presents
a
Service for
for
29th August 2010
HYMN
Introduction: Praise my soul (To hear the audio file 01 Intro Praise please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
We begin our service today with the well-known hymn, ‘Praise my soul the king of heaven.’
Words: Henry Lyte , in around 1834. This hymn was sung at the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II, in Westminster Abbey, London, 1947. Lyte was orphaned at an early age. He attended
Music: Lauda Anima, was composed by John Goss around 1869. Goss composed mostly church music. He was organist at St. Paul’s from 1838 onward. Queen Victoria knighted him in 1872. He held the post of Professor of Harmony at the Royal Academy of Music for almost half a century.
Music: (To hear the audio file02 Praise my soul please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven;
To His feet thy tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Evermore His praises sing:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise the everlasting King.
Praise Him for His grace and favour
To our fathers in distress.
Praise Him still the same as ever,
Slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Glorious in His faithfulness.
Fatherlike He tends and spares us;
Well our feeble frame He knows.
In His hands He gently bears us,
Rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Widely yet His mercy flows.
Frail as summer’s flower we flourish,
Blows the wind and it is gone;
But while mortals rise and perish
Our God lives unchanging on,
Praise Him, Praise Him, Hallelujah
Praise the High Eternal One!
Angels, help us to adore Him;
Ye behold Him face to face;
Sun and moon, bow down before Him,
Dwellers all in time and space.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise with us the God of grace.
PRAYER (To hear the audio file 03 Prayer please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
We realize that we live in a world which is peopled by some who pursue only their own interests which causes great distress and neglect for so many. We also realize that people’s selfishness will only be changed if you, dear God, cleanse their hearts and minds. Help us we pray to convince the selfish that the world would be a so much better and a kinder place but that can only happen if people’s attention is focused on you.
Guide us into your ways and if we are slow to respond, persevere with us, dear Lord, for we want to show our love for you.
Hear our prayer because we ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen.
HYMN Love divine all love’s excelling.
Introduction: (To hear the audio file 04 Intro Love divine please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Charles Wesley wrote these words in 1747 and it remains a favourite hymn some 200 years later.
We use the tune Blaenwern which was composed by Williams Penfro Rowlands who was born in Pembrokshire in Wales in
Music (To hear the audio file 05 Love Divine please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
All thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.
Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit,
Into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit;
Let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.
Come, Almighty to deliver,
Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return and never,
Never more Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing,
Glory in Thy perfect love.
Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.
MUSICAL MOMENTS
Introduction: (To hear the audio file 06 Intro Musical please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
We believe that music is a gift from God and there is a kind of music which can be found for every taste which helps a person to worship God. We have a number of different musical items today.
The first is a choral setting of Psalm 46: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. 8 Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.
10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
The second piece of music we hear is the cornet duet, ‘To set the people Free’. It was written by Bruce Broughton for the New York Staff Band of The Salvation Army for the 1978 Salvation Army International Congress in London England. The music contains the gospel song’ Ring the bells of heaven’ and the Christmas carol, ‘Sweet chiming Christmas bells’. It is a brilliant piece of brass band writing and describes rejoicing over spiritual victory. It’s title is taken from a line of the gospel song mentioned earlier, ‘Tis the ransomed army, like a mighty sea, pealing forth the anthem of the free.’
GOD’S TITHES AND OUR OFFERINGS (To hear the audio file 09 Tithesplease right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Giving to God’s work can be difficult when we wonder where best to allocate our finance. There are all sorts of worthy causes-even some which are not Christian in ethos. So where
HYMN: WHEN I SURVEY
Introduction: (To hear the audio file10 Intro When I survey please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Words: Isaac Watts in 1707. Charles Wesley reportedly said he would give up all his other hymns to have written this one.
An unlikely companion for Watts in his later years was Richard Cromwell, son of the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell. Watts latter testified that Richard Cromwell was a man of much ability, and he missed no opportunity of being in the company of the old soldier and ex-Protector. It is probable that the
Watts died trusting alone in the merits, righteousness and blood of Christ, of which he had so often written. One sentence from his death-bed was: "I remember an aged minister say that the most learned and knowing Christians when they come to die have only the same plain promises of the Gospel for their support as the common and unlearned of the people of God; and so I find it. They are the plain promises which do not require labour or pains to understand them; for I can do nothing now but look into my Bible for some promise to support me, and live upon that."
Edward Miller wrote the tune ‘Rockingham
1735-1807
Miller was apprenticed to his father, a pavior (a layer of paving stones and the like), but ran away to study music. At one time he was a flautist in Handel’s orchestra. He played the organ for 50 years at Doncaster Church, and composed hymn tunes and harpsichord sonatas. Cambridge University awarded him a doctorate degree in 1786.
Music:(To hear the audio file 11 When I survey please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the cross of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingling down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
BIBLE READING (To hear the audio file12 Bible please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Matthew 19:16-30 (New International Version)
The Rich Young Man
17"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
18"Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbour as yourself.'
20"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
21Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?"
26Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
MUSICAL MOMENTS
Introduction: (To hear the audio file 13 Musical moments please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
For our second Musical Moments today we have a country and Western style song and it simply encourages us all to get our feet tapping -even those who are a little over 21 and can’t jig about as much as they used to be able to do!
And then secondly, a vocal solo from our Australian guest, Sandra Entermann. Sandra is blessed with not just a delightfully musical voice but she has the ability to communicate her Christian beliefs so naturally. We’re so pleased to welcome her to our service today to sing ‘Remember me.’
SERMON(To hear the audio file 16 Sermon please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
The answer Jesus gave to the rich young ruler’s question could have satisfied the young man. He asked what he had to do to
Dr. Malcolm WestwoodSome have observed that Jesus didn’t initially tell the young man to follow him. But obeying the commandments fully would have led him to Jesus and thus to following him. The young man was on the right road but he seemed to feel that obeying the commandments should result in something more than he was experiencing. He wanted to be certain that the way he was living was not just “right”, he wanted to be sure it was going to lead to knowing for certain that God is real and his promises are guaranteed. It wasn’t that the young man was spiritually shallow. In fact he was quite the opposite. He knew there was more of God and from God than he was experiencing
Initially, as we have seen, Jesus answered the young man’s question with just three words, “Obey the commandments.”
The young man could have smiled, said ‘thank you’ and gone on his way. But he couldn’t let it go.
“Commandments?-Which ones?” And that signals someone who is sincere but as yet immature. It tells us that the young man, for all his wealth and ability to keep it, didn’t understand that you can’t pick and chose which bits of the Bible you’d like to believe or obey! Undoubtedly the conditions and requirements for following Jesus may be more than a little difficult at times and not always convenient, but there are no exclusion clauses. And no part of what Jesus asks us to do is less important than another part.
Jesus then summarizes the commandments for the young man.
“Yes, yes,” said the young man “I’ve kept all those commandments…..but I still feel as though I’m missing something.” Jesus had spoken about lifestyle for the young man. But the young man just wouldn’t stop. And I have a lot of admiration for him. He could have gone back to the synagogue and told his friends, “That great teacher has told me that we’re doing the right things but we must continue to keep the commandments.”
Instead he pushed and he pushed-“But I want to know more, I want to experience more-tell me how to do that!”
Do you ever feel like that? You may have attended church for years and have done your level best to live according to the Biblical standards, but do you ever want to ask God, “I’ve done all this and yet…somehow, I feel I’m still missing something. Is there more?” If you do feel like that, I think you are by no means you are alone.
Let’s see if the narrative helps us.
We can get preoccupied with the young man’s wealth. It just so happens that in his case it was his wealth that was preoccupying his mind. It could have been anything from fashion to football but it touched a raw nerve. Jesus was telling him that whatever it was that came before allegiance to God’s kingdom, had to be relegated to second place.
‘Go and sell all you have and give to the poor,’ said Jesus. Now, let’s pause there, in case we miss what Jesus is actually saying. He didn’t say “Go and sell your possessions and give it all to the poor. He said ‘Give to the poor.’ Jesus is not suggesting that the young man should divest himself of literally everything and become a beggar. That would be silly. He’s highlighting the young man’s reluctance to consider those around him when he has the means to help them.
To paraphrase, if we may, what Jesus is saying it’s '‘You’re in a privileged position. You have wealth coming out of your ears and you’ve got to learn it’s been given to you not to hoard it, not to continually indulge yourself by buying everything that takes your fancy. Look around you and see the needy people. Now go and do that!’
It’s the same use of the dramatic language as we read in Matthew 5:30, “if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away…” It’s language which was used to make the young man sit up and think.
It is possible that we can feel there must be more than regular churchgoing, of observing all the commandments Jesus spoke about, being meticulously strict about our tithing and yet to feel there must be something more. If that is so, we must look at where we spend most of our time, and consider what do we think about more than anything else? If the interests of the kingdom of God are not served by all we do, then we need to do some reappraising. If we can go from Sunday to Sunday and never mention the name of Jesus to anyone, never communicate with Jesus except for the briefest time we come to him to request things, if we spend our money and then expect God to make do with our loose change, then things need to change in our lives! How? Well, we need to make all we have, available to God and it isn’t just about money. Money’s included only because of what can be done with it.
We sometimes hear such thoughts and class them as though they are special requirements for the super saints. But it isn’t just the super saints who want to experience more of Christ. It’s people like you and me. We can be very apt to justify our caution of using the sparse resources we have. We consider that we have limited time and certainly limited money. But however limited they may be, we know from experience that if we want to do something enough, we’ll sacrifice anything to get it or to achieve it. If we were in the young man’s shoes today we might well be asked to consider what our interests or priorities are. What are we trying to achieve more than anything else? What takes most of our time and resources?
A simple illustration will perhaps help. I took my rugby mad 10-year-old grandson to Twickenham recently, the home of English rugby to see the Barbarians play the New Zealanders. All he wanted to do was to get into that ground, to soak up the atmosphere, to gaze longingly at the lush pitch. I was hungry and suggested we should go somewhere to eat first. He indulged me reluctantly but kept his food intake to a minimum so we could hurry to the ground. We were in our seats two and a half hours before the match started! He’d already spent his pocket money on the souvenir rugby ball from one of the kiosks at the ground. It didn’t matter to him that there would be no money left over for sweets or the latest CD that week. Matthew’s mind was firmly fixed on Twickenham and everything else was off lesser importance. I hope, of course, one day that Matthew will show the same determination for the interests of the kingdom of God but right then our 10-year-old was preoccupied with rugby at Twickenham.
But how do we get that same longing and enthusiasm for the things of God?
Certainly environment can play a part, as can family background but here’s what is supposed to happen but perhaps many miss. Having been chosen by God, and having accepted his invitation, the Holy Spirit is then offered as a deposit of what the future has for us. As to why he isn’t accepted in that way, allow me to return to that thought in a moment. Let’s continue with what is supposed to happen. It is the Holy Spirit who reminds us each day that everything in our lives must be placed at the feet of Christ for his use. It is the Holy Spirit who reminds us each day, each moment that nothing is more important than the interests of God’s kingdom. And if that sounds as though it means we have to have a closed mind to earthly things, nothing could be further from the truth. Rather does the Holy Spirit open our minds to the things around us. He teaches us how we see the temporary nature of earthly things so that our view of God’s kingdom is seen for what it is-the only permanent thing in our lives.
That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the temporary-but we’ll enjoy it because we’re using it to improve the permanent.
Can we really improve the permanent? Can we really improve God’s kingdom? Well we regularly pray, “Lord, help us to enrich, to enlarge your kingdom”, so yes, we can. Every sinner who becomes a redeemed sinner enriches God’s kingdom. Where are the sinners who can be redeemed? They’re in the gyms we frequent, the restaurants in which we regularly eat, the clubs to which we belong. That’s not saying everyone who goes to such places is an unredeemed sinner. We’re there to start with!! But there’s a fair likelihood that a number of the people there won’t know Jesus.
Now, let’s remember why we are thinking about this in this way. We’re thinking about it because for some-perhaps many even, there is something missing in the way we’re living even though we may be Christians.
No one is remotely saying that we should not be in the kind of places I’ve mentioned. It’s why we’re there which is important. If we identify with the rich young ruler and admit that we have a feeling of emptiness about our service, it’s not giving us the satisfaction we feel it should, then our membership of the golf club or whatever group of which we might be members will need to be seen as a way of reaching the unredeemed sinners. But we won’t want to do that unless we have a desire on our hearts to do that.
There’s nothing remotely wrong either in enjoying the activities of the group while we’re doing that! And no one is saying we have to be breaking into the proceedings every five seconds to call everyone to prayer! But our membership of the club or group will be available to God at all times and he will provide natural openings for us without us falsely manufacturing them. If we shy away from such availability we may continue as the rich young ruler had been doing-keeping the commandments, being a good attender at church, but the probability is that we’ll have that same empty feeling that he had.
The only way of overcoming the reluctance to be available to God at all times in all circumstances is to want him more than we want anything else.
I remember someone wanting to join a particular church I was leading, but he was reluctant to accept the standard of behaviour the church held to be important. He was genuinely keen to join but it wasn’t until he was more keen to join that he was to pursue his non-Christian activities that he was prepared to make what, for him, was a necessary sacrifice.
So what enables a person to make that transition from empty Christian living to living as a satisfied fulfilled disciple of Christ? Is it simply realizing that we have to put God’s interests first in everything? Well, one couldn’t argue with the truth of that sentence, but that happens only when the Holy Spirit comes as guarantor of what can be. So why don’t people have that desire which the Hoy Spirit gives? Can I suggest that our understanding of salvation may be at the root of the problem.
Many Christians stall very early in their Christian lives. They go of like shooting stars and fall just as dramatically. Possibly the very act of salvation is such a supernatural experience for them and is so good that they think they can be content with that experience. Everything looks and feels so good when you come to Christ, doesn’t it. We so often hear people say that grass seems greener, the sky seems bluer, people seem much nicer, opportunities in life seem to be so many more. But Christians who have been Christians for some years will readily testify that the devil will work overtime to rob us of such optimism and hardly without knowing it, we settle into the long drawn out battle to try to maintain our own Christian standards. And it’s so hard that we really haven’t time or energy to worry about anyone else’s state of salvation or lack of it. We’re grateful to God if we ourselves survive in a state of salvation!
Some Christians have never brought anyone to Jesus. Some Christians will say they have no ability to do so yet they will successfully invite a friend to be involved in some pastime in which they are interested.
But ironically, it is only when we are pursuing the interests of the Kingdom of God that the Christian way of life becomes the satisfying way God that intended it should be.
The rich young ruler thought he would be giving up too much if he had to take his eyes off his wealth and look at what God’s needs for his people might be.
But Jesus said to his disciples, with the young man in mind, ‘ I didn’t want to take everything away from him. I only wanted to borrow it. I only wanted his agreement that I could use it! If only he would realise that he’ll receive 100 times more than he’s letting me use!” And here it is, in black and white, just a verse or two further on from our reading. Verse 29
‘Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.’
We’re not actually losing anything by making it available to Jesus. It’s coming back to us 100 times over in eternity!
The young man’s spiritual eyes were opened but only so far.
Jesus said, “Yes, it can be hard to make everything available to me.” We are all familiar with the illustration he used about the camel and the needle. It is impossible……. unless God takes a hand. And God takes a hand when his Holy Spirit is received as a guarantor-a reminder- that what God has in store for us is vastly more than we could ever make available to him.
My dear friends if your Christian living has stalled,-and it can happen to all of us- if you believe as you’ve always done but there has come an emptiness a sense of ordinariness in your service for God, and the sermons you hear seem to concentrate on urging you to re-consecrate yourself, to give yourself entirely to God and it all sounds like words, words words- and you’ve been down that road before and it seems to work for a while but the emptiness returns, may I ask that you would consider asking the Holy Spirit to come and be your guarantor of all you long for. He is the deposit of all God has promised. He will lead you to fullness. That emptiness is ‘fillable’!
The Holy Spirit gently opens our spiritual eyes so that our hearts can be opened. It is only when we see Jesus through our spiritual eyes that our hearts will desire to receive him. And only then will that desire become the greatest desire of our lives. Only the Holy Spirit can make that happen. Until he does it, we may make determined efforts which will succeed for a time to put Jesus at the centre of our lives but only the Holy Spirit will enable him to reign supreme permanently. The rich young ruler presumably left to live out his life with that same annoying, empty empty feeling-thinking there must be more….. if only. He went away sorrowful. He had more than enough of what he thought he needed and not enough of what he really needed.
He would never fill his emptiness with what he treasured most. He was loaded and lonely, rich and wretched. What a sad epitaph to write on anyone’s tombstone!
If you are sensing that empty feeling and longing to know that “something more” may I invite you to pray a very simple prayer, “Dear God, I’m feeling empty-please give me your Holy Spirit to open my eyes so that I can see that making everything I have and am available to you is the way to complete fulfilment and satisfaction.”
And to those who are enjoying life and your sacrifices are already being rewarded with a wonderful presence of Jesus in your life, can I, on God’s word, remind you that there is even more joy, more fulfilment coming for you. We used to sing, “Everyday with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.” The Holy Spirit is the deposit from God against all he has promised. As you love him and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' he has promised he will bless you over ….and over… and…. over again!
If that is happening to you do tell others please.
HYMN: MAKE ME A CHANNEL (To hear the audio file 17 Make me a channel_Benediction please right click mouse, then left click to open new tab)
Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred let me bring your love;
Where there is injury your pardon, Lord;
And where there's doubt true faith in you.
Refrain:
Oh, Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there's despair in life let me bring hope;
Where there is darkness, only light;
And where there's sadness, ever joy.
Refrain
Make me a channel of your peace.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
In giving to all men that we receive;
And in dying that we're born to eternal life.
Refrain
BENEDICTION:
May the Holy Spirit be your guarantor of all that God has promised. May the Lord Jesus Christ be your constant companion and may God the Father bless you as you seek the interest of his Kingdom in all you do. Amen