[0:00] Well good morning and welcome to our service this morning. A special welcome to any visitors that are here with us and I would certainly ask that if you have time to stay back and join us for a cup of tea or coffee and some fellowship after the service. Everyone is welcome. The service this evening at 6pm will be conducted by Dr Anthony Latham.
[0:30] The information is for the week. The Ladies Bible study meets at 8pm on Monday night. The Roads of Recovery meets on Tuesday at 8pm in the Community Centre here. And the prayer meeting on Wednesday at 7.30pm here in the Community Centre.
[0:48] For the Minister as in Haldie from the 7th to the 30th of July, if there are any pastoral issues please speak to one of the elders in the first instance, the Reverend Roddy Morrison and the Reverend Andrew Coggle will be available should anyone wish to speak with the Minister.
[1:05] And God willing the services next Sunday will be conducted by the Reverend Roddy Morrison at 11am and 6pm by Mr Duncan MacPherson, the Session Clerk. These are all the incarnations this morning.
[1:21] Let us come together and sing God's praise from Psalm 139. Psalm 139 from verses 1 down to the end of the verse Mark 10.
[1:33] 1 Mark 10. 3 1-1.
[2:00] me these verses to God's place and we'll stand to sing. O Lord, thou hast me searched a note thou dost my city earth a rising up yea, all my thoughts are heard to thee I know my footsteps and my lying down thou come the special wish there was so much and time we are up with all my ways for in my tongue before
[3:20] I speak not any work can be but all together O Lord Lord it is well Lord to thee behind before thou hast be set and laid on me thine hand such knowledge is too strange for me too high to understand from thy spirit shall
[4:27] I go or from thy presence cry as in thy hand through the heart there in hell I lie take idle or make wings undwell in utmost parts of sea in there shall thy hand be big thy right and more shall be let us pray in prayer let us pray gracious never blessed
[5:42] Lord we thank you that we can come before you this morning if we can come and we can gather into your presence and as we have sung there we acknowledge that we come before a Lord that has searched us and that has known us that are lying down are rising up you know our words before they are even on our lips and we come before you this morning and we do indeed seek to worship you to worship you in to worship you and give you all the glory and honour that you have given and we thank you this morning that we can come and we can come to you and that heavenly father that we can come before a God that hears and answers for you no matter what our burden is this morning no matter what it is that makes us anxious you tell us through your word to come before you to cast our cares to cast our anxieties before you for you do indeed care for us and heavenly father your yoke is easy and your burden is light and we pray and we cast our burdens before you this morning we come before you and we remember those that are unable to be with us this morning some some some some were on holiday at time of rest but some laid low through sickness some in hospital at this time we bring in before you heavenly father and we ask that you would uphold that heavenly father your healing hand would be stayed upon for you are indeed the great physician and heavenly father as they wait results as they wait different warden whether they stay in the hospital they're in or travel to another that you would be with them that you would be with the family that you would uphold each one of them heavenly father in their different need and as they wait with expectation upon you heavenly father we know that in waiting upon you our strength is we need heavenly father we bring before you a minister at this time and we pray that it's himself and
[8:10] Mary and the girls are away in public that you would be with them that you would strengthen them again that you would indeed restore heavenly father his strength during this time of rest and that he would need to return here refreshed to us to continue the ministry that you have called them to be and that you have blessed him and through blessing him you have blessed each one of us here and heavenly father we thank you for oh heavenly father we thank you for answers prayer for those that we see amongst us this morning that have been through many trials and testings to help and heavenly father you have restored them and they are back here worshipping with us and we thank you for it and heavenly father we pray that you would guide us as we continue here as we read your word as we speak with the children as we sing your praise as we break down your word further heavenly father we pray in all these things that you would guide and direct us that we would know your hand upon us and that heavenly father that we would walk in your strength and not our own we pray this as we come before you now sending all things to your glory as we seek forgiveness of our sins in
[9:42] Jesus precious name Amen Boys and girls would you like to come down to the front God good warm standing up here how are you all this morning fine you're on holiday from school you must be better than fine how are you all this morning you all lost your tongues yeah you've all gone shy right I'm going to tell you a story this morning and it's a true story because it happened to me okay it was a long long time ago 20 years ago how many of you are 20 none of you none of you are 20 how many of you are 10 one so it's a long long time ago and I'll tell you what happened
[10:54] I was working as a policeman here in Carver and it was Christmas time and it had been snowing and my mum and dad stayed in this and Jillian and I decided that we would go to Ness to have Christmas dinner with my mum and dad so we set off and it was nice here but when we reached Palallan it started snowing and it didn't just start a couple of drops of snow it was snowing really heavy and we could hardly see where we were going we reached Stornway only to find out that the Barber's Moor was closed now that was the road that we had to take to get to Ness so we went to the police station and we waited and we waited and then we got word that the snowplough was going to do a run across the Barber's Moor if we wanted to follow it so we followed the snowplough across the Barber's Moor and we reached Ness spent the night there got up in the morning and we didn't open our presents in the morning do you know why?
[12:10] my dad was very very anxious he was pacing back and forth at the kitchen window and every so often he would look out to see if he could see something and the place was just white do you know what he was looking for?
[12:26] can anyone guess what he might have been looking for? he was looking for sheep can you imagine? it was Christmas day and it was white outside and he had a pair of binoculars and he was looking for sheep do you know why he was looking for his sheep?
[12:44] he was worried about them when the weather had been better he had put sheep out to the moor so they could feed out there and all of a sudden it started snowing and the snow was very deep so my dad knew that there was going to be no grass that the sheep would have been able to get to so he was worried about them so what we did was we had a very quick breakfast put our oil skins on welly boots on and I followed my dad out the moored road to see if we could find the sheep the place was white what colour are sheep?
[13:21] white how easy do you think it was going to be to find them? it was going to be hard and I'm following my dad out the road thinking is this the right thing to be doing? and there was this track that we were following that the tractors used to go and collect the peats and it was fine when we were on the track because I knew I could follow the track back home but then my dad after a couple of miles walking out he goes we're going this way I thought we're going off the path no no we're going this way and I'm thinking he must see something I can't see as I stood there and looked around and I couldn't see anything and he goes the sheep are over there and I'm thinking where?
[14:05] couldn't see them and we carried on walking there was a hollow on the moor and sure enough the sheep were in the hollow all huddled up keeping one another warm how do you normally get sheep home?
[14:22] what do you have to do? lift them? you can lift them but there's too many for us to lift there was only me and my dad and there was 20 sheep so there was too many of them so how do you think we were going to get them home?
[14:34] we didn't have a dog well my previous experience with sheep wasn't very good again coming from Ness towing a trailer you know what happened to me?
[14:50] I was driving along Sandwick Road and unbeknown to me the tailgate had come off the trailer and when I stopped at the roundabout the sheep jumped out the trailer so I ended up chasing sheep round the front of the council offices onto the rugby pitch until I eventually got them back out of the trailer so I wasn't looking forward to chasing all these sheep home so what my dad did was he stood on one side and he said walk round there so I walked round and this time the sheep were heads up wondering what was happening and I thought my dad was going to say chase them but he didn't do you know what my dad did?
[15:35] anyone get any idea? my dad made a noise I'm not even going to try and make it but my dad made a noise that the sheep recognised and you know what the sheep did?
[15:51] the sheep got up my dad turned round and started walking he said the same thing again to the sheep and they walked behind him single file all the way back into the house two miles back into the house onto the croft and my dad fed them isn't that amazing?
[16:14] that the sheep knew my dad's voice and they called them in and he called them in and they followed him you know the bible tells us that there's a piece in the bible in the book of john where jesus says to the people my sheep listen to my voice I know them and they follow me now each one of you are going to grow up in this world and there's going to be lots of different voices that you're going to be hearing there's going to be people telling you to do some things that are good and there's going to be people that are telling you some things that are bad and you've got to listen for the good voices and what's the good voice that you hear about every Sunday when you come to church here?
[17:05] Alison God and how are we going to listen out for God? Bethany praying? yes? reading our bible so by praying and reading our bible we're going to hear what God's got to say to us and that will help us to know what is good and what is bad so as you grow up who are you going to listen to?
[17:34] yes Katie you're going to listen to God and you're going to try and do everything that is right instead of going on the wrong path and ending up lost these sheep heard my dad's voice and they followed him all the way in to the house and they were warm and they were comfortable and they were fed and if we stay close with Jesus that's exactly what will happen for us we won't be alone we'll be together and Jesus will be there for us and he'll look after us and he'll provide for us we'll be with our word of prayer and then we'll sing dear heavenly father as the children come and as they listen to your word we pray that each one of us heavenly father would know what it is to hear your voice and to follow after you and heavenly father that we would be able to shut out the bad voices that come from the world the voices that take us away from you and that heavenly father that we would need follow after you and come and take the rest that you offer to us and that heavenly father that you would provide for us as you have promised that you will never leave us that you will never forsake us if we could have trust fully in you bless the children watch over them as they grow and may they indeed know your blessing upon them in Jesus name
[19:15] Amen I'm going to sing in mission praise and the words will be on the screen mission praise 302 mission praise 302 I want to walk with Jesus Christ all the days I live of this life on earth to give to him complete control of body and of soul follow him follow him yield your life to him he has conquered death he is king of kings accept the joy which he gives to those who yield their lives to him and may we all know that promise in Jesus stand to sing thank you and thank you a healer for the dates and when you're having your tea and coffee there's fresh dates at the front here, please take them. We'll turn and read in God's word at Luke chapter 15.
[20:43] Luke chapter 15, a chapter that's well known to us and we've read many times before here in church or in our own private reading. We'll read the whole of the chapter, Luke chapter 15 from the beginning. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear him but the Pharisees and the teachers of the law mutter, this man welcomes sinners and eats with them. Then Jesus told them this parable, suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, rejoice with me, I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who do not need to repent.
[21:51] Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, rejoice with me, I have found my lost coin. In the same way I tell you that it's rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Jesus continued, there was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, father, give me my share of the estate. So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in the whole country and he began to be in need.
[22:53] So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When it came to his senses, he said, how many of my father's hired men have food to spare and here I am starving to death. I will set out and go back to my father and say to him, father, father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy, he called your son. Make me like one of your hired men. So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy, he called your son. But the father said to the servants, quick, bring the best robe and put it on. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fatted calf and killer. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again.
[24:15] He was lost in his farm. So they began to celebrate. Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. Your brother has come, he replied. Your father has killed the fatted calf because he has him back safe and sound. The older brother became angry and refused to go in.
[24:40] So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, look, all these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home with you and you kill the fatted calf for him. My son, the father said, you are always with me and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. Amen and we go out at this blessing, this freedom of this holy word. And that's what God next week, tell him, because we doesn't fear and doubt.
[25:32] no Jai 563 All I try to forget, I am. viel more than my heart. My heart is filled with my heart. I pine heard and said I am constantly going. What do you speak with your heart? It's ok. Je boys le.
[25:54] Teachers Bible says just sides get a little more firm, but here he comes God looks hard for him and you're speaking with them , When you wake up too often, you Buyeram Bawanda has NCAA satsang and like me Never been from good people and we Horrata, so I was born in heaven I am not a boy who is speaking very experienced in the world S campo da interrompia здесь groupswhat explained so it it this unnatural reality,
[27:39] Thisittle peace as altyaz make mine and make him understand and Dies gets asked Did he say his time?
[28:25] By our doom, we liveSave the pain. At this time of action came toook us.
[28:43] And made it rain into our stages when we Funded Up. And from driving around our soul, not the others come.
[28:59] surlates the guest When мод I I'm not sure I get hurt but that's still some shame I'm just loving him I can't tell him to do his wedding My feelings are not true I, still, still the Black Sabbath I still have sat such an accident зак liberals but forget to your friends And HE ALREADY HAS TO YAND, AND HE BED WITH BEAUTIFUL CUT ANTE,
[30:00] AND HE MAKES existe WITH HIS NAME, HE ALREADY HAS TO decided, mów gelevamo päivamo, So how he broke, like OAS N Heus basil himes Yani Am I really don't believe that his heart can do this after feeling started, And had strongökr痛s He also!!!
[30:56] And he had no headache He was small with his son You can get out of everything You can know that his perception is balanced Viel isn't that unos'of those lazy people And so wish they realized his influence MRUR KASSAR, CHURCH, 18 Lord for him, .
[31:27] . . . .
[31:38] . . . continue our worship of God singing in Gaelic in Psalm 70 Psalm 70 from verse 4 and 5 Lord in thee let all be glad sorry in thee let all be glad and joy that seek for thee but then to thy salvation love say still God praise thee I poor and needy am come Lord and make me make no stay my help thou and deliver it O Lord make no delay these verses from Psalm 70 and we'll sing in Gaelic and we'll stay seated for the same O Lord O Lord O Lord O Lord O Lord O Lord
[32:39] O Lord O Lord O Lord O Lord O Lord O Lord O Lord O Lord O Lord O Lord O Lord
[33:39] O Lord O Lord O Lord
[35:09] O Lord O Lord O Lord O Lord
[36:10] O Lord O Lord O Lord O Lord O Lord O God us now we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
[36:54] Now as we read in Luke 15 our thoughts will mainly focus on the three stories, the three parables that we have in Luke 15, the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son.
[37:11] As we focus on that I just want for you to think on a verse in Revelation chapter 3 and at verse 20. I know that Reverend MacLeod has currently taken us through the study and the letter to the seven churches and I certainly don't seek to preach on that at this stage.
[37:34] But I just want you to think on that verse in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 20. Here I am I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with him and he with me.
[37:53] And leaving that there we'll come back to that verse later on in our study this morning. So if we go back to the passage in Luke 15 and as we read through the passage we get three different stories.
[38:08] Stories of something or someone that is missing. Circumstances in which they're missing is very different and the method used to recover the lost sheep and the lost coin are very different.
[38:24] The lost sheep and the lost coin are probably totally unaware of their state of lostness. It was the shepherd and it was the woman that recognised that they had lost something.
[38:43] Something that they owned something that was dear to them they had lost it. So when they found it it was great joy and they wanted to share that joy with others.
[38:59] The lost son on the other hand had made a conscious effort to leave the safety of his home and it was only when everything was spent and he hit the lowest point of his life did he actually realise what he was missing.
[39:14] Nowadays when somebody loses something the first thing they'll generally do is pick up the phone and nowadays it's dial 101 and report their loss to the police.
[39:30] I've lost my bike I've lost my dog I've lost my purse my wallet my credit card you name it people will phone and report the loss to the police.
[39:44] not so that the police will go out and look for it and it'll be maybe if it's a dog but just to see if somebody's handed it in sometimes it's just for an insurance claim on the other hand it always amazes me the number of things that I found and handed in that nobody ever comes to claim or recover and very often it's because they don't know they've even lost it when somebody phones into the police station to report that they've lost something the call taker on the other end of the phone will ask them a series of questions their name their address their telephone number can you describe the item can you describe the item that you've lost where did you last lose it have you gone back to see if you can find it the shepherd when he lost his sheep he didn't phone the police he realised what was missing he secured the other 99 sheep that he had and he went back and he retraced his steps until he found the lost sheep and he took it home as parents sometimes we know that going out with children somewhere shopping centres playgrounds and even in their own back garden children can go missing panic ensues they were there turned my back and they're gone child's totally unaware of its loss it's gone off to explore while it's standing in a different place unaware of its loss until maybe it starts getting dark and it starts feeling hungry person phones a police station my son and my daughter three years of age it's gone missing call taker goes through the same series of questions what's their name what's their address what were they wearing when you last saw them where did you last see them have you seen have you gone back to see if you can find them
[42:15] I was working in Nairn and I didn't often answer the phone in the front office but this day the phone went and I was the only person in the front office and I answered the phone and I was panicked on the other end of the phone woman phoned in three year old son was missing been having a family barbecue been having a nice time at the house and all of a sudden realised the boy was missing first question I asked her was have you checked the house of course I've checked the house why do you think I'm phoning you so I said well if you could go back in and check the house remember you're an adult you're a child places that you think are inaccessible both for hiding for climbing a child would try anything five minutes later the phone went again it wasn't a woman this time it was a husband thank you very much for your time officer found her son sleeping under the bed but the delight in their voices knowing that they had found their son was overwhelming when the woman lost her coin she put up a light she swept out the house and searched for it until she'd found it
[43:49] I've just taken a short time to focus on these two methods of searching I want us for a short time to consider the lost son and the missing state that he found himself in we can acknowledge that the father in the story was recorded as having lost his son but I want us to consider for a short while what the son had lost and what he was missing I commented earlier in the first two parables that for the sheep and the coin that they were unaware of their state of lostness they hadn't made any conscious decision to be lost the sheep had failed to recognise that the rest of the flock had gone it was too caught up in what it was doing it obviously found some nice grass and the head was down and it never heard the shepherd calling and as we considered with the children there we have to listen we have to listen out to the shepherd's voice not get caught up in what we're doing ourselves in our own importance we shouldn't be caught napping or daydreaming we should listen to what God has to say to us so that we don't become aware or don't become lost and unaware of our own state of lostness the coin that was lost had obviously been misplaced the coin had no feelings it was totally unaware of its state of lostness yet it was precious to the woman and she wanted to find it and she searched until she had found it and it was inside in her own home every time we come to the communions we read in 1 Corinthians 11 and at verse 28 a man ought to examine or search himself before he eats of the bread or drinks of the wine when we see our own unworthiness when we search inside ourselves the joy that we have in knowing that we have a saviour that is worthy to bear our sins not in and of ourselves but we have Jesus that we can come to and we can rejoice in him we're also reminded in both the stories in Luke 15 at verse 7 and in Luke 15 at verse 10 of the rejoicing that there is in heaven over a sinner that repents
[46:38] I tell you in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not repent and again in the same way I tell you there is rejoicing in the presence of angels over one sinner who repents one sinner repenting brings great rejoicing in heaven so having looked at the lost sheep and the lost coin and the way that they were searched for let's draw our attention to the son who makes a conscious decision to leave his home and turn his back on all that he's known and all that's been provided for him the wealth that he was able to enjoy in his father's house the security the friendship the support and love of his brother the ample provision of food and clothing he turned his back on it all thinking he knew better and that he would be able to manage his life on his own we read that initially he never really missed home there was nothing to tell us he even thought about it he had money in his pocket but we do learn about him is that he wandered to a distant country and he squandered his possessions on wild living why did he go to a distant country why did he not just go to the next town was he afraid that there was somebody there that would know him and tell his father of how he was living and how he was spending his money whatever his reason he chose to go far away far away from home far away from the security and safety that he had known
[48:30] I'm sure if I was to ask anyone in here today including myself we'd be able to give account of when we've gone our own way we've heard the advice of others whether it's from a parent a teacher a minister or a friend but we've decided that we knew best and that we'd go and do our own thing for some depending on what it was may have worked out okay but in most cases can end badly and it may even have meant having to go back to the person that gave us the original advice advice and bowing our heads and saying you were right admitting you were wrong and owning up to it can often be one of the most difficult things that any one of us has to do we can either accept the mistake ask forgiveness learn from the mistake and move on or we can become hardened and adopt an attitude of
[49:45] I'll show them we can distance ourselves from the people we've counted on close before and we go and do our own thing in an attempt to prove others wrong pride gets the better of us and without realising it the hole that we're digging for ourselves only gets deeper and deeper we're determined we're going to succeed in doing it our own way and that's when we end up getting ourselves into bother we fail to lift our heads to see the damage that we're doing not just to ourselves but to our relationships with others the son had chosen to leave home he had money in his pocket and for all the wrong reasons he had friends there's no depth to any of these relationships he was living wild and while he was living wild everyone wanted to be there with him they wanted the best thing for themselves when was the next high you're going to come from when was the next big wind going to come along where am I going to be able to better myself get a better position within the group well he had the money it's always good he was asked to parties people came to his parties but as the money ran out his clothes started to look worn he didn't have a home to stay in he became a hanger on people may have tolerated him for a while but eventually he wouldn't be invited to the parties anymore the doors that were once open to him wouldn't be answered he had moved from his home to a distant land he had left the security trying to find happiness where all he found was sadness all that he'd left at home was now a distant memory and as the woman that lost her coin searched the inner parts of her home for the lost coin sweeping every part of it we read further on in the passage of how the lost son sitting amongst the pigs starts to miss what he hadn't acknowledged that he'd had before the memories he thought he'd hidden in the deepest recesses of his mind he now searched for them the thoughts of his father his older brother the plenty that his father had the servants in the home and the food and the clothes his father provided for him he remembered them all then he realised what he had been missing and what he was now missing out from realising what he was missing was only part of the solution the shepherd that we read of earlier recognised that he'd lost one of his sheep he knew it was out in the hill he'd only be going back out and replacing his steps would he be able to recover it and return it to the safety of the cold if he had recognised the problem and done nothing about it the situation wouldn't have changed the sheep would have been left where it was been exposed to danger being attacked and lost forever so the shepherd took action he went he found the sheep and he took it back to the cold the son could have stayed where he was
[53:47] he might have found comfort in reminiscing about home the warmth of his family home the love of his father the friendship of his brother a will of him he would have changed his state he would still have been eating amongst the swine he would have been cold hungry and lonely while his head may have been down doubts may have been racing through his mind he knew what he had to do and he did it he set off on a journey retracing his steps back to home he would have walked through streets that before he had parked on people he had once laughed and drank with would have even given wouldn't even have given him a second look he may have even stopped for a moment to think on the mistakes he'd made as he passed by but he was now on a different journey no longer a journey of self-fulfillment he was on a journey of rediscovery many of his here as we've spoken about before have been on this journey of rediscovery in years gone by we sat here in the Sunday school or in other churches our parents, our grandparents read the bible to us and prayed with us but then we made the decision to leave home and leave the comfort and the security that we had things were good for a boy we felt a sense of fulfilment in what we were doing work was good we had money in the bank we had family we had friends a roof over our heads we may even have asked ourselves what more do I need but then suddenly and without warning your world comes crashing down a threat of unemployment a diagnosis from the doctor a member of your family is bereaved a loss of a parent a spouse a child a close friend all of a sudden the ground you were standing on that you've built all your life upon doesn't feel so secure you start to redefine what is important it's often referred to as soul searching in doing this some of us have made a decision to turn their lives around no longer living for themselves but answering the call of God in their lives come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light we talked to the children this morning that are hearing God's voice and following what voice are you listening to in your life is it the voice of God or are you still listening to the voice of self-fulfillment which tells you there's time yet leave that just now yes there may be security and assurance but come on leave it leave that to others there's time yet for you the son had to make a conscious decision to change his course he had to recognise the path he was on had led him away from the security of his home his father his brother and the provision of the basic essentials
[57:47] had proved him clothing fighting against the draw of home would have meant that he would have been lost forever he's not stated how long it took for the son to get into this state he was in although we know is that he had turned his back from the safety of his home and was now straight in the bottom of the barrel and only then when the pikes had had their fill the son had to run to a far off land to escape home and all the restraints that he felt they had put in his life we sang Psalm 139 for the psalmist recognises that there's nowhere we can hide from God nowhere we can go where we go to the highest point or to the lowest point God is there and he cries out where can I go from your spirit where can I flee from your presence absolutely nowhere I asked you the question this morning if you don't really know God as your saviour are you running from him this morning and he actually then turned round and answered the question no
[59:01] I'm not running away I'm here am I better well you may be you may be here but there's action you've got to take the shepherd had to go out and trace his steps the son had to get up and return to the father being here may soothe your conscience and make you feel good for a short while but if you don't take action the burden isn't going to go away what are you afraid of the key message in the chapter is that what we're lost has been found and that there's rejoicing in heaven over that sinner being found again what choices are you going to make this morning are you going to walk out the door and say I'll leave it for another day the staff of the service they said for I ask that you consider
[60:04] Revelation chapter 3 and verse 20 here I am I stand at the door I'm not if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with them and he with me as a police officer I've gone to knock on many doors for a variety of different reasons the only time that this is not the case where I've had to go and knock on the door is when I've gone there with a warrant it gives me power to enter without having to knock what happens when you execute a warrant happens without the will of the householder however in most circumstances the times that we go to the door don't justify a warrant when you knock the door the hope is and the expectation is that the door will be open and that you'll be welcomed in as I say
[61:20] I've been to many doors hearing inquiries searching for missing persons and sometimes the door isn't open despite the fact that you know while you've standing there knocking there's actually somebody in the house the television's on the car's in the driveway the lights are on and somebody might even shout from behind the door go away I don't want to speak to you you're not getting in here today people missing people hiding afraid of what the outcome may be when they open the door to the police this morning it's not a police officer that's knocking in your heart it's Jesus you're here this morning for a purpose when you hear Jesus knocking don't hide don't be found missing and don't miss out there's absolutely nothing to the afraid of as he knocks he calls and his voice is clear and he says if anyone hears my voice and opens the door
[62:43] I will come in and eat with him and he with me nothing is hidden purpose is clear if you're lonely he will come in and he'll be with you if you're hungry he'll provide for you above and beyond anything you can imagine the psalmist wrote in psalm 23 verses 5 and 6 you prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head with oil my cup overflows surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord are you running from something this morning are you hiding from something God is calling you he's saying to you
[63:44] I'm standing here I'm knocking on your heart's door he can't open the door himself as it says there if anyone hears my voice and opens the door as the shepherd had to take action as the lost son had to take action to return home you have to take action to open the door there'll be no forced entry there'll be no warrant executed you have to make the decision you have to take the action he offers to fill the void he offers to provide he wants to come in are you going to let him come in are you going to open the door and instead of being lost be found instead of being missing and missing out get in and take part and receive all that there is to get you anoint my head with oil my cup overflows surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life let's pray let's pray dear heavenly father we thank you for this time together we thank you for your word to us heavenly father we pray that as you search us as you know us we would search our own hearts this morning and if we do not know you as lord and saviour if you are not on the throne of our hearts and have my father that we would hear your mouth we would hear your voice and that we would open our hearts to you and have my father that you may come in you may cleanse us afresh that you may renew us and that we would receive from you joy everlasting guide us now we pray and forgive us for our sins and for our shortcomings in Jesus precious name
[66:07] Amen we'll sing in closing again from mission praise in 315 I will sing the wonder story of the Christ who died for me how he left the realms of glory for the cross and Calvary yes I'll sing the wonder story of the Christ who died for me sing it with the saints in glory gathered by the crystal sea I was lost but Jesus found me found the sheep that went astray raised me up and gently led me back into the narrow way days of darkness still me meet me sorrow's path I oft me pray but his presence still is with me by his guiding hand and leg we'll sing these verses verse 1-3 from mission praise 315 and I'll stand to sing and now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with each one of us now and evermore
[67:15] Amen God bless us Tarkoank who can tell you how Gut