Sunday, June 14th 2020
Welcome to Worship
Good morning!
For those worshiping at home – Greetings.
The videos are uploaded now
WE are delighted you are finding ways to join us in worship and thanking
God for his goodness. I am conscious of
many for whom the lockdown has taken its toll. But hopefully being at level one
means a return to a more normal life. I
had the first of our services at Atawhai this week and I have my first service at
Patoka this weekend. I have heard Mainly music and other activities are
starting again soon.
Even young people grow faint and weary,
the young fall exhausted;
but we who wait for the Lord shall find our strength renewed.
Have you not heard?
We shall mount up with wings like eagles.
We shall run and not be weary.
We shall walk and not be faint.
This is true for those who wait for the Lord.
It is true for us who wait for the Lord and worship him.
Our opening prayer
We are grateful for your blessings; you
refresh and renew us when we wait on you.
Like rain on arid farm land you bring shoots of new life. Like an oasis
in a desert wilderness, we find refreshment and renewal when we find you and
drink deeply of your life giving water.
You say those who wait upon the lord will find
their strength renewed. You say we can
rise on wings like eagles –in the effortless movement carried by your
grace. Yet this waiting on you is the
hardest thing.
We feel the need to take things in to our own
hands, to push ourselves, to seek every way to solve our own problems rather
than stop and wait on you. We forget you
are the good shepherd seeking his missing sheep, the father in heaven with arms
outstretched waiting for your prodigals to come home.
Forgive us for not being still long enough for
you to find us or rather for us to find that you have been there all along with
hand outstretched offering peace and promise of your help.
Help us find a new centre of stillness and to
see you power at work in our lives as you do what we cannot.
Let us say the lord’s prayer
together
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come and your will be
done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins as we
forgive those who sin against us. And Lead us not into temptation
And deliver us from evil.
For yours is the Kingdom, the power
and the glory. Forever and ever amen
If you are with others share your highs and lows for the week. If you
are doing this with just you and God, pause and ponder the things of your week
that you are grateful for: the people
you know and love, the company you have shared….
Don’t forget the low points – what have you struggled with this week?
Opening Songs at St Columba this week are
1.
As the deer
2.
Turn your
eyes up on Jesus
Brett talks to the children about how long it takes different
planets to do one circle of the sun. Mercury:
87.97 days (0.2 years) Earth: 365.26
days(1 year) Mars: 686.98 days(1.9
years) Jupiter: 4,332.82 days (11.9 years) Saturn: 10,755.70 days (29.5 years)
Neptune: 60,190.03 days (164.8 years) The
further out the longer it takes – the further away from God the more we need to
scramble to complete what is required of us.
The children sing – my
lighthouse
Bible Readings: (if you watch the video- the Bible readings and sermon start at the 29 minute mark)
Isaiah 40:25-31
Romans 8:18-30
Brett’s Message: - When the future looks unsure
Today I had 2 different visitors who spoke about the effect the
Lockdown was having. One told of her child’s
marriage breaking up and the second said it was her marriage that was in
trouble. Sure, there were underlying
stresses but this time has pushed things over the edge. When you are pushed to the edge, or beyond
your limits, when your future looks uncertain what can you do?
Today I want to talk about 2 words one from Isaiah 40 – the word “Wait”
And one from Romans 8 – the word “Groan”
These two words I think are Keys to resilience to enduring when the
journey is long and tough and the future uncertain
In the opening verses of Chapter 40, the
prophet announces that they will be going from Babylon back to their hometowns,
back in Israel. That sounded exciting –
a fulfilment of God’s promise but it was also a 1,126 km walk from Babylon to
Jerusalem. (the same distance from Cape Reinga to Wellington via Napier) at
least 6 weeks walk probably more like 10.
More than enough to tire the
youngest and fittest. Let alone those a little older.
Sometimes the journeys end seems too far away and all we can do is
take the next step because even thinking one hour ahead is overwhelming.
When the future looks uncertain, daunting,
overwhelming Isaiah points us to God the source of strength.
As we said last week’s Isaiah 40 depicts
·
A God
of compassion –Comfort ye my people v1
·
A God
whose word is eternal (the grass fades and the flower falls but the word of the
Lord endures forever )v8
·
A God
who takes care of his flock like a shepherd. v11
·
A God
who is incomparable in power and wisdom (v12-14)
In today’s verses in the later part of the Chapter
Isaiah goes on to say God is without equal (v 25-26) as the Creator of the
stars they stare up at from their campfires.
And he is a God who knows where they are (they are
not lost or forgotten (v27-28)
God does not grow tired or weary (v28) but
gives strength to the weary v29.
The readers of these words are told to look
to this God for the strength, guidance and power we need.
When I was a new Christian I learned many key
bible verses off by heart. IS 40:30-31 was
one.
“Even
those who are young grow weak; young people can fall exhausted.
But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their
strength renewed.
They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary;
they will walk and not grow weak.”
The
version I learned had “Those who wait
on the lord find their strength renewed” v 31`
(I see
the NIV translates it as to hope in the
lord. All 3 are reasonable translations)
The Hebrew word for “wait” is qavah (קָוָ×”)
literally ‘binding together, eagerly waiting, hoping for, expecting, to look eagerly for, (ps 25.3; 37:9) In Isaiah 5:4 it is
used for Looking for a harvest of good grapes.
I like the idea of binding together. It is not just hoping or waiting but binding
your life with God’s looking and eagerly expecting God to work. The idea is of a
piece of string, which cannot lift very much weight because it does not have
very many strands in it. A piece of rope, however, can lift hundreds of kilos
because it consists of many strands. When a rope lifts or pulls a load, it becomes
taut, the individual strands are pulled and squeezed closer together. While
this “stress” is on the rope, the individual strands work together to lift or
pull the load. No one individual strand does all the work. If it did, it would
snap. A rope’s strength comes from all the strands working together. The “rope”
of our lives gains strength by being twisted or woven or bound together with
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
To the one who waits for the Lord in trust
and eager expectation we find our strength renewed….
To face the stress of the journey- to find
strength renewed we bind ourselves to God in faith and Hope
But Romans 8 adds another word to our Journey – that
word is “groan”
Can you imagine the groans after walking for a week
or 2 – “Ok kids time to get up, another 30 kilometers today.”
Common Gramma – you hip is not that sore, the blisters
on your feet are not that bloody - Groan.
(I must I am
feeling more and more sympathy for the Israelites in the desert with Moses as I
think about this).
Paul as he writes talks
about Groans – not as a complaint but as an unfulfilled longing – more like I wish
an eager longing. (Are we there yet?)
In v22 the creation is groaning in eager longing
(Hope) as it waits for its fulfilment of God’s promises.
In V23 Christians groan in
eager longing (Hope) waiting for fulfilment of God’s promises.
And in V26 the Holy Spirit is also groaning
– in eager longing (Hope) for the fulfilment
of God’s promises.
V26 In the same way
the Spirit also comes to help us, weak as we are. For we do not know how we
ought to pray; the Spirit himself pleads with God for us in groans that words
cannot express.
The spirit is praying in noises that words
cannot express – have you ever felt that – wanting to say something and not
having the words - -Pauls assay a groan or words that are not words coming from
the deepest part of our being can be the best prayer ever – from the spirit
with us direct to God
What is the Holy Spirit groaning about? What is he eagerly longing for?
I think there are a few clues in the Passage
1.
That
we might move from weakness to strength – that the promise of IS 40:31 would be
fulfilled in us.
2.
That we might experience 2 gifts from the Spirit
_ Patience and hope. The word Hope occurs 6 times in Romans 8. Hope is - the
optimistic attitude of expecting a positive outcome. But, hope needs his friend
patience for without hit it descends to worry and despair.
3.
That we
would know God is at work – Another bible verse I learnt which I frequently recall
is v 28 “We know that in all things God works for good with
those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.” Paul outlines God’s purposes as becoming like
Jesus in v29 and ultimately sharing Christs glory in v30
Paul finishes the Chapter by saying nothing
can thwart God’s purposes
35 Who,
then, can separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble do it, or hardship
or persecution or hunger or poverty or danger or death?.... No,
in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us! 38 For I am
certain that nothing can separate us from his love: neither death nor life,
neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the
future, 39 neither
the world above nor the world below—there is nothing in all creation that will
ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ
Jesus our Lord.
Our 2 words are vital for the tough journey
we are on
·
The
need to wait on the Lord –
·
The
need to groan in eager longing
Neither word sounds very powerful but they
both point to deeper reality – success doesn’t
come by hard work and determination – that only leads to exhaustion
But by allowing God to renew our strength
By allowing God to lift us up and carry up
on his wings
By allowing the Holy Spirit to give us hope
and patience and fulfil the plans God has for our lives
A reworking of Psalm 23 by the
Japanese poet Toki Miyashina:
The Lord
is my pacesetter, I shall not rush.
he makes
me stop and rest for quiet intervals.
He
provides me with images of stillness which restore my serenity.
He leads
me in ways of efficiency, through calmness of mind,
and his
guidance is peace.
Even
though I have a great many things to accomplish this day,
I will
not fret, for his presence is here.
His timelessness, His all-importance,
Will
keep me in balance.
He
prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity
by
anointing my head with the oil of tranquillity.
My cup
of joyous energy overflows.
Surely
harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours,
for I
shall walk in the place of my Lord,
and
dwell in His house forever.
Is there other connections between your bible readings and your highs
and lows for the week?
Was there a
word, sentence, or phrase that stood out to you in the readings today?
Pray
for those who shared their highs and lows giving thanks for the blessings and
asking for God’s help with the struggles.
This Prayer for others was written by
Esther Woodcock
Let
us pray.
Today
dear Father of all, there is much unrest throughout the world. We long for peace. We long to be rid of dictators in the world
and have only non-partisan leaders with compassion and decisions of caring and
order for each of us. We pray for those
leaders, as we think of our own country’s anthem ending in “God Defend New Zealand”.
May we not be the looters and destroyers of property or people, for a negative
doesn’t right a negative. We pray that
the leaders who are watching this happen find peaceful ways to engage and
listen to the people who are asking to be recognized. May our words be of love
and concern for one and all, for “Jesus Loves the Little Children, all the
children of the world…” Yes, you love us, each and every one of us and we are
asked to approach you as a little child.
Ruler
of all, we bow to you asking for food for the needy, clothes for the poor and
most of all homes for each person or family.
This is even truer as we come out of Covid 19 lockdown and consider
those who have no money to pay for their rent, whether it is for their
businesses or for their homes. May our
country, our leaders and we your people, aide in finding ways for them to
retain their homes and their businesses.
May we show caring and love for our neighbors who are suffering in this
way.
There
are many, dear Jesus, who are still sick with Covid-19, or others that are
suffering illnesses but afraid to go seek medical attention. We pray that you will hold them in your hand
and comfort them, for your “yoke is easy and your burden is light”. For those who have lost family members to this
horrific virus, may they lean into you and know your faithfulness.
Lord
of All, we plead with you to help those who are jobless to be able to find new
jobs, whether they are skilled laborers, or they are businessmen and women who
have been employed as the supervisors or owners of businesses. May we who are able, help them in finding
employment and being merciful to them.
Our
gracious Lord, we see neighbors and their children who have little. May we use integrity in following your
example of sharing through the loaves and fishes serving the thousands. May we continue in our monetary gifts and
food gifts that will extend to people throughout our community and the world.
For those of us who have hands and feet help in building, in baking, in picking
fruit or vegetables that our neighbors and children have more. May we be a light to the people of our
community, still smiling through adversity.
Our
compassionate Father, we ask that you help us be the light to the world, an
unyielding flame of hope for the gentleness and kindness you have taught. As an example to others may we offer a smile,
may we be kind, may we be complimentary, and may we listen carefully. May we be as the writer says: “So if you're walking down the street sometime, And spot some
hollow ancient eyes, Please don't just pass 'em by and stare, As if you didn't
care, say, "Hello in there, hello"
We are your people and submit our lives to you, praying that we are able
to help others in the way that you ask us, despite our own frailties. It is with prayerful thanksgiving, with
grateful hearts, with unyielding love that we praise you and thank you for the
many mercies you give us daily. May our
possession of you Christ, be our influence on all people, rather than our
profession of you Christ.
In your precious name, Amen.
Amen.
Final HYMN In Christ alone
