VEIL MINISTRIES
presents
A WORSHIP SERVICE
Sunday
5th September 2010
HYMN: ALL PEOPLE THAT ON EARTH DO DWELL
Introduction: (To hear the audio file 01 Intro All people please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
We start our service today with a hymn that is at least 500 years old, yet it’s still popular today.
The words are thought to have been written by William Kethe who was a Scottish clergyman but spent a great deal of his time abroad in exile for his faith. He helped translate the Geneva Bible in 1560 while he was living in that city. He returned to England and served as vicar at Childe Okeford, Dorsetshire (1561-1593), and as a military chaplain under the Earl of Warwick at Havre.
The tune, ‘Old 100th’, is attributed to Louis Bourgeois, a Frenchman, who wrote it 449 years ago!
Bourgeois followed John Calvin to Geneva, Switzerland, in 1541. He became a cantor at the Church of St. Pierre, and edited the Geneva Psalter. At one point, he was jailed for modifying some well known tunes, a practice still common today but mercifully without the same dire penalties!
Music: (To hear the audio file02 All people please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1
All people that on earth do dwell,
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
Him serve with fear, His praise forth tell;
Come ye before Him and rejoice.
2
The Lord, ye know, is God indeed;
Without our aid He did us make;
We are His folk, He doth us feed,
And for His sheep He doth us take.
3
O enter then His gates with praise;
Approach with joy His courts unto;
Praise, laud, and bless His Name always,
For it is seemly so to do.
4
For why? the Lord our God is good;
His mercy is for ever sure;
His truth at all times firmly stood,
And shall from age to age endure.
5
To Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
The God Whom Heaven and earth adore,
From men and from the angel host
Be praise and glory evermore.
PRAYER
(To hear the audio file 03 Prayer please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Dear God, we come before you, aware of the amazing privilege that we have. To be able to speak as we want, to our creator is awesome and we realise how fortunate we are to have this gift
Bearing in mind the sacrifice of Jesus we also realise that you are not going to be persuaded to grant us anything which is not for our ultimate good. It’s forgetting that, which causes us to be frustrated. We have been known to accuse you of not hearing our prayers because we don’t receive what we want. We so easily forget that you will be implacably opposed to giving us anything which will harm us or not help your kingdom to be the place you insist it must be. Sometimes our requests seem to tick all the correct boxes and still the answers we seek seem not to come. In the cold light of day, we know we have to admit that what may seem eminently logical to us only seems that way because we do not know all you know. Forgive us , dear God for not always thinking that way and as we place the pleas of our heart, grant that your Holy Spirit will reassure us that you have heard and are answering all prayers in the most perfect of ways. Help us, we pray, to pray in the light of eternity rather than the limit of our emergency. This we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen
HYMN: JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL
Introduction: (To hear the audio file 04 Intro Jesus, lover of my soul please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Some have called, ‘Jesus lover of my soul’ the finest hymn in the English language. Charles Wesley wrote the words in1740.
An interesting story about the hymn is told by Mrs. Mary Hoover, of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, whose grandmother was the heroine of the story. Charles Wesley was preaching in the fields of the parish of Killyleagh, County Down, Ireland, when he was attacked by men who did not approve of his doctrines. He sought refuge in a house located on what was known as the Island Barn Farm. The farmer’s wife, Jane Lowrie Moore, told him to hide in the milkhouse, down in the garden. Soon the mob came and demanded the fugitive. She tried to quiet them by offering them refreshments. Going down to the milkhouse, she directed Mr. Wesley to get through the rear window and hide under the hedge, by which ran a little brook. In that hiding-place, with the cries of his pursuers all about him, he wrote this immortal hymn. Fascinatingly, descendants of Mrs. Moore still live in the house, which is much the same as it was in Wesley’s time.
The tune Aberystwyth was written by a Welshman, Joseph Parry who was born in Merthyr Tydfil.
Parry’s family moved to Danville, Pennsylvania, when he was 13 years old, though he often returned to Wales. He attended the Royal Academy of Music and became Professor of Music at the University of Wales, 1873-1877, and received his doctorate of music from Cambridge in 1878. He also taught at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire (1888-1903). His works include operas, oratorios, cantatas, piano pieces, and hymn tunes.
Music: (To hear the audio file 05 Jesus, lover of my soul please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1
Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide; O receive my soul at last.
2
Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone, still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I
bring;
Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing.
3
Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in Thee I find;
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the
blind.
Just and holy is Thy Name, I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am; Thou art full of truth and grace.
4
Plenteous grace with Thee is found, grace to cover all my
sin;
Let the healing streams abound; make and keep me pure
within.
Thou of life the fountain art, freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart; rise to all eternity.
MUSICAL MOMENTS
Introduction: (To hear the audio file 06 Intro musical 1 please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
The first of our musical items is the Brass Band march ‘Crown of Conquest’ written by Ray Steadman-Allen, that superb musician who has given so much to the brass band world and in particular to The Salvation Army. It is based on the words of the hymn ‘I’ve found the pearl of greatest price.’
1
I’ve found the Pearl of greatest price,
My heart doth sing for joy;
And sing I must, for Christ is mine;
Christ shall my song employ.
2
Christ is my Prophet, Priest and King;
A Prophet full of light,
My great High Priest before the throne,
My King of heav’nly might.
3
For He indeed is Lord of lords,
And He the King of kings;
He is the Sun of righteousness,
With healing in His wings.
4
Christ is my Peace; He died for me,
For me He gave His blood;
And as my wondrous Sacrifice,
Offered Himself to God.
5
Christ Jesus is my All in all,
My Comfort and my Love,
My Life below, and He shall be
My Joy and Crown above.
The second musical item today is taken from Felix Mendelssohn’s Hymn of Praise and is entitled ‘I waited for the Lord.’ The English translation of the words is
I waited for the Lord, he inclined unto me,
he heard my complaint.
O blest are they that hope and trust in him.
GOD’S TITHES AND OUR OFFERINGS
(To hear the audio file 09 Tithes please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Finance affects most of what we do in life, and it’s noticeable that those who are financially organised and who budget seem to
If the building of God’s Kingdom is important to us, we will welcome this moment to arrange our financial support of God’s work to wherever God directs that to be. May you feel blessed as he guides you to whichever church or Ministry God lays upon your heart to financially support.
HYMN PRAISE HIM! PRAISE HIM!
Introduction: (To hear the audio file 10 Intro Praise Him! please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Fanny Crosby who wrote ‘Praise him! Praise him!’ was probably the most prolific hymnist in history. Though blinded by an incompetent doctor at six weeks of age, she wrote over 8,000 hymns.
In her lifetime, Fanny Crosby was one of the best known women in the United States. To this day, the vast majority of American hymnals contain her work.
Little is known of Chester G. Allen who wrote the music. He was a nineteenth century teacher and composer who compiled collections of music for schools and churches. For a time he edited the New York Musical Gazette, and he taught music in the public schools of Ohio. His tune Allen (later called Joyful Song) is used with Fanny Crosby’s hymn, Praise Him, Praise Him.
Music: (To hear the audio file 11 Praise Him! please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1
Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer!
Sing, O Earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! hail Him! highest archangels in glory;
Strength and honour give to His holy Name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children,
In His arms He carries them all day long:
Refrain
Praise Him! Praise Him!
Tell of His excellent greatness.
Praise Him! Praise Him!
Ever in joyful song!
2
Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer!
For our sins He suffered, and bled, and died.
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him! hail Him! Jesus the Crucified.
Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows,
Love unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong.
Refrain
3
Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer!
Heav’nly portals loud with hosannas ring!
Jesus, Saviour, reigneth forever and ever.
Crown Him! Crown Him! Prophet, and Priest, and King!
Christ is coming! over the world victorious,
Pow’r and glory unto the Lord belong.
Refrain
BIBLE READING
(To hear the audio file 12 Bible please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Jeremiah 1:1-19 (New International Version)
The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. The word of the LORD
The Call of Jeremiah
The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
"Ah, Sovereign Lord ," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."
But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord .
Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."
The word of the Lord came to me: "What do you see, Jeremiah?" "I see the branch of an almond tree," I replied.
The Lord said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled."
The word of the Lord came to me again: "What do you see?" "I see a boiling pot, tilting away from the north," I answered.
The Lord said to me, "From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms," declares the Lord . "Their kings will come and set up their thrones in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem; they will come against all her surrounding walls and against all the towns of Judah. I will pronounce my judgments on my people because of their wickedness in forsaking me, in burning incense to other gods and in worshiping what their hands have made.
"Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord.
MUSICAL MOMENTS
Introduction: (To hear the audio file13 Intro musical 2 please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
We have now two quite contrasting items. The first is a male voice rendering of ‘He careth for me’ although the ladies are asked to help at the end! It’s a rather 1950’s arrangement when tunes were melodic and the words were meaningful and the diction is very clear.
The second is in the style with which many people feel comfortable. Lots of energy and uplifting music and of course with a strong gospel content-The medley, ‘Believe it!’
1. MALE VOICES: HE CARETH FOR ME (To hear the audio file 14 He careth for me please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
SERMON
(To hear the audio file 16 Sermon please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Allow me, please to preface the thoughts on Jeremiah by just filling in a little of the background.
Jeremiah lived in the time about 600 years before Christ. He was born in a small village called Anathoth which didn’t have any great importance . It was a few miles north East of Jerusalem, near enough for him to know what was going on in the city but far enough out for him to be regarded as a country lad. The only claim
Dr. Malcolm WestwoodFor our study today, we need to recall what was happening around this time. King Manasseh of Judah had kept at peace with the Assyrians who were Judah’s overlords but at a price. Manasseh had allowed into Jerusalem, the worship of the Assyrian and other gods and that meant not protesting about such things as human sacrifices. But now Manasseh and his short lived son and successor, Amon, were dead and King Josiah now reigned. Under Josiah there was talk of religious reform and national independence and we know that in 621 BC, there was an official declaration as we can read in 2 Kings Chapters 22-23. While such reform had popular support in a land which had been frustrated religiously and nationally by the time Josiah had died in 609 BC nothing much had actually changed. In fact Jeremiah’s foreboding of the future didn’t come true until 587 when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians. From that time on when Judah perished, a new faith was born from the ashes of Jerusalem and Jeremiah was there to act as a kind of midwife to birth this new faith from the tragedy of their nation. So we have the background to the times in which Jeremiah lived and what his task was.
Let’s look at his calling.
In the Old Testament, prophets come from all sorts of background. There is no ‘typical’ background. The only thing they seem to have in common is that they believed that God had stepped into their lives and let them know he needed them for his work. There’s not always an obvious common denominator in the way they are called by God.
For example, Amos said, ‘The Lord took me from following the sheep and said “Go…’ (Amos 7:15)
Isaiah describes a vision which he had in the temple in Jerusalem (Isaiah Chapter 6)
Now here we have Jeremiah saying ‘The word of the Lord came to me saying…Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you..’ The Authorised Version says ‘ Before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee…’ or we can correctly use the word ‘consecrated ‘. It’s from the root of a Hebrew word ‘qadosh’ which means holy. God said to Jeremiah ‘I made you holy---I set you apart…’
That sounds wonderful for that to happen to someone-especially if it’s someone else!...because if God sets you apart for his work, you can be pretty sure that you’re going to have your fair share of situations which you’d wish weren’t happening even if you are going to have some moments of wonderful highlights. You’re not going to have the luxury of opting out when something needs to be said which is bound to controversial. You can present it with as much tact and diplomacy as you can muster, but said it must be. Not for you the quiet life when some Christian principle is attacked. Not for you the walking away and leaving the defence of God’s word to someone else. You are the ‘someone else’!
Of course, the privilege of being chosen by God, of being set apart by him, is enormous and sometimes the accolades given to men like Billy Graham must be welcome but carrying the burden of delivering God’s word to his people is awesome.
Have you ever sat on a train or in a restaurant and heard the name of Christ used as a swear word or seen people behave flagrantly immorally as some of the so called super stars of film and television or sport do with regularity and turn the pages of the newspaper quickly or turn to another channel of the TV not wanting to think about such unholy behaviour, forgetting that as Christians we are called to be holy, to be separate from those who dishonour God and to distance ourselves from such behaviour. To have nothing to do with it but to speak out against it. Those who are called by God will know that experience Jeremiah had- ‘the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now I have put words in your mouth. See today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”’
And if we say, ‘But that was to Jeremiah, not me!’, we must remember that we are living in the new covenant of Christ. All who are born into Christ by confession of sin and cleansing through his blood are co-heirs with him, prophets and priests! It’s not a choice we make or have to wait until God calls on us again after conversion. At our conversion we have that role. It’s certainly true that there will be times when God will channel us into some particular work for him, and that will probably happen numerous times in our Christian service, but at conversion we become his ambassadors, his prophets, his representatives, his spokesmen.
It isn’t easy speaking out for God. There are times when we would perhaps prefer to keep a low profile because declaring what God wants saying is bound to result in personal attacks on us, sometimes our very character is brought into question by those trying to deflect attention from the ungodly things they are doing. And often we will notice we are excluded from activities where our words will not be welcomed. Those called by God who are looking for a Bible verse to reassure them that they will not face such opposition will be unsuccessful in their search. God gives us no such promise. All he tells us is that ‘I am with you to deliver you.’ (Exodus 3:12) It says nothing about the attacks not hurting. It just tells us that we’ll come out the other end!
When we feel uncomfortable about hearing or seeing things which we feel detract from the reputation of God or we see how our nation is discarding God’s commandments we all know that feeling of thinking that ‘something’ should be said by ‘someone’ but it can’t be ‘us’! What would we say? How would we say it? Can I remind you of the words God spoke to Jeremiah:- the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now I have put words in your mouth. See today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”’
There are times when we have to trust God. It’s scary at times. But, you know, when we’re indignant about some injustice say to our family or friends, we hardly thing twice about what to say. We’re in there both feet at once, all guns blazing. If we are called by God to defend his honour and to call his people back to obedience of his commands, it is inconceivable that he would not give us the words. He will touch our mouth and we will be empowered with words of wisdom. But we have to trust him otherwise we’ll hesitate to make the stand that he has called us to make. ‘Uprooting, tearing down, destroying, overthrowing’ aren’t words for the faint hearted. They suggest involvement in some controversial issues. But until that clearing away is done, God can’t ‘build and plant.’ Such is the activity of those who God calls. And it would be foolish to attempt to call people to God’s ways until we realise that God is reaching out to put words into our mouth.
Let’s stay with the thought of God’s call for a moment. Perhaps it’s true that we are inclined to look at who we regard as the great prophets both of the Old and New Testaments and even those of today and think we could never be that special! But if we were to examine more closely many, if not all, of the prophets we admire, we might find them to be of humble origins without anything which would have marked them out as extraordinary. In fact, often far from it.
I’ve mentioned Billy Graham and if ever someone might have been thought to have something outstanding about him, something which marked him out as a man of God, it would have been him, but not only was he once refused membership of a youth club for being ‘too worldly’ at one time, he was almost expelled from Bob Jones university for tinkering with what was regarded as unorthodox doctrine. And in Bible times, God seemed to be able to use people who we would regard as flawed, such as Moses who not only murdered a countryman but also seems at times to have have struggled with the burden of leadership and certainly, in his early days after God called him, to be full of excuses why he shouldn’t accept the call.
The truth is that it is God’s call which makes us extraordinary, not that God chooses extraordinary people to answer his call.
We must not think that because we don’t feel special God can’t use us as his spokesman, his prophet his messenger. We can mix up our natural feelings of humbleness –or even our opinion that we are not worthy of the responsibilities God would give us- with a disbelief that God would actually call ‘ordinary’ us! He calls ordinary people to do his work. It is his work which is extraordinary and which reflects on us.
Jeremiah thought he was too young to be entrusted by God. He felt he was inexperienced. He didn’t feel ready.
All through our lives we can find what we consider reasons to justify our belief that we’re not ready, not equipped, not suitable to be called by God. But God desires to use us never stops from the moment we accept Jesus as our Saviour.
Why should God choose you. I really don’t know. I’m having enough trouble working out why he would choose me! But it’s a waste of time trying to work out why God would give us the responsibilities because (a) he’s not going to give his reasons and (b) even if he did, we’d probably still want to argue with him!
Then there is what I call the half way house. That’s inhabited by those who will accept that God does choose ‘ordinary’ people and that includes them but when God places his task on their hearts they can’t believe that God would want them to do that!
So here’s the exciting news. If you’re ordinary and you’re a Christian, God is calling you to do things for him which you or others will think is extraordinary. You do not have to have special skills, be blessed with great intellect, have special training. God will use you just as you are if you will just say ‘yes’ to what he places on your heart.
The task that Jeremiah was given was not an enviable one. In Old Testament times, the trouble always seemed to come from the north, It was either the Arameans, or the Assyrians, or in Jeremiah’s day, the Babylonians who were attacking God’s people. But at this particular time when God had given Jeremiah a message to call the people back to obedience of his commands, things weren’t that bad for God’s people. Although they were in breach of the covenant with God, by ‘burning incense to other gods’, by worshipping before the symbols of alien gods, made worse by the fact that they had made them with their own hands, life wasn’t bad at all. There was quite an air of confidence in Jerusalem. Everything’s going fine! They certainly didn’t need Jeremiah to come with a message of doom and gloom. In fact, later on in Jeremiah (17:15) we find the people saying ‘Where is the word of the Lord? Let it now be fulfilled.’ That’s not a genuine invitation to receive what God has. It’s a sarcastic observation that they felt Jeremiah’s warning was all hot air. In modern terminology we would perhaps say. ‘We hear what you’re saying but look around you-things are very good thank you. If this is the result of disobeying God, bring it on man, lets have more of it.’
But God touches the mouths of his called people for a reason. He may be longsuffering with those who continue to disobey him but that doesn’t mean that the results of their disobedience aren’t going to come even if they feel they are in the good times right now.
In the west today we live in an affluent way despite the economic recession. Compared to 100 years ago, we have undreamed of luxury with our gadgets and opportunities. Reminding people of God’s laws is not easy. Talking about the dire results of disobeying God will, as in Jeremiah’s day, often be met with ‘Yeah, right, bring it on!’ People aren’t afraid of God’s unwillingness to tolerate disobedience because they have lived how they liked for so long without anything dreadful happening. So why should someone’s prophecy bother them? Well, apart from the benefits and the joy which come through being obedient to God which far outweigh the lifestyle anyone gets through pursuing their own selfish interests, people’s conduct contributes to the nation’s well being. Demise may not happen overnight but it will inevitably happen. Today in the U.K. we are seeing the results of the permissiveness of the 1960s, the flower power people with their free love and indiscriminate use of drugs. We’re seeing that two generations further on, children who are ill disciplined who have no respect for authority in any form, our prisons desperately trying to cater for yet more and more people who ignore not just God’s commandments but the laws of the land as well. We’re seeing the highest sexually transmitted disease figures ever recorded, illegitimacy is no longer regarded as a sin, church attendance is at an all time low…gloom and doom…? To those who are cushioned by their relative wealth it might sound so. But our nations desperately need to be called back to honour God’s laws and however unpopular that may be, dear friends, it is your task and mine to speak the words which God is placing in our mouths.
Now I readily acknowledge that we may feel overawed at the thought that it’s us who have that task. And all the usual thoughts surface-there are people more capable than we are, we’re limited because of age, experience, health, resources and a host of other reasons why we should not be expected to be the ones who God should expect to call the people back to him. But can I make the observation that when God chose us, he ignored all those reasons. He chose us in the situation we were in and said if we would rely on him he would use us. We are the ones who restrict our use, not God! He says ‘I don’t need you to be any particular age, I don’t want you to wait until you have experience of life, I don’t want you to feel I can’t use you because you’re not 100% fit, I don’t want you to thinking that your domestic circumstances are an impossible barrier to me using you. Just let me touch your mouth with my words and go for it!’
Am I wrong in thinking that someone is thinking ‘Could it really mean that God could use me-after all these years of not being especially productive for him. Could God really take someone as undistinguished as me and touch my mouth with his words?’ If that is you, may I ask you to look at the text. God said to Jeremiah, ‘What do you see?’ Jeremiah replied ‘An almond tree and a boiling pot.’ And God used the things which were right there next to Jeremiah to explain how Jeremiah would be used. In other words, God spiritualised everyday objects to explain the mission Jeremiah was being given. It’s not a complicated explanation. The almond tree is the first tree to burst into blossom after the winter. It’s the sign of the coming spring. The almond tree is used to remind Jeremiah that God is watching over the deadness caused by the disobeying people. And Jeremiah’s speaking out is going to end that winter’s deadness.
The boiling pot illustrates that the pot tilted away from the north will pour its scalding contents southwards. This indicates that there is trouble brewing for Judah and Jerusalem.
The almond tree and the boiling pot aren’t illustrations which Jeremiah is expected to pass on to the people, they are fro him. To make him see what God is wanting him to do. They are everyday objects. Those God calls don’t necessarily see different things to other people. They just see things differently.
If you are that person who is recognising that despite your ‘ordinariness’ God has called you and will use you, may I ask that you now go one step further and hear those same words from God, ‘What do you see?’ Can I suggest that you might see what was not available in Jeremiah’s day, a newspaper. Every single day in that newspaper there will be accounts of people in trouble because of some moral or criminal indiscretion.
‘God asked the question a second time. ‘What do you see.’ Perhaps not for you a boiling pot but what about something else not available in Jeremiah’s time-a TV with its daily output of innuendo and increasing display of violence. Is there any further reminder that God needs you to seek out the people to call them back to repentance and obedience to his ways?
How can you do that? Firstly by allowing God to touch your mouth with his words. Secondly by opening one’s mouth! We can do that by writing-complaining to the TV stations about the programmes they are producing. One letter wouldn’t change things? What about if all who are chosen by God did it! Letters to local papers commenting on crimes and pointing out how God is saddened. You might be looked at s some religious fanatic? Hmmm, I guess Jeremiah suffered that description, too. What about gathering a few friends to pray together about the state of your nation, becoming a governor of a local school so you can input Christian ideals into the curriculum. Set up an Alpha course –you don’t need anyone’s permission to do that. But the wonderful experience is that you will be led by God once you let him touch your mouth with his words.
Dear friend, you are not too young, too old, too infirm, too restricted by circumstances even if some of those situations have occurred since you became a Christian. God is still choosing people in those kind of situations.
May I make one final appeal, please.
Like many others, I sat in services when I heard about people being used by God and thought how wonderful if such things could happen to me! But I thought it was impossible because I wasn’t of ‘that kind of material’! I was just…well, me. But then I realised that I wasn’t restricting me. I was restricting God. If God had decided he could use me, who was I to argue. If he was confident that by touching my mouth with his words, he could use me, ought I to worry that I wasn’t cut out to be one who God could use?
We may not be spoken about over 2,000 years later as Jeremiah is but it isn’t what people say of us it’s what God says about us throughout eternity.
Can I invite you to join with someone as ordinary as me and allow God to use you. If you ask me how will he use you. I can only say, once you allow him to touch your mouth with his words, he will lead you into those specific situations where you are needed to speak and act for him.
If you are one of those people who are realising that because of the limitations you have put on yourself, you are restricting God using you, can I suggest you simply say to God, ‘Here I am, Lord. I’m available to you. If you think you can use me, touch my mouth with your words.’ And leave the rest to him.
Those words are used by Bobby Irvine as he sings to us now to end our service. As he does so, you may feel you would like to accept God’s offer to use you.
(To hear the audio file 17 Here am I please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
BENEDICTION (To hear the audio file18 Benediction please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
May the call of God be the door which leads you to a life of obedience in honour and praise of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Amen