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e e e e Good Morgan and hello welcome to Christ Church LOF on our service of Holy Communion my name is David I shall be leading us through this morning service and good morning to those of you who are meeting us online this morning like to take your seats it was nice and quiet so I thought I’d quickly jump in whil we had the silence Isaiah chapter 89 says I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations I will declare that your love stands firm forever that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself let us pray dear heavenly father thank you for bringing us together this morning to share in our worship of you to encourage each other in our faith and to share your love with each other as we look forward to your return be with us as we sing your Praises hear your word explained to us and share in the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ in Jesus name we do pray amen amen I will trust in the cross of my redeemer I will sing of the blood that never fails of sins forgiven of conscience cleansed of death defeated and life Without End we’re going to stand to sing two songs now all my days followed by an action song for the youngsters our God is a great big God let us stand [Music] my [Music] singad my praise to the allight [Music] for and Mery down trust in the cross of my redeem I will sing the all s foror [Applause] [Music] Majesty history the truth the the GL is Hol [Music] [Applause] I long to be where the prise is never ending [Music] Glory share [Music] Christ beautiful saor wonderful the truth the [Music] glor wonderful God Majesty history way the truth the the GL GL is in [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] our God is our God is a great God our God is a great God he Us in his our God is great our God our God is great [Music] us the UN the [Music] our God is great God our God is God our God is he Us in his he’s higher than and [Music] [Applause] he’s our God is aing God our God is a God our God is a great God he Us in his our God is a great [Music] God in his hand and he Hold Us in his hand brilliant great to see everyone well today is Father’s day and um it’s chance for us to give thanks to fathers in our lives um now in this broken World a day like this can be painful uh for many and um perhap per we wish we had had a better father or perhaps we wish we could be a father and we hav haven’t had the chance well what I want us to see this morning is that what is way more important than being a biological father is spiritual fathers now the grown-ups have just finished the series going through Paul’s letter to Timothy Paul was a single unmarried man and he had no biological children of his own but in Timothy he had a spiritual son here’s how he opens the letter which we studied through here we go Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the life that is in Christ Jesus to Timothy here’s the key words my beloved child grace mercy and peace from God the father and Christ Jesus our lord so there we go Paul was a spiritual father to Timothy they’re like a father and a son to each other now how does this work well we get some Clues later in the letter now I’ve got three volunteers who are going to come up and read uh a Bible verse to us so if you like to come up uh now come up all together BR we’ve got Johnson Jared and Lydia um and they’re going to come and read three verses from the rest of two Timothy and you need to be spotted do you come up the front don’t be shy you need to be spotting how this father something worked with Paul and Timothy right who’s our first one Lydia do you want to come up andt stand here we’ll just pop the verse on the screen here we go follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus thank you Johnson good morning oh happy Father’s Day to all the fathers and the supportive wives kudos to you all you then my child be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus and what you have heard from me in the presence of my of many weaknesses and Trust to Faithful Men Who will be able to teach others also thank you and Jared you however have followed my teaching my conduct my aim in life my faith my patience my love my steadfastness my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch Alum and lisra which persecutions I endured yet from all yet from them all the Lord rescued me great thank you well in each of those three sets of verses Paul talks about how he was a father to Timothy by being a role model he showed him how to live as a follower of Jesus and then encourage Timothy to copy him fathers raised Sons to be like them now this is where I need Eddie where is Eddie anyone seen Eddie you’re looking very cool today Edie brilliant now who would like to be like Eddie anyone would like to come and be a volunteer oh all the hands are going up you can’t see stop them right anyone like to come up and be like Eddie was that a hand over to Angela yeah come on I need a volunteer to come up maybe it’s a grownup we got a hand who like to come up brilliant Richard lwood at the [Applause] back now to be like Eddie you need to dress like Eddie you need to act like Eddie you need to talk like [Music] [Applause] and how did you talk at around [Applause] Applause now that’s what fatherhood is about fathers rais Sons to be like them they’re a role model and they encourage our sons to grow up like them and we are wired aren’t we to copy our parents um last weekend I went outside the house turned my bike upside down to clean the chain and the boys are watching at the window and then when I come back inside the house they’ve got little balance bikes turned upside down on the carpet pretending to clean them and we need the same in our Christian lives we really need spiritual fathers who can be role models and encouragers of us as we follow Jesus we need fathers especially young men need fathers who will model to us how to pray how to respond to frustrations how to handle disagreements how to welcome new people how to open up our homes how to spend our money and how to lead trusting God and so let me say today thank you to all you men who have acted as spiritual fathers to us whether you’re a biological father to us or not we thank you for all that you do for us and so we’re going to have three people now are going to come and lead us to pray okay we’ got Angela Mark and Monaco going to lead us to pray so if you’d like to come up here Angela do you want to come up I can use this microphone right who’s number one Monica you want so let’s try dear heavenly father we thank you for all the men who have been spiritual fathers to us thank you for them encouraging and showing us how to follow Jesus in different parts of life we pray for all the men here to grow as spiritual fathers in jesus’ name amen dear heavenly father we pray today for all who find Father’s Day difficult and painful may you draw close to them and fill them with your fatherly love for them in Jesus name amen dear heavenly father we pray for all that our fathers do for us practically please feel them with Jesus power and Grace so they can be also spiritual fathers to their children in Jesus name amen amen right thank you everyone who took part Brilliance well at the end of the service um every man here is going to get a chocolate barall which are going to be at the back on the way out so do grab one of those brilliant well it come now to our time of notices and um we’re going to begin uh with some um a happy thing I need to do it’s my legal Duty and privilege to read the bands of marriage for Simon and Gemma who were of bunny and family and U so let me do that now I published the bands of marriage between Simon Smith of this parish and Gemma Lancaster also of this Parish this is the first time of asking if any of you know any reason in law why they may not marry each other you are to declare it well let’s pray for Simon and Jamma Lord Jesus the source of all true love we pray for this couple Grant to them Joy of heart seriousness of mind and reverence of spirit that as they enter into the Oneness of marriage they may may be strengthened and guided by you through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen Brilliance well um some some other things um I need to mention there um first of all um this week we have equip on Tuesday night uh which is our inous Bible school and this week we’re going to be thinking about a fantastic topic we’re going to be looking at Jesus dying on the cross and going deeper into what it all meant and what was really happening and to do that we’re actually going to be looking at the Book of Leviticus so you ever got to levius in your quiet times I’m not sure what it means Come Along on Tuesday night I’m going to see lots more about Jesus his death on the cross uh and then on Wednesday we’re running a discover course which is chance to go over the basics of Christianity for the first time and um that’s happening in the daytime on Wednesday if you’re interested in that please see Pam and then on Thursday we have our next messy Church happening and we’re going to be thinking about the Fantastic story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den so this happens after school and it’s a brilliant fun time for families followed by Meal Time with to have you along would you like to help see Pam you got people You’ like to invite as Flyers at the back and then on Saturday we hope to be running Beach games so though the weather hasn’t been so good so far um so we’re doing this near South Pier um so we’d love to have you long 1 to 3 P.M Saturday afternoon Gaines for children and adults side by side and then at the end of the month we’re kind of building our way hopefully towards a beach Olympics event where it’s going to be a special Beach games and there will be um free chips and ice cream so we’d love to have you along at that c Edie if you want more info about those things and then lastly to mention the men’s barbecue coming up on the 1st of July uh there’s details in the new sheet please see David who’s leading today and um he can tell you more information about that and also see our new sheet we’d love to have the men of the church along to that and this is open to bring along other um men you may know friends and family as well great well that’s all I need to mention this morning do have a look at our new sheet if you want info about other things and I’m going to hand over now to David who’s going to pray for our children and youth as they go to their grps let us pray dear heavenly father thank you for the hard work that our uh children and young people’s groups have put into preparing for today we do pray that the children would enjoy the activities and learn more about you and increase in their faith in Jesus name we pray amen if the children young people like to go to the group sign the leaders and if you’d like to take a minute to turn and talk to somebody or reach for a Bible [Applause] okay if I can draw you back into the room maybe you’d like to carry those conversations on after the service if you’d like to reach for your Bibles carrying now me to us from the book of Isaiah this morning’s reading is Isaiah chapters 56 and 57 uh you can find on page 745 in the few Bibles so Isaiah chapter 56 starting at verse one thus says the Lord keep Justice and do righteousness for soon my salvation will come and my Deliverance will be revealed blessed is the man who does this and the son of man who holds it fast who keeps the Sabbath not profaning it and keeps his hands from doing any evil let not a foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say the Lord will surely separate me from his people and let not the unar say behold I am a dry tree for thus says the Lord to the yunas who keep my sabbaths who choose the things that please me and hold fast my Covenant I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than Sons and Daughters I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off and the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to him to love the name of the Lord and to be his servants everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it and holds fast my Covenant these I will bring to my Holy Mountain and make them joyful In My House of Prayer their burnt offerings and the sacrifices will be accepted on my Altar for my house shall be called a house of prayer for All Peoples the Lord God who gathers the outcasts of Israel declares I will gather yet others to him besides those who are already gathered all you Beasts of the field come to devour all you beasts in the forest his Watchmen are blind they are all without knowledge they are all silent dogs they cannot bark dreaming lying down loving to Slumber the dogs have a mighty appetite they never have enough but they are Shepherds who have no understanding they have all turned to their own way each to his own gain one and all come they say let me get wine let us fill ourselves with strong drink and tomorrow will be like this day great beyond measure moving on to verse 14 and it be said build up build up prepare the way remove every obstruction for my people’s way for thus says the one who is high and lifted up who inhabits eternity whose name is Holy I dwell in the high and holy place and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly Spirit to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite for I will not contend forever nor will I always be angry for the Spirit would grow faint before me in the breath of life that I made because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry I struck him I hit my face and was angry but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart I have seen his face but I will heal him I will lead him and restore Comfort to him and his MERS creating the fruit of the lips peace peace to the far and to the near says the Lord and I will heal him but the wicked are like the tossing sea for it cannot be quiet and its Waters TS up m in dirt there is no peace says the God says my God for the Wicked This is the word of the Lord great well please do keep um your Bible’s open at that page uh so it’s on page 745 and let us pray now as we look at God’s word together father we want to come now before your word uh father we realize we’re in a um obscure Old Testament book um with um things which seem so alien to us yet your word is ever new and speaks to us today please oh Father will you speak to our hearts and encourage Us in Jesus’s name amen um I actually went to a church of England school and um when I was there I one of my memories is of an re teacher saying I think we will be surprised who makes it into heaven and he was talking about Jesus’s Parable The Wedding Banquet where people come from all over and he was saying that he thought that people from all kinds of religions will make it into God’s kingdom will we be surprised who makes it in to heaven on the other end of the spectrum I remember going on a summer mission team and the leader saying that he thinks that the number of real Christians in the world is much smaller than the estimates normally given uh so much so the be the Christianity in so much of the world is just a nominal cultural thing and he says that he thinks we’ll all be surprised at how few actually make it into heaven will we be surprised who makes it into heaven well welcome back to the Old Testament book of Isaiah we’re with the Old Testament Church of Jerusalem 700 Years BC as they look forward to a new Future Hope Beyond Exile and Babylon Isaiah as we’ve been seeing is The Tale of Two Cities it begins with the old city of Jerusalem which is corrupt and finishes with a new city of Jerusalem which is filled with God’s values how do you get from the old city of Jerusalem to the new city well the answer is by the work of God’s servant the Messiah Jesus and that came to a climax back in Isaiah chapter 53 as we saw how he would come and die taking God’s Exile judgment in our place it’s an incredible prophecy 700 years in advance of Jesus dying for us on the cross and now we’re doing chapters 56 to 66 and it’s the home straight if you imagine a kind of long Marathon through a big book this is now the home straight As we look to the finishing line now chapters um 56 to 66 are all about getting ready to live in that New Jerusalem to come that will be at the heart of a new creation it will be a new Heavenly world and it will be like Christ’s Glory that filled the temple remember that back in chapter 6 will at that future time fill the whole world and last time we saw in chapter 55 how there’s a great invitation thrown open to the peoples of the world come and feast in this new creation to come you can come totally for free because Jesus has already paid the price when he died on the cross and so it said don’t miss out on the best special offer of all time Isaiah is telling us that this salvation 100% happens by God’s doing it’s all of his grace it comes as a gift and we simply have to accept it and so chapters 56 and 57 where we’re at today says don’t be surprised who makes it in will we be surprised who makes it into heaven three parts to the answer number one Outsiders are in chapter 56 Begins by telling us that anyone who lives in Justice and righteousness waiting for Jesus’s coming will be part of his new people verse one the words Justice and righteousness a key pair of words in the book of Isaiah ever since chapter 1 we’ve seen how God’s plan is to transform that city of Jerusalem and make them into a city filled with God’s justice and God’s righteousness is is a pair of words that speak of Heavenly goodness uh we we had last time in chapter 55:9 God saying for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways I mean our ideas of goodness are so small and limited aren’t they we think being nice or being moral makes someone good but God’s goodness is so much greater it’s the kind of goodness that Meets Evil with forgiveness it’s the kind of goodness that dies for your enemies and Jesus talks about this in The Sermon on the Mount remember these words you have heard that it was said You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy but I say to you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your father who is in Heaven There we go good uh there you go good verse of Father’s day and this heavenly goodness is what you need to liveing God’s presence because it’s who he is when Isaiah sees Christ the Lord in the temple uh back in chapter six he sees just how far short he falls of that Heavenly goodness he cries out wo is me for I am lost for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean nips for my eyes have seen the king the Lord of hosts yet the new creation to come will be filled with God’s presence God’s glory that filled the temple will fill the whole world it will be the home of righteousness a new Heavenly World filled with Heavenly goodness and so verse one thus says the Lord keep Justice and do righteous for soon my salvation will come and my Deliverance will be reveals now the key issue here of justice and righteousness centers on keeping the Sabbath day of rest now we often think about this being a kind of legalistic strict annoying kind of rule you have to keep well the Sabbath day was given to the Old Testament Church is a weekly day off to look forward to this hope this new creation rest to come uh chapters 54 and 55 had lots to say about covenants and the sign of the Covenant given to the nation of Israel was the sign of the Sabbath day that day stood for the whole Covenant relationship if you kept the Sabbath day then you believed in the Covenant as a whole you love Jesus and you look forward to living in his presence forever and so the call to Justice and righteousness is much more than just turning your backs on doing a few wrong things it’s about trusting Jesus and looking forward to living in that new world to come and it changes everything doesn’t it it means you don’t have to be driven and all uptight about trying to grab the best life in the here and now now now you say I’m not going to run around doing everything I can 24 hours a day 7 days a week now I’m going to stop because I trust in Jesus I trust that his future he’s got it for me and I’m going to live for that I’m not going to live just for this world and because being part of that new world 100% hangs on God’s free Grace it comes as a gift and it hangs on a relationship with Jesus trusting him for our future it means that anyone can come and be part of it even Outsiders can come and this is where Isaiah is really going here look at verse three let not the Foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say the Lord will surely separate me from his people and let not the unic say behold I am a dry tree and the nation of Israel had that Covenant relationship with God they were his special people and they had God’s Temple yet they ended up hating other nations especially other nations who attacked them but Isaiah’s been saying that people from other nations even from those enemies of God’s people are going to end up being part of God’s people forever and unic unics were men with their private parts cut off and in the ancient world these men were made Unix to be devoted to their King’s Service they had no distractions of women no distractions of building up a family line they were devoted to the king’s service but the Covenant said the law that that was given through Moses said that unics were to be kept out of the Covenant God didn’t want Israel get into all that kind of stuff about Unix I mean God has made us with sexual organs as a good gift he wants us to fill this world yet now what’s being promised is that in God’s New Covenant people in this people for this future world Unix along with foreigners will be welcomed in Outsiders are in yeah now what’s being promised here is not just well uh you know God reluctantly letting such people in keeping them kind of on the edges no he’s going to totally welcome them in verse 4 to7 really drives his home verse four and five talks about Unix God will welcome in Unix so much so that he will make their names like pillars inside his Temple I mean Unix didn’t have a family line to keep their name going but God promises their name will be forever in his Temple I mean we can think of the story in the book of Acts of Philip when he meets a Ethiopian unic and the unit gets baptized into Jesus’s name and then verse 6 and7 talks about foreigners here the foreigners verse six are acting like perfect priests they want to love and serve God and so verse seven says he will bring them into his Temple and there they will act like priests offering sacrifices I mean this is shocking it was an incredible privilege to be a priest back then you got to serve God in his Pres presence and only men from chosen families in the tribe of Levi from the nation of Israel could be priests but now God’s opening it up not just to other families not just to other tribes but to other nations even to the enemies of God’s people I mean verse 7’s picture language as they come and offer sacrifices it must be talking about prayer because verse 7 talks about the temple being a house of prayer these people will come in as priests offering prayers up to God so verse 4 and S is saying it’s just not that God will reluctantly let Outsiders in and keep them on the edges he will totally welcome them in even to be priests and pillars in his new Temple now I wonder whether we have really let this take hold in our hearts and we may be happy to have one or two people in our church Community who don’t quite fit our mold and we’ll have them kind of around the edges of church life but do we welcome them in all the way in would we have them R for Sunday lunch would we have them up the front preaching would we have them as your next Vicor God would in fact he’s actively Gathering such people in verse eight the Lord God who gathers the outcast of Israel declares I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered are you praying for that to happen and it may be you’re on the other side of things and you feel like you are on the edges that you’re an impostor here that you don’t quite fit in well these verses say God totally wants you in I mean look look back to that verse three let not the Foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say the Lord will surely separate me from his people and let not the unic say behold I’m a dry tree I mean if you’re here sat thinking well I’m a bit of an impostor I you know I’ve just come my background’s too messed up well you’re welcomed in whoever you are and wherever you’re from people from All Nations even British people welcomed in and let me say that if you struggle with transgender stuff maybe even you’re transsexual well this unic thing really speaks to you doesn’t it you’re welcomed in whatever your background is God’s grace says come in come in Outsiders are in secondly insiders are out you get the opposite now chapter 56:9 God is calling the beasts the Hostile Nations and powers of the day um to come and devour and Destroy his own people it’s shocking language we’ve seen it again and again in Isaiah and they’re going to come against the very people we might assume will be part of God’s forever people but having an Israeli passport is no automatic pass from God’s judgment in fact Isaiah now turns on those right on the inside of the Old Testament Church verse 10 he’s talking about church leaders his Watchmen are blind they are still without knowledge they are all silent dogs they cannot bark dreaming lying down loving to Slumber I mean ancient cities had Watchmen to look out for what was on the horizon and to warn the city there’s danger coming and so church leaders here are to be the Watchmen they to look out for Spiritual attacks but these Watchmen are blind they’re useless they can’t see anything coming uh they’re meant to be dogs guard dogs but they can’t bark useless guard dogs instead they’re sleeping on the job and what’s making them blind comes in verse 11 and 12 they’re greedy just wanting more and more for themselves they’re like dogs who don’t know when their bellies are full and they don’t know when to stop eating verse 12 they’re getting drunk maybe it’s literally getting drunk maybe it’s getting drunk on the heavy Pleasures this world has to offer more and more money more and more entertainment more and more sex and when you’ve got church leaders like that then the church suffers Big Time beginning of chapter 57 verse one those church members who are actually born again and are righteous are quickly becoming a thing of the past they’re dying off but no one cares that the righteous of fast disappear hearing and then verse 3 to13 you get this most shocking and graphic 18 certificate portrayal of how the rest of the church was behaving and Isaiah here is using sexual images to expose how they keep turning from Christ to F to false gods and Idols to make them feel happy and secure verse three Isaiah calls them children of an immoral Woman verse four it’s like they’re opening their mouth to mock Christ and sticking out their tongue at him verse five you who burn with lust Among The Oaks under every Green Tree who Slaughter your children in The Valleys under the cleft of the Rocks I mean it sounds extreme doesn’t it but in Canaanite religion surrounding the Israelites this religion the worshippers used sexual practices to get stuff from their gods and here they’re having sex under oak trees because they thought that trees were sexual symbols of fertility and I take it that’s why Isiah goes for sexual imagery in these verses he’s throwing it back at the church members going after these idols and the other thing Canaanite religion did was child sacrifice Yes you heard me child sacrifice and that’s what the second half of verse 5 is speaking about these Idols make you kill your own children Isaiah’s going for the shock Factor isn’t he he’s trying to shock the Insiders by showing them why turning to these idols and false gods is so evil and so wrong and yet they’ve got so drawn into it all at verse six they’re doing it down in the bottom of valleys and verse seven on the top of Mountains they’re acting like adulterers and prostituting themselves to idols now they were being told again and again through the Old Testament to get rid of these Canaanite Idols but they just carry on worshiping them and as’s an even bigger way they turn to these Pagan Idols I mean have a look at verse n you journeyed to the king with oil and multiplied your perfumes you sent your envoys far off and sent down even to sha that’s the place of the death of death it’s what we saw earlier in the book as the Assyrians came against the city of Jerusalem so the leaders of Jerusalem sent off envoys to the different nations of the world to try and build alliances against the Assyrians but this wasn’t a spiritually neutral thing as they went to these different powers so that they were seeking refuge in their gods they were thinking well we will be safe and happy if we just throw our lot in with their God and their way of thinking but where it takes them is just down to show the place of the dead and so here’s the second surprise insiders are out and so this is a warning to those who are comfortable and complacent it doesn’t matter who you are even if you’re a church leader if you’ve turned away from Christ then no only God’s judgment awaits I mean the end of verse 13 makes the issue very simple doesn’t it do you take refuge in Christ is he the one you run for for safety you know You’ got a crisis coming along in your life maybe it’s a family crisis maybe it’s a a financial crisis maybe it’s a Health crisis what is the first thing you do where do you turn you see it’s so tempting isn’t it in those situations to turn to things which we know make us feel safe and happy it might be good things like our family it might things like our money it might be things like our Hobbies things we turn to and we go that’s what I need I’m going to grab that and that will pick me up and make me feel happy and make me feel safe the first thing we’re to do is to turn in prayer isn’t it I mean those other things may have their place but we’re to turn in prayer and so here’s a warning and the warning comes to call us insiders if we are an Insider back to Christ if we’ve drifted away it’s calling us back to him yet there is a real warning Jesus says in The Sermon on the Mount not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven Outsiders are in insiders are out and where it’s all going and the reason for it all is this for the exalted God lives with humbled people you see everything must be turned upside down and inside out look at verse 15 for thus says the one who is high and lifted up who inhabits eternity whose name is Holy I will dwell in the high and holy place and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly Spirit to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite having these pair of words high and lifted up came together back in chapter six when Isaiah goes into the temple he sees Christ the lord seated high and lifted up on the throne and all the Angels around the Lord crying out holy holy holy holy is the Lord Almighty and that Vision in the temple is the picture of God’s throne in heaven he is the exalted God who alone dwells far above this world far above all the petty little Idols that humans go for and yet verse 15 is saying not only does he live up there but he lives with those who dwell with the person uh dwells with the person who has a contrite and lowly heart think about that I mean verse 15 it’s not saying that God is everywhere so he dwells up there and down here it’s not saying that no no it’s way more powerful than that being contrite is about accepting that you’re a screwed up messed up sinner before God left our own devices we are like the Insiders we’ve just looked at all of us Isaiah is speaking of lowly in that sense of people who who get it that I’m messed up on the inside Jesus says this in the sermon on the mounts blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted they’re mourning over the evil in their hearts and so now verse 15 makes sense Isaiah has told us again and again that the basic problem in our hearts is that we want to exalt ourselves we want to make ourselves like God and to pretend that we are high and lifted up in our hearts we want to be like him and it’s why we do so much hurt to others why this world is full of so much hurt because we think are we’re important and when you’ve got seven billion people running around in this world all going me me me me me which is in my heart and your heart so we hurt each other and we go to Idols because we think they will give us what we want and we think we know what we want well God cannot dwell with people like that they have no space for them him in their hearts but God can and will dwell with a person who has been humbled and has seen just how foolish and evil it is to exalt ourselves that’s why God dwells in the highest place and those who are lowly of heart and are broken by their evil and their sin and remember that story of the gospels when uh children want to come to Jesus and the disciples try to stop the children the disciples just assume that Jesus is way too important for little children Jesus tells his disciples unless you become like a little child then you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven I me it’s such good news isn’t it that God dwells with those who been humbled by their failure for it means that he will give us new life end of verse 15 says he will revive us and and and so it means now we can live in his ways God has brought the Exile on his people to transform their hearts they even push back against that that’s what verse 16 and 17 are saying but despite all that because of Jesus because of his servant he will come and heal his people Verse 18 I have seen his ways but I will heal him I will lead him and restore Comfort to him and his mourners God’s ways are higher than our ways Heavenly goodness is way above us Totally Above Us and Beyond us but the promise here is that God the exalted God who’s so above us will come down and he will live in us and he will enable us to walk in his ways and that means we can be part of the new creation to come whoever we are even if we’re the Ethiopian unic we’re a foreigner and we’re a unic we can come and be part of Jesus’s people there will be peace for those who have been broken by their evil but there’s still a warning for those who are too proud to flee to Jesus verse 19 peace peace to the far and to the near says the Lord and I will heal him but the wicked are like the tossing sea for it cannot be quiet and its Waters toss up mire and dirt there is no peace says my God for the wicked Our God loves turning things upside down and inside out will we be surprised who makes it into heaven well let me finish with this imagine the whole world as a giant bookcase on the top shelf are all those people who have had such a positive impact on our world Mother Theresa gandi and all the great world leaders you can think of on the Shelf below are those who have National Fame for doing great things for their nation and then below them are the decent honest law-abiding working people the kind of people you would happily lend your car to and then on the Shelf below are those who are a bit closer to the edge those who are into partying who dance on the line would I lend my car to them probably not and then below them are shell are the really bad people going all the way down to the Hitler and stalins and serial killers of this world let me ask the question where would we draw the line who’s in and who’s out well don’t we tend to draw it just beneath ourselves where does God draw the line well the great surprise is that he does not draw the line horizontally he draws it vertically on one side are all those whose pride is stopping them from seeing how messed up they are but on the other side are those whose pride has been so humbled that God has given them a new heart that they belong to him and they now love Jesus and live for the hope that’s in him this is the big surprise of God’s grace amen before we come to our communion we stand to sing I lift my hands to the coming King let us stand [Music] my to the coming King to The Great I Am to you for you the to in my [Music] heart my I [Music] am you i s Wonder within my heart and I will no for any other Tre you are my [Music] heart [Applause] with to you your name I will [Music] bring my K King you are I sing [Music] [Applause] within my heart and I will glor God for any other you are my heart Des spirit with unto your name I will bring [Music] my and I will Ser GL for any other you are my heart [Music] with unto your name I will [Music] bring please be seated we come now to our time of commun