Notes From Meeting 27th June 2021

Lee Street Church

Notes of Meeting 27^th June 2021

We welcomed our speaker Josh Biggs (from Crawley Community Church).

Worship led by Sue Clarke

Jude 1: 1 – 2 “To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ. Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance”.

Psalm 63: 3 – 4 “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name will lift up my hands”.

SONG 96 Father in heaven

FATHER IN HEAVEN, HOW WE LOVE YOU,

We lift Your name in all the earth.

May Your kingdom be established in our praises

As Your people declare Your mighty works.

Blessèd be the Lord God Almighty,

Who was and is and is to come;

Blessèd be the Lord God Almighty,

Who reigns forever more.

Bob Fitts.

Copyright © 1985 Scripture in Song,a division of Integrity Music/Adm.by Kingsway’s Thankyou Music.

Last week we celebrated Father’s Day when we acknowledged our earthly fathers. Today in our worship, we’re going to celebrate our heavenly Father. Our Father gave us His Son as a sacrifice, so that we can become children of God. Each of us can say we are a chosen child of God alone.

1 John 3:1 “How great is the love the4 Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”.

SONG 92 Father God I wonder

FATHER GOD, I WONDER how I managed to exist

Without the knowledge of Your parenthood and Your loving care.

But now I am Your son, I am adopted in Your family,

And I can never be alone,

’Cause Father God, You’re there beside me.

I will sing Your praises,

I will sing Your praises,

I will sing Your praises,

Forever more.

I will sing Your praises,

I will sing Your praises,

I will sing Your praises,

Forever more.

lan Smale.Copyright © 1984 Kingsway’s Thankyou Music.

God’s love for us never changes. He is faithful. Looking in a thesaurus for other words that mean faithful, here are a few: constant; dependable; steadfast; loyal; truthful; un-wavering. God’s love never fails.

God, our Father, loves us unconditionally. Psalm 145:13 “The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made”.

Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Psalm 33: 4 – 5 “For the word of the Lord is right and true: he is faithful in all he does. The Lord loves righteousness and justice: the earth is full of his unfailing love.;

SONG 1764 Father your love

FATHER, YOUR LOVE is a faithful love,
Enduring and never-failing love.
Throughout the ages steady and true,
And the dawn of each day

Brings Your mercies new.
And I will put my trust in You;
Father, Your love is faithful.

So keep me in Your love today,
Take my hand and lead the way,
And let my words and life convey,
Father, Your love is faithful.

Great is Your faithfulness, (x3)
My God and Father.

Robert Critchley Copyright © 2002 Thankyou Music

He gives us commitment, encouragement, and provides for our every need.

Read Matthew 6: 25 - 33

Scripture says God’s ways are “perfect” (Psalm 18:30) and that He is a “faithful God who does no wrong”  and is “upright and just” (Deuteronomy 32:4). That makes Him the perfect Father.

Song: You’re a good  good Father

You're a Good, Good Father
It's who you are, It's who you are, It's who you are
And I'm loved by you
It's who I am, It's who I am, It's who I am

(Full song is available on Youtube – often sung by Chris Tomlin)

READ 1 John 2: 20 – 25

We have the perfect Father – who gives us perfect love

SONG: Before the world began

You were on His mind
And every tear you cry
Is precious in His eyes
Because of His great love
He gave His only Son
Everything was done
So you would come

Nothing you can do
Could make Him love you more
And nothing that you've done
Could make Him close the door
Because of His great love
He gave His only Son
Everything was done
So you would come

Come to the Father
Though your gift is small
Broken hearts broken lives
He will take them all
The power of the Word
The power of His blood
Everything was done
So you would come

Joshua Biggs’ Message on 27^th June

Life Lessons from the Little People – Preach Summary (27.6.21)

Children can be unpredictable, hilarious, crazy and more, but we have a lot to learn from them. Not only are we called God’s children, we are asked to be child-like in our approach to him (Mark 10:13-16). Here are four lessons for our walk with God that we can learn from the little people.

1. Hold nothing back

There’s an inescapable truth that the more we give to God, the more we will receive from Him. Draw near to me and I will draw near to you, he says. Children don’t hold anything back with their excitement. We can think back to being overcome with anticipation and the almost-too-good-to-be-true nature of Christmas Day. And, inevitably, it would often end in tears. God is never too good to be true. We can give ourselves fully to Him and know our energy is well-spent – more than that – spent in the only way that will satisfy us completely. Let’s be excitable with our faith, in our worship, when we share this life-changing news with others. Paul tells us he will do immeasurably more than we could imagine. Let’s be like the little children.

2. Don’t live for the others

Children rarely filter what they say. If something is then it is. Simple. Imagine having no filter with God. Imagine if there was no difference between everything you felt and experienced with Him, and what you showed on the outside. Let’s challenge ourselves for there to be no difference at all. Despite psychology showing us that we’re under immense pressure to alter ourselves to fit in with others, the Bible gives us Paul’s stance as a God-pleaser, not a people-pleaser, as a model (Galatians 1:10 - and Hebrews 10:22-23 expands). Taking this stance, which feels so against the grain, can be tricky, but allowing the Holy Spirit to help us makes all the difference. If we’re honest with others about who we are, they might just open up too. Then who knows what might happen?

3. Care about the little things

We are so busy. There’s always something that needs doing. The Little Prince (the title character of a book I highly recommend) has some beautiful, simple insight on this. He doesn’t understand the way adults go about their business:

"Men," said the little prince, "set out on their way in express trains, but they do not know what they are looking for. Then they rush about, get excited, and turn round and round."

"Only the children know what they are looking for," said the little prince. They waste their time over a rag doll and it becomes very important to them; and if anybody takes it away from them, they cry..."

"They are lucky," the switchman said.

Later, he’s confused to hear of a pill recently invented to quench thirst. Apparently, it will save 53 minutes of drinking time each week.

"...if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water.”

Learning to slow down, comes hand in hand with keeping the truly important parts of life as special as they ought to be. The Little Prince learned this. He grew to love a rose, who became very special to him indeed. This seemed to be exposed as an illusion, however, when he discovered she was just one rose amongst many. He received some very wise advice on the matter: ‘It is the time you have wasted on your rose that makes your rose so important.’ Who are we going to take the time to make important, special, meaningful to us? Our friends? Our family? God? Let’s learn from the Little Prince.

4. Accept you’re not there yet

Children have it easy, don’t they? They go around bumping into walls, spilling drinks, dropping expensive items, and their parents rush about after them, sorting it all out. But then one day, they become an adult themselves, and it can sometimes feel like that’s it. They’re on their own in the big, wide world with no-one to help anymore. Thankfully, we’re never truly left to it. As Charles Spurgeon reminds us: ‘Child of God, you cost Christ too much for Him to forget you.’

The sooner we accept we’re just children, the quicker we remove barriers to Him. How many bricks are you carrying around in your bag? How much energy are you using up trying to show that you’ve got it all sorted? Accepting that you can’t keep it up, isn’t failing. Turning to God is the decision of a warrior. Let’s be children. Let’s be willing to learn a new way of doing something. Let’s accept that we’re not there yet. Let’s put our perfect God, in charge of our beautifully imperfect lives.

And a last word from The Little Prince:

“All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them remember it.”

It’s time for us to remember what it’s like to be children again.