Veil Ministries
presents a
WORSHIP SERVICE
for
SUNDAY
8th August 2010
BRASS: March: The Pioneers
Introduction: (To hear the audio file 01 Intro Pioneersplease right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
We start our service with this bright march written by
Music (The Pioneers) (To hear the audio file 02 Pioneersplease right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
HYMN
Introduction: (To hear the audio file 03 Intro Christ is made please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
The words of the hymn, ‘Christ is made the sure foundation’ are by an unknown 7th century author and were translated from Latin to English by John Neale in 1851. The music was adapted by J.G. Cullen from the Alleuyas in Purcell’s ‘O God, Thou art my God’
Music: (To hear the audio file 04 Christ is made please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1
Christ is made the sure Foundation,
Who, the two walls underlying
Bound in each, binds both in one,
Holy Zion’s help for ever,
And her confidence alone.
2
To this temple, where we call Thee,
Come, O Lord of Hosts, today;
With Thy wonted loving-kindness
Hear Thy people as they pray.
And Thy fullest benediction
Shed within its walls ay.
3
Here vouchsafe to all Thy servants
Gifts of grace by prayer to gain;
Here to have and hold forever
These good things their prayers obtain,
And hereafter in Thy glory
With thy blessed ones to reign.
4
Laud and honour to the Father,
Laud and honour to the Son,
Laud and honour to the Spirit,
Ever Three and ever One;
One on love, and one in splendour,
While unending ages run.
PRAYER (To hear the audio file05 Prayer please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Gracious and eternal God, we come and worship you because of who you are. We are so grateful that you are an unchanging God, one whose laws and decrees enable the world to exist, and one on whom we can totally rely.
Dear God, we look at the situations in the world and see how politicians are, in many respect, honourably trying to resolve the many problems. But the majority of their efforts appear to be based on the wisdom of man and rarely is there an admission that your wisdom has been requested. There is no ‘waiting on you’, no admission that you as the creator of the world must have the answers to its need. We lurch from crisis to crisis hoping that each time, we will not have to return to repair the situation we thought had been fixed. Open the minds of our leaders, dear God, to the foolishness of ignoring your counsel.
Sadly, we are only too aware that the leaders of your church can be infected with the same kind of thinking and management techniques replace meeting with you. To ask for forgiveness for our short sightedness is hardly enough when we see the devastation in countries where your church is struggling to deal with the effects of greed and inevitable poverty. So today, we do come in humbleness to seek your guidance, to ask that you will lay on our hearts the actions we should take. And we pray for the courage to obey you even if that which you direct us to do seems to be against what we would humanly think is logical.
We also bring to you those who are sick, those who are anxious and those who are unable by mental impairment to make decisions for themselves. Give us, we plead, the mind of Christ in order that we might serve you dear God. These things we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.
HYMN
Introduction: (To hear the audio file 06 Intro King of gloryplease right click mouse, then left click to open new tab) The words to ‘King of glory…’ are by George Herbert were written as long ago as 1633
Many people know of George Herbert only because of his popular and inspiring Christian hymns - 'Let all the World in Every Corner Sing', 'Teach me, my God and King', and 'King of Glory, King of Peace'. These hymns represent just three of the poems from his much-admired collection 'The Temple'. From a young age, Herbert wrote religious poetry, and for many students of English Literature he is the finest devotional poet, whose work has wide appeal to those both inside and outside the Anglican Church and the Christian faith.
Suffering from poor health, Herbert died only three years after taking holy orders. On his deathbed, he reportedly gave the manuscript of The Temple to the founder of a semi-monastic Anglican religious community telling him to publish the poems if he thought they might "turn to the advantage of any dejected poor soul", and otherwise, to burn them. Fortunately, the poems were kept and we sing one today to the tune Gwalchmai, which was composed by
Joseph David Jones ( 1827 - 1870 ), who was a Welsh schoolmaster and musician. In 1865, he opened a private grammar school at Clwyd Bank, Ruthin. He won the prize at the Bethesda eisteddfod, 1853, for one of his anthems.
Music: (To hear the audio file07 King of glory please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1
King of glory, King of peace,
I will love thee;
I will move thee.
Thou hast granted my request,
thou hast heard me;
thou didst note my working breast,
thou hast spared me.
2
Wherefore with my utmost art
I will sing thee,
and the cream of all my heart
I will bring thee.
Though my sins against me cried,
thou didst clear me;
and alone, when they replied,
thou didst hear me.
3
Seven whole days, not one in seven,
I will praise thee;
in my heart, though not in heaven,
I can raise thee.
Small it is, in this poor sort
to enrol thee:
e'en eternity's too short
to extol thee.
MUSICAL MOMENTS
1. ORCHESTRAL: Living for Jesus
Introduction: (To hear the audio file 08 Intro muisc 1please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Thomas Chisholm, the writer of the words of ‘Living for Jesus’, was educated in a small country school, and became its teacher at age 16. At age 21, he became associate editor
Charles Lowden originally wrote the music—to different words—for a Children’s Day service. Two years later, he came across the music in his files, and asked Chisholm if he could write lyrics for it. The result has been translated into more than 15 languages.
2. CHORAL: On my journey
Introduction: Perhaps it’s true that all of us like to listen to a variety of music depending on what is happening in our lives. A musical diet of Bach alone might seem to a musician’s dream but I suspect, even for such people, some light relief is welcomed and there’s hardly anything more in contrast than this country and western gospel style piece called ‘On my journey.’ I’m sure the feet will soon be tapping.
Music: Living for Jesus (To hear the audio file 09 Living for Jesusplease right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1
Living for Jesus, a life that is true,
Striving to please Him in all that I do;
Yielding allegiance, glad hearted and free,
This is the pathway of blessing for me.
Refrain
O Jesus, Lord and Saviour, I give myself to Thee,
For Thou, in Thy atonement, didst give Thyself for me.
I own no other Master, my heart shall be Thy throne.
My life I give, henceforth to live, O Christ, for Thee alone.
2
Living for Jesus Who died in my place,
Bearing on Calvary my sin and disgrace;
Such love constrains me to answer His call,
Follow His leading and give Him my all.
Refrain
3
Living for Jesus, wherever I am,
Doing each duty in His holy Name;
Willing to suffer affliction and loss,
Deeming each trial a part of my cross.
Refrain
4
Living for Jesus through earth’s little while,
My dearest treasure, the light of His smile;
Seeking the lost ones He died to redeem,
Bringing the weary to find rest in Him.
Refrain
Music: On my journey (To hear the audio file 10 On my journeyplease right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
GOD’S TITHES AND OUR OFFERINGS (To hear the audio file 11 Tithesplease right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
I would suggest there are two ways a person can be convinced to tithe to God. The first is in obedience to God’s Word. Reading Malachi 3:10 is a good place to start and R.T. Kendall’s excellent little book entitled ‘The Gift of Giving’
The other way of being convinced is to meet someone who has practiced tithing for a while because they are the most delightful people you could meet. They literally overflow with the blessings of God on their lives. And wild horses wouldn’t persuade them not to tithe.
I had a dear friend who didn’t have a lot of money but she tithed. She often couldn’t get to church. In her cabinet, she used to set aside God’s tithe each week until the minister called and the little envelopes of ‘God’s money’ would be given to the minister. Even if she needed some smaller denomination coins to pay for something and she knew that there some such coins in ‘God’s tithe’ she wouldn’t allow herself access to those envelopes. Once the tithe was allocated, it was no longer her money. She was the most delightful of souls and if I hadn’t tithed, I would have wanted to do so after meeting her! May I encourage you to discover the joys of tithing by allowing God to direct you to give to whichever church or ministry it is from which you are receiving blessing and inspiration.
BIBLE READING Matthew 14:22-32 (To hear the audio file12 Bible please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable
During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.
But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
"Come," he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
MUSICAL MOMENTS
1. ‘The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba’ is part of the oratorio, ‘Solomon’ by George Frederick Handel. Its libretto is based on the biblical stories of King Solomon. According to the Hebrew Bible, the unnamed queen of the land of Sheba heard of the great
The popularity of oratorio in England owes much to the nation's choral singing tradition and the patronage of George Frederick Handel, by the Elector of Hanover, later George I. In his oratorios, Handel sought both to educate and entertain, and provided a foil to the more restrained and devotional religious music of Byrd and JS Bach.
2. The words and music of ‘Dare to be a Daniel’ were written by Philip Bliss who wrote this hymn for his Sunday school class at the First Congregational Church of Chicago,
ORCHESTRAL: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba (Handel) (To hear the audio file14 Arrival of Queen please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
CHILDREN SINGING: Dare to be a Daniel (To hear the audio file15 Dare to be a Daniel please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1
Standing by a purpose true,
Heeding God’s command,
Honour them, the faithful few!
All hail to Daniel’s band!
Refrain
Dare to be a Daniel,
Dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known.
2
Many mighty men are lost
Daring not to stand,
Who for God had been a host
By joining Daniel’s band.
Refrain
3
Many giants, great and tall,
Stalking through the land,
Headlong to the earth would fall,
If met by Daniel’s band.
Refrain
3
Hold the Gospel banner high!
On to vict’ry grand!
Satan and his hosts defy,
And shout for Daniel’s band.
Refrain
HYMN
Introduction: (To hear the audio file 16 Intro Saviourplease right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Herbert Both who wrote the words was the fifth child of The Salvation Army founders William Booth and Catherine Booth, Herbert attended Allesley Park College and the Congregational Institute, Nottingham, England. In the early 1880’s, he was active in Salvation Army work in France, and wrote some of his early songs in French. He went on to direct The Salvation Army’s work in England (1888), Canada (1892-195), and Australia (1891-1901). He also composed the melody which interestingly he had written some time before but had discarded it as being ‘too classical’ to be of use for ‘Army’ use.
Music: (To hear the audio file 17 Saviour hearplease right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
1.
Saviour, hear me while before thy feet
I the record of my sins repeat.
Filled with grief, my soul outpouring;
Canst thou still in mercy think of me,
Stoop to set my shackled spirit free,
Raise my sinking heart and bid me be
Thy child once more?
Chorus
Grace there is my every debt to pay,
Blood to wash my every sin away,
Power to keep me spotless day by day,
For me, for me!
2.
All the memories of deeds gone by
Rise within me and thy power defy;
With a deathly chill ensnaring,
They would leave my soul despairing.
Saviour, take my hand, I cannot tell
How to stem the tides that round me swell,
How to ease my conscience, or to quell
My flaming heart.
3.
Yet why should I fear? Hast thou not died
That no seeking soul should be denied?
To that heart, its sins confessing,
Canst thou fail to give a blessing?
By the love and pity thou hast shown,
By the blood that did for me atone,
Boldly will I kneel before thy throne,
A pleading soul.
4.
All the rivers of thy grace I claim,
Over every promise write my name;
As I am I come, believing,
As thou art thou dost, receiving,
Bid me rise a free and pardoned slave,
Master o'er my sin, the world, the grave,
Charging me to preach thy power to save
To sinbound souls.
VOCAL SOLO If I stand Soloist Sandra Entermann
Introduction: (To hear the audio file 18 Intro If I standplease right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Sandra is an Australian who lives in Queensland but has an international singing ministry. Possessing the most
It is our absolute pleasure to welcome her to our service today because she has a God given ability to bring us so much blessing. She sings what she believes and it shows. Today we hear her singing, ‘If I stand.’
Music: If I stand (To hear the audio file19 If I stand please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
SERMON (To hear the audio file20 Sermon please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
With ever more modern translations of the Bible, we can sometimes overlook a word which can make a passage clearer. Such is the case in the Bible verses which we shared earlier. In verse 22, the text in the New International version of the Bible says Jesus made the disciples get into
Dr.Malcolm Westwoodthe boat and go on ahead of him to the other side of the lake. But the original text is better served by the word ‘compelled’. That’s a very strong word and to find the reason why Jesus would have ‘compelled’ the disciples to get into the boat, we really need to go to the version of this story as it’s recorded in John’s gospel because in John 6 v.15 we read “after the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, (the feeding of the 5000), Jesus knowing that they intended to come and make him King by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”
It seems the disciples were doing nothing to discourage the crowd from thinking in this way. They were still thinking of Jesus as an earthly deliverer for the Jews. There was such a show of popular support for Jesus after the feeding of the 5000 that in their excited state, a revolution could have been a realistic possibility there and then.
Jesus recognized the danger and immediately compelled his disciples to get away from the scene. He himself went up into a mountain to pray.
The fact that the disciples were caught in a storm at about 3 a.m. might suggest that they had lingered longer than they should have done and didn’t set off to row the 4 ½ miles immediately. By 3 a.m. they should already have been on the other side of the lake a long time before. Perhaps they weren’t too happy that Jesus had spoiled their support to make him the kind of Messiah that they were thinking he should be, and they weren’t immediately obedient to him. If they had been, they wouldn’t have got caught up in he storm
From the mountainside, Jesus would have been able to see that the boat was in trouble on the lake.
The story of Jesus walking on the water has been told over and over again, yet familiarity can sometimes cause us to miss interesting points-even obvious ones such as, as though it wasn’t enough of a miracle that Jesus walked on water, he did it while the boat was being “buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.” And we can get an idea of how fierce the storm was because Peter, an experienced fisherman, says v20, “when he saw the wind, he was afraid”.
Fishermen have respect for the water, they are rarely afraid of it, especially if they are experienced as Peter was. So we can be sure that the waves would have been high and the wind was strong-but neither deterred Jesus.
We are sometimes inclined to think that the storms of life are so bad that there are no solutions to our problems and even asking God to help is of little use because things are so bad. But here in this narrative in the middle of the storm, Jesus does the impossible. Not only does he walk on water, he walked through the storm, through the conditions which were frightening to the fishermen disciples.
Jesus called out, “Take courage”. That’s easier said than done, isn’t it, when the circumstances of life seemed to be all but drowning us.
But look what Jesus said next. He simply said, “It is I. Be not afraid.” He didn’t say, “Listen carefully, I’m going to drag this boat behind me to take it safely back to shore.” He didn’t say, “I’m going to miraculously instantly double the size of your boat so it can withstand the storm more easily.” He simply said, “It is I. Be not afraid.” In other words, if he is with us, that’s all we need. We are not to concern ourselves with how the circumstances might or might not work out. We just have to leave everything to Jesus. If he is with us….. we need not be afraid….we will not drown in our circumstances no matter how severe they may be.
Possibly the greatest difficulty we all have is our own inability to release circumstances to the Lord. We hold on to the worry of them like grim death, and that’s exactly what they become, the grim death of our hope. The worry immobilises us. It clouds any vision of hope. We would probably be more inclined to trust our worries to the Lord if he explained his plan of how he would deal with them, but simply asking us not to be afraid of what is happening, because he’s come to us seems often to be asking more of us than we can handle.
We like action plans-exit strategies. A+ B+ C. = solutions.
But Jesus simply says, “I’m here-you don’t have to be afraid any more.”
Peter understands this better than most. He is quite prepared to accept that because Jesus is there, the boat is not going to sink, there’s going to be no loss of life. He sees Jesus being there is an invitation to explore new experiences that he couldn’t experience without Jesus. He wants to do what Jesus was doing. O bravo, Peter! Thanks for reminding us what it’s all about! When Jesus is with us, his example encourages us to believe we can be like him and do what he can do. And isn’t that the whole essence of what Jesus said to them in the boat, “Take courage. It is I. Be not afraid.” When he is with us, we can be like him, we can do what he can do. His presence empowers us. His character becomes our character. His ability becomes our ability.
Peter wanted to do what Jesus was doing. When he said “ Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water." He’s saying “Jesus, empower me to do what you’re doing”.
When Jesus replied to Peter, “Come’, he’s saying “I empower you!”
We might notice that there was no elaborate ceremony of empowerment. There were no conditions. There was no, “I’ll start you off on some simple task so you can build up your faith.” It was immediate empowerment for the immediate situation.
And in truth, Peter wanted to do something which wasn’t strictly necessary. He could have stayed in the boat. There was no need to him to walk on the water. He just wanted to do what Jesus was doing. Isn’t that Christian living at its simplest ad its best?
Isn’t it so that we can sometimes miss recognizing that Jesus is among us because we fail, for whole variety of reasons, to do what he can do, e.g. we feel embarrassed at being the only one prepared to be obedient to what God is asking us to do. We look around and see that no one else is going out on a limb and we don’t want to be out on our own. But isn’t it interesting that no one else except Peter would be able to recount in years to come, the experience of walking on the water! It remains true that only those who step out in faith to be like Jesus can have the exhilarating experience of realising what a world of miracles is possible.
Pause just from moment here, if you would, please, in the narrative and take time to imagine the scene. Peter- impetuous Peter- asked Jesus to empower him. He gets the go-ahead, he sits on the side of the boat, the water splashes over his legs, the wind blows his hair all over the place. The others in the boat seeing what he’s about to do are all for him attempting it. “Go on Peter-you can do it!” But they ‘re in the relative safety of the boat! It’s Peter who has to stand on the water. It’s okay for them to be sure that Jesus won’t let Peter down but they’re not about to do Peter is about to do!
It’s Peter who has to stand on the water and finally take his hand off the side of the boat-to let go of the logical support. It’s only when he does that, that he proves the power of God.
There comes a time when we have to make that choice. We have to choose if we are really going to trust Jesus fully and we stop trusting in what is logical and human.
If you’ll forgive the mixed metaphors, Peter burned his bridges. He took his hand off the boat and moved out of reach of the boat.
There is an important lesson here. If were going to stop trusting in our own resources to solve our problems, we need to make sure we keep our eyes firmly on Jesus. We need to fix our eyes on the solver of the problems and not on the problems.
Peter looked at the wind and the waves and his logic kicked in. His answer-the one who could solve his difficulty-his Lord-was obscured. He couldn’t concentrate at the same time on his problems and on his Lord. And in that moment he began to sink.
Again, an interesting observation-the text says, “he was afraid, and beginning to sink…..”
He didn’t start to sink then become afraid. His fear-his doubt that Jesus was able-caused him to sink. While he exercised faith in Jesus, he was able to stand on the water
Fear about the situation, lack of faith in Jesus, causes us to collapse.
But look at the text again-it says, “beginning to sink…..”. That to me, is a miracle in itself, I mean, how many split seconds does it take to sink?! Doubt rarely robs us of our belief in Jesus instantly. It happens bit by bit. It doesn’t say how far Peter sank into the water. Was it up to his knees, his waist? Even knee deep or waist deep he was still experiencing a miracle. No one can stand in deep water up to his knees or his waist without some supernatural assistance. In theory he should’ve just plummeted to the bottom but there’s time for Peter to cry out, “Lord, save me!”
And then, we have those wonderful, marvellous descriptive words, “Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.”
Why do I say they’re wonderful, marvellous descriptive words? Well consider them. ‘Immediately” -there was no hesitation on the part of Jesus. As soon as Peter’s cry was made, Jesus responded. The gentle reprimand, “You of little faith-why did you doubt?” was after Peter was saved from drowning. It was for Peter to think over.
“Jesus reached out” that tells us that Peter was within an arm’s length of Jesus. Jesus is never further away than the distance he can reach out his hand to us. However far away we feel from him, he’s that close to us. What an encouragement that should be to us especially in our most desperate situations.
‘Jesus caught him.’ Peter must have used the phrase, “If it hadn’t been for Jesus….” so many times in the ministry as he gave his testimony later.
Dear friends, whatever your situation, however complex it may be, however awkward people may be making it, however impossible any solution may seem to be, Jesus will empower you. He will remind you to ‘take courage and not be afraid’ because he is within his arm’s reach of you.
Then comes the part where you need to trust him fully, to give him the situation and not to make the mistake of looking at the problem rather than problems solver.
As you let go of the relative security of thinking you must be able to solve problems by your own efforts, as you take your hand off the side of the boat, remember that although the situation may well seem scary, Jesus is within an arm’s length away and he will not fail you.
How lovely it would be to hear endless reports of “If it hadn’t been for Jesus…..”as we hear testimonies from those giving their worries in the middle of life’s storms and crises to Jesus.
May I repeat the words of Jesus for you if you are anxious, if your circumstances seem more than you can take. “Take courage…. be not afraid…… It is I……. Come”
MUSIC: Turn your eyes upon Jesus (To hear the audio file21 Turn your eyes please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth
Will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace.
BENEDICTION (To hear the audio file 22 Benedictionplease right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)