Lee Street Church
Notes of Meeting 5th June 2022
Worship led by Dawn Budd
This weekend, we are celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee- a celebration of Her Majesty’s 70 years of service to our country. However, the Majesty that we are here to worship today has given us so much more than that. We have come this morning to give glory and honour to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ.
Let us come together and welcome him in praise and worship.
1093 Welcome, King of Kings
Psalm 8v9 “O Lord our God, how majestic is you name in all the earth”
Psalm 148 v 13 “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name is exalted, his splendour is above the earth and the heavens”
SONG 426 : O Lord our God (how majestic is your name )
Let’s pray
Heavenly Father, we come now into your presence to praise and worship your mighty name. Thank you that we can come freely, without fear or judgement, to bring you our praise. Help us to focus our minds, to open our ears, our eyes and our hearts and to listen for your voice.
We thank you for the service of our Queen, and pray that you will continue to bless her and her family. We pray for her heath and give thanks for her faith in you.
In Jesus name. Amen.
Over the weekend, we are seeing all sorts of events happening to commemorate the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. There will be cakes, bunting and flags-lots of flags! Sadly, she has not been able to attend as many of the weekend events in London, but when she does go to these type of events, she arrives in a splendid looking carriage or car.
Our King Jesus’s arrival into Jerusalem saw Him arriving on a donkey, whilst the amassing crowds, laid their cloaks on the grounds and cut branches from trees, shouting “Hosanna”
Mark 11v 9 “Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted “Hosanna” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
SONG: 627 You are the King of Glory
Obviously if the Queen was to arrive here this morning, we would all address her as Your Majesty. But when we speak of Jesus’s majesty, we are not referring to his title but his sovereign power and authority
Colossians 1v16 “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and by him”
SONG: 379 Majesty
SONG: 1404 King of Kings, Majesty
When Queen Elizabeth II was born, she was not expected to take the throne. In a twist of fate, her uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated, leaving his brother Albert to take the reign and putting Elizabeth next in line to the throne. Elizabeth’s life would have been so very different if this had not happened.
Jesus, however, was always destined to have the life he did. It was God’s plan from the beginning of time.
Isaiah 53 v 10 “Yet it was Gods will to crush him and see him suffer”, and v 12 “For he bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors”.
Acts 2 v 23-24 “This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to a cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him”
How can we possibly not praise him for everything he has done for us?
SONG: 465 Praise Him, Praise Him, Jesus our blessed redeemer
Breaking of Bread
I don’t know whether you follow any of the many cases that go through our courts each day – some cases hit the headlines, particularly if the people involved are public figures, whose lives have been well exposed to public scrutiny.
Many cases we may find trivial, and not worthy of the space given to them by the media of today.
But occasionally I wonder if, when we see the results of a particular case, we might say to ourselves “That’s just not fair!”. Maybe after a long and exhaustive trial the judge sends someone to jail for 3 weeks for what we consider a major crime – and we perceive a lack of fairness to those hurt by the actions of the prisoner. “Not Fair!” is our judgement.
We are here to remember perhaps the most unfair judgement of all time – when Jesus, the Son of God, was cast aside and crucified for alleged crimes he had never committed. Jesus of course knew what he was to suffer. But that didn’t lessen the pain which he endured for us.
The prophet Isaiah had declared in Ch. 53 vs 5 & 6:
“He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities: the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed”.
I guess we must all agree that we are guilty of having transgressed God’s holy law. Our iniquities, our wickedness, every evil and wrong thing we’ve done – the punishment for these is what our blessed Saviour took upon himself as he hung upon that cross.
Let’s make these verses personal “……… for MY ……”
Man of sorrows 385
In my place condemned he stood; sealed my pardon with his blood – what a Saviour!
Brian’s Message
I wonder if, when you’ve been watching maybe a history or even a current affairs programme on TV, you’ve ever said to yourself “I really wish I could have been there to see that happen.;
Having always had an interest in flying, I sometimes wished I could have been around in the hey-day of aircraft development, you know , bi-planes a plenty, as shown in one of my favourite films “Those magnificent men in their flying machines”. What fun some people had with many and varied sorts of airplanes – some successful, but many coming to grief due to lack of engineering know-how.
Maybe you’ve got in mind other turning-points in history which you would have loved to see for yourself. Something for you to think about later maybe.
I’m not proposing to bore you with any more aviation history this morning, because I want to focus our thoughts on one very important period in the church’s history – a time of which I can truly say “I would have loved to be there”! It was a time when the most amazing things were happening.
As we’ve already been reminded, today is Pentecost Sunday, when the worldwide church celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and the early church.
The Holy Spirit, who Jesus had promised he would send to his disciples after he had ascended into heaven, had just descended in a dramatic way upon the apostles. They were, as the bible tells us, “filled with the Holy Spirit”, and promptly went about doing all kinds of marvellous things.
- Miraculous healings
- Preaching in languages they didn’t know
- Baptising thousands of new believers in Jesus
And between times, they managed to
- Feed and clothe the poor
- Pray together
- Shared bread and wine together in memory of Jesus
These were exciting as well as challenging times for the new converts to Christianity.
I’m grateful for Doctor Luke for going into particular detail about one miraculous healing which took place in Jerusalem. It’s recorded for us in Acts chapter 3, so I’ll read the first 11 verses of that chapter.
READ Acts 3: 1 – 11
The chapter begins by setting the scene for us. Two of the apostles, Peter and John, did what they were used to doing – going up to the temple in Jerusalem to pray. It was a custom for the Jews to pray together 3 times a day – at 9 am, at 3 pm, and finally again at sunset.
You really must admire people who set aside specific times to meet with God – it wasn’t a case of “Oh, I’m really too busy today” – for many it was a real priority. These days we tend to emphasize the fact that we can talk to God anywhere and at any time we like – what a privilege that is of course. But what do we actually do? Sadly, for many people in our country today, prayer is what the vicar does on their behalf when they choose to go to church for a change. Little wonder then that God sometimes seems remote from them, when they can’t be bothered to even try to talk to him more regularly. Prayer is an amazing experience open to everyone – the opportunity to bring all our thoughts – moans and groans, concerns for others and ourselves – to a God who really does care, and who promises to answer us – although not always in the way we expect. Remember God doesn’t say he will always agree with you and be on your side. But He does promise to be your guide, if you look to Him first and are willing for Him to lead you through even the darkest of times.
To access the temple, Peter and John went in through one of the gateways named Beautiful. I guess it was perhaps the grandest of the temple entrances, and therefore used by the well-to-do members of the community. Because outside the gate a man who had been lame from birth was about to be left there for the day by his friends, so he could beg for money from people on their way to worship in the temple. It was considered praiseworthy to give money to beggars in this way.
Seeing Peter and John, he lost no time in appealing to them for some money. The poor man was in a desperate state – quite unable to do any real work to earn himself money to even buy food. Sadly, there are still many thousands like him in the world today – just cast aside by nations and communities who are caught up in the rat race of our consumer world today. At least this man had some friends who were trying their best to help.
Having been asked for help, Peter and John had to respond. For some reason, it seems they had forgotten to bring any cash with them – a growing problem in society today, especially in many churches. But for this man it turned out to be a blessing, because P & J were able to offer him something much better than a few coins. “Look at us” they said – the man no doubt looked expectantly at them, waiting for them to dig deep in their clothing for some well-hidden money. He must have been crest-fallen by Peter’s next words “I haven’t got any silver or gold”. Hope was gone – and they really did look like caring people.
I’m sure the man had heard the same words many times before – “sorry mate, we’d love to help , but …….”. And so the excuses begin.
In this case, it wasn’t the end of the story. Because Peter went on to declare “But I’ll give you what I have.”
Peter and John were willing to help.
I think we all get a little wearied by the many calls on our generosity from large numbers of very worthy causes seeking our assistance – maybe we’re guilty sometimes as a church of making too many requests from people who we know are already supporting us so well. But I think it’s good for us to be challenged at times with regard to our support for truly needy people in our world today. The Christians that Barnabas Aid seek to help with the Food Boxes are all desperately hard up, and in need of any help that can be given from the more affluent and well-fed nations of the west.
So Peter does what he can – and simply says to him “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk”. Peter then took him by the hand, lifted him up on to his feet, and instantly the man’s limbs were healed – he had new strength in his feet, ankles and legs, and was able to walk.
He had asked for just a coin or two – and finished up getting so much more – his mobility was wonderfully restored. I wonder if we are sometimes guilty of asking God for only little things, when perhaps he wants to give us so much more. Remember he does know our real needs and wants to pour out his blessing on our lives. He wants us to live life to the full, not to be just scraping along and making do with less than the best.
Note the authority by which Peter performed this miracle “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth”, in other words “By the authority of Jesus Christ”. Peter didn’t want any praise for this – it was solely the work of the Holy Spirit through him doing what Jesus said he would do. This was just one of many miracles which the apostles had now been empowered to perform, as the young church grew, and more people came to acknowledge Jesus for who He was.
One of the healed man’s first actions was to go with Peter and John into the temple – he didn’t go quietly either – he went “walking and leaping and praising God”! He wanted everyone to know what God had done for him. Instead of being left sitting outside the temple, he was now able to go in and take his part in the temple worship.
People couldn’t help noticing what had happened – it was certainly the same man they had seen at the gate for many months, only now he was healed and able to walk normally. So a large crowd of interested onlookers gathered – is it him? Can’t be – yes, it is – how come?
What an opportunity now for Peter to explain what was happening.
We haven’t time to read everything Peter told the crowd, but I’ll just read v 11 – 16.
Peter begins by explaining that the miracle wasn’t his work – it wasn’t as a result of him possessing any special healing powers or because he was a particularly godly man – it was solely a work of God to give glory to his Son Jesus. Yes, Jesus was God’s servant. The God of the nation’s patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – He has brought glory to Jesus in whose name the miracle of healing had been carried out. It was there for all to see.
This Jesus - remember there were many people with that name – this Jesus was the same Jesus whom many of the Jews present at the temple that day had not many week previously rejected and forced Pilate to allow to be crucified. They preferred that a murderer be released, rather than for God’s righteous one to be saved. They had been responsible for the death of the one Peter calls the “author of life”.
And so Peter and John were able to continue declaring the good news of Jesus, and appealing to the people to respond by putting their trust in Him. Amazingly, we read that over 5,000 men believed. This caused such a stir amongst the religious leaders, that they immediately put Peter and John in jail for the night – that will shut them up – or so they thought.
Next day, they were brought before the Sanhedrin for questioning. By whose power or authority were they acting when the lame man was healed? This opened the door for Peter to again tell them about Jesus; “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Despite all the warnings and threats made by the religious leaders, and being told in no uncertain terms to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, their response was (Acts 4: 26) “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard”.
Remember they had seen and spoken with the resurrected Jesus – the resurrection was very real to them. And so too was the power they had now been given, which enabled this young man to be able to walk again.
Despite the opposition, nothing was going to stop them proclaiming the name of Jesus to the crowds. The emphasis of their preaching was on the resurrection of Jesus – many of the people there in Jerusalem would have been witnesses to the death of Christ, and some to his resurrection too. But his resurrection was still an issue that divided people and caused hostility towards the apostles. It’s still much the same today – if you say clearly that you believe that Jesus did actually rise from the dead, and you can be sure to face opposition. So it has been throughout history, as people have continued to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to speak his word boldly.
Why would I have liked to be there? Well, it’s always good to be anywhere when God is working miracles in people’s lives – be it physical or spiritual. The Holy Spirit was powerfully at work, bringing people face to face with Jesus, so they had to make up their minds one way or the other – was Jesus really the Son of God as He claimed? There right before them was evidence which they found hard to deny. There is something especially wonderful when anyone is suddenly confronted by the realisation that the Jesus of the bible is actually interested in them as individuals, and they have the opportunity to make Him Lord of their lives.
If we move the clock forward a few years, I’m not sure I would have wanted to be there. We find the church in Jerusalem under attack, Christians being forced out of their homes and being made refugees in neighbouring countries. The result was that, in spite of the opposition, many people in these countries became followers of Jesus, and the church grew very rapidly as the Holy Spirit touched people’s lives.
That is of course all history.
What can we take home to challenge us, or to encourage us today?
Remember first of all the changeless nature of the gospel. What was true in the days of Peter and John for the people of Jerusalem remains true for us today – the only way to find salvation, to become right with God, is through the name of Jesus. In Him alone we can find hope in this sad world, where so many have sought their salvation in other ways.
And we can be encouraged that even today thousands of people are turning to Christ all over the world, and are finding new hope in Him.
We also need to remind ourselves that God gives His Holy Spirit to all true believers – He doesn’t necessarily expect us all to go out performing healing miracles as Peter and John did. But He does expect us to bear fruit in our lives as we seek to be his witnesses. Things like showing real love to others, being joyful even when times are hard, and knowing His peace in our lives. May each of experience something more of the wonderful presence of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives day by day, as we seek to be his witnesses in a lost world that has chosen to go its own way.
SONG: 738 “Go forth and tell”
NOTICES
- Funeral services for Bob Szczerbicki are on Wednesday – Cremation at Surrey & Sussex Crematorium at 2.00pm, followed by Thanksgiving Service at 3.15pm at Lee Street.
- The speaker next Sunday at 10.15am will be Malcolm Cameron.