Online Meeting Sunday 3rd May 2020

Lee Street Church

Notes of on-line meeting held on 3^rd May 2020

We welcomed 23 people on-line.

1. Ken led the worship time. We began by singing the hymn “Praise my soul the King of heaven” – a real encouragement to us all to Praise the Lord for his many mercies to us.

2. Ken then read Psalm 85 v 1 – 3

“You showed favour to your land, O Lord; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins. You set aside all your wrath and turned from your fierce anger”.

This is a reminder that we shouldn’t feel guilty about the past – all our sins have been covered by the sacrifice of Jesus, bringing us complete peace. He has taken our judgement upon himself (Isaiah 53 v 5).

3. God’s purpose for forgiveness is our restoration – bringing us back into true fellowship with the Father. This is clearly seen in the parable of the lost son (the prodigal) who returned and brought great joy to his father when their relationship was restored.

4. We then watched a video of the song “This is amazing grace” by Phil Wickham.

Who breaks the power of sin and darkness
Whose love is mighty and so much stronger
The King of Glory, the King above all kings

Who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder
And leaves us breathless in awe and wonder
The King of Glory, the King above all kings

This is amazing grace
This is unfailing love
That You would take my place
That You would bear my cross
You lay down Your life
That I would be set free
Oh, Jesus, I sing for
All that You've done for me

Who brings our chaos back into order
Who makes the orphan a son and daughter
The King of Glory, the King of Glory

Who rules the nations with truth and justice
Shines like the sun in all of its brilliance
The King of Glory, the King above all kings

This is amazing grace
This is unfailing love
That You would take my place
That You would bear my cross
You lay down Your life
That I would be set free
Oh, Jesus, I sing for
All that You've done for me

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Worthy is the King who conquered the grave
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Worthy is the King who conquered the grave
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Worthy is the King who conquered the grave
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain

This is amazing grace
This is unfailing love
That You would take my place
That You would bear my cross
You lay down Your life
That I would be set free
Oh, Jesus, I sing for
All that You've done for me
All that You've done for me

Songwriters: JEREMY RIDDLE, JOSH FARRO, PHIL WICKHAM
© Warner Chappell Music, Inc., Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., BETHEL MUSIC PUBLISHING, MUSIC SERVICES, INC. u*SED BY Permission CCL 3227

5. Some thoughts from Brian’s talk.

• Three weeks ago we looked specifically at Mary Magdalene’s encounter with Jesus at the tomb.

• Two weeks ago William spoke about the 2 people who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus.

• Today we’ll look at 3 other times recorded in the gospels when Jesus met up with his disciples after his resurrection.

• Firstly, read John 20: 19 – 22.

“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”.

• Jesus had risen on Sunday morning – by the evening we find the disciples hidden away “with the doors locked, for fear of the Jews”.

• Fear is becoming a major feature of life – fear of catching Coronavirus, fear of isolation, of losing much-cherished freedoms, of losing jobs, or of losing loved ones.

• The disciples fear was of their own Jewish leaders, who didn’t like people who acknowledged Jesus as the Christ. The disciples were marked men – some were Galileans, and well recognisable in Jerusalem. What would happen to them?

• So they locked themselves away. I guess they were talking about “What shall we do now?”, or “Has Jesus really risen as Mary Magdalene told us?”, when Jesus suddenly appears before them in the locked room.

• Luke’s account says that the disciples were “startled”, which was hardly surprising, as the last time they saw Jesus body was when he was being taken down from the cross to be buried in Joseph’s tomb. In our reading it says they were “overjoyed” when they saw the Lord.

• What Mary had told them was true – Jesus was really alive. Here he was, with visible nail-prints in his hands, the wound from the soldiers’ spear in his side, talking with them again.

• Having greeted them in the normal way, He again said “Peace be with you”, and proceeds to tell them to get up and go out. He also gave them a foretaste of what would happen a few weeks later at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit would come upon them.

• Jesus’ main message of peace reminds us of his words in John 14: 27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”. So do let Jesus bring peace into every troublesome situation in your life.

• Secondly, John 20:24 – 29 records Jesus appearance to the 10 disciples plus Thomas a week later, apparently in the same locked room. Jesus offered Thomas the chance to see for himself the wounds in His hands and side – but just seeing Jesus and hearing his words to them was enough to take away all Thomas’ doubts, so he just exclaimed “My Lord and my God!”

• We shouldn’t be too harsh on Thomas (“doubting Thomas”) – he clearly wanted to know the truth for himself, he wanted a first-hand experience of the risen Lord. So Jesus responded by coming to him.

• Do you still harbour doubts about your faith? Don’t be afraid to bring them to the Lord in prayer, or to seek out answers from Christian friends or church leaders.

• Thirdly, John 21: 1 – 17 records Jesus’ appearance to some of the disciples at the sea of Galilee.

• They had endured a tiring night on the lake, but had caught nothing. At dawn, a voice on the shore tells them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat, and they then caught 153 fish.

• John recognised the voice – it was Jesus, so on hearing this Peter leapt into the water and swam ashore to be first to meet up with Jesus.

• It is interesting to note that, as with Mary Magdalene and the two on the road to Emmaus, Jesus was able to appear in a way that people including His disciples would not readily recognise Him.

• Having prepared and eaten a good fish breakfast, Jesus has a one-to-one talk with Simon Peter. The Peter who had once boasted of his devotion to the Lord by saying ”Even if all fall away, I will not”. The Peter who three times denied he even knew the Lord – he had been tested 3 times and failed each time.

• But Jesus was now giving him another chance. He still had a job for Peter to do, but He first needed to be convinced of Peter’s devotion to Him.

• So He asks Peter 3 times “Do you love me?”, and 3 times Peter replies “Yes Lord, you know I love You”. And each time Jesus gives him an instruction to “Feed my lambs, Take care of my sheep, Feed my sheep.

• Peter had repented of his past failures and was now ready to take up his calling to be a “fisher of men”.

• Jesus calls us to put the past behind , to forget all our failures, and be willing with His help to move forward in our service for Him.

• Maybe Jesus is challenging you today – do you really love Him? What sort of relationship do you have with the risen Jesus?

• In John 15: 14 – 15 Jesus tells his disciples “You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants…… Instead I have called you friends, for everything I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

• Isn’t it great to know Jesus as a friend.

• In closing, note that the arrival of the risen Jesus gave the disciples new hope, and He gave them a task to do.

• Our prayer is that the certain knowledge of the resurrection of Jesus gives that same hope to us, as we seek to get on with the task of serving Him as our Lord and Master in our daily lives.

6. We closed with the hymn “Lord, for the years”

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. Used by Permission CCL 3227

BEML

4/5/2020