Catch up on our 11.30am service from our warehouse in Watford! Led by Jon, with Tom & Andreana leading worship and James speaking. We looked at Matthew 3:13-17, where we read about the baptism of Jesus, and were reminded that God is pleased with us – we don’t have to do anything to impress him! We went on to celebrate baptisms together which is always a wonderful occasion.
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Has Chang we are dancing in your freedom and we’re singing loud your praise with you thousand years like day you’re the Everlasting God I will trust you all the way for you a thousand songs and enough to thank you for your love you will always have my
Praise and every star in the universe is burning for your Fame let it rise over all the Earth the glory of your name we’re singing [Applause] High we’re singing High good morning welcome to church it is great to see you uh if you’re in the
Cafe why don’t you come on in bring your coffee find a seat there’s lots of seats near the front um welcome to those of you that are joining us on the live stream as well great to have you with us we hope you feel very much at home um
This morning we’re going to worship Jesus together um we’ve got some notices to sh share um James barow is preaching this morning and then we’re going to be baptizing hadassa Samuel and Lewis this morning which I’m really excited about it’s a morning where we’re going to celebrate
New Life In Jesus so why don’t we stand um as we come to worship Jesus and I’m just going to read read a few verses from Psalm Psalm 139 you have searched me Lord and you know me you know when I sit and when I Rise you perceive my thoughts from
Afar you discern my going out and my lying down you are familiar with all my ways before a word is on my tongue you Lord know it completely you hem me in behind and before and you lay your hand upon me such knowledge is too wonderful for me too lofty for me to
Attain where can I go from your spirit where can I flee from your presence if I go up to the heavens you are there if I make my bed in the depths you are there if I rise on the wings of the Dawn if I
Settle on the Far Side Of The Sea even there your hand will guide me your right hand will hold me fast if I say surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me even the darkness will not be dark to you the night will
Shine like the day for the darkness is as light to you for you created me in my inmost being you knit me together in my mother’s womb I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made your works are wonderful I know that for well and father we praise you this
Morning because we are fearfully and wonderfully made Lord we thank you that you knew us even before we were born and Lord we thank you for hadassa for Samuel for Lewis as they get baptized today this picture of new life in you and we pray as we worship you this
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Quiet we shout out your praise there’s joy in the house of the Lord our God is toly in this place we won’t be quiet we shout out your Praise we shout out your praise we sing to The God Who heals we sing to the God who saves we sing to the God who always makes the way cuz he hung upon that cross and he rose up from that grave Our God still Rolling Stones
Away there’s joy in the house of the Lord there’s joy in the house of the Lord today and we won’t be quiet we shout out your praise there’s joy in the house of the Lord our God is surely in this place and we won’t be quiet we shout out your
Praise we were the bers now we’re royalty we were the prison now we’re running free we are forgi accepted Redeemed by his grace let the house of the Lord sing praise as we were the beggers now we’re royalty we were the prisoners now we’re running free we are forgi accepted
By his graise let the house on the Lord sing praise there’s joy in the house of the Lord there’s joy in the house of the Lord today and we won’t be quiet we shout out your praise there’s joy in the house of the Lord our God is
Jo in this place and we won’t be quiet we shout out your praise there’s joy in the house of the Lord there’s joy in the house of the Lord today we won’t be quiet we shout out your praise there’s joy in the house of the Lord our God is
Jo in this place we won’t be quiet we shout out your praise we shout out your praise we shout out your praise we shout out your praise bless you bless you Who else would rocks cry out to Worship whose glory to the Stars to Shine perhaps creation longs to sing all you but This Joy is mine with a thousand High Hallelujah we magnify your name you alone deserve the glory the honor and the praise Lord Jesus this song is Forever Yours a thousand Hallelujah and a thousand more who else would die for our
Redemption his resurrection WIS our Rise there isn’t time enough to sing of All I have eternity to try with a thousand Hallelujah we magnify your name you alone deserve the glory the honor and the praise Lord Jesus this song is Forever Yours a thousand Hallelujah and a th Never pra to the Lord to the lamb to the king of Heaven praise for he rose now he Reign we will sing forever praise to the Lord to the lamb to the king of Heaven praise for he rose now heign we will sing forever with a thousand Hallelujah we magnify your name you
Alone deserve the glory the honor and the praise for Jesus this is Forever Yours a thousand Hallelujah and a [Applause] Thous to the Lord to the lamb to the king of Heaven praise for he rose now he R we will sing forever with the fen Hallelujah we magnify your name you alone deserve the glory the honor and the praise Lord Jesus this song is Forever Yours a thousand Hallelujah and a thousand More yes Yes yes My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest frame but holy lean on Jesus name on Christ the son Rock I stand all of the grounding sinking sand all of the ground is sing Sand when darkness seems to hide his face I rest on he unchanging Grace in every heart I am so Migel my anger holds within the ve on Christ the S Rock I stand all of the ground is sinking sand all the ground is sinking Sand his oath is com and his blood support me in the roing flood when all around my soul gives way he then all this My Hope and stay on Christ the Sol Rock I stand all of the ground is sinking s all of the grounding sinking sand on Christ the
S Rock stand all over the ground we singing sand all of grounding sing Sand when he shall come with trumpet sound in him be found dress in his rightousness alone for Les you stand Before the Throne on Christ the St Rock stand all of the ground is sinking s all of the ground sinking sand all of the ground is sinking sand all of the
Ground is sinking s Yes put hope and trusting you you are Faithful Yes for so Unch You’re my rock of Peace Lord iend on you I call Out again and [Applause] again I call out to you again and again you you are my rock in times of Trou you LIF me when I fall down all through the St your love you love me [Applause] the my hope is in alone oh Faithful one so un Changeing ages One one you’re my rock of peace Lord of iend on you I call out again and again I call out to You again and Again you are my rock you are my rock in time of trouble you lift me up when I fall down and all through the St Your Love Is The End Chist my hope is in you all of our hope is in you Jesus all of our trust is in you Jesus you hold us in your hands the whole world is in your Hands hope of the World Holy holy are you Lord God Alm Mighty Worthy is the Lamb Worthy is the Lamb you areus are you Lord godm Mighty Worthy is the Worthy is the You Are Holy Holy yes you are are you Lord God Might Worthy is the L Worthy is the L You Are Holy Holy are you Lord God Al Mighty worthy so worthy Worthy You Are Holy Holy you oh mighty Worthy is the Lamb Worthy is the Lamb You Are Holy Holy you Lord God Alm Mighty Worthy is the Lamb Worthy is the Lamb You Are Holy are you God oh mighty ohy is wor wory is you are are you Lord godm Mightyy Worthy is the ly is the L you are Ho We’re going to continue worshiping for a little while longer um but Juliet just um just had a sense that for some of us we just need to know that we are held by Jesus and um I was going to share this in the notices but there’s a church just up the
Road the Church of the Nazarene and they’ve been praying for us um and I’m going to share a little bit more but one of the things they’ve given us uh for each person in our church family is a little wooden cross um which are down the front and it’s got a little picture
Of Jesus just wrapping his arms around his children um and so as just we worship in the as we continue to worship um just invite you to come and take one of these little crosses um head back to seat but maybe for some of us you just want prayer you
Just need uh to know the arms of your loving savior again this morning um so as we worship for a little while longer come and grab a little cross just in this moment as the Lord is here with us his spirit is present Among Us um we’ll
Take a little bit of time to do this otherwise there’ll be a traffic jam um but let’s let’s continue to worship and come and grab a little cross as we do this only holy holy holy holy how great the CM that lay between us how high the mountain I could not clim in
Desperation I turned to heaven and spoke your name into the mind and through the darkness your loving kindness tore through the shadows of my soul the work is finished the end is written Jesus Christ my living Home the world trust in you Jesus you could imagine so great a mercy what heart can f s boundless Grace God of Ages step down from glory to where my sing and bear my shame the cross has spoken I am forgi the king of kings calls me own beautiful savior yours
Forever Jesus Christ my living hallelujah praise the one who set me free Hallelujah death has lost its grip on me you have broken every train this salvation in your day Jesus Christ my living oh hallelujah praise the one who set me free Hallelujah death has lost its grip on me
You have broken Every Chain this salvation in your name Jesus Christ my name living Home ining the morning let’s still the promise your buried body began out of the silence roaring lion declare the grave has the claim on me then came the morning that seal the prise your very body began to breae out of the silence the Roaring Li decl the gra has no claim on
Me Jesus yours is the victory is the victory Lord hallelujah praise the one who set me free Hallelujah death has lost his grip on me you have broken every chain and salvation in your name Jesus Christ my living oh oh hallelujah praise the one he set me free Hallelujah death has lost its grip on me you have broken Every Chain his salvation in your name Jesus Christ my Living Hope Jesus Christ my Living Hope oh Jesus Christ my living Hallelujah And Jesus we thank you that there is salvation in your name we thank you for the power of the cross that you broke the power of darkness and there is life in the cross there is life in you and we worship you we praise you our heavenly father the one who holds
Us the one who carries us through every circumstance we praise you Jesus amen amen amen amen well good good morning it is great to see you um and welcome to the families and friends of uh those getting baptized today really great to have you with us and I know
There are a few people at home watching us as well from uh families and friends as well that couldn’t be here today so it’s great to have you um with us as well this morning um just want to share uh a couple of bits of family news and
Then we’ll break into just a couple of minutes just to say hello to folk around us um first thing to say is uh We’ve mentioned it a couple of times over the last few weeks but we have a couple of vacancies on our team at the moment um a
Children’s and youth pastor which is to cover B bow who’s going on maternity in December um and also an assistant youth pastor to support Ben and Sam um as they have begun their training for ordination to be Vicar In the Church of England so they are working less days now so need a
Little bit of extra support so the closing date is today so if you’d like to apply then do um apply by the end of the day um and I’m going to say this now but Hannah’s not here now but at the first service this morning we celebrated
Hannah Levi who’s been part of our family for about 10 11 months but today she celebrated one year sober which was just a wonderful to celebrate with Hannah and it has been a joy just to watch the joury J with Jesus that Hannah’s uh been on supported by uh Kim
And Joe and Ry and David part of the Recovery Group um and it’s just been wonderful just to see what Jesus has been doing in her life so that’s a real celebration um why don’t we um just spend a minute or so chatting to someone around you maybe that you’ve not met
Before maybe say hello to some of our guests and then we’ll gather back in a moment for a bit more family news [Applause] [Applause] e [Applause] [Applause] e [Applause] [Applause] great well why don’t we um why don’t we come back together share a few other bits that are going on
Firstly who is here on Friday night for our volunteers VIP party why don’t you guys stand up these guys if you were there Friday night these are all volunteers that serve us as a church each week and uh we had a party just to celebrate them
And to thank them for all that they do to serve us as a church family uh we had an amazing dinner and then we hit the Dance Floor there were some amazing shapes on the dance floor and I think the best bit of the night was there was
A Conger that went out the back door down the side of the building up the street and back in it was a brilliant brilliant moment I’m not sure we captured that on video but it was very very funny so it was a good night um and
Just to say if you’d like to join team uh it’s a great way of getting uh really plugged into the family here um great way of getting to know others in the church family as well so if you would like to serve and there are so many ways
In which you can serve our traffic team particularly needs some more support this morning I think Badger was on his own uh and it was it was a bit of a job this morning because we’ve lost the Orient car park around the corner there’s loads of other places to park
But if if you’re up for serving on that team that would be amazing um 31st of October little Advance warning we’ve got our light party next door in number seven from 4:30 till 6:00 p.m. um there’s going to be hot dogs sparklers a disco crafts uh aimed at under 11s uh
But if you know any friends or family that would just love to come and have a little party um on that night do bring them along it’s a great way of inviting people into the church here um panto is coming oh no well done it’s getting stronger every time we say it
Stronger I’m I’m proud of you Church proud of you um but uh the panto team have been rehearsing for about five weeks now and uh it is good there are some amazing cast members well they’re all amazing but there are some amazing cast members um so do come along to that
It’s going to be on the first Friday the 1st of December and the afternoon of Saturday the 2 of December so uh I think tickets are going to be going live very soon I know that they’re already getting their head shots for the program um it’s
Going to be big so start inviting your friends now to that and um who has done a little bit of Christmas shopping already well done Sue well done anyone else anyone Gabriella paty py I know that’s freaking out a whole bunch of you that they have begun and you have not
However Soul Survivor Watford can help you this year with your Christmas shopping and on the 30th of November from 4: until 10: p.m. we have a Christmas Market next door which I’m very excited about who came last year it was a brilliant night loads of you came
I think we’ve got 30 or 40 stalls loads of different Christmas gifts and crafts there’s going to be a band um I think over a thousand came through last year a lot of people just from our local communities so again it’s a great thing to invite people to invite them into the
Church family but that’s on the 30th of November um and then pop it in your diary but our Christmas Carol services are on the 17th of December this year so a bit of an advanced warning morning but uh it’s good to be prepared isn’t it it’s good to be prepared isn’t it
Yeah some of you like to be prepared Christmas party what date’s that 9th of December Christmas party an opportunity for the whole church to throw some shapes on the Dance Floor oh come on needs to be a little bit more enthusiasm than that okay uh but that’ll be more more information on
That and you can book tickets and stuff over the coming weeks now we handed out these little crosses but I just want to share just it’s just beautiful and so kind but um there’s a church just up the road um on Woodside Gaston um called The Church of the
Nazarene and um the pastor there Tommy uh he’s been the interim pastor there for about four years through coid and he’s just handed over and they commissioned their new pastor yesterday and um Tommy lives up in Scotland and um during coid uh the church family there
Used a lot of the worship material that Tom and the guys pulled together um during coid um and he has also been coming along and worshiping with us on a on a Sunday night and um they just wanted to say thank you to us as a church family just for um blessing them
With just resources through coid which was really really kind um and um as a little token of thanks um they’ve they’ve given us 1,200 tuber chup lollies these are the Posh ones you know we buy them from Booker you guys have got the crem so they’ve given us 1,200
Lollies to say thank you and to bless us um but they also made these little crosses and each one has been hand tied with that little card on and um they just wanted us to know as a church family here that they’ve been praying for us in this season um and as they
Were praying for us they had a sense that Jesus was holding his church close to his heart with his strong yet caring arms around us hugging with protective love giving her strength and Grace for as long as needed bringing healing hope uh and help to the church in this season
And just a reminder that Joy comes again in the morning and um they’ve also given us these flowers um across the front of the stage this morning um and there’s sunflowers in there and again they just said it was just a reminder um of God’s love that the sun
Will rise again um and there is still hope uh in this place wasn’t that just incredibly kind of just some of our local church family and so um Tommy’s coming tonight actually because he’s been down for the weekend so he’s going to come and worship with us tonight as well which
Will be which will be brilliant but why don’t we continue with our worship with our giving come and grab uh a lollipop from the Nazarene Church um at the from Woodside also if you didn’t take a cross earlier do come and grab a cross as well
But as we worship with our giving uh also just to remind about the food bank they particularly need tinned Meats at the moment so as you’re shopping if you can uh spare a couple of tins to add to the food bank that would be brilliant
And also it’ be great for us as a church family to start thinking about Advent calendars as well for the food bank um but let’s stand as we worship um together with our giving and if you’re at home and you’d like to give you can go via our website Souls Watford let’s worship Together you are good you are good when there’s nothing good in me you are love you are love on display for all to see you are light you are light when the darkness closes in you are hope you are hope you have covered all my Sin you are peace you are peace when my fear is crippling you are true you are true even in my wondering you are Joy you are Joy you’re the reason that I see you are life you are life in you death is Lost I’m running to your arms I’m running to your arms The Riches of your love will always be in love nothing compared to your Embrace light of the world Forever you are more you are more and my words will ever say you are Lord you are Lord all creation will Proclaim you are here you are here in your presence made home you are God you are God of all else I’m Letting Go and I’m run your arck I’m running to
Your arck The Riches of your heart the is be enough nothing don’t to your Place light of the world forever I’m running to your heart I’m running to your heart The Riches of your love will always be enough nothing compares to your heav light of the world forever And father we thank you for uh Community uh for this church and for the churches around us and we ask that you would bless the time that we give the money that we give and the gifts that we give to further your kingdom amen amen
James why don’t you come up I forgot to mention that on the welcome bar this morning we’ve got the lovely June and quasi at the back so if you are here and you’ve got questions maybe it’s your first time then do go and say hello to
Those guys they would love to meet you at the end as well this is James many of you know James many of you won’t know James because James is not often here in the morning so James is one of the pastors here but also a curate so he’s
Training doing in part of your training part as a Vicor um so he is 50% uh here but also 50% of his time James is vicer of St Andrews Watford just up the road so um it’s great that James is with us this morning because we normally only
See you in the evening so this is good why don’t we quickly pray for James father we thank you for James thank you for what you’ve put on his heart for us today give us hearts and ears to receive amen amen wonderful thank you Johnny um
Yeah so usually on a Sunday you can find me uh at the church at the end of the road that the nascot is on um I haven’t enjoyed that much Thai food since I lived there but it’s it’s very good and um usually I uh will have on my robes uh
All in white and uh singing hymns on a Sunday morning but it’s lovely to be here it’s exciting to be here this morning to to spend time with you and to celebrate uh the baptisms that we have this morning um it’s so great to be here I don’t know whether you’ve noticed but
There is a pool uh it isn’t a hot tub it is a pool we will um have a few guys get in there later and and baptize them which is really exciting and um I just want to take a moment maybe you know what baptism is maybe you’ve no idea
What baptism is maybe you’ve been brought here by a family member or a friend and you’re a bit confused to why there’s a big pool in the middle of the church um so let’s take a look and think about what baptism is baptism is a public Declaration of Faith it’s the
Moment where the guy getting back baptized um will declare their faith publicly or for um Samuel it’ll be their parents and their God his god parents that will declare it publicly they they and they become a part of the family of Jesus and we believe that as they’re
Immersed under the water as they go under the water completely that their old life is gone and they come up a new person um they as they go under the water they represent joining in with the death of Jesus and they come back up out of the water to to represent that they
Are included in the resurrection of Jesus um and if anybody who is getting baptized for um Lewis and hadassa I have chatted to the guys who are baptizing you and you will come back up out of the water so that important part is covered and today we’re we’re following
In the footsteps of Jesus himself he he got baptized in the River Jordan at the start of his ministry and uh we we’re just going to read that in Matthew 31317 it’ll come up on the screen but if you want to find in your Bible or on your
Phone then please do it says then Jesus Came From Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John but John tried to deter him saying I need to be baptized by you and do you come to me and Jesus replied let it be so now it is proper for us to
Do this to fulfill all righteousness then John consented as soon as Jesus was baptized he went up out of the water at that moment heaven was opened and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and a lighting on him and a voice from
Heaven said this is my son whom I love with him I am well pleased so picture it with me John the Baptist is on the on is in the desert on the side of the Jordan he’s baptizing people he’s um telling people about the fact that Jesus is going to come one
Will come after me who is far um whose sandals I’m not worthy to untie and he’s and then he sees Jesus coming towards him and he’s like oh guys Jesus is actually here this time I’ve done this sermon a few times but Jesus has never actually been here this time Jesus
Walks towards him and and and asks him would you baptize me and John’s like no Jesus this isn’t the this isn’t this is the bit where you baptize me I’m not going to baptize you right now and Jesus is like no no no no I need to be
Baptized by you and then he goes on to say and eventually they have this back and forth and then eventually John’s like okay I’ll I’ll baptize you and so he gets baptized and as Jesus comes back up out of the Jordan the heavens open and the voice of God comes down and says
This is my son whom I love with him I am well pleased and Jesus didn’t need to get baptized he got baptized as an example to us he didn’t need to to go be baptized it was to fulfill um things that people said about his life in the Old
Testament but what we see at Jesus’s baptism is that before Jesus has done anything so this is right at the start of his ministry he’s he’s not he’s not done any Miracles yet he’s not turned water into wine he’s not healed anyone he’s not raised anyone from the dead
He’s just at the moment to everyone else around that Carpenter from Nazareth who made their mama table for Christmas the other year probably not for Christmas but um that bit’s not happened yet um he’s not done anything yet he’s not done anything impressive but what we see is
That God is pleased with us before we’ve done anything he’s pleased with Jesus before he’s done anything and therefore we can see that he’s pleased with us before we do anything before we’ve achieved anything before we’ve um prayed some great prayers before we’ve um told loads of people about Jesus he’s pleased
With us and we’ve got a toddler called Olive she’s about 20 months now and she is um learning to speak and has got words got a few different words and um every time she comes out with a new word I’m Overjoyed the bar is low for me to
Be impressed by Olive because anything she does is incredible um but she’s one of her words at the moment is Knack Knack and she says it with that level of aggression knack and um regularly I take our dog um Poppy and Olive for a walk and pop Olive will be in the baby
Carrier on my front just kind of like moving her arms around and going Knack Knack trying to reach for my pocket and um and what Knack means is snack and snack for Olive is a very important part of the day and she’s asking for a snack and as soon as I
Realize that snack meant snack polite asked to receive some form of veggie straw or malt loaf she then got whatever she wanted cuz I was like yeah that’s the best thing ever you can talk and ask me for things ever I mean there are times where
Knack when I don’t have any snacks gets a bit tiring but I’m over the moon when she does I’m giving her high fives we’re doing little dances it’s amazing for me I’m pleased with her whatever she does I’m pleased with her before she’s managed to do anything and the same is
True of God for us that before we’ve done anything he’s pleased with us he’s over the moon he’s up there in heaven giving air fives to angels and I don’t know whether you’ve had anyone say something over you or say something to you that just turned your
Day around and just really stuck with you um for me words are important and there’s the the five love languages I don’t know whether you’ve heard of them they’re um physical touch quality time acts of service words of affirmation and gifts um and they’re basically like ways
That people like to receive love or give love and for a long time I thought mine was physical touch and um and I like a hug um but actually what I’ve realized recently is that it’s probably more words of affirmation and I don’t say this for you to come up to me afterwards
To affirm me about my sermon that’s not what I’m asking for I’m just telling you um but the words that people say to me are powerful and the words that people say to us are powerful hopefully you’ve had those moments where words have meant something where they’ve they’ve stuck to
You maybe you can think of a moment like that now there was a while a while ago I was um I was kind of wondering what on Earth was going on with my life what I was supposed to be doing and kind of just freaking out that I couldn’t do
Anything and nothing I did was good enough um I don’t know whether you’ve ever had one of those moments but I went for a coffee with a friend and um he he listened to me pour out my heart and um and then and then just like well you
There is this that you’re good at and and this went well didn’t it and then and then you could do that and and there’s this and I was sat going yeah I might have got myself in a knot there I might have tied myself up and and I’ve
Been able to come back to those words that he said in that coffee and I’ve able to remember them in other times where I’ve been like this is I don’t know what I’m doing um and so after that coffee I was floating on air I walk down
St orman’s Road like I got this guys don’t worry um and the words that people say over us they matter what people say over us can Define how we think about ourselves and it’s so important that we know the voices speaking over us God speaks over Jesus that he is well
Pleased with him before he has done anything okay so let’s meet another um character in The Bible we’re going to go to the Old Testament now um after the Israelites have left Egypt we’re going to meet Gideon and um Gideon um lives in Israel um and this is time where um the
Israelites haven’t really done what God has asked and um they’ve been given over to the hands of the midianites and I don’t know whether you’ve heard of the midianites but the midianites were not a group of people you wanted to be with definitely not a group of people you
Wanted to have power over you and so the Israelites basically lived hiding in caves and couldn’t do anything and at this time God had been giving Israel pretty clear instructions again and again and they choose to do their own thing so on this backdrop Gideon who is the weakest in the weakest
Family in the weakest clan in Israel gets a visitor and in judges 6 11 to2 we read then the angel of the Lord came and sat down under the Oak in OA that belonged to joash the abite where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press to keep it from
The midianites when the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon he said the Lord is with you mighty warrior so what’s going on here is the Israelites are a bit in o the midianites are defeating them they are not doing well but an angel of the Lord has appeared to to
Someone who If we’re honest is the opposite of a mighty warrior is the opposite of what you would look at as a mighty warrior you would not have cast him in the next Marvel movie about Captain America the rock is not playing Gideon anytime soon he is not what you’d
See as a mighty a mighty warrior the Bible describes him as as being from the weakest tribe he’s nothing of significance he does go on to win lots of battles and he does go on to be a mighty warrior but before he’s done any of that he’s called a mighty
Warrior what we see here is that we don’t have to prove ourselves to God we don’t have to to stomp our foot and make it into existence we don’t have to manifest it he already sees us he already calls us and he wants us from that place he doesn’t want the finished
Product or the finished version of ourselves we’re welcomed into the family from that place we don’t have to work or to strive to be welcomed home back in the the story Gideon is hiding trying to get enough food to feed his family and I don’t know whether you’ve
Ever seen a wine press or a place where they thresh wheat but those two places are not the same I’ve never pressed wine um but you do it in a specific place you don’t go in with with your wheat to thresh it what Gideon’s doing here is he’s hiding
He’s chosen the place that it feels the safest to go and hide to do it there’s nothing Mighty or great at Gideon about Gideon in this moment and it’s from that place that God calls Gideon and sees Gideon for who he is and the worth that he has and don’t
You wish that maybe sometimes you could see yourself the way that God actually sees you you might be hiding but that’s not who you really are God’s not looking for our Perfection he’s not looking for us to have it all sorted out he’s looking for our heart all he is looking
For is a yes to him we follow a God who sees us and calls us and wants us before we’ve been able to prove a thing how freeing is that and the guys is getting baptized and Samuel’s parents and God Parents that’s what they’re doing today they’re giving him their
Yes like I mentioned we have a dog called Poppy and um she is just over one she um H is is a joy we’re training her we’re working at getting her trained okay but sometimes um when we’re on a walk she I give her an instruction she
Listens and is like yeah I’m coming and she I’ll call I’ll call her come and then she’ll run and run around me three times and then stop and then there’s other times where we go on a walk and she’ll um should we I’ll call her come
And then she she will have seen a little bird or another dog in the distance and all of a sudden her ears have stopped working and she’s run she’s gone to find the bird eventually she’ll come back but it’s usually on her own time and in her
Own way and I wonder if sometimes we’re a bit like that with how we hear what God is saying to us us I wonder if sometimes we get a bit like oh no no no no no no I’ve got this I’ve worked out I’m going to go this way or or I can
Sort this out myself and then we lose we lose what God is saying to us we lose the voice of God to us we lose that he’s calling us a mighty warrior before we’ve done anything we lose that he’s caught saying my son my daughter with whom I am well
Pleased and um and and that’s not and if that is you then that’s not just kind of you by yourself and you don’t need to beat yourself up about that that’s human nature whatever you believe about yourself whether it’s good or bad your brain is set up to pick out any evidence
To reconfirm that belief whether it’s damaging or not so let’s say your your belief is that you’re a failure we we can succeed 99 times but if you fail once you’ve just confirmed who you think you really are and so whatever we’ve said over ourselves whatever we’ve believed about
Ourselves our brains are just searching out for evidence that that is the truth but we follow a God and we want to follow him and Trust in his truth we want to be people who know his truth and that to be the thing that sticks and so instead of letting other voices dictate
How we see ourselves let’s let God be the one who speaks loudest over and over and over again when that voice comes again that you’re not good enough God is saying I love you God is saying I want you God is saying I’m pleased with
You um and as I come into land um as I’ve been um preparing for this talk I have um needed to almost preach this talk to myself um uh as I’ve been doing this I’ve been I’ve got I’ve been finding myself getting stuck in the
Words myself um if you if you had a look at my iPad you would find a few other talks that I wrote for for this morning um and I decided that I needed to be really impressive and um and so I tried to get more and more impressive and so
The talks that you’re never going to see or hear make sound really impressive because they use big words or they use poetic language but they’re not very good um and they didn’t really land and all I was doing was trying to to make myself look really important and look like I
Knew that I had the best theology degree or I knew the biggest words and if I’m honest over the course of this week I’ve had to relearn all of this stuff again that that the words that I’m speaking over myself or the beliefs that I have in myself they’re
The things that I naturally come back to so I have to come back to God and say what are you saying over me what are you doing in me why why have I got myself stuck in a knot that I need to be really impressive when look the only person I
Need to impress is you and let you speak through me and um like I mentioned Olive has um we’ve got a daughter called Olive and she has a white noise machine um that that is the best thing ever to get her to sleep and it basically makes this
Noise for like 12 hours um and it’s the best thing ever to get to sleep but it’s the most annoying thing ever ever and um the feeling of going in and turning it off is like amazing it’s like somebody has taken their hand off your head um
It’s also great to wake Olive up but um it’s so good to turn the white noise machine and um and so much of what we believe about ourselves can become like white noise that we we don’t really notice it and I wonder if today we need
To turn off the white noise machine turn off the noise of the culture around us turn off the noise of what we believe about about ourselves so that the voice of God can speak who we are again can remind us who we are maybe this week you don’t feel like
You have a lot of space in your week to even begin to do that maybe just take a moment while you’re you’re doing the washing up or you’re driving to work um or you’re putting your shoes on to to stop to be still and to say God what are
You speaking over me today what have I started to believe about myself that isn’t quite true isn’t quite what you’re saying where have I decided that I’m one thing when you’re actually saying a different thing and so the reminder for us all this morning whether you’re getting
Baptized or not is that God speaks over us this is my son this is my daughter with whom I am well pleased and you might have been striving for the last little while um for for you today it’s that you just need to recognize that you don’t have to strive for his
Love it might be that um you’ve never heard any of this and this is all brand new information to you or or you don’t believe that this could be for you you might this might be the day to just let God know that you’re here you don’t need
To be the finished article the finished piece for God to want you all he wants is your yes and it might feel like you’re like Gideon hiding in the wine press hiding from the world or hiding from God and God sees you in that place he sees us in
Our place of hiding and is with us and so no matter where you’re at today let’s remember that God’s not looking for Perfection he’s looking for your heart your willingness to say yes to him [Applause] amen brilliant thank you James um well we’re going to baptize
These guys now so hadassa do you want to come up Louis Samuel do you want to come up with your mom and dad and your god parents come on up make some space for you guys great why don’t you come this side and then Matt and Rebecca do you want to
Come over this side perfect wonderful I love baptisms you guys love baptisms it’s just new life isn’t it new life in Jesus um some of the kids are just coming in come on down guys sit around the pool the Splash Zone is probably this side brilliant come and grab a
Seat and just to say if your kids have come in uh after the baptisms they will go back next door um and you can pick them up with your ticket as normal so um but they will go back next door so uh if you could let them go back that would be
Brilliant have you guys had a good morning yeah you want to get splashed you need to probably come around this side a little bit more this is the Splash Zone leis you need to Splash and adessa these guys are excited to get a little bit wet right why don’t we um why
Don’t we begin and I’m going to we’re we’re baptizing Samuel so there’s a few questions just for Samuel’s parents and God Parents which we’re going to ask first and then we’ve got some some questions for you guys as well but the first thing I want to ask is what name
Do you give this child Samuel Samuel wonderful question for you guys parents and God Parents the church receives this child with joy today we are trusting God for their growth in faith will you pray for them draw them by your example into the Community of Faith and walk with
Them in the way of Christ the help of God we will in baptism this child will begin their journey in faith you speak for them today will you care for him will you help him to take his place within the life and worship of Christ’s Church wonderful now these are questions
For you guys and then Mom and Dad God Parents you are answering these questions for Samuel in baptism God calls us out of Darkness Into His Marvelous Light to follow Christ means dying to sin and rising to New Life with him therefore I ask do you reject the devil and all Rebellion against
God do you renounce the deceit and Corruption of evil do you repent of the sins that separate us from God and neighbor do you turn to Christ as Savior do you submit to Christ as Lord do you come to Christ the way the truth and the life
I’m going to now sign each of these guys with the sign of the cross Samuel Christ claims you for his own receive the sign of the cross I sign you with the cross the sign of Christ to show that Jesus claims you for his own May almighty God deliver you from the
Powers of Darkness restore you in the image of his glory and Lead You In The Light and Obedience of Christ amen am amen amen Lewis Lewis Christ claims you for his own receive the sign of the cross I sign you with the cross the sign of
Christ to show that Jesus claims you for his own May almighty God deliver you from the powers of Darkness restore you in the image of his glory and Lead You In The Light and Obedience of Christ amen amen adasa sign you with the sign of the cross Christ claims you for his own
Receive the sign of the cross I sign you with the cross the sign of Christ to show that Jesus claims you for his own May almighty God deliver you from the powers of Darkness ReStore in you the image of his glory and Lead You In The Light and Obedience of Christ amen
Amen it’s a question for all of us and the answer will come up on the screen faith is the gift of God to his people in baptism God is adding to our number Those whom he is calling people of God will you welcome Samuel Lewis and hadassa and support and encourage them
In their new life in Jesus with the help of God we will now these are some questions for all of us as a church family but parents god parents and for you guys as well do you believe and trust in God the Father source of all being and life the one for
Whom we exist I believe and trust in him do you believe and trust in God the son who took our human nature died for us and rose again I believe and trust in him do you believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit who gives life to the people of God and
Makes Christ known in the world I believe and trust in him and we say together this is the faith of the church this is our faith we believe and trust in one God father son and holy spirit amen amen Samuel are you ready are you ready say yeah yeah yeah
Good you want to talk him over here so we’re going to baptize Samuel Samuel I baptize you in the name of the father and of the son it’s all right it’s all right it’s all right and of the holy spirit amen amen well done amen well done than water’s coming water’s
Coming oh not for you it was Samuel but water is coming yeah right who wants to go first Louis leis he’s in first this is a wonderful moment now are you all right with your watch on yes well great Ben and Ne are in the pool [Applause] great let Lou in Well Done
Right great let’s just be quiet let’s just be quiet a minute there we go guys let’s just be quiet a minute all right Lewis I baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen amen ready all right there we go
Wonderful let’s just be quiet a moment let’s just be quiet a moment guys hadassa baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen come here and bring bring Samuel round as well let’s just pray for these
Guys he wants to go he wants to go can we pray for you as well Samuel let’s just pray for these guys why don’t we stretch out our hands for these guys and Lord we thank you for Samuel for Lis for Hera Lord we thank you that you claim
Them for your own and Lord we thank you that today is a day of celebration of new life and Resurrection the old is gone and the new has come and we just pray for each of them now that you would fill them with your Holy Spirit may they know their presence with
You in Jesus name amen amen why um thank you thank you why don’t we stand together and celebrate and uh I feel like dancing this morning this is a good dancing song so I want to see some dancing with me let’s celebrate Jesus Together I Praise In The Valley Praise on the mountain I praise when I’m sure praise I’m doub I praise when I’m numbered praise when Sur CU praise is the water my enemy drowned oh as long as I’m breathing I’ve got a reason to Pray the Lord oh my soul oh Praise the Lord oh my soul I won’t be quiet my God is alive how can I keep it inside the Lord oh my soul I’ll praise when I feeling praise when I don’t I praise I know you’re still in control we believe it Lord cuz praise is my weapon it’s more than a
Sound my praise is a shout that brings Jerry come down as long as I’m breathing I’ve got a reason to praise the Lord oh my soul we say praise the Lord oh my soul no I won’t be quiet my God is alive how can I keep it praise the Lord oh my [Applause] Soul praise CU you’re s praise you Praise You Rose arefe in the grave I praise you’re faithful praise you’re True Praise there’s nobody greater than you I praise you’re praise you’re praise God you R fet in the gra I praise God you’re faithful praise God you’re true praise God there’s nobody greater than
You PR praise the Lord oh my S we say praise the Lord for my soul prise the Lord oh my soul Praise the Lord oh my soul I won’t be quiet my god is aive how can I keep it ins no I won’t be quiet my God is alive how can I keep it inside we say Praise the Lord oh my soul praise the Lord oh my soul We Praise You Lord [Applause] A prayer of as a prayer of blessing as we go and then we’ll sing one more song of Celebration the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord turn his face face toward you and give you
His peace and the blessing of God Almighty the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit be upon you and remain with you and those whom you love this day and forever more amen let’s sing one more song of Celebration and then feel free to head off when you’re ready if you
Would like prayer for anything then do come to the front there’ll be folk here that would love to pray with you but let’s celebrate as we Go in the darkness we were waiting without hope without lights to from heav you came running there was Mercy in your eyes to fulfill the L in prophets to a vir came the word from a throne of endless glory to a cradle in the dark Praise You Lord praise the father praise
The praise the spirit three in one God of Glory mesty praise forever to the King of Kings To reveal the kingdom coming and to reconcile the lost to redeem the whole creation you did not despise the cross for even in your suffering you s to the other side knowing this was our Salvation Jesus for our s you die We Praise You Lord praise the father praise the son praise the
Spirit one God of Glory mesty praise forever to the king of Kings in the morning that he rose allil of Heaven held his breath to the stone move for good for the lambing death and the dead rose from their tombs and the angels stood in all for the song of all who come to the father are restored and the Church of Christ born
The spirit LIF the flame now this gospel truth of all shall not heal and shall not F by his blood and in his name in his freedom I am free for the love of Jesus Christ who has resurrect in me oh thank you Lord praise the father praise the son praise the
Spirit three in one you are God of Glory [Applause] mesty oh praise for forever to the King of Kings praise them for praise the son praise the spirit in one God of Glory mest praise forever to the king of Kings praise forever to the King of Kings forever be praise King of Kings Majesty oh we love and praise you Jesus we lift you high high above of any other lo as the sun comes up it’s a new day on it it’s time to sing your song again whatever may pass and whatever lies before
Me let me be singing when the evening Comes bless the Lord oh my soul oh my soul worship His holy name sing like never before oh my soul I wor worship your Holy Name you’re rich in love and you’re small to and your name is great and your heart is kind for all your goodness I will keep on singing 10,000 reasons for my heart to find we bless you Lord oh bless the Lord of my soul oh my soul worship His holy
Name sing like never before oh my soul God I worship your holy Name and on that day when my strength is failing the end draws near and my time has come will still my so sing your praise [Applause] unending oh 10,000 years and then forever more forever more will be singing Lord bless the Lord oh my soul oh my soul worship His holy name sing like never before oh my soul I worship your holy name oh I worship your holy name oh I worship your
Holy amen we’re going to continue worshiping but do feel free to go if you have children next door please head off and collect them take your tickets um if you want to stay and worship if you want a little bit of prayer then do come um
But God bless have a great week see you next Weekend