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[0:00] Good morning, a warm welcome to the service this morning. It's good to see some visitors with us this morning as well, and you're especially welcome.

[0:10] If you're able to stay behind at the end of the service, there's not tea and coffee. Well, there is tea and coffee, but there follows soup and sandwiches. So you're having a bonus meal today. If you're able to stay behind, it would be good to see you.

[0:25] And the reason we're having a soup and sandwich lunch today is because this is a special service when we're having little Evelyn McSween baptised. And so we pray that we'll know God's presence with us as we do so.

[0:40] The evening service tonight will be at 6, and it will include a testimony. DJ over there in the back row is going to be sharing his testimony as part of the service.

[0:53] But it's not going to be live-streamed. The first part of the service will be live-streamed, where I give a mini-sermon. And there will be a mini-sermon, I promise you. And then DJ is going to share testimony.

[1:06] But if you're not going to hear that, I'm afraid you're going to have to get off your couches and come into the building.

[1:17] So be encouraged to come to the service this evening. Ladies Bible Study on Monday and Thursday nights there, as usual. So you're encouraged to go to that if you're able to.

[1:27] Little Fishers is on this Tuesday. I'm glancing around for those who help out. And will it be continuing through the holidays? Yes, a tester week. This week is a tester week.

[1:39] So we'll see how many are available. But it's on this Tuesday. The babies in the church from 10 to 12. So be encouraged to point people in the direction of that.

[1:51] And pray for these children as they come into the church. Many of whom don't come in on a Sunday. But it's great to see them on a Tuesday. So pray on for them. Pray on for those who struggle with addictions of any kind.

[2:04] And the Road to Recovery meets on Tuesday at 7 in the church, as usual. And the prayer meeting will be held on Wednesday here, half past 7. I'll take the prayer meeting, God willing.

[2:15] And it'll also be on Zoom. The services next Sunday will be at 11 and 6. And Roddy McKenzie from Scalpay will take the morning service. Scott Nommie McLeod will take the evening service.

[2:29] I had hoped to be here next Sunday and then go on holiday on Monday for three weeks. But due to a bereavement, I have to go through to Aberdeen a bit early to assist with a funeral on Friday.

[2:45] So the services will be covered by Roddy and Scott next Sunday. And you have the details there of the period I'll be on holiday. And if you're needing any pastoral support during that time, speak to the elders in the first instance.

[2:58] And Ian McCritchie and Graver also is available if anyone needs to speak to a minister. One more thing. We're hoping to have an abridged holiday club the 11th and the 12th of August if we can get enough helpers.

[3:13] So please pray about it. And if you feel you could serve in this way, we do need to have a decent team, a number of people to be able to do a holiday club. So come and speak to me or to Mary at the end of the service today.

[3:27] And that will give us an idea of whether it's possible for us to have a holiday club. I'm conscious a lot of what we do in the holiday club we're doing every week in the Jam and the Connect clubs.

[3:37] But it would be good to have a holiday club if we're able. The children keep coming up and keep asking, when's it going to be? So if we're able to do that, please let's make the effort to do so.

[3:51] Let's begin this time of worship now. And we'll sing to God's praise. The words of Mission Praise 52. God sent his son. They called him Jesus. He came to love, heal and forgive.

[4:02] He lived and died to buy my pardon. An empty grave is there to prove my Saviour lives. Amen. Because he lives and creates tomorrow.

[4:39] Because he lives and creates tomorrow.

[4:53] Because he lives and feels dry. Because I know, I know he holds the future.

[5:06] And life is worth the revenge just because he lives. I was free to hold a newborn baby.

[5:19] And feel the pride and joy he gives. But greater sin. But greater sin. Like all my children.

[5:31] That child can feast on certain days. Because he lives. Because he lives. I can feast tomorrow.

[5:44] Because he lives. And then one day.

[6:05] I'll cross the river. I'll fight like shrine. I'll fight like shrine. No war with me. And then I'll step.

[6:17] I'll fight like shrine. No war with me. And then I'll step. I'll see the lights of glory. And I know he lives. Because he lives.

[6:29] I can feast tomorrow. Because he lives. All fear is gone. Because I know, I know he holds the future.

[6:44] And life is worth the living just because he lives. Very appropriate words as we come to baptism.

[7:04] How sweet to hold a newborn baby. And feel the pride and joy. I have to confess. I often have to change the he to a she. I've got three girls.

[7:15] And in the congregation we keep seeing little girls coming. And we've got one or two wee boys. But we have so many little girls who've come into the congregation the last few weeks.

[7:27] And we're thankful to God for them. And for the gospel which gives us such assurance in uncertainty. So let's pray and come to God.

[7:39] Our Heavenly Father we thank you for this day. This your day. We thank you that this is the resurrection day. It's the day where we are called to remember once more that Jesus, your Son, our Saviour.

[7:54] He died on a cross to take away our sin. But he rose from the grave. And proclaimed in the gospel message that because he lives.

[8:06] All who believe in him shall not perish. But have everlasting life. And we thank you for the wonder of that promise. And for the assurance of that promise.

[8:18] We thank you that that's a promise that gives us such joy and such comfort in every stage of life. Today we look forward to baptising little Evelyn.

[8:31] And we're so thankful for the babies that we have been blessed with in the congregation in past months and years. And we know that in this world there is so much uncertainty.

[8:45] There is so much that we see in the way of trouble. And sometimes we can be fearful in ourselves. Sometimes we can feel waves of anxiety when we encounter uncertain days.

[8:58] And when we see the turbulence of what goes on across the world. But we thank you that because of Jesus. Because of the promises that are ours in Christ.

[9:10] We have such assurance. We have such joy. That you are the God who walks with us through all of life. We thank you that we are promised that you will never leave us nor forsake us.

[9:24] We thank you that Jesus is the Lord, our Shepherd. Who guides us through all the days that we have in time. And then we thank you that when we come to the end of time.

[9:35] When we come to the valley of the shadow of death. We are promised that we are carried through that. When we are able to say that Jesus is our Shepherd. We thank you that he has overcome sin and Satan and death.

[9:50] And he carries us through death's dark veil. Into life that is everlasting. So we thank you, Father, for sending your Son into this world. We thank you for the eternal life that we have in him.

[10:04] And the abundant life that we have in time. When we walk with him. And so we pray that you would give to us faith. Each one of us. That we would trust in Jesus. We pray that there would be no one here today.

[10:18] Who would hear about Jesus. And who would hear the call of Jesus to come. And yet who would hold back. And walk through life alone. And come to death alone.

[10:30] We thank you that that is not your desire for us. It's not the will of God that any would perish. But that all would come to repentance. And salvation. So be at work, Holy Spirit, we pray.

[10:43] Amongst us this morning. Awaken our souls. Touch and revive our hearts. And enable us to have eyes that are fixed on Jesus.

[10:54] And hearts that are inclined towards Jesus. That we would have hearts that are tuned to praise you. As our God and our Saviour. So be with us, Lord, we pray.

[11:05] As we commit ourselves. And as we commit this service to you. Bless the young ones. As they are with us this morning. And bless the slightly older ones as well.

[11:18] Who have just started their holidays. We pray that in this time of holiday. They would know that you are close to them. That you'd give them safety. And that when they've got a bit more time. Than they usually do.

[11:29] When they're not in school. We pray that when they're having fun. And when they're doing all the different things that they'll do. That they'll remember you. In their early days. That they wouldn't forget you. But that they would trust you, Lord Jesus.

[11:41] And walk with you. We pray for those in middle years. Where there are so many responsibilities. And so many pressures. We are conscious that everyone is so busy.

[11:55] And there are so many demands placed upon us in this world. And we pray that you would guard us. From being those. Who are so taken up with what is urgent.

[12:06] That we miss the most important thing. Help us to be those who seek first. Your kingdom. And your righteousness. And we pray that you would add. And subtract from our lives. All the things.

[12:17] That you see. Are necessary. So be with those who. Who struggle with the pressures of time. And the pressures. And responsibilities of life. And we pray for those.

[12:28] Who are coming to. To the end of life. Those who are up in years. And who feel the aches and pains. That that brings. We pray for some. Who would love to be with us.

[12:39] And who can't be with us today. And we ask Lord. That you would bless them. Where they are. We thank you. That many of those. Whom we can't see. Who can't be with us.

[12:50] They have such a desire. To be with us. And we thank you. For the ministry. That you have given them. To pray for us. To pray for your work. And we know that. That is such a crucial ministry.

[13:01] Apart from you. Lord God. We can do nothing. So bless those. Whose desire. Is to be here. But who cannot be. At this time. And we pray that you would awaken those.

[13:12] Who have the opportunity. And have the health. And the strength. But have no desire. No interest. No awareness. Of God. And the things of God. We confess Lord.

[13:24] That we were once in that place. So we don't look at anyone. With a judgmental spirit. But we cry out to you. For those whom we love. And those who are still dead.

[13:35] In their hearts. And have no thought. Or knowledge. Or soul thirst for God. We pray for them Lord. As we see them. In our minds eyes. And we ask Lord.

[13:46] That you would draw them. To yourself. So hear our prayers. Go before us in this hour. Take away our sin. And enable us. To keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. For we pray these things.

[13:57] In Jesus name. And for his sake. Amen. Boys and girls. Would you like to come forward please? Good to see you all.

[14:23] How are you all today? Good. Good. Enjoying your holidays so far? Yes. Good stuff. Now I'm going to show you something today. You've probably never seen one of these things before.

[14:36] What's that? What's that? You've probably never seen one before.

[14:46] Probably none of you have got one. Or never used one. What? Phone. What is it? Phone. It's a phone. Have you ever used a phone? I've used phones many times. Yes.

[14:57] Used phones many times. Put your hand up. Have you all used a phone? Yes. Yes. So what do you do with a phone? Phone. Phone. You do a dance Michael?

[15:07] Yeah? Yeah? It rings. Yeah. It rings. Yeah? And Jake? Text and call. You text people. And you can call people. You can install apps.

[15:19] You can install apps which distract you from all kinds of things. Play games. Bitcoin. Pardon? Bitcoin. You can do Bitcoin, whatever that means. I've heard of it.

[15:29] Yeah? I've heard of it. I just don't know. I just don't understand what on earth it is. You earn money from games. You earn money from games. You earn money. Yeah. You can give me a lesson after the service. Yeah. So here's the thing.

[15:43] I really just want to speak about phoning, not apps and all that. We've done that before. Have you ever phoned someone? Yes. Yes. And when you phoned someone, have you, in fact, let's put it this another way.

[15:58] Have you ever phoned someone and they didn't answer? And 500 missed calls. 500 missed calls. That's what comes up in my notification.

[16:08] That comes up in your notification. Who do you phone that never answers? Oh, don't tell us. I would say, you know. Okay.

[16:22] Small early. Okay. So we can all think of people when we've got phones and we've got the phones at home, not mobiles stuck to the wall. And there's some people we phone and they never seem to answer.

[16:38] But we try and phone them. So we call people with phones. And we call people because we want to speak to them, don't we? But sometimes when we want to speak to somebody, we try and speak to them, but they don't answer.

[16:52] But they don't answer. And that can be really frustrating. Now here's the question. Can we call God? Not with a phone.

[17:07] That's right, Michael. Can we call God? What do you think? Over there at the back, girls. You're very quiet today. Can we call God? Not with a phone.

[17:21] Yeah, we can call God. So how can we call God? At the back there. We can pray to him, can't we? And you know how sometimes we call people and they don't hear or they don't answer.

[17:36] Does God ever not hear our calls? What about at three o'clock in the morning? He still hears. Midnight.

[17:48] What about in the busiest time of the day? Still answers. What if there's three million people all calling him at the same time? And you're one of the three million.

[18:01] He still hears and he still answers. You can be in the loudest place in the world and he still answers. Some places we can go with our phones like some of the bays.

[18:16] When you're heading through to Stornway, there's places where you might want to make a phone call and you can't get anything. Because there's no signal. Is there anywhere in the world you could go and there's no signal where you can actually speak to God?

[18:32] No. Nowhere. So there's no place in the world that you can go where you can't call to God and they'll hear you and answer you. And there's no time of the day or night.

[18:43] I mean, you would never phone some people at three in the morning, would you? But we can wake up in the middle of the night sometimes. Sometimes we can wake up in the night and we can be worried about things, can't we?

[18:55] And you don't want to. You might not even want to go and wake up someone in your family. But you can speak to God. And he listens and he hears. And he answers us.

[19:07] And today, I want to think about some of God's answers to us. If you think back a few months, quite a few months, maybe a year, maybe even two years.

[19:24] No, a while back, I can't remember exactly when, but I remember standing here one day and a few times and saying to us all as a congregation, you know, we've got a lovely creche room through there and it's full of toys and it's got all the good stuff in it.

[19:44] And how many people were in it? Zero. And so, do you know what happened? People started to pray.

[19:56] And we started to pray very specifically that God would bring some babies into the church. Because we knew there was a lot of babies in Tarbert and some of them have come.

[20:10] And many babies that we didn't know at all because they weren't born because only God knew about them. And he's heard our prayers and he's answered our prayers.

[20:23] And today, Evelyn McSween is one of God's answers to our prayers. And when we think about the creche, we've got Joseph and we've got well, you tell me, who have we got?

[20:41] We've got Joseph and we've got Ben and we've got Doogie and we've got Effie Grace. They're not all here today.

[20:53] And we have got Isabel and we've got Evelyn and we've got Anna Caitlin there at the back. And soon we hope, where's Mackenzie, that we're going to meet another one that God knows but we haven't yet met.

[21:11] So, we can thank God, can't we? That he does hear and he is hearing and he is answering our prayers.

[21:24] And what do you see on the table today that's a wee bit different? Have a glance. Can you see Henry? Water. You can see a bowl of water and what we're going to do today is we're going to baptise little Evelyn.

[21:40] Now, you're good at thinking about these things. What do you think what do you think the water symbolises? You know, water means something. So, what do you think the water means when we're putting the water on Evelyn's head?

[21:57] Go on, Michael. Yeah. We use water to wash our bodies. Yes. But the water reminds us, yeah? You're washing your skin away to join and move to something and you're going into God's body and following God.

[22:15] That's very deep. Good job. So, when we're seeing the water we're thinking about how water makes us clean on our skin but God's blood, Jesus' blood makes us clean in our hearts and when we baptise a child like little Evelyn what the parents Ian and Mahala are saying and what we as a congregation are saying is that we will point the little ones to Jesus by teaching them the Bible and by taking them to the church and we pray when we're baptising the wee ones that in God's time they will come to know and trust in Jesus and so now I'm going to move this chair just over here for a second and Ian and Mahala and Evelyn and Mary if you want you can come up and they're going to make some promises they're going to take some vows to use the big word to promise that they'll bring up little Evelyn to know about Jesus and that we'll pray that she'll come to know Jesus in time so we're going to stand as they take their promises we'll all stand with them will we you don't need to say anything Miriam

[23:43] I know you will help ok so question number one do you acknowledge the Bible to be the word of God and your only guide in all matters of faith and conduct and do you confess God the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit as revealed in Scripture to be your God and do you profess faith in Jesus Christ as the only saviour of sinners and as your saviour and your Lord and do you promise independence on God's promised help his grace by your prayers and your teaching and your example to bring up your child little Evelyn in the instruction and discipline of the Lord well here's where I get a cuddle not from you yet there we go it's been a while

[24:49] Evelyn McSween I baptise you in the name of the Father sorry 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 I'll hang on to her for a little minute more and we'll pray Lord God we thank you for this day and we thank you for the joy of all that we do we thank you for a little Evelyn here and for the joy of her being part of the congregation here we thank you that before she was born you knew her and before she was born before we knew her we were praying for her and we thank you that she came into this world safely we thank you that she's growing strong we thank you

[25:56] Lord for your presence with her and we ask Lord that you would bless her that she would grow up to know always that Jesus loves her and that she would in your time come to know Jesus as her saviour and her Lord we pray that you would be with Ian and Mihaela and Miriam as they point little Evelyn to Jesus we thank you Lord for Miriam and for all that she knows about Jesus the saviour and we ask Lord that Evelyn as well would know about Jesus as she grows up and as a family you would bring them all together in Christ so help them we pray and help us as a congregation as well to love the children to encourage them to come to Jesus to point them to Jesus and to pray for them as we see them week by week in this place so hear our prayers and we thank you that you do hear our prayers we thank you that you hear the prayers of all those who are here today and even as we think about those who are not here today those who have gone ahead of us from time into eternity we thank you that even now the prayers that they offered up are still being answered and we praise you Lord for the blessing of that so thank you for this day and bless the Evelyn we pray and we pray all this in Jesus name and for Jesus sake

[27:26] Amen Amen we're going to sing again now and we're going to sing a hymn that Ian and Michaela were asking for a hymn that we love Jesus loves me this I know 418 in the hymn book so let's stand and let's sing Jesus loves me this I know Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so

[28:26] Jesus loves me he who died heaven's gifts to hope heaven's gifts he will wash away my soul yes Jesus loves me yes Jesus loves me yes Jesus loves me the Bible tells me so Jesus loves me he who died heaven's gifts to hope and why he will wash he will wash he will wash he will wash and why he will wash he will wash away my sin let his little child let his little child come with yes Jesus loves me yes Jesus loves me Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.

[29:28] Jesus loves me, he will stay, cross beside me all the way. Let his little child take up to heaven for his dear stay.

[29:45] Yes, Jesus loves me, yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.

[30:06] Okay boys and girls, you can head through to Sunday school. And let's be remembering to pray for them, even when they get a bit older and not quite so cute.

[30:20] And we're going to turn now in our Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 6.

[30:33] Deuteronomy chapter 6. It's maybe a book that we're not overly familiar with.

[30:45] Some of these books can be quite hard to work through. Deuteronomy is a book where Moses is in the final months of his life.

[30:58] And he's speaking to God's people. God is inspiring him to speak to his people. And he reminds them again of God's word, of God's law.

[31:10] Deuteronomy literally means second law. And so God's people, having been in the wilderness for a whole generation, many passed away during these years.

[31:24] Moses, he is reminding God's people of the law and the word that some of them had forgotten. He's reminding the next generation to look to God and to trust God.

[31:37] So we'll read Deuteronomy and the whole of this chapter. These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

[31:52] So that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you so that you may enjoy long life.

[32:05] Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey. Just as the Lord, the God of your fathers promised you.

[32:18] Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.

[32:32] Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road. When you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

[32:47] Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates. When the Lord your God brings you into the land, he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you.

[32:57] A land with large flourishing cities. You did not build houses filled with all kinds of good things that you did not provide. Wells that you did not dig and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.

[33:10] Then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Fear the Lord your God, serve him only, and take your oaths in his name.

[33:24] Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you. For the Lord your God who is among you is a jealous God, and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.

[33:36] Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah. Be sure to keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. Do what is right and good in the Lord's sight, so that it may go well with you, and you may go in and take over the land, the good land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers, thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.

[34:00] In the future, when your son asks you what is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees, and laws the Lord our God has commanded, you tell him we were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

[34:16] Before our eyes the Lord sent miraculous signs and wonders, great and terrible, upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers.

[34:32] The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey all his law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.

[34:52] Amen. And may God bless that reading of his word to us. We're going to sing now again from Psalm 78. Psalm 78 and verses 5 to verse 7 of the Psalm.

[35:09] I'll read these verses in English, and then we'll sing them in Gaelic. His testimony and his law in Israel heeded place and charged our fathers it to show to their succeeding race, that so the race which was to come might well them learn and know, and sons unborn who should arise might to their sons them show, that they might set their hope in God and suffer not to fall his mighty works out of their mind, but keep his precepts all.

[35:41] Three stanzas there of Psalm 78. We sing in Gaelic, and we remain seated to sing in Gaelic. About the Stück, his lord will be proud to ye.

[36:02] Me up a man.

[36:16] Thank you.

[36:46] Thank you.

[37:16] Thank you.

[37:46] Thank you.

[38:16] Thank you.

[38:46] Thank you.

[39:16] Thank you.

[39:46] Thank you.

[40:16] Thank you.

[40:46] Thank you.

[41:16] Thank you.

[41:46] Thank you.

[42:16] Thank you. Thank you.

[43:16] Thank you.

[43:46] Thank you.

[44:16] Thank you.

[44:46] Thank you.

[45:16] Thank you.

[45:46] Thank you.

[46:16] Thank you.

[47:16] Thank you.

[47:45] Thank you.

[48:15] And so, We ask you to save us.

[49:15] Thank you.

[49:45] Thank you.

[50:15] Thank you.

[50:45] Thank you.

[51:15] Thank you.

[51:45] Thank you.

[52:15] Thank you.

[52:45] Thank you.

[53:15] Thank you.

[53:45] Thank you.

[54:15] Thank you.

[54:45] And then, So, So, that the Lord says, come to him.

[57:15] And for those of us, walk near to me, because we can't, on how we can, the tire, and they're not designed to, says Moses and talk about them to your children and that's what Ian and Mahala have promised that they're going to do today they're going to they're going to talk to Evelyn and to Miriam about the Lord Jesus and yet this is about more than just talking because if our talk doesn't connect with our lives our children will see that in five minutes and they will call us out on it immediately one of the commentators says the only way we can impress God's commandments

[61:19] on our children is by first having them impressed on our own hearts our children will be more impressed by what we do than what we say I think I'm hearing an amen from some of the children there so Moses he says regarding these rules for life take them in to your hearts I talk about them to your children and the final thing he says is is tie them to the fabric of your life don't keep them in a box for Sunday tie them where I say as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates now that doesn't mean that we have to get God's word God's rules and write them on stickers and stick them on our foreheads and our hands and our door posts and our fence posts doesn't even mean that we have to get texts and stick them on our fridges even though we do it simply means that the Lord is to be part of our whole lives and not just taken out on a Sunday the name of Jesus should not just be heard on Sunday in your life and mine the word of God should not just be opened on a Sunday as we take our children to church but the word of God should be opened day by day as we sit down and read it to them we are to be the commentator says verses 6 to 9 make it clear that the word was to be made part of their home the center of the conversation and the means of instructing the children to love the Lord and to obey him so these rules these commandments God's word was to be central in their hearts in their talk in their lives fourth point

[63:30] Moses says to God's people remember the Lord and on the day that this speech was made I think that would have probably sounded quite strange because here are God's people and they are at a really crucial point in their lives they see this fast flowing Jordan River they wonder how on earth are they going to cross it they can see the promised land and they know that within the promised land although there are great blessings there was going to be opposition there was going to be dangers toils and snares to use the words of the hymn writer and so as they prepared to cross over unto the unknown they would have felt nerves they would have known that there was much that caused them anxiety in the way ahead and so they would never forget the Lord at that point they would be conscious of how much they needed the Lord at that point and if we take that from there to here we know ourselves it's easy to remember the Lord when things are tough it's easy to remember the Lord when we feel anxiety and when life is a bit scary when we're fearful about the future it's easy to remember the Lord when COVID-19 first hit and nobody really knew what it was or what we were dealing with there were many many people who wanted to speak about the Lord but then when things become calm people start to get vaccines it doesn't seem to be quite as ferocious as we first thought when life starts to stabilize when things start to become okay it's easy to forget about God the conversations stop the anxiety levels drop and we think well maybe I can do this on my own maybe I can go my own way and the people of God as they prepared to proceed into the promised land the promise that God had given them and the reality was there were good things up ahead they had been through some pretty traumatic times but there were good things up ahead and that's a dangerous place for a believer to live so they needed to be told just as you and I need to be told remember the Lord verse 10

[66:21] Moses says when the Lord brings Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give you a land with large flourishing cities that you did not build they were going to have nice cities they were going to live in houses filled with all kinds of good things that you did not provide they were going to be well off wells that you did not dig they weren't going to be lacking water as they did in the wilderness vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant they're going to eat they're going to be satisfied he says when you experience all this verse 12 be careful that you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt into the land of slavery fear the Lord your God serve him and take him serve him only and take your oaths in his name so remember the Lord says Moses when things start to get good remember the Lord and then he says for the sake of your children remember the Lord look at verse 20 to verse 25

[67:36] I won't read it all in the future when your son asks you what is the meaning of the stipulations decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you tell him we were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and he did all these things to give us this freedom and so Moses says to God's people when you're in the land when you're enjoying a good life when things are stable when you're living in the danger of middle class living and your son asks you why do we have to do these things on a Sunday why have we got to do family worship why have we got to why can't we do some of the things that our pals are doing who don't go to church don't just say because we've always done it that way don't just say to them just forget about it just do it take the chance says Moses to tell them about all that God has done for you and that was in the old covenant

[68:42] God did much for them in the old covenant to save them and to keep them to give them protection to give them victory and yet when we think about ourselves under the new covenant how much more has God done for us for our salvation Jesus God the son he died he laid down his life he went to a cross he became sin so that we can be saved and we must constantly remember that and we must tell that to our children so remember the Lord says Moses and the next thing we're almost done is he says resist idols do not follow other gods verse 14 and that goes down to verse 19 and I imagine as God's people heard the word idol their conscience would have tingled because if we think back to

[69:54] Exodus 32 remember when the law of God was given Moses is up on the mountain he is meeting with God and when he doesn't come immediately down what do God's people do they say well maybe Moses is going to be up that hill forever let's forget about the one true God let's make ourselves some idols so off comes the earrings and off comes the chains a big fire a big furnace all the gold is melted and they create this golden calf this monstrosity this idol and they start to worship that and that was a point of weakness for God's people they were prone to pick up idols and to make idols and now as they prepared to go into a new land they would encounter new people they would be touched by new cultures and they would be tempted to pick up new idols and God through Moses says do not do it resist idols and we might say well that's an interesting thing for a speech all these years ago but what on earth has this got to do with us the answer is it's got a lot to do with us

[71:12] Calvin said the human heart is a perpetual idol factory and that's the truth when we stop remembering the Lord very often in times of prosperity when we're not as anxious as we once were when we forget the Lord we it's not that we have we have no focus on God we have a focus on other gods so we start making idols we take good things we turn them into idols we take our work and we worship it we put it first above all things or we take our money and we can't we can't but part with it it just becomes all consuming we start to worship it we love it or we take something like sport which is a wholesome pastime and activity and we elevate it to a position where it's more important than anything else and everything must revolve around this pursuit and it's in the place of God because when there is a clash between sport and God

[72:32] God always loses our music possessions even our families you know the reality is we can we can make our family we can turn our children even into little idols if we put them ahead of God and so we're called here to resist idol making and to put God first and if we think about the application on parents that will make us worse parents that will make us infinitely better parents because God will help us in the task of parenting as we put him first so today you know we thank God for the blessing of children they are God's gift we care for them we love them and we hold them in time but our biggest job as parents in time is to point them to and encourage them to come to know their eternal heavenly father the one who unites us all when we are trusting in Christ so we find

[74:03] God's people they are ready to move forward into the promised land Moses says to them get your relationship with God right put it first remember God's rules for your life not to spoil your life but to make you thrive flourish and know the reality of life remember the Lord when things start to go easy when you're enjoying prosperity when you're not fearing all the dangers of the wilderness don't forget God remember the Lord resist idols don't pick them back up because that's what we do all of us constantly every one of us who's a Christian we are prone to pick back up idols how many times does my grasp have to be broken on things that I pick up as idols so God says to me and he says to you resist idols and the final thing that we are called to do is to remember that our righteousness is in

[75:10] Jesus because we need to be realistic as we close will we always resist idols well no we won't as I was just saying often we will make idols often our grip will have to be broken on various idols will we always remember the Lord well no we won't Israel didn't often times we will not remember the Lord there may be days there may be weeks there may be seasons and we lose sight of the Lord the grace of God goes out of our mind we're consumed with something else very often we can be quick to forget God and focus on ourselves but we always keep God's rules for living well no we won't there won't be an hour that passes when we don't slip up and break

[76:18] God's rules in our minds if not in our outward living and in terms of our relationship with God will we always in fact will we will we ever love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul and all our strength and the answer you know is that we won't and we don't we fail in all these areas so who do we need we need Jesus we are not righteous but Jesus is righteous and he is our righteousness not only did he die to cover our wrongs to wash our sin away but Jesus lived for us that perfect sinless life that we are clothed in by faith when we trust him he died to make us right what did the hymn say he died that we might be forgiven he died to make us good not by what we do but by what he did and the promise of the gospel is that if we trust him if we come to him if we enter into relationship with him he will make us righteous so let me finish with probably my favorite verse in the bible 2 corinthians 5 and verse 21 verse 20 says be reconciled to god god made him jesus who had who had who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him in jesus we might become the righteousness of god righteousness in jesus let's let's thank god for that as we pray lord god we thank you for your word we acknowledge the challenge the biting challenge of your word because as we hear that speech to your people all these years ago we realize that this affects us this challenges us and as we see ourselves in some measure we know that we fall short of your rules of the relationship you call us into we fall short in terms of the idols that we sometimes pick up we sin lord we fail and we pray that you would forgive us that you would cleanse us in the blood of jesus and we pray that as we look to jesus today once more that you would clothe us with the righteousness of christ we thank you for that great exchange that god made him who knew no sin to be sin so that we who are sinners could be made righteous in him so make us righteous lord we pray for jesus sake amen we'll sing to conclude mission praise 275 i heard the voice of jesus say come unto me and rest lay down the way way and rest lay down the way one lay down

[80:19]  thy head upon my breast i came to jesus day as i was weary and worn and sad i found in him a resting place and he has made me glad i heard the voice of jesus sing behold thy life really give the living water thirsty one scoop down and drink and live i came to jesus and i drug of that thy giving sleep my thirst was quenched my soul revived and now i live in him i heard the voice of jesus sing i am this dark world's light look unto me thy heart shall rise and all thy day be glad i look to jesus and i found in him my star my son and in that light of life i'll walk till traveling days are done and and now may the grace of our lord jesus christ and the love of god the father and the fellowship of god the holy spirit be with us all now and forever more amen amen and t you and like and and we