Intimations
- Morning worship online has moved to start at 10am and JAM at 11:15am on the Zoom platform.
- You may want to use some of the Engage Worship resources for daily worship during this week.
- The Messy Church At Home information is now available.
- Jam Kids Focus – Virtual Sunday School
- JAM young adults Ignite Live have a separate programme at 11:15am on the Zoom platform –parents of teenagers can get a link code by contacting Gary Torbet on garytorbet@btinternet.com
- Sunday Evening Prayer Livestream – We will be continuing the Prayer Livestream at 7.00pm tonight (Sunday). This will be another significant time of national prayer for us. Please join in and, if you don’t already do so, would you let your fellowship know about this and put it on your social media. Click here to access.
Call to Worship
Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.3 When I consider your heavens,
Psalm 8
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honour.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
We are grateful to Dave Rowe for selecting the songs for worship for this service. Our opening song of praise and worship is:
We continue to worship the Lord in our second song of praise and worship:
Opening prayer
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! We come with a real sense of joy and anticipation into Your presence once more today. You are the amazing wonderful God whose love towards us never ceases to amaze us and Your grace towards us is far greater than we ever deserve. We are humbled by Your kindness to us day after day.
Today we come once more seeking to meet with You, to worship and adore Your holy name. Thank you for the wonder of Your creation that reflects something of Your splendour. We are so privileged to live on this inhabitable planet with all the resources required for a healthy and fulfilled life. For many of us we are grateful on our daily exercise to experience some of the beauty around us in the flowers and the trees and to have the blessing of hearing to listen to the birds singing in the trees.
Once more we seek Your forgiveness of our sins and the fresh empowering of Your Holy Spirit as we commence another week. Speak Lord to our hearts from Your Word and give us the desire to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit into our lives, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
Let us say together the words Jesus taught His disciples when He said:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever Amen.
All Age talk
You will have noticed that we have all had to learn some new words and terms during the weeks of the lockdown. Hardly a day goes by without someone using words that we had hardly ever used before never mind knew what they meant eg pandemic, R Number, contact tracing.
We’ve also had to get used to hearing a lot of abbreviations being used on the news etc. Let’s see how many you know:
Start off with an easy one: NHS?
What about COVID?
Or WHO?
Here’s another one that’s been in the news a lot this week – BLM?
That’s Black Lives Matter
You don’t have to be a person of colour to believe that those words are true. And it was good to see many people with white skins marching in the streets last week in favour of black people getting treated more fairly.
But could we not also say this – ALM?
ie All Lives Matter
That’s what the Bible would say. If you look on the church Facebook page you will find a verse from the book of Galatians in the New Testament. It is taken from a letter that was written around 2000 years ago to some Christians in Turkey. In The Message version of the New Testament it reads:
“In Christ’s family there can be no divisions into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us we are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship to Jesus Christ.”
The letter writer, Paul, could have added other things to his list of divisions – black and white, rich and poor, educated and uneducated – the important thing is that the Bible teaches that everyone is important because – JDFE.
Ie Jesus Died For Everyone
Everyone can receive God’s love, his undeserved kindness and his forgiveness. No one is excluded. That means if we are followers of Jesus we must do the same. Treat everyone the same. No matter who they are. And speak up for those who are not treated equally and fairly.
Our Next song is:
Prayers for others
Thank you Lord once more for the privilege of praying for other people:
We pray today for the many refugee camps across the world now becoming infected with Covid-19, and particularly the camp in Kutupalong, which houses more than 850,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Social distancing is virtually impossible in these camps, so we pray that the spread of Covid-19 would somehow be contained.
We continue to pray for the people of the United States of America and increasingly in conversations elsewhere in other countries, including the United Kingdom, as we grapple with the appalling legacy of racism in our respective countries. We acknowledge that the primary focus of this debate is rightly in America following the appalling murder of George Floyd. We plead for wisdom and courage for those in positions of authority to know how best to make the necessary structural changes to ensure that in the not too distant future that another family is not going through what this family has had to face.
We continue to pray for all those affected by the recent cyclone which struck Bangladesh. We pray for the emergency services as they try to rescue people in the midst of Covid-19 social distancing measures, which is an added pressure. We pray for those who are fearful to leave unsafe homes due to the panademic.
We give thanks for the many charitable organisations across the UK whose work provides valuable services, important research and support to many people. As these charities struggle with a big drop in their fundraising income, please pray for creativity and wisdom as they seek to close the fundraising gap.
As Scotland begins to slowly emerge from Lockdown, we pray for safety and continued protection for people as they start to live in the ‘new normal’ for the foreseeable future.
We pray for those working in the hospitality sector, which has been devastated by the impact of Covid-19. We pray for those who have lost their jobs or those who don’t know yet if they will still have a job or not. We also pray for wisdom for business owners trying to work out future plans.
We pray for young children who may be finding life hard just now and who are not fully able to articulate how they feel. Pray that creative ways will be found to allow children to express their feelings about this difficult time of isolation from friends and family.
At the same time we give thanks for the surge of interest in prayer by many people across the UK, and indeed the world, at this time. Pray for a turning of the tide and for an avalanche of God’s love and mercy to descend through the power of the Holy Spirit to soften hearts, bring conviction and change lives.
In the Baptist Union of Scotland today we remember to pray for:
Frances Bloomfield Convenor, BUS – We pray for Frances as she works with Martin, the General Director, in preparing agendas for Trustee and Council meetings and as she chairs these meetings online at the current time.
Dunrossness BC, Shetland – We are thankful to God for their engagement and transition to church gatherings online. They ask us to pray for increased devotion towards God in their congregation which would inspire listening, creativity, participation, desire and focus in order to be a caring and missional church.
We pray too for the ongoing work of the Christian Churches in our land that You will help us be the best witnesses we can be in our local communities at this time. We thank you for the other churches in our local community and ask Your blessing on their work as we pray similarly for our own activities this week. In particular we pray for:
The Ford and Goodfellow families after the recent funerals of Jim and John respectively; we pray that You would comfort and uphold them and other families recently bereaved at this time.
We pray for Nina G after her recent admission to hospital and pray for a full recovery of her health and strength. We are aware of other members who have ongoing health difficulties and pray for God’s strength for them at this time. We pray for those exhausted with heavy work schedules that you would renew their health and strength, and for those struggling with the limitations of lock down that you would give them Your peace at this time.
We bring our own needs to You at this time … in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.
Bible reading
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.
II Timothy 1:1-14
5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. 13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you – guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Before we come to listen to God’s Word let us sing:
The Message
II Timothy 1:12:My confidence for the future
Introduction
There are plenty of people in the world who seem so full of confidence in their actions. But I think it likely that there are even more who at least inside themselves are very much the opposite and lacking in self-confidence. Over the years there have been a few, mainly gamblers from the Republic of Ireland who have bet some incredible amounts of money on a single race at the Cheltenham Horse racing festival. To risk more on one race lasting a few minutes than most people in this country own in total seems incredible.
However, although his confidence in himself was limited, the apostle Paul had great confidence in God taking care of him and his future. II Timothy 1:122 states: That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Do you share his confidence in God with respect to your future?
It is my sincere hope and prayer that we all have confidence in God for what lies ahead of us. He knows what is best and has planned the pathway ahead of us. He is our guide who will go with us each step of the way. Praise God for that. A popular car sticker when I was in High School said this: ‘Don’t follow me, I’m lost!’ If this is true spiritually then it is very sad. However, as Christians we follow the One who declared Himself as the Way (John 14:6). Therefore, we ought not to get lost because we are following in the footsteps of our guide – our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. What does Paul say here in the last surviving letter that he wrote prior to his execution in the reign if Nero in the 60sAD.
1. My resolution (II Timothy 1:12a) I am not ashamed…
Or as the latest edition of the NIV states: Yet this is no cause for shame. Our faith is not based on our feelings. When we are ‘in love’ with someone, how we feel about our day might depend on whether you got a letter, text, WhatsApp message, Instagram picture or even a phone call from them! For Paul his focus and passion in life is centred on his faith in Jesus Christ and his desire to share Jesus with other people.
To endure what Paul went through in the course of his Christian work (See II Corinthians 11:16-33) would have been too much for many of us. We marvel at his capacity to overcome all kinds of verbal, physical and psychological abuse on his travels across the Roman world. This letter is the summary of his thoughts shortly before he died. Even at this time when he is being incredibly positive there was an incident that he recalled that hurt him deeply. It states in 2 Timothy 1:15: You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
For a man as intense as Paul, for whom loyalty by his friends really mattered this was a tough time. Yet just when he was feeling at his lowest his mind then turned to a friend whose support was unwavering over the years. May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus (II Timothy 1:16-18).
These names will mean almost nothing to you and me, but there are other names of people in your life who have been a great help to you. Take a few moments today privately to thank God for particular individuals who have encouraged you maybe in the recent past or even this week. It may even be appropriate in some cases to send a brief message of appreciation to them. Yet in his time of need Paul was not alone in being abandoned, the first disciples abandoned Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane at the time of his arrest shortly prior to His crucifixion (Mark 14:50).
Disciples of Jesus will have tough days when others let us down, but we may on other occasions be the one who disappoints someone else so just as we might seek forgiveness when we fail, we have to be willing to forgive others when they seek forgiveness from us. What do we learn of Paul here from these words? He is firstly:
(a)Not ashamed of Jesus His consistency of witness both publically and privately over around three decades was inspirational. He was fearless as a witness for Jesus. In Acts 1:8 it records Jesus declaring: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
The apostle Paul had contributed as much as anyone to the fulfilment of this prophetic word. It would take till the end of the last century to see the goal in sight of a Christian presence in every people group on earth and at least part of the Bible translated into every major language spoken on earth. How did believers then Christians today accomplish so much?
The gift of the Holy Spirit is the key here. Jesus at the Last Supper stated in John 15:26-27: When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father – the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father – He will testify about Me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with Me from the beginning.
It was so hard at times as Paul made clear in I Corinthians 4:10-13: For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honoured, we are dishonoured! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world – right up to this moment.
(b) Not ashamed of other believers Timothy, the recipient of this letter was asked to remain loyal to his father in the faith (II Timothy 1:8), something we understand he was committed to doing. The call to perseverance was something Paul repeatedly appealed for. I Corinthians 15:58 was one of his clearest articulations of this truth. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
2. My faith (II Timothy 1:12b) I know whom I have believed…
The key here is whom I have believed because it is not his self-will or stubbornness that is key. It is not his spirituality or his exemplary Christian service, but God in whom he trusts. He has absolute confidence in his heavenly Father. There are times when our earthly parents or other family members and friends cannot help us. But God is the One who makes all the difference. Why is Paul so confident in God? He is:
(a)The source of his salvation (II Timothy 1:9) He has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time… I am not saved or assured of eternal salvation because of what I have done but because of what He has done for me. When did God plan our salvation? Again in verse 9: before the beginning of time…
Sometimes an earthly parent will admit that a child was a surprise baby, very welcome but not a planned pregnancy. There is no-one in God’s family like that. We have always been in His plans. Praise God for that. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul wrote these words: In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will (Ephesians 1:11).
God desired a people to be part of His family – you have always been wanted and welcome. Thank God when an earthly parent can say that from their heart to their child. However, an even greater blessing is that God views His children in that way as well. We are saved for a purpose He has saved us and called us to a holy life … Or as Paul put it in Ephesians 2:8-10: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. The person who is truly a child of God will want to do good works in response to the love of God. In other words we are saved for them not by them.
(b) The ground of his salvation (II Timothy 1:10) …but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. The key word here is ‘now’. Prior to the coming of Jesus in the world it was unclear exactly how God would bring salvation to the world. The coming of Jesus, as Paul explains in II Timothy 1:10, makes all the difference. What did Jesus do?
(i)He abolished death He was the one who died and came back to life again. He was separated from our Father in heaven on the cross so that we might be spared that fate in eternity. Without the good news of the gospel Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:4: But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. What difference did the gift of salvation make? And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6); Paul was so sure of the future prepared for us beyond the grave that he describes the future as if it had already happened! The consistency of early Christina witness was that these usually powerless often enslaved persons gained a self-worth and identity of priceless proportions ‘in Christ’, through their union by faith in Him.
(ii) He brought life and immortality Because Jesus rose from the dead so shall we. Because He is at the right hand of the Father in heaven so shall we be with Him in eternity. Paul wrote in I Corinthians15:26 in the chapter on the significance of the bodily resurrection of Jesus: The last enemy to be destroyed is death and in I Corinthians 15:54: When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ Hallelujah!
3. My assurance (II Timothy 1:12c) …and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him… God whose grace saves us from our sins will give us the aid we need by the power of the Holy Spirit to continue on the journey of faith through this life until we enter eternity.
Paul wrote in Romans 8:14,16: For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
However, we have a responsibility to do our very best to ‘train’ ourselves in God-honouring living alongside the assistance of the Holy Spirit. In his letter to the Church at Philippi Paul wrote: Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil His good purpose.
It is He who guarantees that we will be with him forever. The people in whose lives God has begun ‘a good work’ will see Him bring it to completion when we enter eternity. Or as Paul puts it in Romans 11:29: For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. Therefore, we live out our faith with an assurance that our future is secure in His hands.
4. My destiny (II Timothy 1:12d) …until that day. Paul is physically confined in Rome and aware his execution will come any day at the hands of the brutal Emperor Nero. However, he is a willing ‘prisoner’ of Jesus Christ rather than a captive of Rome. He views himself as spiritually free. Later near the end of this final letter he will write these words: For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing (II Timothy 4:6-8).
Do you have that same assurance should your departure time be near? I trust this is the case for us all, for Jesus’sake, Amen.
Our song before we come to communion is:
The Lord’s Supper
Jesus invites all Christian who have committed their lives to follow Him to participate in this act of worship. The apostle Paul wrote these words of Scripture in I Corinthians 11:23-26 to guide our observance of Communion.
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ 25 In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Prayer: Choose your own words of prayer to give thanks for the bread and wine that represent the costly gift of His body and blood for us.
Take the bread: Jesus said: ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.
Take the wine: Jesus said: This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’
Our closing song is:
Closing Prayer:
Thank you Lord for Paul’s amazing confidence in you, that through the tough times and the good that you would go with him every step of the way; thank you that as we begin another new week that we too can be assured of your holy presence with us. Guide and direct us in the choices we make and in all that we do, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Benediction: The Grace
May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God
and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all evermore, Amen
Remember tonight the national online prayer service at 7pm.