Welcome, too, to those tuning in online. We know there's many tuning in online as well, as we all pray God's blessing on our time together.
So we're going to begin our worship by singing to God's praise.
And our first singing is Psalm 67, and the tune is Selma.
We're going to sing the whole of this psalm.
It's a psalm, it's a prayer, and it's a great prayer to have, that the Lord would be with us as we meet together, and on all his people today as they gather to worship.
Lord, bless and pity us, shine on us with thy face, that the earth thy way and nations all may know thy saving grace.
We're going to stand to sing to God's praise.
Amen.
Let people praise.
Let them praise.
First pour.
The earth.
The earth
Are you shall unit.
God find your honor.
God shall bless things send.
God shall us bless, men shall live near
until our status end.
Amen.
Well, we're going to come to God and pray now,
so we'll bow our heads in a word of prayer.
Our gracious Father in heaven,
we thank you for this, your day.
We thank you to be able to come in and worship together,
to sing these words of praise.
And they are really a prayer that we offer up
in song to you,
for they remind us of what we do
as we come to worship.
We come to know that you are here with us
as we meet.
And we pray, Lord, that you will indeed bless
and pity us and shine upon us
with your face anew today,
that we will know your goodness and your love
and your mercy towards us,
that you have been so good to us in so many ways.
We thank you for the week that we have had
and the beautiful weather we have enjoyed.
It's been a reminder to us, Lord,
of the beauty of your creation
as we see the sun rise and set in all its glory.
A reminder to us as well, Lord,
that you are the one who has made all these things,
that you are the one who keeps all of these things,
that every day and every moment of every day
is a time appointed by you.
And so we thank you for this time of worship.
We thank you for our family service together
as we give thanks for all of your goodness to us
even over this past year,
especially thinking of the Explorers and the Sunday School
and all the work done with our young people.
We do rejoice, O Lord,
in coming together here as a people.
We rejoice, O Lord,
in seeing so many coming together to worship you.
And we do thank you for all who helped
to make these things possible,
for all the volunteers and helpers
who have resumed Explorers over this last year
and who have helped with Sunday School over the past year
and indeed many years,
for all who have prayed for the work
and for all who have helped over the past number of years, Lord,
for all the work done among your young people.
We thank you for it all.
And we pray for those who have helped, Lord,
that you will encourage them and strengthen them
as they continue to do so much for our congregation.
And we above all pray today for all our young people.
We thank you for every one of them
and every family and home represented here.
We do give you thanks, O Lord,
that together we can come and praise your name
and give thanks for all that you have done for us,
especially through your own Son, Jesus Christ.
We thank you that you sent him into this world,
that he would be a saviour for it.
And may we know him as our saviour.
And as we come to your word today,
that you would bless it to all of us together,
here in the church and also in the hall next door as well,
that you would be with us, Lord,
as we open up your word and share from it
and hear of the greatness of your love,
that God so loved the world
that he sent his own Son.
So may that be blessed to us all.
We do pray for all our families and our friends
and communities at this time.
We especially remember those who maybe are unwell just now
or in hospital or recovering at home.
We pray, Lord, that you will surround them and help them
and be near to them day by day.
We especially give thanks, O Lord,
for Willie Graham being back in the hospital in Stornway
after a time away on the mainland.
And we thank you for the progress he's made.
And we pray that you will continue to watch over him
and more again, the family too,
as we commit them to you.
May your hand be over them
and upon all who need you in different ways at this time too.
Hear all our prayers, Lord,
and guide us in our worship
and give us hearts that are filled with thankfulness
for all of your goodness
as we ask it all with the forgiveness of our sins.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Well, in Explorers, you've been doing a lot over the last year.
It's been great to see the Explorers group
starting again over the past year.
It's great to see so many of you here today as well
and families sitting downstairs and upstairs as well together.
And today as we think of that word, Explorers,
what is it called to mind?
When you think of the word Explorer or Explorers,
what comes to your mind?
Well, as I was thinking about that this week,
something that came to my mind was
Explorers are people who go on journeys.
You often think of Explorers maybe in the past
who went to far off lands and explored new places
and sought to find maybe new parts of the world
or exploring for new resources
or different things like that.
You think of them maybe getting all their gear together
and maybe going on a ship,
sailing to a far off place
and searching for new lands.
Something else that's called to mind
was maybe people who go exploring,
looking for treasure.
Does anybody have a metal detector?
Anybody ever used a metal detector?
Sometimes you see people going out on a beach.
There's some people putting up their hands.
They go out on a beach
and they take a metal detector
to see if they can find something on the beach.
Maybe long lost treasure,
it's their hope.
But usually it's just a rusty bit of metal
or something like that we find
when we go out treasure hunting.
But it's this idea of exploring,
traveling, traveling, searching,
looking for something
or looking for somewhere, some place.
Exploring, it's exciting,
it's rewarding
and it's something that many people love to do.
And I hope that's something
that everyone who's been coming
to the Explorers,
to Sunday School,
but also to church week by week.
That's something that we love doing
because it's exciting,
it's rewarding
and we love to be together
to worship God above everything else.
Because above all,
as we explore
and as we come to Explorers,
what we want to be doing
is hearing and seeing
and exploring something
that's really precious,
really special,
and that's the love of God.
And that's what we're going to be thinking
about today in our service,
the love of God.
Like John 3, 16 says to us,
for God so loved the world
that he gave his only son
that whoever believes in him
should not perish
but have eternal life.
That's going to be the theme
of our service today,
that verse.
But what do you think of
when you think of love?
What does love mean?
Many people have different ideas
of what love means.
Some people will say,
I love ice cream.
I love chocolate.
I love to play football.
But is that really love?
And is that a deep love
like we want to explore?
How would you describe love?
Well, children were once asked,
children between the age of four and eight,
a group of them were once asked
to say and describe,
what is love?
And they came up with a number
of different answers.
One child said,
love is when you go out to eat
and give somebody most of your chips
without expecting anything in return.
You ever go out for food
and you have somebody with you
and they help yourself too,
all your food,
and you just happily give it to them
and you don't expect anything in return.
That's a kind of love, isn't it?
Somebody else said,
love is when mum gives dad
the best piece of the meat.
Maybe mum will take the little scraps
that are left over,
but she'll give to dad
the nice chunky bits of meat.
One child described love in that way.
Another person said,
love is when your puppy licks your face
even when you've left them alone all day.
Does anybody have that?
When maybe you come home from school,
the first thing that happens
is the dog will jump into your lap
and start licking your face.
Even though you haven't been with them all day,
there's this idea of love.
So think about that.
What is love?
How would you answer that question yourself?
Well, if we really want to know what love is,
the place that we have to explore and look to
is the Bible, God's word.
Because God not only tells us what his love is,
he shows us what his love is.
And that's what this verse is all about,
that God tells us about his love,
but that he also shows us his love.
There was one other answer I want to share with you
that the children gave to that question,
what is love?
One child said this,
God could have said magic words
to make the nails fall off the cross,
but he didn't.
And isn't that a good description of what love is?
God could have saved Jesus on the cross.
He could have taken him down off the cross,
but he didn't.
Because he gave him his own son
that we might have eternal life.
And that's a very precious love.
And that's what we're going to explore here in the church.
And as you go through to the tweenies in a moment as well,
we'll be exploring more of what the love of God is.
And that's our prayer that we will all come
to know the love of God.
Well, before we go on,
we're going to sing in a moment in Psalm 100,
but before we do,
we're going to say the Lord's Prayer together.
So let's say the Lord's Prayer.
Amen.
But we're going to sing together again now to God's praise.
We're going to sing in Psalm 100.
Psalm 100.
We'll sing together in that psalm.
And during this singing,
the tweenies can go out to the hall then.
So Psalm 100.
And the tune is Carlisle.
Shout to the Lord with joy,
all who to earth belong.
Adore the Lord with joyful hearts
and come to him in song.
We'll sing the whole of this psalm.
We stand to sing to God's praise.
Amen.
functions everywhere in impossible to respond.
Amen.
setzen appry to the Lord with joy,
all who do e'er beyond.
Amen.
And the tune is all you're at,
and with joyful hearts and grant
where you are at,
with joyful hearts and grant
and grant to him in song.
For the Lord with joyful heart
And come to Him in song
Know that the Lord is God
He made us as His own
We are the sheep for whom He cares
And strength of His sorrow
And tired His games with grace
His torches with thankfulness
Your praises gladly sing to Him
His name forevermore
For God the Lord is great
His love is ever sure
His constant truth and faithfulness
Through every age endure
We're going to read some of God's word together
John 3 verse 16 to verse 21
If you've got the order of service
It's in the middle of that
John 3 verse 16 to 21
For God so loved the world
That He gave His only Son
That whoever believes in Him
Should not perish
But have eternal life
For God did not send His Son
Into the world to condemn the world
But in order that the world
Might be saved through Him
Whoever believes in Him
Is not condemned
But whoever does not believe
Is condemned already
Because he has not believed
In the name of the only Son of God
And this is a judgment
The light has come into the world
And the people love the darkness
Rather than the light
Because their works were evil
For everyone who does wicked things
Hates the light
And does not come to the light
Lest his works should be exposed
But whoever does what is true
Comes to the light
So it may clearly be seen
That his works have been carried out
In God
There's a wonderful passage
Especially John 3 verse 16
It's a very famous verse
A verse that so many people
All over the world know
But the question often is
Do we know the love of that verse?
Do we know the God of that verse
And the Son that He gave
To show His love?
Because when you think about
How do you show someone
You love them?
There can be many ways
We can perhaps try and show
Our love to people
Sometimes it's by doing
Nice things for them
So we think about everybody
Who helps and volunteers
With explorers and Sunday school
On a week to week basis
Why do they do it?
Well it's because
First of all they love God
And then they love other people
They love you
Who come to the Sunday school
And explorers
And they want to share with you
That love of God
So that's a good way
To show someone
That you love them
Sometimes it's by saying
Nice things
People enjoy hearing someone
Saying nice things to them
But perhaps the most common way
Of showing that you love someone
Is by giving them something
Giving them something special
And so how do we think about
God showing His love to us?
He has spoken to us
Through His word
But above all
He has done something for us
He has given someone for us
And that's what this verse tells us
God loves His people so much
And He wanted to show His love
And to show His love
He sent His Son into this world
And even if for a moment
We explore that verse itself
John 3.16
It tells us so much
And there's a few questions
We could ask of that verse
Who is this verse about?
Do we think first of all
It's about ourselves?
If we do
We're maybe starting at the wrong place
Because this verse
Is all about God
For God so loved the world
It's a verse about God
What does God do?
Well it tells us here
He loves
God so loved the world
God loves
Who does God love?
He loves the world
He loves His people
He loves all His people
And then it goes on
And what did God do
To show His love?
He gave His only Son
Can you imagine
Giving somebody else
The most important thing
In your life?
Maybe a special toy
Or something that
You feel is just for yourself
Can you imagine
Giving that away
To somebody else?
It would be very hard to do
And yet God showed
His love for us
That He gave
His only Son
To this world
What must we do
Then in return?
If you get something
From someone
Something nice
From someone
What do you do in return?
You should give thanks
To that person
Well God wants something
In return for us
Because He gave His Son
That we might believe
Believe that Jesus
Is the Son of God
And what do we get
When we believe?
We get this promise
Of eternal life
A wonderful promise
That God gives
To all of His people
No matter what comes
Our way in this world
No matter what difficulties
We might have
As we journey on
Through this world
As we explore all the things
Of this world
We have the promise
That when we believe
In God's Son
Jesus
That He will give us
Eternal life
Isn't that a wonderful promise?
Isn't that a wonderful love
That God has shown
To us?
Now you might think
To yourself
Well why did God
Have to send His Son?
What was the problem?
Was there anything wrong?
Well yes
Because the verses
There go on to speak
About darkness
And light
There were those
Who were in darkness
They didn't want to know God
So God sent His Son
As the light
Of the world
Is anyone scared
Of the dark?
Dark can be scary
Can't it?
When all the lights
Go off
When it's a really dark night
It can be a scary time
When there's nothing
But darkness
And it can also be
Dangerous
It's dangerous
Because maybe you can't see
Where you're going
Now I don't know
If you know
What I used to do
Before I became a minister
But I used to be
An engineer
And working on ships
At sea
In a way
Exploring
Different parts of the world
Seeing many different
Parts of the world
And I used to work
In the engine room
And the engine room
Was huge
A really huge place
The engine and the ship
I mean you think
Of a car engine
It's maybe about this big
Well the engines
And the ships
I used to work on
Were the size
Probably of the church here
Almost as wide
As the middle section
You're sitting in
Probably as high
As up to the ceiling
Of the church
They were huge
And the engine room
Was massive
So there was
Different floors
To walk around
The engine room
And one night
When I was in the engine room
I was on duty
It was late that night
I was in the engine room
By myself
Just going around
Checking all different things
And the place
Was full of light
The place was bright
And really noisy
You had to wear ear defenders
Because there was
So much noise
And then all of a sudden
The place just went
Into darkness
A problem with the engine
Made it stop
And because the engine
Stopped
Everything else stopped
There was no light
There was no power
The ship couldn't move
There was nothing
We could do
I was lucky
I had a torch
Always carried a torch
Because you never knew
When this could happen
So you could find
Your way around
But for a moment
There's panic
There's fear
All of a sudden
You go from a place
That's full of light
To complete darkness
And it can be very scary
Now we were lucky
We weren't near land
It could have been worse
And we managed
To get the power back
But it just reminds us
How often
We can think
Everything's okay
Everything's fine
But something comes along
And that's what
That scares us
That leaves us frightened
But that's what
This verse reminds us
That God has shown
His love
In that
Even when there's times
When there's darkness
When we're scared
By trusting in Jesus
He has given us
Light
He has given us
The way
To go
God has shown
His love
To us
In this way
So it's a wonderful thing
That God has shown
His love
Now we're going to move
And read
The second part
Of the Bible reading
And that's in
Ephesians
Chapter 3
We've seen how
God has shown
His love
We're now going to see
The strength
Of His love
And again
In these words
That we read
In Ephesians 3
There's a sense of
There's a prayer
Here for us
What Paul
Is praying
For his people
He says there
In verse 14
For this reason
I bow my knees
Before the Father
From whom
Every family
In heaven
And on earth
Is named
That according
To the riches
Of His glory
He may grant
You to be
Strengthened
With power
Through the spirit
In your inner being
So that Christ
May dwell in your hearts
Through faith
That you
Being rooted
And grounded
In love
May have strength
To comprehend
With all the saints
What is the breadth
And length
And height
And depth
And to know
The love
Of Christ
That surpasses
Knowledge
That you may be
Filled
With all the fullness
Of God
Now to Him
Who is able
To do far more
Abundantly
Than all that we
Ask or think
According to the
Power at work
Within us
To Him
Be glory
In the church
And in Christ
Jesus
Throughout all
Generations
Forever
And ever
Amen
Well we move
From exploring
The verse
In John 3
There
John 3
Verse 16
To exploring
Another part
Of God's word
This passage
In Ephesians
Again it's full
Of the love
Of God
And this prayer
That Paul has
For his people
That they may
Being rooted
And grounded
In love
May have the strength
To comprehend
With all the saints
That's everyone
What is the breadth
And length
And height
And depth
Of his love
What kind of things
Do you measure
There's different kinds
Of things
That we measure
In our
Day to day lives
For example
Many people
In this week
Were preparing
Baking
For having next door
After the service
I met one girl
In the co-op
Yesterday
He was buying
Ingredients
For baking
When they went
Home
And what do you
Use when you're
Baking a cake
You want to
Follow a recipe
And you want to
Make sure that
Everything's measured
Right and correct
So you measure
Everything out
Whether it's the
Flour
The sugar
The milk
Whatever it is
And you'll use
Things to measure
So you might
Use a spoon
Or a jug
Or a cup
And you'll put
The right measurements
Into the baking
That you're going
To make
You measure
Everything
So that it's
Correct
But I wonder
If we could
Measure
God's love
Or how
Would we
Measure
God's love
In that way
Well we think
Of measuring
For baking
We think of
Things that we
Use
For example
A cup
It might say
Put two cups
Of flour
Into the cake
So you measure
Two cups
Can we measure
God's love
In that way
By using
A cup
Well we explore
Another part
Of the bible
Psalm 23
And this psalm
Speaks about
God's love
For us
When the lord
Is our shepherd
And he says
I shall not want
And in that psalm
It says
My cup
Runs over
My cup
Is full
Of God's love
It flows
Over
You can't measure
God's love
With a cup
If you think
About building
Something
Maybe you're
Building a shed
Or a den
Or something
Like that
And you're
Working on it
Whoever's
Working with you
They'll want
To measure
The bits of wood
To cut them
To the right size
Of the windows
So that they'll
Fit in the space
For the windows
What do you use
To measure that
You'll use
A measuring tape
Won't you
To measure
The length
Of all of these
Things
But can we
Measure
God's love
Do you think
We could get
A measuring tape
And start measuring
God's love
Well we explore
The bible
And it tells us
We can't
Because in another
Psalm
Psalm 108
It says that
God's love
Is higher
Than the heavens
You couldn't
Measure it
Because it just
Goes on
There's no end
To it
So you couldn't
Use a measuring
Tape to measure
God's love
Does anybody
Like sport
Does anybody
Like running
Do you go
To athletics
Well if you're
Running races
They'll probably
Use a stopwatch
To time you
To see how long
You take
To run the race
Maybe you're
Trying to keep
A track
Of your PB
And beat it
Week by week
You use
A stopwatch
So do you think
We could measure
God's love
By time
To time
God's love
For us
Use a stopwatch
To time God's love
Well again
We look in the bible
We explore the bible
And it tells us
That God's love
Is from everlasting
To everlasting
It's no beginning
It's no end
So there's no end
To it
It's not
He's going to love us
For an hour
Or a few days
Or even a few years
It's an everlasting love
So we can't measure it
With a stopwatch
When we think of that
Verse we had at the start
God so loved the world
That he gave his only son
How do you measure
A love like that
You can't
You can't even
Put it into words
So often
It's a love
That's beyond
Understanding in many ways
But what the bible
Helps us to do
As we explore the bible
Is to know
This love
Even though
We can't
Measure it
We can know it
By believing
In the lord
Jesus Christ
And that's
Paul's prayer
Here
In Ephesians
That's what he's
Asking them
To pray for
That they may
Comprehend
That means
To know
And experience
With all of
God's people
The breadth
The length
The height
The depth
Of God's love
It's
Enormous
It's beyond
Measuring
It's but just
That we would
Know
This love
And we know
This love
Through
Knowing
Jesus
God's son
Because
Through faith
In him
This love
Is ours
It's for you
It's for me
Through faith
We cannot
Measure it
Because it's
Beyond us
But we can
Know it
Because God
Has shown it
To us
It's a
Wonderful
Love
Well there's
One other
Aspect of
God's love
That we want
To think
About
And for that
We're going
To read
Another part
Of the
Bible
And it's
Some verses
From Romans
Chapter
Eight
Romans
Chapter
Eight
We're going
To read
From verse
Thirty
One
Down to
Verse
Thirty
Nine
Romans
Eight
Verse
Thirty
One
To
Verse
Thirty
Nine
What
Then
Shall
We
Say
To
These
Things
If
God
Is
For
Us
Who
Can
Be
Against
He
Who
Did
Not
Spare
His
Own
Son
But
Gave
Him
Up
For
Us
All
How
Will
He
Not
Also
With
Him
Graciously
Give
Us
All
Things
Who
Shall
Bring
Any
Charge
Against
God
Select
It
Is
God
Who
Justifies
Who
Is
To
Condemn
Christ
Jesus
Is
The
One
Who
Died
More
Than
That
Who
Was
Raised
Who
Is
At
The
Right
Hand
Of
God
Who
Indeed
Is
Interceding
For
Us
Who
Shall
Separate
Us
From
The
Love
Of
Christ
Shall
Tribulation
Or
Distress
Or
Persecution
Or
Famine
Or
Nakedness
Or
Danger
Or
Sword
As
It
Is
Written
For
Your
Sake
We
Are
Being
Killed
All
The
Day
Long
We
Are
regarded
As
She
To
Be
Slaughtered
No
In
All
In
All
In
All
These
Things
For
I
Am
Sure
That
Neither
Death
Nor
Life
Nor
Angels
Nor
Rulers
Nor
Things
Present
Nor
Things
To
Come
Nor
Powers
Nor
areas
Nor
Depth
In
moment
Are
Freffers
Now there's some maybe big words in that passage that you can't understand.
And if you've got any words and you're not sure what they are, there's a space there in one of the questions.
Words I didn't understand.
So if there's anything you don't understand in these words, write them down and maybe ask someone after the service.
But there are many words that we can understand in this passage.
And especially we see how the love of God is shown to us here.
It says there in verse 35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Now when you think of exploring, people going to many different parts of the world, exploring.
Many of them had to face all kinds of difficulties.
It might have been wild animals, for example, that were dangerous and they didn't know what they were.
And they scared them or chased them at different times.
It may have been jungles, really thick with trees and plants growing up and it was really hard to get through.
You think of all kinds of places that people went.
Some went to the North Pole and the South Pole.
And they faced storms and snowstorms there.
All kinds of things.
All kinds of dangers and challenges.
And in these kinds of situations, maybe you can become separated from people who are with you.
Maybe you lose people along the way because it's so dangerous.
Well, this passage is reminding us that as we explore this world, as we go on and journey in this world,
and as we think about what God has done for us, we know that there's maybe many dangers and troubles that will come our way.
But it tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
So there's this wonderful reminder for us in these verses.
And as you have been coming to explore it and also to Sunday school, since they started back in this last year,
you will have been exploring God's word.
And as we think about exploring, we often think about coming to a destination.
And the destination we're coming to here as we conclude our service is to the place where God showed his love for us.
And it's a place called Calvary.
It was just outside Jerusalem.
And it was a place where God gave his son.
We've just come back from holidays, the Easter holidays.
You've just started back to school this week after these holidays.
And Easter holidays is a special time when we remember what God has done for us.
And so we are here today to think about, well, as we explore God's word, what do we want to see?
And what do we want to know?
We want to come and see the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Because this is the fulfillment of it.
That God says in verse 32, he did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all.
It's very similar to John 3, 16.
He gave his son.
He died for our sins.
And because of that great love, we have this security.
What does the word security mean to you?
You're secure.
Maybe, like we think of explorers.
Some people climbed great mountains.
And they would have used a rope as they were climbing up mountains.
Because that kept them secure, kept them safe.
You needed to have trust in the rope that you were climbing up.
You need sometimes to make things secure when gales are coming.
Otherwise, they're going to blow away.
So you tie things down.
You make them secure.
So let me tell you a little story about the time when we were living in Dumfries.
Who's got a trampoline?
Anybody got a trampoline?
Yeah, quite a few people.
You've got trampolines.
Or you've been on a trampoline.
You bounce around on a trampoline.
Well, we had a trampoline when we were in Dumfries.
And we had it out in the back garden.
We put it up in the summer.
It's not as windy in Dumfries as it is up here.
But sometimes the wind will be quite strong.
And you always were prepared for that.
So we used metal pins to tie the trampoline down.
Now, we put it up in the summer.
And the ground was very dry.
And when we were hammering the pins in, you thought, oh, that's secure.
That's firmly fixed.
And for months, children were playing on the trampoline.
And it was fine.
One day, as we were coming into the winter months, though, we were away from the house.
We were in the town.
And somebody phoned us, a next-door neighbor.
And they said, your trampoline's just taken off.
And we were, oh.
So we had to rush back home.
Now, luckily, the trampoline had just flipped over and stuck in a tree.
So it didn't fly away away.
We managed to get it back.
We started thinking, how did that happen?
I thought it was secure.
We'd hammered the pins into the ground.
But what we'd forgotten was, although the ground was hard and dry in the summer when we put it in,
it rains a lot in Dumfries.
And the ground had become very soft.
So the pins were no longer secure.
The trampoline was able to flip over in the wind.
I'm keeping an eye on a trampoline in our next-door neighbor's garden,
just in case that takes off any time soon as well.
But they can be quite dangerous when they take off because they're big.
And the wind will just blow them away.
But we think of things that we need to make secure.
Well, these verses remind us that with God's love, we have a great security.
That we are fixed firmly in Jesus.
So that no matter what troubles or persecutions or famines or dangers or rulers or powers or heights or depths,
it doesn't matter what comes our way, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
And that's where we want to come to today.
To realize that as we explore God's Word, as we hear all about God's Word,
how He has shown His love to us, how it's a love that we cannot measure because it's so huge,
it's a love that is secure, that nothing can take it from us as we put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
So as we go on, and as you keep going to explore it, as we all keep coming to church and exploring and hearing of God's Word and God's love for us all,
that we would come to believe in God's Son.
That we might experience this love and know the great promise that He gives of eternal life.
So may God bless His Word to us.
So let's just again bow our heads in a word of prayer.
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your great love to us.
How it's a love that you have not just told us about, but you have shown it to us by sending your own Son.
And we pray, Lord, that today and in all the days ahead, we will know and experience your love more and more.
That we will put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Your Word steadfast, immovable, secure.
Because it is not about us, but about you.
And you are the one who is able to keep all things secure and safe.
And so, Lord, may you bless your Word to us all and bless us all together, families and friends and all our church community, near and far.
May your blessing be on us.
May we know your goodness and mercy with us day by day.
And your blessing over all the work that we have thought of, the Sunday school and explorers, all the helpers and children.
We ask that you will continue to watch over us all together as we commit ourselves into your hands.
As we ask it in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, we're going to conclude by singing to God's place in Psalm 36.
Again, it's on the back of the order of service.
Psalm 36, we're going to sing from verse 1 to verse 5.
Again, this is a reminder to us of God's love.
Your steadfast love is great, O Lord.
It reaches heaven high.
Your faithfulness is wonderful, extending to the sky.
Then verse 7.
How precious is your steadfast love.
What confidence it brings, both high and low.
Find shelter in the shadow of your wings.
The tune is Huddersfield, and we'll stand to sing these three verses to God's praise.
Amen.
Your steadfast love is great, O Lord.
It reaches heaven high.
Your faithfulness is wonderful.
All extending to the sky.
Your righteousness is very paid, like mountains high on steep.
Your justice is like ocean depths.
Both man and beast you give.
Our preciousness is your steadfast love.
What confidence it brings, both high and low.
Find shelter in the shadow of your wings.
Amen.
Again, just a reminder that everybody's very welcome to come next door.
The children are going to go through, after the final prayer, go through this door, through to the hall.
And I'll go to the main door and meet folks there.
So, very welcome to come next door, immediately after this says.
We'll close with a benediction.
Amen.
miniscous net coast.
Amen.
Thank you.