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[0:00] . I extend a very warm welcome to everybody this morning, those here and also those joining with us online.

[0:46] As you can see, there's a change to the scheduled programme. My retirement's been very short. But the Minister James McKeever was in contact with somebody with COVID and last night discovered that.

[1:02] So he's been requested to isolate until he gets a test tomorrow. So I'm taking the morning service and Scott McLeod is taking the evening service.

[1:15] You will find all the intimations on the bulletin sheet. So take your time going through them. And as you know, there's a baptismal service today. Things obviously because of social distancing and the requirements, things will be slightly different.

[1:32] So we have to take each couple up individually, one by one, when it comes to the time of the actual baptism. But we'll begin our service singing to God's praise in Psalm 100.

[1:45] And this is from the Scottish Psalter, Psalm 100. I'll sing the whole psalm. Psalm 100.

[2:00] Psalm 100. First version. All people that on earth do dwell sing to the Lord with cheerful voice. Him, said with mirth, his praise forth tell. Come ye before him and rejoice.

[2:13] Know that the Lord is God indeed. Without our aid he did us make. We are his flock, he doth us feed. And for his sheep he doth us take. Psalm 100.

[2:23] We sing the whole psalm. And we stand to sing all people that on earth do dwell. All people that on earth do dwell.

[2:41] Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice. Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.

[2:52] Him, said with mirth, his praise forth tell. And he before him and rejoice.

[3:11] Know that the Lord is God indeed. And for his sheep he doth us feed.

[3:21] With mirth, his praise forth tell. And for his sheep he doth us feed. And for his sheep he doth us feed. And for his sheep he doth us feed.

[3:40] And for his sheep he doth us feed. O enter then his gates with praise.

[4:01] Approach with joy his courts unto. Praise God and bless his name always.

[4:21] For it is in blissful to do. For why the Lord our God is good.

[4:42] His mercy is forever sure. His truth hath all times firmly stood.

[5:02] And shall promise to age in you.

[5:13] Let us bow in prayer. Lord as we gather before you today we pray that you will bless us.

[5:27] We give thanks for every time that we have this opportunity where we can meet with the King of Glory. And we ask Lord that our hearts might be open to receive your truth.

[5:38] That we may hear and that we might put into practice what we hear. Lord forgive us for how often we do hear and we are all too ready to either ignore or even suppress the truth that we hear.

[5:52] Because we feel that your truth interferes with the way that we might want to live. Forgive us Lord for that attitude because it is sin. And we are all guilty of that.

[6:03] But we ask Lord that you will give us a growing desire to adhere to your word. May your word become more important to us as we journey through life.

[6:15] May we come to discover greater riches from it. And it is as we go on in the knowledge of your truth. That we come to see more and more of the wonder and the glory of who you are.

[6:29] And what you are actually doing for us. Grant us the faith to see you because without that we cannot see. Grant us the faith to see into your words so that we might see wondrous things in your law.

[6:42] Help us Lord to hear what God the Lord will speak. Because he speaks peace to his people. And we pray that in this world where there is so much pain and suffering.

[6:54] And so much confusion and anxiety. That we might know God's peace as we listen to your word. And as we come to rest in you more and more. Grant us grace Lord to trust you with all our heart.

[7:07] That is what your word requires of us. 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.

[7:19] And we pray oh Lord that you will grant us the grace so to do. That every day that we might be able to trust you with all our heart. Because that is probably the most difficult thing that is required of us.

[7:32] We will trust you with a bit of ourselves. But we always want to keep part that we are in control of life. Help us Lord to realize that the greatest peace that we can enjoy is when we hand everything over to you.

[7:47] We pray that you will bless us in here today. Every single one of us. Bless us Lord with health and with strength. We pray Lord that you will keep us safe. That you will do us good.

[7:59] And that there will not be any spread of COVID that will take place here. We pray for Mr McKeever and those who is in contact with that actually have COVID.

[8:11] And pray for full recovery on. And pray that his test will prove negative tomorrow. We ask Lord that you will grant your grace to those who are suffering with this illness.

[8:24] And those who have had the long COVID. We ask Lord that you will bless them and help them. And grant them recovery. We pray Lord for all who are ill at this time.

[8:35] And we know that there are so many other illnesses. And so many have been laid aside. There have been strange times. And people have battled many illnesses. And we ask Lord that you will be with those who are going through difficult times.

[8:49] Whether it is through surgery or treatment. Or in whatever way we ask that your blessing will be upon them. Ask Lord for those who struggle with their mind. For those who are in a dark place.

[9:01] For filled with anxieties and fears. Lord we pray that you will help them. And ask Lord that you will grant them strength and grace. We pray Lord that we might have forgiving spirits one with another as we journey through life.

[9:15] It is so easy to hold on to grudges. It is so difficult often to forgive and to forget. Help us Lord to have the spirit of Jesus who said Father forgive them for they know not what they do.

[9:28] And we pray Lord that we might have also that forgiving spirit. We pray Lord that you will bless us as a congregation. And bless all congregations today that gather under your word.

[9:41] Pray especially for parents who are here today with their little ones for baptism. What a wonderful privilege it is to see young lives that are being desiring to be brought up in the fear of the Lord.

[9:57] And we pray that you will grant wisdom and grace and guidance to parents as they seek to fulfill the obligations and the promises that they make before you.

[10:08] And Lord we pray that you will give them wisdom day in day out. We know that it can be a very challenging thing bringing up children.

[10:19] And it is a difficult world that they are being brought up in. But we pray that you will grant them grace and help. And we remember your word which says to train up a child in the way that he will go.

[10:32] And when he is old will not depart from it. We pray for all for whom a day like this is very difficult. We remember those who may have lost little ones.

[10:43] Those who understand and know the pain of what that involves. We ask Lord that you will heal the broken hearts and that you will be with each and every one.

[10:56] Pray for those Lord who also may not be able to have children. And we ask that your blessing will be upon them too. We realize that you are God sovereign over each and every one of us.

[11:09] And ask Lord that you will bless this world that we are part of. Remember Afghanistan. We are horrified when we see harrowing pictures coming out.

[11:20] And we see just the awfulness of what sin is. The ugliness of it. Sometimes we are able to capture just what it really is. And Lord we ask that into all the cares that might be there.

[11:35] That it might please you to bring peace. Lord do us good then we pray. Grant us your grace. We pray for Scott tonight who will take the service and ask your blessing to be upon him.

[11:48] And bless him and guide him with regard to the whole road to ministry. And we pray for Fiona as well. And we pray your blessing upon Donald who was, Donald McLeod who was here a couple of weeks ago.

[12:00] Ask your blessing upon him as well. We'll remember Colin and Aileen McLeod who had big decisions to make. And ask Lord your guidance upon them. And that you will lead them in the right way we pray.

[12:11] Watch over us and do us good. And cleanse us from our sin we pray. In Jesus name. Amen. I'm just going to say a wee word to the young folk before we then say the Lord's Prayer and come to our reading.

[12:27] And a week or so ago I was, I put on a good shirt and I was just fixing a tie. I was putting on my tie. And Joshua came through and he looked at me and he said, oh Papa get a toffee.

[12:40] I've been called a lot of things in life but nobody had ever called me a toffee before. So I just couldn't figure it out. So anyway I went through and Marie and Ewan were in.

[12:52] I said, Joshua just called me a toffee. And they started laughing. Or they said, sometimes when we get them dressed in nice clothes we say, what a toffee you are.

[13:03] Ah, I said that makes a difference. And it just made me think how often we, by our words we get things completely wrong.

[13:14] We can give wrong messages. We can say the wrong things just by a wrong word. And sometimes we say things that we don't mean and we can hurt people. Sometimes we say things that aren't true.

[13:27] And again, that can be a very dangerous thing. Sometimes we can do that deliberately and sometimes accidentally we don't realize it. So we really have to be very careful with our words.

[13:41] But you know the one person that we can absolutely guarantee that his words are always true and right is Jesus. And we have Jesus' words here in the Bible.

[13:52] And he speaks to us only the truth. Doesn't give mixed messages. Doesn't tell us something that means one thing. But it looks like another.

[14:05] His words are truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And in a day where there are so many mixed messages and so many people don't know what's true or what's not, it's great to know that you can come to God's word and it is actually true.

[14:23] We're going to look at a little boy in the Bible. That's when we come to the reading and sermon, Samuel. And when he was a boy, God spoke to him.

[14:34] And he didn't understand. And he was told to say this, speak, Lord, for your servant hears. Great advice. Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.

[14:46] And you know, every time we come to the Bible, that's what we should do as well. And say to the Lord, speak, Lord, for I'm ready to hear. And you ask the Lord to help you to hear what he says.

[15:01] We're 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.

[15:13] Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

[15:25] For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen. We're going to read God's word now in the book of Samuel. The book of Samuel and the first chapter.

[15:37] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[15:48] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. 1 Samuel, chapter 1. There was a certain man of Ramath, of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroam, son of Elihu, son of Toho, son of Zoph, an Ephrathite.

[16:11] He had two wives. The name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Pinaina. And Pinaina had children, but Hannah had no children. Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord.

[16:33] On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Penina, his wife, and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.

[16:48] And her rival used to provoke her grievously, to irritate her, because the Lord had closed her womb. So it went on year by year. As often as she went up to the house of the Lord, she used to provoke her.

[17:04] Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. And Elkanah her husband said to her, Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?

[17:19] After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.

[17:33] And she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant, and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.

[17:53] And she continued praying before the Lord. Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her heart. Only her lips moved and her voice was not heard.

[18:06] Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. And Eli said to her, how long will you go on being drunk? Put away your wine from you. But Hannah answered, no, my Lord.

[18:17] I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord. Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for all along I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation.

[18:35] Then Eli answered, go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him. And she said, let your servant find favor in your eyes.

[18:49] Then the woman went on her way, and Dayton, her face was no longer sad. Then she rose early in the morning and worshipped before the Lord. Then they went back to their house at Ramah, and Elkanah knew Hannah, his wife, and the Lord remembered her.

[19:04] And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. And she called his name Samuel, for she said, I have asked for him from the Lord. The man Elkanah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow.

[19:21] But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, As soon as a child is weaned, I will bring him, so that he may appear in the presence of the Lord and dwell there forever.

[19:32] And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, Do what seems best to you. Wait until you have weaned him. Only may the Lord establish his word.

[19:44] So the woman remained and nursed her son until she weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh.

[19:59] And the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, O my Lord, as you live, my Lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord.

[20:13] For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.

[20:25] And he worshipped the Lord there. Amen. And may God bless to us this reading of his own holy word. And maybe you're just focusing in on verse 27, where Hannah says, For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him.

[20:46] Now we know the story of Hannah and little Samuel is one of the great stories in the Bible. And there are many, many different lessons that we can get from it.

[20:58] But of course, one of the great lessons at the very heart of it is the fact that God is a God who hears and answers prayer. That's something we always ought to remember.

[21:10] Because we see in this how Hannah was in great bitterness of heart. There was this huge weight in her heart, and she brought it to the Lord.

[21:22] And the Bible tells us that we are to bring everything to the Lord in prayer. Sometimes we think it's only spiritual things, but we're told to bring everything, anything and everything. And that means everything.

[21:35] When God says everything, that's exactly what he means. Things that you might think are of little importance. But we know that often it's things of little importance that turn out to be really important in our lives.

[21:50] So we're to bring to the Lord everything. And that's what we're told in Philippines. In everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.

[22:04] Now, when Eli the priest, when he was the main priest here up in Shiloh in the temple, we read that he had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas.

[22:15] And sadly, if we were to read through into the book of Samuel, we would find that they were actually wicked men, very immoral men. And this was quite a dark time in the history of Israel.

[22:31] Israel swung between periods where things were going well, and then other times where we're told that everybody did what was right in their own eyes. In other words, if it feels good for you, do it.

[22:46] Now, if we live like that, it's going to bring us into a world of chaos, because everybody has different ideas of what is good and what is right and what is wrong. And what might be right for one person is wrong for another.

[23:00] But if we adopt that kind of philosophy, which in many ways is almost how it is today, then we certainly will lose our moral compass in life.

[23:10] And that's why it's so important that we take our leading, our guidance from what God the Lord is saying. So these were quite difficult times, and it was a heartbreak to Eli to see his sons living the way that they did.

[23:28] But it's into that environment that little Samuel came, and we see how Hannah had such trust in the Lord that she was ready to give or to commit little Samuel into that environment.

[23:44] But it comes back, and we'll see that, the importance of training up a child in the way that he or she should go. Now, as we said, little Samuel was born at a time when this woman, Hannah, was in great distress.

[24:04] And what I love about this story is, and particularly this verse, is that Hannah is standing in the temple here with little Samuel, and she says, for this child I prayed.

[24:19] Isn't that a wonderful moment? Here she is with her hand on little Samuel, and she's saying, here is the answer to prayer. Remember, Eli, remember the time I was in great distress, and you thought I was drunk.

[24:33] I wasn't drunk. And I told you what the distress I was in, and you very nicely said, may the Lord grant you what you have asked for.

[24:43] Well, this is what I asked for. This is him. And of course, we'll see that Hannah had made a promise at the time when she prayed. And it's a wonderful thing when we're able to see the result of our prayers, where we can see the answer to our prayers.

[25:03] Now, sometimes we cannot see our answers in a tangible way like Hannah could with little Samuel. But often we discover, sometimes we pray to God for strength to take us through a difficult situation, or we pray for grace to cope.

[25:22] And, you know, often we look back and we realize, you know, God took me through that. If God hadn't helped me, I couldn't have got through that. Sometimes he will give us his love in order for us to forgive somebody.

[25:36] But very often, as we go through the testing times and the sore times and the difficult times of our life, and we pray for grace and we pray for help and we pray for strength, and sometimes we pray it so quickly, but afterwards we look back and say, you know, God answered my prayer.

[25:53] He took me through that. And I had a strength that, you know, I've often heard people say that. You know, I was given a strength that was beyond me. I was given something.

[26:04] Even people who might not be incredibly religious, and yet they're so aware that God has helped them in that particular situation. And this is something that we need to discover more and more of just how gracious and wonderful that God is, that he's a prayer hearing and a prayer answering God.

[26:25] Now, Hannah's great distress was that she had no child. She was childless. And in Old Testament times, there was an incredible almost pressure in society for wives to be bearing children.

[26:44] It was looked upon us almost a disgrace. That was the culture of the time. But we see that Hannah had no child. And this became a huge burden to her.

[26:59] But it's very important to notice what it actually says. Because in verse 5 it says, But to Hannah, this is her husband, gave a double portion because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb.

[27:14] Notice what it says there. And we've always got to remember this, that God is in control of everything. He is sovereign over everything.

[27:26] And you know, that makes a huge difference to life. Because if you or I go through life, and we think that we're masters of our own destiny, and that every decision and everything that we make in life, that it's all about us, and then when things go pear-shaped, and things go wrong, and our world collapses, then we're in absolute distress, because we think, This is all my doing.

[27:51] Because if I'm master of my own destiny, and my life becomes a mess, then it's all my fault. That's the obvious outcome. But if we look beyond ourselves, and realize that we're actually not masters of our own destiny, but that God is sovereign over all our lives, then that takes a huge burden off life.

[28:18] And it makes us realize that in those things that are out of our control, that it's not our necessary doing that has left us in this situation, but that providence, which often we cannot control, is far greater than we are.

[28:39] And that's why it's so important to trust our lives, to commit our lives to one who is far greater than us. And it really helps us to deal often with the great issues of life, is when we hand everything over to the Lord.

[28:59] You know, I remember when I was converted, somebody who isn't a Christian said to me, I thought you were stronger than that. I thought you were stronger in life than to lean upon that crutch, because that's all that Christianity is.

[29:16] It's a crutch. He said, get rid of it. I said, well, even if I could get rid of it, I wouldn't. But I've often thought about it, and to a certain extent, what that man said was actually true.

[29:28] Because we do come to a place where we realize, you know what, I can't actually make it through life on my own. And it's not just about me. And it's this awareness that there is someone far greater who is there for us.

[29:44] He's there to help us. And at one level, there is a certain extent that it is a crutch, in a sense, because we have come to depend upon him, to give our lives over to him.

[29:59] Well, that's what Hannah was doing here. So she had come, and she came to the temple, because the pain in her heart had become so great. But you see, there was an added problem.

[30:13] Elkanah had taken another wife, Peninnah or Penina. And Penina had children, and it's very likely that Elkanah took another wife in order to raise up a family.

[30:25] And, of course, this became a huge source of bitterness in Hannah's heart, because Peninnah was always mocking her and making fun of her, and going for the jugular all the time, making her life miserable.

[30:44] Now, we know that in Old Testament times, that many people, not all, but many practiced polygamy. They took more than one wife. Now, God never authorized that.

[30:58] Although he seemed, as it were, to allow it and to accept it, it was never his specific direction, directive. Because very clearly, back in Genesis, it tells us, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife.

[31:16] And they too, the two of them, shall be one flesh. Now, as we know, in the Old Testament, there was a lot of those that had more than one wife. But, you know, you study your Bible, and every home that had more than one wife, there was always trouble and there was always strife.

[31:34] Whether it was in Abraham's home, or in Jacob's home, or in David's home, or in Solomon's home, you go to them all. And all of them who multiplied wives, they multiplied trouble and divisions and problems within the family circle.

[31:53] Though God permitted it and allowed it, he never gave his directive and his authority to it. So, this is, it brought this problem in this home.

[32:04] And we find that Hannah went to the temple, and she poured out her heart to the Lord. And, you know, it's the best thing you can do. See when trouble comes into your life.

[32:16] When everything in your life really goes pear-shaped. There are times that there's nowhere else you can go but to the Lord. And maybe you're like that today.

[32:28] Because, you know, often we harbor griefs and sorrows personally in ourselves. Because sometimes we don't have anybody that we feel that we can pour our heart out to.

[32:42] Sometimes we try and we feel people aren't listening. Or that somebody you're trying to tell and you know they don't understand what I'm talking about. And that can be difficult.

[32:54] Well, Hannah knew where to go. And that was one of the beautiful things about Jesus. It tells us so often in the New Testament that he was moved with compassion. The words mean, we've said it often enough before, but your pain in my heart.

[33:09] Isn't that a beautiful description of compassion? Your pain in my heart. In other words, I understand exactly what you're going through. I understand your pain.

[33:23] And we are asked in the word of God to bring our sorrows, our distresses to the Lord and to hand them to him. And he has promised to sustain us. Cast your burden upon the Lord and he will sustain you.

[33:36] He has promised to give you his peace in the midst of your turmoil and your distress. And that's exactly what God did in Hannah's experience.

[33:47] Because when she left the temple, she was such a different woman. She went in brokenhearted, bitter, sad, downcast. She couldn't even eat her food.

[33:58] When she came back, her face was radiant. She was happy because she knew God had heard and God was going to answer her prayer. And that was great faith. And so she prayed for a little child.

[34:13] But she did more than that. She made a promise in the prayer. She prayed that if the Lord would answer this, that she would give the child back to the Lord to serve him all the days of his life.

[34:27] Isn't that a wonderful thing? And so Hannah makes this promise. And you know, it's one of the most wonderful things to be a child of prayer, to grow up being the child of prayer.

[34:39] And you know, today's a day of baptism and parents are taking promises to bring up their children in a particular way, to bring them up in the sphere of the church and to bring them up with the influence at home of God.

[34:55] In other words, that we bring God's word to bear, like whether it's saying grace or reading Bible stories or teaching them to pray and praying with them and taking them to God's house, taking them to Sunday school and all the activities that are part of the church.

[35:12] It's such an important part of life. Because I know today as parents, the one thing that you all want for your children is the very best. No parent who says, you know, I don't want the best for my child.

[35:25] You want the very best. And when you want the best, that means teaching them about the Lord. We want health.

[35:35] We want strength for them. We hope and pray that they get on well in the world and that God will provide for them. But above all, we pray for their souls.

[35:46] So precious. And you know, we only get one chance at it because children grow up so quickly. It's one thing parents are always saying, if spared that the child grows up, where have the years gone?

[36:00] Because when they're wee little children, it seems there's so much ahead. But all of a sudden, they've grown up. So it's important that we take these years and that we instruct them in the way of the Lord.

[36:15] It's the greatest thing you can do for them is teach them well in the way of the Lord and make them as children of prayer. Maybe some of you, maybe some of you as older people, you have been a child of prayer.

[36:30] Maybe you were prayed for in the womb. Maybe you were prayed for in the cot. Maybe you were prayed for every day. You know, it's a wonderful thing if you're somebody who was prayed for all the way through.

[36:41] And even though sometimes people have been brought up in the way of the Lord, and maybe as the years have gone on, they've wandered off. But you know something? What they've heard and what they've been taught never really goes away.

[36:57] And many a time it's later on that the word that they heard when they were young comes back. And God uses that and blesses people. So you make sure that when you have the opportunity that you teach these young minds, that you feed these young minds in the way of truth.

[37:19] Because it's the greatest thing that you can do for them. And we're going to sing just now. And as we sing, the mums are going to come in with the little ones and the tweenies are also going to come in as well.

[37:36] We're going to sing from Psalm 25. Psalm 25. And this is from Sing Psalms. It's on page 29.

[37:49] We're going to sing verses 4 to 9. Psalm 25, verses 4 to 9.

[37:59] O Lord, reveal to me your ways. And all your paths help me to know. Direct and guide me in your truth. Instruct me in the way to go.

[38:11] You are my Saviour and my God. All day I hope in you alone. Remember, Lord, your love and grace, which from past ages you have shown.

[38:21] Do not recall my sins of youth or my rebellious evil ways. Remember me in your great love. For you, O Lord, are good always. Because the Lord is just and good, he shows his path to all who stray.

[38:37] He guides the meek in what is right and teaches them his holy ways. Psalm 25, verses 4 to 9. Again, we stand to sing.

[38:47] O Lord, reveal to me your ways.

[39:02] And all your paths help me to know. Correct and guide me in your truth.

[39:21] And instruct me in the way to know. You are my Saviour and my God.

[39:42] All day I hope in you alone. Remember, Lord, your love and grace, which from past ages you have shown.

[40:13] Do not recall my sins of youth For my rebellious evil ways.

[40:35] Remember me in your great love.

[40:47] For you, O Lord, my good always. Be called, O Lord, O Lord, your love and grace.

[41:03] O Lord, your love and grace. And I hope in you, O Lord, your love and grace. How long are you, O Lord, your love and grace. Thank you.

[41:36] Thank you.

[42:06] And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

[42:28] And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Now, as we saw, when we're looking at the little Samuel and Hannah, we saw there that, and we mentioned that, that Hannah had made a promise to God.

[42:46] And she said that she would give Samuel back to serve the Lord all the days of his life. Now, as we know, a little child is one of the most precious gifts, or the most precious gift that we can be given.

[43:01] And again, we don't know for how long that that precious gift will be given. And I know that it's one of the great heartbreaks for parents, and some will know exactly what that is, when a precious little life is taken.

[43:17] And that's why, again, we emphasize the importance of seeing that God is sovereign overall, however difficult and painful things can be.

[43:28] But we know that, by and large, the main run of things, our children grow up, and that is our great prayer today, that all these little babies that have come today for baptism, that they will grow up in health and in strength, and that God will provide for them in life.

[43:48] But above all, that they will come to know the Lord. But while the church today is baptizing, the great responsibility is being placed upon the parents, upon the mums and the dads.

[44:04] And yes, we, I would like that the church here today, that we would remember the parents and the children, and that they would become part of our prayers. That's our responsibility and duty as well.

[44:16] But it's the great responsibility for the mums and the dads to teach their children, to bring them up in the way of the Lord. That's what they're promising to do today.

[44:27] And that's what Hannah did. She made that promise, and she stuck to it. And God expects us to stick to the promises that we make. It would be better, in fact, not to make the promise if we have no intention of not sticking to it.

[44:42] But God expects us, when we make the promise, to stick to the promise that we have made. So we're going to, as I say, this is going to be a wee bit different, because we're going to have to bring up the couples individually.

[44:59] Rather, normally it was much more straightforward, but because of the whole social distancing thing, we've got to do it a wee bit, it's got to be a wee bit different on this occasion.

[45:11] So I'm going to come down and let me put on this, and then I'll ask the parents three very simple questions.

[45:25] I think I've probably got to wear the mask, because I'm going to be close to you.

[45:58] So first of all, I'm going to ask, maybe if you could stand up the parents just now, and I'll start with you, Murdo, as you're number one like that.

[46:10] But I'll just, do you believe that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as is revealed to us in the Word of God, is living and through God?

[46:23] And do you accept that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Savior of sinners?

[46:38] And finally, do you promise to bring up your child here in the fear and in the nurture and the teaching of the Lord?

[46:55] I'm going to ask the congregation now to be upstanding.

[47:10] And I'm going to call up Murdo and Carol Ann first with little Angus. Angus McLean, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God.

[47:34] May God bless you and keep you. May he shine his face upon you, and may you come to know him as your Lord and Savior. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[47:44] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Genesis. Amen. Amen. Amen. God, and Julie. God, and Julie give us a nice listen, Joseph, and I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God.

[48:08] May God bless you and keep you. May God shine his face upon you and keep you saved. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. you will come to know the Lord Jesus. That's what we'll say here. Ian and Kim, Jessica Rose MacDonald.

[48:33] Holly's been here before. Jessica Rose MacDonald, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, may God bless you and keep you, may God shine his face upon you and keep you safe.

[48:51] And we pray that you will come to know the Lord Jesus as your own Savior. Alistair and Lauren MacDonald.

[49:07] We've got to hear Stephen James MacDonald. Stephen James MacDonald, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God.

[49:20] May God bless you and keep you. May God shine his face upon you and keep you safe. And we pray that you will come to know the Lord Jesus as your own Savior. Martin and Jenny.

[49:34] Martin and Jenny. Martin and Jenny MacDonald.

[49:48] With Campbell Jack Earle. Campbell Jack Earle, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God.

[49:58] May God bless you and keep you. May God shine his face upon you and keep you safe. And we pray that you will come to know the Lord Jesus as your own Savior. Alexander and Amy.

[50:13] Amy. Donald. With Amber. Amber MacDonald, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God.

[50:31] May God bless you and keep you. May God shine his face upon you and keep you safe. We pray that the Lord will be, that you'll come to know Jesus as your own Savior.

[50:47] Mark and Emma MacLeod. Alexander David.

[51:04] Alexander Donald. Alexander Donald MacLeod, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God.

[51:17] May God bless you and keep you. May God shine his face upon you and keep you safe. And we pray that you'll come to know Jesus as your own Savior. Amen.

[51:27] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. We'll have a word of prayer.

[51:46] precious young lives were brought before you and where parents took vows in your presence. We pray that today might remain with the parents and that they will remember what it is that they have done because we know that you will remember. And we pray that these young precious lives will be blessed by you and that you will bless the respective parents and all their families and that you will indeed be gracious to them, that they will know your presence and your peace and your love. Lord, that you will make the way straight before them. Grant them wisdom in a day of uncertainty. When little Samuel was brought to the temple, these were dangerous times and the temple, though it shouldn't have been, was a dangerous place. But Hannah's faith was such that she had taught little Samuel in the way of the Lord and she trusted that the Lord would look after him and he did. And we believe that the Lord will look after these young lives too. And so we pray for parents and children, pray for grandparents, we pray for all the relatives, all brothers, sisters, each and every one. We commit to your care and keeping. Do us good then, cleanse us from our every sin. In Jesus' name we ask it all. Amen.

[53:09] Congregation may now be seated. Our final singing now is from Psalm number 23, the 23rd Psalm. This is from the Scottish Psalter.

[53:25] And again, we'll stand to sing. And after, when we have the benediction, again, as we, it's customary, we have to exercise social distancing still. So if we just wait for those who are on duty to guide and to lead us out, and I would imagine it'll be the parents will go out first, but we'll wait until we get instructions after the benediction. So we just take our seat after the benediction.

[54:02] The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord's my shepherd. I'll not want. He makes me down to lie. In pastures green, he leadeth me. The quiet waters by. The whole psalm, the Lord's my shepherd. I'll not want.

[54:18] We'll stand to sing. The Lord's my shepherd. I'll not want. He makes me down to lie. In pastures green, he the wind, he leads me. The quiet waters by. The quiet waters by. The quiet waters by.

[55:05] The quiet waters by. The quiet waters by. The waiting temer меся nurses. And um. The quiet waters by. The quiet waters by. The quiet waters by. Can't hold the Whiched of the bedroom. The quiet waters by. And you still live. The limer killing. The quiet waters by.

[55:20] The light of the night and wind. And you still alive. The quiet waters by. The quiet waters. When the heart of righteousness In hope they soul may stay Dear O I won't in death thine will Yet well I fear not ill For thou art with me and my Lord And shall be comforted

[56:28] My table of love has furnished it In presence of my Lord My head thou dost with oil anoint And my cup overflows Goodness and mercy all my life Shall surely call thee

[57:31]  And in our times forevermore My dwelling place shall be What incredibly good children Now may the grace, mercy and peace Of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit Rest and abide upon each one of you Now and forevermore Amen