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Down your Life my heart iay down God I me now my soul will sing to Jus I every breath I love you my heart my heart good morning everybody um if you were in the cafe come on through come and sit near the front we are looking a little bit thin on the ground this morning um but do
Come on through and we’ll make a start um in a moment um if you are visiting us this morning then it’s lovely to have you with us welcome welcome to those of you that are joining us on the live stream as well it’s great to have you
With us the plan this morning is um we’re going to worship Jesus together uh we’ve got some family news to share um Bend de Gary one of our youth pastors is preaching this morning seven of us are excited come on Bend de Gary’s preaching this
Morning he’s a legend and uh he’s got a great word for us today um and then we’re going to share communion together so that’s the plan yeah great plan why don’t I read Psalm from Psalm 92 in the message should we stand as we come to worship what a beautiful thing God to
Give thanks to sing an Anthem to you the high God to announce your love each Daybreak sing your faithful presence all through the night and Lord as we come to worship you today we do want to sing to you we want to glorify your name we thank you for
Your presence here and Lord we just want to bring our worship to you in Jesus name Amen I’m PR in the valley Praise on the mountain I praise when I’m sure praise when I’m Doub I praise out and praise me Surrounding cuz praise is the water my en drowning as long as I’m breathing I’ve got a reason to pray PR the Lord oh my soul praise the Lord oh my soul and I won’t be quiet my God is alive how can I keep it inside we Praise the Lord oh my soul now praise and I’m feeling and praise when I don’t that praise com I know you’re still in control praise is my weapon it’s more a sound my praise is the shout that come down oh as long as I’m breathing I’ve got a reason to
Praise the Lord oh my soul we say praise the Lord oh Soul no I won’t be Qui my God is alive how can I keep in his praise the Lord oh my We Praise You Lord Oh Praise CU you’re s Praise You R Praise You Rose and Fe the great I praise God you’re faithful praise God you’re true praise God there’s nobody greater than you praise count your s praise count you rain praise count you r interfe in the grave I praise CU you’re
Faithful praise CU you’re true praise God there’s nobody great and good praise the Lord oh my soul we say praise Lord oh my soul and I won’t be quiet my god is a How can I keep inside I won’t be quiet my god is how can I keep inside praise the Lord my
Soul praise the Lord oh my soul We Praise You Lord We love to bring you praise Lord I raise it Hallelu in the presence of my enemies God raising hallelu louder than the unbel oh I raing Hallelujah my weapon is a Melody I raise and hallelu Heaven comes to fight for me oh I’m going to s in the middle of the storm louder and louder you’re going to hear my Praises
Roll Up From the Ashes hope will arise death isfe the king is alive oh our raing hallelu with everything me I raise a Hallelu our W the darkness Oh Our Praise the hallelu in the rid of the mystery not holding back cuz I raise the Hallelu Fe you lost your hold on me oh I’m going to sing in the middle of the storm louder and louder you’re going to hear my praises Up From the Ashes hope rise death is defeated the king is alive oh I’m going to s in the middle of the
Storm louder and louder you’re going to hear my Praises Ro Up From the Ashes the hope will arise death is defe the king is alive we sing a little louder in the presence of my enemies sing a little louder louder than the unbel sing a little
Louder my weapon is a Melody sing a little louder cuz Heaven comes to fight for me will sing louder in the presence of my enemies sing real louder louder than the unbel we sing a real louder my weap is will still louder Oh Heaven comes to fight for me still you’re
Louder cuz I’m going to sing in the middle of the storm louder and louder you’re going to hear my Praises War Up From the Ashes hope will arise death is defeated the king is alive oh and I’m going to s in the middle of the storm louder and louder louder you’re
Going to hear my Praises WR Up From the Ashes hope arise death is defeated the king is alive oh I’m going to say in the middle of the storm louder and louder you’re going to hear my Praises Ro Up From the Ashes hope will arise death is defeated the king is alive singing
Hallelujah there is no one greater than you Jesus King Jesus Hallelujah there is no one greater than you Jesus King Jesus hallelujah hallelujah there is no one greater than you Jesus King Jesus oh Hallelujah there is no one greater than you Jesus King Jesus H Lord in the darkness we were waiting without hope without light to from Heaven you came running there was Mercy in your eyes to fulfill the Lord and Prophets to a Virg kingom World from a throne of endless glory to a CR in the We Praise You Lord praise the
Father praise the son praise the spirit three in one God of Glory mesty praise forever to the King of Kings to reveal the kingdom coming and to re all the LA to redeem the all creation you did not despise the cross for even your s you sought the of
M knowing this was our Salvation Jesus for our sake [Applause] you we praise you God oh praise the father praise the son praise the spirit in God all the glory mesty praise for forever to the king our Kings in the morning that you Rose all of Heaven held it breath till that stone was move for good for the land a con in death and the dead rose from their Toms and the angels stood in all for the S of who come to the father
Ouro and the Church of Christ was born and the spirit with The Flame now this gospel truth of shall not KN shall not f by his BL in his name in his freedom I am free for the love of Jesus Christ who has Resurrected oh thank you Jesus praise the father Praise the song Praise the be three in one God of Glory mesty who praise forever to King our King praise the father praise the S praise the spirit through you are God of Glory M praise forever to the King of Kings praise forever to the
King of Kings oh I pray praise who I worship who our songs all our chist all our praise may bring you Praise Jesus as we long to lift you highing any All hell King Jesus Oh hell the Lord of Heaven and Earth oh H King Jesus oh hell savior of the world oh hell King Jesus Oh H the Lord of Heaven oh H King Jesus oh saor of the World let every knee come let every knee come bow before the King of Kings let every song confess that he is Lord lift up your sh let us join with all heaven Singing Holy we’re Singing let every name let every me come B before the King of Kings let everyong confess that he is Lord lift up your shout let us join with all of heaven singing oh we singing home oh with all heaven we singing Oh for creation sing [Applause] and we’re singing we’re singing oh is the Lord God Almighty Singing we’re singing Oh all hell Jesus oh the Lord of H and end up oh hell King Jesus Oh Hell savior of the World Lift You [Applause] Higher Christ is my first Foundation The Rock on which I stand but everything around me Shen I’ve never more glad that I put my faith in Jesus he’s never let me down they fall through Generations so why would he fail now he Won’t he W and I’ve still got joy in chaos I’ve got peace that makes no sense so I won’t be going under I’m not H by My Own Strength cuz I been my life on Jesus he’s never let me down he’s faithful in every seon so why would he f down now he Won’t he Won’t the rain came when blue but my house is built on you and I’m safe with you I’m going to make get through oh rain came when blue but my house is built on you I’m save with you I’m going to make it through ring wind blue but my house is still on
You and I’m stay with you I’m going to make it through yeah I’m going to make get through cuz I’m standing strong on you oh I’m going to make it through is my help is build on here Christ is my firm foundation The Rock on which I stand everything around me
Shaking oh I’ve never been more glad that I’ve been my faith in Jesus he’s never let me down St all the Generations so why he now he WS he won oh and told the Earth Will shout your praise our hearts will cry these bones will sing gra are here he’s the rock of all ages all shout your praise our hearts will cry these bones will sing I here
Al oh R praise we say all the Earth Will shout your praise our hearts will cry his bones will sing prise here oh and ho Earth Will shout your praise our hearts will cry these oh will say graise I he lord it’s your breath in our
Lungs so we pour out our praise we pour out our praise it’s your breath in our LS so we pour out our praise here w oh it’s your breath in our hearts so we pour out our praise pour out our praise it’s your breath in our
Lung so we pour out our praise to you it’s your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise pour out Our Praise it’s your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise to you only great are you Lord we’re singing oh great are you Lord with the heavens rejin
Sing singing Great You oh great are you alone pour out our praise to you we pour out our Praise we pour out our praise pour out our praise to you we pour out our praise pour out our praise to You Pour And father we thank you that you are great and worthy of all praise Lord we wonder at your Splendor we wonder at your majesty and we thank you that you are all powerful yet all loving and gentle and kind and we praise you for your presence Among Us and Lord as we continue just to meet together Lord we pray that you would continue to meet with us Lord would you speak to us this morning would you stir something aesh in our Hearts we love you and we worship You amen Amen well welcome to all of those who weren’t here when we began which was quite a few of you actually was a few of you roomors filled up which is good um I think the younger youth are about to head out so if you are in younger
Youth which is school years 7 to9 um Sam and Leah are over there they are going to wave look at the vigorous wave there but if you want to head out if you’re in younger youth years seven to nine um why don’t you guys head next door now great
Yeah great well my name’s Nicola welcome I’m part of the staff team here and I’m Johnny and uh great to see you all and welcome to any of those that maybe this is your first time we’ been coming on for a little while it is lovely to see
You and again uh a welcome to those of you that are joining us on our live stream as well great to have you with us yeah great um just a couple of things just to say if you’ve got children with you in the meeting and you and they’re
Getting a little bit Restless we have our lovely family room with comfy sofas a screen to watch the service get yourself a coffee get in there and have a nice sit down while The Children Play It’s yeah a great space they’re very enticing Sofas in that room they
Certainly are have you been in there during a work work day and had a little sleep I haven’t slept in there during a work day cuz that would be wrong but I have been in there for just a sit down yeah cuz it’s quite comfortable I don’t
Think anyone really wants to know about my sitting down in the family room but hey um I know where to find you now though yes we do um and uh the welcome bar this morning we’ve got Lynn and Mark Lim Mark has done a runner so we’ve got
Lynn who is amazing so do go and say hi to those guys at the endend and then we have Hugo and my lovely wife CLA doing the overseeing this morning so uh if there’s ever an emergency and we need to head out of the building just follow
Those two they will guide us calmly out of the building but do uh do go and say hello to those guys and if you’ve got any questions about anything that goes on in the life of the church then um head to the back at the end and there’ll
Be those guys and some of us from the staff team as well yeah great well should we have a little chat with somebody that perhaps we have haven’t spoken with before um somebody we’ve been looking at thinking oh they look interesting I’d like to find out more
About them um just would take a couple of minutes and just have a little chat to each other yeah e great well why don’t we gather back together sure those of you at home may have popped out to get a cup of tea um but uh why don’t we share a little bit
Of family news various things that are happening over the next couple of weeks what’s going on Nicola well we’re going to start with today actually because at our 6:30 service tonight I’m sure that you all are aware but Johnny is going to be licensed into his new role which will
Be a great service and be lovely to have as many of you with us as possible it will be live streamed as well um and we’ve got Bishop Jane coming uh Bishop of Hartford um and it will just be a lovely opportunity to pray as a church
Family for Johnny in his new role but also for the staff team and all of our wonderful volunteer leaders just if so if you are a leader in the church do come and we love to pray with you as well um yeah it’s just going to be a
Lovely time for us as a church family to to commit ourselves to the next season and you’ve arranged some Fizz absolutely I have Nicola loves a glass of Fizz so there will be some Fizz later on uh and some nibbles too nibbles and fears and non-alcoholic as well so please after
The service head over and it will just be lovely celebration time great and then on the 3rd of March uh at all our services we’ve got dedications so if you’ve got a baby or a little one that you would like dedicated uh just an opportunity for us as a church Community
Church family just to give thanks to God um for these little ones to pray for them to pray God’s blessing upon them uh but really importantly to pray that they would grow up to know and to love Jesus and just for us as a church family to
Pray for their parents as well um to support them as they raise their children uh but if you would like your little one uh dedicated then just go to the website um and there’s a section on Sundays and then there’ll be a button there that you can click which will uh
Take you where you need to sign up uh your children great can you believe that we are almost beginning lent and heading towards Easter it I don’t believe it you don’t believe it I can’t believe I’ve just really got my Christmas decorations away but anyway we are heading towards
Lent and Ash Wednesday is on wait for it the 14th of February so I know you probably all have dinner dates on date night is cancelled we’re all going to be canell yeah but you can come to a wonderful candle lit service bring your loved one with you
And you can confess your sins not only to God but to each other like sorry for snoring sorry for not putting the dishwasher things away um now it’s just going to be a really lovely time to pray and worship and to begin lent together as a church and actually we’re going to
Do we’re going to use the use the tradition this year of receiving ashes as well which is just a great outward sign of our inward heart so yeah please put that in your diary be lovely service great and then final thing just to mention is our next prayer and worship
Night is on Tuesday the 6th of February in here um and I know we’ve we we say this every month but if you can come along we would really encourage you to to join us as we pray together uh as a church those have been some amazing times together as we’ve worshiped and
We’ve prayed um and it’s really significant I think as as a church that we gather together um and continue to look up to Jesus pray for us as a community here but our world is is very unsettled at the moment and I think it’s really important that we as a church
Also just pray for our world in these times too so if you can come along um 6th of February 8:00 in here yeah and there’s also craft isn’t there so you can pray with your words and Pray by our art and yes there different creative
Ways to kind of support us in our in our prayer um so yeah be great lovely John do you get your church sweet emails I do Nicola you do and I read it from top to bottom every week I’m sure everyone here does as well do you will get your church sweet
Emails who who doesn’t get the weekly email that we send out each week there a few of you don’t get it so if you don’t get it cuz we know that some folk don’t um again go and see the guys at the back and they will help Mark is
Laughing but they will help you sign up and some of us will be there to help you as well but uh if you are missing out on that it might mean that you’re not on our database um but it also might mean that settings are wrong or something
Yeah and it’s just great because a lot of people say oh I didn’t know we were doing that and if you get the email then all the information is there for you well time to for our offering if you’re holding the baskets do you want
To come forward and pick them up um and just to remind you we do have card readers at the back so you can give there you can give in the baskets and you can give via the website um and of course please do come up for a lolly it
Will help you during Ben’s talk it will why don’t we stand as we worship and as we do just a reminder that we’ve got the food crates at the front everything that’s given non perishable food items nappies all goes to Watford food bank which is given out to people in need in
Our local community but let’s worship uh Jesus with our Giving you El rocks cry out to worship His glory Tau the Stars to Shine perh creation longs to have the world To but this Joy is mine with a thousand hallelu we magnify your name you alone deserve the glory the honor and the praise Lord Jesus this song is Forever Yours a thousand hallelu and a thousand More you El when die for our Redemption oh his resurrection means our Rise there isn’t time enough to sing of all you’ve Done but 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 the thousand a Thousand we singing praise to the Lord to the lamb to the king of Heaven praise for he rose now he is we will sing forever praise to the to the lamb to the king of Heaven praise for he now he we will sing forever We have a thousand hallelu we magy your name you alone deserve the glory the honor and the praise Lord Jesus this song is forever the Thousand h and a thousand more Dear Lord Jesus we thank you for your blessings we thank you for all these offerings and we ask you to please put them to good use may they reach the ones in need in the name of Jesus Amen well good morning everybody it’s good to see you uh we might not have
Actually met cuz my name’s Ben I’m often next door in Warehouse 7 with the younger youth if we haven’t met before my name is Ben uh I’m an ordinand here at the church which means I’m training to be a priest in the Church of England yippe and I’m also one of the youth
Pastors involved with youth work so if you do want to find out anything more about what’s happening with the young people then do come and find me at the end of the service so I’m going to speak from some passages in the book of Hebrews and if
You’re uh not familiar with reading the Bible then you might not know that the book of Hebrews is in the new Testament and although we call it a book in the Bible it it was actually a letter it was a letter written to a bunch of Jewish people who had just become Christians
And were being persecuted for their faith and one thing I noticed when I was reading the book of Hebrews is just how often sentences begin with the two words let us that that phrase let us so for instance there’s um let us throw off everything that hinders that’s one
Or another is let us run with perseverance fixing our eyes on Jesus and there’s actually 12 of these statements and these statements to use the Bible’s own language they’re called exhortations uh and it’s probably not a word that you tend to use all that often exhortations you know it’s hard to
Imagine slipping it into a conversation with somebody across the tail but uh what it means is really significant because it it means Comfort it can be translated encouragement or comfort so these exhortation these statements in Hebrews they’re meant to bring us Comfort uh and it’s not a kind of soft
Kind of comfort it’s not like God’s way of you know chucking us a chocolate bar if we’re feeling sad it’s actually more gives us the sense of um God coming alongside us when we feel weak and helping us to keep going you know it’s the same word that Jesus uses in John 14
For the Holy Spirit he says the comforter the holy spirit it’s the same word so you can imagine it a bit like this I don’t know if you’ve seen the film hack or Ridge it’s this true story of an American conscientious objector who uh fights without a weapon in World
War II and he’s a medic in the military and on one particular bloody battle he saves from the Battleground 75 wounded soldiers who would have otherwise kind of bled out and died and what Desmond Doss this guy does is uh when he sees one of these wounded soldiers he kind of
Goes out at night time uh when he could die and he um he he gets alongside these these wounded soldiers and he throws them over his shoulder and then he just legs it he runs them to safety and so these exaltations that that’s the kind of comfort it gives us
It’s God coming alongside us it’s strengthening us it’s calling us to persevere and and he’s saying you know if if you can’t get up I’ll carry you that’s what these statements do and so we’re going to have just a look at these a few of these letter statements a few
Of these exhortations some of these get on your feet let me carry you sort of statements in Hebrews and we’ll look at Hebrews chap 10: 22 to 25 and hopefully it will come up on the screens so it says this let us draw near to God with a sincere heart with the
Full assurance that Faith brings having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for he who promised is faithful and let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and
Good Deeds not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day approaching so we’re going to have a look at these exaltations these three letters statements and if you don’t feel comforted and encouraged by the end of
It something’s gone wrong and you can blame me okay so the first exhortation the first letter statement let us draw near to God with a sincere heart with the full assurance that Faith brings so what kind of comfort what kind of encouragement does this statement
Give us how does it call us to persevere well we can be encouraged today because we have access to God you know we can draw near to him you know that he draw drew near to us that we can draw near to him and as we do that as we draw near to
Him live in a relationship with him that we can have the full assurance that Faith brings that means that we can be confident in his presence and I know if if you’ve been a Christian for a little while it’s easy to lose the Wonder of this it’s easy to
Go through the motions but actually it’s important to remember that our story with God it was actually one of separation you know there was a barrier between us there was sin that got in the way but Jesus on the cross he’s brought us near that we can draw near because of
What the cross has done I don’t know what frustrates you most in life I know something that’s right at the top of my list is being on hold to customer services when you’re on the phone and the kind of the call starts and you’re on hold for about 45
Minutes and you’re listening to this weird kind of crackly jazz music and then every five minutes or so the kind of monotone voice says that your Call’s really important to us uh that you could visit our website which is all kind of code for they don’t actually care about
Your call and they hope you’ll hang up really soon and then after a little while like a human being actually picks up the phone and you’re like it lasts and then they just redirect you to a colleague and the cycle starts all over again and it’s so
Frustrating but you know when it comes to Drawing Near to God we have access to him he’s done the hard bit on the cross you know all that we have to do is say yes you know it’s not accessed T night you know you’re not put on hold you can
Draw near to God today and you can be comforted by that and what’s interesting is that as we draw near we can be confident you know as we stand in his presence you know what we’ve been doing in worship this morning we can have the full assurance that Faith
Brings not that I’ve found myself self in this situation but if you ever meet members of the royal family there’s a certain kind of etiquette or protocol that you meant to follow and I was reading there was this one story of Prince Phillip he was driving the the
Queen and the Obamas to Windsor Castle and uh what happened was I mean this was a really big deal because the Obamas they’d never been driven in a car that wasn’t by their kind of secret service or agents every little detail was planned and the plan was that Barack
Obama the president president would sit in the back seat with the queen because they’re the most important people and then Michelle Obama who’s important but slightly less important in that situation would sit in the front with Prince Philip who was driving and so as they were kind of stepping into the
Range Rover the queen just kind of gestured to Michelle Obama you know why don’t you sit in the back seat and she was like thrown she like that’s not what the plan was that’s not what she’d been briefed and then the queen she picked up on her hesitation and she said
Apparently did they give you some rule about this this it’s rubbish just sit wherever you want you know did do you know that when you’re in the presence of the king of kings when you’re in the throne room of Heaven you can have confidence not confidence in your own merits but
Confidence in the love of God that you know that’s what the cross has done that all of that distance that separated us the mess the Brokenness the stuff that got in the way it was dealt with on the cross that we can draw near and that we
Can be confident the full assurance that Faith brings so let’s look at this next exhortation it’s verse 23 and we can read this let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for he who promised is faithful so this next exhortation you know what Comfort can we take here how
Does this statement as it work and I’ve Lift Us out of the wreckage of Our Lives how does God bring us Comfort uh and and this this exaltation it’s really it’s a summoning to hope it’s to hold unswervingly to hope you know all of the hope that we have in
Jesus the fact that we have relationship with him the fact that he’s promised to never leave us nor forsake us the fact that he loves us you know this hope we hold on to it we hold unswervingly to it and as we do that we know that he’s
Faithful you know the only reason we can do that is because he’s promised to be faithful that’s what the verse says so let’s just look at that holding unswervingly or some translations say hold fast or the message version of the Bible says this let’s keep a firm grip
On the promises that keep us going well it would be difficult to hold on to something if you’re not really sure what you’re meant to be reaching for you know so what is Christian hope it’ be like trying to catch it tennis ball blindfolded okay but Christian hope
One of the best definitions I’ve heard of it is the joyful anticipation of good it’s the joyful anticipation of good that we joyfully expect good things from God because we believe that he’s good that’s what hope is and we believe that his goodness will be in this life and
The next that we hope it and um G somebody once said that Jesus disciples or sorry Jesus promises to disciples three things that they’d be uh absurdly Happy completely fearless and in constant trouble and I don’t know if you’re any of those three this morning but you know what that says is
That Christian hope it’s it’s realistic about all of the blessings the multitude of blessings that we have in Jesus Christ but also of the hard things you know that hope isn’t in denial about stuff that’s tough actually we dig our claws in even more when life is tricky
You know but even despite the challenges or because of the challenges that that we’re invited to hold on to hope we’re invited into a great and a living hope I heard somebody share a beautiful story recently so this person they’ve got a friend who’s a hospital chaplain
So they go into hospitals and chat with people and pray with them and share their faith where they can and this Hospital chaplain they were going into this one hospital and they would walk walk past this guy’s bed and every time the chaplain would walk by this uh guy
In the bed would just kind of give him a rude gesture I don’t want to do do that rude gesture on the live stream but it means holding up a few fingers in a certain way and it means a really naughty thing okay and so every time
This guy would walk past you know he’ just get sweared at and there was this one time when the chaplain walked by and this guy in the bed just said oi can I chat to you so the Chaplin went over to this guy and uh the guy said to the chaplain you know
What’s that white thing around your neck and he was talking about the dog collar and so this chaplain just started explaining uh you know the fact that God loves him the fact that there’s forgiveness of sins and all of the basic stuff of the gospel and you know said
You know you can even pray to God and so this uh guy said well if you can pray to God how’ you do that how’ you pray to God and so the chaplain was sat in a chair and it was next to this guy’s bed and he got out of the chair
And he pointed at the empty chair and he said imagine that Jesus is sat there and Jesus is just permanently loving you you know you can say anything that you want to him he’s just listening to you you can just keep the conversation going and so the chaplain asked him so what would
You say to Jesus sat in the chair and so the guy said well to be honest I’d probably say that I feel a bit scared you know that I’ve messed up my life a bit and so they had this great conversation and then the chaplain left and then the chaplain came back sometime
Later and he went into the same hospital he went to this guy’s bed and saw that it was empty and so he went to the uh staff team at the hospital and asked where this guy had gone and the nurse had told him that a couple of days later
He died but the nurse did say you know when you left he seemed so happy he was kind of bouncing in his bed and he kept telling us about God and Jesus and the chair and that you can pray to him and all of this stuff and so the chaplain
Was obviously pretty excited by that and as the chaplain began to leave the nurse just said this you know just before you go I ought to tell you something I feel a bit weird saying it but when we found him the next morning you know after he
Died he was in his bed but he was leaning out of it his hips were in the bed but he drawn this chair near to him and his chest was on the chair and his arms were just wrapped around the back of the chair and he died like
That and so the chaplain just began to weep because he realized this guy had got what we so struggle to understand as Christians is that Christianity is about leaning the weight of your life on Jesus you know when we talk about holding unswervingly to Hope is that Jesus is
The Hope Jesus Christ is the Hope and we hold unswervingly to him we hold fast to him that’s what it’s about and in this verse you know it talks about holding unswervingly to Hope holding on to Jesus but the way that we do that is knowing he’s faithful if we
Read the verse again it says let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for he who promised is faithful I played football growing up with when I was younger and I was a center back I played in defense and there was this one player on the team
Called Harry and Harry was a really tall guy which meant he was a great goalkeeper and so kind of when the other team took a shot on goal he just made the most unbelievable saves and you kind of think how on Earth has Harry done that and I got so confident that Harry
Would save anything that was put at his net that you know the opponent would go through the line of the defense and I just wouldn’t even bother tracking them back cuz I just so knew that Harry was going to save the shot K is no surprise
I was dropped from the team but you know the point is when you’ve seen Harry save shot after shot after shot you’re just confident you know you see somebody line up for a penalty or a free kick and you’re not bothered you know Harry’s in goal he’s going to save the
Shot and when it comes to holding unswervingly to hope you know it’s not our own self-confidence it’s not our own self-belief it’s confidence in him it’s it’s his firm grip on us we’re hopeful because he’s faithful hope is sustained and nurtured when we seeing God pull through again and again and
Again you know the more we experience his faithfulness the easier it becomes to to put our hope in him and I know that’s is a lot more complicated than that you know life is complicated but if if you don’t have your own stories you know ask other people in the room other
Christians cuz they’ll have stories of God’s faithfulness look at the Bible you know it’s page after page of God’s faithfulness to his people we’re hopeful because he is faithful and then just finally the last exhortation that we’ll look at in Hebrews chapter 10 this last statement of encouragement this last statement
That’s meant to lift us out of the wreckage of our lives these statements that are meant to give us comfort so it’s Hebrews chapter 10 and it’s the last two verses 24 and 25 says this let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and
Good Deeds not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day approaching and I don’t know about you but this last exhalation seems a bit naff compared to the other two it’s kind
Of like let’s just be nice and keep up our Sunday attendance but actually God’s Comfort to us is really rich in this exhortation because what it’s doing is it’s inviting us into a way of living into a way of being as Christians and that’s to cheer one another on you know
Spur one another on towards living out love doing good deeds and being people of encouragement and I love this idea of the church being a place which Spurs one another on towards being a loving being loving people I don’t know if you’ve ever seen parents watch their children
Run the 100 meters on sports day I don’t know maybe you’ve been this parent uh and you see the children lining up and then the whistle blasts and they just start sprinting and you can see on the sidelines these parents are just screaming their heads off they’re like
You can do it keep going you’re almost there and everyone’s thinking they’re only in year six just chill out and but what if we as a church here at Soul Survivor and Jesus church what if we stood on the sidelines of each other’s lives and cheered one another on
You know what if we spurred one another on towards love and good deeds and with people of encouragement and what’s interesting about this exaltation this statement is that the way that we encourage is by showing up you know it says this not giving giving up meeting together as some are
In the habit of doing but encouraging one another that the the way that we encourage is by showing up and showing up when it matters and this isn’t about placing attendance it’s not it’s not that at all but it’s an invitation to be an encouraging person and what it means
Is that you actually matter we all actually matter in the body of Christ that our showing up makes a difference that we can make our lives count and that can be really hard to kind of feel or experience in a big church where it’s easy to go unnotice
But it’s the calling on Jesus church the same that we’d be people who show up and that we’d be people who encourage spurring one another on towards love and good deeds and so just uh to finish really before we pray and um take communion I wonder if we could just reflect briefly
On what God’s Comfort to us or to you is this morning maybe it’s just that simple uh encouragement and comfort that you can draw near to God today you can draw near to him and maybe you’ve never done that before but you can do it this morning you can draw
Near to God because he’s made a way for us that there’s access to him because of what Jesus has done and as we draw near as we stand in his presence in front of the king of kings that we can have confidence the full assurance that Faith brings and what that does is
Lifechanging we can be confident before him or maybe it’s just that summoning to Hope let us hold unswervingly to Hope knowing that the hope is Jesus when we hold on to hope we’re actually holding on to Jesus he is the Hope Jesus Christ and knowing that as we hold on to him
That he’s faithful you know the only reason we can hold on to him is because of his faithfulness when we’ seen him pull through again and again and again or maybe just lastly it’s that exhortation to be somebody who encourages somebody else somebody who cheers one another on stands on the
Sidelines of people’s lives as it were and cheers them on you know run your race well live it well live out Love Good Deeds cheer one another on he is the God of All Comfort that’s who he is you know he fights for us he comes alongside us when we’re weak and
He strengthens us he lifts us up he says stand with me and if you can’t then I’ll carry you that’s his comfort to us amen wasn’t that great just solid Truth for us this morning which is wonderful thank you Ben um we’re going to share communion together now but I wonder
Whether before we do why don’t we just take just a couple of moments just in quiet just to reflect on what Ben has shared with us this morning and maybe those if you are serving communion In This Moment do you want to head to your stations as well but let’s just be still
For a couple of moments and father we thank you that you welcome us all at your table and Lord we thank you that we can have unswerving knowledge and hope that you love us that you treasure us and that you welcome Us in and Lord this morning as we
As we come and we gather around your table as we share communion with one another Lord we thank you that you invite us to this place that we might experience again and know again your grace and your mercy we thank you that when we approach
You you reveal more and more of who you are to us and Lord we thank you that you are more than enough more than we’ll ever need and Lord as we come this morning we’re aware that there are things that we may have said have thought have
Done which we know haven’t pleased your heart and in this moment we say sorry and we ask that you would forgive us we ask that once again we would just know your grace and your mercy we thank you for your boundless love the Lord Jesus on the night that he was betrayed took
Bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me and in the same way after supper he took the cup saying saying this cup is the New Covenant in my blood do this
Whenever you drink it in remembrance of me for whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes amen why don’t we pray together the prayer Our Savior taught us the Lord’s Prayer which will come up on the screen Our Father in heaven Hallowed Be
Your Name Your Kingdom Come your will be done on Earth as in heaven give us today our daily bread forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil for the kingdom the power and the glory are yours now and forever
Amen amen there are stations all around the room uh front and back over this side with Tim in the corner is gluten-free bread uh non-alcoholic wine is in the ceramic cups and alcoholic in the the metal cups um maybe the band do you want to come forward first and receive
Communion and then let’s worship together and then when you’re ready feel free to head to a station near you for for I stand amazed in in the Pence of Jesus the naar and wonder how he could love of me the sner condemn un clean singing how marvelous how wonderful and my soul shall live be how marvelous how wonderful is my savior’s love for me He took my sins and my sorrows he made them his Very he bore the bur to Cal and and [Applause] D we singing marvelous how wonderful and my soul shall ever be how Mar how wonderful is my savior’s Love For Me Why Don’t We Stand Together As we Sing ransoming Glory his face I am what shall see oh will be my joy through thees to sing of his love for me we singing how marvelous how wonderful and my soul shall never be How all how wonderful is my say his love for me we’re singing H wonderful my soul shall me how wonderful is my S his love for me we’re singing H marel how wonderful my soul shall ever Be How wonderful is my sa love for Me Um when Sam was speaking and he spoke about um us uh encouraging one another I just got a sense that a lot of us here want to be encourages and we are encourages but sometimes we just get a little bit tired and we don’t see the value necessarily in in turning up and
Just being and I just think that’s a word from God today is that be encouraged and be encourages but perhaps for some people they just really want to come and and present themselves before God and ask him to show them how and and how to do that in the places that they
Are working and living um yeah so if that’s you and that speaks to you do come up for prayer we’ve got on the sides you can be prayed for or at the front we’d love to do that yeah and also if you just again just that that image that Ben was
Sharing about the man that was just clinging um to the chair for some of us uh we’re just in a place where we just need to cling to Jesus again and for Jesus just to meet us where we’re at and if that’s you uh or you’re here and you
Just want a freshh touch from Heaven a fresh touch from the Lord this morning then as we just worship for a little while longer do come as Nicholas said this space at the side this space at the front um let me pray and then we’ll worship together a little bit more and
Father we thank you for your presence in this place and we just ask that you would come and rest on each of us you would fill us aresh fill us with New Hope fill us with boundless Joy and Lord that you would speak to us and show us how we can be encouragers of others outside of these four Walls and so Lord as we just continue to worship would you meet with Us fill us and change us this morning we Ask so we’re just going to worship do come if you’d like prayer um and then uh we’ll pray a blessing in in a few in a few minutes but let’s worship a little bit more Lord I’m sorry for all that I’ve done I’m just a sin Say by your
Love and though I’m broken you make me strong and I’m only you It’s hell from above oh you call my name forever I’m Healed by Grace whenever I fall you’re always waiting for me oh you’re waiting for for me every day I Need You Jesus you are the Savior you are healing you always be oh every day I need you Jesus you are the
Savior You Are the Healer you’ll always Be when I’m sinking you help me Breae through every moment oh you stand with me oh God you call my name forever I’m he by Grace whenever I fall you’re always waiting for me oh you’re waiting for me every day I need you Jesus you are the Savior You Are the Healer you’re be every day we need you
Lord every day I Need You Jesus cuz you are Save You Are the Healer you’ll always be Every day I Need You Jesus you are the Savior You Are the Healer you’ll always be you always be every day I need you Jesus you are the Savior you are the heal you’ll always be yes you are the Savior You Are the Healer you’ll always be and you are the
Savior You Are the Healer you all the way be you are perfect in all of your ways you are perfect in all of your ways you are perfect in all of your ways to you are perfect in all of ways you are perfect in all of your
Ways you are perfect in all your ways to us yes you are you are perfect in all your ways you are perfect in all of your ways you are perect perfect in all of your ways TOS no other like you Lord you are perfect in all of your
Ways you are perfect in all of your ways you are perfect in all of your ways to us you’re a good good father who you are who you are it’s who you are and I’m loved by you it’s who I am it’s who I am it’s who I am you’re a good good
Father who you are who you are who you are and I’m loved by you it’s who I am it’s who I I am who I am well we’re going to continue worshiping um for a while longer but I’m going to pray a prayer a blessing for us
As we go feel free to stay in worship or head off grab a coffee if you still want prayer then do come forward with love to pray with you but let’s pray father we thank you that you are a god of Hope and as we leave this place today
May we step into a new week knowing that we walk out of these doors today with you and Lord we pray that we would know your presence in our work in the places we go this week the Lord bless you and keep you the Lord make his face shine on you and
Be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and Grant 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 God bless have a great week
And we’ll see you soon