Click on John 18:1-27 to open online Bible reading.
Watch the below embedded YouTube video as Ray teaches on John 18:1-27.
Or listen to below the Sermon Audio
Pray in response to John 18:1-27 – Why do we still need the cross?
Sing along with YouTube song.
Benediction
Galatians 6:9-10 ESV And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses an idea which is common in the Old Testament, that there are really only two ways to live. He expresses this idea in a variety of ways, here are two examples. In the Beatitudes (Mt 5:1-11), there are those who are blessed by God and those who are not, then we meet people who will be rewarded by God and those who won’t (6:1-18).
In our passage today (6:19-24), Jesus uses three pictures to describe the “two ways” we can relate to wealth and possessions. It suggests four critically important questions. What will your answers be?
To help facilitate and encourage ‘households’ to meet together on Sunday around God’s word and to pray together for their own needs and for the needs of the body of Christ and our community, we have provided a suggested order of service that includes the Bible readings and links to some songs and a pre recorded Bible talk.
This week Steve Messer has recorded an audio and video message for us, so please follow the below suggested order of service for your convenience.
Suggested household worship for Sunday 5th April.
Click on Psalm 36:5-10 to open online Bible reading.
Prayer: Praise and confession
Sing along song as per YouTube link
Click on Psalm 57:1-5to open online Bible reading; using it to pray for
each other | our church | our nation |our world
At a time like this the instinct of believers in Jesus is, rightly, to pray. But, what do we pray for? How do we avoid meaningless babble and repetitive cliches?The model prayer that Jesus taught his disciples was to focus prayer in a meaningful way according to God’s priorities and purposes; to help us pray in a genuine relational way as we learn to care about what he cares about.
To help facilitate and encourage ‘households’ to meet together on Sunday around God’s word and to pray together for their own needs and for the needs of the body of Christ and our community, we have provided a suggested order of service that includes the Bible readings and links to a couple of songs and a pre recorded Bible talk.
This week Ray has recorded an audio and video message for us, so please follow the below suggested order of service for your convenience.
Suggested household worship for Sunday 29th March.
Read Psalm 4:1-8 Prayer: Praise and confession Song as per YouTube link
May God sustain you through the various difficulties that this current COVID-19 crisis will cause you in your particular circumstances.
The elders met recently to discuss our response to the current circumstance.
In line with the latest announcement by the health authorities, we will be suspending physical Sunday services for a while.
In view of this we want to encourage ‘households’ to meet together on Sunday around God’s word and to pray together for their own needs and for the needs of the body of Christ and our community.
To help facilitate this, each week we will provide an outline of a service that includes the Bible readings and links to a couple of songs and a pre recorded Bible talk from Steve or Ray that continues to follow our preaching program.
This will be available later in each week, hopefully by Saturday morning.
Of course keeping in touch with others will be really important at this time, so it would be good to make use of phone and the various internet chat forums.
This crisis reminds us that church life does not depend on buildings or special effects but wholly on God and His word.
Psalms 46:1-3
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
Life is a gift. No one can choose to be born and very few choose when they will die. However, we are all required to make a choice during our lifetime which has eternal consequences.
Jesus says in Matthew 5:20
“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
The Pharisees were an impressive people, but we are told to beware of them by Jesus, because they didn’t understand and correctly apply the God given Law.
They wanted to be noticed and praised by others for their practices and believed God was impressed with their self righteousness.
Jesus states in Matthew 6:1
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”
The Pharisees self righteousness failed to achieve the standard required for entering Heaven.
What is needed, is a far greater righteousness than those who simply practice law keeping.,
The Pharisees misunderstood the intention of the law and Jesus had to explain that it wasn’t good enough to just ‘not murder’ or ‘not commit adultery’, for we must not even hate or lust. Hatred is the seed that leads to murder and lust is the seed that leads to committing adultery.
The only righteousness that is acceptable to a perfect, holy God can’t come from within us.
It is a righteousness that can only be given to us from God by his Spirit through trusting in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Law was God’s way of salvation for the Old Testament people, but it didn’t work, so now we have Jesus.
We don’t need the Old Testament anymore, because we now have the teaching of Jesus which is far superior.
The Old Testament is a poor reflection of God, but Jesus is a better representation.
Genuine righteousness will attract hostility. It’s not just that genuine righteousness makes us look bad, it’s that it exposes how unrighteous our hearts really are, and that exposure is naturally hated by unregenerate hearts. That is why Jesus is so hateful to self-righteous people.
Christians can expect persecution when we publicly exhibit the righteousness of Jesus and we can expect to be hated and reviled and slandered by the world just as Jesus our master was. But we can rejoice, because our heavenly reward is so much greater than our temporal suffering. Our willingness to suffer for the gospel is evidence of our Lord’s righteousness; for it is confirmation of our faith in Christ’s righteousness by which we are justified.
We are to be as salt and light to the world. The world will only see the transforming power of Jesus and give glory to God our Father when we shine our light openly.
So how does Jesus relate to the Old Testament Law? Did Jesus come to abolish the law or did he come to fulfil it?
We can’t properly understand Jesus and his sacrificial death without reading and understanding the requirements and principles of the Old Testament.
Chronicles was written for the returning exiles of Judah from Babylon to reassure them of Gods faithfulness towards his people.
The ark was symbolic of Gods presence amongst his people and we see King David involved in worship of God and the return of the ark to Jerusalem.
On the first attempt, the ark was carried upon a new cart and Uzza reached out to steady the ark when the oxen stumbled, but he was struck down by God and died.
The sin of Uzza should be a warning to us to take care that we are not brash or irreverent when dealing with the holiness of God.
Our worship should only be based on Gods word and through our Lord Jesus Christ.
On the second attempt, the ark was carried by the Levites and this time God helped them.
We have a natural tendency to change the true image of God for our own and to develop strange methods of worship which are unacceptable and disobedient to God.
It is only with Gods help that we can worship him in spirit and truth.
David danced for joy before the ark of God and he was generous to his subjects as the Lord had been gracious to him.
The people sang together with thanksgiving to the Lord.
Today we look at this beautiful song of David.
1 Chronicles 16:29
“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him!
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;”
The world has been under a curse ever since Adam and Eve sinned, but we are told that God is going to bless the families of the earth through a descendant of Abraham.
Abraham is very old now and Isaac is to be Abraham’s heir.
Isaac, who was thirty-seven when Sarah died at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven, is yet to be married; placing the promise of descendants in jeopardy. Abraham aged one hundred and thirty-seven, instructs his trusted servant to find a wife for Isaac, stating that she must be from his kinsmen back in Mesopotamia and not from amongst the Canaanites.
Abraham was adamant that Isaac should remain in the promised land and not go with his servant to Haran. Abraham is fully convinced of God’s faithfulness and trusts in God’s providence to provide a wife for his son from amongst his father’s house in Mesopotamia.
So the servant departs with a large train of camels loaded with valuable gifts to make the three year return journey. He prays and asks God to intervene, and almost immediately upon arriving at the city of Nahor, finds Rebekah drawing water from the well. She meets all the requirements and readily agrees to go with the servant to be the wife of Isaac. She leaves her family to travel to a land she doesn’t know, to be the wife of a man she has never met. Just like Abraham when God called him, she steps out in faith and trust.
The servant returns with Rebekah to Isaac’s dwelling place, where he was then living in the Negeb. The servant then told Isaac everything that had been done to secure a wife for him. Isaac took Rebekah for his wife and he loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death.
