Join us for our live-streamed Sunday Celebration at 10am
SPEAKER: Hollie Butler
This January and February we are studying 1Peter in our sermon series: Confidence in a Complex World. Hollie continues the series with our next talk on “New Way of Living”.
Children’s and Youth Groups will be running during the service after a short time of family worship together.
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VIDEOS
Countdowns, Worship Tracks, Intro and Outro – used with kind permission of SermonSpice under web license. (https://www.sermonspice.com​)
O W N O W H O w w I know I’m definitely on Josh well done thank you very much good morning church great to see you good morning those who are watching online thank you so much for tuning in my name is Gareth part of the team here it’s my joy to welcome you both in the building and
Online and it’s a joy to welcome the family of David Key who we’re going to be baptizing in a little bit while in the pool and it’s 28° in there yeah I’m happy bring on the ray dos and the bubble bath and all of that we could just soak in there during
Holly’s sermon cuz she goes on and on and on and on and you know we we could just have a you know it could be wonderful we can get a pump in there a few bubbles yeah yeah and welcome welcome as well to Chris Mary Creek key David’s
Parents Chris who was the Vicor here before me it’s great to have you thank you so much for joining us and all the family that are here to support David and if you’re someone else who’s here to support David thank you very much it’s going to be fun um but we want to
Celebrate all kinds of different things um today and in a little bit after um the baptism and after our a time of sun worship the children are going to go out and they’re going to have a praise party children kids are you excited about that
Yes yes yes I know I kids all I can say is I know Andy Croft is particularly excited um so um just just be careful okay um but it we also want to celebrate people have got all kinds of celebrations happening this month so the celebrations box has been um filled up
My wonderful assistants bethan and Mary are coming here well done bethan and fya okay so they’re going to run around if you have a celebration this month um we would love to celebrate that with you so um can you put your hand up if you got birthdays anniversaries could be anniversary of
Your pet rabbits I don’t know but there are treats to be had right bethan who’s going to hold the suits Freya and you hold the microphone okay off you go over here first what is your celebration it’s my birthday and my baptism it’s your birthday it’s your birthday
Great who else put your hand up really high so the girls can see oh your celebration it’s my birthday it’s her birthday can we turn the mics up Josh it’s your birthday isn’t it Camila how old are you going to be cam what’s the celebration birth birthday how old
Three three okay take a treat and um bethan and Frey need to be quicker okay right towards the back all the way right on the very back row run run run run run there Alex and an see they’ve both got their hands up I wonder your celebration um it’s my birthday on the
16th it’s my birthday on the fifth way great that’s it just in front of you Beth oh no go go to the back Jack what’s your celebration uh it’s my birthday on the 16th 16th sweet 16 Jack Big 4 Z oo I just like to say that
Julie Jack’s wife let that slip what’s your celebration it’s my birthday on the 10th birthday on the 10th well happy Birthday Angela anyone else over here there’s a yeah no definitely not my son what’s your celebration it’s my birthday on the 20th [Applause] it’s right and right around here to
Susan anyone else after season what’s your celebration it’s my birthday on the 25th on the 2 happy birthday Susan wonderful any more for any more oh one more here Holly what’s your celebration it’s our wedding anniversary on the 28th 15 years 15 years I just like to say it’s
Interesting that Holly put her hand up for that and not marinas do you need a reminder it is a celebration would you girls like to take one as well I’ll take that off you thank you very much well whatever your celebration the other thing that we can all celebrate at is
And we do this in our house on the 14th of February it’s a particular special day as well and in our house we don’t celebrate Valentine’s we celebrate love day so um you can all celebrate love day on the 14th so at the end the box of
Treats will be out by the door so if you want to take a box of treats because you’re going to be celebrating love day you can do that well just a couple of um and let’s let’s pray for everyone who’s got a celebration Jesus we want to thank you
For everyone in the room and any who are at home who this month are celebrating a key milestone in their life whether it’s a birthday an anniversary Jesus we pray that they would know the joy of the Lord as they celebrate amen okay couple of other things um
There are a whole load of announcements and they’ve all been sent out in the weekly email so if you could read that that would be great I’m just going to highlight three okay first is this Tuesday for parents and um grandparents um there’s a there’s a where’s
Where’s I’m looking for Laura Laura come and quick quickly say what it is very quickly quickly quickly it’s called a mind of their own looking at um building children’s well-being do you want to say any more than that not really that’s everything but there small groups with
Discussion and video it’s going to be good there will be refreshments and people can still sign up to it great so that’s this Tuesday 7:30 to 9:30 and um pancake party who doesn’t love pancakes so that’s coming up on Tuesday the 13th um you do need to register we were about
Over 80 children I think signed up so you do need to book in but what we really could do and there’s Flyers at the back take them invite your neighbors invite people in the community the other thing to say is if you could be on team team to help flip a few pancakes
Organize a few little games all of that that would be really helpful please speak to Laura or any of the kids team who are wearing their kids team t-shirts and talking of team everything we do here is only made possible by our generosity as a church whether that’s through our finances whether that’s
Through our time but also through our skills and many of us are incredibly gifted God has gifted this church incredibly well and we do need some extra help in the worship team so I’m guessing you need to play an instrument or sing ideally in tune that would be
Helpful um and kids team and the tech team so if you are not yet serving in a key area in the life of the church can I encourage us to think about serving in some capacity some of us are multifaceted in our skills and we could
Serve in a number of different ways so if the Lord might be prompting you can I encourage you to respond to what the Lord might be saying and let’s be a part of this amazing team that we have in our church more will be in the new sheet
About that I am sure now we also have the joy and privilege of publishing some band of marriage people are getting married how exciting is that now are Peter and Helen here this morning no they’re not but you might be watching online so Peter and Helen if you’re watching this is the first
Publication of your bands and marriage so I published the bands of marriage between Peter Nicholas shapland of St Luke’s Mason parish and Helen Elizabeth Ralph also of St Luke’s Parish in Mason this is for the first time of asking if anyone knows a reason why these two may
Not lawfully marry come and see me afterwards around the back of the church and we’ll have a bit of a chat okay anyone no great brilliant so shall we pray for that couple should we pray for Peter and for Helen Lord we pray that they would know
Your blessing as they prepare for their wedding day we pray Jesus that you would be right at the center of their wedding day but also their marriage together so Lord as they prepare would you be at work in their hearts drawing their love to each other closer and closer but also their love
For you may they come to know the incredible love of Jesus Christ in their Liv life all God’s people said amen amen we’re now going to worship Jesus so um would you stand if you’re able filling the band are going to lead us Jesus you are the center of it all you
Are the very reason that we live and breathe and have our being and so Lord would you help us to raise our voices today a young and old in praise and of worship of Jesus the son of God amen amen Psalm 100 says enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise
Give thanks to him and bless his name for the Lord is good in his loving devotion ures forever his faithfulness continues to all generations we’re going to celebrate and praise God today which is always a little bit easier when there’s a baptism service I find let’s celebrate together as we celebrate New
Life uh new life Together sing enter in enter in enter in he cour with praise he cour with praise for he is great for his pra to be praised to be prais enter in enter his C with praise His C with praise for he is greatly for he is great
To be praised to be praised what shall we do we shall lift up sh what shall we do we shall what shall we do for our God made way we give him our Thanks magnify magnify His holy name His holy name for he is greatly for he is great to be prais to be prais magnifi magnify His holy name His holy name for he is great name for his great to be praised to be prais what shall we do we
Shall lift up sh what shall we do we shall praise him what shall we do for our God made a way we give him our Thanksgiving living what shall what shall we do we shall LIF up the sh what shall we do we shall praise
Him what shall we do for our God made a way we give him our Thanksgiving cuz even if the rocks cry out going to drown them out with a louder shout of Praise even in the back that’s Ro going to praise you Lord You Are Always worthy even if the rocks cry out going to drown them out with a louder shout of Praise even when the B
Ro Praise You Lord You Are Always worthy you are worthy Worthy honor and praise you are worthy we singing again and again yes you are worthy worthy of honor and praise you are worthy singing again and again what shall we do we shall lift up we shall what shall we do we shall
Praise him what shall we do for our God made a way we give him our Thanksgiving what shall what shall we do we shall lift up a shout what shall we do we shall praise him what shall we do for our God made a way we give him our Thanksgiving
Yeah we’ll give him our Thanksgiving oh we’ll give him our Thanksgiving Jesus we celebrate you for who you are and all that you have done and all that you are doing in our lives to you be all honor glory power and praise all God’s people said amen do take a seat well it is that time David it’s very exciting I’m very excited we’re
Going to baptize David in a moment but just a reminder what we’re about to do is something that we do together as the Community of Faith we baptize because Jesus commanded us to baptize um Peter when people became followers of Jesus in the early um church right at the very
Beginning of the Acts of the Apostles he says repent every one of you turn to Jesus Christ and be baptized so baptism is something that the Bible encourages us and teaching us teaches us to do baptism in itself doesn’t make someone a Christian but it is a sign it’s a symbol
Of an inward decision it’s an outward sign of an inward decision to seek to follow Jesus and to live for Jesus all the days of their lives and um just to say if you’re here this morning and you’ve not yet being baptized we would love to baptize you don’t mind putting
The pool on again we’d very happily do that um also to say if you’re someone who was christened or or is or was baptized as a child and maybe you’ve wandered away from God but yet you’ve come back to God in a newfound faith we we would love to celebrate your baptism
By dunking you in the pool as well and in fact this morning we’re celebrating David’s baptism when he was baptized as a child I want to invite David to come up and David’s first going to share a bit of his story and so i’ encourage you to listen attentive attentively
To um what God has been doing in David’s life so why don’t we give David a big round of applause when he comes up come on up David so David tell us your story hi so for most of my life I couldn’t have imagined making it this far by the
Time I was 12 I was developing significant psychological issues I struggled to find my way in the world and the trauma I had experienced as a child began to catch up with me confused and in pain I began to settle into a pattern of Life built on fear feeling very much
Alone at 14 I attempted to escape my life altogether and upon failing that I turned to drug addiction self harm and anything else that might help fill the void and escape the pain if only for a brief moment in this Pursuit I did bad things and I hurt people in the process
Something that I would deeply regret for a long time over the following years I became increasingly desperate bitter and disconnected eventually I failed University and became unable to manage work at which point I locked myself away becoming chronically agrh obic and spending much of the last 10 years
Hiding away from the world wanting nothing to do with people and harboring a profound disdain for God by whom I felt wholly abandoned social Med media social media became my window into the world and it terrified and damaged me in equal measure paranoia descended into delusion and my mental health became completely
Unmanageable in a Labyrinth of Twisted thought I was consumed by anxiety and emotion I rarely slept and retained very little connection to reality hallucinations of Twisted figures would haunt me and voices in my head would berate me and mislead me I was lost and alone believing my Brokenness to be
Innate and well beyond fixing as a man I’ve struggled with the prevailing systemic ignorance of male trauma that still permeates much of this supposedly Progressive Society phrases like male privilege get thrown around without any awareness or consideration of the inequalities and expectations that men and boys face which largely go
Unnoticed men now lose their fight with life in record numbers more than are taken by cancer or old age having very nearly become part of that statistic this is something that weighs heavily on my heart and played a major role in the hopelessness I felt for so long struggling men do want help
They just often don’t know how or where to ask for it support was and still is extremely difficult to come by and I only found any because I never stopped screaming no matter how many times I was turned away each cry for help would require all the
Strength I could master and would take everything from me when yet another door was slammed in my face each time I would fall ever deeper into the black abyss but I never stopped screaming and my loving family kept me going in those dark moments fortunately I survived my many self-destructive moments and eventually
Found a therapist who was willing to help me giving me some much needed insight and the support needed to work on my deep deep set issues issues that would have been much more easily managed had I been able to find help when I was younger eventually I was gently coaxed
Back into this place that they call the church having walked away many years ago with my back turned I began taking small steps back into life closely following the guidance of the few people who had shown me the only glimmer of hope I could remember through those people I was
Given an opportunity to join in St Luke’s 60s plus group as a staff member and in this I began to feel a sense of much needed purpose and belonging I worked extremely hard on myself learning to manage my trust issues and beginning to appreciate myself and a positive impact I could have on
Others church and the supportive Christian and my supportive Christian family have been the main catalysts for my for transformation in my life so I felt it was time to see what this God was really about so I took a Gamble and attended an alpha course and to my
Surprise it helped me to uproot the resentment and skepticism I had to God and the innate intense uh nihilism I had felt about life planting seeds of goodness and hope in their wake at one point I had a close encounter with God he came to me as a
Fox walking around me in circles not two feet away while repeatedly making eye contact with me and showing no fear whatsoever at that moment I had a clear word from God saying David if this skittish creature terrified of all humans can trust you why can’t you trust
Yourself this experience would go on to have a profound impact on me and so a week later I attended a Firefall service here at St Luke’s and tentatively asked a prayer and over there by that pillar on the 19th of November 2023 approximately 8:30 P p.m. I finally
Learned how to let go I opened my doors and invited God into my life in a proclamation of faith and in an instant became a remade man God and his church of wonderful people have helped me feel trusted understood safe and valued slowly I began to build my confidence and
Self-worth and learned how to reciprocate the goodness I had received towards the people within that space and then further into wider Society two weeks ago miraculously I I secured my first job in over a decade and it truly feels my like my life is turning around and everything is finally falling
Into place I Feel Complete and sturdy and my mental illnesses are becoming a smaller issue by the day as I’m filling my life with light I’ve come to realize that what I went through was not God’s plan but through that and through me God can and
Will do amazing things and and for the first time I’m excited to see where that journey and God’s real plan will take me only through God I have found I found the ways to the way to forgive myself for my past wrongs and to avoid being
Buried by the regret of all the time I lost a few years ago I was a mess not at all the man you see before you but with many years of hard work faith and help from God who never really left my side I’m still here here and ready to put be
Put to his work I wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t pushed hard against myself against society and against the expectations of masculinity but above all without Learning to Lean Into to God I would have always remained lost in him lost in him clearly anything is possible
All his promises are yes and amen thank you [Applause] God is good and he never leaves and he never forsakes and um wherever you are on your journey of faith whether you’re in the building or watching online May David’s testimony be a reminder that no matter
What kind of valley of darkness we may go through God Is With Us in the valley as well as in the mountains and whether we’re we find ourselves going up and down in the valley in our different times through our battles God is still with us the promise
In scripture is that he will never leave us us he will never forsake us and may today be a reminder to all of us that that is the truth in God’s word and the reality for all whom the Lord would call and the Lord calls us all and
David’s responded to that call and so all glory be to Jesus for all that he has done and all that he’s going to do because there’s more so um we’ve got a couple of words that we’re going to use is um because this is really significant
Not just for David but also for us as a church because we’re also going to make some declarations as a whole church to not not only help David grow in his faith in Jesus Christ but also help others to come to Faith and for others to grow in their faith and this is
Something that we do as the whole worshiping community so David I’m going to ask you these questions and um unlike a marriage you’re going to say say I do not we do okay so David do you declare now your decision to turn from your old life and
Follow Jesus I do great will you obey his teaching and follow his commands with God’s help I will rejecting all evil will you live a life that demonstrates to others the grace and love of God and so help them in their paths towards a deeper relationship with
God god with God’s help I will wonderful great and Anton if we can have the first slide up and congregation I would love it if with a resounding um noise you would say the words in yellow but not the top yellow line because that would be
Daft will you St Luke’s as followers of Jesus those of you watching online as well use your gifts and abilities to guide encourage and strengthen those who are being baptized today God will Fab and we’re going to make some Declarations of Faith together with David people of God I ask you to join
With David being baptized to declare together our faith in Jesus Christ do you believe and trust in God the Father source of all being and life the one for whom we exist do you believe and trust in God the son who took our human nature died for us and rose
Again and 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 great just so you know the Vicor believes that as well let’s 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 David let’s go down to the pool cuz I’m going to sign you with the cross of Jesus come and stand with me here just there great David Christ claims you for his own receive the sign of the cross do not be
Ashamed of Christ you are his forever we say Together in a minute we will stay together there we go do not be ashamed of Christ you are his forever stand bravely with him against all the powers of evil and remain faithful to Christ to the end of your life may almighty God Del deliver you from the powers of
Darkness and Lead You In The Light and Obedience of Jesus Christ amen amen now David before you get all wet we want to give you something two things firstly the Bible because it’s God’s word it’s the best gift we can ever give anyone in this church here is instruction for life and
For Ministry and God’s purposes and God’s plans for you and for us as a worshiping community and here’s a little candle we do this because we want to remind everyone who’s baptized everyone who’s a follower of Jesus that we are the light of Jesus Christ in a dark dark
World and you are the light of Jesus Christ because you have his light in you the other thing we is in there is a certificate because everybody loves a certificate why would you not have a certificate cycling proficiency I don’t know first aid so there’s a certificate
How good is that three things all in one so why don’t you give them to your dad there and then we’re going to jump jump in the pool I’m just going to pray over the water we praise you are you all right there oh the step keeps coming down I
Why don’t I put my foot on it you’re right there can you keep your foot on that is that all right can I pray over the water yeah great let’s do that we praise you loving father for the gift of your son Jesus he was baptized in the River
Jordan where your spirit Came Upon him and revealed him as the son you love he sent his follow followers to baptize all who turn to him now father we ask you to bless this water that those who are baptized in it may be cleansed in the Water of Life filled with your spirit
And that they may know that they are loved as your children safe in Christ forever amen D let’s do DAV we celebrate your baptism in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy [Applause] Spirit I got quite wet then as well yeah it’s
All right faithful and loving God bless David who’s been baptized today and Grant him your gifts of Love wisdom and Faith pour upon him your healing and reconciling love and protect him from all evil may God in his extravagant Grace fill you even more with his holy
Spirit that his kingdom May grow through Jesus Christ Our Lord there is one Lord One Faith one baptism David by one Spirit you are baptized into the one body we welcome you into the fellowship of Faith we’re Children of the same Heavenly Father we welcome you okay we’re going to continue um in
Thankfulness to God in praise and worship fing the band are going to lead us so why don’t we stand if we’re able let’s raise the roof in worship to God sing the greatest day greatest day in history death is beaten you have rescued me sing it out Jesus is Aive Liv across the empty grave life eternal you have won the day Shout It Out Jesus is alive he’s alive and oh happy day happy day you wash my sin away oh happy day happy day I’ll never be the same forever I am Changed when I stand in that place real last meeting face to face I am yours Jesus you are M and this joy and perfect peace Earthly pain finally will seee celebrate Jesus is alive he’s alive and oh happy day happy day you wash my sin away oh happy day happy day
I’ll never be the same oh happy day happy day you wash my sin away oh happy day happy day I’ll never be the same ever I am changed and oh what a glorious day what a glorious way that you have saved me and oh what a glorious day what a glorious name Yeah and oh happy day happy day you wash my sin away oh happy day happy day I’ll never be the same oh happy day happy day you wash my sin away oh happy day happy day I’ll never be the same forever I am [Applause] Changed continue to declare our faith our certainty my hope my hope is bent on nothing less then Jesus blood and righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest PR but holy trust in Jesus sing again my hope my hope is buil on nothing then Jesus blood and rightous I can not trust the
Sweetest holy trust in Jesus the Lord strong we made strong in the love Pro us he is Of when darkness when darkness SE to hide his face I rest on his unchanging gra in every high and stormy G by Anchor Holds within the ve by anchor I Anchor Holds within the ve oh Christ Alone call St weak made strong in the sest love through the storm he is Lord
Lord he is Lord he is Lord of all christone call us St weak make strong in the sa love through the St he is Lord Lord of When he shall come with Trumpet oh may I Dr in his rightousness alone hold the stand before let’s sing again when he shall come when he shall come with trumpet sound oh may I then in him found TR in his rightousness alone stand before we declare Christ Alone Christ Alone Us is for let’s sing one more time Christ Alone Christ the call us we may strong The through the is Lord of we’re going to continue to Worship in here but we want to bless all the children and young people as they go out so if you can see one anywhere near you could you stretch out a hand to pray for them hold fire kids hold
Fire Jesus we thank you for the gift of children and young people we pray Lord that you would work in their lives we pray that they would know the extravagant love of God for them we pray that they’d have an absolute blast in the praise party the
Younger ones we pray for our youth that they would grow in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ so Lord bless them them bless the leaders and Jesus for the adults in here may we continue to grow as followers of Jesus sharing the love of God with a hurting and broken
World so kids off you go have fun yeah and we’re going to continue to Worship in here as we’ve celebrated all that God is and all that he’s done we recognize that ultimate act that Pinnacle of history in the cross uh in the death and the resurrection of
Jesus father we come so so thankful so grateful for new life for each and every one of us in you no matter what we’ve come from no matter how deep the pit from which you had to lift us the blood of Jesus covers all and so Lord we we love
You we love you Lord sing it was my cross it was my my cross you bore so I could live in the freedom you di for and now my life is yours I will sing of your goodness forever more Worthy is your name Jesus you deserve the praise worthy is your name Worthy is your name Jesus you deserve the praise worthy is your sing again verse one it was my cross It was my cross you born so I could live in the freedom you died for and now my life is yours and I will sing of your goodness forever more Worthy is your name Jesus you deserve the praise worthy is your name Worthy is your name Jesus you deserve the praise worthy is Your Verse Two and now by shame is gone stand in your love Undeniable Your Grace goes on and on and I will s of your goodness forever more Worthy is your name Jesus you deserve the praise worthy is your name Worthy is your name Jesus you deserve the praise worthy is your name so worthy is your name Jesus you deserve the praise worthy is your
Name Worthy is your name Jesus you deserve the praise worthy is your name Be exalted be exalted now in the heavens as your glory fills this place you alone deserve Our Praise he the name above all names be exalted now in the heavens as your glory fills this place you alone deserve Our Praise You the name above all names be exalted now in the heavens
As your glory fills this place you alone deserve Our Praise you’re the name above all Nam Worthy is your name Worthy is your name Jesus you deserve the praise worthy is your name Worthy is your name Jesus you deserve the praise worthy is your name oh Worthy is your name Jesus you deserve the praise worthy is your name Worthy is your name Jesus you deserve PR Worthy is Your you may be here this morning or watching online and you’re asking questions these words from the song book of Israel Psalm 139 REM remind us that we can never move away from God or or he’s never not near 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 becomes night around me even the darkness will not be dark to you the night will shine like the day for darkness is as light to you you David who wrote that song he moved away from God he distanced
Himself from God there were dark moments in his life and yet he was able to write this song recognizing that even though he may have run away he may have distanced himself from God but actually even in the distance God was there even in the dark place God
Was there and he is at work in the most surprising of places and so this morning in the building and online we’ve heard in a testimony from a personal story and we’ve heard from the word of God that there’s nowhere we can go where God
Isn’t and so Lord I pray for each and every one of us this morning we would know that truth if you’re here this morning you feel feel distant from God he’s there if you’re here this morning you are in a dark place he’s there if you’re confused and you have no
Idea where you’re going he is with you and Lord Jesus I pray that we wouldn’t only know that truth but we would live our lives in the light of that truth and All For Your Glory we’re going to continue to pray and Andrew is kind of going to lead us
In a short time of prayer so I invite you to sit or Kneel To Pray as we come before our perfect heavenly father who knows us intimately in all of our circumstances is in life it’s a large building and it’s the middle of the night everywhere is quiet everyone is asleep except one
Person a small boy he was asleep earlier but now he’s awake because he’d heard someone speaking naming him and he didn’t know who it was but he’s received instructions from his mentor the old priest and he knows what to say the next time he hears that voice and then the voice does come
Samuel Samuel and he says Speak Lord for your servant is listening Speak Lord for your servant is listening these are the same words that we too should echo in our hearts and on our lips even during a time of prayer like this when perhaps we’re more inclined to say
Listen Lord for your servant is speaking it’s not about us it’s about you Lord we pray that you would lay on our hearts the people and the situations that are on your heart that you want to bless we begin with the youngest members of our church family be with our children and our
Young people we pray as they’re meeting with you this morning in a time of praise and prayer may they all in their own individual way hear you speaking to them as you spoke to the young Samuel and may they respond in the same way with those simple sincere
Words and of course Lord we pray that they will grow like Samuel into men and women of God people who will follow you with courage and faith and be used by you throughout their lives to bring others to you and we pray the same thing for David
Who’s been baptized this morning and all those who’ve been baptized in our other recent baptism occasions we’ve seen his and their courage in standing up before us all and speaking about their life and their growing faith and then making that wonderful visual statement of going into and out of the water drenched in
Forgiveness and surrounded in New Life fill David fill them with your Holy Spirit and lead them on in your power For Your Glory sake amen and Lord we want your glory to shine in the world and we can only pray for those areas and situations that must grieve you the
Most we pray for the complexities of life in the Middle East the conflict in Gaza and the large number of Palestinian casualties the Israeli hostages and the attempts to broker a deal concerning their safe release and the spread of violence in the Red Sea and Yemen areas and the military response over the
Last few days including today by the US and the UK Heavenly Father you spoke peace into the storm on the lake and the waves subsided we pray that you will speak peace into the hearts and minds of those who are encouraging war and conflict on the one
Hand and peace to those who are actively working for honorable Solutions on the other for we ask this in your holy name amen amen we pray for the people of Northern Ireland this morning as the power sharing assembly at Stormont is finally reconvened Heavenly Father we know that
Daily life for people in Northern Ireland has suffered because of a lack of a working government in the province for the last two years and good government is something that you ordained for your creation and you commanded us to pray for our leaders and so we commit this new
Government to you and pray that the first Minister and the deputy first Minister will be United with each other and in seeking to bring further peace and prosperity to Northern Ireland and will lead an assembly that has the skills and confidence to put the well-being of the province and its citizens at the
Forefront at all times bless this major step forward we pray in Jesus name amen we pray for our royal family and their health issues that have Arisen recently Lord we pray for King Charles and the Princess of Wales as they recover from their operations bring healing to their bodies
And refreshment to their hearts and Minds as they step back from their many public duties for a time and in this enforced confinement may they be open to feeling the touch of your Healing Hand in their lives and may their hearts be touched by your spirit for we ask this in jesus’ name
Amen and finally we pray the same thing for for those known to us who are at a low E at present whether through illness or bereavement difficult family situations or problems at or with work let’s name them now before our heavenly father remembering these wonderful words his compassions never
Fail they are new every morning great is your faithfulness thank you Lord for speaking to us your servants are listening and we will finish with the Lord’s prayer 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 thank you Andrew um just say again welcome if you’ve just tuned in online
Um you’ve missed a great service so far so go rewind and and watch um watch from the very beginning it’s been so so great and we have a whole lot of people who who do watch online had the privilege um this week of meeting meeting Brenda who
Lives in Soul Street in um Medway is that right is that where Soul street is in Medway um and um so Brenda if you’re tuning in um thank thank you for tuning in she’s 97 and um and uh she’s not able to go to her local Parish church but she Tunes in
Um she’s Robin’s Grandma so that’s nice isn’t it and uh and I know Louise and Lorraine and Brenda are also tuned in because you’re on the chat so thanks for tuning in on online um just one other thing to to mention before Holly Holly
Comes up to take us on in our one Peter series and that is that um we’ve been moving quite rapidly um helping um converting St Luke’s house the ground and first floor into spaces for children’s ministry on on Sunday and for Community use during during the week and
Midweek um and also the the um the first floor to be office space for the for the team um and and and we’re getting to the place where we need to move some fiture into the actual um office space so just say if anyone is free Friday morning or
Saturday morning this week could you come and grab me or marinas um Friday morning um marinas you could just turn around and say hi um we’re trying to just get some some large heavy office desks up um into the first floor so if you are free Friday
Morning just for probably two hours and Saturday morning that would really help out if you’re available and free Holly come and open up to us from one Peter if you’ve got a Bible um open it up turn it on there are some Bibles here at the front feel free to come and grab
One let’s pray for Holly and let’s pray for us as we continue in this great letter of Peter Jesus thank you for Holly thank you that um she’s studied your word and she’s bringing to us that which she believes you’re speaking to us for this moment for this day by the
Power of your spirit so Lord open our ears we pray help us to hear what you want to say to us this morning corporately and individually and so anoint Holy by your spirit in Jesus name we pray amen thank you that sounded a lot like another announcement that Gareth just
Made did did anyone think that was an announcement yeah he did Squeeze another one in um well firstly I’m going to read our Bible passage um so you can open up your Bibles at one Peter chapter 3: 8 to6 and it’s also going to be uh on the screen but it says
Finally all of you have Unity of Mind sympathy brotherly love a tender heart and a humble mind do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling but on the contrary bless for to this you were called that you may obtain a blessing whoever desires to love life
And see good days let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit let him turn away from Evil and do good let him seek peace and pursue it for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their
Prayer but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good but even if you should suffer for righteousness sake you will be blessed have no fear of them nor be troubled but in your hearts honor Christ
The lord as holy and always be prepared to make it offense to anyone who asks for the reason for your hope that is in you yet do it with gentleness and respect having a good conscience so that when you are slandered those who rile your good behavior in Christ may be put to
Shame this is the word of the Lord so if any passage starts with finally then we know it’s really important to read Around The Passage this is good practice any anyway before diving into a passage but especially if it says finally so we’ll have a recap on where
We’ve been so far in one Peter then we’re going to explore this new way of living United blessing and not bruising and then finally we’ll think about giving our answer that’s something that I’m going to leave you to ponder more in the week ahead so I’m not going to give you
All the the answers so firstly in our first week Gareth told us about the dimensions of faith and to illustrate this he brought a fantastic doll’s house if anyone remembers that um and and the little dog that came with it and he helped us to think about the dimensions of our
Faith um many letters to the early church start with something like this um the dimension setting out what Jesus has done who he is and who you are to him Jesus Is God part of the Trinity Father Son and Holy Spirit through whom Everything Seen and unseen was created is created and is
Sustained Jesus’s death on the cross and then Resurrection into New Life life gives a way for us to be United with our creator a Living Hope a connection hope for now and hope for the future baptism is a symbol of that new Living Hope as the passage from Peter
Goes on to say if you read on in Peter in verses 21 to 22 it talks about baptism when David was sub emerged in the water it reminds us of Jesus’s death fully human Jesus really died he really died and he came back to life and not a
Restarting of the heart a reinflation of the lungs but a new life and at some point each of us will die and that Resurrection being raised up out of the water water reminds us that like Jesus we will have new life I loved that image that I think
Phil gave us and Andrew gave us about being dripping wet as David came up out of the water dripping wet symbolized that we are covered by Jesus’s love and righteousness as water removes dirt from our bodies the water of baptism symbolizes the Slate wiped clean there is nothing that
Separates us from the love of God the holy spirit is often referred to as living water a spring that Wells up within us flowing to the world around us a few weeks ago Nat reminded us that we are temp temples of the Holy Spirit God
Resides in us when we when we become a Christian or but come back to God and this morning we prayed that David would be filled with that Holy Spirit that his that the Lord’s Kingdom May grow how might you ask would God’s kingdom grow by one person being filled
By the Holy Spirit I think the number of people here is testimony to how God’s kingdom grows through one person maybe one person told you about Jesus David’s blue baptism t-shirt that you might have seen said meet the new me as we’ve heard baptism is sharing with a community of Believers that God
Has been at work in the inner life and this calls us to a new way of living we live that out that’s the outer workings of this inner transformation so that’s our recap so going on to think about this new living way according to Peter he calls us to
Unity this is not the same as uniformity complete Unity that Jesus talks about for his disciples and all those that will believe in him in the future we can read in John 17: 20-23 he calls us to be bound together in love so that the world would
Believe I Think Jesus knew that this would be a challenge for us let alone people that don’t know him there had already been fights in the ranks amongst his disciples over money and position Jesus speaks this prayer and Peter would have been present and this was just prior to Jesus being
Arrested so Peter shows how that prayer has affected his inner life be United in love and this letter that we read shows that outw working Peter says to us at the start of his letter have sympathy Brotherly Love A Tender Heart humble mind do not repay evil for
Evil but on the contrary bless for to this you were called that you may obtain blessing if we trace the Journey of the early church then we might look at some of the writings of tatulian who was a theologian and Church Father ad. 160 to
225 we see how it works out one of his most famous quotes he comments on the early church is see how these Christians love one another there were also non-Christian Roman historians that recorded accounts of this coun cultural movement that was referred to as the
Way but we know that as we go through the ages I don’t think anyone would say that Christians get it right with loving each other well sadly but nonetheless that is our goal that is our calling and Peter even suggests that we will be blessed when we bless others
So I want to unpack just a little what blessing is in this complex world if we bless rather than bruise I believe people will wonder and in time ask why it’s true that this idea of repaying Injustice with injury does have some roots in the Old Testament we read in Exodus
21: 24- 25 eye for eye tooth for tooth hand for hand foot for foot burn for burn wound for wound bruise for bruise but Jesus ushers in this new way of living in the world by being the one to give his life for ours a life for a
Life as Mark tells us in his gospel 10:45 for even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many a dear friend of mine Michaela gave me this book this book here um it’s called Benedictus a book of
Blessings by John odonahue and it was a leaving present when we left woodhurst and as I Was preparing for today and thinking about what blessing means I happened to be reading this book when I got a message from her and she blessed me with some encouragement thank you for that
Michaela and there’s a quote in this book that I really like that sums up what blessing is what it means to be a people of blessing it says to be in the world is to be distant from the homeland of holess we are confined by limitations and
Difficulty when we bless we are enabled somehow to go beyond our present Frontiers reach into this source a blessing awakens future wholeness in this complex world we can feel too vulnerable too insecure to reach beyond our present Frontier we look around us and there’s trouble there’s war and disaster there’s plenty to worry
About this is a false narrative though and in the world according to author James Brian Smith in his book I’m not selling these I’m just showing you the good and beautiful life he said the false narrative is hit back harder the quickest way to deal with insecurity is to gain power feeling weak
Go to the gym build muscle feeling financially vulnerable build wealth feeling unfairly treated by others fight back he says it might seem to work for a while maybe you knock out the bully in the playground and they leave you alone but it doesn’t bring about lasting change it just continues the cycle of
Insecurity violence and spiritual poverty followers of Jesus in this complex world you are called to bless I wonder what that looks like for you perhaps it means choosing to look for the good in all people and calling that into being with our encouragement and kindness maybe you think they don’t deserve your
Kindness but you are called to bless perhaps it means walking away from a fist fite when your hands are burning with anger ready to Wallop but you are called to bless perhaps it means getting involved pursuing peace close to home in broken relationship ship and further a field in distant
Lands the hope of Christ’s reconciling love you are called to bless we stand on the threshold of being and becoming connected to God by his holy spirit to the homeland of holess a way that we can bless is through listening well to people and for those that have been
Coming to pastoral training these past few weeks we’ve been practicing those skills so if you’re chatting to someone at coffee time and it sounds like maybe they’re testing out some reflective listening on you not being a parrot but just reflecting back what they’ve heard you say then consider yourself blessed
They’re taking seriously that intention to listen well and to bless you and on Wednesday morning last week a few of us gathered not a few rather many of us gathered to think about how we can be a church of blessing for those who are bereaved we have the hope of
Jesus and we need to bless there are key moments in people’s lives like bement when they’re looking for hope hope for a hope that is higher than what they can find in themselves or in the surroundings I was listening to BBC Radio 4 a few weeks ago it was a Friday
Morning I was taking the boys to school in tumri TS uh we had the radio on and they said we’ve got thought for the day coming on and we’ve got a rabbi who’s going to tell us something about hope so I said shut up sh up boys I didn’t say
Shut up I don’t say that often said listen up just Turn up the radio there’s a rabbi going to tell us give us a thought for the day about Hope and I had great anticipation thought you there’s people on their way to work babies being born every day people
Dying every day this man of God from another Faith but a man of God what is he going to say to speak into this world this complex world of hopelessness so he waited eagerly to see what was he going to say to my disappointment he said hope is
Not found in God I thought what surely he’s going to say well it is but in my God but no he said hope is not found in God I couldn’t believe believe that and the boys did listen and they said oh yeah that’s that’s strange he said hope
Is found in people in unity in working together and that is true we can find Hope in one another I have great hope because of David’s testimony today many people have given me great hope by sharing Jesus with me but ultimately we know people and systems will let us down and the
Only solid hope is found in God our confidence in this complex World rests on the faithful Promises of God and so we return to our opening framework who God is and who we are to him our passage in Peter is expecting that our calling to bless will cause others to ask
Why and we need to have a better answer than the rabbi and not to win people to our faith it’s come with us let’s let’s build followers let’s have a competition who can get the most followers but because that’s not hope we need to have a better answer so
You might want to think about what would you say where does your Hope come from the talking Jesus research reveals that if someone wants to know about God then they won’t go directly to a religious leader they’re much more likely to ask a friend or an acquaintance someone that
Has shown them a glimmer of that hope and we thought about that a few months ago in our front line series maybe it’s time to do a spiritual health check after that series if you were part of that are you being a blessing on your front line
Still what would you say to someone what is the hope within you many people have a concept of God or a higher power but Jesus not sure about him this human God hybrid forgive me Lord that’s not what you are we need to help people understand who Jesus is that’s what the alpha
Course seeks to do as as David shared world famous Evangelist Billy Graham said that his goal was to introduce people to Jesus life groups that meet throughout the week that’s the place where we grapple with what does this hope mean to us and we learn how to bless practice on
Each other but for real not just practice we’re called to call forth that likeness of Christ in one another so what would you say that’s something to think about this week what would you say to someone looking for Hope Peter tells us whatever we say do so with gentleness and
Respect we each have our own story to tell and I have been so blessed hearing David’s testimony this morning I thought we can just stop the service there and Worship the Lord what else can we say each of us have a story though but the framework of that story is the
Same Jesus came with an intention to live a blessed life holy and fully pleasing to God a life of giving away blessing giving away his life a life for a life and that was before we even looked his way before we even acknowledged who he
Was so that we could have this hope a connection with our creator a hope built on a solid foundation God will never leave us or forsake us I’m just going to read that EX extract from the book again about what blessing is and I wonder if I
Do that you might just let those words ReSound in your head to be in the world is to be distant from the homeland of wholeness we are confined by limitations and difficulty when we bless we are enabled somehow to go beyond our present Frontiers and to reach into this Source
A blessing awakens future wholeness I wonder if you would stand if you’re able if it’s comfortable and I wonder if you would just place your hand on the person next to you so that everybody is in contact with everybody else if you’re really infectious today then obviously don’t do that
Maybe you’re in the foyer brothers and sisters you are united bound together in love you are called to bless you stand on the threshold between being and becoming maybe you feel that you’re on this threshold this morning that you want to trust in Jesus who he is and who he says you
Are loved a life for a life I invite you to open up yourself to him and let him come into your heart maybe you stand on the threshold of being and becoming as you choose to bless rather than bruise brothers and sisters in this complex World be confident that our hope is in
God and his faithfulness as we Embrace this new way of living how can you help break the cycles of insecurity of violence and of spiritual poverty you can do it by sharing the hope that you have have in Jesus Amen please do take a seat and let’s continue to ponder those questions as We Worship the Lord i’ love it if the band could come up for us I wonder what has stood out to you this morning where is your threshold Who’s Who is are you trying to grow
Into where is your confidence what is your hope if you’d like to pray about those things with someone come and have Prayer Ministry on this side or maybe ask the person you’re with please just pray a blessing on me let’s continue to worship and open ourselves up to the Lord
We just wait for a few band members maybe you want to bring your family back after youth or after the praise party and ask for blessing on your family during Prayer Ministry time let’s wait on the Lord let’s stand if we’re able Lord we welcome you aresh again in this place say Come
Holy Spirit I want to encourage you if you’re here this morning and um you know you would value prayer then in a moment I want to invite you to come to the Front if you’re sick or unwell we’d love to pray for healing I might be wrong but I think there’s someone here this morning um or it might be online but you’ve been experiencing this week really um heavy migraines you’ve been experiencing really heavy migraines we’d love to pray for You I don’t know if this this is for someone um today but I I don’t know if someone’s pulled their shoulder out or really damaged their shoulder this week want to pray for that pray for God’s healing in That and also if you’re here this morning and the place that you’re in is that dark place or that that Valley We’ve heard this morning in a number of different ways for the hope that we can have in Christ Jesus I want to invite you as well to come and let us pray for you prayer is that beautiful thing where the Community of Faith can gather around and intercede and invite God’s holy
Spirit to come and to for God’s spirit to release healing and hold Ness we’ve heard a lot this morning about blessing being about future wholeness well that happens increasingly as we allow the Holy Spirit to come in so some of the prayer team could come here to the front right now that would
Be great if you’re here this morning you’d like prayer why don’t you come to the front now some of the team would um would love to pray for you as we worship we going to sing one more song and then um no doubt the children will be very
Very excited having come out of their praise party um if you’re here this morning you’re sick R well any of those words of knowledge um going to ring true for you then just come um as we worship we’d love to pray for You Worthy of every song could ever sing worthy of all the praise could ever bring worthy of every breath we could ever we live for You Jesus the name above every Jesus the only one who could ever worthy of every breath we could ever live for You holy there is no one like you there is none beside you open up my eyes in Wonder show me who you are and fill me with your heart and Lead Me In Your Love To those are Worthy worthy of every song we could ever sing worthy of all the praise we could ever PR worthy of every breath we could ever bre live for You Jesus the name above every other name Jesus the only one who could ever save worthy of every breath we could ever live for you we live for you holy there is no one like you there is none beside you open up my eyes in Wonder show
Me who you are and fill me with your heart and Lead Me In Your Love to those around Me and I will build my life upon your love it is a foundation I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be Shen I will build my light upon your love it is a firm foundation I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be Shen
Holy there is no one like you there there is none beside you open up my eyes in Wonder show me who you are and fill me with your heart and Lead Me In Your Love to those around Me Jesus we want to thank you for your goodness that we’ve heard today want to thank you for the hope that we have in you and Lord Jesus we pray that we would take that hope to bring light in the darkness to bring hope to hopeless situations to see The Impossible become
Possible by the power of God that we would be Bringers of Hope and healing to a hurting and broken World we’re blessed Church to be a blessing so may the blessing of God the Father God the son and God the Holy Spirit be upon each and every one of us
Now and forever more that we would be a blessing and all for the glory and for the name of Jesus Christ amen amen we’re going to worship band will continue to worship don’t forget we’ve got our Sunday evening service tonight 6:00 here um slightly smaller Gathering
But do come along if you can the live the talk and the worship isn’t live streamed um so do come along in person if you can um and if you’re able to help on Friday morning or Saturday morning for a couple of hours moving some desk furniture that would be really really
Great go God bless you as you go thank you those that have tuned in online God bless you also and if we’ve got little ones if we could go and pick them up and then there’s tea and coffee and refreshments at the back yes I will build my life upon your
Love it is a firm foundation I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be Shen I will build my life upon your love it is a from Foundation I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be Shen
Holy there is no one like you there is none beside you open up my eyes in Wonder show me who you are and fill me with with your heart and be me in your love to those around Me For I thought I e