[0:00] Good morning everyone. A warm welcome to the service this morning. This is a family service this morning and it's good to see all of you. It's good to see especially a good number of visitors with us today. We're jam-packed and it's great to have you all worshipping with us this morning as we come together. In the name of Jesus. After the service this morning there's tea and there's coffee as usual so please be encouraged to stay if you're able to stay. Also after the service a note for the elders. The session is going to open next door in the room on my left and we're just going to meet for a few minutes to open the session and to prepare for the service this evening.
[0:45] The service this evening as you can see from the notices is a communion service and even in communion service. Thomas Davis will lead that service so be encouraged to come to that and for any who know the Lord and who trust the Lord but have not yet come forward and professed faith in the Lord Jesus and taking communion for the first time please be encouraged to come and speak with me or any of the elders. As I say we'll be just doing the wee room next door. We would be delighted to meet with anybody who wants to come for the first time. A few notices as well in addition to that.
[1:21] First to say that there is an annual Midsummer Gaelic Thanksgiving service at 3pm this afternoon. For the visitors with us you must be thinking what on earth does that word say? How do you pronounce it?
[1:35] It's Avonsia Castle and that's impossible to gather that from looking at the English. But Avonsia Castle at 3pm this afternoon all are welcome to go to that service. There's various other intimations.
[1:53] You've seen them. I'm not going to go through them all. The only others I will highlight just now is that the Wednesday evening meeting will be a prayer meeting. It will also be the annual general meeting where the the congregational accounts will be presented and the usual details for an AGM. So please note that the deacon's court will meet in the church here at 7pm and the main meeting will start at half past 7pm. The last thing is to say that the services next Sunday the morning service will be taken by Richard Killer and the evening service is a Gaelic service followed by the congregational fellowship. I'll be away next Sunday not too far away. I'll be away in Graver as the congregation there is being preached vacant. So also perhaps you could remember that congregation in your prayers and also Ian McCritchie who will be inducted on Friday night, this Friday night to the the charge in Greyfriars in Inverness. These I think are all the notices so let's begin this time of worship. We'll sing to God's praise from Psalm 63. Psalm 63 verses 1 to verse 8. Lord be my God I'll early seek my soul doth thirst for thee my flesh longs in a dry parched land wherein no waters be. We'll stand to sing we'll sing verses 1 to verse 8 to God's praise.
[3:17] Psalm 63 verses 1 to verse 8. Lord be my God I'll early seek my soul doth thirst for thee my flesh longs in a dry parched land my flesh longs in a dry land within the waters be. That I thy power may behold and brightness of thy face as I now sing thee here to form within thy holy place. Since better is thy love than life my lips be praised shall give
[4:43] I am thy name. I am thy name will lift my hands and bless thee while I am.
[5:13] O shall fill in thy heart shall fill in thee. Then shall my heart with joyfulness sing praises unto thee. When I to thee upon my bed remember with delight. Remember with delight. And when on thee I meditate. And when on thee I meditate. And watch us all the night.
[6:10] In shadow of thy wings I'll join. For thou my help hast be. My soul doth follow heart. And me thy right. Shadow of thy wings I'll join. Shadow of thy wings I'll join. Shadow of thy wings I'll join. For thou my help hast be. My soul doth follow heart. And me thy right.NINGNINGNINGNINGNING Let's unite our hearts in prayer together.
[6:55] Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this, your day. And we thank you for the fact that you are the God who loves us and the God who calls us to come to you.
[7:09] You're the God who calls us to follow you. And we thank you, Lord, that as we seek you, as the psalmist did, we have the promise that when we seek you with all our hearts, we will find you.
[7:22] We thank you for the promises of your word that we'll consider in just a moment. The fact that your word is true. Your promises are all promises that are real and that we are able to access by faith.
[7:36] And we thank you, Lord, for the blessings of all the things that you have said to us. We thank you for your love of us that we hear in the Bible and that we see in the word of God made flesh.
[7:48] And Jesus, your Son, our Savior. We thank you that God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
[8:00] We thank you that we taste that life when we first believe. And we thank you that as we begin to follow Jesus, we know the help and the presence of God with us day by day.
[8:13] We thank you that when we are going through happy times, we know who we can be thankful to. We thank you that when we are going through hard times, we know also that we are to remain thankful.
[8:23] But we are able to seek and find shelter under the shadow of the wings of God. We thank you that you're the God who promises to be with us and to protect us and to shield us and to shelter us as we come to you.
[8:40] We pray for any today who might feel that need of shelter in a special way. We think of those who are sick, those who would like to be here with us today but who can't be.
[8:52] We think of some who are in hospital and as we think of them in our mind's eye, we carry them to you in prayer. And we ask, Lord, that you would lay your hands of healing upon them if that is your will.
[9:05] And, Lord, if it's not the time for healing, we pray that they would know your grace and your loving touch day by day. We pray for those who are sad as well, those who are grieving.
[9:17] We think especially of Duncan McPherson. And as his father passed away yesterday afternoon, we pray that you would be near to Duncan, that you would comfort him, that you would uphold him and all of the family at this time.
[9:32] And as they make preparations for a funeral, we ask, Lord, that you would guide them and lead them in all of that. We thank you for Duncan's father. We thank you for his firm, strong faith in Jesus.
[9:45] And we thank you that we have the assurance that when those who are in Christ die, they pass through death's dark veil into light and life that is everlasting.
[9:56] So we praise you for the comfort of the gospel. We pray, Lord, that you would be with all of us here today. We thank you for the children, especially at this family service.
[10:07] And we ask, Lord, that you would help them as they read and as they sing to know that you are with them. We pray that you would open their ears and their hearts and that you would help them and help each one of us to listen and to know that you are close to us.
[10:23] So hear our prayers and help us in this service today. And we ask all this in Jesus' name. We pray for the forgiveness of sin as well as we confess our sin. We thank you that you promise that you will forgive us because of Jesus, because of your son and his death on the cross in our place.
[10:41] We thank you that we have the assurance that we are cleansed when we cry out to him. So hear our prayers. Take away our sin. Help us in everything we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
[10:52] Amen. Boys and girls, it's good to have you all here today, especially. And we're going to begin this service today.
[11:03] It's a wee bit, for those who are visiting especially, this is a little bit different today. We're going to have four short parts of, four short talks. And the children are going to be involved in each one.
[11:14] They're going to shout out as well some of the answers and help me with the service today. And what I want to think about today is Jesus.
[11:27] Every week we come here, we're not talking about someone different. We're talking about Jesus. We're opening the Bible. We're basically coming to this every week.
[11:37] We want to see Jesus. And we want to hear Jesus. And today, we're going to think about four things. First of all, we're going to think about the promise of Jesus.
[11:49] We're going to hear Jesus make a promise to his disciples. And then we're going to think about the fact that there can be problems for those who follow Jesus. And the disciples found that out as they were following him.
[12:02] The third thing we're going to see is the power of Jesus. How he speaks. Everything changes. And the last thing we're going to think about is how we need to profess our faith in Jesus.
[12:17] If we believe in Jesus, then we need to show that and tell people that we believe in Jesus. So these are the things that we're going to think through. And you're going to help me as we step through a story that we know well.
[12:30] So the first thing is the promise of Jesus. And we're going to hear from Matthew chapter 8 and verse 18. And Henry is going to come and read that verse for us.
[12:43] Henry, have you come and read it nice and loud, please. Just here. We'll take the mics down a little bit for you. Just right in the middle.
[12:55] Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. So Jesus, he saw a crowd around him. And what did he do then?
[13:05] He gave orders to go over to the other side. He gave orders. So he made a promise. We're going over to the other side. Thank you, Henry. Henry. So just so you know what's happening, because you guys are in the Sunday school when I'm doing the preaching.
[13:23] This is where we've got in our preaching and going through Matthew chapter 8. And just so we know what's happening, Jesus has just been preaching a sermon. And there was a huge big crowd that came and gathered to hear Jesus preaching this sermon.
[13:39] It's called the Sermon on the Mount. And now Jesus has come to the end of his sermon. And he's decided there's other places that he needs to go. And there's other people that need to hear the good news about him.
[13:53] There's other people who need to meet him. And so he says to his disciples, right, guys, I want you to get the boat ready. And we're going over to the other side.
[14:07] He gave orders to his disciples. He also gave orders to more than his disciples. And we'll hear about that in a minute. And he says, we're going over to the other side.
[14:21] And that was the promise of Jesus. He promised his disciples that they were going over to the other side. And the good news, boys and girls, is that all the promises of God are trustworthy.
[14:41] And they're true. Tell me, boys and girls, where do we find the promises of God? See, when you're down here, you speak.
[14:52] See, when you're just a wee bit out of there, you get shy. Where do we find the promises of God? If you want to hear God's promises, will you find them in the newspaper? Will you find them in the stars?
[15:06] Where do we find them? Where do we find them? The longer you're silent, you're going to be sitting here at four o'clock. Your chicken's going to be burnt. Michael, thank you.
[15:18] The Bible. This is a huge, big book that's jam-packed full with all the amazing promises of God. So you should search it.
[15:32] And look for these promises. And when you find the promises, pray them. And say, God, you promised that you'll be with me. You promised that you'll help me. You promised that you'll save me.
[15:43] And I believe your promises. And I want to feel these promises in my life. Boys and girls, do you ever make promises? Put your hand up if you sometimes make promises.
[15:59] Okay, yeah. Tell me something else. Do you always keep them? Well, first of all, what kind of promises do you make? Give me a few examples. Henry.
[16:11] Not to tell secrets. Not to tell secrets. Do you always keep your promises? No? Don't tell Henry anything. What other promises do you sometimes make that you don't always keep?
[16:26] I thought Farrakhan was going to put his hand up there. Do you ever promise to tidy your room? Do you ever promise you'll do your homework as soon as you get home from school?
[16:38] Does it always happen? Sometimes we make promises and we don't always keep our promises. We break them. But God never breaks his promises.
[16:53] Do you want to hear some of the promises of God? Just a few. Not many. Just a few. The Bible's full of them. Go hunting for them. But here's just a few. Just to encourage us.
[17:05] Fraser. Can you come out and read the promise that we have in Matthew chapter 18 and verse 20? For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
[17:22] That is amazing reading. Thank you, Fraser. So Jesus is promising and he says where two or three are gathered in my name, he says I'll be here.
[17:32] Now today we've got a big crowd and it's encouraging when you've got a big crowd. Sometimes you go to a prayer meeting and you just see a few and you can feel kind of discouraged. And at times like that we hear Jesus saying to us, even if it was just two or three, I'm here with you.
[17:52] How encouraging is that promise? Next one. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5. A lieutenant, please. He has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
[18:12] Good job. God has said, I will never leave you or forsake you. So when it's three o'clock in the morning and when you're feeling all alone in a dark room, remember that promise.
[18:25] Remember that promise. God has said, I'll never leave you. Never will I forsake you. 1 John chapter 1 verse 9. Ellie, please. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
[18:49] Good job, Ellie. Good job, Ellie. Thank you. Does anybody hear a sinner? Everybody here is a sinner. And we know our hearts are hearts that have sin in them.
[19:03] But we have a promise here from God. If we confess our sins, if we don't make excuses, if we don't try and hide them, but if we just tell God and confess our sins, he is faithful and just.
[19:16] And he will forgive us our sins. He will purify us. He will wash us from all unrighteousness. Everything that's not right. How amazing is that promise?
[19:28] We can pray and say, I confess the sins that I know are in me. Because of Jesus and what he's done. We're washed clean.
[19:39] What a promise. John chapter 6 verse 37. Andrew, please. Whoever comes to me, I will never cast out.
[19:55] Excellent. Andrew, good reading. Jesus promises, whoever comes to me, I'll never push them away. I'll never cast them out. Have you ever tried to go and have a conversation with somebody?
[20:09] Or you want somebody to come to your house or something. And you try and come to them and they just sort of push you away. You feel bad. You feel like we don't love you.
[20:20] Jesus says, whoever comes to me, whoever, anywhere, whoever they are, whatever they've done, when they come to me, I won't cast them out.
[20:32] What a great promise. It means that we don't have to be scared when we're coming to Jesus. We don't have to wonder, will he push me away because he's promised he won't. He'll take us close. Last one.
[20:44] Christy, James chapter 4 verse 8. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
[20:58] Excellent. Thank you, Christy. Draw near to God. When we come near to God, he promises he'll never cast us out. But not only does he say that, he says if we come near to him, he will come near to us.
[21:12] Amazing promises. And one last promise for you before we sin. One of the greatest promises in all of the Bible is in John chapter 3 verse 16.
[21:23] Can you remember what it is? Can anyone remember what it is? If I start it, will you speak it with me? For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
[21:46] For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
[21:57] What does eternal life look like? We taste a little bit of it here. But where will we experience full eternal life? What's the name of the place that God has prepared that's full of life?
[22:09] Emily. Heaven. Heaven. Heaven.
[22:40] Heaven. And Jesus promises that if we believe in him, we're definitely getting there. So boys and girls, young and old, let's be sure that we are trusting in the promises of Jesus.
[23:01] The word of God. We're going to sing now. We're going to sing Mission Praise 1141. You're the word of God the Father. The word of God the Father.
[23:27] From before the world began. Every star and every planet has been fashioned by your hand.
[23:38] All creation rose together by the power of your voice. Let the skies declare your glory.
[23:50] Let the land and seas rejoice. You're the author of creation. You're the Lord of every man.
[24:01] And you cry of love rings out across the land. Thank you. Let the gaze of angels.
[24:13] Came to sing and save the lost. And exchange the joy of heaven. For the anguish of our cross.
[24:24] With a prayer you fed the hungry. With a word you still be seen. Yet how silently you suffer.
[24:36] That the guilty may go free. You're the author of creation. You're the Lord of every man.
[24:47] And your cry of love rings out across the land. With a shout you rose victorious.
[24:58] Rest in victory from the grave. And ascended into heaven. Being raptors in your way.
[25:09] And you stand before the Father. Interceding for your own. From each tribe and town and nation.
[25:20] You are leading sinners home. You're the author of creation. You're the Lord of every man.
[25:31] And your cry of love rings out across the land. So boys and girls.
[25:45] Let's just remember where we got to. Matthew chapter 8. Jesus makes a promise doesn't he? And he promises. What does he promise? He promises that we're going to where?
[25:58] To the other side. And the disciples. They hear the promise of Jesus. And they follow. What happened next?
[26:10] Matthew chapter 8. Verses 23 to 25. Miriam is going to read this one please. And when he got into the boat.
[26:25] His disciples followed him. And behold there arose a great storm on the sea. So that the boat was being swamped by waves. But he was asleep. And they went and woke him saying. Save us Lord we are perishing.
[26:36] Thank you Miriam. So we start off. And Jesus has just finished preaching. And there's a huge big crowd. That are all around Jesus.
[26:48] But now what we read. Or what Miriam read. Is that when his disciples. When Jesus gets them into the boat. It's there's no longer a big crowd.
[27:00] It's just Jesus. And his disciples. And they're not on a big Cal Mac ferry. They're just on a wee fishing boat. And they're following Jesus.
[27:14] But where does Jesus take them? Have you ever been on a stormy crossing on the boat? Have you ever been bumped up and down and all around?
[27:26] Yeah Fraser? Not very good is it? Well Jesus said we're going to the other side. And they follow Jesus into this wee boat. But Jesus actually takes them into the middle of a storm.
[27:40] Jesus takes them into problems. And boys and girls. That's often the way it is.
[27:55] Sometimes. People might say. Oh it's easy to follow Jesus. Just weak people that follow Jesus. In actual fact.
[28:05] It's not at all easy to follow Jesus. Sometimes it's very hard. To go in the direction that he calls us to go. And Jesus warned us of that.
[28:16] In John 16. Jesus said to his disciples. In this world. Guys. You're going to have trouble. So there's a problem.
[28:28] That the disciples start to feel. When they're getting thrown around in this boat. And sometimes there's problems. When we follow Jesus. Tell us. Is anybody going to tell us.
[28:38] Tell me. What's the world watch list? Does anybody know what the watch list is? Does anybody want to come and tell us? Michael.
[28:49] Do you want to come and tell us? Are you brave enough? Pardon? You don't need to know the 50. You don't need to know. Come on. Come out and tell us. Just come out for a second. Just tell us what it is. No, I'm not.
[29:01] Yeah. Come on out. Out. You're not shy. I wouldn't pounce on everyone. But you're not shy. I mean your pals. So tell us. Tell us.
[29:11] What is the watch list? Because in Sunday school. You've been going through the watch list. What is it? It's nations that find it hard to praise God. So it's places in the world.
[29:23] Where it's difficult to be a Christian. Can you remember any of the places that you. You don't need to remember 50. Yeah. The top 50. But can you remember some of the places. Where it's hard to be a Christian.
[29:33] North Korea. Sudan. North Korea. I think Iraq is one of them. Iraq is one of them. Yeah. Somewhere in there. Yeah. Iran.
[29:45] Afghanistan. Afghanistan. Afghanistan. Yeah. Good job. You've done well. Thank you. Any more phrases. Got his hand up. Can you remember? Mozambique. Mozambique.
[29:56] Any other places you can remember? Henry. Somalia. Somalia. Miriam. Ethiopia. Ethiopia. Ethiopia. See there's all these places in the world. And four people in these places.
[30:10] When somebody comes and tells them about Jesus. And they believe in Jesus. Their life gets really difficult. It's like sailing into the middle of a storm. For them.
[30:22] Now for us. Here. In this country. In Scotland. It's not like that. It's not like a storm. To be following Jesus.
[30:34] But. Sometimes it can be hard. Can't it? Sometimes people might make fun of us. For following Jesus. Sometimes people might say to us. You don't believe the Bible.
[30:44] Do you? All that stuff in the Bible. About. About God making the whole world. You don't believe all that. And. And. And. And we say. Well we do believe that.
[30:55] And they might even laugh at us. And that can be difficult. It can feel. Sometimes like being. In the middle of a storm. So what do we do.
[31:07] Boys and girls. When. When we're following Jesus. And we hit problems. And it feels like life is a storm.
[31:19] Tell me. What did the disciples do? Remember Jesus says. Let's go. Let's get into the boat. They're in the boat. And it starts to get windy. And it starts to.
[31:30] To get rocky. And then these disciples. Start to feel terrified. Jesus is sleeping. And what do they do? Do you remember? Miriam.
[31:41] You've got the answers. Pardon. They say to Jesus. Will you please save us? They pray to him.
[31:52] And they ask him. For help. And the prayer is such a simple. Prayer. They just say. Save us Lord. And Jesus hears. Their prayer.
[32:03] And in a second. We'll hear. How he answers them. But. For us boys and girls. That's a great prayer. To remember. Save us Lord.
[32:14] Save us Lord. And for the older ones. And for the older ones as well. The majority of. Them are over on this side. So I'll turn this side as well. That's a great prayer.
[32:27] For us to remember. Don't ever say you don't know how to pray. Here's a prayer. Three words. Save us Lord. That's the prayer.
[32:38] That we begin. Our Christian life with. We see our sin. We see Jesus. And we say. Save us Lord. And then as we keep on following. This is the prayer.
[32:49] That keeps us going. We keep on praying. Morning by morning. With all our struggles. And all our problems. Save us Lord. And he hears us. And he helps us.
[33:01] Because once we start to follow. Like the disciples were. We mustn't go back. We're going to sing. About that now. We're going to sing.
[33:11] Mission Praise 272. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning back.
[33:47] NINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNING I still will follow.
[34:47] Will you decide now to follow Jesus? Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
[34:58] No turning back, no turning back. Okay boys and girls.
[35:14] So we have the promise of Jesus. Do you remember what the promise is? He says we're going over to the other side. And then what happens next? There's problems.
[35:25] There's a storm. The disciples sail into as they do follow Jesus. And the third thing we see here is the power of Jesus. The disciples, they cry out.
[35:36] Do you remember what their prayer was? Come on, tell me the prayer. Save us Lord. Save us Lord. Good job. They cry out, save us Lord.
[35:49] And what happened next? Matthew chapter 8 verse 26. Emily's going to come and read this please. And he said to them, why are you afraid?
[36:05] Oh you of little faith. Then he rose and abuked the winds and the sea. And there was a great calm. Thank you Emily. Emily. So a huge big storm.
[36:20] Big storm fishermen are terrified. Because they think they're going to die. They come to Jesus. They wake him up. And they say, save us Lord.
[36:33] And what happened next? Cal? Cal? Yeah. What happened next Cal? They said, save us Lord. And Jesus says to the disciples, why are you so afraid?
[36:49] Well you of little faith. And then Jesus got up. And he said to the wind and to the waves, shushed. Calm.
[37:02] I feel like your Sunday school teacher sometimes say, shh. And everything goes quiet for two seconds. So Jesus said to the wind and the waves, quiet. And everything went calm.
[37:16] There was a great calm. How powerful is Jesus? Can we still a storm? Have you ever gone out on a windy day and said be quiet?
[37:30] Do you think it works? Not for us. Can we say to the clouds that have been here forever? Off you go. Sunshine out you come. No, we can say it.
[37:43] Got no power to do it. But Jesus speaks. And the storm goes calm. Here's the question boys and girls.
[37:53] Why does the creation listen to Jesus? It's a deep question. Think about it. Why does the creation listen to Jesus?
[38:08] It's because he made it. You sang it just a minute ago. He's the author of creation. And when Jesus spoke, everything, the wind and the waves and everything the disciples were experiencing, when Jesus spoke, they came into being.
[38:24] They were made. And so when Jesus speaks again, the sea, the wind, the waves, they listen to him. And they do what he says.
[38:35] That's the power of Jesus. And if we were to read the sections before in Matthew 8, and then if we were to read about after Matthew 8, we can see so much of the power of Jesus.
[38:49] He has the power to speak and sick people become well. He has the power to speak and sins are forgiven. He speaks and demons have to flee.
[39:03] They're cast out. The devil's work gets stopped. Jesus has the power to speak or touch someone who's dead and they come to life. That's how powerful Jesus is.
[39:21] What did the disciples think of all this? Can you imagine being in a boat? Getting thrown all over the place, thinking you're going to die. You say, save us. Everything goes calm.
[39:34] I wonder what you would think. What do you think the disciples thought? Lily's going to tell us what the disciples thought. Matthew 8, verse 27. And the man marveled, saying, what sort of man is this that even winds and the sea obey him?
[39:56] Thank you, Lily. So the disciples, they marveled, which means that they were amazed. They were amazed at what they saw. And they said to each other, what sort of man is this?
[40:09] Even the wind and the waves. They obey him. Boys and girls, here's a question for you. Another deep question.
[40:21] Was Jesus a man? What do you think? Was Jesus a man? Fraser? Thumbs up?
[40:32] Yes? Yes? That's the correct answer. He was a man. And that's good news because that means that Jesus understands the things that we go through.
[40:48] Jesus feels the kind of things that we feel. He knows what it is to experience good news and be really happy. He knows what it's like to go through difficult times and storms because he was and is a man.
[41:10] So when, boys and girls, you feel sad, because somebody's spoken to you in a nasty way, you can pray to Jesus and he understands what that's like because it says in the Bible that he was despised and he was rejected.
[41:27] Sometimes we feel a bit like that. Jesus understands what that feels like. Sometimes we can feel sad because somebody that we love dies. We can cry. We can speak to Jesus about that because he felt the same and it tells us in John chapter 11 that Jesus, he cried too.
[41:45] He wept. Sometimes we're tempted to do things that we know we shouldn't do. We think, I need help with this.
[41:57] And the Bible tells us that Jesus was tempted in every single way, the same way that we are. But he didn't sin and he'll help us because he understands the things that we go through.
[42:12] Jesus was and he is a man, but he's a very, very powerful man. He's not just a man. He is, he is the God man.
[42:23] And he wants us to be his friends. He wants us to trust him, stay close to him.
[42:36] You know, sometimes when I'm driving to school in the morning with the girls, I hope Nathan won't mind me saying this. He's not here, but I see, I see a journal and some of the guys walking to school and they're walking along in their normal height and then there's Nathan MacLeod.
[42:55] He's a big, friendly, gentle, giant of a man. He's only 14, but he's big and strong and I think I would have loved to have a friend like that. If you got into trouble and Nathan was your friend, you would feel safe.
[43:14] You know, if we have a friend in Jesus, if we trust Jesus, if we know Jesus, we have, we have the best friend we can ever have.
[43:27] We have a friend who loves us and who loves us enough to go to the cross, to die for us, to take our sin away so that we can be safe forever.
[43:43] That's the powerful one who wants to be our friend and the power of Jesus is most clearly seen on the cross. He died to take away our sin. He died to beat the devil forever and he died to break the power of death so that if we believe in him, we have everlasting life.
[44:08] how amazing is the power of Jesus. And this is the Jesus who wants you to know him and trust him and stick.
[44:22] And if you do, he promises he'll stick closer with you than a friend or a brother. The power of Jesus. We're going to sing now about the power of the cross where we see Jesus and his love for us.
[44:38] 1209 mission praise. We'll stand to sing in just a moment. O to see the dawn of the darkest day rise on the road to Calvary to climb by sinful men torn and beaten then nailed to a cross of wood this the power of the cross Christ became sin for us took the blame or the wrath we stand forgiven at the cross
[45:48] O to see the pain written on your face fitting the awesome weight of sin every bitter thought every evil deed drowning your blood stayed proud this the power of the cross Christ became sin for us took the blame o'er the wrath we stand forgiven at the cross now the daylight flees down the ground beneath quicks as its maker busts its head curtain torn in two then erased to life finish the big tree cry this the power of the cross
[47:15] Christ became sin for us took the blame o'er the wrath we stand forgiven at the cross oh to see my name written in the wounds born through your suffering I am free death is crushed to death life is mine to live one through your selfless love this the power of the cross son of God saved for us what a love what a cross we stand forgiven at the cross you're listening really well boys and girls this is the last we think to remember there's the promise of Jesus he speaks he says we're getting to the other side then there's the problems for those who follow Jesus even though they were getting to the other side
[48:47] Jesus didn't promise a smooth crossing there was going to be problems and then there's the power of Jesus he speaks in the storm and everything goes calm and then the last thing this morning is the the profession of faith in Jesus now let's think about this the disciples they they hear Jesus speak to the sea and everything goes calm and do you remember what they said to each other do you remember the thing that they said to each other what they said was who is this that was the big question they said who is this that's on the boat with us even the the wind and the sea listens to him they were amazed but they were a bit scared because they weren't sure who Jesus was but as time went on this is quite early on in the in Matthew's book as time went on and as the disciples listened more to Jesus and as they spent more time with
[49:59] Jesus they became more sure about who he was and then one day Jesus was sitting with the disciples and he just asked them straight out and he said who do you say that I am first of all he said who do people say that I am and they said well you know some say this and some say that we'll come to that in a second and then Jesus he locks you know how when you're speaking to someone and you you lock eyes with them and you're just speaking to them he looks at the disciples he locks eyes with the disciples and he says what about you who do you say that I am so let's let's read this story this is what happens Matthew chapter 16 verses 13 to 15 Lois is going to read this one as Jesus asks the disciples this question now when
[51:07] Jesus came into the district of Caesar of Philippi he asked the disciples who do people say that who do people say that the son of man is and they said some say some say John the Baptist others say Elijah and others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets he said to them but who do you say I am thank you Lois big question for the disciples wasn't it Jesus says to them I know what people are saying out there but I want to know what you're saying and that question it wasn't just designed for the disciples it was designed for you and for me and today as we hear the word of God being read God is speaking to us Jesus is speaking to us and he's saying to us who do you say that I am that was the question what do the disciples say
[52:19] Ailey's going to come and tell us what happened next verses 16 and 17 Ailey please Simon Peter replied you are the Christ the son of the living God and Jesus answered him blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven thank you Ailey Peter was always the first one to speak sometimes that was a good thing and sometimes that was a bad thing but the question goes out to the disciples and then Peter speaks up and he says to Jesus you are the Christ you are the son of the living God so Peter he professes his faith in Jesus and to profess your faith in
[53:20] Jesus you might be thinking what does that mean to profess faith in Jesus is just to say I believe in Jesus I'm trusting Jesus I will follow you Jesus and that's what Peter was saying and Jesus says because you believe Peter you're blessed you're going to be happy in your heart you're saved Peter you're still going to make a mess of things that you're safe because I'm holding you you're my friend you're my disciple Peter so that's what Peter said and that's what Jesus said to Peter and I want to just ask the question today as we finish this short sermon what do you say about Jesus because that's the most important thing do you believe in Jesus it's great you're in the chairs in the church but I keep saying the chairs won't save us the space won't save us we need to believe in Jesus so boys and girls as God speaks through his word and makes eye contact with you do you believe that Jesus is the
[54:54] Christ that he's that he's the promised saviour do you believe that he is the son of the living God if you believe profess that you believe tell people don't be a secret disciple profess your faith in Jesus and maybe I wasn't going to say this but maybe this is a word for somebody maybe this is a word for somebody here today who does believe and who is saved but who's never yet taken communion and tonight there's going to be bread and there's going to be wine offered and for those who accept that bread and take it and take the wine in doing that we are saying
[55:58] I believe in Jesus he's my saviour he died for me and I'm trusting him and I'm following him how tragic would it be if Jesus has saved us and he's our friend and we sit here or we stay at home tonight and we pretend that we don't know him at all how sad would that be Peter shows us here that we are to profess our faith in Jesus if we believe in him and now we're coming to the part of the service where Mr.
[56:39] Morrison your teacher you can't know his first name because he's your teacher and Mackenzie they are going to they are going to make a profession of faith they both believe in Jesus and they want baby Nancy to grow up to believe in Jesus so we're coming to the part of the service now where they're going to profess their faith in Jesus and they're going to promise to bring up Nancy to know about Jesus in the hope and prayer that she too will grow up trusting in Jesus so maybe Ian on Mackenzie sorry not Ian Mr.
[57:17] Morrison Mackenzie can come forward just now and stand at the front and as they take their rise in just a moment we'll stand with them as they profess their faith in Christ and make promises to bring up Nancy to know about Jesus stop reading my notes here that's right Anna here comes Nancy so if you guys could come forward here just when we're baptising a baby there's always a little bit of potential for anything could happen when Nancy is a wee bit older anything anything anything could happen to me so first of all
[58:29] Ian and Mackenzie are going to profess their faith as they come into membership of the congregation here so I'm going to do you promise to join regularly with your fellow Christians in worship on the Lord's Day you promise to be faithful in reading the Bible and in prayer you promise to give a fitting proportion of your time and talents and money for the church's work in the gospel in this world and do you promise depending on the grace of God underlined emphasised because we can't do this apart from the grace of God do you promise depending on the grace of God to confess Christ to serve him and to walk in his ways all the days all the days of your life the Lord bless you and enable you faithfully to keep these promises and as you have made confession of your faith
[59:38] I do now in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ the King and Head of the Church welcome you to the fellowship of his table as you've sat with us before at his table and welcome you to the fellowship of this congregation of God's people and now as we come to baptize Nancy I'm going to ask you as our parents some questions do you acknowledge the Bible to be the word of God and your only guide in all matters of faith and conduct do you confess God the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit as revealed in Scripture to be your God do you profess faith in Jesus Christ as the only saviour of sinners and as your saviour and Lord and do you promise independence on God's promised help by your prayers teaching and example to bring up Nancy your child in the instruction and discipline of the Lord Nancy
[60:48] Kate Morrison I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Amen the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace and we'll pray if Duncan was here today I would have asked Duncan to pray because Duncan is Nancy's favourite human being in all the world apart from our mum and dad and grandparents so let's but in Duncan's absence I'm going to pray so let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for the blessing of little Nancy here with us today we thank you for this amazing gift that you've given to Ian and to Mackenzie as parents and to grandparents who are here with us and some who perhaps are watching at a distance to us as a congregation and a community we thank you Lord for her we thank you for the health and the strength that she enjoys in spite of having struggles earlier and still having to be careful at this stage we thank you that she is so healthy and so bright and such a gift of joy amongst us in the congregation here we ask
[62:18] Lord that you would bless her and that as she grows up she would grow up to know the touch of Jesus upon her life we think of Jesus who said let the children come to me don't hinder them and we ask that Nancy would grow up close to the Lord Jesus knowing the love of the Lord Jesus and trusting in the Lord Jesus from these early years be with Mr. Morrison and Mackenzie and bless them help them as they as they make promises and as they seek to point Nancy to Jesus help them to do so day by day and help us as a congregation to remember to pray for all of the children here and help us we pray to point Nancy and each one of them to you day by day so hear our prayers and bless we Nancy and the whole family we pray and go before us now in the remainder of our time together and we ask all this in Jesus name and for his sake Amen Amen thank you thank you guys we're going to sing now a hymn and we're going to sing
[63:27] Mission Praise 52 God sent his son they called him Jesus he came to love heal and forgive he lived and died to buy my pardon an empty place there to prove my Savior lives because he lives I can face tomorrow because he lives all fear is gone because I know I know he owes the future and life is worth the living just because he lives and speak to home a newborn baby and feel the pride and joy he gives a greater still the calm assurance this child can face uncertain days because he lives because he lives
[65:09] I can face tomorrow because he lives all fear is gone because I know I know he hopes the future and life is worth the living just because he lives and then one day I'll cross the river I'll find my smile and I'll walk with faith and then as death gives way to victory I'll see the lights of glory and the glory lives because he lives I confess tomorrow because he lives all fear is gone because I know
[66:14] I know he hopes the future and life is worth the living just because he lives I'm going to step aside now and the Sunday school are going to guide us through the last little bit of the service the boys and girls this is when you get your prizes at the end of the year and you're also going to sing a song as well so I'll ask Stuart or Gordon or whoever to guide us through the next few minutes I'm going to sing a couple of choruses all very well and then the words shoot up here on the streetNING
[67:50] That is what you are when you trust in Jesus. That is what you are when you're facing Him. Don't blow your mind to see the awesome kind of love our Father has got.
[68:02] Don't blow your mind, John 3 and 1, don't blow your mind. Don't blow your mind, John 3 and 1, don't blow your mind.
[68:14] Don't blow your mind to see the awesome kind of love our Father has got. Don't blow your mind to see the awesome kind of love our Father has got.
[68:30] That is what you are when you trust in Jesus. That is what you are when you're facing Him. Don't blow your mind to see the awesome kind of love our Father has got.
[68:43] That is what you are when you trust in Jesus. That is what you are when you're faced in Him. Go and pull your mind to see the awesome kind of love our Father has got.
[68:57] Thank you.
[69:27] Thank you.
[69:57] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[70:29] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[70:41] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[70:53] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[71:05] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[71:17] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[71:29] Thank you. Thank you. Don't change at all.
[72:16] Okay, thanks very much, boys and girls. Okay, thank you very much.
[72:34] It's great to see the kids coming week after week. Andrew, you can come back down here. Sorry, there's a seat here. Sorry. At this time of year, we always have our annual Sunday School Prize giving.
[72:51] And this bundle of books that are here, a bundle of books that are a real answer to prayer for us as a congregation. A number of years ago, the room through the back here was empty.
[73:04] We had no kids in the creche. And we committed to God to pray for our kids for the creche. And it's fantastic. We've got a bundle of books here.
[73:15] And we see the kids on the floor there. And we do give thanks to God for each and every one of them. Sadly, we've got a bundle of books at the end here. We've got kids leaving the Sunday School today.
[73:25] But as you can see, we've got a future of young kids coming through. And they're obviously in great voice. So continue to pray for our Sunday School.
[73:37] And I'm going to call the kids forward. This is the kids from the creche. And the first one goes to Nancy Kate. Don't worry, Nancy.
[73:54] I've got no water tonight. No, no. The next one is for Evelyn.
[74:10] Evelyn. Not everyone today. Not everyone today. Isabel Kate. Isabel Kate. There you go.
[74:24] Anna King. Effie.
[74:38] Effie. Effie. And the newest addition to the creche.
[74:50] Julia. Maybe Julia. And Julia's like brother.
[75:10] Joseph. Here you go, Joseph. Joseph. Probably work hard here. Is Poppy here today?
[75:23] Poppy's here. Oh, there you go. You're coming. There you go. Marianne.
[75:33] Marianne. There we go. Benjamin. Benjamin. Benjamin.
[75:57] Here we go, Benjamin. Although Benjamin's getting his book with a creche, it's actually just moved up in at the Sunday school.NINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNING Penny?
[76:40] Ellie, turn up. Lily? Emily?
[77:01] Ellie? Christy? Maryam?
[77:23] Michael? Daniel? Henry? Sean? Henry? Sean?
[77:37] Shonnie? Shonnie? Bray sir? I'm moving up to the Bible class.
[77:54] I'm moving up to the Bible class. Lewis? Billy? Billy? Billy? Bruce? Katie? Billy? Billy? Bruce?
[78:08] Katie? Well, Alistair's here, I think, somewhere.
[78:42] Alistair Morrison. I'm taking 0.1 in my millisecond to run over here. I'm going to ask Stuart to come up now.
[78:56] As I said earlier on, we've got one or two that are leaving. Four that are leaving the Bible class. So Stuart takes the Bible class along with Mary. So I'm going to ask Stuart to come up. And then I'm going to do another presentation.
[79:07] This one's for Grace McLeod. We've got a Bible as well as a book for this year. And hopefully it doesn't stay any classic.
[79:21] Bethany. I'm ready for that. Bethany McLeod. Caitlin McInnes.
[79:35] And then finally, Bella McLeod. We've got one more presentation to make.
[79:51] It's great welcoming Nancy and Ian into the church. They've obviously been here for a period of time. It's great to see them coming in and joining the congregation.
[80:02] There's always a period of sadness when we see people leave. And we have one family that have been with us now for a number of years. Have been actively involved in the congregation.
[80:14] And they've, for various different reasons, are moving away. And they are going to be a mess to the congregation. And as many of you know, that's Ruth and Ross and Libby and Ewan.
[80:29] And I'd ask Ross and Ruth to come forward. It's a small token of our appreciation for the work that you've done both in the Sunday School, with Rooted, assisting with PowerPoint and Livestream.
[80:42] And we'd just like to thank you and wish you God's blessing as you move on from the congregation. So thank you. I'm now going to ask Stuart to come up and pray for Ross and Ruth and for the kids.
[81:01] Let's come together in prayer. Our ever-blessed Father, Lord, we give you thanks for this wonderful opportunity where we can come into your house and have a family service.
[81:15] We thank you, Lord, for all the young voices that we hear. We thank you for their presence with us. And as they come each and every week, whether on Friday afternoon to the clubs or through Sunday at the Sunday School, we thank you that they come willing to listen, to learn about Christ, to learn about the promises, as we heard today.
[81:35] And over the last year, we've been looking at the story of Abraham, Lord, and we see the promises that were fulfilled there as well, Lord. So we pray for each and every young one. We give you thanks for the parents for bringing them out, Lord, and ask that the books that they've received, they would read them, and that they would lead them to ask questions, further questions about who you are as they grow in knowledge of a wonderful and gracious God.
[81:58] We give you thanks as well for Ross and Ruth and for Ewan and Livy and for their time with us, Lord. We pray for them and ask that you would go before them in all that they do. We give you thanks for the time that both Ross and Ruth gave up on a Friday evening to come in to your house and to share some wonderful fellowship with the young ones in our community, Lord.
[82:19] And we give you thanks for them, Lord. So be with them, be round them, keep them, grant them journeying mercies as they travel away, Lord. And we look forward to the time, hopefully shortly, where they come back to spend time in fellowship with us, Lord.
[82:32] So be with us just now, Lord. Go before us in all that we do. We pray for the Sunday school teachers and for all the youth leaders, Lord. We give you thanks for all that happens there, Lord. And we pray that as we continue to plant seeds, Lord, that you would indeed put it in the hearts of those that hear it, that they would ask the question, who is Christ?
[82:53] Who do you say that I am, Lord? So we pray that they would answer that question with that personal relationship, that they know you, that they have come to you, and that they have welcomed you into their lives as their Lord and Saviour.
[83:04] So be with us just now, Lord. Go before us in all that we do. Be round us, keep us, and pardon our many sins. In Christ's precious and glorious name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, and thank you to all the Sunday school teachers who are involved in taking the kids and teaching them week by week of Jesus.
[83:31] We're going to sing to bring the service to a close now. The hymn on the screen, though, The Nations Rage, we sing about the Ancient of Days, the peace of knowing, the God who reigns over all.
[83:48] O the nations rage, kingdoms rise and fall, there is still one King reigning over all.
[84:12] So I will not fear, for his truth remains, that my God is the Ancient of Days.
[84:27] And above him, look before him, all the time in his hands, for his throne it shall remain and ever stand.
[84:40] All the power, all the glory, I will trust in his name, for my God is the Ancient of Days.
[84:56] O the dread of night overwhelms my soul, he is here with me, I am not alone.
[85:10] O his love is sure, and he knows my name, for my God is the Ancient of Days.
[85:24] And above him, look before him, all the time in his hands, for his throne it shall remain and ever stand.
[85:37] All the power, all the glory, I will trust in his name, for my God is the Ancient of Days.
[85:51] O I may not see what the future brings, I will watch and wait for the Saviour King, with my joy, all the time in his name, all the ancient of Days.
[86:18] All the ancient of Days. All the ancient of Days. All the ancient of Days. All the ancient of Days. None above him, none before him, all the time in his hands, for his throne it shall remain and ever stand.
[86:34] All the power, all the glory, I will trust in his name, for my God is the Ancient of Days.
[86:49] All the ancient of Days. And 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.
[87:07] Amen.