Lee Street Church
Notes of Meeting 18th July 2019
Worship led by Sue Clarke
We are here today because of God’s love for every one of us. That incredible indescribable love that not one of us deserves but can freely accept, because of that tremendous sacrifice of our Lord Jesus –in willingly going to the cross to bear the sins of us all, that we may come to Him as our Saviour and Redeemer. That we may know His presence in our lives day by day, and know that, ultimately, we will be able to bow at His feet in praise and adoration. Until that day we are given these times when we can come together and both unitedly and individually offer up our thanks to Him for all that He has done for us; all that He means to us and all that He is to us.
Song: Enter in 84
ENTER IN to His great love,
Kneel before His throne;
For His blood has washed away your sin,
So enter in and worship Him.
Hope in our God inspires us to praise Him joyfully, because we know that we can claim His infinite promises. His faithfulness, especially in the midst of these challenging times, upholds us every single day of our lives.
Psalm 92 v1-2 “It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.”
Psalm 71 v23 “My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you-- I, whom you have redeemed”.
Psalm 89 v1-2 “I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself”.
Song: Great is thy faithfulness 147
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided,
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Psalm 98 v1-3 “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. The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Psalm 40 v1-3 “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God”.
Song: When I was lost 1607
WHEN I WAS LOST, You came and rescued me;
Reached down into the pit and lifted me.
O Lord, such love,
I was as far from You as I could be.
You know all the things I've ever done,
But Jesus’ blood has cancelled every one.
O Lord, such grace
To qualify me as Your own.
There is a new song in my mouth,
There is a deep cry in my heart,
A hymn of praise to Almighty God - hallelujah!
And now I stand firm on this Rock,
My life is hidden now with Christ in God.
The old has gone and the new has come - hallelujah!
Your love has lifted me.
Now I have come into Your family,
For the Son of God has died for me.
O Lord, such peace,
I am as loved by You as I could be.
In the full assurance of Your love,
Now with every confidence we come.
O Lord, such joy
To know that You delight in us.
Many are the wonders You have done,
And many are the things that You have planned.
How beautiful the grace that gives to us
All that we don't deserve,
All that we cannot earn,
But is a gift of love.
Our next hymn is one I, and I’m sure many of you, sang often in school assemblies. I feel this hymn speaks so much of God’s faithfulness to us His people. The individual verses finish with a relevant line for our worship - the first verse states that we are bringing our thanks to God, today. The second verse ends asking God to receive our praise. The third verse closes showing our desire that our worship will be pleasing and acceptable to Him. The penultimate verse has us praying that God will reign over a lost and desperate world and the last verse is reiterating our commitment to live our lives solely for God’s glory.
Sometimes I think we sing these all too familiar hymns without properly contemplating the meaning behind what we are singing. Let’s sing this hymn as a prayer for ourselves and our world today.
Peter 1 v3-7 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed”.
Song: Lord for the years 892
Lord, for the years Your love has kept and guided,
Urged and inspired us, cheered us on our way,
Sought us and saved us, pardoned and provided:
Lord of the years, we bring our thanks today.
Lord, for that word, the word of life which fires us,
Speaks to our hearts and sets our souls ablaze,
Teaches and trains, rebukes us and inspires us:
Lord of the word, receive Your people’s praise.
Lord, for our land in this our generation,
Spirits oppressed by pleasure, wealth and care:
For young and old, for commonwealth and nation,
Lord of our land, be pleased to hear our prayer.
Lord, for our world where men disown and doubt You,
Loveless in strength, and comfortless in pain,
Hungry and helpless, lost indeed without You:
Lord of the world, we pray that Christ may reign.
Lord for ourselves; in living power remake us –
Self on the cross and Christ upon the throne,
Past put behind us, for the future take us:
Lord of our lives, to live for Christ alone.
Timothy Dudley-Smith. Copyright © 1967 Timothy Dudley-Smith.
Our final song is leading us into the breaking of bread. We cannot see these emblems before us without reflecting on the cost and the ultimate sacrifice and act of love that has brought us to where we are today.
Romans 5 v8-11 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when 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! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation”.
Song: Here is bread 762
Here is bread, here is wine,
Christ is with us – He is with us;
Break the bread, drink the wine –
Christ is with us here.
Here is grace, here is peace,
Christ is with us – He is with us;
Know His grace, find His peace –
Feast on Jesus here.
In this bread there is healing,
In this cup there’s life forever;
In this moment, by the Spirit
Christ is with us here.
Here we are, joined in one,
Christ is with us – He is with us;
We’ll proclaim, till He comes –
Jesus crucified.
Breaking of Bread – led by Ken Cowell
Notes from Steve Alliston’s message
Judges 15: 13 – 20 – Samson
After the nation of Israel had been led into the promised land under Joshua’s leadership, the nation sadly chose to forget God, and to follow pagan gods. But God then raised up judges to rule the nation and to bring them back to God. Some led the nation well (e.g. Deborah) – others not so well (e.g. Eli). Then later under Samuel, God gave them a king.
It was a time of believing – not believing – believing again, repeated several times over.
Samson lived in a generation much like ours today “it seems right, so it must be right”. He was immature and developed a bad track record. He wasn’t a good leader, but God was able to use him despite his imperfections.
He was able to kill 1,000 Philistines using only the jaw-bone of a donkey, such was his strength. In doing this, he became very thirsty, so he calls out to God for help – and God responded by opening up the ground for water to come gushing out. So he was able to refresh himself and to revive his strength.
As we gradually come out of the long period affected by Covid-19, how can we best serve God in the new circumstances?
The line of the hymn “When Satan tempts me to despair” may come to mind. Whatever we’ve suffered during Covid, what can we now do to move forward? Need to pick up what we’ve got and move forward – hang on in there – persevere, however hard the way may be.
There is a weariness in churches of all sizes, with some people having seemingly left the church altogether. So we are now at a pivotal time.
It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the problems around us. Samson was overwhelmed by thirst, Elijah even was overwhelmed by fear of his life by Jezebel after the contest on Carmel. It is a key strategy of the devil to discourage believers. Note what Jesus did when the numbers of people seeking his help became too much – he went away to a quiet place to be alone with His Father. He didn’t try to battle on on his own..
In verse 18 we read that Samson “cried out to the Lord”. Interestingly, we only read of Samson praying on two occasions. But he got it right – he cried out for God’s attention (cf blind Bartimaeus calling out to Jesus).
A number of the Psalms emphasize the need for us to call out to the Lord with ALL our strength – not half-heartedly.
Psalm 145:18 “The Lord is near to all who call on him”
Psalm 147:10 -11 “… the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.”
Samson knew nothing of Jesus, with whom we are privileged to have fellowship. We need to take heed to his call – ask, seek knock – he will hear our cries, because he is a faithful God.
As we come out of Covid, our greatest need is for spiritual revival – for the living waters of God’s Spirit. Do we really thirst for the living God?
1Corinthians 10:4 speaks about the rock – which Moses struck to obtain water – as being symbolic of Christ.
And in John&:37 Jesus cries out “Come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me , streams of living water will flow from him”.
Jesus invites us to drink, and be so filled with his Spirit that others get refreshed too.
Notices
- Speaker next Sunday at 10.30amwill be Peter Whitehead (on Zoom).
- Wednesday at 7.30pm is our Zoom bible study – last before break for Summer.
- Reminder August 15th – Church Family lunch at 12 noon.