[0:00] Good evening and warm welcome to the service this evening. We're going to begin this time of worship saying to God's praise from Psalm 62. Psalm 62 the first two verses, the first two stanzas, my soul with expectation depends on God indeed my strength and my salvation from him alone proceed he only my salvation is and my strong rock is he he only is my sure defense much moved I shall not be these two verses to God's praise we sing in Gaelic and after we've sang INA will lead us in prayer in Gaelic please The Fighting Ammon Abroad The Lodend The Wings Thank you.
[1:19] Thank you.
[1:49] Thank you.
[2:19] Thank you. Thank you.
[3:19] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[4:27] Thank you. Thank you.
[5:27] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[5:39] Thank you. Thank you. Many people felt like the new repertoire was built for one?". Some of them knew holed and which area was Shakespeare except for all kinds of escuela.
[5:58] They were lá Bunun. Then they called you to talk toee hip arbeiten The new operation and this is batch a refrigerator a 100 o Star for many days to Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye and I heard no French Set第二 week called Michelin football club.
[6:48] We were led by at the Madrid and the sound ofará reporting theender belt of dignity.
[6:59] And our shows that the chose to be permitted by an Australian Flow which gives you special effects.acinaatariacanaatariaciting you are too much closer to some lies for the mayor.
[7:57] .
[8:26] Itiantes getaljes free from that and i would refer to c...! To look for things as such as omels and ngоты Maybe Europe began to see the difference when it comes to India and with Would Till Diamen the Gunn Bicet 2001 a kimсяw or GB gusto in avocado lam gu Tut ory, an andoes ory to a cwtioch.
[9:23] Has i'n agor ni mhach gwympi o conlurin enoch, has i'n agor ni gwympi e sylach, egus fflosioch gwyfl o conlurin, egus gwyflsioch yn o'n lardoch gy ti arna. Has i'n agatioch chi gair piach giann.
[9:34] Y gwymi oes dynoch, has i'n cho fawn, has i'n cho wac, has i'n cho reybiltach, egus has i'n cho trich gydi anef na rwtyn, na chyllsi norson i anef. Mae'r fan abstol hen erach. Ta'n di i, a gwynt o'n i'ch chriost anon, colinig na hamysher, egus gynt o reyniau, gynt jachau gynnech rawn, egus gynt o cholenna, y hwlyg alaf ar e, egus yn esgy gyflwyl cora macyn, e fi y gadiach i gair piach giann, egus y ffein mysnoch, egus sylch, tro fi y gadiach i'ch na rwtyn na hysinidiann y fciar.
[10:02] Cwm sy'n ffas gors tein, egus yn esgy gybi o dal hosioch gwaen, ers gael chriost. Amen. Amen.
[10:15] We'll sing again now to God's praise, the hymn that's on the screen, Your Grace That Calls This Sinner Home. And we'll stand to sing in just a moment. unaff какorted doc o ran, Your grace that leads to sin and hope, from death to life forever, and sings the song of righteousness by blood and not by bed.
[11:08] Your grace that leads to sin and hope, from death to life forever, has called my heart to enter in the joy of your salvation.
[11:32] By grace I am redeemed, by grace I am restored, and now I freely walk into the arms of Christ my Lord.
[11:52] Your grace that I cannot explain, not by my earthly wisdom.
[12:06] The Prince of life without the same was traded for this sinner.
[12:16] By grace I am redeemed, by grace I am restored, and now I freely walk into the arms of Christ my Lord.
[12:38] Let grace rise up and overflow, my song resumed forever.
[12:51] For grace will see me welcomed home, to walk beside my Savior.
[13:02] By grace I am redeemed, by grace I am restored, and now I freely walk into the arms of Christ my Lord.
[13:22] By grace I am redeemed, by grace I am restored, and now I freely walk into the arms of Christ my Lord.
[13:42] If you could turn with me now please to Genesis chapter 18.
[14:01] Genesis chapter 18 as we continue through the life of Abraham. Genesis chapter 18 as we continue through the life of Abraham.
[14:22] And we will read from verse 1. I suppose it's been a while since we've been in this, and you can glance back through the previous chapters, and we see the Lord appearing to Abraham, to Abraham, and making these promises.
[14:43] And Abraham is called to walk by faith, and he doesn't always walk steadily, but the Lord is with him. And we have this chapter here where there's an appearance.
[14:56] The Lord appears to Abraham. And let's read from verse 1. The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre, while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.
[15:12] Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them, and bowed low to the ground.
[15:23] He said, Very well, he answered.
[15:45] Do as you say. So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. Quick, he said, Get three sears of fine flour, and knead it, and bake some bread.
[15:57] Then he ran to the herd, and selected a choice tender calf, and gave it to a servant who hurried to prepare it. He then brought some curds and milk, and the calf that had been prepared, and set them before them.
[16:11] While they ate, he stood near them under a tree. Where is your wife Sarah? They asked him. There in the tent, he said. Then the Lord said, I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah, your wife, will have a son.
[16:29] Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.
[16:40] So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, After I am worn out, and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure? Then the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh and say, Will I really have a child now that I am old?
[16:57] Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son. Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, I did not laugh.
[17:08] But he said, Yes, you did laugh. When the men got up to leave, they looked down towards Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way.
[17:20] Then the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord, by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.
[17:43] Then the Lord said, The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin is so grievous, that I will go down to see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me.
[17:58] If not, I will know. The men turned away and went towards Sodom. But Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Then Abraham approached him and said, Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
[18:11] What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike.
[18:28] Far be it from you. Will not the judge of all the earth do right? The Lord said, If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.
[18:41] Then Abraham spoke up again, Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty?
[18:53] Will you destroy the whole city because of five people? If I find forty-five there, he said, I will not destroy it. Once again he spoke to him, What if only forty are found there?
[19:06] He said, For the sake of forty I will not do it. Then he said, May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there? He answered, I will not do it if I find thirty there.
[19:20] Abraham said, Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, What if only twenty can be found there? He said, For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.
[19:32] Then he said, May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there? He answered, For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.
[19:44] When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left. And Abraham returned home. Amen. And may God bless that reading of his word to us.
[19:55] We'll sing again now from the psalm that we began with, Psalm 62. Psalm 62. And we will sing from verses 5 through to verse 8 of the psalm.
[20:11] My soul wait thou with patience upon thy God alone. Upon him dependeth all my hope and expectation. He only my salvation is, and my strong rock is he.
[20:23] He only is my sure defense, I shall not moved be. In God my glory placed is, and my salvation sure. In God the rock is of my strength, my refuge most secure.
[20:35] Ye people, place your confidence in him continually. Before him pour ye out your heart. God is our refuge high. We'll sing these verses to God's praise, and we'll stand to sing.
[20:48] Amen. My soul wait thou with patience upon thy God alone.
[21:09] On him dependeth all my hope and expectation.
[21:23] He only my salvation is, on my strong rock is he.
[21:40] He only is my sure defense, I shall not be.
[21:50] I shall not be. I shall not be. In God my glory places, He is my salvation sure.
[22:09] He is my salvation sure. In God the rock is all my strength, my refuge most secure.
[22:25] He is my salvation sure. He is my salvation sure. hear the book does. To be a blessing, greater God, You can enter you.
[22:44] He is my salvation, God is our refuge high. It's a refuge high.
[23:12] Just before we turn back to the section that we read together, I want to just say something to the boys and girls. Good to see a few of the boys and girls here tonight.
[23:27] Now, I wasn't going to say this, but when I was reading, I kept noticing something, and it made me think. Did any of you, when you were listening to the bit that we were reading, did any of you notice what kind of house Abraham lived in?
[23:50] No? Was it a flat, block of flats, you know, like you see in Glasgow?
[24:02] No? Was it a semi-detached bungalow? Did we see that? No? Adults, help us out. What did we see? The word kept coming to me when I was reading it.
[24:15] Listen to this, okay? The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent.
[24:28] He was in a tent. That's what he lived in. Now, put your hand up if you live in a tent. When do you use a tent?
[24:39] Tell us, Christy and Miriam. When you go camping. When you go camping, yeah. When you go camping, you use a tent.
[24:51] So, if you're on a journey, and maybe you're going to go, and you're going to walk up some hills, like Duncan does on his holidays. He doesn't like to go and put his feet up.
[25:02] He likes to drag poor Mordog across the countryside, from mountain to mountain. And when you're going on a journey like that, you take a tent, because you're going to need a bit of cover, and so you put your tent up, and you stay in the place for a wee while.
[25:19] You might sleep overnight, and then you move on to the next place. And Abraham keeps saying it in the passage, that he was in his tent.
[25:32] They said, where's Sarah? He said, he's in the tent. And it's a picture, boys and girls, of the way that God wants us to live here.
[25:45] Because we live in this world for a wee while, and when we're in this world, we're called to follow the Lord. He takes us to different places. He gives us different jobs to do.
[25:58] But we're only here for a wee while. And then Jesus says, in his father's house, there are many mansions. And that's our home.
[26:11] We're just here for a while. We're to live like Abraham lived. We're to remember we're just really in tents. They're made of bricks. But they're just tents.
[26:22] And eventually, if we're trusting in Jesus, he will take us to the place where there's a real home. That's his promise. So let's remember that when we're living in this world.
[26:38] And let's pray about that just now. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for these pictures that you give to us. We thank you that every time we come to a passage, even though we might have been studying it all week long.
[26:53] We see just a wee bit more, and we see lessons that you're teaching us. You've told us in your word that we have no continuing city here, but there is one to come for those who are in Christ.
[27:09] So help us to live in this world, thankful for all the good things that you give to us. Help us to live in this world and to enjoy the good gifts that come from your hand.
[27:21] But help us to remember that we're just here for a while. And so we're almost like Abraham, going in a tent from this place to that place. And we ask, Lord, that you would make us ready for heaven, that we would be trusting in the Lord Jesus and that we would remember our true home is there.
[27:42] Help us, Lord, we pray as we open your word and as we study it a little more just now to be attentive, to expect that you will meet with us and that you will speak to us.
[27:55] And we pray for your blessing and your presence with us now. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Tonight what we're doing is we're simply returning to the texts that we were studying before Christmas.
[28:12] The same as we did this morning in the Christmas season. We went on a journey to Isaiah and Genesis and Micah and various places as we thought about all the prophecies that take us to the Christmas story.
[28:29] So we kind of went off in a different direction for a while and tonight we're just going back to the texts we were in before December. And we've reached Genesis 18 tonight.
[28:42] We're coming towards the conclusion in Luke's Gospel in the morning. And there's two very different texts that we've been in today. And these texts are written by different authors although the same spirit inspired them.
[28:58] They're written thousands of years apart. And yet there's a clear connection in both these texts. Because in both passages the Lord appears to his people.
[29:14] There's what the scholars called a theophany. The Lord appears to his people. And yet in the first instance there isn't a clear recognition of the Lord.
[29:28] So the first point for this evening is the Lord appeared to Abraham. The second point is the Lord supped. He eats with Abraham.
[29:41] The third point is the Lord challenges Sarah's unbelief. And then points four and five I have on the page but I may not get to tonight.
[29:53] So you're getting a preview anyway. The Lord warns Abraham of the judgment to come and the Lord listens to Abraham's prayer. There's a good chance we'll reserve these for Wednesday night.
[30:06] But we'll see how we go time-wise. First of all the Lord appears to Abraham. Verse 1 The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.
[30:23] So the thing that we can note here as this chapter begins is that it's God who takes the initiative. And if we rewind to the beginning of the Abraham account in Genesis chapter 12 we see that God is the one who takes the initiative.
[30:43] Always. Throughout the life of Abraham and throughout the life of all of God's people it's God who takes the initiative. There's no one who seeks God. It's not that it begins with us.
[30:57] When we have an interest when we have a desire to want to know the Lord it's because the Lord is working in our hearts. He's awakening us.
[31:12] Think about Genesis 12 for a moment. Abraham is a pagan. He's a million miles away from having any thought of God or any knowledge of God.
[31:30] He's living in a different place a different life disconnected from the God of Israel and yet out of the blue God appears to Abraham and God calls Abraham into a relationship with him and now in Genesis 18 it's the same formula.
[31:55] Abraham is sitting at the entrance of his tent. It's a normal day. He's doing normal things like sitting at the entrance of his tent and the Lord appears to to Abraham.
[32:14] That was the way the Lord worked and that's still the way the Lord works. if we are Christians we can think back to the beginning of our Christian lives and it was the Lord who appeared to us.
[32:31] I mean I can think back to being about aged eight just about the same age boys and girls I can remember being about aged eight and before that I never thought much about God but through one or two bad things that I did I started to feel guilty I started to think about what God was thinking about me I started to hear his voice in Sunday school and at church and in the Bible because God was drawing me he was calling me to come to him.
[33:07] Our lives begin our Christian lives begin whether we're aged eight or whether we're aged 80 with the Lord appearing to us. We don't seek him until he first appears to us and seeks us and this is the way our Christian lives go on.
[33:26] This is how we stay fresh. This is how we keep on keeping on. The Lord appears with us. The Lord speaks to us.
[33:37] The Lord listens to us. We're here tonight not simply because it's our routine to be here. We're here tonight I hope because we believe that the Lord will appear to us and he will meet with us and he will speak with us because that's his promise where two or three meet together in the name of Jesus he says I will be with them.
[34:04] The Lord appeared to Abraham the Lord promises that this evening he will appear to us. He will meet with us.
[34:17] But then remember tomorrow morning and Tuesday afternoon when we're just doing normal stuff when we're driving our van when we're walking about in the classroom when we're in the surgery or we're out in the croft or we're sitting in the chair let's live with that expectation of the Lord appearing and meeting with us.
[34:50] Abraham's not in church when the Lord appears to him he's just sitting on a normal day doing normal stuff and the Lord draws near. so let's live with that expectation of the Lord appearing.
[35:07] Let's as one of the old writers put it in a book the title of the book is practicing the presence of God.
[35:20] If we're Christians let's practice the presence of God he's always with us but we forget that. so let's live with that sense of being in the presence of God.
[35:41] Abraham finds that the Lord appears to him and in verse 2 we read Abraham looked up and he saw three men standing nearby.
[35:55] When he saw them he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and he bowed low to the ground. And here we have a description of how Abraham responds when the Lord appears.
[36:13] Because when we are in the presence of God the God who made all things the God who is almighty there is a right way and there is a wrong way to respond.
[36:25] And we are taught here through Abraham's reactions how we can appropriately respond to being in God's presence.
[36:37] It is not spelled out here but it is very clear that Abraham senses he knows he is in the presence of God. So how does he respond when he realises that the Lord is near?
[36:48] Well he responds with a sense of urgency. Do you notice that he drops everything? He's sitting there and he's in the heat of the day the hottest part of the day when normally I guess they would have been having a siesta.
[37:06] Likely he's dozing off. But when he realises that the Lord and these two heavenly messengers are with him and they are nearby he doesn't let the heat of the day deter him he doesn't let the sleep in his eyes cause him to be lethargic.
[37:25] He responds with a sense of urgency. He meets them. He greets them. And he shows reverence.
[37:38] He bows low it says to the ground like the magi the wise men that we thought about in Matthew 2 two Sunday evenings ago I think it was.
[37:55] They bowed low. There was reverence when they came into the presence of Jesus. And so we're taught here how we are to respond when we are in the Lord's presence.
[38:09] And I think there's a recurring point here for us. Sometimes we keep coming across the same point in different places all at one time.
[38:20] And one recurring point we saw in Matthew 2 with the wise men. We saw in Psalm 96 when we were studying that two weeks ago. The need for reverence.
[38:34] The need to be ready to bow low when we are in the presence of God. God. The need for godly fear.
[38:47] That sense of overwhelming awe that silences us and arrests us. This keeps on coming up in various texts that we've been going to so we should note it.
[39:09] Abraham when he is aware that the Lord is appearing to him he bows low and he responds with great urgency as he seeks to serve the Lord.
[39:30] And there's a real connection there. Now without godly fear without reverence we will never hurry attend to the Lord and the Lord's work because my work and my comfort and my convenience will always take precedence.
[39:56] Without godly fear we will not seek first the Lord's kingdom and his righteousness. We will seek first what we want to seek first.
[40:10] But when we have that godly fear when we have that true vision of the greatness of God and the smallness of me then we will bow in wonder and our hearts will leap with praise that the God of heaven and earth would choose to meet with and appear to us.
[40:38] So the Lord appeared to Abraham. That's the first thing that we note here. The second point is the Lord supped with Abraham and for the young ones you might think what on earth does supped mean?
[40:52] Well it's just kind of short for supper. You know we have our supper. We eat and we see here that the Lord and these two that were with them they supped they ate with Abraham and it's because Abraham invites them to come closer.
[41:13] Abraham says in verse 3 if I have found favour in your eyes my Lord do not pass your servant by. And this connects with the morning again it wasn't something that I had any plan for or particular knowledge of beforehand but we see the connection in the morning.
[41:37] Remember the Emmaus Road there's these two characters and the Lord appears and the Lord walks with them and the Lord Jesus he makes as if he's going to go further and they say no no no we want you to stay with us.
[41:55] We don't want you to pass on by. We want you to stay close. And there's that kind of picture here in this passage as well.
[42:10] Abraham is saying if I have found favour in your eyes don't pass your servant by stay. Stay close. And yet there's that recognition on the part of Abraham that he can't demand this he can't make any demands on the Lord.
[42:28] he's appealing to the grace or the in the NIV the translation is the favour of the Lord. He knows he's not deserving but he wants to know the Lord's presence anyway and that's something that we should know that's something that we should never lose sight of.
[42:50] We sang it in the second praise your grace that brought the sinner home. the only hope that we have is the grace of God.
[43:09] The only way that we can know God that we can know the presence of God the only way that we can enter into relationship with God the only way that we can know our sins forgiven and the promise of eternal life and the joy of being in the Lord's presence it comes down to his grace.
[43:33] We are not deserving of the least of his mercies but God shows to us grace and love and patience and kindness.
[43:48] Day by day we should be overwhelmed with the sense of the Lord's favor that he does not pass us by but that he appears to us.
[44:03] He meets with us. he speaks to us. He listens to us. He forgives us for all the sin that we've done again that we resolve would never do and yet we fall back into it and we feel the guilt and we feel the disappointment we feel the shame we come to the Lord even though the devil is saying you've got no right you can't come to him stay away from him and yet the Lord says come to me all who are weary all who are burdened all who know their sin I will give you rest.
[44:38] Why? Because of his favor because of his grace. He doesn't pass us by but he appears to us and so Abraham says in verse 3 if I find favor in your eyes do not pass your servant by.
[44:56] Verse 4 let a little water be brought and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat so that you can be refreshed and then go on your way now that you have come to your servant.
[45:10] Very well they answered do as you say. So Abraham extends the invitation and the Lord and these two that are found with him in this occasion they accept the invitation they they sup with Abraham.
[45:35] And in biblical times food was not fast food. You know it wasn't drive-through meals. Meals weren't pit stops but to eat with someone was to share fellowship.
[45:49] That's why Jesus got into a whole lot of trouble from his critics when he was eating with tax collectors and sinners. To eat was to show friendship. It was to share intimacy.
[46:03] And so Abraham is wanting to know that sense of intimacy. He's desiring to be close with God and so he says stop and eat with me.
[46:16] Sup with me. And then we see Abraham running through from there into the kitchen of this big tent. So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah verse 6.
[46:32] Quick he said get three sears of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread. He was a brave man running into his wife and demanding that. Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice tender calf and gave it to a servant who hurried to prepare it.
[46:47] And again note the urgency. He's saying quick let's get moving here and he runs. He doesn't saunter through. He hurries in what he's doing.
[46:59] There's a priority here. There's this attentiveness that went to serving the Lord. And note that he's not going to serve just the remnants of what's at the back of the fridge. He says it's got to be the best of stuff.
[47:13] A choice tender calf. And then he brought some curds verse 8 and milk and the calf that had been prepared and set them before them while they ate.
[47:25] He stood near them under a tree. And it's a striking picture that we have here. As the Lord eats, God eats with Abraham.
[47:46] Abraham prepares carefully and with great urgency and the Lord receives. He eats what is prepared and Abraham stands nearby because he's thirsting for that closeness to God.
[48:08] Now let me ask the question of you as I've been asking the question of myself throughout this week. Do we thirst for closeness with God?
[48:24] Do we thirst for intimacy with God? Or are we the kind of people who are content to have a ticket that gets us into heaven but we want to stay at a distance?
[48:45] We want to be on the fringes. We want to be not too fully immersed in our walk with God.
[49:01] God there's a verse in Revelation and I'll read it in the authorised version and the Lord Jesus is standing at the door and says behold I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me.
[49:33] Now I've heard that text preached many times and it's usually preached in such a way as to call those who are unbelievers to open the door of their hearts and let the Lord Jesus in.
[49:54] But that text was not written to unbelievers that text is a word that Jesus directed to a group of lukewarm believers.
[50:07] That text is a passage where Jesus comes to the door of a church that have put him on the outside and he's knocking.
[50:23] He's knocking at the door of a church of a group of believers who have lost fellowship with Jesus who have lost intimacy with Jesus and he's promising that if they will open the door that he will sup with them that he will restore that intimacy that close walk with God that we sang of this morning and it's a picture that's not just for a church fellowship but it's a picture that's for every believer every Christian there can be times in our lives when we let things in we let sin take a hold of us we pick up idols that become precious to us and all of a sudden we find that the close walk that we had with Jesus is gone Jesus is on the outside and it doesn't mean we're not saved but it means we're drifting we don't have that sense of his presence we don't have the intimacy the closeness that we once had and yet
[51:35] Jesus in his grace and in his patience he knocks on the door of our lives and he says will you open the door because if you open the door then I will come in and I will eat with you and you will know intimacy you will know that sense of my presence and my blessing and perhaps Jesus is dealing with some of us even this evening perhaps he's dealing with someone who's watching somewhere far away and he's saying to them he's saying to us I'm knocking I see the sin I see the idols that you're clinging onto smash them repent of sin open the door and I will come in and replace my zeal my love and I will chase out any lukewarmness that's come in the Lord the Lord supped with
[52:59] Abraham the Lord appeared to Abraham and we're going to leave it there tonight so let's pray heavenly father we thank you for your word we thank you that you're the God who draws near to us that's how our Christian lives began for those of us who are in Christ we thank you for the time that we can look back on when we became aware of our sin and when we became aware that you are the God who calls us to come to you we thank you for the faith that enables us to come we thank you for the grace of the Lord Jesus that deals with our sin that opens up the way to the father that opens up the doors of heaven we thank you that you keep on Lord appearing to us as we open your word we thank you that we do so expecting that you will speak as we meet together in a place like this we thank you that we have that expectation that you will meet with us and even in the most mundane things in our lives the places that we go that are just normal and routine we thank you that you have promised
[54:24] Lord Jesus that you will never leave us that you will never forsake us but that you are with us we confess that often we lose sight of you often we lose that sense of your presence and we pray that you would forgive us for that help us we pray to remember that we are always in your presence help us to live for your glory with that knowledge that you are watching our every move that you are listening to our every word you are scanning our every thought you are weighing our every motivation that causes us to do what we do so help us we pray to live with that sense of your presence and we pray for that close walk as the hymn goes we are those who are prone to wander we are like sheep to go astray but we thank you that you keep on appearing to us you keep on calling us close and we ask
[55:24] Lord that each one of us this evening would come to you that we would hear the knock of the Lord Jesus if there are areas of our lives that we have closed and that we would repent of sin that we would drop the idols that we pick up and that we would embrace the Lord Jesus who extends his hand to us even this evening pray for any who may have to come to Jesus for the first time who have never yet repented who are still at a distance determinedly so and we ask that you would break down the barriers that you would soften hard hearts that you would create a soul thirst for Christ in lives that may at this point be dead so hear our prayers be at work Lord we pray in our lives and in our fellowship and we pray this in Jesus name
[56:26] Amen we'll sing to conclude Mission Praise 482 Nearer my God to thee nearer my God to thee nearer to thee ill though it be a cross that traceth me still all my song would be nearer my God to thee nearer to thee nearer to thee nearer to thee nor like the wonderer the sun gone the darkness be over me
[57:45] I rest the storm yet in my dreams I be nearer my God to thee nearer to thee nearer to thee nearer to thee nearer to thee there and the way appear steps unto them all All that thou sendest me in mercy here Precious to that God be Nearer my God to thee
[58:46] Nearer to thee Nearer to thee Then with my waiting thoughts Bright with thy grace Out of my stony griefs Ever I wish So by my voice to thee Nearer my God to thee Nearer to thee Nearer to thee Or if on joyful wind
[59:47] Leading the sky Sun, moon and stars For God Upwards I'll fly Still all my songs shall be Nearer my God to thee Nearer to thee Nearer to thee Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit, be with us all now and forevermore. Amen.