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.
- We will be continuing the Prayer Livestream at 7.00pm on Sunday’s. 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.
JAM Kids’ focus:
Here is the new video series from Out of the Box for JAM Kids age group.
Worksheet 3 to accompany this talk
JAM young adults Ignite Live have a separate programme at 11:15am on the Zoom platform –parents of teenagers can get a link code by contacting Gary Torbet on garytorbet@btinternet.com
Call to worship
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’ 11 All the angels were standing round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, 12 saying: ‘Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honour and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!’
Revelation 7:9-12
We are grateful to Fiona Small for selecting the songs for worship for this service
Our opening song of praise and worship is: Come People of the Risen King
We continue to worship the Lord in our second song of praise and worship: Everlasting Arms
Opening prayer
Heavenly Father at this the start of another week we come with joy and thanksgiving to offer our praise and worship for all the wonderful blessings we have received as gifts from You. It is an incredible privilege to come with confidence directly into Your presence in the name of Your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. As sons and daughters of the King of Kings we are so grateful for Your goodness to us in the blessings of ordinary life, of food and water, clothing and shelter and so much more besides. Thank you too that so many of us have the gift of good health which we so easily can take for granted.
As human beings we come humbly before You confessing once more our sins of the past week, of thought and word and deed. Thank You for the blessing of forgiveness when we truly say sorry for them. We are conscious as human beings that in so many ways we have not fulfilled the responsibilities entrusted to us. Our failure to care adequately for the planet entrusted to our care has made life much harder for some of the world’s poorest citizens.
We have failed too to share equitably the natural resources of our world and collectively allowed a miniscule percentage of the population to own and control an ever increasing percentage of its wealth – too often at the expense of the most marginalised. However, despite our shortcomings You are at work transforming lives bringing people to faith in You through the work of the Holy Spirit opening our eyes to see our need of You.
Thank You for the growth of Your Church in remarkable ways over the last hundred and fifty years, especially in Africa and Asia, that we might see as a glimpse into the future prophesied by the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk, who declared: For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). We thank you that Wit and Helen can join us today for our service all the way from Thailand. We ask Your blessing on them as they share with us today in our service, for Jesus’ names 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 – Moraig Piggot
Normally last Sunday we would have been having our end of year celebration to give thanks to God for our children, young people and our children’s and families and youth work ministries. So this morning it is important to stop and do this. It’s easy with everything that has been going on over the last few months to forget about all the amazing things God was doing through our church in the local community and within our fellowship with children and young people.
We give thanks for our toddler groups, boogie babies, messy church, club 567, our creche, jam kids, jam, breakthrough, jigsaw, growing young leaders, deeper, young adults group… the list could go on. WOW how thankful we are to have such a busy and full schedule of activities for all these different ages and stages of faith.
We especially thank God for our dedicated and hardworking employees Claire and Gary and the great number of church members and volunteers who support them in their work.
Here is what is even more amazing though the Coronavirus doesn’t stop God’s work from continuing. So we especially want to give thanks this morning for how we have been able to still share HIS love and word with our children and young people in different way during this time. We pay tribute to Claire and Gary for how they have adapted their normal way of doing things to allow as many activities and groups as possible to continue.
Boys and girls and young people, I have said this before but I say it again, you have been super stars during these last few months and should feel very proud of yourselves and please know that as a church we are incredibly proud of you all. I am sure you were all very glad that on Friday online learning stopped and you now have a six-week break and it is very well deserved.
Teachers within our fellowship we thank you for your dedication to your job and the way you very quickly adapted to a new way of working. Now please put the laptops away and take these next six weeks to switch off and relax. Try not to worry about August because at the moment no one really knows what will be happening so let’s not think about it until then.
Mums and Dads, grandparents and everyone else who have been supporting children and young people with their online learning, I am sure you breathed a huge sigh of relief when Friday came knowing that your home-schooling days can stop for the holidays. We thank you too, I am sure God granted lots of people with lots of patience during this time!
Here though is what I want us all to remember and give thanks for this morning, our bible verse of the year Ephesians 3:20-21:
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
God’s power is at work in us and he is a God who can do more than we could ever ask or imagine. Since last June when we had our last celebration in church God has done some many wonderful things through his power within us in our children’s and young people’s ministries and God was never going to let a virus stop that. We don’t know when the normal we were used to will return or what things will be like in the coming months but what we do know is that we love, worship and serve a heavenly father who does know and he will guide us through.
So I would like everyone to make sure they have this verse displayed someplace in their home where they can regularly be reminded of the powerful God we serve and how much we should praise and thank him for everything he does for us and especially for how he is supporting and carrying us through these strange time.
Boys and girls I want you to go and make yourself a medal or certificate this morning, mums, dads, Claire, Gary, all our volunteers and teachers need to do this too, in fact we all should- and it needs to say “I am a child of God and through his power in me I will see wonderful things happen!”
This morning let’s remember to give God all the glory for everything he has done in our church and will continue to do. We have been through difficult and hard times before and are going through them at the moment, but HIS power and HIS love are more than sufficient to see us through. Amen.
All Age Song- My God is Powerful
Prayers for others
Thank you Lord once more for the privilege of praying for other people:
We continue to pray for wisdom for our Governments in Edinburgh and London as we slowly move in the direction of reopening shops and businesses as well as for those owners seeking to make their premises compliant with the new health and safety guidelines. We are very conscious that many employers may be struggling to make the right choices as to how many employees they can bring back from furloughing, knowing that others through no fault of their own may lose their jobs at this time.
We pray that the politicians may put in place schemes to help those affected find alternative opportunities for work or retraining for other careers. Likewise we pray that young people finishing school or high education that they may be able to find meaningful employment opportunities in the coming months.
We pray too for our schools in the light of the good news that it may be possible for all the children to get to school in the next school year. Lord we ask that you would give strength to the staff who have worked so hard preparing for an alternative approach to education in the next session, but who now at the end of term find themselves having extra work to do. We pray that they will all get sufficient time for some rest and relaxation over the summer.
We also remember those in our NHS and Social Care sectors as they seek to help prevent a second upsurge in cases of the Covid-19 virus in our land. We pray that there will be sufficient PPE and all other necessary equipment they require available before the winter begins; and that the track and trace programme being put in place can be effective. We thank you that the first human trials for a vaccine for Covid-19 have begun in Oxford. We hope and pray that it may be a success.
We pray for a renewal of strength for the staff whose health has suffered due to the pressures in their workplaces in hospitals and care homes in recent months. We pray too for Your comfort for the families whose loved ones have died while attempting to care for other through our health care provision in hospitals and nursing homes.
In our Baptist Union of Scotland we remember to pray for sister churches:
Galashiels BC – In this time of restrictions coupled with a pastoral vacancy, they are learning to do things differently. They thank God for Zoom services, being able to keep in regular contact with each other by phone and helping them find ways to serve their community. Please pray that they might know God’s guidance and presence in leading them forward in vacancy.
Garioch Church, Aberdeen – They are so grateful to God for new ways of meeting up, sharing together and supporting each other in these difficult times. They invite us to join them in praying for those who are working in vulnerable situations or pressurised contexts and also for those who are living alone, especially where they are unable to access online gatherings. Pray also that they begin to get some clarity about how to handle a gradual releasing of lockdown in due course.
Gerrard Street BC, Aberdeen – We pray for the fellowship at the Gerrard Street Church in Aberdeen as they seek to ‘move forward in discipleship and in mission’ during this season. Pray for wisdom as the church leadership consider how to do this during Covid-19.
We pray too for the ongoing work of the Christian Churches in our land that You will help each one prepare for the day when their premises reopen that we may have wisdom to make the right choices about the use of premises and also the online media many churches have used in recent months. Help us to make the right calls about our priorities so that we can retain contact with the new friends we have welcomed to online services and activities as well as regain physical contact with those who were required to take particular care during the lockdown period.
In particular we pray for other people with particular needs that are connected to our own congregation:
The Nyguist and Marshall families We pray that You would comfort and uphold them and other families recently bereaved at this time.
We continue to remember those waiting for medical appointments and treatment or surgery that has been delayed by the pandemic preparations. We pray that the surgeries of doctors and dentists and hospitals may soon be fully open again to treat those in need. We pray too for wisdom as they see to restore services while complying with the new safety guidelines.
We thank you for progress for those in our church family moving home and pray that their plans may now take place as they had been hoping earlier in the year.
We are aware of other, particularly older members who have ongoing health difficulties and pray for God’s strength for them at this time. We pray for those exhausted with heavy work schedules that you would renew their health and strength, and for those struggling with the limitations of lock down that you would give them Your peace at this time. In particular, we remember … In addition, we bring our own needs to You at this time … in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.
Bible Reading
And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
1 John 2:28 -3:10
9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.
Before we come to listen to God’s Word let us sing: What a friend we have in Jesus
The Message – Wit Boondeekhum
Pre-recorded message
I John 2:28-3:10
Religion teaches us what we have to do to reach to heaven. So it’s about dos and don’ts
But in Christ is about what God has done for us. We are reconciled to Him and He grants us a new status: to become His children. So it’s all about our relationship with him. When we look at the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us how to address to God as our heavenly Father.
The book of 1 John mentions a lot about God’s love; he loves us and wants to have a fellowship with us and furthermore, he wants us to love each other.
1 John 3 says that because of the Father’s great love lavished upon us, we are called to be children of God. This is who we are, we are His children. What a great privilege we have that we are His favoured ones, the apple of his eye. He gave his only begotten son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come and die for our sins. Let’s say together, “thank you God that we are your son or your daughter” Nothing will change who we are, no matter what we do. He loves us unconditionally not only he saves us but it’s as if he injects God’s DNA in us through the Holy Spirit so that we shall be like Him. This is God’s purpose that we shall be like Him when he appears again. Like Father like son.
That’s the reason why John keeps saying that we shall continue in Him. At the end of 1 John 2.28 it states that we may be confident and unashamed to be like Him at his coming.
Sin is like a deadly disease. It eventually kills. There are different degrees of symptoms. Some might not show any apparent symptoms, but it doesn’t mean that person hasn’t got the disease – a bit like Corona virus. Sin has consequences and it causes a severe result, which is separation from God and eternal punishment, but Jesus came to give us the cure through his death and resurrection.
For those who believe in Jesus shall not perish, but have eternal life. Because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and his Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us like God’s seed, God’s DNA, God’s vaccine which has been injected into us, so we are immune, the disease has no power over us, sin is powerless. For this reason as we continue to deepen our relationship in God we won’t keep sinning. However, if we choose not to abide in God and He in us, then we will continue in sin.
Two things Apostle John mentioned in the first section of chapter 3 are found in verse 10 “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother (and sister).”
So there are 2 characteristics of being the children of God. The former is righteousness, doing what is right and the latter is loving your brother (and sister).
- He is righteous – Do what is right. (v.7) who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous
Do what is right, not what is easy nor what is popular. Temptation comes in every day, all the time and we must face how to react or respond to the temptation. How can we know what is right? Justice or injustice, right or wrong, moral or immoral. I don’t know about your situation, and what you do if you are tempted. What do we do if it’s not obvious? What about the grey areas?
No trials or pains are ultimately harmful unless they diminish our relationship with God. But the righteous will not let them do that. They let their trials draw them closer to God. They see His grace more clearly in the aftermath of pain; they trust Him more truly when obstacles hinder trust; they serve Him more sacrificially when it costs something. Through pain, we see Him better, and He becomes more real to us. There is no harm in that.
Nothing that the righteous go through is truly harmful if faith is maintained. But troubles are troublesome indeed to those whose faith is conditional. Their love of God depends only on what He does to make them feel good. Trials come to all, and our reaction defines us. Are we righteous or wicked? The test of pain will make it clear.
2. Love each other. Love is not just about words but also deeds. Love is always caring for others, serving others, and sharing with others. Someone who really loves you: Sees what a mess you can be; how moody you can get and how hard you are to handle …but still wants you!
A quote from the devotional book “Walk with God” by Tiegreen : When we became Christians, we may have found that we continually struggle to become Christ-like. Why? If our affections are set on Him as they once were on the trends and icons of our culture, wouldn’t a godly transformation be a natural process for us? Perhaps that is just the problem. Perhaps our affections are not entirely Christ-ward. We easily let our love grow stale, losing the excitement that newness and discovery naturally brought us at first. Other images – cultural trends and newfound interests – become the object of our infatuation, whilst Jesus subtly and imperceptibly passes from our adoration to our obligation.
When this happens, we find godliness more of a struggle. It is hard to let ourselves become conformed to the image of Jesus when we hold another image in higher esteem. Other passions pull us in other directions often making conflicting – or at least superfluous – demands on our character. Godly character cannot thrive in such a context. Our spirits will not fit into two molds simultaneously.
What image do you aim for? If you find any image other than Jesus shaping your soul, abandon it, it will hinder your growth. Find your identity entirely in Him.
Let continue in Him by abiding in Him, deeply living in Christ. Ask God for the grace to live in Him and continue to live in Him. Right now surrender it all to Him. Amen.
Our song before we come to communion is: Jesus Paid it All
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: Because he lives
Closing Prayer:
Thank you Lord that you are building your Church around the world. We rejoice that there are more than two billion followers of Jesus all over the world. We thank you for those who have professed faith in you during these very difficult recent months and pray that many more people will make that choice for themselves soon.
We thank you for those involved in church-planting like Wit and Helen in Northern Thailand and ask that you would prosper their work and witness for you. We hope and pray that in the coming years many people in that part of Thailand will come to acknowledge Jesus as Saviour and Lord. We pray that too within our own community of Broughty Ferry and wherever your children are seeking to share the good news of Jesus, for His name’s 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
Remember tonight the national online prayer service at 7pm.