[0:00] Good morning and a warm welcome to all those who are at the service today here in the building. I'm conscious there's quite a few online today as well as there's a bit of COVID going around but it's good to be able to come together, to join together in this way and those who are at home as well.
[0:20] And those who are here and who are visiting, I can see a few faces, familiar faces that are visiting and others that I haven't met before but it's good to have you. And if you're able to stay behind for tea and coffee after the service, it would be good to get the chance to meet with you and speak to you.
[0:36] The evening service tonight is Gaelic service and that's at 6 o'clock. It will be conducted by the Reverend Donald or Dolan MacDonald as he's known. So be encouraged to come to that.
[0:49] And tonight, this is a bit of a spur of the moment thing but there's been a few folks asking and I think tonight at half past 7 we'll have an informal fellowship. We still have a fellowship on the Sunday evening, the last Sunday of the month in the evening.
[1:04] So we'll have just a time of praise and prayer at half past 7 tonight here in the church for those who feel comfortable to come along and meet together. So Gaelic service at 6 and an English fellowship at half past 7 for those who are able to come.
[1:20] The Kirk session meets tomorrow just for a short meeting at 6pm and the Ladies Bible Study on Thursday and Monday.
[1:30] You've got details there on the screen. And Little Fishers on Tuesday from 10 till 12. Be encouraged to keep on praying for these wee ones. We prayed for the babies to come and we're encouraged to see and hear the babies who are with us.
[1:47] Pray on for these. There can be 20 odd babies coming along to Little Fishers and many of them don't go to any church. So pray for these wee ones as they come in and for their parents as they come in as well.
[1:58] Pray on for those who struggle with addictions. Road to Recovery at 7 o'clock on Tuesday in the church. And the prayer meeting on Wednesday. Oh sorry, Road to Recovery is not in the church this Tuesday.
[2:13] It's going to be in the manse. So that's this Tuesday. The prayer meeting on Wednesday here and on Zoom. And the service is next Sunday, 11 and 6, both taken by myself, God willing.
[2:25] The morning service next week, we are looking forward to baptising little Evelyn McSween here in the front row. So we'll have a baptism service next Sunday morning.
[2:39] And after the service, Ian and Michaela have arranged for soup and sandwiches. So everybody is welcome to stay behind for a lunch after the service.
[2:50] So be encouraged to do that. I think these are all the notices. I'll take a glance around to see that I haven't missed anything.
[3:00] Usually this is when a hand goes up. But these I think are all the notices. So we're going to begin this time of worship. It's a slightly different service today for those who are visiting. This is our family, summer family prize giving service.
[3:16] And so we've got the children in for the whole service. So that means the good news is the service is a bit shorter than it would usually be. And the children will be speaking to me as much as I'm speaking to them.
[3:29] So we'll begin this time of worship. We'll sing a favourite hymn of the young ones. Bless the Lord, O my soul. And the words are on the screen. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
[3:53] O my soul. Worship His holy name. Sing like never before.
[4:04] O my soul. I'll worship Your holy name. The sun comes up.
[4:15] It's a new day dawning. It's time to sing Your song again. Whatever may pass.
[4:26] And whatever lies before me. Let me be singing when the evening comes.
[4:36] Bless the Lord, O my soul. O my soul. Worship His holy name.
[4:47] Sing like never before. O my soul. I'll worship Your holy name.
[4:58] Your wish in love and your slow to anger. Your name is great and your heart is kind.
[5:10] For all your goodness I will keep on singing. Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.
[5:21] Bless the Lord, O my soul. Bless the Lord, O my soul. O my soul. Worship His holy name.
[5:32] Sing like never before. O my soul. O my soul. I'll worship Your holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
[5:44] And on that day when my strength is failing. The end goes near. The end goes near and my time has come. Still, my soul.
[5:55] Sing your grace. Sing your grace. Sing your grace. And on that day when my strength is failing. The end goes near and your strength is failing. Ten thousand years and then forevermore. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
[6:09] O my soul. Worship His holy name. Sing like never before.
[6:20] O my soul. I'll worship Your holy name. Sing like never before.
[6:56] Amen. Let's bow our heads and let's close our eyes and let's speak to God as we come to him in prayer. Lord God, we thank you for this day and we thank you that you've taken us to this place.
[7:13] We thank you that we're in church and we're in a place where we're meeting in Jesus' name. And we thank you that we have the promise that we're, if even if it was just two or three of us who are meeting today, in Jesus' name we have the promise that you will be with us and you will bless us.
[7:29] And we thank you for that hymn that we were singing that reminds us that you are the God who does bless our souls. We thank you that that speaks to us, that hymn speaks to us about how good you are and how loving you are and how kind you are to us.
[7:44] That you want to bless us. You are our good, gracious, heavenly Father. And we thank you that when we believe in Jesus, we are your children.
[7:55] And we pray that you would be close to us today as we gather together in the name of Jesus. We thank you for all that Jesus did for us. We thank you that Jesus came into this world from heaven.
[8:09] And he lived a perfect life for us because we could never do that. And he died a death on the cross for us, the death that our sins deserved. And he rose from the dead on the Lord's day, this day, and promises that everyone who believes in him will not perish, will not die in our hearts, but will have everlasting life, a blessing that never ends.
[8:35] So we thank you, Lord Jesus, for all that you did, that you took the curse of our sin away, so that we could know your blessing today and every day. So we pray that you would bless our souls, that you would do us good as we meet together in your name.
[8:52] We pray that you would speak to us through your word, that you would take away from our minds every distraction, everything that would make us think about something else.
[9:02] We pray that you would cleanse from our hearts, wash away all the sin that comes between us and you. And we ask that you would fill us with the Holy Spirit, that he would teach us and he would help us to speak and to listen and to believe everything that we hear from the Bible.
[9:21] Thank you for all the boys and girls who are here today. Thank you that you've been with them throughout this year, even though it's been a difficult year, even though sometimes it's been scary for us over the last couple of years with COVID.
[9:36] We thank you that we're here today and that we know that you are close to us. We know that in this world there are things that can be scary and there are things that can be difficult for us.
[9:48] But we thank you that we're told in the Bible that we're not to be anxious about anything, but we're to pray about everything. And so we thank you that you have heard and you are hearing our prayers.
[10:00] We pray that you'd be with those who are not with us today as well. We think of some who are at home, some who've got COVID, some who have other things and who would want to be here, but who can't be here.
[10:12] And we ask that you would bless them too, that you would be close to them, that you would make them well, that you would encourage them. And we pray for others who might be healthy and who maybe have no real needs in this world for money and for getting better, but who don't know you and who don't want to come into church.
[10:35] And we pray that you'd be working in their hearts. We have friends. We might have family as well who don't know Jesus and who don't want to know Jesus. And we pray that you would work in their hearts and that you would draw them to yourself.
[10:48] So be with us, we pray. Help us in this place, all those that we know are struggling. Be with us in our land. We know, Lord, that we've gone away from you. We don't read the Bible as we once did, as a land.
[11:02] And we pray that you would draw us back. And be with people in the world who are suffering. And we think especially of places like Afghanistan, where we see earthquakes. And we pray that you would help those who are suffering.
[11:15] And that your people especially would know your protection at this time. So hear our prayers and help us in this day. And we ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
[11:28] Boys and girls, it's good to see you today. And I want to talk to you today about somebody you've been hearing about quite a lot in Sunday school over the last wee while.
[11:43] So this is a wee test to start off with. Who have you been hearing about in Sunday school over the last few weeks? Jonah, your hand up first, I think. Jonah.
[11:55] So put your hand up if you know about Jonah. Have you heard of Jonah? Well, we all know the story of you're going to have to help them. They don't know much. They don't think over on that side.
[12:07] So, Jonah. What do you know about Jonah? Tell me just maybe one or two things about Jonah. Michael? He got swallowed by a fish. He got swallowed by a fish.
[12:18] We'll come to that in a bit. Yeah? Miriam? Not Miriam, sorry. Emily. Emily? He went the opposite way.
[12:33] You're giving me my sermon. This is just a wee summary of the sermon before I give it, yeah? Like every week. Katie? He disobeyed, yeah. So, Lois, one more. He went what?
[12:47] He went. He got to the place that God was calling him to go in the end. So, yeah, that's the kind of, that's the big picture of the story of Jonah. The first thing I want to tell you about Jonah is that Jonah rebelled.
[13:03] That's the first point on the screen, I think. Jonah, he rebels against God. Do you know what it means to rebel? I might have to help you out a bit here.
[13:19] Sweets always tend to get a little bit more in the way of noise and participation. And I got a few bags of these sweets.
[13:32] And these sweets are called, you see what they're called? They're called rebels, yes. But I think they should actually be called rebels.
[13:45] Not rebels, but rebels. And I'll tell you why in a second. Does anybody want a sweet? Does anybody like a sweet? I'll just, you'll get, you'll get a few at the end. But I'll just want you to, a few of you to have a sweet.
[13:57] And then you can tell me about the flavours of the sweets. Put your hands up. Okay. Go on, go on.
[14:10] But don't eat it yet. Don't eat it yet, Michael. Go for it. Katie? Katie? Katie? Yes. Oh, this is going to take a while, eh?
[14:25] Put your hands down to that other side. Go on, honey. You've got a few there. So. Oh, you may as well give one to everybody.
[14:43] Who likes rebels? Anyone on that side like rebels? Yeah, that's one of my go-tos. Yeah. Kind of. Jono's hands up. He's getting, he's getting tired with his hand up.
[14:55] But he's determined he's getting one. Stuart, put your hand down. Okay. Everybody who wanted one has got one. Is that right, yeah? So. Don't eat it yet.
[15:08] One. John. John, straight in the mouth. Straight in the mouth. Okay. Hannah, you just passed these forward.
[15:21] Thanks. Gordon, I'll confiscate these. It's all right. So. Put it in your mouth now. Put your hand up if you're eating one just now.
[15:40] Gordon, what flavor have you got? Toffee. Toffee. Toffee. Right. Toffee there. Michael. Malteser. Jake. Eh?
[15:52] Pure chocolate. Pure chocolate. The wee ones. Ah, you knew what you were looking for, didn't you? Uh-huh. Hand up what you're still eating. Katie. Tastes like Malteser.
[16:04] Was it crunchy? Yeah, okay. Yeah. Kyle. Tastes like Malteser. Tastes like Malteser. Yeah. Miriam. Tastes like Malteser.
[16:14] Like chocolate. Jono. Malteser. Malteser. Is that all? Do you want me to try another one? Try another one, Gordon. What have you got this time?
[16:28] Turn up. Right, come on. Hurry up. Keep going. Pass one to Adam. You know the point we're trying to get to. Go for it, Adam.
[16:39] What have you got there? Is it a raisin? Oh, it's definitely a raisin you've got. I think that's a raisin you've got.
[16:50] Gordon, what have you got on that one? A raisin. Yuck. Try another one. Oh, thanks, John. Oh, no, it's not coffee, is it?
[17:02] It is, actually. Is it coffee? See, this is the thing about Rebels. They're dangerous sweets. They should be called Rebels because there are some sweets.
[17:13] Then you open a bag of sweets and you think, Maltesers, delicious. Toffee, beautiful. Chocolate, pure chocolate. That's amazing. Orange creams.
[17:24] They're nice as well. Raisins. What are raisins doing in a bag of chocolate? Put them in the fruit bowl. Get them away from the chocolate bar. And coffee.
[17:35] Who wants coffee in their bag of chocolate? I quite do. Lots of people. You taste it.
[17:46] I watch when people have Rebels. And when they get coffee, our girls, when they get coffee, it's like, yuck. I need another one. They're spitting out into the bin. So these things should not be called Rebels.
[18:00] They should be called Rebels because there's raisins in this bag that shouldn't be in here. And there's coffee, some would argue, that shouldn't be in there.
[18:10] So, Rebels of the chocolate world. Jonah was a Rebel. Why was he a Rebel? What's a Rebel? John Rory. You rebel.
[18:22] You rebel. What does he mean to rebel? It means to go against, doesn't it? And what did Jonah go against? He went against God's will, didn't he?
[18:33] What did God say to him? He says, I want you to go to a place called Nineveh. And Jonah said, I'm going somewhere else.
[18:47] So, we're going to hear the story. Alistair, I think, has got her first reading. So, Alistair has got the reading. And that's from Jonah chapter 1, verses 1 to 3.
[18:59] So, up you come to the microphone. Jonah? Jonah chapter 1, verses 1 to 3. The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai.
[19:13] Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed to Tarshish.
[19:26] He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
[19:38] Thank you very much, Alistair. And well done on pronouncing the word Amittai. So, God said to Jonah, I have a job for you, Jonah.
[19:51] And Jonah did believe in God. He was one of God's people, because he said that when he was in the boat to the sailors. He said, I worship the Lord. And God said to Jonah, the word of the Lord came to Jonah.
[20:04] And God said to him, I have a job for you. I have a place that I want you to go, and it's called Nineveh. And Jonah says, I don't fancy Nineveh.
[20:15] I don't like the people there. I don't like this job. So, he goes and he buys a ticket that takes him in the opposite direction to a place called Tarshish.
[20:27] So, God said go. Jonah said no. And he rebelled against God. And you know, that's what sin is.
[20:41] To sin is to rebel against God. God says, this is what I want you to do. This is who I want you to be. And so, when we look at Jonah, we see a man who rebels against God.
[20:55] But it's a bit like looking in the mirror. You know, the Bible, when we open it and we look at it, it's like looking in the mirror in the morning. And we see ourselves. Have you ever been given a job to do and you just didn't want to do it?
[21:11] Have you ever been told to tidy your room? Your mom and your dad say, yeah? I want you to tidy your room. And you might not say it, but you go away and you sneak off and you think to yourself, no, I'm not doing that.
[21:29] Where's my iPad? Where's the TV? And sometimes God says to us, I want you to do something. I've got a plan for you.
[21:40] And we go our own way. So when we look at Jonah, when I look at Jonah, I see me. How does God speak to us?
[21:52] The word of the Lord came to Jonah. And how does the word of the Lord come to us? Miriam? In the Bible, yeah. And what does God say to us in the Bible?
[22:03] Well, he tells us his plan for our lives. And God's plan for our lives is that we will trust him. It's the big thing. He wants you to be his friends.
[22:16] He wants you to be his children. He wants you to trust him. And he wants us to obey him. Because he has the best plan for our lives.
[22:29] But do we always trust God? No. Do we always obey God? No.
[22:39] So sometimes we want to go our own way. Like Jonah did. God says in the Bible, I want you to tell the truth.
[22:49] Sometimes it's easier to tell a lie, isn't it? We think, if I just tell a wee lie, I'll get out of trouble. We say, I'm going to go my own way. Sometimes we know God has told us that we have to be kind.
[23:03] But we're wild. Wild. You know, and we're in a row with our brother and our sister. And we're just thinking, I just want to. I just want to be wild, not kind. So we go our own way.
[23:18] So Jonah, he goes his own way. But what happened next? Is everything calm for him? Don't think so. Who's got the second reader? I think it's Jonah.
[23:29] You got number two? Yeah. Yeah, out you come, Jonah. So Jonah, he's got his own way. He's got his ticket. He's heading for that place called Tarshish.
[23:41] He thinks it's all going to be fine. And then what happened, Jonah? Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea. And such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break.
[23:52] All the sailors were afraid. Thanks, Jonah. You stay here a wee second. So Jonah, he's on the sea. And the storm whips up.
[24:04] And he's in a lot of trouble. And all the guys in the boat were in trouble as well. So what happened next? Do you remember? This was not part of the script, by the way.
[24:17] Wait, was it when he told them to throw him off? Yeah, that's what he said. The sailors said, what are we going to do? And Jonah says, trouble is because of me. I'm running away from God. So throw me over.
[24:30] And things will be okay. Thanks, Jonah. So there's Jonah. Over the side of the boat. In the storm. Is that the end of Jonah?
[24:43] The end of the story? So what happened next? Michael, come and tell us. Let's get it sorted properly for you, Mr. Prime Minister.
[25:00] Just a wee bit back here. That's it, just there. Reading 3. Jonah 1, 17. But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah.
[25:11] And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights. Thank you very much, Michael. So Jonah, he goes over the side. And God gives a job to a big fish who's much more obedient than Jonah was.
[25:28] And the big fish sees Jonah. And Jonah goes straight into the belly of the fish. And he's there for three days and three nights.
[25:40] So the thing is, boys and girls, even though Jonah sinned, even though Jonah went against God, even though Jonah was a rebel, God didn't say, I'm done with that guy.
[25:56] God loved him. And God wanted Jonah to be safe. And God was kind. And he was gentle. And he was loving towards him.
[26:10] Jonah was a rebel. But God still loved him. And God wanted to take him back. And so this big fish comes and gives Jonah a second chance, we could say.
[26:23] So we're going to sing now about how good and how kind God is. And it's from Sing Psalms, number 103, verses 1 to 11.
[26:33] It's the tune to Hear His Love, I think, isn't it? Before the throne of God above. Sorry. So let's stand and we'll sing through God's praise.
[26:46] So it's the tune to Before the Throne of God above. Praise God, my soul, with all my heart. Let me exalt His holy name.
[27:01] Forget not all His benefits. His praise, my soul, in song proclaim.
[27:12] The Lord, He's holy name. The Lord gives us other sins. And heals your sickness and distress.
[27:24] Your life He rescues from the grave. And grants you in His tenderness. And grants you in His tenderness.
[27:41] He satisfies your deep desires. From His unending stores of good.
[27:53] So that just like the eagle's strength, Your youth no bigger is renewed.
[28:03] The Lord is known for righteousness. And justice to them draw the cross.
[28:16] To Moses He made known His ways. His mighty deeds to Israel's sons.
[28:27] His mighty deeds to Israel's sons. The Lord is merciful and kind.
[28:39] To anger slow and full of grace. He will not constantly reprove. Or in His anger hide His face.
[28:55] He does not punish our sins. Or with our sins their just reward.
[29:06] Of greatest love, as I have said. Towards all those who fear the Lord.
[29:16] Towards all those who fear the Lord. Boys and girls, do you know what this is?
[29:33] Anybody know what this is? Michael? It's a compass. It's a compass. And what does a compass do? John and Rory?
[29:45] Shows you where north and south and east and west is. So if you were going on a journey. And you knew your directions. You know which direction you were supposed to be in.
[29:55] Then this is a vital thing to have. Because it shows you if you're going the right way. Or it shows you if you're going the wrong way.
[30:06] Now was Jonah going the right way? Or was he going the wrong way? He was going the wrong way, wasn't he? And so what did Jonah have to do?
[30:19] He had to turn around. And that's the second thing. Jonah, the first thing was Jonah was, what was Jonah? He was a rebel. So what did Jonah have to do?
[30:32] He had to turn around. He had to repent. Sometimes you hear the word repent. And it just means to turn around. So imagine you went out.
[30:45] Somebody just went past the window there on a bike. And they were heading in that direction. Imagine that person was wanting to get to Brownsville. He was in a tiny shop when it was Tuesday. And he was desperate to go and get something at the shop.
[30:58] And you saw him going that way out of the church. What would you say to him? You'd say, stop. Turn around. You're going the wrong way. And that's what Jonah needed to do.
[31:12] He was going the wrong way. He was going to Tarshish. Not Nineveh. And when he was inside the belly of the big fish, what do you think was happening with Jonah?
[31:24] Was he watching TV? No. Was he on his iPad? No. No. What was he doing?
[31:37] Callum? He was stuck in the fish's tummy, yeah? What did you think he was doing when he was in there? Ailey? He was praying.
[31:50] Well, God was speaking to Jonah. He'd spoken to Jonah when he'd got that big fish and he'd gotten to swallow him up. Jonah, he's inside the fish and he's got nothing to do but think.
[32:04] And so he's thinking about the fact that he's going the wrong way. And he realizes what Ailey said there. He realized he had to pray. And so we're going to listen now to Jonah's prayer.
[32:20] And that's going to be read, it's from Jonah chapter 2, isn't it? And it's going to be read by Ailey and then Lois.
[32:31] So Ailey and Lois, if you come out now, please. So Jonah 2, verses 1 to 4, and then 5 to 7. I'll link it to us. Take this down a bit for you.
[32:47] From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said, In my distress, I called to the Lord. And he answered me, From the depths of the grave I call for help.
[32:59] And you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas. And the currents swirled about me. All your waves and breakers swept over me.
[33:11] I said, I have been banished from your holy sight. Yet I will look again toward your holy temple. Thank you, Ailey. And we'll show you the next part of that.
[33:21] Thank you.
[33:46] Thank you very much, girls. So we heard there Jonah's prayer. One of the books I was reading about Jonah said that when Jonah was inside the belly of the big fish, it was a bit like being in a church.
[34:05] It's all quiet. Kind of quiet. No distractions. And Jonah, he's thinking about what God is saying to him.
[34:18] And in church, we pray. I pray out loud. And I hope we're all praying in our hearts. And so Jonah, he prays.
[34:31] And what did he say when he prayed? What did he say to God when he prayed? What's the main thing he said, you think? Michael?
[34:47] He said, please help me. And before he even said, please help me, what did he say? Remember, think about what he had done. He was going in the wrong direction.
[34:57] He was going away from God. He was rebelling against God. And then he realizes God was kind to him. And God had spared him from drowning. And so what did he say?
[35:10] John Rory? Thank you and sorry. Yeah. So we heard him saying, he kind of says to God, I know I'm in this water and I'm in this mess.
[35:23] And I'm in this belly of the fish because of the things that I've done. He doesn't make excuses. But he's saying sorry. He confesses his sin.
[35:35] And he asks God to save him. So he repents. And boys and girls, not just those on this side, but I want to ask the big boys and girls on that side as well.
[35:50] Have you repented? So that's a really simple question, but it's a really important question. Because all of us sin like Jonah. But have we actually repented?
[36:06] Have we said to God, I'm sorry for my sin. Thank you for giving me today. Will you please take away my sin?
[36:18] Will you please save me? Because that's what it means to repent. It just needs to be as simple as that. I mean, we're not in the belly of a big fish.
[36:31] It's not as smelly as that in here today. It's a bit more comfortable in that here today. But we can pray the same prayer that Jonah prayed. And we can close our eyes, even in the church just now.
[36:43] We can close our eyes, and we could say, Dear Lord, I know that I sin like Jonah sinned. Please, will you take my sin away? Please, will you wash my heart?
[36:57] Please, will you save me? And if we pray that, and we really mean it, God promises he'll hear that prayer, he'll wash our sins away, and he'll save us.
[37:13] This is the prayer that we pray when we become Christians. If you've never prayed this prayer, you're not a Christian. You might sit in the chairs every week. But until we pray that kind of prayer, we're not Christians.
[37:27] And so, Jonah prayed that prayer. Not for the first time with Jonah. He prayed it many times before, I think. But maybe for some of us, it's the first time we're going to pray it.
[37:41] We need to repent, like Jonah repented. And we're promised that if we do, God will show us mercy. We're going to sing about that now. Our sins, they are many, and his mercy is more.
[37:55] So we'll stand to sing again to God's praise. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. What love you remember The wrongs we have done A miss, not knowing He counts not their sum Thrown into a sea Without bottom or shore Our sins they are many His mercy is more Praise the Lord His mercy is more Stronger than our best New every morn Our sins they are many His mercy is more Ancient will wait as we constantly roam
[38:59] What Father so tender is calling us home He welcomes the weakest The vilest, the good Our sins they are many His mercy is more Praise the Lord His mercy is more Stronger than darkness New every morn Our sins they are many His mercy is more What precious of kindness He lavished on us His blood was a payment His life was their cause We stood in our debt We could never afford Our sins they are many
[40:00] His mercy is more Praise the Lord Praise the Lord His mercy is more His mercy is more His mercy is more Stronger than darkness Our sins they are many His mercy is more His mercy is more His mercy is more His mercy is more His mercy is more His mercy is more His mercy is more His mercy is more Stronger than darkness New every morn Our sins they are many His mercy is more So boys and girls The first thing about Jonah was he was a He was a rebel And the second thing about Jonah Is he
[41:00] What did he do? He repented He changed his direction Well he prayed And he said to God I'm sorry I'm going the wrong way And the next thing Is Jonah is rescued God hears his prayer And he rescues him Have you ever been rescued?
[41:23] A few weeks ago When the girls were on holiday There was a lady Who was with them For the night And they were having A barbecue down at the shore And she was walking down To the shore And the grass was slippery And she slipped She's an older lady And she slipped And she fell back And she bumped her head And she was really badly injured She was really sore And bleeding And so they phoned the ambulance And the ambulance took a look at her And they said We have to get this lady Rescued very very quickly She has to get to hospital And so Do you know what happened?
[42:03] Who came to rescue? We saw it yesterday up in the sky It was the Coast Guard helicopter So I think we've got a video Hopefully it'll work Of when it came in to rescue That was the Exceptели so that's it just coming into land it's just about to finish now I think so there we go imagine how relieved they all were when they saw in the dark sky the light starting to flash and then the helicopter coming down and it was looking for a safe place to land and it landed on this big meow this big field and the lady got taken into the helicopter and taken away she's well now she was rescued she was rescued and Jonah needed to be rescued he didn't call out the coast guard did he he didn't get out his phone in the middle of the belly of the fish because he didn't have them so who did he call out to he called out
[43:37] Jonah he called out to God and even before God answered Jonah he knew that God would hear him and he knew that God would answer him and so Jonah actually says as John Rory said to me a minute ago Jonah says thank you to God for answering the prayer before he even did answer the prayer but he did answer the prayer and Jake I think is now going to come and read what Jonah said about about the rescue thanks Jake but I but I but I with reading 6 Jonah 2 9 10 but I with a song of thanksgiving was sacrificed to you what I have vowed I will make good salvation comes from the Lord and the Lord commanded the fish and it vomited Jonah onto dry land thank you Jake give me that line again because you've got a good strong powerful voice what did Jonah say there salvation comes from the Lord say it again salvation comes from the Lord say it one more time salvation comes from the Lord absolutely thank you remember that let's all remember that's a great that's a great verse to remember salvation being saved being rescued it comes from the Lord
[45:04] Jonah he couldn't save himself because he's inside the belly of the big fish he couldn't call anybody else to come and help him he couldn't shout for for Ammon and the coast guard he cried out to God and God heard him and God saved him and that's the story of our salvation it's Jesus the Lord Jesus who who saves us we can't save ourselves not through the good things we try and do not through how many church services we try and go to we can't save ourselves and nobody else can save us in our hearts no one else can take our sin away there's only one savior and his name is Jesus and what did Jesus do to save us what did Jesus do to save us where did Jesus go Michael he went to the cross to save us didn't he and he died for us to take our sin away and he promises that everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved so again here's the question boys and girls men and ladies have you called on the name of the Lord Jesus yes
[46:23] I hear from this side have we called on the name of the Lord Jesus we repent we speak to God we say to him I'm sorry for my sins please take them away please will you save me and if we do that we're promised that he will hear us and he will save us it's called grace we don't deserve it we can't buy it we don't earn it but God gives it if we ask for it so we're going to sing now your grace that leads this sinner home your grace that leads the sinner home from death to life forever and sings the song of righteousness by blood and not by merit your grace that reaches far and wide to every tribe and nation has called my heart to enter in the joy of your salvation by grace
[48:00] I am received by grace I am restored and now I freely walk into the arms of Christ my Lord your grace your grace that I cannot explain not by my earthly wisdom the prince so might without a stain was traded for this sinner by grace I am redeemed by grace I am restored by grace I am restored and now I freely walk into the arms of Christ my Lord let praise rise up and overflow overflow my song my song resound forever for grace for grace will see me welcome to walk to walk beside my Savior by grace
[49:23] I am redeemed by grace I am restored and now I freely walk into the arms of Christ my Lord by grace I am redeemed by grace I am restored and now I freely walk into the arms of Christ my Lord the arms of Christ my Lord okay you've listened very well one last point before you get your prizes so Jonah what was he he was a rebel he rebelled and then what happened next he he repented he said sorry to God because of his sin and he asked for forgiveness and then the third thing is what happened with Jonah he was rescued and then the final thing is
[50:35] Jonah's revival Jonah's revival does anybody know what a revival is it's the kind of word that we don't use very often John Rory your finger was up pardon he comes back Jonah comes back to God yeah in his heart he's he's revived and he needs to keep on being revived sometimes we use the word revival I'll show you something here what's this it's a charger isn't it yeah what does it come it's a charger yeah for a phone for one of the oldest phones in the world look at it it's a charger for a phone and if you've got a phone and it's flat you can plug it in and it's revived the power goes through it and it can be it can be used again and sometimes
[51:38] God does that in a place sometimes a place can be a bit flat there's nothing much happening people are not too excited about Jesus and then God comes and he revives the place about 70 years ago here in Harris there were stories about we were listening to this in the prayer meeting a few weeks ago there wasn't much happening there was a lady who was speaking and she was saying hardly anybody was going to the prayer meeting everybody was too busy working and the two elders who were doing the prayer meeting they said we're going to have to stop this we're going to have to close this meeting nobody's coming because everything was very flat but then God started to revive the people and the week they were going to close it two more people actually came and they thought we can't close it this week we'll leave it another week or two and then more people came and more people came and then
[52:44] God started to save to rescue people in their hearts people started to believe in Jesus and across Harris and in Lewis there was lots of people whole villages whole families who just all of a sudden and all together they started to believe in Jesus and they were saved and that was God's plan for Nineveh remember God said to Jonah at the very beginning Jonah I want you to go to Nineveh and I want you to bring the message that I'm going to give you to that people and Jonah said I don't like Nineveh I don't like the people I don't want to go then after all this stuff that's happened Jonah he goes to Nineveh well God says to him I want you Jonah to go to Nineveh do the thing I asked you to do in the first place and God wanted to use Jonah to bring a revival to use his power to go through Nineveh so John
[53:46] Rory I think you're going to read the last of the readings then the word of Lord came to Jonah a second time go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh now Nineveh was a very important city a visit a visit required three days on the first day Jonah started into the city he proclaimed forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned the Ninevites believed God thanks thanks so the Ninevites believed God the message was in forty days Nineveh is going to be overturned but they believed
[54:46] God and they repented didn't they yeah and so what happened tell us what happened you know in Sunday school was Nineveh overturned were all the people wiped out no they were not they were saved thanks you can sit down thanks for doing that do you know boys and girls how many people were saved in Nineveh you know we talk about a revival and there can be hundreds of people who are saved in a place how many people were saved in Nineveh at the one time how many people believed in God at the one time guess give me a few guesses Daniel 50,000 good guess higher Lois good guess higher Ailey 130,000 just a wee bit lower it was about 120,000 people can you imagine that one day the city is so dark and nobody's interested in
[56:02] God and everybody's doing their own thing and they're going their own way and then the message comes from Jonah and it's not a very encouraging message it's a warning message and they hear and they believe and the like the prime minister of the place says right everybody I want you to listen to this message we need to turn from the way that we've been living we need to trust in God and 120,000 people were saved and God used Jonah to do that now was Jonah perfect no he was far from perfect wasn't he before God used him he wasn't very perfect that's why he ended up in the in the sea and in the whale or the big fish even and after God used Jonah he wasn't perfect either and that's in chapter 4 and we're not going there today but the thing is Jonah disobeyed God but God gave him another chance and God used Jonah even though he wasn't very perfect in this great revival and the message for us is that God can use us boys and girls listen to me just for the last one minute because this is important do you know God can use you if you believe in him if you've trusted Jesus then God can use every one of you and you might say oh I'm about young
[57:43] God can use people who are young others on this side might say I'm a bit old God can use people who are old and you might say well I've done things that I shouldn't have done sometimes I lose my temper and I've said things I shouldn't have said so had Jonah God can still use you so I want to just encourage all of us to believe that even though we're not perfect the same God who used Jonah if we're willing he'll use us the same God who saved a hundred and twenty thousand people in one day can still do that here you know you have some friends at school and they might say I don't believe in that thing about God I'm not going to church I don't believe any of that stuff but if you tell them about
[58:45] Jesus and if they can see Jesus in you God can use you to reach them and for the older ones it's the same thing in your work your families as we trust in Jesus as we tell people about Jesus as we try to live close to Jesus even though we're not perfect and we never will be in this world God can still use us he loved Nineveh he loves Tarbert he loves us and he wants to save so let's be encouraged by Jonah and let's pray that God will do a work of revival here as he did there so let's just have a very short prayer just now Lord we thank you for the message of Jonah we thank you that although he was a rebel as he repented you rescued him and you used him in the biggest revival in all the
[59:50] Bible and we pray that you would be working in our lives we know that we are rebels all of us sin please take our sin away we ask help us to be repenting every day and we ask Lord that you would save us that you would revive us and that you would use us to reach the people that we love to tell them about Jesus and for the boys and girls especially thank you that they're the some of the best evangelists that we have here thank you for the way that they tell their friends about Jesus and tell their friends to come along to jam and to connect and to all these things we pray that you would work in the school we pray that you would work in our families we pray that you would work in this place as you did in the living and bring many many people to salvation which comes to the Lord Jesus and we ask this in Jesus name and for his sake amen thank you boys and girls for listening so well and Gordon's going to now just pray for all the young ones you can come let us pray dear heavenly father we thank you for each one of these young ones that you have blessed us with and we recognize heavenly father with great blessing comes great responsibility as we pray for them as we seek to nurture them in the church as parents as grandparents as aunts and uncles as teachers here in the
[61:21] Sunday school and youth fellowship leaders we pray heavenly father that you would equip each one of us to be able to bring up these children to know and to love you our hearts desire for them is that they would remember their creator in the days of their youth that heavenly father that as they grow that they would grow to know and to love you that they would recognize heavenly father that you sent your son Jesus to rescue each and every one of them from a world of sin and that heavenly father that as seeds are sown into their lives as these seeds are watered through prayer that each one of them heavenly father would according to your time and according to your purpose come before you and recognize that you are their lord and that you are their savior we thank you that you have a plan for each and every one of them and we pray heavenly father that you would mold them that you would shape them that you would use us each one of us in that as we have heard this morning that heavenly father we are not too young and we are not too old for heavenly father we can come and we can pray to you so we pray that you would guide us as a congregation we thank you heavenly father for all that is done for the young ones here the
[62:41] Sunday school the creche the little fishes jam connect and rooted and digging deeper we pray that you pray heavenly father that as the children come that they would learn more of you and that each one of them heavenly father that they would recognize that you love them that you care for them and that your arms are wide open seeking to receive them so we pray heavenly father that as we seek to build here that you would help us heavenly father in laying a solid foundation for these children and that heavenly father that as each one of us seeks to build into their lives that they would grow heavenly father and this church would indeed flourish under the preaching of your word and the worship of your name and that heavenly father that we would indeed know what it is to stand firm on the truth of your bible that you have given us to guide us and how we may glorify and enjoy you forever so we thank you for this time together we thank you heavenly father for our children again and we pray that you would bless them that you would guide them that you would help them to grow in you in Jesus precious name amen amen we'll sing now to close the service almost oh sorry the most important thing the children are going to sing sorry about that out you come boys and girls you're going to sing a song someone we're looking someone had the face oh we thought we'd got away with it so they were singing next door a wee minute well an hour ago singing very loud so we're going to hear singing that top voice chant seeing with
[64:56] Thank you.
[65:26] Thank you.
[65:56] Thank you. Thank you.
[66:56] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[67:30] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[67:42] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[67:54] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[68:08] here big pile brick after brick so come and get them next sunday we're going to sing now and we're going to bring the service to a conclusion with mission praise 760 and it's a hymn where we're encouraged to trust and obey the lord in the light of his word what a glory he sheds on our way while we do his good will he abides with us still and with all who will trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in jesus but to trust and obey not a shadow can rise not a cloud in the skies but this one quickly drives it away not a doubt nor a fear not a sign or a tear can abide while we trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in jesus but to trust and obey not a burden we bear not a sorrow we share but our toil he doth wish we repay not a grief nor a loss not a fear nor a loss not a fear nor a loss but it's blessed if we trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in jesus but to trust and obey trust and obey trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in jesus but to trust and obey trust and obey in fellowship sweet we will say we will say we will say we will say we will say we will go we will say we will say we will say we will say we will say we will say we will say we will be like we will say we can and absolutely follow our ivy and sisters and we will say we will say we will say theное way trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in jesus but to trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey and now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God the Father and the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit
[72:09] be with us all now and forevermore Amen