Lee Street Church
Notes of Meeting - 31st October 2021
Worship led by Sue Clarke
At this time of year, I can’t help but praise God for His creation. The leaves turning colour in the sunlight never fail to lift my spirits. I know other times of year do the same, the first bulbs poking through the ground at the start of spring, and baby lambs being born. Then the abundance of summer flowers. Even the fresh snowfall never fails to bring a smile. I’m sure we can all add many other signs in nature that inspire us and turn our eyes to our creator God.
Psalm 8: 1 – 5 reads
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LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. |
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Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. |
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When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, |
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what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? |
This is the God we are here today to praise and worship. Let us truly exalt his name together.
SONG: Father in heaven, how we love You
Psalm 104 speaks about the splendour and majesty of the Lord, and what he has done in creation. And Psalm 145:21 says “Let every creature praise His holy name for ever.”
SONG: Creation sings the Father’s song
Creation sings the father's song;
He calls the sun to wake the dawn
And run the course of day
Till evening falls in crimson rays
His fingerprints in flakes of snow
His breath upon this spinning globe
He charts the eagle's flight;
Commands the new-born baby's cry
Hallelujah! Let all creation stand and sing
"Hallelujah!" fill the earth with songs of worship;
Tell the wonders of creation's king
Creation gazed upon his face;
The ageless one in time's embrace
Unveiled the father's plan
Of reconciling god and man
A second Adam walked the earth
Whose blameless life would break the curse
Whose death would set us free
To live with him eternally
Creation longs for his return
When Christ shall reign upon the earth;
The bitter wars that rage
Are birth pains of a coming age
When he renews the land and sky
All heav'n will sing and earth reply
With one resplendent theme:
The glories of our God and
King!
Words and music by Keith and Kristyn Getty and Stuart
Townend
Psalm 145 vs 1 & 10 – 12 echo similar words
SONG: O Lord my God ---- How great thou art!
Psalm 95: 1 – 7
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Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. |
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Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. |
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For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. |
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In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. |
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The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. |
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Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; |
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for he is our God |
SONG: Shout for joy and sing
Psalm 19: 1 – 4
SONG: O Lord our God, how majestic is your name
O LORD OUR GOD, how majestic is Your name,
The earth is filled with Your glory.
O Lord our God, You are robed in majesty,
You’ve set Your glory above the heavens.
We will magnify, we will magnify
The Lord enthroned in Zion.
We will magnify, we will magnify
The Lord enthroned in Zion.
O Lord our God, You have established a throne,
You reign in righteousness and splendour.
O Lord our God, the skies are ringing with Your praise,
Soon those on earth will come to worship.
O Lord our God, the world was made at Your command,
In You all things now hold together.
Now to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb,
Be praise and glory and power forever.
1Chronicles 29:11 “Yours O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and on earth is Yours. Yours O Lord is the kingdom and You are exalted as head over all. Now, our God, we give You thanks and praise Your glorious name.”
Psalm 103:1 – 4
SONG: Bless the Lord, O my soul (10,000 reasons)
We have so much to praise our Creator God for. His incredible creation, but above all this His amazing grace and love, that has brought us to where we are today. What is our response to His love? To live our lives here on earth in His will, empowered by His Holy Spirit to be a people that glorify God with our lives.
Colossians 3:12 - 17
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Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. |
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Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. |
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And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. |
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Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. |
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Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. |
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And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. |
SONG: Over all the earth You reign on high ………. Lord reign in me again.
Brian Legg’s Notes of Message by Paul Carter
The history of the world is sadly one which has vandalised the wonderful creation which God gave us to look after. Ungodliness, lawlessness, blasphemy, greed, pride, immorality, conflict – just some of the evils which have beset our world for generations.
Lamentations 3¨21 – 26 reads:
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Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: |
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Because of the LORD’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. |
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They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. |
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I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore, I will wait for him." |
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The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; |
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it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. |
Jeremiah had the task of warning the people of Judah about the coming destruction of the nation of Judah and its capital city of Jerusalem, which occurred in 586BC when Nebuchadnezzar invaded the land. In our time we are suffering the effect of the Covid 19 pandemic which is still killing thousands of people all over the world.
But Paul speaks about something with much greater effect than Covid – and that is SIN. In Romans 3:10 “There is no one righteous, no even one”, and in Rom 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.
In his first epistle John writes “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness” (3:4) – sin is rebellion against God’s law. And Paul tells us the result of sin in Romans 3:23 “The wages of sin is death” – but he goes on to explain the wonderful alternative “But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
1Timothy 1: 15 “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” – yes, the purpose of Christ’s coming, to be a Saviour.
As the passage we read from Lamentations tells us, it is because of the Lord’s mercy, compassion and faithfulness that we are not consumed. God protects those who:
- Give Him first place in their lives
- Put their hope and trust in Jesus
- Make time for Him in their lives.
The words of the hymn Great is thy faithfulness:
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!
The last line of verse 1 here reminds us of the changeless nature of God. Everything in the world changes – technology which affects us all, transport, education, and we change too with time. But the eternal God is changeless – the God who called Abraham, who called Paul, and who calls us today. As Malachi 3:6 reminds us, “I the Lord do not change”.
So, God is a stable foundation.
The second verse of the hymn reminds us that all nature bears witness to God’s faithfulness and love.
During the Covid lockdown, many people began to notice new things in nature – birds singing, butterflies, and cleaner air with aircraft activity much reduced. Romans 1: 20 reminds us
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For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities —his eternal power and divine nature —have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. |
And the Psalmist David declares in Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of Go; the skies proclaim the work of his hands”.
So, we only need to open our eyes – look around us – and we will be able to see and proclaim God’s goodness to us.
Verse 3 of the hymn speaks about pardon for sin, the fact that God was willing to deal with the root cause of man’s sinful life.
Paul speaks with confidence about this in Romans 5: 1 “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. This was something Isaiah knew about when he wrote (32:17) “The fruit of righteousness will be peace”. Remember righteousness is given freely to us by Christ, so we can have peace and total assurance for ever.
God declares us free from sin – so don’t go back the way you came – keep looking and going forward, ultimately to God’s home in heaven.
We have a great Saviour who protects and keeps us, and gives us guidance for life.
Matthew 6: 31 – 34
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So do not worry, saying, ’What shall we eat?’ or ’What shall we drink?’ or ’What shall we wear?’ |
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For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. |
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But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. |
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Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. |
We have a faithful God, who is leading us to the eternal home. How we need to walk in step with his teachings for our lives. We shall then know his peace in our lives – in an everchanging world, but with our changeless God going with us.
Notices
- Wednesday Bible Study on Zoom resumes this week at 7.30pm. Please call Brian if you need an invite.
- Speaker next Sunday is Mark Watts, and we will be remembering the Lord in the Breaking of Bread.