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[0:00] well good morning everyone and a well welcome to uh this family service today if you're here visiting or you're here for the first time it's uh especially good to see you and if you're wondering uh about the order of the service today it's slightly different today with it being a family service uh the service will be uh pitched at the age of all those from age six to age 106 and so it's good to have us all together worshiping god today there's tea and there's coffee served at the end of the service and if you're able to stay behind please do so visitors especially uh would be very welcome to that the evening service will be a more normal service at 6 pm conducted by myself god willing and the youth fellowship will meet at half past seven thereafter in the hall here there is a meeting of the church session tomorrow evening at 7 30 pm and that meeting will be at the man's at kylos ladies bible study meets at 8 pm tomorrow night at 32 mcqueen street and the first youth fellowship as usual church of scotland hall tuesday at half past seven prayer meeting on wednesday at half past seven here in the community center or perhaps in the room at the the back there and a warm welcome will be extended for that meeting as well and the service is next sunday god willing at 11 and six conducted by myself god willing um the arrangements for summer sunday school and i've been made there's a sheet over on the table at this at my left and if you're able to help with the running of the sessions over the summer holiday period uh it would be uh very much welcome it's good to have so many children when you have so many children we need a few more volunteers than we and we have so please be encouraged to come forward if you feel the lord can use your gifts in that area congregational barbecue and fellowship for all ages at shillibos macher in old school 2 pm onwards next saturday 27th of june and i do want to emphasize it is all ages it's not just a sunday school trip it's an all-age barbecue and folks from uh leverborough and scarlat leafy church hope to join us on that afternoon as well so please be encouraged to come to that and finally just a thank you to all those who helped in any way with the challenger bus mission in the last week and there will be a retiring offline uh next large day to uh help defay the costs of the mission obviously the congregations locally um will be supporting the work financially and there's the opportunity to give to that next large day are these all the intonations okay everyone let's close our eyes and let's bow our heads and let's talk to god as we come to him our heavenly father we thank you for this new morning we thank you for this new day and we thank you that it is the day that we call the lord's day especially and we do thank you as we've said that it's the day that we remember that jesus died for our sins but he rose again and we thank you that the words that we've been singing are true we thank you that jesus lives we thank you that he he lives today we thank you that jesus the son is at the right hand of the father in heaven and we thank you that the holy spirit has promised that he will be with us today as we come together in the name of jesus

[4:07] and so lord god we pray that you would draw near to us as we come and we try to draw near to you in the name of christ we thank you that in the name of jesus we can and we thank you that even though we are sinners and even though there's so much that's wrong in our lives we thank you that jesus died to take away the sin we thank you that jesus died to make people who were wrong right with his rightness his righteousness and so we pray lord god that today as we think more about who you are and how much you love us and what you are saying to us we pray that you would speak to every one of us and that we would respond by trusting me and putting our faith in jesus the risen savior we thank you that on the moment that we believe we're promised that the holy spirit comes to live in our hearts and father we thank you that the holy spirit is here with us today and we pray that he would be our teacher that he would help us to understand the bits of the bible that we read we pray that he would guide us as we pray and as we sing praises so that the praises that we sing would be from our hearts and they would really be worship and our expression of how much we love you god so we pray that you would accept us in jesus thank you for everyone who's here today thank you for all the boys and girls and for the year that they've had in sunday school thank you for all that they've been talked about jesus and we pray that you would help them and that you would help the older boys and girls the men and ladies help us all help us all to understand and to respond in our hearts to your love of us and your call upon our lives we thank you lord for those who are visiting with us today and we ask that you would bless them and that you would give them the refreshment of their own holiday and that you would be with everyone and every household that's here today we thank you that you're the god who who has a plan for our lives and you plan to speak to us every time we open the word of god and so we pray that you would unblock our ears we pray as we always do that you would open our eyes and help us to see and hear and understand all that you have for us in this day we pray for people who are struggling today and who need your special help we pray for some whose hearts are sad as they think about people that they've loved who have gone from this world into eternity we pray for those who are as sad as they think about grannies and shenners and we pray for those who are as sad as they think about us and mothers we pray lord for all in this community who are sad because of death we thank you that jesus came to overcome death and we thank you that when he is our shepherd and when we are trusting in him he is the one who promises that he will carry us through death into everlasting life and so we pray whilst there is time in this world help us to believe help us to trust help us to say the lord is my shepherd i will follow him we pray today for those who are anxious about people that they love we think of some who are anxious about loved ones in hospital we pray for john and list others and their son robert who is due to have surgery this week and we ask lord that you would have your hand upon him

[8:13] and that everything would go well we pray for all those that we can think of here in hospital and who are needing special care and we ask lord that you would look after them that you would give them everything that they need to come through their illness and that you would give them the grace that you've promised is enough for every day we pray for the challenge of us people thank you for them with us this week and for the clear message that they gave to us about the the ultimate rescuer jesus and we pray that the message that was shared would stay in our hearts and that we would believe and that even if we're very young that we would trust our creator god in the days of our youth we pray for the team as they go to carlo and we ask that you would use them as they go there and be with those who went back home and who are probably feeling tired today may we find rest in your presence at this time we ask now lord that you would continue to be with us be with those who are away in different places we think about nurse marian as she seeks to work for you and speak about your love and we ask that you equip her for every job that we give her to do be with the session we hope to meet tomorrow night help us to to be wise and we know that wisdom comes only from god and so we pray for that wisdom be with us in a week that we can't yet see but lord if you know already and give to us everything that we need to live for you in this week and thank you lord god that we can call you our father and thank you that on this day where we remember and that we can know that you are the perfect and the good and the everlasting father who's always with us to help us to know your love in our lives we pray all these things in jesus name amen now there's a lot going on in the service today and i'm going to ask first of all anish where's anish anish to come out please and to read for us a few verses from the beginning of proverbs chapter 3 and after that the children are going to come and sing the first song which is a song that comes from that verse that anish is going to read in a second so anish would you like to come out please and read that verse for for the combination verses 5-6 my son do not forget my teaching but keep my commands in your heart for they will prolong your life for many years and bring you prosperity let love and faithfulness live beneath you bind them around your neck write them on the tablet of your heart then you will win favor and food name in the sight of the corner man trust in the lord with all your heart you need not want him in understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight amen thank you anish for reading that so clearly for us trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding i think the boys and girls are going to come out now and they're going to sing the first of their songs and uh lord god we thank you for we thank you for these words that the children were saying and these words that anish read we recognize they're the words of god and not the words of man and we thank you that when we trust in the lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding and when we acknowledge you and when we look to your lord he will guide us and you will direct our paths and so we thank you for all the

[12:17] children we thank you especially for those who are uh young adults and i pray for connell and for kaya and for andrew thank you for the attendance over the years and for their being with us today and connell and kaya connell and um andrew and we pray that you would be with each each of them and as they acknowledge you that you would direct them in their lives and that you would show them and give them strength to follow your plan for their lives we thank you that you have a plan and we thank you that we're going to be thinking more about that this morning we thank you also for those who have taught them over the year for all the sunday school teachers and we pray that you would bless them and that you would encourage them in the work that they're doing we thank you that your word is like sea and it's planted in hearts when it comes to life your word is powerful and it never comes back empty so we commit these young men to you and we ask that you would guide them in life and that they would know your presence and that they would be used whatever they're doing for your glory we pray this in jesus name amen the boys and girls are going to sing another song for this night thank you very much to the boys and girls and to those who've taught them over the year it's wonderful to have them in the congregation it's wonderful to hear them encouraging us to follow jesus and i think now what's going to happen is the ones who are not in primary school but in pre-primary school they're going to head through to the fresh area and the rest of the boys and girls will stay with us for a simple service today okay i'm gonna ask Peggy and kelly uh to come out and read the next section of god's word for us we're going to think about uh verse from jeremiah chapter 29 this morning and jerry and uh how you will read to from that chapter for us uh jeremiah 29 verses 1 to 14 this is the text of the letter that the prophet jeremiah sent from jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests the prophets and all the other people nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from jerusalem to babylon this was after king jehovah and the queen mother the court officials and the leaders of judah and jerusalem the craftsmen and the artisans had gone into exile from jerusalem he entrusted the letter to elasa son of shapon and tikemiah son of hilkiah whom jedekai king of judah sent to king of knetzer in babylon it said this is what the lord almighty the god of israel says to all those are carried into exile from jerusalem to babylon build houses and settle down plant gardens and eat what they produce marry and have sons and daughters find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage so that they too may have sons and daughters increase the number there do not decrease also seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which i have carried you into exile pray to the lord for it because if it prospers you too will prosper yes this is what the lord almighty the god of israel says do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have they have prophesied lies to you in my name i have not sent them declares the lord this is what the lord says when 70 years are completed for babylon i will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring me back to this place for i know the

[16:20] plans i have for you declares the lord plans to prosper you and not to harm me plans to give you hope and a future then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and i will listen to you you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart i will be found by you declares the lord and i will bring you back from captivity amen and may god bless you start reading from his word i think i've changed the program um we will sing uh we'll sing from sam 23 we're going to sing a character at the end of the service but i think at this point we will just uh sing to god's praise again sam 23 i know the words are not on the screen but you all know it so that's fine and i'm going to ask mr cobble jr uh to come out and uh read us in the sermon of that song uh the lord is my shepherd i'm not one he makes me down to lie in pastures green he readeth me the quiet waters by my soul he doth restore again and me to walk doth make within the paths of righteousness even for his own name's sake yea though i walk in death's dark veil yet will i fear none ever for thou art with me and thy rod and staff me comfort still my table thou hast furnished in presence of my foes my head thou dust with oil and light and my cup overflows goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me and in god's house forevermore my dwelling place shall be is that okay so let's bring it on you but if you come out in front we'll stand this way the lord's my shepherd i'm not one he reached me down to lie in pastures the lord's my shepherd i'm not one he reached me down to lie in pastures he reached me

[18:39] The quiet waters high, my solely love restore again, And me to walk the way, within the paths of righteousness, In for His own name's sake.

[19:30] Yea, though I walk in death's dark fill, Yet will I fear thine ill, For Thou art with me, and Thy rod, And staff become for still.

[20:10] My table Thou hast furnished, In presence of Thy foes, My heaven, O God, With heart and eyes, And like the former coast, Goodness and mercy of my life, Shall surely follow me,

[21:11] And live the stars forevermore, My dwelling place shall be.

[21:32] I just remember the information that I forgot to give you, So I'll just give the teachers now, Before we think a bit more about the word that was read.

[21:51] This coming Friday, that's the 26th of June, There's going to be an informal fellowship here, At the community centre, There will be an unaccompanied Samson, To appeal to all the churches, And two testimonies will be given.

[22:05] Kevin Norman, who's from Scalpy, Is going out to Sri Lanka, The Monday after the fellowship, That's a week tomorrow, And there's an opportunity to donate to this mission trip, Not for Kevin, But to take to the mission work there, At the door on the night, And there will be refreshments afterwards.

[22:22] So that's just a warm invitation, It's not our thing, It's been organised, That's the big teeny and marion, And it's open to all the churches in the area, So that's this Friday at 8pm, And my apologies for not giving that earlier.

[22:38] Okay boys and girls, I think we'll start just by thinking about the boys, Who got the Bibles a minute or two ago. Andrew, Andrew, Andrew, How old are you boys?

[22:51] 15? 15? 15 and 16. Do you ever wonder boys and girls, In the front row, What must it be like to be as old as that?

[23:02] What on earth goes through the head, Of a 16 year old? You know when you get older, You get all kinds of questions going right on your heads.

[23:16] They might be thinking about things like, What am I going to do when I'm a wee bit older? What career will I do? What job should I get? Where will I live?

[23:27] Do you know what else they might even be thinking about? Who will I fall in love with? And will we get married? There can be lots of questions in your mind, When you're 16, 17 years old.

[23:44] And there's lots of plans that you're starting to think through, And it's quite difficult to make plans in our lives. And so God says to us through the Bible, The passage that we read was part of the guidance on this.

[23:59] God doesn't ask us to make plans on our own apart from him. God asks us to make our plans with him. In fact, God asks us to make his plan our plan.

[24:15] Jeremiah 29, 11 is the verse that I want to lock onto this morning. And Peggy, let me read the verses around it. And it says in Jeremiah 29, verse 11, This is God speaking to a people way back then, And a people still here today.

[24:32] He says, For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.

[24:44] What do we learn about God through this verse? Three things. The first thing that we learn about God in this verse is that God knows.

[25:00] He says, For I know. Do you recognize? I think there's a next slide. You might recognize one. Do you recognize what that is?

[25:12] What's that? Do you know? Put your hand up and you know what that is. Anish. That's Google. And some people think that Google knows everything.

[25:25] Who knows everything? Does Google know everything? Is there any question in the world you can ask and Google will give you the right answer? For those of you who might not be sure, Google is a search engine on the internet.

[25:38] If you're not connected yet. And you can put a question in and it will search the whole world wide web. And it will give you lots and lots and lots and millions of answers. Does Google know everything?

[25:50] No. Does Google know what you have for your breakfast this morning? No. Does Google know what you were thinking about last night?

[26:03] No. Google doesn't know everything. But there's one who knows everything. And it's God.

[26:16] For I know, he says. He says. And he knows every single thing. Every single place. Every single time.

[26:27] Every single person and thought and word and thing that we do. God knows. He knows everything. See in the chapter that Peavy was reading a second ago.

[26:41] The people that God was speaking to on that first day when this was said. They were having a really, really hard time. Let me tell you a wee bit about what was happening in their lives. They had been attacked.

[26:53] And there had been a really bad, big battle that went on in their lives. And some of them, almost all of them had lost their homes. And they were kidnapped.

[27:05] And they were taken to another land. Not God's land. But another land to be prisoners. And they lost their jobs. And they lost all their money. And they lost their friends. And some of them even lost their families.

[27:18] And so it was a horrible, horrible, hard time. That these people were having. And boys and girls.

[27:29] Put your hand up if you ever had a hard time. Have you ever had a hard time? Ever find that life's a bit difficult? But you've been told for the fourth time.

[27:42] Clean up your room. And you're thinking, oh. This is a hard time. I need to play football. I remember asking a teenager once.

[27:54] Somebody the age of the older boys over there. And I was asking them. How can I pray for you? Because I pray for everybody as the week goes on.

[28:06] I remember asking a teenager. How can I pray for you? And you know what they said to me? They said, sometimes it can be really hard in school. Sometimes I find it really difficult.

[28:19] Not the sons. But just some of the people. Can you pray about that? And boys and girls. It can be hard.

[28:31] Can't it? When people are nice to you. And you can feel really alone. And you can feel like no one really understands what's going on in your head.

[28:42] And what's going on in your heart. And it's sore. And you feel like nobody knows how you really feel. And you don't really know who to speak to. Do you know who understands? Do you know who knows exactly how you feel?

[28:58] Yeah? God knows. He knows exactly how you feel. And he knew how hard it was for Israel all these many many years ago.

[29:12] And he knows this morning if you're having a hard time in school or in work or in the village or whatever. He knows. He knows that our health isn't good.

[29:25] He knows that our minds are all knotted up and worried. He knows that people are saying things that are difficult for us to hear. Jesus came from glory, it says in the Bible, from heaven to earth.

[29:47] And so he knows what it feels like to be a human. He knows what it's like to be popular. And if everybody say how wonderful you are.

[29:59] And he knows what it's like when everyone turns against him. As they do. He knows what it's like to have really great friends. And he knows what it's like when the friends slightly die and they get nasty.

[30:18] Everything we feel, Jesus has felt. He knows. And so you and I can come to him.

[30:31] And know that he understands what's going on in there. And we can speak to him as we pray. Whether we're six or whether we're 106.

[30:45] He understands. He knows. For I know. God knows. He knows. The second thing that we learn from this little verse.

[30:56] Is that God plans. He plans. Do you recognize what this is? I think lots of, probably ladies more than men have these in the house. Mary's always saying, why don't you just look at the thing and you'll know what's going on.

[31:12] Do you know what that is? Who can tell me what this is? Let me share that. Shut up. Come on, help me out somebody.

[31:28] What is that? It's a planner, yeah. It's a weekly planner. And it helps, Mary.

[31:39] And it helps me to make plans so we can hopefully get some kind of things done. Do you know that God is not only the God who knows, but God is the God who plans.

[31:50] He makes plans. And God had plans for his people way back then. And even though they were having a hard time and they couldn't understand what God's plan was, even though they couldn't see clearly what God's plan for them was, God hadn't forgotten them.

[32:08] And so he says to them, for I know the plans that I have. And do you know that God still has plans?

[32:22] Is there another slide out there? Next one. What game is this? What game is that?

[32:33] Come on people, speak to me. What game is it? Yeah, come on Alistair. And Grace, do you agree with that? Chess. Chess.

[32:44] Chess. Okay, it's chess. It's chess. Have you ever played chess? Have you ever watched chess? Very, very exciting. It is quite exciting actually.

[32:56] It's not very fast moving. But it is quite exciting. Have you ever played chess? Put your hand up when you play chess. How do you get really good?

[33:07] Brian, I'm telling you, how can you get really good at chess? What's the tactics? In less than a thousand words. Practice. Practice.

[33:18] Practice is a good tactic. Do you need to think one move ahead? Yes. Or do you need to think ten moves ahead? I would say so. Ten moves ahead. See if you want to do well at chess, you need to be thinking not just about the next move, but about the move after that, after that, after that, after that.

[33:34] And see when you see the people who are really good at chess, they're called grand masters. And they're thinking, many, many, many moves ahead. And when I watch them, not that I often do, I think, goodness me.

[33:47] They have minds that work at a totally different level to mine. I would never have seen that stuff coming. They're just at a different level to us. And you know that God, he's like that.

[33:58] It says in the Bible that his ways are higher than our ways. And his thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

[34:09] And so the chess grand master might be looking at the board and thinking ten moves ahead. But our God sees the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end. He sees it all.

[34:21] Every part of it. Nothing catches him out. Nothing will surprise him. He neither slumbers nor sleeps, it says in the psalm. And so he makes plans.

[34:34] He knows everything and he makes plans. And we can't always understand them. In fact, we can't often. But his plans are always the best plans. And they always work out.

[34:47] Just ask Joseph. Do you remember the story of Joseph? Did you hear about Joseph this week? Put your hand up if you heard about Joseph this week.

[34:59] He did it to Charles Jabbos or Moses or Esther. It says in Romans 8 that he works everything out for the good of those who love him.

[35:13] So God is a God who... Two things we've learned about God. For I know the plans. God first of all, he... Come on, speak to me. And if you don't, you'll have to overhear.

[35:24] God what? Point one, God knows. God knows. Excellent. And point number two is God... Who said that?

[35:35] God plans. God knows. God plans. God knows. God plans. We're going to sing now. And we're going to sing a psalm in Gaelic. Psalm 121. The first two stanzas of that psalm.

[35:47] And we'll remain seated for this one. And this is a psalm that reminds us. As we lift our eyes to the hills and remember God, he neither slumbers nor sleeps, nor sleeps, he knows everything and he's working everything out for the good and the protection of his people.

[36:09] So we're going to sing together these words that will be on the screen in a moment. Thy to the hills will lift mine eyes, though whence doth come my name? Where does my help come from?

[36:20] My safety cometh from the Lord who heaven and earth hath made. Take a look for gallows.

[37:01] Legal! O King, O King, For hear God of His name.

[37:23] O King, O King, So King, O King, o o o o op indicates that where joy was on his head when and to najast alita kar shir ad be hemen al

[38:25] Thank you.

[38:55] Thank you.

[39:25] Thank you.

[39:55] Thank you.

[40:26] God plans. The third thing that we learn about God from this verse is that God gives. I think it's on the screen. God gives.

[40:38] The Bibles that were on the table earlier, they're gone. Where did they go? Come on, boys and girls, you're going to have to speak to me or I'm going to start coming out here and speaking to you. Where did they go?

[40:49] Where did they go to? Where did they go to? Where did they go with Bibles? Did they just vanish? Did you see somebody do something with them?

[41:02] Anthony, what did you do with the Bibles? I gave them. You gave them. We saw the Bibles and they were given to Conal and Andrew.

[41:12] And Kyle will get one as well. And God says to us in that verse, he says, for I know the plans I have for you.

[41:23] For you. The Bibles that were here, they had names on them. They were for you and for you and for you, Kyle.

[41:34] He'll be here soon. And you know, it's one thing knowing, boys and girls, that there's a plan. But we like to know where we fit into that plan, don't we?

[41:46] Where's James? Is James here? He's over there. I was hiding in the back. I thought he might be. James, let's slide. I'm in the football team.

[41:58] It's in the football team. See the football team? Do you recognise any players in that team there? What a bunch, yeah? James is the boss of the Harris football team.

[42:10] Sponsored by Harris Tweed Incorporated. What's James' plan? I think James' plan. If I was to get him out here tonight, don't worry, James, I'm not going to.

[42:22] If I was going to get him out here just now and I had the long jacket on and the microphone, I said, James, what's your plan for the Harris football team? I think he'd be saying, well, we want to win every cup that there is.

[42:34] Every cup we want to beat. Lewis, we want to beat. Every single team that we come against. That's the plan. And that's a good plan for a football manager.

[42:45] But see if you are Andrew or if you are Hugh, who's somewhere here as well, and you're part of the team. You want to say to James, that's a good plan. But am I in this plan?

[42:57] Where's your team line up? Am I going to be in the team? It's good to have that plan. And I agree with the plan. But will I be part of it? Have you got a plan for me? And God says to us, for I know the plans I have for you.

[43:16] And the children often sing that God has a plan for you. Just as he had Moses. And God has a plan for you today.

[43:28] Every single boy and girl. Every single man and lady. God has a plan. And it's a plan for your life. In fact, not only does he have a plan.

[43:41] And not only does he have a plan for you. He wants you to see the plan. And know the plan that he has for you. Which is why. God.

[43:53] Speaks. God speaks. I don't expect anyone to put a hand in the vastest question.

[44:07] But I expect there may be one or two people here. Who this morning. Were thinking. I don't know if I'll go to church. It might be a bit boring.

[44:17] You know how much more excited we would be about coming to church. And opening God's word. If we would remember every time that we do it.

[44:32] God speaks. Not me. God speaks. For I know the plans. For I know the plans. I have for you.

[44:44] Declares the Lord. Or says the Lord. I brought along one of my friends this morning. What do you think of him? Do you like him?

[44:59] Do you want to speak to him? Ask him some questions then. What questions have you got for him? Come on.

[45:11] This only works if you speak to me. And if they want you're going to have to help me. Or we're going to be here a long long afternoon. Don't speak to me.

[45:26] What's your name? Do you like that question? Let's have another question. Another question please. Give me a question.

[45:43] Kayla. Who do you love? She likes that question either. Bethany. Bethany. What age are you?

[46:02] He's not speaking. Why is he not speaking? I don't speak. Why? I will show you. Because he doesn't have a brain or teeth.

[46:20] He doesn't have a brain or teeth. That's why he's not speaking yet. Yeah, Caitlin. Because he's a teddy.

[46:31] Yes. The other reason she's not speaking back to us. Is he alive? He might be cute. But he's not alive. And he's got a mouth.

[46:44] But because he hasn't got a brain or teeth. Or a heart. Or life. He just doesn't speak. And so we could have the rest of the day saying, Big Teddy, what's your favorite football team?

[46:57] Big Teddy, how do you think the Harris football team are going to do? And he's not going to say a word. I'm going to move him. I'm going to distract him. Do you know that in the Psalms, Psalm 115, God says to David, he's speaking about false gods.

[47:20] Idols, he calls them. And he says this. He says, They have mouths, but they can't speak. They have eyes, but they can't see. They have ears, but they can't hear.

[47:31] They have noses, but they can't smell. They have hands, but cannot feel. Feet, but they can't walk. Nor can they utter a sound with their throats. But Israel is God that we read of and we heard from.

[47:49] And our God, he's no false God. He is the one true God. And God's not dead, as you so often sin. God's not dead.

[48:00] No, he's alive. And he's a living God. And he knows. And he plans. And he gives us his plans.

[48:13] And he gives us his plans through his word. The Bible. He's the God who speaks.

[48:24] And that's why we gave the boys Bibles. There's no better thing we could give them. And that's why our Bibles should be the most prized possession that we have.

[48:35] Not that we worship a book. But this is where we hear God speak. We have the spoken word of God. Do you believe that, boys and girls?

[48:48] Let me hear it back from you. Do you believe this is God's word? Louder! Take it off your shelves. Don't leave it on your shelves.

[48:58] Every day open it. And listen to what God asks us to say to you. God knows. God plans. God gives. God speaks.

[49:10] God knows. And so let's listen to him. We're going to sing another hymn just now before we do our last wee bit. And it's a hymn where we ask God to speak to us.

[49:23] Speak, O Lord, as we come to you. To receive the word. Truth of your holy word. We'll stand to sing this one. You've listened very well, girls.

[49:36] We're almost there. God knows. Help me out. God knows. God plans. God gives.

[49:49] God speaks. And the next thing is. God protects. You know what's in this feminine looking bag? Gordon, come and show us.

[50:00] Get a volunteer, please, of an appropriate size. Rebecca. Is that addressed for the end of term dance?

[50:21] What's that for?

[50:43] Maybe I need something smaller. He said, give me something smaller. There's going to be trouble over dinner. Yeah, you can tell him something. What's that for, Gordon?

[50:55] Tell us. That's a body armour for a police officer. And so it gives protection, does it? Gives protection. Against what? Knives and bullets. Knives and bullets.

[51:06] What about punches? Yeah. Yeah? Any of the boys want to come and have a shirt? Just joking. Thank you very much, Rebecca. You can sit down now. Yeah. So that's a vest that if you put it on, it protects you.

[51:24] And you know what God says? He says, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not to harm you. God protects us. Now, if you've got your thinking caps on, you might be saying, hang on a minute, hang on a minute.

[51:43] Back to the first point. I'm not speaking to you right. It's okay. Back to the first point. You told us God's people were in trouble. You told us about a war.

[51:53] You told us about kidnapping. And you told us about people having a hard time and being sad. I thought you said God protected them. And I think sometimes we all have these kind of thoughts.

[52:07] Sometimes things happen in our lives and we think, where is God? This is not nice. This is hard. Where is God? And we're crying out in prayer. We're saying, will you help me, please?

[52:20] And we could go all the way through a lot of Psalms. We're not going to do that just now. And we could hear David, the psalmist, saying time and time again, God, where are you? Will you help me, please?

[52:34] And the fact of life is, sometimes hard things do happen. Sometimes God's people back then felt that.

[52:45] And sometimes God's people still today, we feel that. But God does protect us. And his protection is not always to keep us away from hard things and sore things.

[52:59] But sometimes the way he protects us is he puts his arms around us when we're going through hard things. Listen to what God says in Isaiah 43.

[53:11] When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. And when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.

[53:25] The flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God. The Holy One of Israel. Your Saviour.

[53:38] And that's our God. Isn't it great to have a God like that? That's how much he loves us. No matter how difficult things get.

[53:50] No matter how much we're struggling. He says he will be with us through it all. Well, it's like a, it's like that vest that we put on. He gives us that protection.

[54:03] It's not nice, boys and girls, if you're in trouble. Just imagine you're in trouble at school. And something kicks off and there's a bit of a rumble. And you think, I need help. And all your friends just go like that.

[54:14] They're gone. You think, I'm here on my own. I need help. And they've all run away. Okay. Jesus said he will never leave us. Never forsake us.

[54:27] He says he will be with us always. And no matter what happens, no matter how hard things get. He says, I'll be with you. I'll protect you.

[54:39] What a great God. What a great friend we have in Jesus. God protects. And finally, very quickly, God promises.

[54:51] For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope in the future.

[55:04] What's this on the next slide? The last slide of it. Is it coming? What's that?

[55:18] Yeah. Caitlin. Oh, that's true. What is it? A rainbow. A rainbow. Do you agree over there? Caitlin, Grace, Bethany, a rainbow.

[55:29] It's a rainbow, isn't it? What does a rainbow remind you of? Yeah? It's got lots of different colors.

[55:42] You know what a rainbow's in the sky for? It's like a reminder that God gave us. It's a promise. It's a promise that he makes. It's a promise that he made to this people in this chapter way, way back then.

[55:58] It was such a comfort to them. to know that God had a better future for them. And it was a promise that came true, really, really true, in Jesus.

[56:16] You know what God's plan is for your life, boys and girls? One word. Jesus. Jesus. God's plan was to rescue me and you from our sin.

[56:37] His plan was to go to the cross to take our sin upon himself so that he could rescue us from sin and he could rescue us from Satan.

[56:51] He could rescue us from hell. He could rescue us from death. And he made that plan come true in Jesus.

[57:04] He is the one who gave them hope. He is the one who gives us hope, whether we're in the front row here or whether we're in the back row over there. God's plan for us all is Jesus.

[57:17] Jesus. He's the one who makes sure our future is a bright one. And for the boys who got the Bibles today, it's great that they got the Bibles.

[57:30] The plan for them is Jesus. And it might be that there'll be a doctor. It might be that there'll be a that Kyle will be a sergeant major.

[57:43] It might be that Andrew will be the next retail star of Carvert. I don't know. But whatever you do, do it with and do it for Jesus.

[57:55] Because his plans are plans that will prosper us and make things go well for us. Not always sure about here.

[58:09] Hard things still happen. But God's plans go far beyond here. God's plans are for eternity. His protection is not just loss of profit.

[58:22] It's not just illness. It's not just disease and harm. He protects us from sin, the devil, hell, and he promises us everlasting life and peace.

[58:35] But first of all, we have to trust him. We have to say, as we say, I will follow Jesus.

[58:52] So let me finish by saying, whether we're old or young, whether we're stage of life or at, have we asked God to take away our sin and have we trusted in Jesus.

[59:08] For I know the plans I have for you, the prayers of the Lord. Plans to cross for you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.

[59:18] Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would help us to understand more of who you are. We thank you that you are the God who loves us.

[59:31] We thank you that you are the God who knows everything and has that perfect plan for each of our lives. The big plan and the individual will plan for every day.

[59:42] We thank you that you are God and that you are with us. We thank you that you are the God who speaks to us. The God who makes promises us. That you are the God who protects us.

[59:56] And Lord, we thank you that you are the God who has given us Christ and given us everlasting life through him to help us to trust him.

[60:07] Help us to respond by believing in your word and given to our lives. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to sing to finish our mission phase 1008 with the words on the screen.

[60:23] The Lord's my shepherd. I am not one. We sing in the chorus and I will trust in you alone. God's plan for our lives is Jesus the Lord our service and the blessing in the hour.

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