Clackmannan Parish Church of Scotland

Worship Sunday 9th August 2020

Series:

Go, explore!

Week 3 of 10: A promise of things to come…

Welcome Welcome… Come, each of you. Sit, rest a while, and draw close to God who already inhabits the space you are in right now. Welcome… Look up, away from the things that have filled your thoughts, and discover the wonder of God’s thoughts about you. Welcome… If you are weary, burdened, full of joy or full of hope, There is room at the feet of our Lord, just for you. So, come. Sit down, lie down. Look on in awe. Chat, laugh, cry. Listen. Just, come. Know you are welcome, and know you are loved. Be you. Be still. Know God.

Let’s pray. God of the stillness and the hustle and bustle of daily life, We come to this moment wanting to be still and know You are God. We come to this moment aware that we gather with many others who are not physically in this very space, yet trusting that we are part of the Body of Christ whose very reason for being is found in Christ, and whose praise rises to you like a sweet aroma. We praise you Lord God, Maker of heaven and earth, Giver of life and hope, Keeper of Promises. We praise you! We praise you! We praise you! Let our voices speak of you with joy! Let our lives speak of you with honour! Let our hearts and minds seek you above all else! For you are God! Yet, here we are, In homes and places that have become our ‘sanctuaries’ over these past months. In situations where we are depending on you, Holy Spirit, to lead us into the place of deep and pure worship that we long to offer and to experience. So, right now, help us to let go of all that distracts us... help us to turn or hearts and minds even more intentionally toward God… help us to confess our sin and to take time in silence, so we can listen to you … Loving God, forgive me for… Holy Spirit, please speak to me about my life and how I might live closer to Jesus… Gracious merciful God, You have promised to blot out our transgressions and remember our sin no more. You have promised to forgive us because of all that Jesus has done on and through the Cross.

Thank you, God. Help me now to fully accept the forgiveness you offer, and to turn away from all that leads me to sin. Help each of us gathered in worship to live for the glory of Jesus, In whose name we pray, as we say: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen From God’s Word … As we turn to God’s word please pick up your own copy of the Bible to read from. It is essential for us to become familiar with God’s Word and reading from your own copy of the Bible helps a little with that process. We start to be able to find our way around a bit more easily. We become familiar with its layout, and the language and style of the passages we read. This all helps us to notice things, both in our own familiar copy and in any other translation we might use from time to time. As always, I have included the passage here, but remember – I would be delighted to give you a personal copy of the Bible if you do not already have one of your own. Having God’s Word in our hands and available to us at any time is a real joy! Now, let’s read together from Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 3 to 10. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – 6 to the

praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfilment – to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. (Ephesians 1:3-10 NIVUK translation)

Reflection: Were you one of those people that used lockdown to learn a new skill or do a fairly big job that has been needing done for a long time? Yes? Well done! It is good that you have been able to do something so positive, despite the dreadful circumstances. I know from several members of our church family that gardens have had more attention, long forgotten treasures have been found in the ‘Big National Clear-out’, and partly completed hobby projects have been pick up once more and are now complete at last. Many folks have found that they just could not find time to do those sorts of things though. Work carried on for many people, family caring duties did not let up – in fact, they may well have intensified – and often essential tasks, such as food shopping, took much more time and planning than usual. For some, there was little time for enjoying new or forgotten hobbies and promises to ourselves that we would find some time to slow down and relax have proved to be little more than wishful thinking. For each person commenting to me about how they have used the time in ways they found helpful, there has been someone else who has commented about how much they wanted to do but could not. In an unexpected way those sorts of comments have made me think about other promises we might make. At some point in our lives many of us will have had personal experience of making a promise. Perhaps we were in one of the uniformed organisations as a child, or we made a promise or declaration in relation to our employment. It might have been a promise to our spouse on that precious day when we committed to each other in marriage. All of these are important promises that speak of our desire to be part of something that we valued. Not all of us will have made these sorts of promises but there will be examples we can all draw on, examples that remind us of significant moments and experiences in our own lives. For all of us who are part of God’s family there are other promises, too – the ones we made when we professed our faith in Jesus and were admitted to The Lord’s Supper. Remember those promises? The ones where we promised to worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ; to faithfully read God’s word and pray; to play our part in supporting the Church’s work in the world; and to live for Jesus? How are you doing with those? Sometimes we keep our promises for many, many years, but that does not mean it is always easy to keep them. Rather, we work hard at keeping them because we want to keep them. This is perhaps easiest to see in marriage. Each anniversary brings joy and thankfulness for the promises exchanged on your wedding day, partly because you and your spouse have

both invested so much in your marriage. You are aware that the passing years have given you both opportunities to actually put your wedding day promises into action. It is the same with being part of the church family. You have loved being part of the church – but perhaps for a time you found work commitments made it impossible to attend worship every Sunday morning. That meant you had to work hard to find ways of still being able to worship with others and play your part in the life and work of the church. Or, perhaps you were going through a really tough time, and remembering you had promised to walk in Jesus’ ways all the days of your life made a difference to how you dealt with the challenges. Whatever the case is for each of us, there is something really important that we need to remember. God’s promises are different those are to the promises we make. Let me emphasise that - God’s promises are different to the promises we make. And that matters, especially when we are thinking about what we might call the ‘big’ questions in life. Who is God? Why did Jesus have to die on a cross? Did God really make Jesus ‘come alive’ again? Why does God allow suffering? How can God love someone like me? Those sorts. Big ones. Ones that are often hard to face. In our current series we are thinking about that big, panoramic view of God and God’s plan that the Bible reveals to us. We began by looking at how God created life and set out the best ways for living – and how those first people knew the very real blessing of living in such close relationship with God. We then moved on to recognising that this ideal and perfect way of life – with God at the centre, and all else in its God-appointed order – was spoiled by sin when Adam and Eve made a deliberate choice to disobey God. God’s judgement on their sin meant that human beings were no longer able to live in that perfect, ideal environment. Instead, each new day brings them – and us – face to face with the reality of evil and the consequences of sin. Death is now a part of life that we cannot escape. But, as we look at God’s Word, we find hope, for we discover that all along God’s plan has been that He would not only create the world and all of creation, but that He would redeem it and make it ‘right’ once again, by re-establishing His kingdom through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God knew from eternity that this was the way He would deal with the effects of the fall. This was the way He would bring hope and life to human beings as humanity struggles through the ages when evil seems so often to have the upper hand in dictating human experience since the fall. Pain, suffering and death are all very real, and all of these effects of sin and evil have the possibility of driving people away from God as they ask why God does not ‘do something’ to address evil and as they seek answers to their own ‘big’ questions. But when we recognise the big, panoramic overview that we can find in the Bible, we begin to recognise that God’s plan is in place and that it is being actively implemented by God. I love the way one modern theologian, Michael Lloyd, puts it:

“God does not determine events, and often He detests them, but His purposes will not be thwarted by them, and He is committed to bringing good out of them.” This is a clear and helpful reminder that, whilst evil will always be evil (intended for the destruction of good and the frustration of God’s will), in God’s providence it loses all power to achieve its ends. It simply will not succeed in destroying good and separating God and His people for eternity. God’s absolute sovereignty over all things ensures with absolute perfection that evil, which causes so much real pain and suffering in this world and our lives, will have no place whatsoever in the new creation that He will bring to fruition, as He has promised. If we wonder about that, or doubt it, we only need to look at that big, panoramic view in God’s Word. After the judgement of sin in Eden, there was also grace – God met the needs of Adam and Eve. He went looking for them in the garden because He still loved them. He clothed them to cover their shame and give them dignity. He gave them a purpose for carrying on. As human beings grew in number and lived in sinful ways, God exercised His judgement and His grace again and again. Think of the mark placed on Cain that would keep him under God’s protection despite his evil act of murder. Or the covenant God made with Noah, after He had destroyed all living things on earth except this one man (and his family) who had found favour in Gods’ eyes. Never again would God send such a flood over all of the earth. Later, God promised Abram that He will make His people into a great nation and bless them so that, through them, all peoples on earth will be blessed. What must have gone through Abram’s mind as God led him outside, asked him to look into the night sky and count the stars? At that moment Abram, a very old man, may well have struggled to believe God’s promise about having ‘an heir of his own flesh’ and being part of a nation that will bless others. But God did not fail to bring into being all that He had promised. That big, panoramic view we discover as we explore God’s Word makes clear that God’s promises are much more than words uttered with a sort of ‘hope’ that they can be kept. God’s promises are binding. They are specific and definite. They are trustworthy in all circumstances. They are for us as much as they were for Adam and Eve, Cain, Noah, Abram, or any other person or people that received them. At the point when Jesus hung on the cross, facing death to achieve God’s will and fulfil that part of God’s plan, there could be no doubt that God is a God of promises that can be fully trusted and that will be brought to fruition in God’s way and in God’s timing. As Paul explains in our reading from Ephesians this was part of God’s plan and was determined by Him before the creation of the world. As we continue to explore the overarching story told in God’s Word those truths will become clearer and clearer as we make connections by reflecting on what we find. No promise of God will be left unfulfilled in God’s plan, and no plan of God’s is dependent on our approval of it or our engagement with it. We may well choose to deny or ignore God, or we may struggle to understand God’s ways, but we cannot influence the efficacy or outcome of God’s promises.

God will respect us, provide for us, and engage with us as He brings His plan and his Kingdom to fruition, but He will also work in and through us to confront and deal with all of our sinful ways, and He will ensure that evil intended to do harm does not have the last word. That belongs only to Him. And His ‘last word’ is really all we need to hear – Jesus Christ, Son and Saviour. In Jesus we see the entire plan, purpose, and promise of God. Thanks be to God! Please pray with me. Loving, gracious God, You have made your will and your plan known to us in Jesus. Thank you for your grace and mercy that goes hand in hand with your judgement of sin, and for your providence that ensures evil does not have the power to destroy your eternal kingdom. Bless us and build up our knowledge of you and your ways, so that we too might become a blessing to others, for we ask this in Jesus name and for His glory, Amen Our offerings…and our prayers Our money, time and talents are all good gifts to us from God. These things bless our lives in so many ways. The abundance of God’s provision and our intentionally sacrificial giving out of that means that we have opportunities for all of those gifts to be shared – and therefore bless the lives of others too! The little pink envelopes, the bags of pennies, the standing orders, the ‘clicks’ on the Church of Scotland website Donate button, the creative ways of serving and of loving – none of these are taken for granted, and all are wonderful ways of honouring God’s generosity towards us. Let’s ask God to bless and use all we give. God of generous, lavish provision, Bless and multiply all we give, use it all for your good purposes, and enable us to give with generous hearts. We offer money – and ask you to help us use it wisely for the work of the church. We offer gifts – and ask you to give us insight about how to use these to bless others. We offer time – and ask you to shape our use of it to reflect your priorities.

God of generous, lavish love, help us to love abundantly, so that the lives we live will speak clearly of you. Help us to notice the needs of others so that we might respond in ways that ensure they can have food and drink, shelter and warmth, safety and companionship, justice and hope, and all those things we might miss but you know they need. Gracious God, you are a good, good Father, and we trust you to meet the needs of your children. We pray particularly today for all who are in physical, spiritual, or emotional pain, and for all who are suffering because of mental ill-health. Lord God, you are the Great Physician, the One who can bring healing and renewal, and we trust you will do these things, as you see fit and in your own time, for those we lift up in prayer. We remember, too, all who bear the responsibility of caring for others, and we ask that you give each person strength, courage, patience and gentleness, so that they may do all that is needed for those in their care. Give wisdom to those who are entrusted with the task of leadership, in all spheres of life, but right now, as we still struggle with the effects and fear of COVID-19, we ask that you to enable those who are at the forefront of political decision-making around the world, to have a particular concern for the weak and vulnerable members of our global human family. As we think of that global human family, we lift up all those in Beirut who have suffered immense pain and devastation, following the explosion on Tuesday. God, bring comfort to those who have lost loved ones, and give hope to those whose desire is for things in their country to change radically. We remember also, our young people as they receive results, look to the future, a nd perhaps struggle with all that their results seem to have determined. Lord, where there is a need to appeal results let this process be open and fair.

Where there are shattered dreams, open up new paths. Where there is joy and excitement, let there be sensitivity to your will. And closer to home, we think of our own loved ones – family and friends – and we take time to pray for them now Lord, and to pray for ourselves too. As we pray, let us bring our concerns to you, but help us also to be still and to hear from you. Heavenly Father, today I pray … Loving God, Even as we remember your goodness to us we praise you and offer our thanks for the best gift – that of you Son, Jesus. Without His work on the cross we would be lost and without hope! So, as we celebrate life and new life through Him, we have confidence that you will hear and respond to our prayers. Give us the patience to wait on your answers, and the faith to trust you even when we struggle to hear you, for we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen. We are scattered among many homes right now. But we have gathered in spirit in our one true home – the presence of God. We have gathered our hearts together intentionally, and we have offered praise and thanksgiving. We have turned our hearts and minds towards God, and we have had moments of deep thought and reflection: moments where our hearts have been filled with joy or thankfulness or wonder or comfort; moments when we have been comforted, challenged or encouraged; moments when we have been able to simply be still before God. Now it is time to move on: knowing that as we move God will go before us and with us, behind us and around us; knowing that whatever our week brings we can live boldly because of God’s promises to us. Father – let your Kingdom come! The blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Be with you and those you love, Now and always, Amen

Remember that you are welcome to get in touch with me at any time, either just to chat and share concerns or good news, or to ask for help. Call me on 01259 211255 or 07824 505211, or if you prefer you can email me (RClark@churchofscotland.org.uk). If I am not available, please leave a message and I will contact you as soon as I can.