WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:11.679 Now, some of you may have read in the papers this week about St Giles, one of our sister, 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:18.879 cousin churches, round the corner just at the top of the Royal Mile Church of Scotland. 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:22.480 And you may have read that the Church of Scotland have a plan for the Presbytery of 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:29.320 Edinburgh, which sadly includes the closing of 40 churches, not St Giles, but they are 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:37.039 suggesting St Giles be taken from their possession and put into the hands of Scottish National 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:41.240 Heritage or one of these organisations to look after it, because it's always a very 00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:46.439 expensive building to look after and they are struggling with some of these buildings 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:48.400 and the responsibility of them. 00:00:48.400 --> 00:00:52.280 I think it was online on the evening news that I saw that particular article. 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:58.039 And of course, there's always comments, isn't there, after you have an article like that. 00:00:58.039 --> 00:01:01.119 And it's always fatal to look at the comments, isn't it? 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:05.280 It's a terrible thing, anything to look at the comments, because it always seems to draw 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:07.680 the very worst out of everyone. 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:12.319 But some of the, I mean, some of the comments were fine, but many of the comments were good 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:13.319 riddance. 00:01:13.319 --> 00:01:15.239 What a waste of time anyway. 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:16.239 Religion is just a disaster. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:17.239 It's all rubbish. 00:01:17.239 --> 00:01:18.239 It's totally irrelevant. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:22.560 Who cares what happens to St Giles or to any other church for that matter. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:26.159 And that was a common theme in the comments that went down. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:29.879 This kind of disinterest and it's irrelevant rubbish. 00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:33.920 And I wonder if that is something that you hear quite a lot. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:39.319 Generally when maybe you say that you're a Christian or that you go to church or something's 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:40.879 mentioned about Christianity. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:43.079 It's something we hear a lot, isn't it? 00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:45.640 That it's a waste of time. 00:01:45.640 --> 00:01:49.000 It's just something from a past age. 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:51.239 It's irrelevant, completely irrelevant. 00:01:51.239 --> 00:01:59.239 And I imagine most people who don't have any knowledge of the Bible or Christianity will 00:01:59.239 --> 00:02:03.079 regard it as completely irrelevant to them. 00:02:03.079 --> 00:02:08.599 I guess the challenge is for us who know a little bit more about the Bible and even some 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:15.159 of us who profess to be Christians and say that we love Jesus Christ. 00:02:15.159 --> 00:02:21.840 If that's still to a greater or lesser degree true of us that we find when we go to God's 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:27.919 Word and the challenge of it and even maybe for some of the young people who are maybe 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:34.000 feeling uncomfortable at the thought of doing a 12 series session on Christian sexuality 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:38.479 might think, oh, that's awful or irrelevant. 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:42.400 The Bible's teaching on sexuality is irrelevant today. 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:51.560 It's not what we hear and it's old fashioned and it's out of date and irrelevant. 00:02:51.560 --> 00:02:59.960 I think often that is because we don't go deep into God and into God's Word. 00:02:59.960 --> 00:03:02.180 We haven't wrestled with it. 00:03:02.180 --> 00:03:09.800 We haven't sought to find it as not only a personal relationship with the living God, 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:18.840 but also a fundamental philosophical foundation for our lives that is truth that is revealed. 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:23.320 We haven't worked at it, so we cast aside as being irrelevant. 00:03:23.320 --> 00:03:27.840 We haven't delved in it, so we think it has nothing to say to our experience. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:33.040 And it was interesting, wasn't it, on Wednesday evening for those of you who were there or 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:40.799 who managed to hear the garbled message from Corey, not because he presented it in a garbled 00:03:40.799 --> 00:03:47.039 way, but because his Wi-Fi at home when he was giving it on screen wasn't that good. 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:54.399 He was talking about that in terms of anxiety that often the challenge is to take theology, 00:03:54.399 --> 00:04:01.479 that is the knowledge of God and apply that into our lives and allow it to mold and move 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:08.679 and transform our understanding, the truth of this person, the living God, our loving 00:04:08.679 --> 00:04:09.919 Father. 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:14.719 And this Psalm does it very well, and we're going to look at this Psalm. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:18.279 Because you may have read that Psalm and thought, this is kind of irrelevant. 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:24.000 The Psalms generally speak about a nation a long time ago and thousands of years ago, 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:26.560 and it doesn't seem to be terribly relevant. 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:30.639 But it's part of God's living Word, and we find as we work at it and as we wrestle with 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:34.959 it, it is tremendously significant and relevant in our lives. 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:40.560 Because we find that this Psalm, for example, silhouettes the Christian life. 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:45.079 So if you're a Christian today, you'll find that this Psalm silhouettes the kind of life 00:04:45.079 --> 00:04:46.479 that you have as a Christian. 00:04:46.479 --> 00:04:49.560 I'll explain a little bit what I mean by that in different ways. 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:57.279 The first thing that helps, silhouettes our lives as Christians is that it's a journey 00:04:57.279 --> 00:04:58.279 of faith. 00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:05.119 What's been spoken about here is about a journey of faith because this Psalm is entitled A Song 00:05:05.119 --> 00:05:11.039 of Ascent, and it's given the authors, given the song of David. 00:05:11.039 --> 00:05:16.719 Now, the Psalms of Ascent are still in Book 5. 00:05:16.719 --> 00:05:21.359 Remember last week we started looking at Book 5, and we're looking at that today as well, 00:05:21.359 --> 00:05:22.359 Book 5. 00:05:22.359 --> 00:05:23.839 But the Song of Ascent is part of that. 00:05:23.839 --> 00:05:27.119 The ones we looked at last week were the, can you remember them, the Hallel Songs? 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:29.639 That were the ones that were sung on the way up to the Passover. 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:31.920 These are called the Song of Ascent, okay? 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:36.480 Psalm 120, right through to Psalm 134. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:42.319 And these were sung as the people went up the hill. 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:45.399 They were the song as opposed to descent songs. 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:46.720 They were ascent songs. 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:50.720 They were sung as they went up the hill towards Jerusalem, because Jerusalem was set on a 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:51.720 hill. 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:58.560 And they were sung generally as they were travelling and as they were going to three 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:03.920 of the festivals that they were commanded to celebrate and worship by God. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:09.200 Deuteronomy 16 and 16 tells us that, can we have that slide up? 00:06:09.200 --> 00:06:12.800 Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place you 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:13.800 will choose. 00:06:13.800 --> 00:06:19.040 At the Festival on Leavenbread, the Passover, the Festival of Weeks, the Pentecost, and 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:20.040 the Festival of Tabernacles. 00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:25.080 There was three annual festivals that they went to. 00:06:25.080 --> 00:06:30.400 Passover we know was remembering the salvation that God had brought and taken them out of 00:06:30.400 --> 00:06:33.280 slavery in Egypt towards the Promised Land. 00:06:33.280 --> 00:06:39.720 Pentecost was celebrated 50 days later, probably in late May if March was the time of the Passover. 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:42.879 And that was to celebrate the first harvest, the grain harvest. 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:48.759 But also 50 days after the Passover was the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, when God 00:06:48.759 --> 00:06:50.560 gave the Ten Commandments. 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:56.399 And then the Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated later on in the year in October, which spoke 00:06:56.399 --> 00:07:02.000 about God's provision both in the late harvest, but also Tabernacles, just another word for 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:04.560 a tent or a dwelling place. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:09.360 And it was remembering the time that they spent in the desert, the 40 years they spent 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:12.879 in the desert when they were intense, they didn't have their own home. 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:15.759 And so what they would do at the Feast of Tabernacles, they would all come out of their 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:20.120 houses and they would live intense for a week and they would celebrate and they would be 00:07:20.120 --> 00:07:21.920 together and they would have a great time. 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:27.839 So these were great festivals, great celebrations, great time of worship. 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:33.439 So the Tabernacle Festival remembered that time in the desert, but specifically remembered 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:36.959 God's provision of what? 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:40.279 Food and drink, manna and water. 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:45.000 Remember for the whole time God miraculously provided for them while they were in the desert. 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:52.759 And so these songs of ascent were when all the people were together, going up to celebrate 00:07:52.759 --> 00:08:00.519 these festivals, it was a time of pilgrimage, a time of community and shared experiences, 00:08:00.519 --> 00:08:04.199 remembering God's covenant love, remembering what He'd done in the past as they went up 00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:10.240 to specifically celebrate and have these festivals together, shared memories. 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:12.879 So it was a journey of faith. 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:16.319 And that I'll speak a little bit of how that parallels with our lives in a minute. 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:22.600 But also parallels or silhouettes of Christian life because it speaks about the reality of 00:08:22.600 --> 00:08:24.759 trouble as well, doesn't it? 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:29.439 Verse 2 of the Psalms says, if the Lord had not been on our side, when people rose up 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:32.639 against us, then we would have been swallowed up alive. 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:37.480 It's almost like if David's the author, it's almost like he's recalling David and Goliath 00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:42.800 type experiences because his people, the Israelites were always small. 00:08:42.800 --> 00:08:44.440 I don't mean in size. 00:08:44.440 --> 00:08:49.759 I had to raise this up when Corrie's not preaching. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:54.600 But not small in size, but small in number. 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:58.480 All the nations, the great nations around them were always much bigger, much more significant, 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:03.639 much better equipped in every way to survive. 00:09:03.639 --> 00:09:07.039 And it's like David and Goliath situations. 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:12.039 They had no chance on their own to be victorious, no chance to survive on their own. 00:09:12.039 --> 00:09:18.719 And so you've got these great natural pictures, the natural world he uses for pictures. 00:09:18.719 --> 00:09:21.399 They would have been swallowed alive. 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:24.199 The flood would have swept them away. 00:09:24.199 --> 00:09:26.639 They would have been eaten by wild animals. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:33.399 They would have been entrapped, enslaved in a snare. 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:37.480 And it's just speaking about the trouble that they were facing, the destructive anger. 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:45.919 It's like, you know, you see these nature programs of a whale just swallowing just shoals 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:46.919 of fish alive. 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:50.759 It's just been, you know, they don't even have time to fight back. 00:09:50.759 --> 00:09:53.319 They don't have time to realize what's happening. 00:09:53.319 --> 00:09:56.600 Or we see the sweeping away of floods. 00:09:56.600 --> 00:10:07.480 You read again of the potential of a tsunami this week and the huge brutality of that or 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:11.480 of raging rivers just, you know, ripping up buildings. 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:19.399 And the destructive power is spoken of here about being swept away by the torrent or the 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:25.560 wild animals who, and the David Attenborough programs, we see as he speaks so gently and 00:10:25.559 --> 00:10:31.759 sweetly in his voice about this animal that's tearing another animal apart, quite naturally. 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:36.959 And it seems he speaks so sweetly about such a brutal and ugly event. 00:10:36.959 --> 00:10:44.439 And then there's the snare, the trap, the entangled web of the foul-er, the one who's 00:10:44.439 --> 00:10:49.959 catching birds and keeping them in a trap, unable to get away. 00:10:49.959 --> 00:10:54.799 And that's the pictures, the everyday pictures that his people would have understood when 00:10:54.799 --> 00:10:58.639 he's recalling the trouble they faced spiritually. 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:03.959 And the trouble they faced is a people in the world, God's people in the world. 00:11:03.959 --> 00:11:06.719 And that was the world David lived in. 00:11:06.719 --> 00:11:12.919 They felt insignificant often, overwhelmed in a hostile environment, and both physically, 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:17.359 I think, and spiritually. 00:11:17.359 --> 00:11:21.639 So we see that silhouetting, and I'll come back to that briefly when we look at it for 00:11:21.639 --> 00:11:22.639 ourselves. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:27.840 But the third aspect of the Psalm is not just that we recognize the journey of faith and 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:34.199 the reality of trouble, but also, obviously, the strong companionship of God with them, 00:11:34.199 --> 00:11:36.480 as it's revealed in this passage. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:38.799 It's a call for God's people here. 00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:45.039 David's calling them to remember together the goodness of God if it had not been the 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:47.559 Lord who is on our side. 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:49.439 The Lord is on their side. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:53.920 And then he finishes with our help is in the name of the Lord, Lord's on their side. 00:11:53.920 --> 00:11:55.560 The Lord is their helper. 00:11:55.560 --> 00:12:00.720 And it's this great call for this Old Testament group of people as they go up towards the 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:08.560 festivals three times a year to memorize, to signpost, to be inspired, to celebrate, 00:12:08.560 --> 00:12:14.400 to eat and to drink and to worship, and to rest and to praise God together at these festivals. 00:12:14.400 --> 00:12:17.600 It was a time of relief and a time of release for them. 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:24.759 A time, despite their weakness and feeling of helplessness, to know that he was committed 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:32.720 for them, their friend on their side, setting them free, keeping them from being overwhelmed 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:38.639 and destroyed, providing for them abundantly, both as he speaks in the Psalm and as they 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:43.440 think of the festivals, what they're remembering, the Passover and the giving of the law and 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:50.840 the manna and the water and God's provision for them, as well as victory over their enemies. 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:56.880 Remember the promised land was a land flowing with milk and honey, which they were promised. 00:12:56.880 --> 00:13:04.520 This is a recognition for them of the mercy of the living God of heaven and earth. 00:13:04.520 --> 00:13:10.760 And all of it for them, visual reminders as they could think about these nature pictures 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:16.600 as it were, remind them not only of their, as it was in the Old Testament, a physical 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:21.600 deliverance because they were a nation together under God, but also the spiritual deliverance 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:27.360 that they knew forgiveness of sin and the consequences of that, even if they couldn't 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:34.799 fully understand and know how God would provide for them because Jesus hadn't come yet. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:41.039 What David was saying, say it, say it Israel, say it again and again, you know, let Israel 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:42.039 now say. 00:13:42.039 --> 00:13:49.079 It's just called to verbalize what they knew, to speak it, to talk about it, to talk about 00:13:49.079 --> 00:13:53.539 it together on the journey and as they go up to the festival together. 00:13:53.539 --> 00:14:00.879 So that's the kind of, that's the Psalm as it was in its original context as it was given 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:09.240 to God's people and it was sung at these times of hill climbing up towards Jerusalem. 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:15.120 Great thing to do if you've got the breath to sing when you're going up a hill. 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:18.399 You can do it next week when you're coming up the mound. 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:23.320 But what's the broad application of a Psalm like this written so long ago into our own 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:24.439 lives as Christians? 00:14:24.440 --> 00:14:31.800 And have you begun to even link together the teaching of the Psalm as it was originally 00:14:31.800 --> 00:14:37.280 given to David and how as God's living word it still applies into our lives as we take 00:14:37.280 --> 00:14:43.840 it and recognize the themes from it and the truth from it that is more clearly laid out 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:50.840 for us as we understand what the Christian life is and what Christ has done for us. 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:57.800 So the first thing I would say is that we too are travelers as Christians. 00:14:57.800 --> 00:15:01.680 One John 1 verse 7, can we have that text up? 00:15:01.680 --> 00:15:06.200 I got you out there, harsha. 00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:09.759 One John 1 7, but if we walk in the light, we walk. 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:14.200 So New Testament often describes the Christian life as a walk, as a journey. 00:15:14.200 --> 00:15:17.920 As he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:20.919 Son purifies us from all sin. 00:15:20.919 --> 00:15:27.199 I know it's a bit of a cliche to talk about life as a journey, but it is really, isn't 00:15:27.199 --> 00:15:28.199 it? 00:15:28.199 --> 00:15:30.039 In many ways it is for all of us a journey. 00:15:30.039 --> 00:15:32.799 It's as a start, as a middle and it's got an end. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:35.240 And a lot of us don't want to think about the end. 00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:38.519 Some of us aren't even so keen to think about the middle. 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:42.000 And it is clearly a journey. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.399 And as Christians we're on a journey as well. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:48.959 You know, we became Christians, we're living the Christian life and we have a destination 00:15:48.959 --> 00:15:50.759 in God's presence. 00:15:50.759 --> 00:15:52.519 We never stand still. 00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:55.319 Physically we don't stand still. 00:15:55.319 --> 00:16:01.199 In terms of our life where we're going, we're all a week older than we were last week. 00:16:01.199 --> 00:16:05.360 Somehow you will have lost loved ones over this last week. 00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:08.759 And their journey has come in this life to an end. 00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:13.879 We're all getting that little bit closer to death. 00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:18.480 And maybe spiritually we need to recognize we're also on a journey. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:24.159 And sometimes in that journey we find ourselves actually going further away from Jesus than 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:29.399 closer to Jesus because it's a relational journey. 00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:30.519 And that was very much, wasn't it? 00:16:30.519 --> 00:16:33.840 That's very much the reality for the Old Testament people of God. 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:37.879 They kept traveling the wrong way. 00:16:37.879 --> 00:16:41.360 Maybe not physically, but in their relationship with God, they kept turning their back on 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:42.360 Him. 00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:43.559 They kept going their own way. 00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:46.359 They kept worshipping idols all the time. 00:16:46.359 --> 00:16:51.759 And so their journey was really tough because they kept turning their back towards the living 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:53.719 God. 00:16:53.719 --> 00:16:59.639 But it's a great reminder to us that the Christian life is a journey. 00:16:59.639 --> 00:17:02.399 And you know, you need to ask that question. 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:07.159 I need to think about that question every day because we don't get to do the journey 00:17:07.159 --> 00:17:08.159 twice. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:14.320 It's not like we get one shot at it and the next time we correct all the mistakes we made 00:17:14.320 --> 00:17:17.800 first time, we only get one shot at life. 00:17:17.800 --> 00:17:24.880 We're only on one journey and we are desperately needing the help and the guidance and the 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:29.480 rescue of God in our lives as travelers. 00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:34.800 And spiritually also as Christians, it can be really tough, can't it? 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:38.480 We find it difficult being Christians, the journey. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:44.359 And we need to rely and recognize that this journey is difficult. 00:17:44.359 --> 00:17:45.359 It's a challenge. 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:48.759 It's not called a battle for nothing. 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:54.039 But it's a journey in which we are alive spiritually as we trust and follow Jesus Christ. 00:17:54.039 --> 00:17:56.399 And we have a great future. 00:17:56.399 --> 00:17:59.359 You know, I was 58 last week. 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:05.919 If I wasn't a Christian, I would be hugely depressed at being 58 because you're just 00:18:05.919 --> 00:18:09.959 getting older and weaker and more prone to illness and death. 00:18:09.959 --> 00:18:10.959 Okay? 00:18:10.959 --> 00:18:13.039 Sorry, young people, but that's the reality. 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:15.439 You get to my age, that's what happens. 00:18:15.439 --> 00:18:22.839 But as a Christian, it's fantastic because I know the best is still to come. 00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:24.240 So we're travelers. 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:29.960 But we're also, and we can parallel and silhouette, I see it, that we are called to travel together 00:18:29.960 --> 00:18:31.480 on this Christian journey. 00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:38.200 One Peter 2 verse 10 tells us that once you were not a people, but now you are the people 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:39.200 of God. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:41.200 Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:45.680 And it's this ongoing reality that we're a people together. 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:50.920 And just as the Old Testament people of God were to journey together, so are we. 00:18:50.920 --> 00:18:56.400 And we are a people who have shared experiences and we are called to companion with one another 00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:58.240 on this Christian journey. 00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:04.000 We will face many troubles and the life of faith, we may feel small and insignificant 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:09.840 and unimportant in the world or even sometimes sadly in the church. 00:19:09.840 --> 00:19:15.360 And we may feel the danger of being overwhelmed, swallowed alive, swept away, trapped, life 00:19:15.360 --> 00:19:16.360 out of control. 00:19:16.359 --> 00:19:21.639 Our life plan obliterated our jobs, our dreams, our relationships, our circumstances. 00:19:21.639 --> 00:19:28.439 We may be anxious, we may be hated as some of the David speaks about here. 00:19:28.439 --> 00:19:30.599 We may not be coping with what life has. 00:19:30.599 --> 00:19:40.799 We may feel trapped like a bird in the foulers snare, trapped in an abusive marriage, trapped 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:50.960 in addiction to porn, trapped in an abusive, destructive lifestyle, trapped. 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:55.319 And it may feel overwhelming and impossible. 00:19:55.319 --> 00:20:00.359 And the opposition may feel too great, whether it's the philosophies or the thinking or the 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:02.879 relationships or the temptations. 00:20:02.879 --> 00:20:09.440 And it does feel like it's an ongoing uphill battle, no relief for us. 00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:17.840 But it may be that on this journey, we've lost sight of our Savior and we're bored and 00:20:17.840 --> 00:20:21.279 we're like the kids in the back of the seat of the car. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:28.400 They say, we're there yet because we just fed up and we wish it was all, we'd all come 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:32.640 to an end. 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:40.280 And so often that's the case for all of us and yet none of us know it. 00:20:40.280 --> 00:20:44.280 And we battle and struggle away on our own because we think that's what Christians should 00:20:44.280 --> 00:20:45.280 do. 00:20:45.280 --> 00:20:48.200 They should just rely on God and just keep on going. 00:20:48.200 --> 00:20:54.200 And yet He's calling us to journey and travel together because we're a people together and 00:20:54.200 --> 00:21:00.920 we're called to support and encourage and build one another up and help one another, 00:21:00.920 --> 00:21:07.560 lead one another, support and be there for, speak well of each other, lift each other 00:21:07.560 --> 00:21:09.160 up. 00:21:09.160 --> 00:21:12.720 When I was thinking about this, and I think I've said this to you before, I'm really 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:13.960 bad at illustrations. 00:21:13.960 --> 00:21:15.960 I can never remember illustrations. 00:21:15.960 --> 00:21:17.400 I can never think of good ones. 00:21:17.400 --> 00:21:19.640 But I'm really trying hard. 00:21:19.640 --> 00:21:25.320 And when I was thinking of this, you know, call to be traveling together, what immediately 00:21:25.320 --> 00:21:28.360 came in my mind and thought was Johnny Brownlee. 00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:32.399 Now, some of you may have never heard of Johnny Brownlee, but he was a triathlete, still is 00:21:32.399 --> 00:21:36.079 a triathlete, and he has a brother called Alastor. 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:41.479 And in one of the great races that they were running, Johnny was hit by heat stroke near 00:21:41.479 --> 00:21:42.559 the end. 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:44.359 And you may remember the visual of it. 00:21:44.359 --> 00:21:45.719 He was kind of all over the place. 00:21:45.719 --> 00:21:47.599 He was wobbling, his legs were going. 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:53.240 He'd completely lost the ability to run home and he was going to collapse in a heap. 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:57.959 And his brother was running well, but was behind him and was near the finishing line. 00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:03.400 And instead of finishing the race on his own, he went and he helped his brother and he held 00:22:03.400 --> 00:22:09.319 him up and he put one arm around him and they both ran together towards the finishing line. 00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:13.519 And I thought it was such a great picture of what we asked to do as Christians for one 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:18.840 another is we're to look and see the battles and the struggles and the difficulties, be 00:22:18.840 --> 00:22:24.000 honest with one another, be willing to be helped and be willing to help and share each other 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:26.759 struggles. 00:22:26.759 --> 00:22:33.799 You and I have to overturn every natural instinct to be independent, to find fault, to be separated 00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:38.279 from one another, to judge one another, to pretend, to keep private. 00:22:38.279 --> 00:22:42.599 We're called to love and belong and be committed. 00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:45.279 And it's a great warning against drifting, isn't it? 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:50.599 What do we find the great picture of Scripture is there's one sheep that drifts away. 00:22:50.599 --> 00:22:55.920 And that sheep is always in danger of being attacked because it's on its own. 00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:58.360 And so often we think we can cope on our own. 00:22:58.360 --> 00:23:02.440 I just live this life, me and Jesus, we're like that. 00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:04.480 He doesn't call us to that. 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:05.480 You're making that up. 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:12.160 That's an excuse for being sinfully independent because he calls us, even if you feel as strong 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:16.759 as an ox, he calls you to share that strength with others who maybe don't feel quite so 00:23:16.759 --> 00:23:21.560 strong and not to condemn them for their weakness. 00:23:21.559 --> 00:23:29.279 And in reality, realize that if you think you're as strong as an ox, you're probably 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:33.119 not thinking properly at all as a Christian. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:36.879 So called to be travellers together, we are travellers. 00:23:36.879 --> 00:23:43.039 And the last thing is that, well, almost the last thing, sorry, we need times of spiritual 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:44.039 refreshment. 00:23:44.039 --> 00:23:47.079 Okay, this Psalm is clear about that, isn't it? 00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:52.279 It's a slam of a cent, it's when they were to go up to the three, God commanded the three 00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:54.639 festivals to happen. 00:23:54.639 --> 00:24:00.000 And we're called, because these festivals were times of spiritual refreshment, a break 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:06.240 from the normal, doing something different, going on a journey up to Jerusalem together. 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:08.319 We need times of spiritual refreshment. 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:10.319 That's why God is great, isn't he? 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:13.759 He gives us at least one day a week for spiritual refreshment. 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:15.159 It's out of the ordinary. 00:24:15.160 --> 00:24:20.759 It's Sunday, and we want as a leadership team, you're always to make Sunday special. 00:24:20.759 --> 00:24:27.120 We want our worship together to be great and spiritual and prayed over and anticipated. 00:24:27.120 --> 00:24:33.560 We want you to come to church to be refreshed and to be renewed and to be loved. 00:24:33.560 --> 00:24:36.600 We don't want it to be something that you drag your feet to and that you avoid at all 00:24:36.600 --> 00:24:41.640 costs and any reason not to be there, you take up, because we want you to love it, because 00:24:41.640 --> 00:24:44.480 it's a time that God gives for refreshment. 00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:51.000 And the singing together, even with the wretched masks is a great thing, because singing is 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:52.160 given to us. 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:58.799 It just triggers our endorphins and it cheers us up, even when we're grieving. 00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:03.279 We sing, well, that's why we love the Psalms, because they've got songs of lament, as well 00:25:03.279 --> 00:25:04.400 as songs of praise. 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:08.079 And we sing because singing changes so much. 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:13.799 And we eat and drink together just as God commanded us people in festival. 00:25:13.799 --> 00:25:20.359 Both physically, but also spiritually and relationally, we are nourished on one another. 00:25:20.359 --> 00:25:26.119 And if you take the New Testament development, as it were, of these Old Testament feasts, 00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:29.680 we are reminded of what God has done for us. 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:34.200 Passover becomes, what does it become, the Lord's Supper, where we remember that He has 00:25:34.200 --> 00:25:42.000 set us free and the spiritual life that He gives us, which He uses physical bread and 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:54.079 wine to remind us of the Feast of Pentecost, 50 days, or the Feast of Pentecost, 50 days 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:59.000 after the Passover was that reminder. 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:04.079 And also the Feast of Tabernacles, both the pouring out of the Spirit, because it talks 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:05.680 about that in Pentecost, isn't it? 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:07.000 50 days after Jesus. 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:13.839 Also the Law in our hearts, the nourishment, the provision, the satisfaction. 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:21.839 There's a great bit in John's Gospel chapter 7 where it's the only mention in the New Testament 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:24.519 of the Feast of Tabernacles. 00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:28.960 But it's when Jesus, with the disciples and all the people went up to celebrate in the 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:35.559 Feast of Booths, that remembering God's provision of water from the rock and manna and His goodness 00:26:35.559 --> 00:26:36.559 to them. 00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:41.919 And it says John 7, 37 to 38, I think it's on the screen as well. 00:26:41.919 --> 00:26:47.000 On the last and greatest day of the festival, that's that festival of Tabernacles, Jesus 00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:52.639 stood up and said in a loud voice, Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 00:26:52.639 --> 00:26:56.599 Whoever believes in me, as the scripture said, rivers of living water will flow from within 00:26:56.599 --> 00:26:57.599 them. 00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:04.119 It's a direct reference to the Old Testament Tabernacle Feast, which celebrated both God's 00:27:04.119 --> 00:27:07.439 marvellous provision of water from the rock and also His manna. 00:27:07.439 --> 00:27:10.079 And He's saying He's the fulfillment of that. 00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:17.399 And that every one of us who trust in Him will find satisfaction in Him and rest and nourishment 00:27:17.399 --> 00:27:19.879 spiritually and in every other way. 00:27:19.879 --> 00:27:22.519 So we need these times of refreshment. 00:27:22.519 --> 00:27:27.079 We need Sundays to remind us of who God is and what He's done. 00:27:27.079 --> 00:27:34.199 We need special focused spiritual events, festivals, conferences, gatherings, retreats. 00:27:34.199 --> 00:27:39.960 We need them in our lives to, with one another, to learn and refresh. 00:27:39.960 --> 00:27:46.039 And I think in our daily lives, even in our daily lives, can I just say eating and drinking 00:27:46.039 --> 00:27:52.639 together, that great provision of God for us, which the festivals highlighted and focused 00:27:52.639 --> 00:27:53.639 on. 00:27:53.640 --> 00:28:03.160 You know, in our culture, eating can be so perfunctory, just so superficial and mechanical 00:28:03.160 --> 00:28:04.920 and unsociable. 00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:06.720 We just do it because we should. 00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:08.520 You know, it's good to eat. 00:28:08.520 --> 00:28:13.759 Well, I spent some time with Israel and Camilla, and they'll tell you about how they eat in 00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:24.119 Chile or in Guatemala or in other places in the world where eating is a social and even 00:28:24.119 --> 00:28:25.119 a spiritual event. 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:31.119 It's the sharing of, it's such a big biblical motif, sharing of life and love, our homes, 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:32.119 our faith. 00:28:32.119 --> 00:28:35.279 It's a great way of evangelizing hospitality. 00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:37.480 It mustn't be just about food. 00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:47.319 You know, the pandemic's been so hard because we haven't been able to push this great motif 00:28:47.319 --> 00:28:49.240 in our own church as much as we would love. 00:28:49.240 --> 00:28:53.680 It's not a sidebar in St. Cim, St. C's life. 00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:55.480 It's critical, it's core. 00:28:55.480 --> 00:29:02.240 It's that place where we relax and we eat and we talk about, that's what I think we 00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:07.160 should do much more as Christians, eat together but also talk about Jesus because it's a 00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:10.840 foretaste of heaven. 00:29:10.840 --> 00:29:14.920 So rushing through that, we need times of spiritual refreshments. 00:29:14.920 --> 00:29:15.920 Good to be refreshed. 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:19.920 Sundays is a good day to be different from other days because He's given us that in our 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:26.120 bodies and souls, a break from routine because He loves us, because He wants us refreshed 00:29:26.120 --> 00:29:31.720 both spiritually and physically, and He wants us to do that together. 00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:38.360 And lastly, we see that God, just as He was with this Old Testament people in Sam 124, 00:29:38.360 --> 00:29:44.240 God is our shared companion, the Lord who is on our side, the Lord who has redeemed 00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:48.200 us, the Lord who's taken us up from being swallowed alive from the floods, from the 00:29:48.200 --> 00:29:50.640 raging streams, from the spiritual enemies. 00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:58.400 Blessed, He says, be the Lord who hasn't given us up, who has helped us escape like a bird 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:01.319 from the snare of the foul air. 00:30:01.319 --> 00:30:04.119 The snare is broken by Him, we are escaped. 00:30:04.119 --> 00:30:08.399 Our help, He says, is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. 00:30:08.399 --> 00:30:10.519 So we're on this journey. 00:30:10.519 --> 00:30:15.200 It's not a solo journey on our own. 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:18.720 It's not even a journey just with other Christians. 00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:24.119 But that's the whole point of the Sam that comes to its full blossom in the gospel of 00:30:24.119 --> 00:30:29.720 Jesus Christ in the New Testament, that Jesus Christ is Emmanuel God with us. 00:30:29.720 --> 00:30:32.200 We sung it earlier on. 00:30:32.200 --> 00:30:39.519 God is with us, the Creator God, Jesus Christ, fashions our rescue on the cross, which is 00:30:39.519 --> 00:30:43.240 why we celebrate the Passover as the Lord's Supper. 00:30:43.240 --> 00:30:48.400 And remember that the cross is Him saying He is the way, the truth in the life. 00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:50.440 He creates new spiritual life in us. 00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:55.880 He dwells in us, not just as a companion beside us, but as a living Spirit of God, the Holy 00:30:55.880 --> 00:30:57.160 Spirit within us. 00:30:57.160 --> 00:31:00.640 He is our beating heart as a Christian. 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:02.000 We can't live without Him. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:03.960 He's on our side. 00:31:03.960 --> 00:31:10.920 How often do we think God is not on our side that He's against us as Christians? 00:31:10.920 --> 00:31:16.400 He's not just an enthusiast from the sidelines, but He's the living God who's committed to 00:31:16.400 --> 00:31:22.160 us through His saving work on the cross, and He is committed to being our help. 00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:27.400 What do we need to help, no way? 00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:28.400 I need to help every single day. 00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:29.400 It's sealed in His blood. 00:31:29.400 --> 00:31:36.279 It's driven by His love, and it's the key to living our lives entrusted to Him. 00:31:36.279 --> 00:31:41.640 Use His means of grace, church, city group, prayer, the Bible study. 00:31:41.640 --> 00:31:43.680 Pray with others. 00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:49.000 Understand that your weakness and my weakness profiles His strength. 00:31:49.000 --> 00:31:54.680 It's okay to be weak as we go to Him, and know that the only way we can reflect His 00:31:54.680 --> 00:32:00.200 light is if we are plugged into Him, into our relationship with Him. 00:32:00.200 --> 00:32:05.240 Prayer and the Word of God every day. 00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:10.079 Every day, because when we don't, we're saying, I don't need you today. 00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:11.319 I don't need you. 00:32:11.319 --> 00:32:12.559 You're insignificant today. 00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:16.519 I can cope today on my own, but He says every day. 00:32:16.519 --> 00:32:22.119 You know, we generally don't think of missing food for the day, do we? 00:32:22.119 --> 00:32:23.639 Generally. 00:32:23.639 --> 00:32:26.119 Even more so spiritually. 00:32:26.119 --> 00:32:27.680 And it's not a ritual. 00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:29.599 It's not a legalism. 00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:36.400 It's need, desperate need in the impossibilities, in the uphill struggles, in the battles, in 00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:44.680 the joys, and take advantage of the festivals, of the rest times, of getting away, of not 00:32:44.680 --> 00:32:49.279 being busy, of being in His presence with one another, of refreshing and renewing one 00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:53.440 another, and say it to our souls every day. 00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:57.360 Let Israel now say, so we say it. 00:32:57.360 --> 00:33:00.200 Let's keep saying it to one another. 00:33:00.200 --> 00:33:03.440 And before God, let's speak to each other as well. 00:33:03.440 --> 00:33:06.519 I think, Cody mentioned that Wednesday night as well, speaking to each other, that the 00:33:06.519 --> 00:33:12.640 truth of God and the festivals that remind us of His great work in the past in our lives. 00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:14.840 Amen.