Sunday 10 January 2021
Lord, Our God, Our Heavenly Father, you have called us together, each in different places, but together, united in our love for You. We give thanks that it is possible for us to join in worship, prayer and praise today to lift Your name, to hear Your Word and to rejoice in Your presence.
Father God, you are the One above every other and we offer ourselves to You, and You alone. We come with open hearts and minds ready to receive the wisdom that only You can impart.
Help us to walk in the way of Your Word, to choose only Your Way, so that each step will lead us closer to You. Lord, along the way we stumble and fall. We get distracted and mess up seeking after our own wants and desires. Lord forgive us our failings and help us, by the refreshing and renewing of Your Holy Spirit, to yield our will to yours and to accept Your instruction. Empower us to go forward and meet the challenges ahead, whatever they may be, trusting that we do not face them alone.
Lord, these are difficult times and the stress of coping with the Covid restrictions on top of everything else is impacting everyone's lives, increasing the sense of loneliness, isolation and helplessness. Many struggle to deal with altered routines and new procedures. Guide us that we may be in the right place to ease any pain, hardship or suffering endured through ill-health, bereavement, unemployment or other causes of anxiety at this time. Not only those we know and friends and family, but also those in the wider world. We think particularly of the families of those lost in the Indonesian plane crash. Lord, when You call may we always be willing and swift to answer.
Draw us close so that we may hear Your voice more clearly. We love You and want to be with You, to walk and talk with You daily, to live our lives within Your blessing. Lord we want to see You.
And therefore, we pray that we all might deepen our love for You in order that we might worship You with deepening appreciation and witness, testifying to your awesome nature and aiming to bring You glory. This we ask in Jesus' name. AMEN
This prayer was written by a member of our congregation.
Isaiah chapter 6 verses 1-10 by Rev. Gordon Stevenson
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!”
9 He said, “Go and tell this people:
“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.[a]
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”
And he answered:
“Until the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
and the fields ruined and ravaged,
12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.
13 And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
leave stumps when they are cut down,
so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”
Focus into our new series on WORSHIP
What is worship – The verb to worship means “to show reverence and adoration for (a deity)”. As a verb is an action, and if we are the worshippers; we are the doers in worship, and worship is therefore NOT primarily for us. It is a gift from us expressing the worth we exclaim of our God. e.g.
Revelation chapter 4 verse 11 says, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created”.
So, when someone visits to see if this is a church they want to attend in future, they ought not to be focussing on whether they like the hymns, or the friendliness of the people or other less important personal preferences. The focus should be, is this a place where God is truly worshipped and adored.
It’s the same for those of us who are part of the regular fellowship here; when we gather as the Church of Jesus Christ, is our focus on worshipping our God?
Of course, many of us grew up with some sort of church traditions – even if we did not attend church until later on in life. We experience various done things, carried out in certain ways and we can become convinced that these things are essential or the right way to do worship.
So, as we explore this new series on worship let’s try to keep in mind that our worship is for God. By it we exclaim and show how thankful and blessed we are for all that He is and has done for us, and we are offering our innermost spiritual witness to glorify Him and testify to others of His rule in our lives.
The biblical examples are that we bring to God our best offering, our first fruits of anything we harvest or earn, and we do so on the first day of every week because God decreed that this is best – on the day for Sabbath rest. In Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 say,
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”.
During this series I hope and pray that we all may learn to worship in a deeper, richer and more powerful way by not holding back, but by giving ourselves more fully to our truly awesome loving, forgiving, holy, sovereign God, Amen
Sermon week 1 – Passionate, Authentic Worship
The sermon title is a genuine call that urges us all to worship our awesome God passionately. Today’s reading shows that God’s people can be detached and disconnected spiritually but that this is NOT how God wants it to be. In verse 3 we see the priest in God’s house overwhelmed by God’s holiness and glory. It even transcends the house of God; “the whole earth is filled with his glory.” In worship Isaiah is praising our God.
Deep milestone experiences occur in verse 4. Smoke fills the air and the building reverberates with shaking. One commentator calls this the result of authentic worship – how do you feel about that? How does Isaiah feel about it verse 5? “Woe is me; I am lost. I am a man of unclean lips and I live in the midst of a people of unclean lips”.
You see when we truly praise God in authentic worship, as we draw really near to our holy, awesome God, shaking occurs – that’s my experience too – has it been your experience yet?
In God’s presence we are laid bare, we confess in order that we will change our ways and we are acutely aware of how unholy we and those around us are.
So even though worship is about and for God, we somehow can be caught up in the holy presence of our living, gracious, perfect, compassionate God. It can result in us changing, and transforming us spiritually as He accepts our heartfelt confessions – He forgives.
The allusion from our passage is as the angel carries a hot coal which touches Isaiah’s lips; “your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Yet this is not the end. When God has us in the palm of His hand, He often takes us deeper into His mysterious ways. verse 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!” Then God calls and we respond. Now it is easy to feel inadequate or inexperienced – but that is not what the LORD or I want anyone to feel today. God is laying secrets before us and we can truly benefit if we learn and respond rightly. When we do, we are enabled to reflect God’s glory in the world much better.
Poor worship makes us feel we have done our duty or cheers us up because we have sung praises we like. Authentic worship takes us further with God than we have ever been before. Authentic worship makes us ambassadors to a people who don’t know God, don’t understand God and often do not want to listen or see the reality of what He can bring into their lives.
They are deceived by Satan, the material things of this world, and whatever they worship as their God – perhaps themselves or wealth, or their own status etc. In verse 9 Its worth noticing that God does not call the people His people – He calls them this people, because they are NOT His people, perhaps even though some of them think that they are. The truth of verse 10 is that when Isaiah or God’s servants preach, that many will become more entrenched, more callused, never perceiving, spiritual ears and eyes shut. Yet God’s message is NOT truly to turn people away from Him – is it?
Verse 10 says “Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
God sifts out the chaff. He takes away our sinful desire IF we worship Him first above all else.
Even more significant is that we can then serve His purposes deeper than we ever have before; and the real blessing is when God uses us to help some to see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
Have we heard anything today that challenges us? Will our approach and practice in worship draw us deeper into the well of God’s riches: I do hope and pray so.
If you want to chat personally, let me know – I ‘d love to help you all to grow nearer and deeper into His grace – so that we all might know God’s perfect will always. I leave you once again with Romans 12:2
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”.
Worshipping God then, are you up for it as we travel through this month’s series? Let’s pray for one another for the building up of Christ’s Kingdom. Amen
Father God, you are the One above every other and we offer ourselves to You, and You alone. We come with open hearts and minds ready to receive the wisdom that only You can impart.
Help us to walk in the way of Your Word, to choose only Your Way, so that each step will lead us closer to You. Lord, along the way we stumble and fall. We get distracted and mess up seeking after our own wants and desires. Lord forgive us our failings and help us, by the refreshing and renewing of Your Holy Spirit, to yield our will to yours and to accept Your instruction. Empower us to go forward and meet the challenges ahead, whatever they may be, trusting that we do not face them alone.
Lord, these are difficult times and the stress of coping with the Covid restrictions on top of everything else is impacting everyone's lives, increasing the sense of loneliness, isolation and helplessness. Many struggle to deal with altered routines and new procedures. Guide us that we may be in the right place to ease any pain, hardship or suffering endured through ill-health, bereavement, unemployment or other causes of anxiety at this time. Not only those we know and friends and family, but also those in the wider world. We think particularly of the families of those lost in the Indonesian plane crash. Lord, when You call may we always be willing and swift to answer.
Draw us close so that we may hear Your voice more clearly. We love You and want to be with You, to walk and talk with You daily, to live our lives within Your blessing. Lord we want to see You.
And therefore, we pray that we all might deepen our love for You in order that we might worship You with deepening appreciation and witness, testifying to your awesome nature and aiming to bring You glory. This we ask in Jesus' name. AMEN
This prayer was written by a member of our congregation.
Isaiah chapter 6 verses 1-10 by Rev. Gordon Stevenson
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!”
9 He said, “Go and tell this people:
“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
10 Make the heart of this people calloused;
make their ears dull
and close their eyes.[a]
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”
And he answered:
“Until the cities lie ruined
and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
and the fields ruined and ravaged,
12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away
and the land is utterly forsaken.
13 And though a tenth remains in the land,
it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
leave stumps when they are cut down,
so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”
Focus into our new series on WORSHIP
What is worship – The verb to worship means “to show reverence and adoration for (a deity)”. As a verb is an action, and if we are the worshippers; we are the doers in worship, and worship is therefore NOT primarily for us. It is a gift from us expressing the worth we exclaim of our God. e.g.
Revelation chapter 4 verse 11 says, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created”.
So, when someone visits to see if this is a church they want to attend in future, they ought not to be focussing on whether they like the hymns, or the friendliness of the people or other less important personal preferences. The focus should be, is this a place where God is truly worshipped and adored.
It’s the same for those of us who are part of the regular fellowship here; when we gather as the Church of Jesus Christ, is our focus on worshipping our God?
Of course, many of us grew up with some sort of church traditions – even if we did not attend church until later on in life. We experience various done things, carried out in certain ways and we can become convinced that these things are essential or the right way to do worship.
So, as we explore this new series on worship let’s try to keep in mind that our worship is for God. By it we exclaim and show how thankful and blessed we are for all that He is and has done for us, and we are offering our innermost spiritual witness to glorify Him and testify to others of His rule in our lives.
The biblical examples are that we bring to God our best offering, our first fruits of anything we harvest or earn, and we do so on the first day of every week because God decreed that this is best – on the day for Sabbath rest. In Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 say,
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”.
During this series I hope and pray that we all may learn to worship in a deeper, richer and more powerful way by not holding back, but by giving ourselves more fully to our truly awesome loving, forgiving, holy, sovereign God, Amen
Sermon week 1 – Passionate, Authentic Worship
The sermon title is a genuine call that urges us all to worship our awesome God passionately. Today’s reading shows that God’s people can be detached and disconnected spiritually but that this is NOT how God wants it to be. In verse 3 we see the priest in God’s house overwhelmed by God’s holiness and glory. It even transcends the house of God; “the whole earth is filled with his glory.” In worship Isaiah is praising our God.
Deep milestone experiences occur in verse 4. Smoke fills the air and the building reverberates with shaking. One commentator calls this the result of authentic worship – how do you feel about that? How does Isaiah feel about it verse 5? “Woe is me; I am lost. I am a man of unclean lips and I live in the midst of a people of unclean lips”.
You see when we truly praise God in authentic worship, as we draw really near to our holy, awesome God, shaking occurs – that’s my experience too – has it been your experience yet?
In God’s presence we are laid bare, we confess in order that we will change our ways and we are acutely aware of how unholy we and those around us are.
So even though worship is about and for God, we somehow can be caught up in the holy presence of our living, gracious, perfect, compassionate God. It can result in us changing, and transforming us spiritually as He accepts our heartfelt confessions – He forgives.
The allusion from our passage is as the angel carries a hot coal which touches Isaiah’s lips; “your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Yet this is not the end. When God has us in the palm of His hand, He often takes us deeper into His mysterious ways. verse 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!” Then God calls and we respond. Now it is easy to feel inadequate or inexperienced – but that is not what the LORD or I want anyone to feel today. God is laying secrets before us and we can truly benefit if we learn and respond rightly. When we do, we are enabled to reflect God’s glory in the world much better.
Poor worship makes us feel we have done our duty or cheers us up because we have sung praises we like. Authentic worship takes us further with God than we have ever been before. Authentic worship makes us ambassadors to a people who don’t know God, don’t understand God and often do not want to listen or see the reality of what He can bring into their lives.
They are deceived by Satan, the material things of this world, and whatever they worship as their God – perhaps themselves or wealth, or their own status etc. In verse 9 Its worth noticing that God does not call the people His people – He calls them this people, because they are NOT His people, perhaps even though some of them think that they are. The truth of verse 10 is that when Isaiah or God’s servants preach, that many will become more entrenched, more callused, never perceiving, spiritual ears and eyes shut. Yet God’s message is NOT truly to turn people away from Him – is it?
Verse 10 says “Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
God sifts out the chaff. He takes away our sinful desire IF we worship Him first above all else.
Even more significant is that we can then serve His purposes deeper than we ever have before; and the real blessing is when God uses us to help some to see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
Have we heard anything today that challenges us? Will our approach and practice in worship draw us deeper into the well of God’s riches: I do hope and pray so.
If you want to chat personally, let me know – I ‘d love to help you all to grow nearer and deeper into His grace – so that we all might know God’s perfect will always. I leave you once again with Romans 12:2
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”.
Worshipping God then, are you up for it as we travel through this month’s series? Let’s pray for one another for the building up of Christ’s Kingdom. Amen