[0:00] Well, we're going to begin our worship by singing to God's praise. We're going to sing in Psalm 34, verse 7 to 11, the Sing Psalms version.
[0:11] I'm going to sing from verse 7 to 11. The angel of the Lord surrounds and guards continually all those who fear and honour him. He sets his people free. And then verse 11, it reminds us of what we come together for today.
[0:25] Come here, my children, gather round and listen to my word, and I will help you understand how you may fear the Lord. So we're going to sing, we'll stand to sing verse 7 to 11 to God's praise.
[0:39] The angel of the Lord surrounds and guards continually All those who fear and honour him, he sets his people free.
[1:09] Come, taste and see the Lord is good, who trusts in him, is blessed.
[1:25] Oh, fear the Lord, you saints with need, you will not be oppressed.
[1:39] Young lions may grow weak and faint and hunger for their food, But those who wait upon the Lord will not lack any good.
[2:11] Come here, my children, gather round and listen to my word, And I will help you understand how you may fear the Lord.
[2:43] I will join together in prayer just now. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, as we gather in your name today, We are thankful for this great privilege that we have, That we are able to come and sing praise to you, That we are able to come and hear you and your words speaking to us.
[3:08] And as we read and as we sing and as we do all of these things, May we know your peace and your blessing over us, And your help and your strength in all that we do. We do thank you for this time of family service after a holiday club week.
[3:24] We thank you for all that was done during the week, And we have so much to be thankful for, For all who helped, for all who came along, For all that was done. But above all, Lord, that you were with us, That you were in the midst of it all.
[3:38] And we pray that you will bless us, Young and old alike, To know that joy that you are able to give. To know that as we see so many athletes in these weeks, Just now of the Olympics in Paris, Striving for a gold medal, But so many are left disappointed.
[3:56] We thank you that when we come and follow you, That you never leave us disappointed, But that you give us that sense of real joy, Your real presence with us, And that we are encouraged to look to Jesus, And follow you with all of our hearts.
[4:13] And so we give you thanks, O Lord, For all your goodness to us, And we ask that as we go on, Even in this week ahead, That you will be with us in our homes, And in our families, In our communities.
[4:24] Bless every family here, Present, And also tuning in online. We give you thanks for each one, And know that there are many going through different needs, And different challenges at this time.
[4:37] And so we pray for each one who needs you in different ways, Times of sadness and sorrow, Times of sickness, Times of worry and anxiety. We do pray, Lord, For so many who go through these times just now, And pray that your blessing, Your peace might be upon them.
[4:55] And so we ask, Lord, That as we continue to worship you just now, That you will guide us in your word, Guide us in your truth, Help it to be a light for our lives, That we would see you and your glory, The beauty of Jesus, And that we would come and follow him, With all of our hearts.
[5:13] So look down upon us, Bless us throughout this day, Be with us, As we gather for worship this evening as well. Remember, Kenny I, As he comes to preach to us, Pull them and strengthen him in that, And that throughout this day and in all our days, We would know your goodness and mercy following us.
[5:29] So hear our prayers, And continue with us at this time, Pardoning all our sin, As we ask all in Jesus' precious name. Amen. I want us to read a few verses together.
[5:43] Now if you're at the holiday club, You'll recognize these verses. It's in Luke chapter 6, And we're reading at verse 46 to verse 49.
[5:54] You'll find this on page 3, Of the little leaflets you have. I'm just going to read these few verses together. Why do you call me Lord, Lord, And not do what I tell you?
[6:09] Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like. He is like a man building a house, Who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.
[6:21] And when a flood arose, The stream broke against that house, And could not shake it, Because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them, Is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.
[6:36] When the stream broke against it, Immediately it fell, And the ruin of that house was great. There we read of the wise and the foolish builder.
[6:48] And we're going to come back to that in a wee moment. But I want to say just a few words as a way of introduction just now. And after this we're going to have a singing. And if any of the younger ones who maybe want to go to the holiday twinnies, That's the point that they can go out then.
[7:04] But we hope that being a family service, That the majority will be able to stay in. So who was following the Olympics this week? Were you tuning in? Following what was happening?
[7:15] I don't mean the one in Paris. I mean the Champions Challenge Olympic Holiday Club That was taking place here. With everything that was happening in the hall next door. We had a great week together.
[7:27] Doing so many different things. We had many different events. We had many different athletes on show. Some looking more athletic than others. But a great variety. And we had crafts and games.
[7:38] We had medal hunts and drama. But above all we had, The central thing was Jesus. And hearing all about Jesus.
[7:50] What he has done for us. And what he does for us. And every day the different theme was based on Jesus. And Jesus as a coach. Jesus as a first aider.
[8:02] There was a teammate. There was a substitute. And then on the Friday we had the champion. So we're looking at Jesus in all of these different ways. Now the Paris Olympics, they're still going on.
[8:15] But in another week they'll come to a close. And when the Olympics come to a close, They have a big closing ceremony. And so today is a little like a closing ceremony.
[8:26] For our Olympics. For our week of Olympics. But I don't want us to be sad. As things come to an end this week. I want us to be happy. Happy about all that we did and all that we heard.
[8:39] And there was a story we heard on Friday. About a man called Eric Liddell. Now he won Olympic gold in Paris.
[8:50] But it wasn't this week. It was a hundred years ago. Back in 1924. I'm sure many people here are familiar with the film Chariots of Fire.
[9:02] Based on the story of Eric Liddell. And the amazing thing about him was, He was a Christian who honoured God. He put God first in everything he did.
[9:14] So the event he wanted to be in, he wasn't. And yet he still won gold in the 400 metres. And it's amazing that a hundred years later, We're still talking about him.
[9:25] And thinking about what he did. How he stood up for his faith. And I hope that's what it will be like for ourselves As we come away from our holiday club. That in years to come, We will speak about all that we've learned and heard and seen this week.
[9:42] And go on giving praise and glory to God. And sharing about the good news of Jesus. And today we're going to look at some of the highlights of the week.
[9:54] We're going to look at some of the things, The passages that we were looking at. And some of the themes that we were thinking about. But they're all based around our memory verse. Now, look up to me just now for a minute.
[10:08] Who remembers the memory verse? Do you want to say it with me? Shall we say it together? So everybody can hear what we were learning. Right, let's go.
[10:18] If anyone would come after me. He will deny himself. Take up his cross.
[10:30] And follow me. Excellent. 23. Brilliant.
[10:41] All remembered. And there's no words up on the screen anywhere to help you there. So, well remembered. That's the verse that was our memory verse for the week. And as we were going through the week, the word of God was always central to everything that we were doing.
[10:55] So we think of the Olympics, and they have the Olympic flame burning for the whole time that the Olympics is going on. That's the way it was for us with God's word.
[11:05] It was like the word of God was the light in the midst of everything that we were doing. And there's a psalm that tells us about that. It's Psalm 119 and verse 105. It says, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a lamp to my path.
[11:21] Do you remember what the craft was on Monday, anybody? What did we do on Monday? The torch, wasn't it? The Olympic torch. Well, look what I've got here.
[11:35] Do you remember seeing this during the week? Yeah? Well, the rest of people here who weren't at the holiday club wouldn't have seen this. This is an Olympic torch. And on the top of it is where the fire goes.
[11:46] So this is a real Olympic torch. And we think of that, it's the fire that keeps burning. And we want to think of Jesus as that fire, that light to the world that keeps burning.
[11:59] We were singing one of the songs, and it was, Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning. And that's what we were looking at during the week. And we were so thankful that as Jesus was with us during the week, He was keeping us going and keeping us looking to His word and encouraging us through it.
[12:16] All around that sense of following Jesus, denying ourselves, and following Him. And so we're going to look at three different things to help us understand what that means.
[12:29] But before we do, we're going to sing. We're going to think about three things. Listen, look, and live. That's the three things we're going to look at today.
[12:41] But before we come to the first one, we're going to sing Psalm 145. Again, let's sing Psalm's version, Psalm 145.
[12:51] And we'll sing from verse 15 to 21. And as I say, during this singing, if any of the younger ones would like to go out to tweenies, you can do so during this singing. All eyes are raised expectantly to you, and in due season you supply their food.
[13:07] You open wide your hand to all that live and satisfy their needs with what is good. We'll sing from verse 15 to 21 to God's praise.
[13:17] All eyes are raised expectantly to you, and in due season you supply their food.
[13:41] You open wide your hand to all that live and satisfy their needs with what is good.
[14:01] The Lord is just and good in all his ways.
[14:12] He shows his love to all that he has made.
[14:23] The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call in through to him for aid.
[14:44] The hopes of those who fear him he fulfills.
[14:55] He hears their cry, saves them from distress. The Lord protects all those who love his name.
[15:16] But slays all those who practice wickedness.
[15:27] My lips will frame a psalm of thanks to God.
[15:38] My mouth will speak forever in his praise.
[15:49] Let every creature magnify the Lord.
[16:00] And praise his holy name now and always. Amen.
[16:11] Amen. Well, I want us to think about our first part this morning together.
[16:22] We're thinking of listening. Listening on Monday, we're thinking about the coach and how we have to listen to the coach. That's the first part of what we're looking at together today, the idea of listening.
[16:34] And this is based on that reading that we had together in Luke chapter 6, the one who built his house upon the rock and the one who built his house upon the sand, the ground without foundation.
[16:48] Now, a good number of years ago in Glasgow, there was a preacher who was preaching at Glasgow Green. Glasgow Green is a big park in Glasgow and it's quite near to the river there, the river Clyde.
[17:02] And he was preaching about the gospel, about Jesus. And after he'd finished preaching, there was a man in the crowd who stood up and wanted to speak. And so they let him speak.
[17:13] And what he started to say was that he didn't believe anything that the preacher had said. He was saying, I don't believe in heaven. I don't believe in judgment. I don't believe in anything of these things.
[17:25] It's not true. And I don't believe in God, he said. I've never seen him. I can't believe in God. And then he sat down.
[17:35] And then another man got up. And he started to speak. And he started to speak in a funny way. He said, I don't believe that there's a river near here. I've never seen it.
[17:46] I don't believe that it's there. And he said, you tell me that there are trees and grass all around us here. I don't believe it. I've never seen them. And he said, you see that there are people all around me here.
[18:00] There's a large crowd. I said, I don't believe it. And he said, you maybe wonder how I can say these things or why I'm saying these things. You must think that I'm daft.
[18:11] But then he went on to say, you know why I can say these things? It's because I'm blind. I can't see anything with my eyes.
[18:22] But he said, but I know God. And I know that God is real. And looking at the first man who had spoken, he said to him, you cannot see him because you're spiritually blind.
[18:37] But he said, there is a God. And you need him. Who of these two men would you listen to? There was one who was wise.
[18:51] And there was one who was foolish. Well, that's exactly what Jesus is speaking about here as he speaks about these two men. One who built his house upon the rock and one who built his house upon the ground with no foundation.
[19:09] He was speaking to a large crowd here. And as he was speaking, he was speaking to them in this way that they were to listen to what he was saying.
[19:19] But he was saying, you call me Lord, Lord, and yet you don't listen. And this week when we were thinking of Jesus as the coach, we needed to listen to Jesus as the coach.
[19:33] But these people were saying like, yes, coach, yes, coach. But they weren't doing anything that they were being told. And so he describes it in this way.
[19:43] He uses the illustration of these two builders. And the question behind it all is, are we listening to Jesus today? Are we listening to what he says?
[19:56] One of these builders was wise. Where did he build his house? What did he build it on? Do you remember what we were thinking about during the week? Where did the wise man build his house?
[20:07] Upon the rock, wasn't it? And where did the foolish man, silly Billy as we was called, where did he build his house? On the sand.
[20:18] So who was wise? Who was foolish? He was wise, wasn't he? One built upon the rock. He was wise. Because as Jesus describes here, when the flood came, the only house that stood was the one that was built on the rock.
[20:37] The one that was built on the sand just got washed away. And the Bible often speaks about wise and foolish people. In Psalm 14, for example, in verse 1, it says there, The fool says in his heart, what?
[20:56] There is no God. Like that man at Glasgow Green who stood up to say that, I can't believe in God. I've never seen him. He's a fool.
[21:07] That's what the Bible says. The fool says in his heart, there is no God. But the wise, we build our house upon the rock.
[21:18] The rock, that is Jesus. We listen to the coach. And in Ephesians chapter 5, it says, Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time.
[21:33] That's encouraging us to listen to Jesus, make the best use of the time. So it's so important for us that as we come to worship God and to learn about him, that we do that first and foremost, that we listen to what he is saying.
[21:53] As Jesus says here, You call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I tell you. It's like listening to the coach and just going and doing your own thing.
[22:04] It's foolish. But let's be wise and listen to the coach. Listen to Jesus. Listen to what he's saying to us as he says, Come and follow me.
[22:15] Deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow me. So are we listening to the coach? Are we listening to Jesus today? That's the first thing that we're thinking about, that we were thinking about during the week.
[22:30] Well, to help us further look at this, we want to think about what he does for us. And we want to read again. We're going to read our next reading, which is in Luke chapter 23.
[22:43] And this is at verse 39 to verse 47. There's so many different parts that we could read for what Jesus has done for us.
[22:56] So many things that we thought about during the week. But I think the best place to read about Jesus and what he has done for us is to think about Jesus at the cross. And so we're thinking of him here in verse 39.
[23:12] Here Jesus has been put on the cross to die for his people. And either side of them, there's two criminals who are also being put to death. And in verse 39, it says, One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, Are you not the Christ?
[23:29] Save yourself and us. But the other rebuked him, saying, Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds.
[23:43] But this man has done nothing wrong. And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And he said to him, Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.
[24:00] And we read on, It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
[24:12] Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And having said this, he breathed his last.
[24:23] Now, when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, Certainly, this man was innocent. Well, we want to think about Jesus now and what he has done for us.
[24:40] And in this way, we're thinking about looking to Jesus. We want to listen to him first of all, but now we want to look and see what he has done for us. When Jesus was in this world, so many people saw him.
[24:54] So many people saw him doing amazing things. And during the week, we were thinking of some of them. As we look through the Bible, you see many different things that Jesus did for his people.
[25:08] As we had the sporting theme this week, we were thinking of people who get injured in sport, and they need the first aider to come on and to help them. And we saw a story of how Jesus healed a Roman centurion's servant who was unwell.
[25:25] Jesus did amazing things. We heard how Jesus fed more than 5,000 people in one sitting. And it was an amazing miracle that happened there. And there are so many other accounts of what Jesus did for people in different places, how he healed, how he helped, how he did amazing things.
[25:46] But what so often amazed people was the things that he said. His teaching, his preaching. People marveled at it. They saw these words that he was saying.
[25:59] They were thinking, this is astonishing. This is amazing, the things that he is telling us. And he was telling them about what he had come to do to help them. We see us all as sinners as we are, but he came to help us.
[26:12] Our greatest injury is sin. But he has come to help us. And the most amazing place to look and see what Jesus has done for us and how much he loved us is this place where we read of Jesus on the cross as he died for our sins.
[26:36] And so many people were looking on and seeing Jesus on the cross. And on either side of him were these two criminals. And one looked at him and mocked.
[26:49] He was joking at Jesus, saying things like, if you are the Christ, save yourself and us. He didn't realize who he was. He didn't understand who he was.
[27:01] But the other looked and pleaded with him. He saw that this man was innocent. He's done nothing wrong. And then he said these amazing words.
[27:12] Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Amazing words from that criminal. Remember me. And even more amazing is what Jesus said to him.
[27:26] Truly I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise. In the midst of the darkness of the cross, we are reminded of why Jesus came.
[27:39] He came to save. He is our substitute. He went in our place. What we couldn't do ourselves, he did for us.
[27:51] He died on the cross. That for all who believe in him, we might have life through him. A little boy once came to his father and jumped up on his knee and sat on his knee.
[28:07] And he asked him a question. He said to him, Dad, is your soul insured? Now, what's your soul, first of all?
[28:18] Well, your soul is our life, our very being. It's something we can't see, but it's what keeps us alive. What God has given to us all, the breath of life, is like our soul.
[28:31] It makes us understand and think and live and breathe. God has given us a soul. And insurance is something you put in place so that if anything happens, you're not left without.
[28:46] So if you crash your car, for example, you don't lose out if you're insured. You get your money back because it's insured. And so this is what was troubling this little boy. He came to his father and says, Dad, is your soul insured?
[29:01] And his father asked, Where's this question come from? Why do you ask that question? And the boy said, Well, I heard Uncle John speaking and he was saying that you have your house insured, that you have all your barns insured, that you have your life insured, but he was worried that you didn't have your soul insured.
[29:22] And he was afraid that you would lose it. And the father was shocked because he had a big house.
[29:34] He had lots of land and barns. He had all of these things. He had insurance to look after his family if anything happened to him. But the one thing that was most needed was his soul to be insured.
[29:50] And it wasn't because he didn't trust in Jesus. And through that little boy asking that question, he began to think about this.
[30:01] What was important in life? What was the most precious thing? It wasn't his barns and his land and his house. It was his soul. And he began to realize, Jesus is the only insurance I need.
[30:17] And so he put his trust in Jesus. And as we look at the cross, we see how Jesus is our insurance, how he is our guarantee, how because he died on the cross, he was our substitute there.
[30:36] And if we put our trust in him, our soul, our life is safe for now and for eternity. Another little story.
[30:48] There was a little girl who was very unwell. And she had a very serious illness that meant that she needed to get a blood transfusion. That's her own blood wasn't healthy, so she needed other blood put into her body.
[31:02] But it couldn't just be any blood. It needed to be a particular kind of blood. It needed to be from someone who had had this illness before and who had recovered.
[31:14] And it needed to be the same type of blood as hers. And she had a little brother. A brother who had had the same illness and who had the same blood as her.
[31:27] And so the doctor came and sat with the little boy and said, your sister's not well and we need your blood to help her. And he asked, will you give her your blood?
[31:38] And the little boy nearly started crying. He was sitting there thinking about this question. Will you give your sister your blood? And then he said, yes.
[31:51] I'll give my sister my blood if it'll make her better. And so they were taken into the operating room and they were both put on beds beside each other.
[32:03] And they looked at each other. The little girl was weak and frail. The boy was strong and healthy. And the boy smiled at his sister. And as the nurse then started to take blood from the little boy, his smile started to disappear.
[32:20] And he started to look quite sad. And after a little while, when it was nearly done, he asked the doctor a question. He said, Doctor, when do I die?
[32:33] And the doctor realized then that he hadn't explained fully what giving blood meant. It was only to give blood to help his sister. Not that he would die.
[32:46] But he thought by giving his blood to his sister, he would die himself. And the amazing thing is, he was willing to do it. Because his sister was so precious to him.
[33:00] Well, the little boy didn't die. They both survived and lived. But when we look at the cross, when we think of Jesus there on the cross, he gave his blood for us.
[33:16] He died for us. We needed a substitute. And he was the only one who could come in our place. And he gave his life for us.
[33:31] Isn't that amazing? That he would do that for you and for me. So there was the sad bit. When we think of Jesus dying on the cross.
[33:45] But it doesn't end there. And we want to just think about one more thing. And we want to read again together in Luke chapter 24. The next chapter along.
[33:58] you find this on page 6 and 7. We're reading two different parts of it. It's all about the story of the two on the road to Emmaus.
[34:12] An amazing story. But we'll just read a part of it. So this is after Jesus had been put to death. It's the third day.
[34:23] And people have started talking about Jesus. That he is risen. But then we come alongside these two on the road to Emmaus. That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus about seven miles from Jerusalem.
[34:37] And they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together Jesus himself drew near and went with them.
[34:48] But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. Then we jump to verse 28. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he was going further.
[35:00] But they urged him strongly saying stay with us for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent. So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
[35:16] And their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?
[35:32] And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together saying the Lord has risen indeed and he has appeared to Simon.
[35:45] Then they told what had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of bread. An amazing story of how Jesus came and appeared to these two on the road to Emmaus.
[36:02] Now after the cross, after Jesus died, his body was placed in a tomb. But on the third day, there was no sign of his body. Those who had followed Jesus, they were heart broken.
[36:16] Jesus died on the cross. cross. But that wasn't the end. You see, they hadn't listened properly to all that Jesus had said. If they had listened, they would have known that he died, we would die, but that on the third day, he would rise again.
[36:35] What's the biggest surprise you've ever had? Maybe you walk into a room and you see a spider. You get a surprise, you're frightened, you get a shock.
[36:47] It could be a shock result in athletics or football or something like that. It leaves you surprised. Does anybody remember this from Friday?
[36:59] Second place, that's what I got in a two-man race. Do you remember who beat me? Anybody remember who beat me? Kenny I.
[37:14] Embarrassing, isn't it? The right shock, that. Just the two of us in a race and he won. I mean, my goodness, come on. You get all kinds of surprises in life.
[37:26] But when we think about those who followed Jesus, those who loved Jesus, when they thought that he had died, the greatest surprise that they got was that Jesus was alive.
[37:40] They thought he had died, but he was risen. And so they met him in different places. And it's highlighted for us in this story of two people traveling on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
[37:55] They were heartbroken. They were downcast. They thought their hope had gone. And they start speaking with a stranger as it was who came alongside them, telling him everything that had happened in Jerusalem and how it was the third day and how they had hoped that he had come to save his people.
[38:14] And their hope was gone. They were just so heartbroken. But then Jesus started to speak to them. He started to open up the word to them.
[38:27] And he showed them everything about the scriptures in the Old Testament that was telling them about Jesus and how he had to come. And what happened to them? Instead of being heartbroken, they come to the point where their heart is burning.
[38:43] within them. They're so excited. They're filled with joy. Jesus is alive. He is risen. And we need to tell others about this.
[38:55] It's an amazing thing. And so they run back. They run back to tell their friends, we have seen Jesus. He is alive. And they say, we know.
[39:05] He's up here to Simon as well. And they were rejoicing. They were so glad. They'd gone from being almost downcast, beaten, to being upbeat and full of joy.
[39:21] There's been so many amazing races in the Olympics this week, so many amazing events. Maybe you saw this week the winner of the men's triathlon. He was a British man called Alec E.
[39:33] And close to the end of the race, he'd done his swim, he'd done his cycle, and now he was doing the running part of the race. He was in second place and he was starting.
[39:44] He was really struggling. He was finding it hard going. And instead of thinking, could he get first, people started to wonder, would he even get second? Because he seemed to be just getting slower and people were catching up with him.
[39:57] But he didn't give up. And he was saying afterwards, I wanted to cross the finish line knowing I'd given a hundred percent. So he started to push himself.
[40:09] And then he heard somebody shouting in the crowd at the side, a man called Alan Brownlee. Alan Brownlee, when the Olympics were in London 12 years ago, he won the gold in the very same event.
[40:24] And he heard this man, he saw this man shouting at him, and he was saying, keep going, anything can happen. And if you saw the race, you saw how suddenly he almost just started running faster and faster.
[40:38] He went past the man who was in first place at that point, and he just seemed to get ahead and ahead and ahead. And he went on to win gold. He was encouraged.
[40:50] He was strengthened. And that's what God's word does for us. It reminds us that yes, there is sadness and sorrow that Jesus had to die for our sin.
[41:04] But there is also great joy that he has risen. And in a book of the Bible called Hebrews, it says this, Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1, therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
[41:45] Jesus encouraged these two on the road to Emmaus. And we are surrounded by people who encourage us along the way in this race.
[41:56] And so as we think about coming away from our Olympic week, let us encourage one another. Let us see Jesus as the champion, the one we need to believe in with all our hearts.
[42:16] Our memory verse said, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. Wouldn't be great if all of us go away from this week following Jesus, rejoicing, not heartbroken, but with burning hearts, rejoicing in Jesus, and telling others about Jesus, so that the day will come when Jesus will reward us all with the gold medal, with the crown, for following him with all our heart.
[42:56] another of our songs that we sang reminded us that we are blessed. I'm so blessed, the song says, when I have you, Lord.
[43:09] So let's come away, let us close our ceremony today, let's close with joy, because Jesus is risen, he is our champion, let us listen to him, let us look at what he's done for us, and let us live for him every day.
[43:34] Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we do give you thanks for all that you have done for us, and how you speak to us, and help us as we go from here today, to live for you with all our hearts, as we look for your help and your strength, your encouragement in all of these things, we ask in your precious name, Amen.
[44:01] We're going to conclude by singing to God's praise in Psalm 146, Psalm 146, we're going to sing from verse 1 to verse 6, it's the Scottish Psalter version, I'll just check with the percent, I've got two different, Scottish Psalter, you've got music, let's sing Psalms, so it's the Scottish Psalter on one thing and the sing Psalms on the other, I think we'd better go with what the presenter has, so the presenter has sing Psalms, sorry for that, so we'll sing, it's Psalm 146, the sing
[45:05] Psalms, I think it's the Scottish Psalter that's on the booklet, but it's the sing Psalms the presenter has, so we'll use that, praise the Lord my soul, O praise him, I'll extol him all my days, while I live to God my Saviour from my heart, I will sing praise, we'll sing these verses to God's praise, praise the Lord my soul, O praise him, I'll extol him all my days, while I live to God my God my Saviour, from my heart I will sing praise, do not put your trust in princes, mortal men who cannot save, all their plans will come to nothing, when they perish in the grave, blessed is the one who truly looks for help to
[46:25] Jacob's God, blessed is the one who places all his hope upon the Lord, he who made the earth and heaven, and the seas with all their store, he who keeps his every promise, through his faithful evermore.
[47:06] After the benediction, I'll go to the main door, I think the children can go out this door to my left here, and hopefully as many as possible can come through next door for a cup of tea and to see and hear a little bit more from the children as to what was happening in the holiday club.
[47:22] We'll close just now with the benediction. now may grace, mercy, and peace from God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest upon and abide with you all now and forever more.
[47:34] Amen. Amen.