaking of Him, rightly must take that into account. Verses such as Mark 3:28-29 are inexplicable if the reader is unaware that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity. Mark 3:28-29 states: he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation. What is this sin that has the most serious penalty of all in the
Bible? We need to grasp what the Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus to do here in the lives of people on earth. John 15:26 records Jesus telling His first disciples that He will send the Holy Spirit in His place to assist them in their future work of founding the Christian Church. 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.).
In John 16:8-10 Jesus outlined the work of the Holy Spirit: When He comes, He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in Me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see Me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. The Holy Spirit’s work is to show human beings that we are sinners who need a Saviour, the Lord Jesus who died in our place on the cross, two thousand years ago. He speaks to our minds and consciences and directs us to Jesus. If we wilfully reject His promptings then after this life God will eternally honour the choice that we have made. He will never force anyone to believe in Him or spend eternity with Him.
The significance of the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the first Christian Church in Jerusalem is seen in Acts chapter 5. A couple in the church called Ananias and Sapphira, at the time of what we might call a time of fund-raising to meet the basic needs of people living in Jerusalem, lied about the price of the field they sold. Why was that important? They claimed they were giving all the proceeds to the appeal and wanted the praise for that. But it was not true. The Apostle Peter was delegated to challenge them about what they had done. In Acts 5:3-4 Peter told the husband Ananias: Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit … What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.’ A lesson in accountability was learned from the very start of the Christian Church.
Christians in our prayer times, both individually and collectively ask God the Holy Spirit to prompt and guide us in our daily lives. One of the most remarkable outcomes of a prayer time in the church at Antioch in Syria was the calling of Saul and Barnabas to be missionaries around the Roman world sharing the good news of the Christian Gospel.
In Acts 13:2: While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ He enables us to honour Jesus in the choices we make in our lives. He gives us a freedom, an ability to make the right choices when we seek His assistance in our daily lives.
The apostle Paul wrote in II Corinthians 3:17: ‘Now the Lord is the Spirit: And where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.’ The word translated ‘Lord’ is understood as a term of address for one who is truly God in the Bible. He also pointed out some personal implications of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives in I Corinthians 6:19-20, where he wrote:’ your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God’.
How we care for our bodies and how we use them is something He is deeply interested in. The relevance of a sensible diet and appropriate exercise and getting enough sleep are part of that self-care He desires for us. But it also informs our relationships and sexuality. If our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit then causal or inappropriate sexual relationships are out of bounds. It is not just my choice or my call, God the Holy Spirit has an investment in my life for my good.
4. The practical importance of this doctrine
Does it really matter whether we believe in the Trinitarian nature of the Godhead, of the One that we worship ? Yes it does profoundly. Some basic matters depend on it.
Our salvation If Jesus died on the cross as merely a human being His perfect sacrifice would
have been good for Him but insufficient for the rest of humanity. As one who was truly God and truly man, He reconciled God to us and us to God through His sacrifice of infinite worth.
He did it in fulfilling the plan of God the Father (John 3:16 God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…); a task He willingly accepted (Matthew 26:39); and through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 9:14: … who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God…).
His sacrifice specifically for His Church, that great multitude of people who by faith would receive the benefits of His death in our place, but it is sufficient for everyone who wants to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Remember in Mark 2 the story of the paralysed man brought by his four friends for Jesus to heal him. In Mark 2:5 it states: When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralysed man, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven. Our salvation is secure because of who Jesus truly is.
Our prayers Prayer is hard for most Christians but it is God’s gift to His Church to influence the plans of heaven for people on earth. Remember what Jesus is doing in heaven. Hebrews 7:25 states: Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. The good news gets even better. We can always come directly to God the Father in prayer. The line is never engaged! Paul writes in Ephesians 2:18: For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is directly involved too. He strengthens and enables us to live for Jesus each day. It is because He is God, not merely a messenger of God that He has unique insight into the will of God (I Corinthians 2:11) and can help us in our prayers, especially when we do not know how to pray (Romans 8:26-27, because He does it: in accordance with the will of God, encouraging and strengthening us in our faith.
The Bible’s teaching on this doctrine is so important as it is central to our faith. No wonder, we conclude most services saying this Trinitarian prayer: ‘Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (II Corinthians 13:14) Amen
Our song before we come to communion is: ‘His mercy is more’
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: The splendour of the King (How great is our God)
Closing Prayer:
We give thanks to our triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for the privilege of being Your children by faith in Jesus. As creatures we will never fully understand You; but we are so grateful to be sure that Your love for is eternal and Your grace day by day sufficient for our every need. As we enter another new week we enter it with confidence that You will go with us each step of the way, providing the help and strength that we need, in the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
Benediction: The Grace
Intimations
– You may want to use some of the Engage Worship resources for daily worship during this week
– Christianity Explored course starting 20 October 2020 – Would you like to know more about Jesus in a way that is easy to understand in a small group? We are offering 8 weekly evening sessions on Zoom which will help you understand the One who is at the heart of the Christian faith. Find out more here or e-mail webmaster@broughtybaptist.org
– The Messy Church At Home information is now available on our church website www.broughtybaptist.org
– The Baptist Union of Scotland will be continuing the Prayer Livestream at 7.00pm on Sunday 1st November, 2020. This will be another significant time of national prayer for our family of churches. Click here to access the event.
– JAM Kids’ focus: The Virtual Sunday School. Here is the video for this week’s session “The Parable of the Talents”.
– JAM young adults Ignite Live have a separate programme at 11:15am. Please contact Gary Torbet – garytorbet@btinternet.com for more details.
Call to worship
Vindicate me, Lord,
for I have led a blameless life;
I have trusted in the Lord
and have not faltered.
2 Test me, Lord, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind;
3 for I have always been mindful of Your unfailing love
and have lived in reliance on Your faithfulness.8Lord, I love the house where You live,
the place where Your glory dwells.12My feet stand on level ground; in the great congregation I will praise the Lord.
Psalm 26
We are grateful to Moraig Piggot for selecting the songs for worship for this service.
Our opening song of praise and worship is:
Opening prayer:
Lord we come once more into Your holy presence today with a sense of the privilege and honour we have at our access to You through Your Son our Saviour Jesus.
It is not something we ever want to take for granted, but to come with deep gratitude to You for all Your goodness to us. Once more at the start of another week we want to meet with You today as we sing or listen to Your praises in an on line service and as we bring our prayers and requests to You for Your assistance to us in our times of need.
We come to ask afresh for the forgiveness of our sins and the blessing of the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us for whatever we face in the coming week. Speak to us from Your Holy Word in accordance with what we need to hear today, in the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
Let us say together the words Jesus taught His disciples when He said:
‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'”
For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever Amen.
All Age Talk – Moraig Piggot
I am going to ask you some questions this morning about things that you really love the most.
Last week when Brian was speaking to us I was reminded of a bible verse in Mark and it says:
Mark 12:30 – “The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
When I asked you the questions before maybe like me you found it difficult to pick just one thing or person. But when we think about our faith and being a Christian the answer to what/who we love the most is a very easy and simple one- God. Let’s just think for a moment though about what this actually means and how we love our Lord the God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
We Are to Love God with an Exclusive Love
If we want to love God, we must love Him exclusively. Exclusive means only him. We are not to worship any other Gods or any other things.
We Are to Love God with a Surpassing Love
This means we love God most. The love for God that Jesus describes causes us to give up anything and everything that stops our love for Him. Our love for God must surpass not only our love for other people, but also for the things in the world.
We Are to Love God with an Obedient Love
To obey God is to honour Him, something we do for the ones we love. Obedience delights God and shows that we have confidence in Him.
We Are to Love God with a Persevering Love
One of the greatest examples of love is commitment. God wants us to love Him with a love that perseveres. It is easy to love people whom we can see and touch and hear and hug. It is far more challenging to love a God we can’t see, who allows us to go through challenging trials, and who has made us promises that we’ve yet to see. Perhaps this is why Jesus reminds us to love God with all our strength. We must actively engage our minds and hearts to persevere in loving God when the rest of the world tells us we are foolish
We love God with all our heart when we love Him exclusively, Him and Him alone.
We love God with all our soul when we find our satisfaction in Him more than any other person or thing.
We love God with all our mind when we make decisions to obey His every command.
We love God with all our strength when we persevere in the difficult times.
How are you loving God today? Let’s all take time this week to think and pray about this.
We continue in worship as we sing:
Prayers for others
We give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1) We give thanks for God’s goodness and faithfulness even in the challenges and struggles of life. Thank you Lord that Your love endures forever.
We come to You today living in a world of growing problems and challenges. Here in the United Kingdom, and many other countries in Europe, the challenges of the Covid-19 virus pandemic are on the increase again and increasingly tight restrictions are being placed on many people’s movements in the locations with the fastest increase in numbers and some further restrictions on the rest of the country.
We continue to ask for wisdom for our politicians in Government in Edinburgh and London as choices are made that for some people have very serious possible consequences for their livelihoods or businesses. We realise, Lord, that the pressures upon our national leaders grow as each passing month of restrictions has increasingly tough consequences for many people. Lord help us as a country to ensure that everyone has their basic needs met at this time.
Heavenly Father we also continue to remember the public health professionals together with those working in the NHS and Social Care services. We ask that they might have provided for them this autumn and coming winter all the personal protective equipment they need to protect not only the people they treat or care for, but also for themselves and their families. As the numbers of Covid-19 virus patients are increasing in hospitals we pray that this will not mean other services have to be halted for patients who have already waited in some cases many months more than might have been the case.
We also hope that those taking time off for holidays at home or elsewhere in the country may be refreshed from their time away from school or work.
In our Baptist Union of Scotland we also remember to pray for:
We pray for the Regional Pastors who are meeting online this week to encourage one another as they seek to provide pastoral support for Baptist ministers across Scotland.
Oban BC – They are so thankful to God for the freedom to worship Him and the ability to gather (albeit virtually) over these past months. We thank God that they have been able to welcome so many people through their online platforms, and for that they praise God! We pray that You would show them how best to be God’s Church and Christ’s Body through these challenging times, so that many people might see His reality and respond to His grace. They are so aware of their limitations, but also so aware of His limitless power. We join with them in thanking you Lord for Your help to them at this time!
Oxgangs Community Church – We thank God with them for the many people in their local community that they have been practically serving in recent months. We pray for them as they invite these people to hear and respond to the hope of Jesus through a new Sunday evening service.
Paisley Central BC – We give thanks with them for the fellowship at Central Baptist Church in Paisley. We pray for the church as they work, witness and worship God in the town. We pray for the outreach opportunities open to the church within the local area.
Peebles BC – We pray for the church family in Peebles as they continue to worship online and seek to serve the community in creative ways during this time.
We now pray for other people with particular needs that are connected to our own families or congregation: Father we pray for those struggling with reduced or no income in recent months that You would enable them to find alternative forms of income in the coming weeks and months to provide for their needs.
We remember those struggling with physical, mental or emotional health needs at this time and bring them before You now …
We also remember to pray for other people or circumstances that are particularly on our hearts at this time …
In addition, we bring our own needs to You today…, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.
Bible Reading
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8: 18-28
Before we come to listen to God’s Word let us sing:
The Message
Matthew 5:9 A new approach to our relationships
Introduction
Jesus said: Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God (Matthew 5:9) However, human history records very clearly how seriously we have failed to put this beatitude into practice. From wars in former centuries some of which had a significant religious influence to those of the last century motivated by secular concerns, the carnage of violence and wars is a shocking indictment on humanity.
Now in the early years of the twenty-first century it appears that the world is becoming a more violent and unpredictable place rather than what it ought to be if we followed the maker’s instructions. Writing these words this week with the tragedy of the war in Armenia to add to the lengthy list of ongoing wars is deeply disturbing
But the problem goes much deeper. It is a problem of individual human hearts. How much do I want good quality healthy relationships with other people around me? Bible peace ‘Shalom’ is so much more than the absence of conflict, it speaks about a quality of relationships that blesses and enriches ones another so that the collective blessing is much greater than the individual parts.
The challenge to me and to each one of us at times is this: do I want this God-honouring perspective on inter-personal relationships enough in a context where other people might not share that same desire? Am I will to invest the time and emotional input when there is a real risk that this investment might not be realized if collectively other people are not equally open to being and doing what it takes to ensure progress in this situation or relationship? It can be in marriage or family relationships; amongst friends or work colleagues; or a multitude of other social contexts. What matters in each setting is the heart of each participant –do I want it enough for this relationship to flourish as God desires?
However, it is not a new problem in the world. It has been a feature of human history over thousands of years. In the early chapters of Genesis there is a brief reference to an obnoxious individual called Lamech who boasted about killing someone who had unintentionally injured him in some way (Genesis 4:23-24). Then prior to the flood in the days of Noah, a summary of how bad things had got was given in Genesis 6:5:
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
This pessimistic assessment of human society was reinforced in Genesis 6:11: Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. In the centuries that followed there was no evidence that humanity had gained a better approach to settling their differences with one another. By the time of the ending of the AD66-70 war between the Jews in Israel and the Romans probably the majority of the Jewish citizens of that land had either been killed or enslaved –and that was only one dreadful example of violence in the region. In the early modern period Islam spread out of its heartland by military conquest or jihad and various popes of the Roman Catholic Church sought to extend their powers through the launching of crusades –often against other Christian groups not just against Muslim rulers and their empires.
It had been reported that between 1480 and 1941 Great Britain has been involved in 78 wars, Spain in 64, Russia in 61, Austria in 52, Germany in 23, France in 16, the USA in 13, China 11 and Japan 9 wars [John Blanchard, Blessed, p.212]. What about the last century, the most secular in human history. Did the decline in religious influences on Governments make matters better in terms of war and peace? Most certainly not!
In World War One alone eleven million military personnel and seven million civilians were killed, with an incredible twenty million others suffering various degrees of injuries. In World War Two, although the total figures are still being debated, at least fifty to sixty million people died in the conflict. There is no doubt that in terms of absolute numbers it has been the most violent in history. It is proof that humanity doesn’t need a religious reason for conflict there are plenty of non-religious ‘reasons’ to behave in abominable ways to one another.
The good news is that the major powers have not been at war with each other since World War Two, but that is due to the creation of the atomic bomb. A nuclear war might be the last for our species! The war to ends all wars, but not in a good way!
1. The source of the problem
Jeremiah stated very clearly where the source of the problem lies. Jeremiah 17:9 states:
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”
Jesus used some graphic imagery to make people stop and think about the problem of human sinfulness in Mark 9:43-47: If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. [46] 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.
Jesus is not advocating a bit of limb chopping to strengthen our spiritual wellbeing. He was wanting His hearers and readers, then and now, to recognize that the human predicament is not primarily about addressing inappropriate words and actions, although this may be necessary at times, but fundamentally it is about correcting inappropriate ingrained sinful attitudes in our inner being.
A person whose heart is fully focused on living the way they should, will display a control of their speech and actions that reflects what is going on within them. We are now coming into Spring and the first weeds are in evidence in our gardens. If we ignore them it is certain that within a few months we will have seen them multiply, creating a lot of work to put our gardens in order.
The same principle is found within the human heart. If we allow wrong attitudes to fester; if we permit inappropriate trains of thought to go unchallenged, then we may have a much bigger issue on our hands than was originally the case. Proverbs 16:32 makes this value judgement: Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.
This kind of statement goes completely against much of our present culture where people’s private lives and public lives are deemed to be completely separate spheres. The Bible is abundantly clear that we are whole people and our attitudes, speech and actions in public and private fit together to build a profile of who we really are in the sight of God. It is, therefore, no surprise that there is such an emphasis on being right in our inner person in the Bible.
To a group of Pharisees who were over concerned about whether Jesus’ disciples washed their hands properly before a meal, He explained (in Mark 7) to them that there are much more important issues to work through in life than the ones they were majoring on. In summary Jesus declared: Again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, ‘Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.’ (Mark 7:14-15).
In the same way James in his letter to new Christians wrote these words in James 4:1-3: What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
We tend to focus on choosing the right words to say in difficult situations, or the right words to write in an email or letter or text message. We may even focus most on the actions we take or don’t take in particular situations. Now these things are important, but the Bible is repeatedly clear that the major work takes place in our hearts and minds.
If we win the battle there then the rest will fall into place. We will then find it easier to chose winsome words of grace in which we will be more concerned with winning over a brother or sister than winning an argument; we will be more desirous of how God views our input then whether we have had sufficient time to get our point across! When our attitudes and then our speech is in line with how Jesus wishes us to behave, it will be significantly less difficult to make the right choices in terms of our actions.
2. The source of the solution
The Bible has a lot to say about peace and peace-making. There are around 400 references to peace. In the Hebrew Old Testament it is shalom– a rich word that means so much more than the absence of conflict. It has the idea of wholeness and wellbeing. It contains an understanding of desiring not only to avoid a conflict with someone, but rather to wish a constructive and fruitful quality relationship with the other person or people; it describes ‘right personal relationships that are characterized by intimacy, fellowship, and uninterrupted goodwill’ between two people.
When the Psalmist in Psalm 122:6-7 wrote: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May those who love you be secure. 7 May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.’ He was not simply asking God to ensure that there was an absence of war in the vicinity of this city, but that every good blessing would be the experience of the residents of that place.[William Barclay, The Plain Man Looks at the Beatitudes p. 82-3] In the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament, and the New Testament the word is eirene– from which we get the name Irene. According to William Barclay [p.83] this word is found in all of the New Testament books and is used in a variety of ways.
It does refer to peace agreements between nations. In Acts 12:20 the people of Tyre and Sidon wanted to improve their relationship with King Herod and asked for peace. It is used in Acts 24:2-3 of a period of social harmony within a nation. Here Paul is on trial before the Roman Governor of Judea, Felix. The prosecuting counsel for the Jewish religious leaders, a lawyer called Tertullus, began his speech with these words:
We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation.3 Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude.
Luke also uses this word to describe a period of real blessing and spiritual prosperity amongst the young Christian Churches in Acts 9:31: Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
Of course the Bible uses this word to speak of inter-personal relationships. Jesus stressed to His disciples that if the credibility of their witness was to be seen and demonstrated to the wider watching world then it was essential that they: be at peace with each other (Mark 9:50).
Naturally we should pray for personal inner peace as the aged Simeon did after seeing the baby Jesus. He prayed these words, recorded in Luke 2:29-31: Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, You may now dismiss Your servant in peace.30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 which You have prepared in the sight of all nations.
Why is this so important? It is because we worship the God of peace (I Thessalonians 5:23). His Son our Saviour is described in the prophetic words of Isaiah 9:6 as the Prince of Peace… In the words of Zechariah produced to express his joy at the birth of his son John the Baptist there are some words about the calling of the One for whom John is the forerunner.
In Luke 1:79 Zechariah prophesied that Jesus will come to guide our feet into the path of peace. In His last detailed message to His disciples before His crucifixion Jesus said: Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27).
Paul in his magnificent letter to the Christians in Ephesus explained how in Christ Jews and Gentiles who would have had no dealings with one another quite happily, but who though the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross became brothers and sisters as followers of Jesus. Jesus took away the penalty of our sins and the consequences of them.
The great apostle expressed it in this way in Ephesians 2:13-14: But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility… And Peter in his message to the household of Cornelius in Acts 10 explained to them what it was Jesus proclaimed to the Jewish people in Israel during his earthly ministry. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all (Acts 10:36).
That is in Christ the quality of relationships between believers should reflect however faintly the relationships of Father, Son and Spirit in the triune godhead. That we should then by implication, never be satisfied in accepting lesser qualities of relationships with one another than the constructive and fruitful quality relationship with the other person or people.
The shalom of God should be observed by people coming into a gathering of the local expression of the Church of Jesus Christ. How evident is that in our worship services to guests who join us? How evident is it in Church Meetings and other meetings in our congregation?
3. Working to create a solution Blessed are the peacemakers
Notice what Jesus does and doesn’t say here in Matthew 5:9. It is very important to note that Jesus does not say: ‘Blessed are the people who love peace’. Anyone who loved conflict with other people and rejoiced in broken relationships was either mentally impaired or seriously morally deficient in their thinking processes.
Every person in their right mind prefers good quality relationships with other people! What is it that Jesus is saying here? Blessed are the peacemakers… The bar Jesus is setting for us is not that we are characterized by being peaceful people who seek to have good quality relationships with other people and will not settle for less- as much as it is up to us. It is not that we are characterized by being peace-loving –as that is taken for granted with respect to a child of God.
Our calling is to be peace-makers. That is, such a person who Jesus has in mind here may become aware, for example, of a relational problem in their family circle, in their Church family; in their workplace or in some other setting where they have significant ties with other people. He or she may know that someone needs to do something to rectify the difficulty that has arisen.
They may also be aware that if they seek to get involved in attempting to bring about a reconciliation of relationships or resolving of differences that it may be a difficult path to tread, that may take up a lot of time and effort, and what is more, the participants may not necessarily be grateful to a third party for seeking to assist them. Jesus calls such people blessed because there is an emotional and physical cost, as well as a spiritual one, in giving of ourselves in this aspect of ministry. This is your calling and mine.
There are too many Christians in churches up and down the land whose attitudes, choice of words and actions reflect ‘a bull in a china shop’ mentality, rather than exercising the calling which Jesus called ‘blessed’ here in the Sermon on the Mount. How would other Christians and other people describe you and me with respect to our calling here? This is an intensely serious matter when to live outside our calling risks the loss of the blessing offered by our Lord. Each of us as God’s people in His service need regularly to look into our hearts and ask: ‘how am I getting on in this aspect of Christian discipleship?’ Are relationships around me enriched or strengthened by my presence and contributions or are there other outcomes being experienced too often? If the latter is true then we need to ask how we can change to be as our default position peacemakers.
When the United Church of South India began in September 1947 Bishop Lesslie Newbiggin made a point of visiting all the churches in his diocese. Village by village the congregations met with their bishop. In one village an extraordinary sight greeted Newbiggin. An aged Indian man called Sundaram dressed in old RAF equipment carrying a stainless steel baton in his hand led the procession.
With the baton the older man directed the congregation in kneeling and rising. Later he told Newbeggin his story. He was a missionary in Burma when World War Two began. He was captured by the advancing Japanese army and taken to a guard post. All his possessions were taken from him and he was bound and tied up in a corner of the room. A Japanese army officer later came into the room and examined the small pile of personal possessions belonging to the prisoner. He recognised the Bible, but not the Tamil language in which it was written. He walked over to Sundaram and on his palm of one hand performed the sign of the cross while looking at the prisoner. It was clear that he was asking was the man a Christian. Sundaram nodded.
He had been tied up with his arms outstretched in the shape of a cross. In silence the officer cut the ropes that bound him, gave him back his belongings and pointed to the door. As a token of Christian friendship to a fellow-believer he handed over his officer’s staff. In a brutal war zone two believers experienced a form of fellowship that reflected the blessed model of interpersonal relationships commended here by Jesus [W. Barclay, The Plain Man Looks at the Beatitudes, p.92].
What the Japanese Christian did was a high risk activity given that few fellow officers would have shared his faith, but the gospel of Jesus showed him how he ought to treat another believer even in such a difficult setting as a war zone. There are risks to us modeling this kind of Christ-like behavior; however, are we willing to take a chance and step out in faith to honour our precious Lord and Saviour in the way we relate to other people?
4. Working to prevent problems arising
In Colossians 3:15 Paul wrote: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful… This word ‘rule’ has the idea of acting as an umpire or referee in a game or sporting contest. In a game like football, for example, the referee only takes action when the rules of the game have been infringed; otherwise it can keep on going for the agreed duration of that half of the game.
Paul’s point was that Christians should live day by day in the light of the rules or boundaries established by our heavenly ‘referee’ and thus avoid Him taking direct action to penalize inappropriate conduct. Proverbs 6:16-19 reminds us of seven things that God detests. They include: a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community (Proverbs 6:19). There is something very seriously wrong in the life of a professing Christian who goes around looking for opportunities to criticise the speech and conduct of fellow believers; What sort of things ought we to look out for to avoid problems arising in our relationships with fellow believers? Two particular issues:
(a)Pride (Proverbs 13:10) Pride only breeds quarrels. Behind most acts of sin is a wrong view of self by the person or person who acts in this way. A person may have an inflated view of their self-importance. Pride comes before a fall Proverbs 16:18 states: Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Paul cautioned against appointing people to leadership positions in the church too soon after conversion for this reason. In I Timothy 3:6 he wrote: He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He is referring back to the fall of Lucifer (Satan) in Isaiah 14:12-15.
(b) Anger (Proverbs 15:18) A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel. At the beginning of that chapter is the same truth taught in a positive fashion. A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger (Proverbs 15:1). Yet there is a place for righteous anger in the light of sinful misconduct. Paul in Ephesians 4:25-27 gave this advice: Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbour, for we are all members of one body. 26 ‘In your anger do not sin’: do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold… I think it would be helpful if we echoed David’s prayer in Psalm 141:3: Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.
5. The blessings that flow from peace-making …will be called sons of God.
The wording here is carefully chosen to make a theological point. It is helpful to quote Paul’s words in Romans 8:14-17 to enable us to grasp what Jesus is saying. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the [Greek ‘huioi’ sons]children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children [Greek ‘tekna’ children]. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.
Jesus is uniquely the Son of God, but through His sacrifice on the cross and the work of the Holy Spirit within us, bring us to faith, we are brought into God’s family and in a lesser sense inherit the privileges and responsibilities of ‘sonship’ as God’s children; we earnestly desire to live like Jesus and do not want to be satisfied with falling short in this aspect of our Christian discipleship. We want to be perfect like Jesus –and one day shall be beyond this life.
Romans 8:22-24a states: We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved.
Do we grasp what Jesus is challenging us to be like and which Paul is reinforcing here? It is a challenge to be truly Christ-like in our humble and gracious dealings with one another. I John 3:2 confirms this truth for us: But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
Being willing to think of others ahead of ourselves and to leave ultimate judgement to God is our calling. I close with these words of the remarkable J.C. Ryle, Anglican Bishop of Liverpool in the late nineteenth century.
‘Those who try to do good must look forward with patience to the Day of Judgement.. They must be content in this present world to be misunderstood, misrepresented, vilified, slandered and abused. They must not cease to work because their motives are mistaken and their characters are fiercely assailed. They must remember continually that all will be set right at the last day. The secrets of all hearts will then be revealed…The purity of their intentions, the wisdom of their labours and the rightfulness of their cause, shall at length be made manifest to all the world [J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, pp. 102-103] , Amen.
Our song before we come to communion is:
The Lord’s Supper
Jesus invites all Christian who have committed their lives to follow Him to participate in this act of worship. The apostle Paul wrote these words of Scripture in I Corinthians 11:23-26 to guide our observance of Communion.
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ 25 In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Prayer: Choose your own words of prayer to give thanks for the bread and wine that represent the costly gift of His body and blood for us.
Take the bread: Jesus said: ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.
Take the wine: Jesus said: This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’
Our closing song is:
Closing Prayer:
Lord, You have called us to be active peacemakers in the gatherings of people we may call our homes or our workplaces, our churches or other social settings; when we are with family members or friends or with acquaintances or amongst those we have not previously met. We are conscious that living this way is at times extremely difficult.
However, You have called us to live this way and with the help of the Holy Spirit we will seek to be people who will attempt to build and maintain flourishing relationships with the people around us. Guide us and grant us the wisdom and strength to live this way in this coming week, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
Benediction: The Grace
May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God
and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all evermore, Amen
Welcome: It is so good to see you back in our church building, only third time since Sunday March 15th 2020.
Opening Scripture verses
You have searched me, Lord,
Psalm 139:1-4
and You know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
You, Lord, know it completely.
Opening praise Lord for the years –
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father, we come with joy in our hearts into Your holy presence today. You are a holy God and so we acknowledge that we must come with reverence before You because we are sinners in need of forgiveness.
But we also come with confidence in the name of Jesus Your Son our Saviour, who paid in full the debt that we owe thorough His sacrifice on the cross in our place. We are also so greatly encouraged because as Psalm 139 explains so well You know everything about us and still love us. You know all the bad thoughts we have considered, the words we regret speaking and the behavioural choices we regret.
Yet there is nothing we could do to make You love us more, or less, because we stand before You today clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus. Because of Your unconditional love for Him we are welcomed with open arms today by our Father in heaven. Help us to glorify You by all that we say and listen to in this service today, for Jesus’ sake Amen.
Bible Reading
You have searched me, Lord,
and You know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways.4 Before a word is on my tongue
You, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and You lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, You are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there Your hand will guide me,
Your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,’
12 even the darkness will not be dark to You;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to You.13 For You created my inmost being;
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.15 My frame was not hidden from You
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in Your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand –
when I awake, I am still with You.19 If only You, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of You with evil intent;
Your adversaries misuse Your name.21 Do I not hate those who hate You, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against You?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
Psalm 139
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Intercessory prayer using Psalm 139
Heavenly Father we come before You in our increasingly troubled world to plead with You to work in so many situations beyond our control. Help us to care enough about others to bring them to You day after day until we see the transformation of these situations.
We are distressed to see the planned launch of another major war by President Erdogan of Turkey, in this case against the Armenian people who have suffered so much at the hands of Turkey over the last hundred years. The pictures of the deliberate destruction of civilian homes and basic infrastructure of civilian life are distressing to us. We pray that the international community will finally have a conscience and wake up to the humanitarian tragedy unfolding before our eyes if no action is taken to stop it.
Lord we are concerned too at the growth in Covid-19 virus infections in parts of our land and although we are pleased that the challenges are nowhere near the scale experienced in the Spring of this year they are still a real concern to us.
We pray for wisdom for our governments in Westminster and Edinburgh that they might make the best choices possible as they seek to support people’s livelihoods as well as safeguard our health and wellbeing. We pray too for those struggling with the mental and emotional strains of the present day and ask that You would bring comfort and healing to them. In the same way we pray for those finding the pressures of their working environments affecting their health, grant them likewise, we pray, the grace and strength to be able to carry on.
We come to use the words of Psalm 139 in our prayers today:
You have searched me, Lord, and You know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and You lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Lord it is a real relief that You know me, You know us, better than we know ourselves with our strengths and our weaknesses, those parts of who we are that are beautiful inn Your sight and those that disappoint You or even at times cause You to weep over our sins and our failures.
Yet through it all whether You are rejoicing over us in song when we honour Your name or the opposite, Your love for us is absolutely amazing. We are part of Your family because Jesus died in our place. We are clothed in His perfect righteousness and when You look upon us You see us not as we are now but as we will be one day beyond this life, perfect like Your Son in His perfect humanity.
We are overwhelmed with joy that You see such potential in us to be like Him, help us this day and in coming days to bring more joy to Your heart by the way we live. May the words of Zephaniah 3:17 be said with respect to each one of us in Your sight. The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.
Lord, I want to thank You for….
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ 12 even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You.
Lord in my workplace or my social setting, in my home or that of my family members You are there. Lord in the things I am struggling with just now, even there You stand beside me.
Lord, I particularly want to bring this person…. Or this circumstance before You…
13 For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I awake, I am still with You.
Lord You are the incredible supernatural God who daily works amazing miracles for the good of Your people. In human terms there are so many examples of circumstances where it appears utterly hopeless, but not where You are involved. Thank you for the preciousness of life and the miracle of the creation of new life from conception in a mother’s womb.
Lord, I want to bring before You …. where a miracle is needed today. I don’t even have the right words to know how to ask, I simply want to ask for …
19 If only You, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! 20 They speak of You with evil intent; Your adversaries misuse Your name. 21 Do I not hate those who hate You, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against You? 22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.
Lord, there are situations in the world that only the word ‘evil’ accurately fits events taking place at the present time. As a God of love and justice You cannot but be angry that humans created to do good can do the very opposite.
I bring before You ….. and ask that You would transform evil to bring about good in this situation… Thank you that You have done that in Sudan even this year so no country is beyond hope.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Lord, I have to admit my own imperfections and ask You to look in me and show me how I can become more like Jesus in my thoughts, speech and conduct. In particular, Lord, I want to bring before You …. with which I need help at this time…
Thank You Lord for hearing and answering our prayers in the name of Jesus, Your Son our Saviour Amen.
Message from Psalm 139
Psalm 139 Who is the God we worship?
Introduction
Who is it that we worship when we gather together in church, in small groups in homes, in prayer triplets, or even on our own at home? What is this being like that we declare brought the world into being by the word of His mouth? For example in Psalm 33:6: By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth. We cannot see Him, nor His Holy Spirit because they are invisible, but we believe that Almighty God has been revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ who walked this earth two thousand years ago.
John 1:18 reminds us: No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in the closest relationship with the Father, has made Him known. And in one of the most amazing verses of the whole Bible John 1:14 declares: The Word became flesh (a human being) and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
What an amazing testimony from the aged apostle John who looks back more than half a century with awe and wonder at what he had witnessed in his earlier years and for which he has given his life to tell others about Jesus. Each one of us who has come to faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour, humanly-speaking has done so because someone who had previously come to know Him has taken the time to share something of their story with us. It was an incredible privilege to stand at John’s grave in Selcuk near Ephesus in Western Turkey and give thanks to God for this faithful servant of God who lived and died a faithful witness to our great God and Saviour.
But we must go back in time a thousand years before the time of Jesus on earth to the writing of Psalm 139. King David has remarkable, God-inspired insight in this Psalm about the One we worship, but it naturally falls short of the fuller New Testament revelation of the God we worship.
However, there is still so much here in this amazing Psalm to inspire and encourage us as we reflect on these wonderful words. This psalm is written in four sections and is a reflection on some aspect of the revelation of who God is. The first section is on His omniscience, that is, that God knows everything. There is nothing to be known or worth knowing that He does not know about His creation or about you or I in particular.
The second section is about His omnipresence. You and I can only be in one place at a time but God is not limited in this way. The third revelation is of his omnipotence, declared that God is all-powerful. We can often be frustrated because there are things we want to do or even need to do but cannot do. There is nothing good that He cannot do.
The final characteristic is concerning His omnirighteousness. We are a mix at times of thinking, saying and doing good things and at other times we fall short of doing what is right, but God is always consistently right in all He does.
This Psalm is not abstract or impersonal theoretical knowledge about God. It is intensely personal and relational. You can sense the depth of relationship between David and the God he is describing in this Psalm. What was true then and possible then is even more possible today when we come to God through faith in Jesus Christ. How can we be certain of that? In John 14:6-14 we can see it explained in these verses where Jesus is in conversation with two disciples first Thomas and then Philip.
Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 If you really know Me, you will know My Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.’
8 Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ 9 Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”?
10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? The words I say to you I do not speak on My own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His work. 11 Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it.
We must leave explaining the details of that amazing passage to another time as we return to Psalm 139, but I want you to grasp something of the amazing privilege we have in knowing God though Jesus. Let us look briefly at this Psalm today.
1. One who is omniscient (Psalm 139:1-6)
You have searched me, Lord, and You know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely. 5 You hem me in behind and before, and You lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
‘I know you’, a total stranger in a public setting making this kind of statement might be encouraging to us. However, if the tone of voice was unpleasant and we were in unfamiliar surroundings we might feel threatened and very uncomfortable. The loss of a sense of control over information about us is a cause for concern.
It is something we warn younger people when they open social media accounts that things they post on line will be there forever, even if we press the delete button. The companies concerned in this case, and more generally other people with good computer skills can without too much difficulty find information about us online.
I have not forgotten a decade ago attending a parent’s evening at our local primary school. It was a session for parents about the dangers of putting information online. At the end the speaker challenged us to go home and try to find things about ourselves by asking certain questions. We were assured that far more information would be found about our personal circumstances than we would have been aware of.
It was an accurate prediction. The sad reality is that this is a mixed blessing. It can be very beneficial. When someone I know was going through some difficult circumstances in another country a few years ago I wanted to contact someone who might have been able to help. I had only a name and a job title to go on. In less than ten minutes of searching online produced their mobile phone number from a form they had filled in some years earlier. It was entirely appropriate in that context and very helpful. However, nuisance callers can make people’s lives a misery. Identity thieves who steal personal information to access our bank accounts or other financial details can cause very real distress. It is exactly the same technology, however, like many things it can be used for good or ill.
Here David goes much further and says that God knows us in every detail. There is nothing that he does not know. Even all the words we plan to say before we state them. He knows all our thoughts and opinions even when they remain unexpressed in speech. Of course He sees everything we do. A person who wants nothing to do with God will either pretend that He doesn’t exist or ignore the facts that David has explained. It must be unsettling for such a person to know that someone who wants to have a friendship with them knows them so well before they have even met.
How do you feel about what David has explained about God’s knowledge of you in the opening verses of Psalm 139? I think that our response will depend on how we view God. If we see Him as our loving heavenly Father then we will have a more favourable response because we will trust Him to use that information appropriately about us. As a Christian to know that our heavenly Father loved us so much He asked Jesus to die in our place on the cross, so that our sins could be forgiven and subsequently for you and me to be welcomed into His family by faith, demonstrates kindness towards us that is amazing. Even with the limited Old Testament era knowledge He had of God leads David to rejoice and to declare: Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain (Psalm139:6). We might say we are overwhelmed or overcome with positive emotion at how God treats us in the light of His knowledge of us.
2. One who is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-12)
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ 12 even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You.
Little children enjoy playing games of hide and seek. The very youngest able to pay such a game simply put their hands over their eyes or close them and imagine we cannot see them. An adult in such a game needs to pretend at times about what they can see if the game is to be fun for the child or children involved! The adult knows what is really going on but their knowledge is so much greater. On a completely different level God knows everything about us, not just our geographical locations! What is more David declares that God is omnipresent. We can only be in one place at once. He can be everywhere at once. This is more than my little brain can grasp. But there is so much in the natural world, especially in space, that is beyond our natural abilities to grasp without great difficulties.
There are adults who try to hide from God. They know they need to sort out their lives with God or address certain issues that need a resolution, but seek to act as if they can hide things from Him. David has never tried to hide things from God. He has made some horrendous choices in his life as well as many more good ones. He lived his life very openly and was quite willing to talk about all kinds of issues other people would want to refrain from discussing. There are people today, not just celebrities, who are happy to live their lives in the public domain. The problem is that if your life hits a bad patch there is nowhere for such a person to hide. It is no surprise that the majority of us are much more careful about what we would be willing to share in public with the wider world.
Here David is speaking in general terms of places – places in eternity, or places in this life – anywhere you would care to mention we cannot escape from God. Yet over the years there have been many individuals who have moved geographical locations to get away from God. In the Bible there is the remarkable story of the national religious leader in Israel called Jonah who was called to go to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire to proclaim God’s judgement on them for their barbaric acts of wilful cruelty and ethnic cleansing (Jonah 1:1).
In essence Jonah replied, God You are too kind to do anything like that and if they repent, unlikely as it seems, they will be forgiven (Jonah 44:1-2). So he declined the assignment and decided to take some time out on a break in southern Spain long before it was a holiday resort so popular with British people! God was not impressed with his course of action and intervened with the remarkable events recorded in the book of Jonah.
Many years ago a friend left this country to go to another to get away from God. He sat down on a park bench in that city exhausted and having run out of his financial resources wondering what to do next. A relatively short time later that day some volunteers from a church in that city that assisted people living on the streets spotted him and asked if they could help! God can meet with us in any place. Has God been speaking to you about your need to commit your life to follow Him? I encourage you to put your trust in the One who wants the very best for you. As a Christian are you feeling alone and struggling right now because life is so hard with so many problems that appear without a resolution? David would encourage each one of us to put our trust in the God who cares for us and will meet with us right where we are.
3. One who is omnipotent (Psalm 139:13-18)
13 For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I awake, I am still with You.
If the previous section of the Psalm was the panoramic view of the world that was filled with God’s amazing presence, now David turns to write about something equally remarkable. Remember that he lived thousands of years before modern scientific advances enabled us to see pictures of babies growing and moving in their mother’s wombs. Many of us have seen tiny babies responding to events outside their constricted world. We know the ‘what happens’ as an egg is fertilised and the remarkable processes that take place over the next few weeks prior to the unmistakable shape and formation of a tiny child in the womb. Those of us as parents who have had the joy of seeing our little ones growing healthily on scans at a hospital and have the pictures to retain at home have been so blessed. We also have the deepest sympathies for those whose scan pictures reveal the heartache of an empty womb after a miscarriage or the recognition that developmental problems have been spotted in the little one visible on screen that raise serious questions about the future prospects for them. Some of us reading this message will have experienced both the joy and the heartache of these scenarios.
What David very clearly points out to us is that God is the author of human and other created life. He is the Creator God. He is the one who enables life to come into being and by implication when our time comes He oversees our departure from this life as well. Here, though, the focus is on pre-natal life. There is no computer that even comes close to the remarkable complexity of the human body. Even with his limited knowledge David overflows with awe and wonder at the gift of new life and the privilege of seeing or holding a new baby.
He wrote in Psalm 139:14: I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Are you thrilled at the incredible gift of life God has given to you? Do you share with David that sense of the preciousness of life of each human being from conception to the grave? Each person is created in the image of God and that makes them of infinite value. He is overflowing with joy. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I awake, I am still with You.
Do you and I need to focus more on the blessings of the good things we enjoy rather than on our frustrations and disappointments due to the challenges we experience during this covid19 virus pandemic? I challenge myself about that as much as anyone else!
4. One who is omnirighteous (Psalm139:19-24)
19 If only You, God, would slay the wicked! Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! 20 They speak of You with evil intent; Your adversaries misuse Your name. 21 Do I not hate those who hate You, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against You? 22 I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
David turns in this last section to the world around him and the situations of evil in the world that cause him to be distressed. He is a very emotional and expressive person. The evil in the world around him that he cannot solve is distressing. The list I could cite here of evil being perpetrated around the world is increasingly long. The violence and killing that goes on and on in the twenty-first century is horrific.
The idea that human beings are civilised creatures is increasingly in question in so many places. Here in this beautiful part of North East Scotland we live in a paradise compared to much of the world. Had there not been the virus pandemic I would have been in Armenia this week and might have been scheduled to preach in a Baptist Church in a community facing a barrage of missile and drone attacks on the civilian population by the Turkish Armed Forces with a little help from their Azeri colleagues. The silence of most Western Governments is absolutely shocking. David hands over the situations he cannot resolve to God. You deal with it God –please ensure that justice is done.
However, when we point the figure at others for what they do wrong there are other fingers that point back at us! David ends the psalm on a very personal note in Psalm 139:23-24: 23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
God, I am not perfect either. God, I know there are things I can do better, that I can be a better person and You can help me to more reflect the kind of person You want me to be. He invites God to speak into his life – will you and I do that today? May God help each one of us resolve to be the best we can be for Him, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
Closing Song Guide me o Thou Great Redeemer –
Closing Prayer
Thank You Lord for the wonder of our creation and growth in our mother’s womb, together with the joy of all that You have done in our lives in the years to date. Help us to have confidence and an expectancy of You working in our lives in the days to come. Encourage us when we are low in spirits to keep going; challenge us when we are complacent or ignoring the blessings we have to enjoy; convict us when we are in the wrong in our attitudes, words or actions, so that we in turn may be a source of joy to You as You see us interact with and blessing other people in the choices we make. Help us together to experience some little glimpses of heaven on earth as we look forward to the wonders of the new creation You have in store for us beyond this life, for Jesus’ sake Amen
The Benediction:
May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God
and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore, Amen
Our next service is planned for the same time on Wednesday 21st October at 11am.
Would you like to know more about Jesus in a way that is easy to understand in a small group?
We are offering 8 weekly evening sessions which will help you understand the One who is at the heart of the Christian faith. The session topics are below.
Session 1 What’s the good news about Jesus for you and I today?
Session 2 Who was/is Jesus – his identity?
Session 3 Why did he come to earth 2000 years ago and what does this have to do with us today?
Session 4 Why was Jesus killed? Was it simply circumstances or what is a divine requirement by God?
Session 5 Why did Jesus rise from the dead three days later? Fake news or Truth? If Truth, then why?
Session 6 God’s grace towards you and I. Why would I need his grace now and for my future?
Session 7 Accept or reject God. The choice we are offered.
Session 8 Jesus’ offer and invitation to each of us now and for our future.
No lectures. We watch a short film on the session topic, read a short Bible passage on the topic, then have some informal discussion around the topic. It’s also ok to miss a session.
We start on Tuesday 20th October, 7.30pm – 9pm on Zoom. No need to leave the comfort of your own home.
We finish on the 8th December, just in time for Christmas. As Jesus is the reason for Christmas, Christmas may just be that extra special for you this year.
If you would like to take part, contact us via our website, Facebook or e-mail webmaster@broughtybaptist.org
Intimations
– You may want to use some of the Engage Worship resources for daily worship during this week
– Christianity Explored course – Would you like to know more about Jesus in a way that is easy to understand in a small group? We are offering 8 weekly evening sessions on Zoom which will help you understand the One who is at the heart of the Christian faith. Find out more here or e-mail webmaster@broughtybaptist.org
– The Messy Church At Home information is now available on our church website www.broughtybaptist.org
– The Baptist Union of Scotland will be continuing the Prayer Livestream at 7.00pm on Sunday 4th October, 2020. This will be another significant time of national prayer for our family of churches. The theme this month is transformation and it will include stories of personal and community transformation from Pitlochry BC and Sheddocksley BC in Aberdeen. Click here to access the event.
– JAM Kids’ focus: The Virtual Sunday School. Here is the video for this week’s session “Doing your best for God”.
– JAM young adults Ignite Live have a separate programme at 11:15am. Please contact Gary Torbet – garytorbet@btinternet.com for more details.
Call to worship
Sing to the Lord a new song,
for He has done marvellous things;
His right hand and His holy arm
have worked salvation for Him.
2 The Lord has made His salvation known
and revealed His righteousness to the nations.
3 He has remembered His love
and His faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.4 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
5 make music to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn –
shout for joy before the Lord, the King.7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
Psalm 98
the world, and all who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy;
9 let them sing before the Lord,
for He comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
We are grateful to Kevin Clark for selecting the songs for worship for this service.
Our opening song of praise and worship is:
Opening prayer:
Thank you Lord once more for the privilege of entering Your holy presence today. We have no right to come in our own merits, but because of the once-for-all-time sacrifice of Your Son our Saviour Jesus on the cross we can come with confidence before You today.
As the apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 5:1-2: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And werejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
We come as we are before You today asking afresh for the forgiveness of our sins and the fresh empowering we need from the Holy Spirit for the week that lies before us. We remember that
Hebrews 4:16 encourages us with these words: Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
From whatever circumstances we have come today, Lord speak into our lives by Your Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.
Let us say together the words Jesus taught His disciples when He said:
‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'”
For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever Amen.
All Age Talk – Moraig Piggot
Guess what? I have a package, and I want you to help me open it. First we have to decide which package I should open. Let’s see… what do you think? I have this one (Hold up bag or package with fancy wrapping) or I have this (hold up plain box or bag that does not look appealing).
Okay, which do you think looks more fun to open? Let’s see what’s inside. Why don’t we open this pretty one first…(Look into the box, revealing an empty inside). Oh. That’s a little disappointing, isn’t it? Why don’t we take a peek at the other bag. It doesn’t look as fun on the outside, but let’s see what’s in here… (Look in the bag and find a paper heart inside.)
This looks a lot more exciting than the other one, doesn’t it? So even though the outside was not as fun, inside this had some great!
The Bible reminds us a lot that what matters most to God is not what we say or do on the outside, but what’s on the inside, and the intentions of our hearts. We might act really cool, but we want to make sure we are living for the Lord. Jesus told a story about two men who were praying. One of them went into the church and gave a loud boastful prayer. He thanked God for making him better than other people, and talked about the wonderful things he did.
The other man Jesus described didn’t even want to go to church to pray. Instead, he stayed home and bowed low, full of sorrow and shame for the things he had done. He begged for mercy and felt unworthy of God’s attention. Jesus said that the man who was humble was offering a more genuine prayer than the boastful man. Humble means you don’t think too highly of yourself.
We know God always hears us and listens, of course. But if your prayers are meant to make yourself look better, they aren’t really focused on God. God doesn’t want us to boast about anything, even our prayer lives. It’s okay to be happy about something you’ve done, but you don’t want to go boasting about it to everyone.
When we pray, we want to make sure our hearts are devoted to God. What’s on the inside needs to have a positive purpose. We want to remember that God has given us all we have, including the most important thing, Jesus! That is a beautiful blessing to celebrate.
So let’s try to remember who the boss is. When we pray, we want our words to go to God, who is always present and loves us. Our heart intent and inner attitudes are much more important than what is on the outside. Why don’t we pray and ask God to help us focus on Him first, shall we?
Prayer: Dear God, Thank you for listening to our prayers. Help us to focus on you as the most important thing. May we not boast or brag. But turn our hearts to you. Thank you for your love We love you, God! Thank you for Jesus In His name we pray, Amen!
We continue in worship as we sing:
Prayers for others
Dear Lord,
As the nights continue to draw in, may we remember that you Lord are the Light of Life, We pray that Your presence shines in the darkness and that we need not be afraid – for You are a beacon of hope and a comforting night-light to our souls.
We pray today for those who find themselves displaced, despairing and desperate. We pray for refugees and asylum seekers across the world, whether in migrant camps or temporary accommodation. We pray too for the agencies working to help and support people in these challenging situations.
As the grip of the Covid pandemic continues, we pray for those experiencing mental health problems at this time and deep anxiety and uncertainty about the future. We pray for the right support and a listening ear to be made available to those in this situation. We pray too that the existing measures being taken in our country may be sufficient to restrict the spread of the covid-19 virus without the need for more restrictive measures being introduced.
In our Baptist Union of Scotland we also remember to pray for:
We pray for the ongoing planning for Canopy, the online Baptist Union Assembly this year. We ask that the technology being utilised will work as planned and that through the shared events that it will bring our churches closer together as we join together for these three days of meetings and a joint worship service on Sunday 25th October.
Nairn BC – We give thanks for growth in prayer and discipleship as many completed the 24/7 Prayer Course and there are some regular new attenders to our zoom services. Please pray for the follow up to our current Alpha course online and for courage in our witness in our every-day lives. Please pray for wisdom and perseverance as we keep going in our current weekly virtual gatherings but keep alert to opportunities for face to face meetings.
New Prestwick BC – Give thanks for the fellowship at New Prestwick BC as they seek to serve and witness to the people of Prestwick and Newton-on-Ayr
Newton Mearns BC – We praise God for people coming to faith in this community during this time, and that social distancing is no barrier to the Spirit of God! We praise God too for a good first in-person youth service they held just recently. We pray for the online discipling of these new Christians, for the church to find healthy patterns of in-person and online meetings and for the prayer course and wellbeing groups they plan to run this term.
We now pray for other people with particular needs that are connected to our own congregation:
We thank you for the good news that Nilapu and Susmita have had their first child, a baby boy last Thursday. We pray that both mother and baby may be in good health. We also thank God for Sheila B’s improvement in health this week.
We pray for your comfort for Margaret R and her family in the recent loss of her younger brother. We continue to remember Ann W as she supports her sister Margaret at this very difficult time and John and Ann S’s niece Rachel likewise going through extremely hard times.
We continue to remember those going through tests at hospital and others still waiting a long time for operations to take place. We pray for wisdom and strength for all concerned.
We continue to remember those members of our congregation in residential care or confined to their own homes. Help them Lord to sense Your presence with them and to know that they are not forgotten as we pray for them.
In addition, we bring our own needs to You at this time …, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.
Bible reading
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”
13 ‘But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
14 ‘I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’
Luke 18: 9-14
Before we come to listen to God’s Word let us sing:
The Message
Matthew 5:8 My inner motivation
Introduction
Do our personal values and standards really matter or make a difference? The first American Presidential election debate, ahead of the November 2020 election, is taking place on a day when I am working on this message. Does it matter what claims are raised or what promises are made?
As a Christian my answer has to be firmly ‘yes’! Our words and our promises have to be seen as important or they lose their value. How could our families, workplaces and countries operate without attention to this important subject? Yet it appears that integrity in our communications is not as valued today as it ought to be. The deliberate misuse of statistics in campaigning by some politicians or special interest groups or the misrepresentation of products for sale by companies is alarmingly common despite all the laws that supposedly prohibit such behavior. We can all give plenty of examples of this problem today.
It does go further, though, because there are times when it is questioned whether someone having high standards of personal integrity would fit into the team in particular workplaces or sports. A classic example previously debated in the Scottish media concerned Christian rugby players like Euan Murray. Although he is now retired from the game, the principle behind the question is very important. Can a Christian be as effective as someone without their particular convictions, given all the skullduggery that allegedly goes on inside the scrums! In Murray’s case it was clearly a backhanded compliment because he was arguably Scotland’s best tight-head prop in the professional era and was also picked as a British Lion some years ago as well. If that was not success in his chosen profession, then an explanation is called for! Although it is hard to put into words, we all know what is being suggested here.
The world in which we live is a murky place where many people would argue that a little bit of lying and cheating or low-level malpractice may at times be necessary to get on. From the footballer seeking to gain an Oscar for his diving skills or feigning serious injury, to the accountant assisting his client on the margins of tax avoidance law to the office junior asked to tell the business contact that ‘the cheque is in the post’; in this kind of world a Christian with their high standards could be, some might argue, a bit of a liability or someone difficult to accommodate within the system!
Thankfully there are other people who may not yet share our faith but who also recognize the need for the values we are proclaiming in this context of integrity of motivation and in our communications with other people. We are not alone but it can take courage to stand up for what is right. Yet there are times when as Christians that we struggle to know how we ought to think, act and speak in some difficult situations. Jesus said: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Matthew 5:8) First of all:
1. What is meant by the reference to our heart?
This is not a scientific or biological use of the word with which we are so familiar. In the Bible human beings are understood as spiritual beings made in the image of God. They have a body and a soul; the latter is a collective term that covers everything else in terms of our personality, our rational faculties, emotions and decision-making capability.
The apostle Paul in I Thessalonians 5:23 wrote: May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In many passages of the Bible instead of referring to the soul the word ‘heart’ is often substituted as an alternative to using the word ‘soul’. This kind of thinking and usage is found in our culture and language as well. The whole notion of Valentine’s Day, and the industry of cards and gifts associated with it, is based on the usage of the heart as a symbol of our love and affection for that special person or people in our lives whom we love, and for whom we might purchase a card or some other gift for that day!
Of course there are some scientists who would reduce the whole notion of love to chemical stimuli, reactions and changes in our bodies, but the vast majority of us, including the majority of scientists know that such a reduction in the meaning of love and its impact on us to chemical formulae is far from adequate. So how does the Bible use the word heart?
(a)The heart is understood as the place of our emotions King David in Psalm 27:1-3 declared: The Lord is my light and my salvation –whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. 3 Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.
In his case he had in mind his time on the run from King Saul before becoming king of Israel or the many military conflict situations he experienced over the years. He would not be overcome by fear in such a context. In words familiar to all of us from funeral services, we remember Jesus’ words to His disciples in the Upper Room prior to His crucifixion stating in John 14:1-3:
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Why, because there is a natural fear and uncertainty in the face of death for many people. Jesus wants to give His followers a clear assurance that He has already taken care of our future beyond the grave. In Mark 12:30 Jesus said: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
There is a foundational emotional input to a relationship that we invest in – this includes not only with members of our family and friends, and the range of other people we associate with, but also in our relationship with God.
(b)The heart is understood as the place of our understanding In John 12:40 Jesus, in a quotation from Isaiah 6:10, spoke about the people who had consciously rejected His message in this manner: they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts…; their worldview was such that they had factored out the possibility that Jesus was who He claimed to be; is that not a place some people are in today?
Their secular or other religious views are incompatible with the direct claims of Jesus, so instead of questioning whether their current views need to be reconsidered they upfront rule out the truth claims of Jesus. This was certainly true of many Jewish people of Jesus’ day and in subsequent generations. Paul in II Corinthians 3:14-16 made this statement in reflection on his mission work in his own Jewish communities around the Roman world.
But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
Are our minds open to being shaped by the call and claims of Jesus?
(c) The heart is understood as the place of our thoughts and desires Later in this same sermon, in Matthew 5:28, Jesus stated: I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
The traditional Jewish view was that only the sinful act was wrong, but Jesus sough to challenge that view by declaring that our attitudes and speech must also be controlled appropriately in line with God’s standards.
How is that possible? Through the Word of God; Hebrews 4:12 reminds us that : the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
By reading and reflecting on what we read in the Bible it informs and influences our attitudes to do what is right.
(d) The heart is associated with our conscience On the day of Pentecost Peter preached a powerful sermon that the Holy Spirit used to convict many people of their sins and their need to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Acts 2:36-37 states:
‘Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.’ 37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’38 Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.’
The heart represents the place of moral conviction and judgement where our convictions are formed in response to our recognition that things need to be changed in a particular way.
(e) The heart is associated with our decision making Daniel 1:8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine; literally, as the NKJV states: But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies…
Here a brave teenage boy in a foreign land makes choices that his parents would have been proud of, he thought through the options before him and stood up to be counted for his Jewish faith. In II Corinthians 9:6-8 Paul wrote on the subject of financial giving to the Lord’s work:
Remember this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
(f) The heart is described as the place where faith choices are made Romans 10:9-10 states: If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
It is not merely ascent in our heads, but our whole being is involved in the commitment to follow Jesus. By contrast Hebrews 3:12 warns us with these words:
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.
We must be wholehearted in our commitment to the Lord and in our service for Him. King David echoed these sentiments in Psalm 57:7: My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
2. What is a ‘pure’ heart?
(a)The meaning of the word ‘pure’ Blessed are the pure in heart… (Matthew 5:8) The Greek word katharoi Jesus used in this passage, historically in Classical Greek was a term used primarily of physical cleansing. Clothes that were dirty were washed clean instead of being soiled or stained by usage. It was also used in the sense of being ‘unmixed’ that is the substance was pure rather than a mixture or an alloy, for example some gold or silver that was being offered for sale by a trader.
The purity of the gold or silver on offer rightly has a significant impact on the price of the product so a potential purchaser needs to know whether it is ‘pure’ gold or silver! It was used of pure water with no added substances; milk that was not watered down; also of grain that was winnowed to remove all the chaff; of animals that were free from known blemishes; it was also used of a bloodline that was consistently a line of people of the same ethnic heritage with no interbreeding with people of another racial heritage.
It was also used of an army that had been purged of ill-disciplined or inadequate soldiers who could not carry out the orders entrusted to them. It was used in a religious sense to speak of the person who had met the religious requirements of their faith and was free to participate in the worship services of their god. It was also used in obituaries to pay tribute to someone who was deemed to have lived an exemplary life and who had been a good example to the people around them (W. Barclay, The Plain Man looks at the Beatitudes, pp.72-73).
In the New Testament there are a number of examples of different uses of this term. In Matthew 27:59-60 the author writes: Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock.
Matthew is describing what happened to the body of Jesus after his crucifixion. Another use of this word comes in the book of Revelation where John from the vision he received is attempting to describe the new Jerusalem and expressed it this way in Revelation 21:18: The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.
Paul uses this term in a semi-legal way in his sermon before the elders of the church at Ephesus in Acts 20:26-27: 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.
He had shared God’s word with them without qualification and imbalance and had sought to present it to the best of his ability in his public proclamations. It was used by Jesus with reference to the Jewish religious practices. He made it very clear that He was abolishing the ceremonial regulations then practiced in the Holy Land. In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19).
The best known usage of the New Testament, though is probably with reference to our cleansing from sin when we come to faith and as we seek fresh cleansing from our sin. In I John1:7-9 it states:
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
It was stated as a general principle of the work of the Spirit in believers at the Council of Jerusalem in AD48. In Acts 15:8-9 Peter explained that God worked in the lives of Gentiles who came to faith in exactly the same way as believers of a Jewish background. God, who knows the heart, showed that He accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us. 9 He did not discriminate between us and them, for He purified their hearts by faith.
(b) Purity of heart involves sincerity One of the biggest complaints Jesus had about the Pharisees was hypocrisy. He denounced them sometimes in the very strongest terms, as can be seen in Matthew 23. For example, in Matthew 23:25-26 Jesus declared:
‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
There was also a very familiar story He told, recorded in Luke 18:9-14 about the contrast between a Pharisee and a Tax Collector who went to pray in the Temple in Jerusalem.
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”13 ‘But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” 14 ‘I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’
This was equally prized in the Old Testament also. In Jeremiah 32:39-40, the prophet declared how God would work to transform His people in exile. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear Me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from Me. Do you and I have singleness of heart serving the Lord with sincerity?
(c) Purity of heart requires integrity King David of Israel had many faults and weaknesses alongside his undoubted strengths. In Psalm 78:70-72 Asaph the Temple worship leader wrote: He chose David His servantand took him from the sheepfolds; 71 from tending the sheep He brought him to be the shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance. 72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skilful hands he led them.
People can be forgiven for genuine mistakes; for inadequacy of gifting that results in lesser accomplishments than they had aspired to. However, a person whose conduct is lacking in integrity and who is found out is in an extremely problematic position. In Jeremiah 17:9-10 there is a very frank assessment of the state of the human heart: The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10 ‘I the Lord search the heartand examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.’
This matter was frequently raised in the Psalms. In Psalm 51:6 (NKJV) David admitted: Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
In verse 10 of the same Psalm David prayed: Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Will you and I maintain our integrity of words and actions even if others around us adhere to lesser standards?
(d) Purity of heart includes fervency A person who is pure in heart doesn’t settle for just being as good as the next person. Their frequency of attendance at church; their level of commitment to Christian service and the attention to detail in rendering it or the level of their financial giving to His work is not determined by what other people do. This person is passionately committed to honouring the Lord in each area of their lives. The details of what that looks like may vary from Christian to Christian, in some respects, but it would be evident from the self-discipline and determination of that individual to please the Lord that their motivation and enthusiasm for bringing glory to the Lord Jesus was not in doubt.
Hebrews 12:14 reminds us of this fact. Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Our focus on the basic Christian disciplines of time in prayer and in God’s word and joining together with fellow-Christians for worship, witness and service will bear fruit in time. Paul summarized it this way to Timothy, a young pastor who he had mentored in the faith. Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (II Timothy 2:22). Are you and I pursuing these things in our lives personally and collectively?
3. How do we ‘see’ God? …For they will see God. (Matthew 5:8)
(a)It is not with physical sight This is not a physical rare sighting of Almighty God, like the bird watchers who descend on remote spots of the country when an unlikely bird visits this country! In John 1:18 we read: No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in the closest relationship with the Father, has made Him known. Paul, likewise in I Timothy 6:16 stated concerning God the Father: …whom no-one has seen or can see…. Seeing God is sensing His presence with us in a variety of contexts. It may be when we pray or in worship services.
Jeremiah 29:12-14a Then you will call on Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord.
Why is it that unbelievers have no comprehension of the presence of God in the world let alone in their lives?
Paul stated in II Corinthians 4:4: The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Philip, one of Jesus’ disciples asked this question at the Last Supper: Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ 9 Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? (John 14:8-10) It is a spiritual awareness of His presence by a person sensitive to living a God-honouring life.
(b) It produces an awareness of our shortcomings In the book of Job the patriarch was complaining that he did not understand why God was at work in the world in the way He was. When he had an overwhelming experience of God it was a transformational one that brought about a humbling of himself and a turning to God in repentance and a deepened faith. Job 42:5-6 states: My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.’ To sense something of the greatness and glory of God will inevitably result in a deepened awareness of our own hearts and place in the universe, a place that too many people today have forgotten in their arrogance and pride.
(c) It produces an awareness of God’s holiness and our call to mission In Isaiah 6:1-8, the familiar passage describing the call of Isaiah the prophet to his life’s work, there is a profound realisation of this revelation.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above Him were seraphim, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.’ 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke 5 ‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’ 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’ 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’
Our desire to see God glorified in the conversion of people yet to come to faith is intensified when we ‘see Him’.
(d) It will be a foretaste of our experience of heaven There is so much about heaven we will not know until we get there, but seeing God through sensing His presence now is a little glimpse of what we will experience in its fullness then. In Revelation 22:4 John writes concerning believers in heaven that they will see His face. What a motivation we have for living a God-honouring life here on earth when this is the future planned for us. May we never forget Jesus’ words here: Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God, Amen.
Our song before we come to communion is: ‘Purify my heart’
The Lord’s Supper
Jesus invites all Christian who have committed their lives to follow Him to participate in this act of worship. The apostle Paul wrote these words of Scripture in I Corinthians 11:23-26 to guide our observance of Communion.
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ 25 In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Prayer: Choose your own words of prayer to give thanks for the bread and wine that represent the costly gift of His body and blood for us.
Take the bread: Jesus said: ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.
Take the wine: Jesus said: This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’
Our closing song is: ‘Restore O Lord’
Closing Prayer:
Thank you Lord for the privilege of being Your child. Thank You for the investment You have made in our lives through Your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Help us this week through all we say and do to live in a way that is honouring to You, and is also an encouragement to others as we continue to experience these challenging times. May we know the enabling power of the Holy Spirit equipping us for all we need to do in these coming days, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Benediction: The Grace
May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God
and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all evermore, Amen
Welcome: It is so good to see you back in our church building, only the second time since Sunday March 15th 2020.
Opening Scripture verses:
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Psalm 130:1-4
Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
Opening praise: ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’
Opening Prayer
Thank you Lord once more for the privilege of coming into Your house to worship You. We are so thankful that we are living in a part of the country where we have so many blessings to enjoy. We thank You for the ease with which many of us can walk on the beach or walk in the countryside which is so close to our community. We rejoice in all Your goodness to us at this time. Supremely, we thank you for Jesus in whose name we come today, through whose sacrifice on the cross we have been saved. Thank You Lord for dying in our place not only to give us eternal life beyond the grave, but also through the aid of the Holy Spirit to live for You in the here and now of the present day. We ask that You would speak into our hearts and lives today through the blessed Holy Spirit, for Jesus’ name’s sake Amen.
Scripture reading
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.3 If You, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But with You there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve You.5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in His word I put my hope.
6 I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
Psalm 130
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with Him is full redemption.
8 He Himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.
Intercessory prayer using Psalm 130:
Heavenly Father, once more we come with deep gratitude knowing that You both hear and answer our prayers. We confess that we are concerned with the growing numbers of cases of the covid-19 virus around not only the United Kingdom, but also many other countries in Europe and in the wider world. We pray for governments and health care professionals to be able to address this challenging situation and for the finding of a vaccine from the many clinical trials taking place around the world at the present time.
We continue to remember those with ongoing health issues, people confined to their own homes or residential homes and seeing few if any visitors at this time. We ask that they may have a sense of Your presence with them at this time. We pray too for those struggling with pressures at work or the challenge of having lost their jobs in recent weeks, that each one may get a sense of peace and assurance from You concerning the future.
As we come to pray for ourselves and others we will use the words of Psalm 130 to assist us in our silent prayers:
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; 2 Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. Thank you Lord that there are no circumstances too difficult for me to bring to You. There are things on my heart today that I want to bring to You … [private prayer]
3 If You, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with You there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve You. Thank You Lord for Your amazing grace; I come to confess my sins of thought and words and deed… [private prayer]
I come deeply grateful to You as my heavenly Father knowing that my sins are forgiven. Your Word declares in I John 1:9: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Thank You for answering my prayers, in particular I want to thank You for … [private prayer]
5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope. 6 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Thank You Lord that You are a promise-keeping God. Thank You that I can have complete confidence in You concerning my (humanly-speaking) uncertain future. Thank You that nothing takes You by surprise. In particular, I want to trust You for … [private prayer]
Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption. 8 He Himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. Thank You Lord that Hezekiah could confidently share His faith in You with other people in Israel. Help me to be faithful in prayer for other people who have yet to put their trust in You as Lord and Saviour, or who are currently away from the Lord and need to come back to following You. In particular, I name before You … for whom I am praying at this time….[private prayer]
Thank you Lord that You will hear and answer our prayers, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen
Message from Psalm 130
Psalm 130 Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord
Introduction
When do you and I pray most earnestly and consistently? The honest answer for the vast majority of us as Christians is when we are in the greatest need of divine assistance. Is it not sometimes true that we cry out in desperation because we have run out of other options and have no other place to turn? At other times when our circumstances are comfortable and we can see our essential needs being met we still pray but there is less of a sense of urgency in our prayers.
Of course this is not always the case, especially when we are praying for the needs of other people known to us. Yet in our better moments we know that we need the Lord’s presence with us and help for us when all is going well, not just in times of crisis. After all at the human level, if you or I only got in touch with close family or friends when we were in urgent need of assistance then there would be something improper about this relationship. We are meant to journey together through good times at tough, both with one another as well as with the Lord.
The Bible commentators on this anonymous Psalm appear to be fairly confident that it can be attributed to King Hezekiah, the King of Judah. The context of the Psalm relates to events described in Isaiah 38. Isaiah 38:1-3 states: In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, ‘This is what the Lord says: put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.’ 2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 ‘Remember, Lord, how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in Your eyes.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Hezekiah was one of the great kings referred to in the Old Testament, in both his personal relationship with God and in the context of his leadership of the nation. Like everyone else there had been tough times and good in his life, and indeed the miraculous survival of the nation when the pagan Assyrian Army swept through the country was utterly remarkable and an amazing answer to prayer (see Isaiah 36-37).
He must have thought what a year we have had, next year must be so much better! I know in our church in Broughty Ferry that many of us would have thought that about the ending of 2019 and the start of 2020. Last year was a hard one, but surely the next year looks so good with no obvious clouds on the horizon. We were aware vaguely of a new virus being a problem in a province in China, but little were we to know that the world would be changed just a few months later as the covid-19 virus pandemic spread around the world.
Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord were Hezekiah’s words in Psalm 130:1, maybe similar words might be on the lips or heart of some of those who hear or read this message at this time. Let us look briefly at this song included in the Bible for the praise and prayers of God’s people. Here we see:
1. An earnest request (Psalm 130:1-2)
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord; 2 Lord, hear my voice. Let Your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy (Psalm 130:1-2). The psalm was deliberately written in general terms so that the hearers and readers of it might more easily identify with the author in their own times of crisis or great need. It is likely that for Hezekiah it was the unexpected arrival of a serious health condition that was the cause of his initial cries to God.
The primitive medical services available to him at that time in history could provide no hope of restoring his health and strength. Isaiah 38:1 is blunt in its description of Hezekiah’s condition. In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. This statement could not be clearer. Had his doctor said to him, Hezekiah, this is very serious you know, but we do have medicine that over time could improve your health or even contribute to a full recovery, then it would have been a very different matter altogether.
However, it was not so and the air of despondency in the palace in Jerusalem would have been very clear. Reading between the lines of the story at the start of Isaiah 38, it is clear that this news has focused Hezekiah’s mind to resolve to pray and keep on praying for the miraculous intervention of God. He, like us, knows that we have no right to demand miracles from God, but the God to whom we come is our heavenly Father, who loves and cares for us.
God desires us to have a living relationship with Him by prayer and Bible reading. He wants us to be in contact regularly with Him not just when we are having a crisis. We ought, for example, to praise and thank Him for all the blessings we have in our daily lives. There are so many good things we have received, in the United Kingdom we would be extremely unfortunate to have been without the basics of food, clothing and shelter.
For many of us we have been blessed with reasonably good health. In locations like ours here we are fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the country and have the opportunity to walk in the hills or on the beach by the sea. The tragic unexpected death of a family member or friend or an extremely serious medical diagnosis is far less common here than in many other less well-resourced countries. The verb in verse one is in the perfect tense to explain to us that the psalmist repeatedly cries out to God for some time before he sees the answer to his prayer that he has sought. Obviously the psalm was composed after his prayer had been answered in the way Hezekiah had wanted.
It is possible that the words of Psalm 130:2 hint at a measure of doubt about the outcome, after all God never promises that we will always receive the answers we wish in prayer. Lord, hear my voice. Let Your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. God promises to answer our prayers, but we remember how Jesus wanted us to express our prayers in His response to His disciples’ request for guidance about how to pray. Matthew 6:10b states: Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. We have to trust our heavenly Father to do what He believes is best in response to our requests to Him.
2. A joyful acknowledgement (Psalm 130:3-4)
3 If You, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with You there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve You. There is a change of direction here with the thoughts expressed in these verses. Hezekiah reminds himself in God’s presence that he is speaking to the holy Almighty One who created the heavens and the earth, who upholds all things by His amazing power. This being is absolutely perfect in all He does. The prophet Habakkuk at a later date expressed a similar sentiment. Habakkuk 1:13 states: Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. This creates a huge problem because only similarly perfect sinless people have a right to enter His presence. But who qualifies to do that? I know that I don’t. This is every bit as much a New Testament issue as in the Old Testament. In Romans 3, the culmination of the Apostle Paul’s teaching about human sinfulness and our need of a saviour from sin, it declares in Romans 3:10-12:
‘There is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.
In cases anyone has missed the point about how inclusive this problem is, Romans 3:23 states: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We are all in this predicament together. Are you aware of your own sinfulness that at times can be revealed in inappropriate attitudes towards others, ill-considered words towards others and either a neglect of things we ought to have done or actions that we may later regret? When we are aware of our own shortcomings and know our own hearts, we are less prone to judge others harshly for their own failings.
However, Psalm 130:4 highlights the good news here. But with You there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve You. Our past need never define our future. God loves us and wants the very best for us. Hezekiah could easily have thought at this point of King David’s joyful declaration of the forgiveness of sins in Psalm 32:1-2a:
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them. We might just as easily turn to I John 1:9: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Understanding what Hezekiah is saying here ensures that we never think of ourselves as better than other people. Every one of us needs to receive the underserved love or grace of God to be welcomed into His presence. We can go beyond this psalm and say that this love of God was revealed to us by Jesus and through Him we are welcomed into God’s family when we trust Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. Have you taken that step of faith? I hope each one of us has done so.
3. Eager anticipation (Psalm 130:5-6)
5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope. 6 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Something I struggle with at times is patience. Do you have that same problem? It has been a problem for most of us over the years. Remember King David’s exhortation to his readers in the last verse of Psalm 27? Psalm 27:14 states: Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Notice the pattern here of David in Psalm 27 and Hezekiah in Psalm 130 of repeating the need to wait for the Lord.
Then, when life was lived at a much slower pace as well as in our generation, we find it very difficult to living with waiting for thing, especially if it is about something very important to us. These two individuals were known for being close to God in the Old Testament era. The message communicated to us loud and clear is that life is very hard sometimes and we can seriously struggle to handle the things we have to face.
We can be a woman or man of faith and find it hard. Never assume that because someone else has been a Christian longer that they find the challenges of life easier. Relationships with God and with other people take effort and a commitment to invest in the necessary time to make them work as well as they can. This is known to us all of course. But relationships require trust and spending time with the other to be as fulfilling as they potentially can be. Even in the best of friendships or marriages or families there are issues we have to talk through that are not easy to address. It is part of the human experience. We are fallible creatures who sometimes disappoint one another by our wrong attitudes, words or actions or our neglect of doing things we ought to have done. Likewise, we were created by God for fellowship with Him and through the choices we make to bring glory to Him.
Yet too often we fail to be the best we can be for Him and we need to admit that to Him in prayer. Does your relationship with God matter enough to you today? For Hezekiah, he uses the example of the night watchmen who were on duty at the city walls of Jerusalem keeping alert for dangers from outside the city. When morning came they were delighted as their shifts at work were over and they could go home to sleep or have some food.
We have highlighted the waiting in these verses, but also need to draw attention to the hope. Here Hezekiah states: and in His word I put my hope (Psalm 130:5b). Biblical ‘hope’ is not the same as the wishful thinking of popular culture in our country. In the latter context you might hear someone say: ‘I hope to win the National Lottery tonight’, or ‘I hope my football team wins their match today’. A statistician would point out that the football supporter’s hope is more likely to be realised! But neither statement uses the word ‘hope’ as it is used in the Bible.
Remember Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. And these words from Romans 5:1-2: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, wehave peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
Biblical hope is a well-founded confidence that God will do what He has promised in the future for the good of His people, for His own glory. We cannot see the proof of what God has planned, but because God has kept His promises in the past, most notably with reference to the promised Messiah in the Old Testament who came in the person of Jesus 2,000 years ago, we know that He will keep His promises regarding the second coming of Jesus and His eternal reign. It is reasonable, therefore, that we can trust His promises on other smaller matters as well. Many of us have personal experience of this faithful God who has helped us keep going through the storms of life prior to today. We can, therefore, go forward with confidence in Him for the future.
4. A strong appeal (Psalm 130:7-8)
7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption. 8 He Himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. Here is a personal testimony of a man of faith encouraging others to trust in God as he has done. This is the best witness that can be offered. Your testimony and mine about what God has done for us. A colleague in your workplace may have no interest in Christian doctrine, likewise an unsaved friend or family member.
However, if what you believe makes a positive difference in your life in a way they find attractive or appealing then they may be very interested in why the change has happened. We believe in a God of redemption or transformation. No-one is beyond hope. The focus here is on redemption from past sins. There are people who think their mistakes are so bad that God or other people could not forgive them and give them a second chance.
Hezekiah has good news for individuals then and now who think this way. God is a God of grace and mercy. Because of His amazing love for us, He sees us as we can be living our lives to the full, rather than how we may be at any particular moment in time. Have you put your faith and trust in God? In John 10:10 Jesus explained His mission and why He came to earth. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. Are you missing out on the life God has for you to live? Put your full trust in Him as Lord and Saviour and receive all the blessings He has for you today, in Jesus’ name Amen.
Closing song: ‘And can it be’
Closing prayer:
Lord we thank You for the blessing of being in Your house today. Most of all we praise You for the joy of recalling Your love and faithfulness to us as we read and reflected on Your Holy Word. Please go with us as we continue in this week, in both the enjoyable and the difficult circumstances we may be experiencing. We ask our prayer in the all-powerful name of Jesus, 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
Our next service is planned for the same time on Wednesday 7th October at 11am.
Intimations
– 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
– The Baptist Union of Scotland will be continuing the Prayer Livestream at 7.00pm on Sunday 4th October, 2020. This will be another significant time of national prayer for our family of churches. The link will be available closer to the time on the Baptist Union facebook page.
– JAM Kids’ focus: The Virtual Sunday School. Here is the video for Sunday 20th September Virtual Sunday School session on the story of the Lost Sheep.
– JAM young adults Ignite Live have a separate programme at 11:15am. Please contact Gary Torbet – garytorbet@btinternet.com for more details.
Call to worship
[Jesus] went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue, as was His custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written:
18 ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’20 Then He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him. 21 He began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’
Luke 4: 16-21
We are grateful to Helen Rice for selecting the songs for worship for this service.
Our opening song of praise and worship is: Mighty to Save
Opening prayer:
Thank you Heavenly Father for the privilege once more of gathering to worship Your holy and majestic name. We come once more in the precious name of Your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ to glorify and honour You through our praises and our prayers, and through the messages we will hear and the videos we will watch. We are so encouraged to be part of a world-wide family of Christian believers in every country on this planet. We thank you for Christian men and women, younger and older people alike who are serving You in a wide variety of ministries around the globe.
It is so encouraging to know that as ordinary followers of Jesus that we can make a difference by our service in our families, workplaces and communities as well as in direct local church ministries. We ask for Your forgiveness for those times in the past week when we have not lived in the way we ought to have done. Help us in this new week through the Holy Spirit to show something of Your amazing love and grace to others.
We come today with deep gratitude for the work of BMS World Mission. In particular, on this Sunday when we have traditionally had either a harvest or an all-age service we come to thank you for the people who staff the Guinebor II Hospital in Chad. We pray that they may be encouraged to know that so many Churches around this land, and possibly in other places as well, are remembering them and praying for them today. Meet with each one of us today, we pray and minister into our lives by Your Holy Spirit in accordance with our needs, for Jesus’ name’s 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.
Operation Chad – BMS Video about Guinebor II Hospital
Operation Chad BMS Video about Guinebor II Hospital Chad
There is a colouring sheet available to download for children here.
All-age Talk Stephen and Ismay Green BMS
Good morning. It’s lovely to be with you today. I’m Steve and I’m Ismay. I am a nurse and Steve is a doctor and we both worked with BMS in North Africa. For the last six years of our time there, we worked on developing palliative care in the community. Previously, Steve worked for 12 years with BMS in the Congo as a paediatrician.
That was an amazing film and you can’t help but be impressed by the commitment and hard work of all the staff. I wonder what struck you most? But the question I have is, “Why is BMS working in such a difficult place?”
Let me ask you another question first (although with Zoom it is a bit difficult to pick up on who is answering). How do we know that the wind exists? Or how do we know that Covid exists? Well, we see the effects of it: the wind rustles the leaves on the trees – we feel it on our faces. With Covid we fall ill with fever and cough very often.
Another question: how do we know the love of God exists today? We read about it in the bible, but that was written 2000 years ago; so does it exist today? Or how do you know that your parents love you? Certainly they may tell you, but what if they were always mean to you and never gave you any food or clothes, or tucked you up in bed and care for you when you were ill? Would you think they loved you then? We don’t just have our parents’ words but their actions tell us that they love us.
To come back to the question: why is BMS working in such a place as Chad? Chad is in Africa; here it is on the map. It’s at the bottom of the Sahara desert and it is very hot nearly all year round. It is also one of the four poorest countries in the world. Here in the UK you might expect your granny to live into her eighties at least but in Chad most grandparents die in their 50s. In the UK, for every 1000 children born every year, four will die before they reach the age of five, but in Chad 119 out of a thousand will not reach the age of five! In the UK we spend a lot more on our health, more than £3000 per person per year whereas in Chad they can only manage £55. In addition in the UK our NHS is free, whereas in Chad people have to pay for all their treatment every time they go to see a doctor or go into hospital.
Last Sunday Steve and I watched on Facebook Live as a friend of ours was ordained into the Church of England. Part of the service says about those being ordained, “They are to work with their fellow members in searching out the poor and weak, the sick and lonely, those who are oppressed and powerless, reaching into the forgotten corners of the world that the love of God may be made visible.”And here is the reason why BMS is working in Chad, making visible the love of God to those who don’t know him.
Christians make up less than half the population in Chad; the majority are Muslims who need the saving love of Christ. And you are part of this work through your prayers and giving. It doesn’t sound a lot, not compared with what it costs here: £13 to save a life, £80 to provide a nurse for a week. And together as a church you can nurse 52 people, give life-saving surgery to 4 people and safely deliver 5 babies for £695. It’s not much. But it’s also a good question for us to consider during the week: how can we make the love of God visible to those around us who don’t know Jesus? It might be by saying something, or doing an act of kindness that leads to a conversation about why you are doing such a thing. We all have a responsibility to make the love of God visible to others. May the Lord help us in that task.
We continue in worship as we sing: He is the light
BMS Reflection Video
Prayers for others
Dear Lord,
We come with our prayers for others, deeply grateful that You are a prayer-answering God who delights to receive the petitions of Your children.
We are deeply concerned by the rising numbers of cases of infections not only in our own country, but also in other parts of Europe as well. We are also aware that in other countries across the world so many have a smaller provision of medical facilities to cope with the demands upon them at this time.
We pray for wisdom for politicians and other world leaders, together with health service professionals in hospitals and care homes that they may be able to address the needs of the current time and have the necessary resources to carry out the task of protecting the vulnerable and caring for those who are sick.
We give thanks for the work of UCCF and Fusion and other organisations seeking to support Christian students. We pray for the Christian Unions at many colleges and universities across Scotland, that they can share the love of Jesus in creative ways during this time. We pray too for all the students known to us who are settling in to life at university for the first time or recommencing their studies for another academic year. Help them to gain a circle of friends who can encourage them as they adapt to the current circumstances we are all facing.
We pray that staff and students may be able to deliver and interact appropriately with the set courses being taught and like their colleagues in schools we pray that they may have both the strength and the wisdom to accomplish all that is involved in providing a good educational service this year.
In our Baptist Union of Scotland we also remember to pray for:
European Baptist Federation – We pray for the General Secretary Search Group who are in the process of finding a new General Secretary after the current General Secretary Tony Peck retires in 2021. We pray also for good preparations for SENT 2021 which is the EBF Mission Summit to take place from 21-24 July 2021 in Stavanger, Norway. SENT 2021 is a unique opportunity for the EBF family to come together around our privilege and responsibility to share in God’s mission to the world in its wholeness.
We pray for the European Baptist Federation (EBF) annual Council meeting on 24-25 September 2020 which will now take place online. We pray that in spite of not being able to physically come together, there could still be a meaningful and encouraging gathering of EBF member unions and mission partners.
We give thanks for the INVEST training programme and Training Hub of the Baptist Union of Scotland to encourage and develop younger leaders in our network of churches. It is anticipated that the trainees will start at the beginning of October. We pray that they will be encouraged, stretched and grow in their faith during this year.
Lossiemouth BC – The congregation at Lossiebaptist have as many other churches been doing online services. They give thanks to God that these services have worked well and have helped the unity of their fellowship, apart and yet together. We thank God that they have just this month appointed a new pastor Rab Donald, who is moving there after eight years’ service in Stirling Baptist Church. We pray God’s blessing on their partnership together in His service in the coming years.
Maybole BC – We pray for this small Ayrshire fellowship as they seek to be salt and light in the town of Maybole. We pray for wisdom for the leadership team at this time.
We now pray for other people with particular needs that are connected to our own congregation: We remember particularly family members of some in our congregation who are continuing to undergo cancer treatments. We pray for God’s peace and strength to them and their relatives at this particularly difficult time.
We remember others who are having medical tests at hospital and others still waiting for tests or surgery in hospital, particularly at a time when so many procedures have been delayed due to the challenges of the covid-19 virus pandemic.
We pray also for those older members of some of our families who have recently moved into care homes and pray that they will be able to settle well into their new accommodation. We also remember those of our congregation who have been living in care homes for some time or are restricted to living in their own homes at this time. Heavenly Father we ask that they would feel a real sense of Your presence with them at this time.
We also pray for the family of Dorothy Scott whose funeral will take place on Thursday. We thank you that some of us had the privilege of knowing her through our times of monthly services in the Elderlea Manor Care Home. We pray for Your comfort for her family at this time.
In addition, we bring our own or other needs on our hearts to You at this time …, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.
Bible reading
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and illness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralysed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
Matthew 4: 18-25
Before we come to listen to God’s Word let us sing: Jesus, Hope of the Nations.
The Message – Dr Stephen Green BMS
Download link available to 25 September 2020. This is a Wetransfer file and may take longer to download
There are three words that struck me as I read the article in the current edition of Engage about Guinebor II hospital: Reputation, Faith and Transformation. It says that people are moved to seek treatment after hearing about the hospital’s reputation, they take a leap of faith to go there and their decision is transformative. Let’s look at these three words:
Reputation
In the passage that was read from Matthew 4 Jesus has been through the temptation in the desert and has called his first disciples. This is the beginning of his ministry. His disciples quickly discover that the man they have chosen to follow is no ordinary rabbi. He is not only a great teacher but he also has amazing powers such that they see things they could never have imagined: blind people seeing, deaf people hearing and people once lame now leaping with joy. And so his fame spreads. People are travelling from all over to come to him.
It wasn’t just these powers that made Jesus’ reputation. He was generous with his time and availability. He never turned people away. He was approachable. Anyone could come. You didn’t have to tick any religious boxes or meet any special criteria to get permission: there is a man with leprosy, who should have kept his distance and shouted, “Unclean!”; a woman who has been bleeding for 12 years and is therefore ceremonially unclean, foreigners, including a Roman centurion, a Syro-Phoenecian woman, and a Samaritan woman. He welcomed and blessed children who were not considered important in those days. Jesus didn’t mind being shouted at: Bartimaeus, who was blind, shouted, “Jesus, have mercy on me!” We know that illness can be very ostracising, through embarrassment, through social pressure, through guilt. It often takes a great deal of effort to go for help with the risk of rejection and being turned away. Jesus accepted them all and even looked out for those who weren’t seeking him but were in need.
Guinebor II hospital has a reputation that extends beyond the borders of Chad. A good reputation depends on commitment to high standards, well-trained and motivated staff. It depends on good care, not just effective surgery or medical treatment. Good care is given even if the outcome has not been what people hoped for. As Kalbassou says: we have Jesus to give to people and we have skills to give good quality care. And reputation depends on people relating good stories of their time there. All are welcome, none are turned away because they come from the wrong tribe or religion or country.
The second word is Faith
Jesus was more interested in faith than rules. He would often heal people on the Sabbath day, because the need was there. In Matthew 8 we read how the man with leprosy came to Jesus and knelt before him calling him “Lord”. The implication of this word in Greek is that he worshipped Jesus – he detected something divine in Jesus. In response Jesus does something that would have shocked the crowd; he touches him. In Mark 10 we read how Bartimaeus cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” He is calling Jesus by his messianic title. There is recognition that there is more than a healer here. Jesus stops and has them bring him. And heals him saying, “Your faith has healed you.” (v52).
In Matthew 9 we read that a synagogue leaders comes to Jesus to say that his daughter has just died. This is a whole new dimension; Jesus has healed but up to this point in the gospel he has not raised anyone from the dead. Such faith! Then there is the centurion who asks Jesus to heal his servant but then says that he is not worthy to have Jesus come to his house but that Jesus can just speak the word. Such faith, says Jesus has not been found in anyone in Israel.
We don’t know that everyone who was healed believed. We hear that it definitely led to belief for several. In John 9 the man who was born blind does not know at first who healed him but calls him a prophet. Later Jesus meets him again and reveals that he is the Messiah; and the man worships him. Bartimaeus follows Jesus and the man who was possessed by many demons wants to follow him.
People come to Guinebor hospital as “a leap of faith” it says in the article. They may have to travel great distances to get there and they may know that it is a Christian hospital. They know that people pray. I remember one patient in the Congo who was asked why he travelled such a long distance to come to us when he could have gone to a nearer government hospital and the paracetamol is the same. “Ah but you pray over yours,” he said! That’s the difference.
Of course, there is a greater dimension here. As Kalbassou says, “We have Jesus to give to people and we have skills to give good quality care.” People are prayed for, before surgery, at the bedside. Scriptures are made available. There is an ethos that pervades all activity at the hospital. This is the highest goal, as stated by BMS: “to bring people to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and an experience of the abundant life that only he can provide;” and this is done by making the love of God visible through practical caring.
The third word is transformation.
In the article Hannah talks about Fatimé, a little girl with a serious burn injury to her hand. Her parents, Hannah says, take a leap of faith to bring her to Guinebor hospital. Surgery is successful and there is confidence that she will be able to regain movement in her fingers allowing her to provide for herself with employment and a greatly increased chance of marrying. This will be transformative for her.
We heard the story of Al-Adil Abalallah who had had a road traffic accident and was in danger of losing his leg. As Kalbassou says most people in Chad have little income, there is no social security. Having his leg amputated would mean loss of employment and means of support and would be a big burden for the family. Now he has hope for a full recovery and the possibility of employment. This is transformational. As Kalbassou says, “They come here desperate and leave full of joy!”
And then, of course, there is the transformation that comes from coming to know Christ personally and discovery of new life in Him, the knowledge of sins forgiven, of peace with God and freedom from guilt; of a new purpose in life.
It is not recorded for us in the gospels how people’s lives were turned around through the healing touch of Jesus but we can imagine how the life of the man, in John 9, who had spent years at the Pool of Bethesda was transformed, and how the life of the paralysed man who was brought to Jesus by four friends was completely transformed. How the family of Jairus was transformed by their daughter coming back to life, the man with demons being at peace and in his right mind. What an impact the ministry of Jesus had on people’s lives.
In the same edition of Engage you will find an article by Kang-San Tan, the Director of BMS, setting out the new strategic direction for BMS over the next five years in which they will focus on three directions:
Still working amongst the least evangelised and most marginalised regions of the world, and also including a thematic focus on Migrants.
He goes on to point out that the impact will be lives transformed whilst working towards the highest goal of bringing people to faith in Christ. So here it is: this is the evidence of Christ at work: the transformation of people’s lives, spiritually, mentally and physically. This is the mission we are all engaged in and particularly here in Broughty Ferry through Messy Church, Toddler groups and other youth work, through the Meals for Mums and senior Citizens’ outreach, through the Eagles Wings charity for the homeless, through outreach into Romania, through the church plant in Ruma, in Serbia. Each of these actions is to bring transformation into people’s lives, to introduce them to Jesus and his saving power. May the Lord give us grace to continue in this task.
Our closing song is: God of Justice
Closing Prayer:
Thank you Lord for the work of BMS World Mission around the world in sharing the love of God in some particularly challenging locations; this year we thank you for the dedicated staff at Guinebor II Hospital in Chad whose provision of medical services in that region of the country is providing such an important investment in the lives of some of the materially poorest people on the planet. Thank You too that donations from members of churches around the United Kingdom are providing the necessary funding for the work of this hospital. We pray Your blessing on our gifts to the continuation of this work.
Lord thank You also for this new week we have begun. Help us to honour You as we live our daily lives through the enabling power of Your Holy Spirit, 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
Intimations
– 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
– The Baptist Union of Scotland will be continuing the Prayer Livestream at 7.00pm on Sunday 4th October, 2020. This will be another significant time of national prayer for our family of churches. The link will be available closer to the time on the Baptist Union facebook page.
– JAM Kids’ focus: The Virtual Sunday School. Here is the video for Sunday 13th September Virtual Sunday School session on the story of Jesus walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33)
There will also be a Virtual Holiday club coming up. Find out more in this video:
– JAM young adults Ignite Live have a separate programme at 11:15am. Please contact Gary Torbet – garytorbet@btinternet.com for more details.
Call to worship
Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name;
Psalm 105: 1-4
make known among the nations what He has done.
2 Sing to Him, sing praise to Him;
tell of all His wonderful acts.
3 Glory in His holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Look to the Lord and His strength;
seek His face always.
We are grateful to Alan McRobbie for selecting the songs for worship for this service.
Our opening song of praise and worship is: We Want to See Jesus Lifted High
Opening prayer:
Once more we are privileged to come into Your holy presence and to do so with joy at our freedom of access into Your presence in the wonderful name of Your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, through whose sacrifice on the cross our sins were forgiven and our welcome into Your family by faith was made possible. Thank you too for the blessed Holy Spirit who first opened our spiritual eyes to see our need of Jesus and helped us to respond to His gracious invitation to trust Him with our whole lives.
We come this morning with thankfulness for all our blessings. Psalm 105 verse 1 has reminded us to Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name; make known among the nations what He has done. Thank You that each child of God has a testimony of Your kindness to us and Your amazing love. Thank you for enabling each one of us to come through the challenges of last week but also we are appreciative of all the good things we can enjoy. Help us in our time together today to honour and glorify You, 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 Alan McRobbie
Video
I’d like to share with you some of the important reasons for being a Christian in God’s church.
Church is the gathering of God’s people. It’s not the building, nor is it the teaching of the Bible or the music because it’s possible to have these things without actually being around other Christians.
Today we can watch YouTube clips, podcasts and other ways of hearing God’s Word and listening to Christian songs, but this is not being a part of God’s church.
Now, some boys, girls and young people may come along to church because their parents say that they should go and there may come at time as you grow a little older when you say “I just don’t want to go to church anymore”, you stop getting involved or even stop going. There may also be times when some adults drift away from church for different reasons.
When we don’t become an active part of church we miss out on God’s people.
One of the reasons church is vital is that meeting together is one of the main ways in which God encourages us in our faith in Him.
We’ve been designed by God to not only need him to grow us as Christians but also designed to need other Christians to help us keep going in following Jesus. We need each other to grow in love for God and for one another and to live in a way that pleases God that flows from our faith, our trust in Jesus Christ.
Jesus says in Matthew that we can’t serve him without serving his people. If we fail to serve his people, we fail to serve Jesus. If we are not amongst God’s people, then we can’t love and care for God’s people.
If we choose not to be amongst God’s people, we will lack the encouragement God has for us to help us grow and we will be failing to help others grow as Christians too.
And not only this, the life and love of God’s people together will have a huge impact on the people outside of the church. People out with the church will see this love and it will be very powerful at drawing them to Jesus too. Not being a part of God’s church means you miss out on leading people to Jesus.
Your church needs you, and you need your church.
Imagine a wood burning stove. Through God’s work in and through the church, the church is like a burning fire in the stove. It’s burning brightly. Growing stronger and brighter fuelling the flame. If we start to drift away from being part of church, we stop attending, we stop loving and caring for the church, we stop serving the church, we stop being involved in the church, we stop praying for the church, we stop giving our money to the church, we may slowly stop growing as a Christian and like an ember taken out of the fire we may eventually go out.
We continue in worship as we sing: You Forgive Me
Prayers for others
Dear Lord,
We give thanks for the changing seasons and as summer gives way to autumn, we pray for the ripening of a spiritual harvest for God’s kingdom as well as the harvest being grown in fields across the land. We pray for people across Scotland who may have recently attended an online church service or attended an introductory course in the Christian faith that have had no previous faith connection. We hope and pray that they will come to the place of trusting You as their Lord and Saviour.
We pray also for those people who have lost their jobs at this time and are looking for work. We pray that they will find new employment quickly. We pray for the governments and public health officials at this time who are grappling with the challenges of rising numbers of cases of the covid-19 virus in different parts of the United Kingdom. We ask that You would grant them wisdom to make the right choices at this time.
We pray too for young people from our own church and others around the country who are heading off to university for the first time. We pray that they will settle in to university life quickly despite the challenges of the current pandemic, and that they will keep on with their faith in Christ in the midst of the many temptations which student life can bring.
In our Baptist Union of Scotland we also remember to pray for:
Lighthouse Central, Prestonpans – We pray for this church community as they look to meet online and in much smaller groups in this season. We pray for wisdom and creativity for the church at this time as they seek to be effective witnesses for Jesus in Prestonpans.
Linwood BC – We give thanks for the use of technology and social media that has enabled them to keep in touch with all their members, and friends during this time and for God’s faithfulness. We pray for wisdom as they seek to move forwards following the easing of lockdown and know the best way to serve their community and members, in particular those with no access to the internet.
Lochgilphead BC – We give thanks that their church family continues to keep each other encouraged and connected through phone calls, social media, and limited garden visits. God has shown Himself to be faithful to them in these times. We pray for wisdom for the leadership team as they navigate taking the correct route and time in resuming Sunday worship services in the church premises.
We now pray for other people with particular needs that are connected to our own congregation: In particular, Lord, we rejoice with Fiona McC and her family as they welcome a new grand-daughter Amelia, a sister to Luca, and pray for wisdom and strength for their parents Alison and Craig as they care for them.
We are thankful to God for the office-bearers appointed at our Church AGM last week and pray God’s blessing on Henry Gray as he serves as Church Secretary, Francois de Villiers as he serves as treasurer and Robert Beattie as he serves as Church Chairman.
We remember Peter P as he moves to new accommodation this coming week. We continue to pray for those known to us undergoing medical treatments in hospital and pray for strength for those still waiting to receive operations or other medical treatment at this time.
In addition, we bring our own needs to You at this time …, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.
Bible reading Matthew 18:21-35
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?’ 22 Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 ‘Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 ‘At this the servant fell on his knees before him. “Be patient with me,” he begged, “and I will pay back everything.” 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go.
28 ‘But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. “Pay back what you owe me!” he demanded. 29 ‘His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, “Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.” 30 ‘But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 ‘Then the master called the servant in. “You wicked servant,” he said, “I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 ‘This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’
Before we come to listen to God’s Word let us sing: Before the Throne of God Above
The Message
Matthew 5:7 How should I relate to other people?
Introduction
It has been quite horrifying to see the behaviour of a wide range of people in the street protests in a number of American cities in recent months. From politicians across the political spectrum uttering inflammatory messages or twitter posts; to the ease with which some US police officers shoot civilians dead or members of the public take the law into their own hands and behave in ways we find disturbing.
It was typified recently by the story of the 17 year-old American Kyle Rittenhouse who drove twenty miles from a neighbouring US State with a large powerful gun and took it upon himself to assist in the ‘protecting of property’ in Wisconsin and in so doing killing other people on the street with little regard to the sacredness of life. What was particularly alarming was how many of his fellow citizens found his illegal actions in some way commendable (The Washington Post, 27 August 2020 & other US news media). These actions seemto be so contrary to the teaching of Jesus.
He said: Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy (Matthew 5:7). Words are always spoken and heard in a particular social context. In our context of twenty-first century Britain this beatitude seems to be so easy to understand and obvious as a principle for living. If I want people to be kind to me then I ought to be kind to other people as well. If I choose to be harsh and critical of others consistently when they make mistakes then when I fail what could I expect but the same in return.
Yet this kind of thinking was so uncommon in the Graeco-Roman world in which Jesus preached this message and in which Paul and the other familiar New Testament figures grew up. Aristotle (in his Nicomachean Ethics 8.11.6) one of the greatest thinkers of the ancient world BC may have had some excellent insights on certain subjects but he was certainly a man of his age in his understanding of this subject. ‘The slave’, he wrote’, ‘is no different from a living tool, and what consideration can a tool receive?’
In the context in which he was writing, he was thinking of a slave who had been dispatched by his master to be torn apart by savage lampreys, a jawless fish that gradually rips the flesh off their victims over days or a few weeks, a hideous death. The crime committed to merit such a punishment? Accidently smashing a drinking goblet; the disproportionate nature of such a punishment which horrifies us would have been perceived very differently by most people in the ancient world. Until Constantine became the first Christian Roman Emperor in the early 4th century AD, there had been a free reign on all forms of cruelty such as disposing of unwanted babies with the other ‘garbage’ by the roadside.
The sick and disabled, together with elderly people, like animals in a similar condition, could be disposed of so why should slaves expect to be treated any better when they were only possessions, having lost their status as humans when they were enslaved.
What is actually more shocking can be contained in personal letters between ordinary couples in the Roman Empire, from the New Testament era. For example in 1BC Hilarion wrote a letter to his wife Alis in Italy. He is working away from home in Alexandria, Egypt. It is an affectionate letter declaring his love for her and hoping all goes well in the remaining months of the pregnancy with respect to the child they have conceived together. He is promising to send some money to her when he gets paid and wishes her ‘good luck’ with the birth but adds: ‘if it is a boy let it live; if it is a girl, throw it out’ (W. Barclay, The Plain Man looks at the Beatitudes, p. 65).
Actually this view is very similar to some of the more extreme public spokespeople for the pro-choice movement who advocate terminations at any stage prior to birth or in a few cases recommend parents being able to choose whether the child is retained or terminated after delivery. The world around us has not changed too much when strong moral foundations are lacking. In Israel of course much stronger moral boundaries were in place at the time Jesus spoke these words, but His message was a more profound and challenging call to exercise this quality in the daily lives of His followers.
1. Our model for mercy: God the Father
There are very few completely original ideas or practices. All of us are deeply indebted to other people whose instruction, guidance and conduct have influenced us in a variety of ways. All of us require boundaries or frameworks in which to construct our lives in relationship with other people. A society without moral boundaries or an agreed ethical framework for governing our daily lives would become closer to a hell on earth rather than a foretaste of heaven! We all want a degree of freedom but it is far from absolute if any country is to function in a civilized manner. Without the acceptance of the rules of the Highway Code, driving a car on the public highway would be a highly dangerous activity, as opposed to the relatively safe form of transport used by many of us throughout the week.
This call to be merciful is grounded in the character of God. In II Corinthians 1:3 Paul writes: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion [mercies] and the God of all comfort. The Greek word used here [oiktirmos] is plural in form and in essence is describing one of the essential characteristics of God. It is a term describing the settled disposition of someone towards others. We are all aware of some individuals who are particularly known for being loving and kind-hearted towards other people. It is natural to gravitate towards someone who treats us in this way.
By contrast, someone who, temperamentally, is always ‘as prickly as a hedgehog’ and disinterested in what is happening in other people’s lives will attract a very different response from most people! However, what we need to grasp is that this attribute of God is an ongoing attitude towards us. It is interesting that this word is one chosen by Paul in Colossians 3:12 where he was encouraging these fairly new believers in western Turkey to live in a way that is pleasing to God. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
God the Father has shown this characteristic in His relationship with His people over the centuries as Jeremiah admitted in Lamentations 3:22: Because of the Lord’s great love [mercies] we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. In that context the Jewish nation was under judgement because of its sinfulness and all its leading figures were either dead or taken into exile in Babylon and its capital city Jerusalem was in ruins. Yet the prophet was convinced that without the Lord’s care for them as His people things could have been even more difficult. It is the same characteristic of God’s character picked up by the Israelites who had returned to the land in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah.
In words taken from prayers of confession of their personal and national past failings in Nehemiah 9:16-20, this conviction is clearly seen.
‘But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands. 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles You performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore You did not desert them, 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, “This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,” or when they committed awful blasphemies.
19 ‘Because of Your great compassion You did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 20 You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst.
God did not treat them as their conduct merited, but showed amazing love and mercy to them. God in each generation is compassionate to His people treating us better than we deserve. Each time we sincerely seek His mercy and forgiveness He responds to our request and grants us our petition. Our heavenly Father has modeled for us a pattern for us to follow in our relationships with one another.
This is why in the pattern of prayer Jesus taught His followers we pray: And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors (Matthew 6:12). Notice the crucial word here ‘as’; if we are not compassionate to our brothers and sisters then we are saying Lord hold me accountable by not forgiving me when I seek your mercy and grace. Do we need to ask ourselves: Lord is there anyone whose past failings I am not willing to forgive and forget and bury in the past, but which you want me to let go of today? Help me to follow Your example and demonstrate a likeness to Your heart of compassion to me towards other people, especially towards…?
2. Our example practicing mercy: Jesus
Our own conduct is modelled on the conduct of Jesus.
(a) In His life and ministry One of the terms in the New Testament particularly associated with the Lord Jesus was His compassion for needy people. In a summary statement drawn up by Matthew to describe the motivation for Jesus’ ministry in Matthew 9:35-36, he wrote: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and illness. 36 When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
This is a different Greek word (splagchnizomai) that is used of the emotions. We speak of someone ‘wearing their heart on their sleeve’, that is they cannot hide their feelings; in addition, you can see it in their facial expressions and visual responses to your conversations with them. When Jesus saw needy people He could not avoid feeling an emotional response of deep concern for their plight. Matthew indicates that this was Jesus’ normal or regular attitudes to the large crowds that gathered to hear Him speak or perform some mighty miracles. It was also directed towards individuals.
On one occasion when passing through the tiny village of Nain, Jesus and His followers encountered a funeral procession. It was a widow whose husband had died some time previously, but her adult son had taken care of here. However, he had now died also and her plight was serious as she had no visible means of support. In a society without any welfare provision this might mean the difference between life and death.
In Luke 7:13 we have the recorded response of Jesus to this needy individual. When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her [He felt compassion for her] and He said, ‘Don’t cry.’ In this context Jesus will perform one of His most amazing miracles in raising the deceased man from the dead.
We may never experience personally such an amazing answer to our prayers –in terms of physical resurrections from the dead, though I trust we will see many spiritual resurrections of people coming to faith in Jesus through our witness –hopefully even in this coming year! Yet the model of the settled disposition of the Father towards us and the ongoing emotional approach of our Lord and Saviour towards needy people around Him give us a clear indication of how He wishes us to treat our fellow human beings.
(b)In His death on the cross There are many religions in the world today inviting us to follow different pathways to God, in common inviting us to ‘do’ something to earn our salvation. In contrast the Christian Gospel at its heart contains a different message it invites a response to something that has been ‘done’ for us, in the person of Jesus Christ. It was an example to demonstrate to the world that God’s way of working is so different from that of sinful humanity.
The mercy of God in Christ to us demonstrated at the cross that sin was not avoided or evaded; God was not pretending not to notice our predicament, but fulfilling simultaneously His requirement for justice to address the problem of sin and His desire to love sinners who needed the gift of salvation. Sinful humanity recoils from the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross, because it neither takes seriously the problem of human sinfulness nor proposes any acceptable way of atoning for it. The followers of Jesus tried to deflect Him from fulfilling the calling given to Him by God the Father.
In the first instance, Simon Peter while acknowledging His identity questioned His mission in the famous discussion at Caesarea Philippi. Matthew 16:21-24 states:
From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to You!’ 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to Me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’ 24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it.
Jesus firmly rebutted Peter’s remarks. Even in Gethsemane some disciples appeared willing to have a go at fighting to prevent Jesus’ arrest and inevitable crucifixion. What did He say in response to their actions? Matthew 26:52-54 states:
‘Put your sword back in its place,’ Jesus said to him, ‘for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53 Do you think I cannot call on My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?’
Even when suffering the agonies of crucifixion Jesus still had time to pray for those who viewed themselves as His enemies. In Luke 23:34 there are these remarkable words: Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. A view repeated in the preaching of the apostles in the years that followed (for example, Acts 3:17-18).
In Romans 5:8-11 the apostle Paul wrote: But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.9 Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
God’s amazing grace should be a source of wonder and amazement to us for the rest of our lives; that the Son of God would go to such lengths to save me. When we truly grasp something of the depth of His wonderful love for us it will impact significantly how we treat other people when they fail. Sin must always be dealt with, but the aim is always to offer mercy and grace with a view to reconciliation with God and other people, and not to dump great quantities of judgement on someone who has failed.
3. Our call to action to be merciful
The third word associated with this character quality in the Bible is the one chosen by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in this beatitude. This word (eleeo) is in some respects a strong one because it is not simply a statement of how we might feel about someone’s plight, but it also is used to describe the actions of someone in response to a recognized need.
There are far more situations of need that we will encounter than we can ever even think about getting involved in. In fact we can be overwhelmed by the plight of several million Syrian refugees, for example. However, if our response to an awareness of needy people was exclusively emotional and had no practical outworking then something would be wrong.
In I John 3:16-18 the aged apostle wrote: 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
James in his letter, one of the earliest New Testament writings is also extremely clear about the implications of this truth for followers of Jesus. In James 2:14-17 he wrote: What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
This is not a new idea in the New Testament because it was also commended in the Old Testament era as well. Psalm 37:21 reminds us of this fact. The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously. Interestingly verse 26 of the same Psalm picks up on this theme and indicates that a family and we could say by extension a church family, that practices this quality will see it flourish in the younger members of that community, because they have seen it modeled and lived out by their elders. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing (Psalm 37:26). Our words are important, but our examples are most influential of all.
The question is what do I now need to do? In Matthew 18:21-35 Jesus illustrated this point with the parable of the unforgiving servant.
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?’ 22 Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 ‘Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 ‘At this the servant fell on his knees before him. “Be patient with me,” he begged, “and I will pay back everything.” 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go. 2 8 ‘But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. “Pay back what you owe me!” he demanded.29 ‘His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, “Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.”
30 ‘But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 ‘Then the master called the servant in. “You wicked servant,” he said, “I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 ‘This is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’
Whose past do you need to forgive and not bring up again? One of the biggest tragedies in Evangelical Churches too often has been a failure to work through and live out the radical Gospel of grace. Jesus said: Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy (Matthew 5:7). In which context or contexts do you and I need to act in this way in the coming days? May we respond to the guiding and prompting of the Holy Spirit on this matter, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
Our song before we come to communion is: ‘Oh to see the dawn – the power of the Cross’
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: Holy Holy Holy
Closing Prayer:
Lord thank You for modelling for us the way we ought to live. Help us to honour You in our attitudes and actions this week. We want to be people of grace and humility who wish to be compassionate and caring to those in need in our communities, reflecting something of the character of Jesus. When we are finding things really hard, we ask in advance for the help of the Holy Spirit to strengthen and encourage us to do all we need to 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
