Lessons from David: Chosen by God

Outline of Service 9^th September 2018

Lessons from David:  Chosen by God – 1 Samuel 16:12

Hymn 100:  Walking With God

The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:2-4

Psalm 103:1, 17-22 – The Lord Ruleth Over All

Bible Readings:                                                

·     David is Chosen:  1 Samuel 16:1-13

·     God Chooses His People:  Exodus 14:8-16

·     Another Unsuspecting Choosing:  Acts 9:1-16

Hymn 64:  An Inward Choosing

·     God chose David without others even suspecting him to be fit for the job!

·     God chose Israel to be His people to show His power through human weakness

·     God chose Paul maybe because he had the right credentials, although the wrong understanding at the time

·     God draws His people to Himself, and we will not be content in this life until we are walking within God’s Will for our life

·     God has chosen some to be eye witnesses of Jesus Christ’s return to this Earth, and has placed this hope within their hearts

·     We must seek to follow God as He leads each one of us individually, and He will give us the position in His new Kingdom that He has prepared for us.

·     Hymn 90:  Called by God

Doxology

Winter: Ending and Renewal

Outline of Service 26^th August 2018

Winter:  Ending and Renewal – Song of Solomon 2:11

Hymn 102:  The Next Season

The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:2-4

Psalm 118:14-24  This is the Lord’s Doing

Bible Readings:                                                

·     Winter Replaced by Spring:  Song of Solomon 2:1-17

·     Deliverance from Trials:  Genesis 50:1-3, 14-22

·     A New Start:  Revelation 21:1-9, 22-27

Hymn 88:  New Clothing

·     We have seen in the Scriptures that Winter is a figure of the period of time when Satan is given permission by God to rule over the Earth and try to turn people from believing and following God

·     Solomon talks about the end of Winter, when God will give His power to overcome the evil and start to live a life of righteousness in obedience to Him

·     Strangely enough, the trials of this world help build and strengthen our faith in God

·     When Jesus Christ returns the Winter will be behind us: we can hope for that time when we will live eternally in God’s Kingdom

·     Let us hold the hope to be preserved alive in spirit and soul and body and enter the City where God and the Lamb are the light.

·     Hymn 71:  Sin Subdued for Eternity

Doxology

Winter: Power in God's Timing

Outline of Service 12^th August 2018

Winter:  Power in God’s Timing – Matt 24:20/Eccles 3:12

Hymn102:  The Day of Rest

The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:2-4

Psalm 46:  God is our refuge and strength

Bible Readings:                                                

·     God has a Best Time for Everything:  Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

·     Flee the evil of this World:  Matthew 24:1-22

·     A Godly Lifestyle:  2 Timothy 2:19-26

Hymn4:  God’s Timing

·     Solomon explained that there are times and seasons in our lives; sometimes we have to wait, sometimes we have to move, but we must look for God’s direction in all that we do

·     Jesus spoke about life under Satan’s rule, as being in the winter; He exhorts us to ask God to remove the evil from within us before Jesus Christ returns so that we can be changed and made like Him at His return

·     When Jesus Christ returns the Millennium, or the promised Sabbath Day, will commence; He exhorts us to flee the evil before that time so that we can fully enjoy the thousand years of rest with Him before entering into eternity

·     Timothy gives us some practical advice on the lifestyle that God wants us to follow, and we must ask God to give us POWER to flee the ways of the world

·     We don’t know when the winter will end, but, let us seek to God in prayer to prepare us in spirit and soul and body to be ready if it be that through His grace He chooses us to be one of those who will directly enter His Sabbath when Jesus Christ returns. 

Hymn 47:  Standing with the Saviour

Doxology

Winter: Plan and Prepare

Outline of Service 22^nd July 2018

Winter: Plan and Prepare – Acts 27:12

Hymn100:  Fed by God

The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:2-4

Psalm 61:  Praise the Lord as we wait                                                                                  

Bible Readings:                                                  

·     Remember Lot’s Wife – bad planning and no preparation!  Genesis 18:18-33, 19:15-17, 22-29

·     Doing What We Can:  Acts 27:1, 6-14, 18-25

·     Meanwhile, We Wait:  2 Timothy 1-5, 13-17

Hymn46:  God’s Plan for now and beyond

·     Lot living in the Sodom and Gomorrah is like us living in the evil World today; we can also liken this to living in the Winter, or the time ruled by Satan, when we need to seek diligently to find God’s Way

·     Paul knew that his ship should wait in the safe haven during winter, even though this put limitations on what could be done, but the limitations needed to be accepted until it was safe (or in accordance with God’s timing) to move

·     Living in this world (like winter) puts many restrictions on us with regards our relationship with God, but we need to rest in His Presence until He makes clear the next stage of His Plan for each of us

·     Whilst we are waiting for the winter to finish we must develop an awareness of God’s Plan and Purpose and prepare by trying to follow the lifestyle He has set out in the Scriptures

·     As we await the return of Jesus Christ, when He will “pull us out” of the winter (as the angels pulled Lot out of the City), we must remain in the safe haven without becoming over-comfortable in it, with a Plan to Prepare for God’s coming Kingdom.  

Hymn 15 – Tune 13:  Preparing God’s People

Doxology

Winter: Potential or False Security

Outline of Service 8^th July 2018

Winter: Potential or False Security – Jer 36:23-4

Hymn 117:  Learning from the Past

The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:2-4

Psalm 1:1-6:  Delight … in the Law of the Lord

                                                                                    

Bible Readings:                                                  

·     Potential – Accept or Reject Words of Instruction:  Jeremiah 36:1-10, 12, 15-16, 20-25, 27-30, 32

·     False Security:  Luke 16:19-31

Hymn 20:  Seeking to God

·     King Jehoiakim sat in comfort and burned the Words of the Lord, not fearing God’s Power and Might

·     The winter is like Satan’s rule; we can feel comfortable in this world now, but for long term comfort that comfort must come from a relationship with God and not from the things of this world, that is the devil

·     God’s warmth will carry us through winter to to summer, but the devil’s warmth will die out and lead us to a bitter end

·     The parable of Lazarus and the beggar shows us that there are bounds to our long-term relationships, but we have control of them right now

·     Let each ask God for understanding during “the winter” as we await the return of Jesus Christ (“the summer”) and hold the hope of being preserved wholly until that time.

Hymn 6:  Winter Will End!

Doxology

Winter: The Feast of Dedication

Outline of Service 24^th June 2018

Winter: The Feast of Dedication

Hymn 104

The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:2-4

Psalm 104: 1-5, 19-33 – God creates the seasons

Bible Readings:                                                  

·     Heeding the call of salvation and promise - John 10: 7-22

·     Reflecting on what is good - Ecclesiastes 2: 22-26

Hymn 46

·     The Feast of Dedication in Jesus’ time was not a Moses ordained feast. It was an 8-day winter festival to celebrate the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after Jewish freedom fighters overthrew an oppressive regime.

·     Like Jews of old, we too can take the quiet, contemplative time of winter to remind ourselves of God’s wonderful provision and prayerfully reflect on our walk with God and His plan for us.

·     We too can (re) dedicate our temples – our bodies – to His service and perhaps become God’s special people of promise.

Hymn 16 (Tune 20)

Doxology

Winter: A God Ordained Season

Winter: A God Ordained Season – Gen 8:22

Hymn 115:  An All Seasons God

The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:2-4

Psalm 4:1-8   Put Your Trust in the LORD

Bible Readings:                                                  

·     Promise – A New Beginning:  Genesis 8:1-22

·     Promise – Summer and Winter:  Psalm 74:10-17

·     Promise – A New World:  2 Peter 3:1-14

Hymn 81:  Redemption Will Come

·     God ordained the seasons of the year; similarly, He has ordained seasons in the life of this World and in our personal lives

·     In doing this, God has promised that summer will follow winter

·     We know that God is in control even though sometimes we may feel stuck in winter!

·     Just as one season helps us appreciate the others, our life seasons teach us about different aspects of our relationship with God

·     We look forward to the dawning of the new season to come when Jesus Christ returns, and those who are alive will be changed wholly in spirit and soul and body and be made like Him.

Hymn 37 (Tune 26):  Believe and Seek

Doxology