Worship led by Sue Clarke
I’m sure you are all aware today is Mother’s Day.
The official Mother's Day holiday arose in the 1900s as a result of the efforts of Anna Jarvis, daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis. Following her mother's death in 1905, Anna Jarvis conceived of Mother's Day as a way of honouring the sacrifices mothers made for their children.
Mother's Day is an occasion, which is celebrated in various parts of the world, to express respect, honour, and love towards mothers.Mother's day is celebrated to make our mothers feel special and acknowledge the love we have for them but so often take for granted.
Today we come to acknowledge our heavenly Father’s love for us. This time is set aside so we can express our honour and love to our Saviour, for the tremendous unprecedented gift of love He has for us; to acknowledge the greatest sacrifice anyone could give; and to recommit our desire to bring Him pleasure through the way we live our lives.
I’ve taken the next words from two songs:
Father we adore You, we are your children gathered here; to be with You is our delight, a feast beyond compare.
Father Your love is precious beyond all loves. Father Your love overwhelms me. So I lift up my hands as an expression of my love and I give You my heart in joyful obedience.
SONG: Father in heaven 96
1 John 3 v1 “How great is the love that the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! “
Romans 8 v15 “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry Abba Father.”
SONG: Father God I wonder 92
God who created the universe, the most powerful being ever, loves you personally. Try to wrap your mind around that. He loves you — not just people in general, but you as a person. He cares about your life and wants to be part of it.
God loves you just as you are. His love is unconditional and infinite — far, far beyond what even the best of people are capable of.
Our next song epitomises how much God loves us, that when we were sinners He sent His Son to die for you and me.
SONG: When I was lost 1607
Ephesians 1 v3-6 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him, before the creation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons, through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will, to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.”
SONG: Before the world began
Most insurance companies are trustworthy. They will cover you through most of the seasons and adversities in life. But not all insurance companies are that way (as I’m sure many of us could site)! In some cases, the moment you make a claim against them, they either hike up your premium or cancel your policy. But the insurance policy we have with God is awesome. The premiums were paid on the cross, in Jesus’ own blood, when He spoke the words “It is finished”, which means “paid in full”. You can take out many types of insurance cover: fire, theft, health, vehicles, even death. However, the only insurance policy that can cover you beyond death is the one God offers. You also don’t have to worry about reading the fine print as He won’t cancel it!
Romans 8 v35, 37-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ. Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword. No in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God, that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
As soon as you have placed your trust in Christ as your saviour, you are covered for time and eternity.
SONG: Lord I come before 894
Mothers aim to teach us how to live our lives with their sense of morals and values. Sometimes they succeed, but often we fail to live up to expectations. God’s purpose for us is for us to become the people we were made to be. We can succeed, because He supplies us with the tools, through the presence of His Holy Spirit in our lives day and by and because, when we do fail, we can come straight to him in sincere repentance and He will forgive and forget.
God’s love helps us grow and improve. God’s love is perfect and our model on how to love.
1 Corinthians 13 v4-7 “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
Romans 12 v1-2 “Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer 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.”
2 Corinthians 3 v18 “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
SONG: Lord I come to You 895
God will not let you down because His love cannot fail.
Psalm 36 v5-7 “Your unfailing love reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your justice like the ocean depths. O Lord, You care for both man and beast. How priceless is Your unfailing love.”
Lamentations 3 v22-23 “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “
SONG: Father Your love 1764
1 John 4 v7 +16- “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. God is love. Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love.
1 John 3 v 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 He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
SONG: Love divine 377
Ken’s Message
The Simple Christian Life?
The title of today’s message is “The Simple Christian Life.” You might pose the question. In this day and age is there such a thing as a “Simple Christian life?” Would you say you live a simple life? One definition of the word “simple” is “something that is easy to understand or do.” I find there are so many things I don’t understand especially when it comes to solving problems with the computer. I know what to do. I ask my grandson Isaac to sort it out for me. Life is not so simple these days but rather complicated. First of all the pace of life is too fast making us very busy with lives so full of many activities right from the time we get up until we go to bed. We certainly need to slow down and think about what we do and why we do them. A simpler life could mean a better use of our time.
Another problem we face is that we have too much stuff. We want more than we need. We buy more than we need and we end up hoarding so much that we have not enough space to store it all. We all have the problem of our lofts being full of too much stuff. Certainly decluttering is something we all need to do from time to time. Having too much stuff makes life so complicated. I remember seeing a cartoon of a man who had found an effective way to declutter. He was standing outside his garage with the doors wide open and it was jam packed full of stuff. The man was talking to his friend looking at the garage saying, “My son will be very pleased with the very large legacy I’ll be leaving him.” I’m sure when the son saw his legacy he wasn’t as pleased as his father. The pace of life and the over accumulation of stuff are two things that don’t make our lives simple.
We would assume life in Bible times would be more leisurely and slow. Last week I was reading Psalm 23 where David compares the Lord to his shepherd he himself to a sheep. He says of the Lord “he makes me lie down in green pastures.” He doesn’t choose to lie down he is made to lie down. I didn’t think sheep would be so busy. Some times in our busyness the Lord has to make us lie down because we are rushing through life not considering him. God obviously felt the psalmist had the same problem in Psalm 46.10 when he says, “Be still and know that I am God”. These words of are very relevant for us in these days of such hustle and bustle. In our rushing around we sometimes forget to spend time reading God’s word and praying and we sense that something isn’t right. In a game of basketball when the team isn’t playing well and are losing the coach calls “time out.” At that point the game stops and the coach has a one to one talk with the team members to advise them to change their style of play or they will lose the match. He will refocus them to play in the way he wants. God often calls out to us “Time out” so he can get our attention to speak to us so he can get us back on track. We need to stop and listen for his voice at times when we sense things aren’t going right for us spiritually, so we can get back to the place where we should be. Taking time out with God is a vital part of simplicity in our Christian lives.
Also in our normal lives we can easily be obsessed by the stuff we accumulate and an attitude of greed can creep into our spiritual lives. Jesus warns not only the average person but also his disciples of the greed of “stuff.” “Be on your guard of against all forms of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12.15) It is so easy to be tempted to accumulate things in our consumer orientated society. It is not wrong to have money and possessions but it is wrong when our money and possessions have us. When that is the case our treasure is stored on earth and not in heaven. Jesus commands us to store our treasure in heaven not on earth. What is the answer to the temptation of greed for money and possessions? Jesus tells us to “seek first his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” The things that Jesus gives us are not our wants but our needs. When our focus is on our food, drink and clothes there will always be anxiousness and worry as to whether we will have enough. The solution to our anxiety is seeking first the kingdom of God. For those who do so God promises their needs will be met so there is no reason for them to worry or be anxious about where their food, drink and clothing will come from as he promises to give them to us. Freedom from worry and anxiety come from seeking first his kingdom.
What does simplicity in the Christian life look like? Simplicity in the Christian life is putting the most important thing first. What is the most important thing in life for you? There could be a variety of answers. It could be health, career, money, the family, pleasure. The apostle Paul would have said one word Christ. “For me to live is Christ,” (Philippians 1.21) For Paul Christ was not only his purpose in life but his glorious goal after death as he goes on to say “and to die is gain.” He speaks of desiring “to depart to be with Christ, which is better by far.” How can we find from scripture what is the most important thing to put first? We can find a clue when we come across the phrase “one thing.” That phrase suggests the priority we should aim for.
David gives us the first one in Psalm 27.4. “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.”
This was the thing he earnestly prayed for and sought. He didn’t just pray but took action to realise it. His seeking didn’t stop when he reached the temple but continued untill he found him in the temple. His one purpose in going to the house of the Lord was to see him, meet him and worship him. Sometimes we feel if we have come to church we have fulfilled our purpose. The church isn’t the end of our purpose but only the means to reach the end, which is to worship God. Often people ask us “did we go to church” as if that is the fulfilling of our purpose. That one is easy to answer. If they asked “did we worship the Lord at church this morning?” that is a different matter. David went to the temple but that signified to him not just a building but that the God’s presence was there. His purpose was not just to go to the temple but to worship God. It wasn’t automatic that he would worship God just because he went to the temple. He sought The Lord earnestly with the desire to gaze on His beauty.
He wasn’t satisfied with a glance of the Lord but wanted to gaze at him. According to the dictionary a glance is a quick look at someone or something. Whereas a gaze is to look at someone or something a long time especially in surprise or admiration. Do we come to glance at the Lord with just a quick look or do we gaze at him having our eyes fixed on him for a long time being lost in wonder love and praise. We were made and saved for worshipping God. How can we tell that we have worshipped the Lord?
The old chorus gives us a clue. “Turn your eyes upon Jesus look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.” Did we worship like that this morning?
Another evidence of David’s true worship is the difference of his leaving the temple than when he came in. As he goes into the temple he speaks of evil men advancing to destroy him (v2) but on leaving he speaks that his head will be exalted above the enemies that surround him.(v6) When we have seen the Lord in his glory and majesty and worshipped him, we then see our enemies and opposition with a different perspective. We see our trials, suffering and disappointments through God’s eyes. “If God be for us who can be against us.” We go forward as those “who are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” May we have this one thing of desire to gaze at the Lord in his beauty and worship him in spirit and in truth as we gather each Sunday.
There’s a traumatic tale-a chapter in the life of a parakeet named Chippie. It began when the bird’s owner decided to clean his cage. with a vacuum cleaner. She was almost finished when the phone rang, so she turned around to answer it. Before she knew it, Chippie was gone. In a panic she ripped open the vacuum bag. There was Chippie, covered in dirt and gasping for air. She carried him to the bathroom and rinsed him off under the tap. Looking at this dripping mini mass of poultry, it dawned on the owner that Chippie was cold and wet...... so she reached for the hair dryer..... A few days later a friend asked Chippie’s owner how the little parakeet was recovering. "Well", she replied, "Chippie doesn’t sing much any more. He just sits and stares.
Sometimes our lives feel like Chippie, washout, exhausted with no song to sing. May the Lord give us a vision of his glory and majesty that we will begin to sing his praise once again.
The second “one thing” I want us to consider is found in Luke 10. 40-42 “But Martha was distracted by all the preparation that had to be made. She came to him and asked “Lord don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me. 41. “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken from her.
This is a passage that can be interpreted in many ways and that often puts Martha in a bad light portraying her as doing the wrong thing by giving hospitality to Jesus. To understand this passage it is important to consider what passage has preceded it. Luke tells the story of the Good Samaritan which comes from the question by a man saying “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asks him what is written in the law. The man replies “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and,“Love your neighbour as yourself.” Jesus replied that he answered correctly and said “Do this and you will live.” The man focuses on the last part of loving his neighbour and asks “who is my neighbour?” and what follows is the parable of the Good Samaritan helping the man in need. What the man fails to see is that helping the neighbour is the outcome of loving God first. In other words he skips the most important part of putting God first and goes straight into serving his neighbour. Then follows the story of Martha and Mary entertaining Jesus in their house and the same thing happens as in the previous incident. Martha is focused on serving Jesus with the best hospitality like helping the neighbour as the Good Samaritan did. But Mary is focused on loving Jesus by sitting at his feet listening to his words.
Martha got her priority wrong. What she is doing is right but the motive is out of duty rather than love and that is why the service has become arduous. Loving Jesus comes before labouring for Jesus. Sitting at his feet listening to his word comes before serving him. Sitting at the feet of a Rabbi was a mark of discipleship. It was only reserved for men in the custom of that day. Mary was prepared to break with custom in her love for listening to the words of Jesus. Spending time sitting at Jesus’s feet listening to his voice is not a natural thing to do. It is only done by those who love and adore Jesus. It is from this fountain of love and devotion to Jesus that our service to Him is a delight. It is from sitting at his feet listening to his voice that we are able to stand and speak for him. We are called to be a disciple first to learn from him so we can love him then follow him
The question that Jesus asks each one of us is the one he asked Peter before he commissioned him into his service. “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He asked him three times no doubt causing him to reflect on his denial of him. That wasn’t to send Peter on a guilt trip but to point out why he failed in his service. At that point Peter’s service was all about him and not about his love for Jesus. Jesus was showing Peter that his love for Jesus was the most important thing and from that love should spring his service. Simon Posonby is quite a well known pastor. He used to be postman and he applied for Bible college to prepare him for serving God. He wasn’t the normal academic student which caused probably some of those who interviewed him to doubt his ability to complete the course. He got through the interview and was accepted as a student. However, he recalls that they didn’t ask him the most important question, which was “Do you love Jesus? The simplicity in the Christian life is doing the most important thing first. And that is, what Jesus asked Peter, Do you truly love me? If we don’t see this as the most important part of living the Christian life we will not experience the fulness of eternal life that Jesus has for us. The answer to that question is whole basis of living the Christian life.
Closing Song: One thing I ask, one thing I seek
Notices:
- The C4H Lent Course continues at HBC at 10.30 am on Thursday this week
- Our speaker next Sunday will be Euan Menzies