History Changing Events: Reconciliation - Palm Sunday

This was to have been a Musical Praise Service at the Church, but due to the Coronavirus the Meeting had to be cancelled:  this Service outline can be followed by those who wish in their own homes or privately

Suggested Outline of Service 5^th April 2020 – Palm Sunday

History Changing Events: Reconciliation Matt 21:8-9

Hymn 105:  Praise and Thanks to God

The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:2-4

Psalm 24:1-10 – The King of Glory

Bible Readings:

·     The Passover Instituted:  Exodus 12:1-13

·     Palm Sunday:  Matthew 21:1-11

·     Reconciliation through Jesus Christ:  2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Hymn 123:  Inspiration from God

·     In recent Services we have been looking at History Changing Events that impacted the relationship between God and His created people including: The Fall, The Flood, Choosing of Abraham, the Covenant with Israel and Elijah’s Challenge to the people

·     As mankind in general, and Israel specifically, drifted further from God the need of reconciliation became greater and greater

·     God had set a type of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus for all mankind when He instituted the Passover and led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt

·     Jesus was recognised by some in His day as He who came “in the name of the Lord” on Palm Sunday and was sacrificed at Easter as the Lamb of God

·     In the same way that the Israelites selected their lamb on the 10^th day of the month, these people selected Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem, and then He was sacrificed, or crucified, a few days later

·     This Palm Sunday let us open our hearts to Him that He may enter into our lives and reconcile us wholly to God in spirit and soul and body. 

Hymn 69:  The Great Redeemer  

Doxology

History Changing Events: Israel Rejects God

Outline of Service 22^nd March 2020

History Changing Events: Israel Rejects God  1 Kings 18:21

Hymn 106:  Choose God….

The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:2-4

Psalm 67:1-7 – Living in Harmony with God

Bible Readings:

·     The Promises:  Exodus 19:1-8

·     The Dispersion of Israel (10 Tribes):  2 Kings 17:1-8

·     The Captivity of Judah (2 Tribes):  2 Kings 25:1-7, 13-14

·     The Promised Restoration:  Romans 11:1-11, 25-27

Hymn 135 (See Ps 67): God’s Blesses Those Who Honour Him….

·     God chose Israel to be a “peculiar” people unto Him

·     Israel rejected God as their Leader and disobeyed His commandments

·     Israel was dispersed and Judah taken into captivity because of their disobedience

·     Promises of Israel’s ingathering still remain – but they are now personalised rather than national

·     The Gentiles were brought into favour with God because of Israel’s rejection of Him

·     The Gentiles form a sort of spiritual Israel – the blessing to Abraham was that in his seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed

·     God’s Plan includes the restoration of Israel and Universal salvation.

Hymn 96:  Call on God’s Favour  

Doxology

History Changing Events: The Challenge of Elijah

Outline of Service 8^th March 2020

History Changing Events: The Challenge of Elijah  1 Kings 18:21

Hymn 106:  Choose God….

The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:2-4

Psalm 34:1-8 – The Lord is Good

Bible Readings:

·     Elijah’s Challenge:  1 Kings 18:1-6, 17-24

·     Elijah’s Sacrifice and Prayer:  1 Kings 18:25, 29, 30-40

·     Follow Me:  Mark 8:34-38

·     Personal Dedication:  Romans 12:1-5

Hymn 11 – Tune 6:  If the Lord be God….

·     Israel was experiencing a three year drought – no rain, not even dew of a night!

·     Elijah had called the drought to focus the nation’s attention back to God

·     Elijah challenged the people to choose between following Baal or God 

·     The prophets of Baal were unable to obtain any response from their god, but Elijah proved beyond doubt that “The Lord, He is the God”

·     Following the sacrifice the drought was broken with “an abundance of rain”

·      This event called Israel to worship God and to look for His guidance in their lives and to follow His instructions

·     As Elijah sacrificed to God, so today we are called to sacrifice our lives to Him, and to present “our bodies a living sacrifice to God” (Rom 12:1)

·     As the fire from God consumed the sacrifice, so too God’s Presence will consume the evil from within those who “lose their life” to this world’s pleasures and find their life in dedication to God. 

Hymn 72:  Follow Him - a Personal Response

Doxology

History Changing Events: God Chooses Israel

Outline of Service 23^rd February 2020

History Changing Events: God Chooses Israel  Exod 19:5

Hymn 104:  God is Our Refuge

The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:2-4

Psalm 104:1, 31-35 – God’s Majesty

Bible Readings:

·     God’s Covenant with Israel:  Exodus 19:1-9

·     Israel’s Response:  Deuteronomy 5:22-33

·     Jesus Chooses His Disciples:  Luke 6:12-16; 9:1-6, 28-36  

·     Additional Helpers:  John 10:1-6, 17-20

Hymn 96:  The Great Shepherd

·     God chose Israel to be His peculiar treasure, and to show how a relationship with God would bring peace and prosperity even in this life

·     This Covenant was a conditional Covenant – “if…..then…” 

·     God set out a lifestyle, which was beneficial for people to follow anyhow, and expected that they would obey His instructions 

·     Today God is looking for people who will have Faith in Him and then seek to Him to keep the commandments in them through the Power of His Spirit 

·     God’s true Israel in the Last Days will be recognised because they will live a life of obedience to His Laws and Commandments

·     The Covenant of life of spirit and soul and body will be fulfilled in a remnant of the descendants of God’s Israel at the return of Jesus Christ to this earth.

Hymn 59:  The Time for Fulfillment

Doxology

History Changing Events: The Calling of Abraham

Outline of Service 9^th February 2020

History Changing Events: The Calling of Abraham  Gen 12:3

Hymn 102:  A Place for Everyone

The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:2-4

Psalm 105:1, 6-12, 42-45 – God’s Covenant

Bible Readings:

·     God Calls Abraham:  Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-6; 17:1-7

·     Multiple Promises:  Genesis 16:1-4; 17:20-22; 25:1-2, 5-9

·     Seed and Children:  John 8:31-39

·     All the Earth to be Blessed:  Romans 4:13-18

Hymn 28:  Blessings for All

·     God called Abram to come out from his family and worship Him, and established a line of faithful believers through Abraham

·     God promised that all the World would be blessed through Abraham’s seed  - through Jesus - and also that Isaac’s seed would receive great blessing

·     Our human tendency might be to see the different blessings as prioritised gifts, but we should see them as an order within God’s Plan  

·     All people will be blessed through the sacrifice of Jesus, and have assurance of life in the World to come

·     The blessing to a remnant through Isaac will be to return to the Promised Land – which is their physical bodies – and they will be preserved in spirit and soul and body and be changed, without death, from mortal to immortal beings at the return of Jesus Christ.

Hymn 49:  The Promised Blessing

Doxology

History Changing Events: Noah and the Flood

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Outline of Service 26^th January 2020

History Changing Events: Noah and the Flood  Gen 6:8

Hymn 118 – Tune 115:  Hope and Love

The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:2-4

Psalm 46:1-7, 10-11 – Our Refuge and Strength

Bible Readings:

·     Noah Found Grace:  Genesis 6:5-8, 13, 17-18; 7:11-17, 24

·     A New Start:  Genesis 8:15-22, 12-15

·     The Flood, the Ark and Baptism:  1 Peter 3:12-22

·     Have We Learnt!  Matthew 24:35-39, 42-46

Hymn 21 – Tune 13:  Waiting for Deliverance  

·     As a result of the Fall the thoughts of people’s hearts became evil continually

·     There was one line of faithful believers who stayed loyal to God’s ways

·     God physically destroyed all the people in the world He had created, except for Noah and his household, but gave Noah the opportunity of a New Start

·     Jesus pointed out that the general way of the World will again diverge from God as the end of this World approaches, but there will be a faithful group that does continue to follow God (through His grace)

·     The flood was a type of Baptism, whereby our sins can be washed away

·     Entering into the Ark is a type of dwelling in God’s Spirit, following a life of obedience to God’s laws and commandments

·     Those in the Spirit (the Ark) will be saved wholly (in spirit and soul and body) until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, at the end of this World order. 

Hymn 51:  Are You Preparing!

Doxology

History Changing Events: The Creation and Fall

History Changing Events: The Creation and Fall 

Hymn 26:  A Creation with a Plan

The Lord’s Prayer from Luke 11:2-4

Psalm 33:1-11 – A Great and Powerful God

Bible Readings:

·     God created the World:  Isaiah 40:1, 12-17, 25-31

·     God has a Plan:  Job 38:1-13

·     A New Creation:  Revelation 21:1-14

Hymn 99:  The Creation Reveals the Creator  

·     We believe that God created the World and has given us understanding about His Plan

·     God has revealed details about His Plan to us through His Word, the Bible

·     He has given us not only information about His creation, but about how we should live our lives for our own good whilst here on Earth

·     The Bible also gives us detail about the New Heaven and the New Earth that will come into being when the era of this world passes away

·     We have a very real hope that we might be eye-witnesses of these events and seek to be preserved in spirit and soul and body until the return of Jesus Christ to this Earth – in perfect relationship with Him. 

Hymn 59:  The Creation Complete

Doxology