VEIL MINISTRIES
presents
A WORSHIP SERVICE FOR 5th FEBRUARY 2012
Trinity (Triquetra)
There are many symbols of the trinity in Christianity. The Triquetra is a three-part interlocking fish symbol that symbolizes the Christian trinity.
The word ‘trinity’ comes from the Latin noun "trinitas" meaning "three are one." The trinity represents the belief that God is one Being made up of three distinct Persons who exist in co-equal, co-eternal communion as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The following verses express the concept of the trinity: Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19; John 14:16-17; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Acts 2:32-33; John 10:30; John 17:11&21.
BRASS: MARCH- THE RED SHIELD
Introduction:01 Intro The Red Shield(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
A march written for The Salvation Army by Henry Goffin of New Zealand.
The march incorporates the words of George Samuel Smith (1865-1944
Thou art a mighty Saviour,
Thy love doth never waver,
Thou shalt be mine forever,
And thine alone I'll be.
Music: The Red Shield
02 The Red Shield(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
HYMN: O WORSHIP THE KING
Introduction: 03 Intro O Worship(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Words-Robert Grant attended Magdalene College, Cambridge and became a lawyer in 1807. In 1826, he became a member of Parliament for Inverness. He was knighted in 1834 when he became Governor of Bombay.
Music: William Croft. As a boy, Croft was a chorister at the Chapel Royal. Croft was composer to Queen Anne and was recognized as the foremost church musician of his time. He also wrote instrumental works (e.g., cembalo and sonatas for flute (recorder).
Music: 04 O Worship(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1
O worship the King, all glorious above,
O gratefully sing His power and His love;
Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,
Pavilioned in splendour, and girded with praise.
2
O tell of His might, O sing of His grace,
Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space,
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.
3
The earth with its store of wonders untold,
Almighty, Thy power hath founded of old;
Established it fast by a changeless decree,
And round it hath cast, like a mantle, the sea.
4
O measureless might! Ineffable love!
While angels delight to worship Thee above,
The humbler creation, though feeble their lays,
With true adoration shall sing to Thy praise.
05 Prayer(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Our Heavenly Father, we approach you in the name and merit of Jesus, mindful of his sacrifice and of your eternal love for us.
We confess that we do not always understand so much that happens in the world which you created. So much causes distress and anxiety. We hear of devastating earthquakes and overwhelming floods, news of which gives those who not believe in you, cause to defend their unbelief.
People die of dreadful, painful diseases despite our anguished prayers for cures. Our words of comfort seem so unconvincing yet we too easily forget your goodness and provision far outweighs the bad things we encounter.
We remember the glory of the sunrises and what it promises and the restful closing of the day in the sunsets, the miracle of the starry galaxies, our multicoloured world, the breathtaking scenery, the ever changing form of the ocean, the amazing sight of coral reefs and the mystical provision of harvests.
We overlook too readily the sense and beauty of true love of those who experience unselfish giving, the wealth of joy in family life and the inspiration which comes from people who in your name encourage us to trust you.
Forgive us, we pray when we concentrate on what is wrong in the world at the expense of what is right.
Where we can change what is wrong, give us, we pray, the courage to do so and where tragedies come over which we do not have control, grant us an increased ability to trust you and to resist the temptation to blame you.
So we thank you for that which is good and ask for your healing on those areas of our society and our lives which are of concern to us.
These things we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
HYMN: LEAD US HEAVENLY FATHER
Introduction: 06 Intro Lead us Heavenly Father(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Words: James Edmeston who was an architect and surveyor by profession. He served as the church warden at St. Barnabas, Homerton. He also strongly supported the London Orphan Asylum, and this hymn was written for the children of the Orphanage Asylum. It is said he wrote a hymn each Sunday making a total of over 2,000 hymns:
Music: Mannheim, Friedrich Filitz was known as a music critic and historian. He worked in Berlin from 1843-47, then moved to Munich.
Music:07 Lead us(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1
Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
O’er the world’s tempestuous sea;
Guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us,
For we have no help but Thee;
Yet possessing every blessing
If our God our Father be.
2
Saviour, breathe forgiveness o’er us;
All our weakness Thou dost know;
Thou didst tread this earth before us,
Thou didst feel its keenest woe;
Lone and dreary, faint and weary,
Through the desert Thou didst go.
3
Spirit of our God, descending,
Fill our hearts with heavenly joy,
Love with every passion blending,
Pleasure that can never cloy;
Thus provided, pardoned, guided,
Nothing can our peace destroy.
MUSICAL MOMENTS
Introduction: 08 Music 2(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
A setting of the hymn by Colonel Catherine Baird of The Salvation Army. Of her writing Catherine said: “I began to write it in my mind many years before it was published but during the war, which I believed could never occur, it was nearly completed through my personal reflections on the incompatibility of war with the teachings of Jesus. I did not finish it, however, until Colonel Bramwell Coles asked for words to his music.” The verses were revised by Catherine for later publishing in The Salvation Army song book to make the original idea more clear.
Then what more lovely way could we have of centering our thoughts on all that God is wanting to give us than by listening and praying with the soloist as he sings Panis Angelicus. The English translation of the words is
The angelic bread becomes the bread of men;
The heavenly bread ends all prefigurations:
What wonder! consumes the Lord a poor and humble servant.
Triune God, We beg of you, that you visit us, as we worship you
By your ways, lead us who seek the light in which you dwell. Amen.
1. CHORAL:WITH QUIET MIND
09 With quiet mind(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1
O love, revealed on earth in Christ,
In blindness once I sacrificed
Thy gifts for dross; I could not see,
But Jesus brings me sight of thee.
Chorus
I come to thee with quiet mind,
Thyself to know, thy will to find;
In Jesus' steps my steps must be,
I follow him to follow thee.
2.
O Love, invisible before,
I see thee now, desire thee more;
When Jesus speaks thy word is clear;
I search his face and find thee near.
3.
O Love, forever claim my eyes!
Thy beauty be my chosen prize;
I cast my load on timeless grace
That my free soul may run the race.
2. VOCAL: PANIS ANGELICUS
10 Panis Angelicus(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
FAVOURITE HYMN FEATURE
11 Favourite hymn(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Our contributor today is
TONY MA
who lives in Hong Kong. Tony gives a list of his favourites. He says:
“There are many hymns that I like! Many of them are in Chinese and modern!
For 'old' hymns, I list them as follows :-
O God our help - Isaac Watts
Many are things - Howard Davies
Don't assume that God's dismissed you - John Gowans
The Lord is my Shepherd - traditional
The Lord's Prayer - traditional
Amazing Grace + All chains are gone (medley)
Praise to the Lord -Joachim Neander
O Lord my God - Carl Boberg
Prayer gently lifts me - Hal Beckett
God make my life - Matilda Barbara Betham-Edwards
Prayer is the soul's sincere desire - James Montgomery
Thou Art the Way - Arch Wiggins
And there also many Christmas, Easter and holidays songs!
It is not easy to list all songs!”
Music:12 O God our help(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1
Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
2
Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.
3
Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.
4
A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
5
Time, like an ever rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.
6
Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.
BIBLE READING
Exodus 2:1-10
The Birth of Moses
13 Bible reading(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.
7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”
8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses saying, “I drew him out of the water.”
HYMN : MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY
Introduction: 14 Intro Mine eyes (To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Words: Julia Howe, 1861. This hymn was born during the American civil war, when Howe visited a Union Army camp on the Potomac River near Washington, D. C. She heard the soldiers singing the song “John Brown’s Body,” and was taken with the strong marching beat. She wrote the words the next day:
“I awoke in the grey of the morning, and as I lay waiting for dawn, the long lines of the desired poem began to entwine themselves in my mind, and I said to myself, “I must get up and write these verses, lest I fall asleep and forget them!” So I sprang out of bed and in the dimness found an old stump of a pen, which I remembered using the day before. I scrawled the verses almost without looking at the paper.”
Music: John Brown’s Body, possibly by John William Steffe. John Brown was an American abolitionist who led a short-lived insurrection to free the slaves.
Music:15 Mine eyes(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.
2
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet;
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.
3
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free;
While God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! While God is marching on.
4
He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honour to the brave;
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of wrong
His slave,
Our God is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.
GOD’S TITHES AND OUR OFFERINGS
16 God's tithes(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
There are so many worthy causes which we could support financially and there are many Christian ventures which would welcome our finance. How can we know where we should allocate support? The best, indeed the only, way for Christians is to read and meditate on God’s Word and then to ask him to bring to our minds the church or ministry he wants us to bless.
As you are obedient to his guidance, may you sense his blessing on you.
HYMN: PRAISE TO THE HOLIEST IN THE HEIGHTS
Introduction: 17 Intro Praise(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Words: John Newman and the music ‘Gerontius’ by John Dykes
Music: 18 Praise to the holiest(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise;
In all His words most wonderful,
Most sure in all His ways.
2
O loving wisdom of our God!
When all was sin and shame,
A second Adam to the fight
And to the rescue came.
3
O wisest love! that flesh and blood,
Which did in Adam fail,
Should strive afresh against the foe,
Should strive and should prevail.
4
O generous love! that He, who smote,
In Man for man the foe,
The double agony in Man
For man should undergo.
5
And in the garden secretly,
And on the Cross on high,
Should teach His brethren, and inspire
To suffer and to die.
6
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise;
In all His words most wonderful,
Most sure in all His ways.
MUSICAL MOMENTS
Introduction: 19 Music 2(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
The ballet Sylvia by Delibes has its origin in Tasso’s 1573 poem Aminta. Tchaikovsky himself remarked to fellow composer Sergei Taneyev upon the ingenuity of Sylvia, ‘… What charm, what elegance, what richness of melody, rhythm, harmony.’
It is truly beautiful music and we can use it to sense the presence of God who gives to us the wonderful gift of music.
This is followed by a gospel up beat song, 'The city coming down.'
1. ORCHESTRAL: SYLVIA (DELIBES)
20 Sylvia(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
2. CHORAL: THE CITY COMING DOWN
21 The city coming down(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
HYMN: CITY OF GOD, HOW BROAD AND FAR
Introduction: 22 Intro City of God(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Samuel Johnson who formed a Free Church in Lynn, Massachusetts, where he served as pastor until 1870.
Music: Richmond by Thomas Haweis who had the distinction of being both a medical doctor and an ordained clergyman.
Music: 23 City of God(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1
City of God, how broad and far
Outspread thy walls sublime!
The true thy chartered freemen are
Of every age and clime.
2
One holy Church, one army strong;
One steadfast, high intent;
One working band, one harvest song,
One King omnipotent.
3
How purely hath thy speech come down
From man’s primeval youth!
How grandly hath thine empire grown
Of freedom, love and truth!
4
How gleam thy watch fires through the night
With never fainting ray!
How rise thy towers, serene and bright,
To meet the dawning day!
5
In vain the surge’s angry shock,
In vain the drifting sands;
Unharmed upon the eternal Rock
The eternal City stands.
SERMON
Exodus 1:l-10
24 Sermon (To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
In the West, we have become almost afraid to speak about race or non-Christian
religions in case we are accused of being racist or intolerant. Well, today, the subject I want to
share with you is about racial tensions and if we can't talk about those parts in the Bible which mention such things
Dr. Malcolm WestwoodHave you ever been to a village and asked someone how long they have lived there and they have said 'Oh I'm a newcomer. I've only lived her for 30 years!"
You have to have lived in that village for the whole of your life and have at least 5 previous generations who also lived in the village to be accepted there as a true villager!
We don't easily give up what is 'ours'.
And here in our Bible reading, we find the Egyptians were still suspicious of the Israelites even after all the years they had lived among them. Joseph, the Hebrew who had saved the country from famine had long since faded into history.
So why were the Egyptians so disturbed?
It seems the Israelites were overpopulating them to such an extent that the Egyptians felt threatened. We're not given any actual figures but the perception was there.
Let me give a modern day equivalent.
ln the U.K. there is, among 'native' dwellers', real apprehension that immigration is out of control. But what seems to be the real aggravation is that so many of the immigrants don't seem to want to integrate and native Britains feel they will end up with a country which is foreign to them. Some refuse to learn English but the real worry is that they hold fast to their religion which is generally Muslim and is the kind of militant Muslimism that makes no secret of the aim to destroy all other religions no matter the means or the cost.
And there is an oft heard whispered fear that 'our country' is being taken over!
Well, that's exactly the fear of the Egyptians: So, for want of a better solution, they began to
oppress the Israelites… "they made their lives bitter with hard labour in brick and mortar and
with all kinds of work in the fields….the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.”
The king of Egypt even went to the extreme of commanding all the newborn Israelite boys to be killed.
In the 21st century such methods are abhorrent yet the problem is potentially as volatile as in Exodus of old. Our Christian religion is under threat of being extinguished by the Muslimism of the immigrants according to some.
And whereas, we certainly wouldn't countenance such barbaric solutions, what can we-what should we do?
The situation is, of course, different in the sense that those who have come amongst 'us' are threatening the religion we consider' true and faithful', whereas the Israelites were the incomers in Exodus, But what was God's solution to the problem?
Well, no doubt a lot of Israelites would have been praying for fire and brimstone to fall on the heads of the Egyptians. And no doubt some of the Israelites would have been angry that God would allow the situation to continue for so long. Nothing’s changed has it-we still want instant answers to our prayers! The Israelites had to wait for over 400 years and even when their deliverer, Moses, was born, it was to be 80 years for the answer to be seen to even get started! Yet history shows us that the answer started with a baby boy in a basket of papyrus made tight with dirt and pitch.
And there follows the miraculous unfolding of Israel’s rescuer. The baby on the Nile overseen by his 12-year-old sister Miriam, carefully floated into the area where Pharaoh’s daughter was known to bathe. Notice the dovetailing of human decision with God’s intent. Miriam cleverly suggested to Pharaoh’s daughter that a Hebrew woman could be found to nurse the child and
Moses’ own mother became that nurse. There is a touch of irony that the Mother of Moses was paid by Pharaoh’s daughter to look after him. An Egyptian actually paid for the survival of God’s people. God has such a sense of humour! And when the nursing days were through, Moses is taken into Pharaoh’s own household there to learn the very ways he would have to counter when he later led his people out of captivity.
When this 80 year long preparation of an answer to prayer was happening, no doubt the Israelites thought God wasn’t listening any more than he seemed to have been for 300 or more years previously. They couldn’t see anything happening which was remotely easing their plight. Yet God’s plan was perfect and could not be hurried.
Let’s go back to our situation. We who accept Jesus as the Son of God as our Saviour are under threat in two ways. We are constantly being thought of with no greater consideration than any other religion despite our declaration that Jesus himself said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Is it conceivable that God will allow that message through his people to disappear?
Well it’s true that he will not allow any group or church to have his approval of existence if they refuse to stand on the truths of the Bible. But he will always raise up those who will be his spokesmen. It may be a single prophet who will galvanise the downhearted, or true believers or a new group of people to witness to the gospel. As was proved by the story of Moses, God’s message is not always guaranteed to have the easiest journeys but it is always guaranteed to be declared.
Two observations then.
Firstly, when we pray, we really have to accept that God is answering rather than he will answer. We may not see what he is doing but that cannot be a reason to think he is not doing anything. His love for us ensures answers. If the answer to our prayer today doesn’t come today, we can be sure that the answer will come at a better time than we think is the best time!
Secondly, Moses wasn’t chosen by God because he was great. Moses became great because he was chosen by God.
If ever there was a time when God needs people to be his disciples, to be prepared to take him at his word no matter how unlikely it seems that he would want to use someone like us, it’s now! Our faith is under attack. If God can mightily use someone so obscure as a baby of a Hebrew woman and see him nurtured through to adulthood only for him to commit murder out of nationalistic emotion, can I encourage you to believe that God has something important to him for you to do. And he has been preparing you, perhaps over years, for the task. It may not have seemed obvious to you-in all likelihood, it probably wasn’t for Moses!
Personally I can look back and remember all the jobs I have done and though, at the time, I wondered if there was possibly a more boring task ever (!) I can honestly say that every single job I have ever done, God used that experience when I became a minister for him. His preparation of those who make themselves available is –and I can only use this word to accurately describe it-miraculous.
It may not be leading a nation out of its apathy towards God –although there’s certainly a vacancy there! But God is a gentle God when it comes to dealing with his people. He will not coerce us to do his will and he empowers only those who make themselves available to him.
All of us may be very surprised how many people have prayed for us over years. And in answer to those prayers God has been answering, probably unseen, but we’re living in an age when we need to actively tell God we’re available and allow all his preparation in us to be revealed for his glory and his purpose.
HYMN MASTER SPEAK
Words Frances Havergal.
Tune Ottawa- by Lowell Mason
Music:25 Master speak(To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1
Master, speak! Thy servant heareth,
Waiting for Thy gracious word,
Longing for Thy voice that cheereth;
Master! let it now be heard.
I am listening, Lord, for Thee:
What hast Thou to say to me?
2
Speak to me by name, O Master,
Let me know it is to me;
Speak, that I may follow faster,
With a step more firm and free,
Where the Shepherd leads the flock,
In the shadow of the rock.
3
Master, speak! Though least and lowest,
Let me not unheard depart;
Master, speak! For O, Thou knowest
All the yearning of my heart,
Knowest all its truest need:
Speak! and make me blest indeed.
4
Master, speak! and make me ready,
When Thy voice is truly heard,
With obedience glad and steady
Still to follow every word.
I am listening, Lord, for Thee:
Master, speak! O, speak to me!
BENEDICTION
26 Benediction (To hear the audio file please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
May the presence of God in your life awaken a belief in you that you are chosen to achieve great things for him. In the name of the Father, The Son and of The Holy Spirit. Amen.