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[0:00] I gather it was absolutely stifling. So it's been the fifth one we've had this year so far.! Well it happened all over the world apparently.

[0:33] And it said that on the news it said thousands in the UK have been wooed by seeing the eclipse. Thousands except in Bownsley. We sat in our backyard and expected to see this darkness come over the whole of Bownsley.

[0:48] And other than the smog there was nothing happening. And then people were starting to text and put photographs on of a full eclipse and it had gone completely dark and it was amazing.

[0:59] And we've been in Job's advance in which it's going to be any time now. And then we wait another 10 minutes. I'm sure it should have happened by now. And then we just went in there and covered tea. So it didn't happen in Bownsley.

[1:11] I don't know whether it happened near you. But this week has been interesting. We take Elvis our dog out for a walk. Most nights in the village. And I saw this on Friday evening.

[1:24] This is the scene of Hemingfield on Friday evening. It was absolutely glorious. We walked up the village and then we turned around at the top bench and then we walked back down again.

[1:37] And as we were walking back down you cannot guess what happened. As we were walking back down. Anybody guess what could have happened on Friday evening that was so exceptional in this current climate?

[1:50] What happened? It rained! It was amazing! It started spitting. I looked at Joe. She looked at me and I said he's spitting at me. You know. He's coming out of the air. And he got heavier and heavier.

[2:02] And then we were walking past the Albion pub on the green. And this lady came out and said it's raining. She started dancing on the curb. A bit like that in Hemingfield. And then we passed this bloke and was walking his door. And he says can you believe it?

[2:13] Can you believe it? It's about time. It's about time. About time it is. Amazing! It started to rain.

[2:24] Last year was the record that has just been broken by this year's heat.

[2:35] But last year in July and August was red hot. And it followed then September there was virtually a record for rainfall.

[2:49] 32% higher than the national average. So I don't know about you but we came out this morning and we came to Osset and it wasn't raining. But in Barnes this morning it was raining again.

[3:00] And that might just be the start of the whole month. And I tell you everywhere you've been going people are going, In't it hot? In't it hot?

[3:11] When's it going to rain? When's it? The garden's needy. And you know what happened? By about the 14th of September we'll be all saying, When's it going to stop raining? We used to have a bit of a rhyme that used to go something like this.

[3:27] Rain, rain, go away, come again, another day. Little Zara wants to play Rain, rain, go away. And then, I don't know whether you know the film, what was the film called?

[3:42] I was going to tell you. Eliza Doolittle. My Fair Lady. There you go, showing the rain work there. And she used to do a little ditty that said, The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain.

[3:55] What are you laughing at you? I'm staring at rain. What? Is that how you spell rain? Is that how you spell rain? No. Winnie, is that how you spell rain?

[4:07] No? No. How you spell rain? I'm not supposed to do that. I'm not supposed to show that you're supposed to tell me. Is that how you spell rain?

[4:19] Is that better? I knew it was one or the other. I didn't know just which one it was. Well, I've just been hard ground for once.

[4:36] And then suddenly it will start raining. And it will rain all of September, I'm sure. And then by the end of September we'll be saying, Boy, when will it stop raining?

[4:47] It just reminds me of a record in the Bible where it was dusty and hot for month after month. The ground was hard.

[4:59] The plants were dying. And then suddenly, the Bible says, in that dusty, dry land, God looked at them.

[5:14] The Bible we call this verse. He observed the extent of human weakness on the earth. And he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.

[5:27] For the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.

[5:38] And the only person that was true to God, the only person that was upright on the earth, was a man called Noah.

[5:51] And God said to him, I am so upset with the world that I'm going to make it rain for 40 days and 40 nights. And I'm going to judge the world and I'm going to destroy it. But you, Noah, you're an upright man.

[6:04] I want you to build a boat. And we know the rest of the story, don't we? And it rained for 40 days and for 40 nights.

[6:17] It continued to rain until the earth was flooded. And Noah stayed in the ark for 12 months.

[6:29] And suddenly the water started to decrease. And Noah and his family were saved. Why was God so upset with people?

[6:44] Why did he have to go to the extent of flooding the earth and destroying everybody? Well, the Bible says that he made man and woman in his image.

[6:56] And he made them for relationship with him. But sin changed all of that. That might have been thousands of years ago.

[7:07] But nothing has changed. God is still heartbroken by sin. He's still heartbroken by the fact we talked a couple of weeks ago that our hearts have been turned away from him.

[7:24] Because of our sin. And it separates us. But God did promise that he would never judge the world again by flooding it.

[7:39] But the Bible says this. That each one of us will give an account of our sin to God. And he is the righteous judge of all.

[7:52] And the Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 28 says these words. Just in the days of Noah when they didn't expect the flood. He said that will just be the same when the Son of Man returns.

[8:09] And as God looks at us. And he sees our heart. I have to tell you the story of what I was saying. I'm reminiscing.

[8:20] I'm reminiscing today. Old hymns. Old causes. Seeing someone I've not seen for 40 years. And I'm thinking about my younger age. I remember the fact when I used to go out. I've probably told this story before.

[8:32] And I used to go out. And people used to say to me. Make sure you come back in. Clean and tidy. Don't get messed up. Don't get dirty. And I went out. And I came back. And I was always filled with eyeballs.

[8:44] With conflict. And mocking. And I came in. And we were going to camp. And I was annoyed. And my dad was annoyed. And I answered my dad back. And he did that one of the things that all dads used to do most days.

[8:55] He put me on his knee. And he gave me some slipper. He sent me to the bathroom to have a wash. And I went to the bathroom to have a wash. And I did that awful thing that a young one should never do. I turned around.

[9:06] And I put my tongue out. And I didn't realise it. He followed me down the hallway. And was looking down and cracking the door. And he put me on his knee. And he gave me another ten of them. He saw me. Just as I was. I didn't realise. I thought I was in the safe confines of a bathroom. Those were the words of the Old Testament.

[9:17] He doesn't look on the outward appearance. He sees our hearts. And we come on a Sunday. And we look away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away sees that and sometimes it breaks his heart.

[9:57] And our lives are full of sin. We were blessed, we were blessed this week to have Zara come and be with us for the day.

[10:09] Zara, what is she now, 16 months? Yeah, yeah. She's walking, if you've not noticed, she's like lightning everywhere. We took her to a garden centre, I was up and down, off the chair, under the table, between the plants.

[10:24] She was absolutely everywhere. Get this, next week we're going on holiday. We're going to be in a hotel with a swimming pool, with a beach, with chairs, some lunches.

[10:37] And she's going to be absolutely getting ready for the chaos that ensues next week. But I know that Mum and Dad have got a plan. Mum and Dad have got the best bit of equipment you could ever wish for with a toddler of 16 months.

[10:56] Yes, Dad. Grandparents. But they've got to rain. They've got to rain. They're going to fasten her in, they're going to hold her back, and they're going to stop her running off.

[11:10] When else would you see rain? When else would you see rain? Any ideas, anybody? Any ideas from me? No?

[11:22] On a horse. Of course. On a horse. I remember we did what we called an adventure camp. We took teenagers out on doing activities, and we went horse driving.

[11:33] And one of our teenagers went on a horse and said to the instructor, I can do horse riding. And she got on the horse and didn't hold the reins.

[11:46] And the horse bolted like lightning. And the instructor had to bolt after her as quick as she could. You see, she wasn't holding the reins.

[11:57] And that's where we get the saying from. Free reign. Free reign. Because she wasn't holding it. And so the horse did exactly what she wanted.

[12:08] And so the instructor had to bolt along and get hold of the reins. And had to rein the horse in. So it was free reign.

[12:20] And it was what? What are you laughing at? That's spelt right, isn't it? Well, you only just told me that you spell reign the other way.

[12:34] R-A-I-N. Does that look right? How should it be spelt? Anybody know? This is testing you, isn't it?

[12:50] Great. It's the same word. But a different spelling. And a different meaning. In the Bible, horses were only reserved for royalty.

[13:07] Or for military. So in the Bible, they didn't have horses. Anybody guess how people used to get around in the Bible? Would it?

[13:18] Carts. They did. Some of them had carts if they had a lot of money. But if they didn't have a lot of money, how would they get around anything? Any guesses?

[13:31] Go on. Camel. Camel. That's a brilliant answer. But it's not the one I'm looking for. There was something else. If you were even less funny, how would you get around in the Bible? What was that?

[13:47] A donkey. That's how they'd get around. And donkeys also have rings. They have the same. And a ring.

[14:00] Controlling this reality. It tells you to stop. It tells you to go. There were some verses that we read together. If you remember.

[14:11] It talked about the Lord Jesus who came to Jerusalem. And the Bible says that as he entered the city, he came to it. And he sent out his disciples. And he said there'll be a donkey.

[14:23] And it's cold. And he needs to loose them. And to bring them here. And they came. And the Bible tells us the record that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey.

[14:41] And as he arrived and as he rode, people were jubilant. They were welcoming. They were shouting. They were praising.

[14:52] He didn't get. He didn't go to be worshipped. He didn't go for the praise. The Bible says he went there to die. That was God's plan.

[15:06] And following five days in Jerusalem. We go from them welcoming him. To actually crying. To crucify him.

[15:18] He bounced in on a donkey. On the ends of our cross. They shouted praise God. Because they welcomed him. And then five days later.

[15:32] They shouted. Crucify him. Why? Because that was God's plan. God's way. To redeem people.

[15:42] The Bible says this. God showed his great love for us. By sending Christ. While we were still sinners.

[15:55] Why? Because God's plan was to punish his son for our sin. The football season started yesterday.

[16:09] If you haven't noticed. Barnes had played their first game. And there was as good as normal. Yeah. Lost their first game. It doesn't seem too big to visit since we were watching the World Cup.

[16:23] And watching the England team. You might have seen that. And all of us getting excited. It's coming home. And getting to the semi-finals. And being dashed yet again.

[16:36] But what impressed me. This year. Was that the team. All seemed in unity. And were singing. With real gusto. And enthusiasm.

[16:48] The national anthem. Normally they would do that. But this year. Every single one of them. Was singing. The national anthem. To the king. And what I was impressed with.

[17:00] Was that they knew. The words. That's incredible. Every single one of them. As it goes. God save our gracious king.

[17:11] Long live our noble king. God save our king. In the next verse. The next verse. Na na na na. Send him be told us. Happy and glorious.

[17:23] Long to reign over us. God save the king. That's spelled right isn't it? Not the right spelling. Long to reign over us.

[17:36] God save the king. Is that right? It's not right. It's not right. Another one. Long to reign over us.

[17:50] God save the king. God save the king. That's what we're here today to do. That's what we've been doing.

[18:03] We haven't been singing praise. To the king of England. But to the king of heaven. The heavenly king. Who's a room for heaven.

[18:16] To the one. And when he was crucified. He was a mocking. The king. The bible says. That God save us all for him. Is the highest place.

[18:27] That heaven was. And he's now crowned. With glory. And honor. And he's the king. Preparing a place. For those people. Who love.

[18:39] Him. And he makes his voice. Come to me. All you who are weary. Can carry heavy burdens. And I'll give you rest.

[18:52] And if you do that. I will never reject you. My spelling's not the best. But I just remind us.

[19:04] That in God's sight. All are sinful. And separated. Because of that. Jesus came to pay. That price. For our house. That we might have.

[19:16]  A relationship. With the king of heaven. Let's pray. Please. Father, we thank you.