Lee Street Church

Notes of on-line meeting held on 17^th May 2020

We welcomed about 23 people on-line, including our speaker, Barry Lorimer.

Ken led the worship time.

Reading: 1John 4: 8 – 10

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world, that we might live through Him. This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Ken emphasised that God’s very nature is LOVE; He not only says so, but He shows it.

After a prayer , we shared a video of the old hymn “The love of God is greater far ….” by Dave Hunt

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

Refrain:
Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints' and angels' song.

When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall;
When men who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call;
God's love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam's race
The saints' and angels' song. [Refrain]

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky. [Refrain]

Galations 2: 20

“The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

John 3: 16

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”

Song “How deep the Father’s love for us”

How deep the Father’s love for us,

How vast beyond all measure,

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure.

How great the pain of searing loss –

The Father turns His face away,

As wounds which mar the Chosen One

Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon a cross,

My sin upon His shoulders;

Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice

Call out among the scoffers.

It was my sin that held Him there

Until it was accomplished;

His dying breath has brought me life –

I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,

No gifts, no power, no wisdom;

But I will boast in Jesus Christ,

His death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer;

But this I know with all my heart –

His wounds have paid my ransom.

Stuart Townend.

Copyright © 1995 Kingsway’s Thankyou Music.

Romans 5: 8

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Ephesians 2: 13

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ”

Note the contrast between what we were, and what we are now.

We were: ungodly, wretched, enemies of God.

But now: we’re His children, his treasure (see 1 John 3: 1)

So we give thanks to Christ for His love, shown by his sacrificial death on the cross.

We shared in the Breaking of Bread, each in our homes, but united in our thankfulness for the love of Jesus.

Praise and Prayer items shared this week included:

• Foodbank – praise for large number of people supplied each week: prayer for needs of food and finance to meet the growing demands

• Schools – wisdom for our Leaders as they consider the many implications for re-starting education for children.

• Remember those suffering depression due to continued isolation

Reading - John 10: 1 – 9

"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. 7Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. [a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture.

Notes on Barry Lorimer’s message on this reading

The Old Testament contains many accounts of shepherds – Abel, Jacob, Moses, David, to name a few. In some cases, they were being prepared for leadership of the nation. God himself was the ultimate shepherd, herding his people out of Egypt.

Note the hard work involved in being a shepherd in those days – finding good pastures by day, protecting the sheep from predators at night.

The nation of Israel had suffered from bad leadership – kings who were bad shepherds and had failed the people. (read Ezekiel ch 34 if you can).

How “sheep-like” are we? Slow to learn, stubborn, tending to stray, getting ourselves into difficult situations, blindly following each other, like a crowd of sheep on the mountainside?

The sheep pen in John 10 would have guarded many flocks and many shepherds at night, and in the morning each shepherd would call out his own flock – they knew his voice.

In what ways is Jesus the Good Shepherd?

• He was appointed by God

• He calls us lovingly by name

• He is seeking out the lost – the one-in-a- hundred

For us, right living means being obedient to His voice, accepting His guidance for our lives.

Be reminded that Jesus “did not come to be served, but to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20: 28).

In closing, Barry focused on Psalm 23, highlighting the following:

• The Lord comes to us in our needs

• He leads us to places of greater provision and rest (note that sheep only drink from still waters)

• He provides needed protection

• We are no longer like silly sheep, but we are honoured guests in the presence of the King. We’ve been blessed by grace “God’s riches at Christ’s expense”.

• On the final lap, He will bring us safely home – freeing us from our struggles.

David was the great shepherd-king. Jesus is our good shepherd to whom we can come. If you are hearing his voice calling “Come to me”, make the decision to heed his call now, and accept his free gift of life.

BEML

18 May 2020