[0:00] A warm welcome today to our service and we pray that we'll all know the blessing of God as we come under his word and we give thanks to everybody today who will tune in to hearing God's word and sharing in all that God has to say to us.
[0:20] We pray that this word will be a blessing to our souls. We're going to begin by reading a few verses from the book of Psalms in Psalm number 37. I'll just read from the beginning.
[0:33] Fret not yourself because of evildoers. Be not envious of wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green hair.
[0:44] Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him and he will act.
[0:57] He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices.
[1:15] Let us pray. O Lord our God, we pray that you will bless us today. We give thanks for another day where we're able to gather together and to worship.
[1:30] We gather in our own homes with our own families, some individually, some collectively. We pray that you will help us to hear what God the Lord will speak.
[1:41] So often we turn to everybody else but to you. We look to our own wisdom so often. We look to the wisdom of others. But far too often we forget to look for God's wisdom.
[1:55] Because you are altogether wise and you know the end from the beginning. You know all things. And so help us Lord to put our trust in you and to believe in you. Help us Lord to commit our lives to you.
[2:09] And that every day of our life might be lived with your hand for good upon us. And there's no greater way that we could live our lives than having the hand of God for good upon us.
[2:21] And the face of God set in such a way that his face is shining upon us in love. And that the strong arm of God and the strong hand of God might be to us and for us.
[2:35] And that you will shield us and shelter us as we journey through life. Protecting us from all the dangers, all the harm, all the many things that are out to derail us and to destroy and to disrupt us.
[2:49] We recognize that life is fragile. And so we pray Lord that we might live in this fragile life. Looking to the Lord who is our rock.
[3:00] Who is one that we can depend upon. And we pray that each and every one of us may have our feet set upon the rock that is Christ. And that you will establish our way.
[3:11] And that you will put a new song in our mouth. And that we will be able to bring praise and glory to your great name. We give thanks Lord for your word.
[3:21] And we pray that this word may go down deep into our hearts. And that we will be blessed by it. Help us to realize that the word of God is the rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy you.
[3:33] Help us Lord to understand what it is to enjoy you. Because our sinful hearts will tell us that being with God in the presence of God and listening to God isn't joy.
[3:46] That it's boring. Help us Lord to come to that place and that point where we realize that it is an ultimate joy. To be with you. And to know your presence and your peace and your power.
[4:01] And to have that hope in our lives that is given to us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray Lord that you will bless all who are sorrowing today.
[4:12] This has been a hard week within our congregation. Where we've had several deaths. And so we pray that your blessing will be upon every home and every family who has a broken heart.
[4:24] Lord death is something we cannot really deal with. Because it is an enemy that comes in and spoils and breaks up and invades our home and our lives.
[4:34] And all that we're used to and all we're familiar with. And so we pray that you will bring your own comfort and consolation to every broken heart. And that you will do them good. And we ask Lord that you will bless your word not only here as we proclaim it here.
[4:52] But we give thanks for everybody who's proclaiming your word up and down our land. We know that some churches are able to go back. And we pray that you will keep them safe. We are not in that position yet where we can go.
[5:04] And we pray that you will continue to bless this online ministry. And we pray that you will provide a vaccine soon. So that we will have a greater sense of freedom.
[5:17] And a greater sense of... Or a greater awareness of safety. Because there is a general sense of fear and uncertainty in the air just now.
[5:30] Because we don't know who is carrying this virus. It affects people so differently. For some people it has no impact whatsoever. And for other people the impact is fearful.
[5:43] For some it is deadly. And for others it is a lingering illness for a long, long time. So we pray for those who are suffering as a result of it. We pray Lord for all who have given of their time over these months in a very special way.
[5:59] We give thanks again for our NHS staff. And for all our carers. And their wonderful commitment to those who are in need. And so we pray that you will keep them safe.
[6:11] And do them good. Pray to bless us as a nation. Pray that you will grant wisdom to all our leaders. To those who have the rule over us at every level. Whether it is from Westminster.
[6:23] Whether it is at Holyrood. Or here in the local council. We pray Lord for wisdom to be given to them. That they won't trust in their own wisdom. But that they will look to the wisdom that is from above.
[6:35] We're told trust in the Lord with all your heart. And lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him. And he will direct your paths. Lord we pray for all the troubled areas of this world.
[6:47] And where there's so much uncertainty. We think Lord of Beirut. And that fearful explosion. And so many people just in a moment. Blasted out of time into eternity.
[6:59] And we think of all the distress and the shock. And we realise Lord as we said. That life is so fragile and so uncertain. Pray for your persecuted church throughout the world.
[7:10] We give thanks for gospel freedoms that we have here. And we pray that we will always have. That we will always be free to go to your house. And declare your word fully and absolutely.
[7:22] Without fear and without favour. And that we will be able to do so. Without any sense of the law of the land being against you.
[7:33] We pray Lord that we will have that gospel freedom. Because we know there are many lands that don't have. Where there is severe repression and oppression against those who love you.
[7:46] Lord we pray to protect them. And grant them deliverance. And we pray that it might please you. That for some of the leaders in these nations. That are so against you and against your word.
[7:57] That you will break into their hearts. And that you will change them for good. Watch over us then Lord we pray. And gain have mercy upon us. And forgive us our sin.
[8:08] Because we are constantly sinning against you. And against one another. And so we give thanks for the great promises that are given. That the blood of Jesus Christ. Cleanse us from all sin.
[8:19] Watch over us then we pray. And do us good. In Jesus name we ask all. Amen. I'm just going to say a wee word. To the young folk just now.
[8:30] Next door to us of course. To the house is going up. And the house is going up really really fast. We have the two joiners.
[8:41] The two D's. Donald and Duncan. Brilliant joiners. And they are really really working hard. And people are noticing just how quickly the house is going up. And of course there's the panels and the trusses.
[8:55] They just seem to have gone up in no time. And of course there's a digger that's working there as well. And the amazing thing about this digger is that it seems to be able to do everything.
[9:07] Sometimes it works just as a digger. Other times it seems to work as a crane. Other times it seems to work like a ladder. Because it can. Duncan or Donald can go up in this box.
[9:19] And it lifts him here and there. And it really speeds up the work. And it's quite amazing to watch. And John Murda the digger driver. I said to him one day.
[9:30] I said you're a brilliant digger driver. Because I was watching the position. And just. He just moves everything. He can move it quickly. Slowly. Twirls it around.
[9:41] He just seems to know exactly where to go. And where the guys want to go. I said you're a brilliant digger driver. No. He said it's not me. He said it's a digger. I said.
[9:52] I just sit there and I go. Press this. Press that. It just. It does everything. It does everything. I don't do anything. But I knew what he was saying wasn't true. Because I know that he's highly respected as a digger driver.
[10:06] And I knew what he said wasn't true. Because I went into the digger. And I tried. And let me tell you. I could not do anything with it. And I realised that.
[10:19] You really need to know what you're doing. When you're in a digger. Diggers are brilliant to. Just to look at. They're quite awesome machines. In fact. Joshua. Their grandson.
[10:29] He's just obsessed with diggers. I think he knows where. Where every digger in Stornoway is working just now. Because he wants to go on a digger hunt. Find the diggers. And in fact.
[10:40] He saw. It was done Monday. There was a public holiday. The Peel's Crane. Working at the council. And. I had to take in there. And you go. Wow. Hi.
[10:51] Digger. I just couldn't get over that. So. A digger isn't just a digger. It's digger. Wow. So. I don't know what age you'd come to discover. That it's just digger. But.
[11:02] As I've said. Talking about diggers. A great thing. But you really need to know what you're doing with it. And that got me thinking about the Bible. Because. You know. Some people have a Bible.
[11:13] And they have just like a. Kind of a good luck thing. They like to have a Bible. And they think. If I have a Bible in the house. That's a good thing. I remember. Years ago. Visiting a man. It was an old man.
[11:24] And. I was sitting in the house with him. And just having a wee yarn. And. He got up. And he went over to the shelf. And he brought back this. Big. It was like a pulpit Bible.
[11:34] But beautiful. Leather bound Bible. And he says. What do you think of that? So. I put it in the Bible. On my lap. And I was looking at it. I said. That's beautiful.
[11:45] And the lettering in it. Everything was lovely in it. I said. That's a beauty. I said. Do you read this every night? Oh no. He said. I never read it. So that was my grandfather.
[11:56] From. Passed to my father. And I've got it now. But it's a beauty of a Bible. Isn't it? And I said. Yes. But I said. Actually a Bible. Is of no use. Unless you. Unless you use it. You need to read.
[12:08] The Bible. And we have to understand. That the Bible. Is the greatest book. That we have. And it's important for us. To realise.
[12:18] That we've got to know. How to use the Bible. Because God tells us. That his word. Which is. The Bible. Is the only rule. To direct us.
[12:29] It's the only. Real way. To guide us. How to go through life. The only rule. To direct us. How we may glorify. And enjoy you. And.
[12:40] The wonderful thing is. That. The more. We live our lives. According to God's word. The better. Our lives will be. Not just for ourselves.
[12:51] But for others as well. That's like. John Mardin. Driving that digger. Not only was he able. To do the work. For himself. But he was able. To do the work. So well.
[13:01] For the others. Because. He knew exactly. The right thing to do. And so it is. For ourselves. If we. Live our lives. On what God is saying.
[13:13] Not only. Will. Our lives. Be blessed. But we will be. A blessing. To other people. And our lives. Should. As a result. Be good.
[13:25] For other people's lives. Remember. When Israel was crossing. The Jordan. Going into the promised land. God said to them. Whatever you do. Or don't do.
[13:35] This is the one thing. I'm asking you to do. Study my word. Read my word. Build. Your life. On my word. Meditate. That's kind of. Think about.
[13:46] What the word is saying. That will go in. Deep into your heart. And if you do that. This is what the Lord said. I will. Go before you. I will. Prosper your way. I will.
[13:58] Give you. I will. Bless you. I will give you. Make your way successful. So it's so important. That we live our lives. On the word. So from the very.
[14:09] Youngest age. You make it the habit. Of your life. As soon as you're able to read. To read a little bit. Of God's word. And ask God. Who is the greatest teacher.
[14:21] Lord. Teach me what to read. Teach me. And help me to understand. What I'm reading. So that it becomes. Part. Of my life.
[14:32] I'm going to say the Lord's Prayer. Our Father. Which 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.
[14:43] Our daily bread. And forgive us our debts. As we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom. And the power.
[14:53] And the glory. Forever. Amen. We're going to read God's word. From 1 Peter. 1 Peter. And chapter 5. 1 Peter.
[15:03] Chapter 5. So I exhort the elders among you. As a fellow elder and a witness. Of the sufferings of Christ. As well as a partaker.
[15:14] In the glory that is going to be revealed. Shepherd the flock of God. That is among you. Exercising oversight. Not under compulsion. But willingly.
[15:25] As God would have you. Not for shameful gain. But eagerly. Not domineering over those in your charge. But being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears.
[15:38] You will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise you who are younger. Be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves. All of you with humility.
[15:48] Towards one another. For God opposes the proud. But gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore. Under the mighty hand of God.
[15:59] So that at the proper time. He may exhort you. Casting all your anxieties on him. Because he cares for you. Be sober minded. Be watchful.
[16:11] Your adversary the devil prowls around. Like a roaring lion. Seeking someone to devour. Resist him. Firm in your faith. Knowing that the same kinds of suffering.
[16:22] Have been experienced by your brotherhood. Throughout the world. And after you have suffered for a little while. The God of all grace. Who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ.
[16:35] Will himself restore. Confirm. Strengthen. And establish you. To him. Be the dominion. Forever. And ever. Amen.
[16:45] May God bless to us. This reading. Of his own. Holy word. I want us. To focus today. On verse 7. Of 1st Peter.
[16:56] Chapter 5. 1st Peter 5. Verse 7. Casting all. Your anxieties on him. Because he cares for you. I'm sure.
[17:06] We so often say to one another. Don't worry. And. Words can be cheap. And. Sometimes we say to people. Who are beside themselves. With worries and anxieties.
[17:17] Ah. Don't worry. It'll be all right. That's not much help really. Although we mean well by it. Because. As we know. Worry is. And anxieties.
[17:28] Are a huge part of our lives. We live. Unfortunately. This world is. Because of sin. Is a troubled world. And whenever there are any troubles. Whatever nature. Whether they're.
[17:38] Physical or mental. Or spiritual. Or emotional. Or social. Whenever there's troubles. In our lives. There will always be. Anxieties as well. And of course.
[17:50] We. Today are living under. So many. Different types of. Stresses and strains. And worries. And anxieties. And. In fact. This virus. Has. Brought a new dimension.
[18:00] To. The whole. Concept of. Anxiety. Because. There is just this. Incredible. Air of uncertainty. This. Time. Little.
[18:11] Bias. Has. In many ways. Brought. The world. To a standstill. And has changed. It's changed everything. And even the great leaders. In this world.
[18:21] They have no power against it. It will do its damage. And so. It's. The world that we know. Has changed. Because we're always making plans. I'm going to go here.
[18:32] I'm going to go there. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. And we're now in a world. Where our plans are often. Thwarted and changed. And we all of a sudden. We can't do. What we were going to do. And side by side with that.
[18:44] There's this growing sense of uncertainty. And the securities that we knew. Are no longer there. And employment. So many people. Have lost jobs.
[18:55] Are in danger of losing jobs. There's an uncertainty over. Just over so many things. And that's a fearful worry. A fearful concern. And a burden for people.
[19:07] As they look out into this world. That's just filled with. With so much. That we just don't know. And don't understand. But Peter is writing here.
[19:17] And he says. That we are to cast. All our anxieties on the Lord. And some might say. That's all very well. For Peter to write that. But Peter's not living in the day.
[19:28] That we're living in. Which is just fraud with anxieties. But I'm going to remember. Who Peter was writing to. Peter was writing to. Persecuted Christians. The fires of the.
[19:39] The Roman Empire. Were burning. Furiously. Against the Christian faith. In the. In its infancy. As it were. And Christians were being.
[19:50] Persecuted all over. They were having to. Go from one place to another. And of course. The gospel was. Being carried. In that way. But they were.
[20:00] Experiencing terrible times. They were losing. Their work. Their possessions. Their homes. Their families. Were being torn apart. Many were imprisoned.
[20:10] Many were tortured. Many were executed. For their faith. So. It is to these people. That Peter is writing. Casting.
[20:21] All. Our anxieties. Upon him. So. These people. Were probably. In a. In a. Worse. Predicament. That.
[20:32] That. We. Ourselves. Actually. Are. Of course. One of the wonderful things. That we enjoy. Although there is a growing hostility. Against the Christian faith.
[20:43] In our land. And. We feel. That more and more. Our freedoms. Are. Being eroded. Yet. We pray. That. We will always have gospel freedom.
[20:55] To proclaim. The full truth. Of what God is saying. Because we know that. As things stand at the moment.
[21:06] We have that freedom. We can go to church freely. We can worship freely. We can open the word freely. And we pray that it will always be so. But it's not the same. In every land.
[21:17] There are lands today. That do not have the freedom. To freedom. To worship. And the freedom. Of expression. That we have here. It's an awful thing. It must be an awful thing.
[21:28] Living. In the tyranny of these lands. And the. The hatred that was towards Christ. From the very beginning. Remember how Herod. We're looking at Herod. A couple of weeks ago.
[21:39] Well Herod the Great. He tried to obliterate. Jesus. The moment he was born. Into this world. By killing all the babies. In Bethlehem. In order to try to get.
[21:49] Christ destroyed. And that hatred towards Christ. Continues. To this very day. So Peter is writing to. To suffering. Persecuted Christians.
[22:01] And the words that he says. Casting all your anxieties on him. Because he cares for you. Is also as it was written to them. Appropriate to us today.
[22:12] As well. As I said. Everybody has. Worries and anxieties. And probably sleepless nights. Because of them. Maybe last night you had a sleepless night.
[22:22] Because you were worrying about. About the future. About circumstances. And events that are happening. And unfolding in your life. And this uncertainty. And we often worry about things that actually.
[22:33] Never. Never actually happen. But we worry in case they will happen. And so often our lives are plagued by all these anxieties. Pressing down upon us.
[22:44] And we can feel claustrophobic. And we can feel just helpless. And scared. And down. And depressed. And anxious. And all these things.
[22:56] In fact you can sometimes even feel like. Remember in the psalm. Like David in Psalm 55. When he was just feeling hemmed in.
[23:06] And ever the world. His world was closing in on top of him. As he was being pursued. And he said. Oh that I had the wings of a dove. That I could fly away and be at rest.
[23:18] I'm sure there are times in our lives. That that's exactly how we felt. We felt tapped. We felt claustrophobic. We feel our world is closing in on top of us. And we don't know what to do.
[23:29] And we say. We envy the birds that can just get up and fly away. Of course even if we could. Probably the troubles anxieties might follow. But we know what that idea is like.
[23:42] So whether problems or troubles. Which cause our anxieties are great. Or whether they're small. We know anxieties are part of our life. But you know what I love here.
[23:55] About this particular verse. You know what it says here. Casting all your anxieties upon it. It doesn't specify what the anxieties are. You know if it said.
[24:06] Cast all your anxieties about your family. Or about your job. Or about your lack of a job. Or your finances. Or your health.
[24:17] Or your soul. If it had actually said. Casting the anxieties. In your life. That are brought. Because of your relationships. Because of your family. Because of your employment.
[24:29] Upon the Lord. We would say. Well that's great. But I love that it doesn't actually specify. Because that widens the scope. Right out. And it doesn't just say.
[24:42] Anxiety. But anxieties. Anxieties. It's in the plural. But it goes further. And it says. All your anxieties. So you might have a.
[24:53] A multiplicity of anxiety. You might have just so many anxieties. About so many different issues. And circumstances in your life. But it says. All of them. Cast all of them.
[25:04] Upon me. And the. You see. That's the beauty of it. The invitation. Couldn't be greater. And the scope. Couldn't be wider. It was Spurgeon. Who used to often say. That there is grace.
[25:16] Even in the grammar. The way that God. The way that God's word. Is set out. That there's even grace. In that. And so. We see that the command.
[25:26] That we're given here. Is to. Cast. Casting your anxieties. Upon him. This is not some. Sort of. Obscure. Or hidden away. Little verse. In scripture.
[25:37] Oh. Look at this little jewel here. Wow. That's amazing. Because this is a command. That is. Repeated in various. Parts of scripture.
[25:49] Because it is something. God wants us to do. In fact. We quoted from Psalm 55. That I had the wings of a dove. That I might fly away. And be at rest. Later on.
[25:59] In that same psalm. David has come to a greater. Persuasion of. Of the Lord's care of him. And then. Do you know what he says. Cast your burden upon the Lord.
[26:10] And he shall sustain you. Something very similar. To what we have here. Commit your way unto the Lord. Trust also in him. And he shall bring it to pass. Over and over and over and over again.
[26:20] In the Bible. You will find. The Lord is asking us. To put. Our troubles. And our concerns. And our worries. And our anxieties. Upon him.
[26:31] And. The problem. Of course. Is that we are. We are so prone. To keep these troubles. And worries to ourselves. The Lord. Wouldn't be giving this.
[26:44] Command. And this invitation. So frequently. Were it not for the fact. That it is a problem. For our lives. And God cares for us. And he wants us to do this. And that's why.
[26:55] Over and over again. We find this. This exhortation. This command in scripture. To give our worries. Our concerns. Our anxieties. To the Lord. And. We have to ask. Why.
[27:06] Why. Do we find it so difficult. To hand. Over to the Lord. Well I think there are two. Key things that. Prevent us from often doing it.
[27:17] And the first is unbelief. One of the great. The great sins. Of our lives. Because. You see what unbelief does. Unbelief limits God. It limits God.
[27:28] Unbelief doesn't recognize. God's. Omniscience. As all his wisdom. His omnipresence. His presence being everywhere. His omnipotence.
[27:38] His power being. Complete. And. So often we. We don't hand over to the Lord. Because. Somehow we. We feel that.
[27:49] Maybe the Lord. Can't do this properly. Maybe he won't work it out. The way we want. And so we say to God. Oh. I'll keep this worry myself. And we put ourselves. Almost silly with it.
[28:02] And next door to unbelief. Is pride. Pride. And pride is really saying. I can't manage this. I know it's difficult. I know it's putting me crazy. But I'll manage it. I'll cope with it.
[28:13] It's my worry. It's my trouble. And I'll see this out. We have to humble ourselves. And say. Lord. I can't cope with this myself. I'm going to have to give it to you.
[28:24] And it's very interesting. That the very verse before. Talks about humbling ourselves. And we. We have to humble ourselves. Because of pride. You don't. If there's no pride. You don't have to humble yourself.
[28:36] So it says. Humble yourselves. Therefore. Under the mighty hand of God. So that the proper time. He may exhort you. And so.
[28:47] How little we. Really. Understand. How dangerous. And. How dishonouring to God. Pride is. Because we have. We have a. Such an opinion.
[28:58] Of our own. Abilities. And our own self-worth. And so. We're so. So. Reluctant. To hand over. To God. Because we're afraid. That he can't do it.
[29:09] We probably. I would be very. Ashamed to say that. That I. Am afraid that God. Can't do it. But if you were to really. Analyze. If you're.
[29:20] If my heart was exposed. So that you could. Really. See. What I was. Deep down. Thinking. That's part of the problem. Is that I'm afraid that.
[29:31] That God might forget about me. That he might. That he might not. Have the ability. To really. Deal with this. That he.
[29:42] Might work it out. In a way that. It's not the way that I want. And so there are all these. Kind of. Distractions. And issues going on. At the same time. And so.
[29:53] This is why the Lord says. You have to hand. The. These things. Over to me. And. It says. Cast. This is what the actual.
[30:03] Word says. That we are to cast. The Lord doesn't say. Right. You do your best. And I'll come alongside you. And I'll help you. That's not what he says. Whatever. He's saying.
[30:14] Whatever your worries. Your cares. Your burdens. Your anxieties. You see. That will. Hand them over to me. You see. We can't say to.
[30:25] When troubles. And it would be great. If we could. And if troubles. Come into our life. And we get anxious. We can't just say. Right. Anxiety. I bid you be gone. That's good. Great.
[30:36] Not worried anymore. You and I know. It doesn't work like that. And so we see. That we have to. Cast. There has to be like a. A deliberate.
[30:48] Commitment. On our part. Where we. Before God. We take. All that is troubling us. And all that is worrying us. And all that is. Distracting us.
[30:58] Because the word. Anxiety. Means to divide. And that's what. That's what anxiety does. It divides our mind. And it gets us all. Hit up. And fret up. And so.
[31:09] The Lord says. Cast it. It's like. Get it. And throw it. Onto me. Give it to me. Completely. And you know. We're kind of reluctant.
[31:20] To do that. Because we say. All right Lord. Here I am. I'm giving you. All my anxieties. But you know what we like to do. We want to keep a hand on ourselves. We half.
[31:31] Half heartedly. Give them to the Lord. We give them to the Lord. And then we take them. Straight back again. Oh Lord. I give all my concern. Here I am Lord. And I'm riddled with worry.
[31:42] And I'm riddled with concerns. Lord. Will you sort this out. And will you give me your peace. This is what you pray. And then two minutes later.
[31:53] You take it all back again. Oh I need to. Oh I better worry about it. Oh this is terrible. And so we end up taking it all back. So you see.
[32:04] We have to. There has to be a commitment. A definite part. An exercise with us. When we hand everything over to the Lord.
[32:16] And so we find that we throw. It's like I said we're throwing it away. And the wonderful thing that we have to discover then is that.
[32:29] We don't just throw everything to the Lord. And then just turn away. What do we do? The Lord that we give everything to. Is the Lord that we must continue to focus upon.
[32:43] Because this is the key. This is the key. To helping us in our anxieties. It's not just that we cast our anxieties onto the Lord. You see faith.
[32:53] It's by faith that we do that. And faith however dimly. However poorly we see the Lord. That's what we're doing. We're taking our faith. And we're handing it over to him.
[33:05] But we're looking at the one we're handing over to. It's to the Lord we're looking. We're saying Lord here you are. I can't deal with this myself. This is beyond me. I can't sleep because of this.
[33:16] I'm worried. But the Lord says right. What I want you to do is continue to look to me. Focus upon me. May I be your vision.
[33:29] And that's exactly what the word tells us. And you know what it says in Isaiah. You will keep him or her in perfect peace. Whose mind, that is whose thoughts, are stayed or fixed on you.
[33:45] Because he trusts in you. So if our mind, our focus is upon the Lord. Upon his greatness and his power. And his strength. And his justice.
[33:57] And his ability to do and to sort out. And our focus is there. Then the Lord says the result of that is. That there will come into your heart.
[34:10] A settled peace. It's exactly the same as the Apostle Paul was saying in Philippians. And he was saying don't be anxious about anything. We know that so well. But in everything.
[34:23] By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known to God. And what's the result? That the peace of God. Which surpasses all understanding.
[34:36] Will guard your heart and your minds. Isn't that wonderful? And that is why. For instance the Apostle Paul. Who wrote from prison.
[34:48] And if any man had troubles in his life. And anxieties. It was Paul. And yet there was a tremendous. Calmness and peace about his life. And that was because he had learned to make the Lord his focus.
[34:59] And you will find some old Christians. And you see there's a serenity about them. And you say to yourself. There's just this sense of peace about them. And you say to yourself. Right word you must have a very peaceful life.
[35:12] And that the more you come to know about them. They've had anything but. A very troubled life. But the key. The secret is. That they have learned to focus upon the Lord.
[35:23] And as they do so. His peace. comes and fills their heart. So we are to cast upon the Lord. Because he is mighty. He is all powerful.
[35:35] He is able to do everything. And you know this is part of the wonderful thing. Is that he can take the anxieties of everybody at the same time. Humanly speaking.
[35:46] We can't understand that. Because you and I know. When we. When we try and share. Or somebody shares their problems and their worries with us.
[35:57] That we can get quite burdened with that ourselves. And particularly if we are carrying. The shared burdens of a few folk. It really begins to weigh you down. But the Lord is all so powerful.
[36:09] And he can take everybody's burdens. And everybody's anxieties. And everybody's worries upon himself. And he is able to deal with them. But he is not only. All powerful.
[36:20] But he is willing. You see you could have somebody who is incredibly powerful. But they are not willing. But the Lord is willing. And he wants to do it. And he wants you to come. To him.
[36:30] And it doesn't matter how great or how little. As Jesus said. Come unto me all you who labour. All you who are burdened. Weary and heavy laden. And burdened in life.
[36:41] And I will give you rest. Then we see the promise. Because he cares for you. Isn't that wonderful? Who wrote this? It's the Apostle Peter. And Peter could.
[36:52] Peter says. I know Jesus. Look at what he did in my life. See how he cared for me. He came to my home one time. My mother-in-law was really ill. What was the first thing he did?
[37:03] He dealt with it. And he healed it. He cares. I was drowning one time. And Jesus rescued me. Because he cares for me. Sadly there was a time in my life.
[37:15] Peter says. And I denied him terribly. Jesus cared for me. And he restored me. With so much love. I was due to be executed one night.
[37:27] I was in prison. And the night before the execution. He cared for me so much. That he sent an angel to deliver me. Peter knew exactly what he was writing about. And one of the beautiful things.
[37:38] About the Christian faith. Is. That the starting point. Is that God is here. Caring for us. He already cares for us. You know some religions.
[37:49] You have to almost like. Awake and slumbering deities. Or whatever. Like for instance. Baal. Remember how. The prophets of Baal. Up on Carmel. Elijah was saying. You better call a bit louder.
[38:01] Maybe. Maybe he's sleeping. And they would say. Oh Baal. Hear us. That's never the case with the Lord. He's not only awake and watching. But he's already caring for you.
[38:13] That's a starting point. We discover that. You know. It's one of the wonderful things. When you become a Christian. You realize it. Oh. I don't have to. Now go to the Lord. And ask him to care for me. He already is.
[38:24] His love and his care has found me. And so. This is a beautiful thing. He cares. And he pities us. So often we read about that. About Jesus. That he was moved with compassion.
[38:37] As he saw the needs. In so many people. He pities us. As a father pities his children. So the Lord pities them. That fear him. So I would urge you.
[38:49] To make it the habit of your life. That you go to the Lord. Constantly. With your worries. With your anxieties. With your problems. In fact with your life. And give your life to him.
[39:01] Because there's nothing greater that you could do. Because. He. He is. At the end of the day. He is. Our life. And you know.
[39:12] You won't lose anything out. By giving yourself to the Lord. In fact. It's not only you won't lose. But you will gain. Everything. Let's pray.
[39:22] Lord we give thanks for. The encouragement. That your word is to us. And we pray. That you will grant us a faith. That will look to you. To listen to you. Learn from you. And trust you.
[39:33] With all our heart. Forgive us our sins. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Let us conclude. We're singing from Psalm 103.
[39:44] We quoted just a moment ago. From verse 13. We're going to sing from verse 8. To verse 13. I'll read verse 8. The Lord our God is merciful. And he is gracious.
[39:56] Long suffering. And slow to wrath. In mercy. Plenteous. Verse 12. As far as east is distant from the west. So far as he removed. In his love.
[40:07] All her iniquity. Such pity as a father hath. Unto his children dear. Like pity shows the Lord to such. Let's worship him in fear.
[40:19] And sing these verses. Psalm 103. Verses 8 to 13. The Lord our God is merciful.
[40:33] And he is gracious. He will not die continually.
[40:51] He will not die continually.
[41:04] Nor keep his handless still. With us he dwells not as we sit.
[41:20] Lord, if we quite our ill. For us the heaven is high.
[41:36] The earth's our mountain fire. So great to God's love.
[41:49] But to him fear. His tender mercy's heart.
[42:00] As far as he stays distant from the west.
[42:11] So far hath he. From us we were bred in his love.
[42:25] All our living mercy. Such pity as the father hath.
[42:41] Unto his children dear. Like pity shows the Lord to such.
[42:58] As worship him in fear. Thank you for being with us today.
[43:09] And please come again to the evening service. On the evening online service. At half past six. That will be conducted by Reverend James McKeever.
[43:22] Now may the grace, mercy and peace. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Rest and abide upon each one of you now and forevermore. Amen.