We're going to read together in God's Word. Now we've got two readings this morning. Our first
in the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. We're reading in Genesis chapter 11,
and then our second reading is in the book of Acts. So our first reading in Genesis chapter 11.
We're going to read from verse 1 to verse 9, where you see here God sending the people into
confusion with different languages that they couldn't understand each other and then being
sent out to all different parts of the world. So Genesis chapter 11, verse 1. Now the whole earth
had one language and the same words. And as the people migrated from the east, they found a plain
in the land of Shina and settled there. And they said to one another, come, let us make bricks and
burn them thoroughly. And they had bricks for stone and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, come,
let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. And let us make a name for
ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the
city and the tower which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, behold, they are one
people and they have all one language. And this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing
that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down. And there confuse their
language so that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord dispersed them from
there over the face of all the earth. And they left off building the city. Therefore, its name was
called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there, the Lord
dispersed them over the face of all the earth. And our second reading is in the book of Acts.
Acts chapter 2. And we're going to read from verse 1 down to verse 13. Acts chapter 2
verse 1. So we're into the New Testament.
Here we read of this day when the Lord came down by the power of His Spirit into the midst of His people.
And the gathering of His people is what we see here. So Acts chapter 2 at verse 1.
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind. And it filled the entire house
where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave
them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.
And at this sound the multitude came together. And they were bewildered because each one was hearing
them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying,
Are not all these who are speaking? Galileans. And how is it that we hear each of us in his own
native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites. And residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene.
And visitors from Rome, both Jews and Proselytes, Cretans and Arabians. We hear them telling in our own
tongue the mighty works of God. And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another,
What does this mean? But others, mocking, said, They are filled with new wine.
And so on. And may God bless that reading from his word. Let's again come to God in prayer. Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word and how it reminds us that it is a word that
goes out to all ends of the earth. And we thank you that that is true today in our day and age,
that your word, perhaps like at no other time, is able to find and cross boundaries like never before.
That there is access to so many people and places. That your word is powerful and mighty. And it tells
us of the mighty works of God, of what you have done for your people down through all the generations.
Even as we have read in our two passages together, a time so far apart and yet the same
God. The same God who was able to throw people in all different directions and into the confusion of
different languages. So that instead of bringing glory to themselves, that they would seek you with
all their heart. We thank you that that is what we have read in Genesis and that we are reminded then
as we come into the New Testament that you are a God of mission. A God who is calling a people to
himself from all ends of the earth, that your gospel would be heard and understood and received with
great gladness and wonder. And we know, Lord, too, that there are many challenges to your gospel.
There are many who will dismiss it, that there are many who abandon it. There are many who receive it
with gladness for a time, but are so distracted by the things of this world that it falls away from
them. But we thank you, Lord, that you are the one who is able to prepare the ground, that you are the
one who is able to give the increase and the blessing, that you are the one who has given the power of your
Holy Spirit. As we will read of and see more of this morning, we thank you that we have the Spirit
promised with us. And we thank you that it is not through our power or strength, but through the power of
your Spirit that your Word is blessed. And so we pray that for ourselves here and for all your people who
gather today, and for your Word as it goes out, that it will go out with the power of your Holy Spirit, that it
will accomplish great things, and that we would rejoice and delight in your Word, being received with gladness,
being heard with joy, a Word that brings a sense of joy into the lives of so many broken people.
We thank you that it is a power to heal and to heal to the utmost. So we pray, Lord, that you would
continue to pour out your blessing on us, to be with us as a people, as homes, as families, as a
congregation. We ask, Lord, that you will direct us in all our ways, that you will help us even in this
coming week, that we would go into it with a sense of anticipation, that we would rejoice that you
are the God who hears us, that you are the God who is able to answer prayer. And as we look ahead to a
day of prayer for our denomination, we pray that our times together will not be times that we enter into
without prayer, but that today and in the days leading up to it, we will draw near to you, that we will
commit ourselves and our church and our denomination as a whole, all your people far and wide, Lord,
that we would come praying for one another, praying for your blessing on us, praying humbly as sinners
such as we are, confessing our sins, but thankful for the forgiveness that you have shared upon us
through your Son, Christ Jesus. And so we come, Lord, seeking your face, asking as the psalmist,
Lord, bless and pity us, shine on us with your face, that the earth, thy ways, and nations all
may know your saving grace. We ask these things humbly before you. And we pray too, Lord, for our
communion weekend ahead as well, Lord, that you will prepare our hearts for that, that you will encourage
us, Lord, and strengthen us as a people, that you will increase our faith. Lord, we may become here
today with our faith seeming so small, but we thank you that your word says that even if our faith is
like a grain of mustard seed, so small and insignificant in many ways in our eyes, and yet able to flourish and
blossom into the greatest tree in the garden, we thank you that you are the one who is able to make our
faith flourish, that you are the one who is able to give it the increase and help us, Lord, to lean
upon and look to you in each and every day. So we ask your blessing upon us in all of these things, and we
ask your blessing on our homes and families and our different needs at this time as well. Those who are
mourning and grieving, Lord, we commit to you, asking for your comfort, your grace, and your blessing to
them. Praying for those who are unwell, those who are in hospital and homes, those who have
anticipating hospital visits even in the coming weeks ahead as well. And we do remember in that
mind, Lord, we pray for Donna and James just now. We commit them to you, Lord, asking for your
grace and your peace towards them, that as Donna will await surgery in these coming weeks, Lord, that you
will still our heart and give our calm and help us all to surround them with prayer at all times.
So, Lord, we commit them to you and all others like them, Lord, who have times of anxiety and worries
just now, Lord, that you will shower your blessing upon them, that you will bring comfort and help in all
different times of need. We pray too, Lord, for Reverend Ian Morrison in Oban. We know he's been unwell this
week and is in hospital just now, and we pray for him in his recovery, Lord, that you will strengthen him
and uphold him, Lord, and that you will restore him in health. We pray, Lord, for the wider denomination
too, Lord, that you will guide us and help us as a people, as a denomination that seeks to reach out
with the gospel, that you will direct our steps and our paths and help us to do all for your glory.
So, remember us, we pray, Lord. Remember all your people, all our loved ones, near and far,
those who serve you in the gospel around us here and throughout all ends of the earth, Lord, that we
would see that the harvest is great, but that we are praying to the Lord of the harvest to provide in
every way. So, may you shower us with your blessings and pardon us in all our sin. That's all we ask. We ask in
Jesus' precious name and for his glory. Amen.
Well, again, sing to God's praise. This time we're singing in Psalm 85 in the Scottish Psalter.
Psalm 85 and at verse 6, page 340 of the Psalm books.
We'll sing from verse 6 down to the end of the Psalm.
That in thee may thy people joy, wilt thou not us revive? Show us thy mercy, Lord, to us do thy salvation give.
We'll sing from verse 6 down to verse 13 and the tune is Denfield.
Amen.
God, in thee may thy people joy, wilt thou not us revive? Show us thy mercy, Lord, to us do thy salvation give.
I'll hear what the Lord will see. To his hope he'll seek peace.
And to his sins, but let them not return to foolishness.
Good, then, not fear him, surely near him, is his salvation.
But glory in her loving heart, her habitation.
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Amen.
Hash Messiah, O valor, to the關 capitalism, Lord, to us dev one of his wounded children.
Amen.
Can glory in his knees be his mercy become the лучше of God.
That in Editionposts, upon his true life of the death, deliver him good to us weel hisinction and being Reynolds.
Amen.
Jesus, I, means, our frase豈 ego, to us in sic死, son of Gleich cai.
Amen.
Thank you, O also, to the end of thisakukan block on earth, that is over met colourful BeWorld,
Нам Captain, to us write.
For this good the Lord shall build, our land shall yield in peace.
Justice to set us in his steps shall go before his grace.
We can turn back to our reading in the book of Acts chapter 2.
Acts chapter 2.
We can just read again at verse 11.
Where we see a reminder of how the people are hearing each other speaking.
Although they would not normally understand, they were understanding one another.
And it says there, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians.
We hear them telling in our own tongue the mighty works of God.
And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, what does this mean?
So they were hearing about the mighty works of God.
As we begin this new week, we look ahead in many ways to the week ahead and what lies before us.
And it is a time of national prayer as a denomination.
We have the National Day of Prayer on Wednesday.
It's a time of thanksgiving.
It's a time of year when we look back over the year with much thanksgiving to God.
And then we look ahead to the end of the week.
We would, God willing, come together around the sacrament of the Lord's Supper.
When we come to remember the Lord's death and all that he has done for us there.
So how do we go into the week ahead?
Are we going in our own strength?
Are we looking to ourselves?
Or are we looking to God, thankful for the mighty works of God?
And who is with us as we go into the week ahead?
That we do not go alone, but that we have the Lord with us.
And especially as we will see in this passage that we have the promise of the Holy Spirit with us.
And that it is through him and his strength that we seek to do all things to his glory.
Now as you look at the book of Acts in this chapter here, chapter 2 or chapter 1 and 2 really,
you could take together.
You see what the people have witnessed of the power of God.
The mighty works of God that they have already seen.
They have been three years with Jesus and his public ministry, seeing his miracles,
seeing all that he was doing, hearing his teachings and everything that they had
over these last number of years together.
They had enjoyed a real time of blessing.
But then you think of what they'd seen in just the previous few days to this.
How they'd seen the Lord crucified, put to death on the cross.
How they'd heard about the resurrection.
How they'd seen the risen Lord.
And then as chapter 1 shows us how they'd seen his ascension.
How they'd seen him go up to glory to be with the Father.
And you think to yourself the wonder of all that they had seen,
the amazement of all that they had seen,
that this would be enough for anyone's lifetime to see all of this
and to try and understand it.
Where do you begin?
But what we see here in chapter 2 is that God still had a purpose and a plan for his people
and to see and continue to see the mighty works of God
and to show the mighty works of God to others as well.
There's more to come.
This is just the beginning.
In chapter 1 and verse 8,
the people had been reminded as they were gathered together,
just a small number of them.
They were told that you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria
and to the end of the earth.
That God was going to continue to send his people out on this journey,
this journey that takes the gospel to all ends of the earth.
So they were waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit
and they didn't have to wait long.
They have been waiting as instructed by Jesus,
waiting with a sense of anticipation as to what was to come.
Not thinking, well, we've got to take things into our own hands,
we've got to do something about this ourselves.
No, they had been given instruction by God
and they were waiting on his coming,
on the Holy Spirit coming and seeing what God would do in their midst.
But they haven't just been waiting without doing anything.
They've been waiting in prayer.
They've been waiting and looking to God's Word.
They've been waiting together as well.
There's this sense of unity and oneness as they are together waiting on the Lord's coming in this way
through the Holy Spirit.
And then the day comes when the power of the Holy Spirit is poured out upon them.
That's what we've read of here in the beginning of chapter 2.
There's this sense of amazement and wonder among all the people there as to what's happening.
And they're left with this question in verse 12,
when they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another,
what does this mean?
And that's the question that so often is asked today as well.
What does all this mean?
What does this pouring out of the Spirit mean for us as a people?
What does it mean for the church today?
And so many people look at this seeking the same kind of experience once again,
seeking another day of Pentecost as it is,
a pouring out of the Spirit that we have to wait again for another day
of the Holy Spirit being poured out,
or that we are to come and speak in tongues to one another.
But that's not what this is about.
This is not about waiting for another time,
but looking and seeing that God has given His Spirit,
that He has poured out His Spirit on His people
to be His witnesses to all the ends of the earth.
And so that as we come together in His name here today,
as we go into the week ahead in all that we do,
whether it's in our own homes, in our workplaces,
as we come together for prayer on the National Day of Prayer,
as we look ahead to a communion weekend,
that whatever we are doing,
we are doing it knowing that we have the promise of the Holy Spirit,
that He is with us,
and that He is the one who is able to bless.
You see, Acts chapter 2 must be understood
in light of what was said in Acts chapter 1,
verse 4 to verse 8.
Well, there it's going through that He has told them
to wait on the promise of the Father which He said,
that the Holy Spirit, not many days from now,
will come upon you.
So they were waiting for it,
and that after that,
that they were to be witnesses to all the ends of the earth.
That is what we see being accomplished and done
in Acts chapter 2.
And if you go on in Acts chapter 3 from verse 14,
you have that great sermon,
at Pentecost of Peter,
which again explains it more clearly for us too.
But what we want to think about just now
is just the sense of wonder of the Holy Spirit,
of the power that we have as a people,
the power that we should depend on
and look to in all that we do.
And so we want to think of three things for ourselves
as we look to all that's ahead of us,
thankful for God's past faithfulness and goodness
and looking ahead in God's sense of anticipation to God.
So three things I want us to take from this passage.
As we think of the day of Pentecost
in the light of their experience then
and ourselves today,
first of all,
that it was something that it was anticipated.
The second thing,
it was something that was amazing.
And the third thing is,
it was something that was awakening.
And as we look to God,
these are three things
that we should have in our own hearts as well.
A sense of anticipation,
what God can do in our midst,
what God can do for us and others.
A sense of amazement
as to who God is,
the wonder of what he has done for us through Christ,
which is what Peter goes on to preach
in that sermon in Acts chapter 2 later on.
How the Lord Jesus died for our sins.
The sense of amazement.
And then thirdly,
the sense of awakening.
That he would stir us up in our hearts.
That in our deadness of our hearts,
that we would see the Holy Spirit
as the one who gives life to us
and to all that we do.
So the first thing we want to see
is the sense of anticipation.
The point of Pentecost here is mission.
Mission.
That the gospel would go out
to all ends of the earth.
Because what is the goal of mission?
Mission.
It is what Habakkuk spoke of
in the Old Testament
in Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 14,
where it says,
That the earth be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
That is the sense and power of mission.
That the earth be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.
Just like Psalm 67 says to us,
Lord, bless and pity us.
Shine on us with your face.
That the earth thy ways
and nations all may know your saving grace.
There is a sense of anticipation
that God is blessing his church
to all ends of the earth.
And so to understand what Pentecost means
here in Acts chapter 2,
we have to think of it in light
of what it meant in the Old Testament.
And Pentecost was all to do
with the harvest time.
Pentecost, which means 50th,
refers to 50 days after the Passover festival.
And it's called different things.
In the Old Testament,
it's called the Feast of Wicks
or the Feast of Harvest.
It's known as these things.
But very much it is a harvest theme behind it.
Because at the Feast of Pentecost
would be when the first fruits of the harvest
were brought and offered up to the Lord.
And so there was a sense of thanksgiving
and anticipation.
The people would bring the first part of the harvest,
but it would be an anticipation of more to come.
So there would be a sense of thanksgiving to God,
but also looking to God
and trusting Him that the full harvest would come in
and that it would be successful.
Remember what we were looking at last week
in Matthew chapter 9,
where Jesus was looking on the people with compassion
and He saw the fields white to harvest.
And He says,
The harvest is plentiful,
and the laborers are few.
Pray to the Lord of the harvest.
So the harvest anticipated in the Old Testament
is now being signified here on this Pentecost
as the harvest of God's people
that is to come in.
And so behind that is a sense of anticipation
that God is able to save
and save to all ends of the earth.
That He is sending out His gospel
to all people everywhere
that they may be gathered in
as part of the harvest.
that they might hear and understand the gospel
and receive it with gladness
and rejoice in the Lord.
And we ask ourselves,
is that how we come to worship God today?
Is that the sense in which we go into the week ahead
as we anticipate a day of special focus on prayer
in our national day of prayer?
As we have a day of thanksgiving?
As we have a weekend of communion?
In all of these things,
are we going into it with a sense of anticipation?
That God has been good to us.
That God has been rich to us through Christ.
That God can bless us as we go forward as a people.
That the harvest is there,
but God is in the business of gathering in His harvest.
That the earth be filled with the knowledge
of the glory of the Lord.
That that is what we would see in our midst.
Anticipate as a people
and seek and long to go out from here with it as well.
So the people here,
they were gathered in one place.
It says that in verse 1 for us.
When the day of Pentecost arrived,
they were all together in one place.
They had that sense of anticipation.
Prayer of expectation, of faith,
and the wonderful things that God can do.
And shouldn't we be like that as well?
Shouldn't we have that sense of anticipation?
What God can do for us.
The second thing we see here,
it was something that was amazing.
You get the sense in which Luke is almost struggling
for words at times to describe
what he is seeing in their midst here.
In verse 2 it says,
Suddenly there came from heaven a sound
like a mighty rushing wind.
And it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
And divided tongues as or like fire
appeared to them and rested in each one of them.
There was this sense of amazement at what was happening.
The sense of, what is this?
This is the mighty works of God.
This is what God has promised for his people.
That he would pour out his spirit upon them.
And God showed himself to them in this way
that just left them with this sense of wonder.
There was this mighty rushing wind
like a spirit had come in.
There was this fire that came down.
And all of these things that are mentioned,
we think of how it relates to the Old Testament.
And how God so often shows his presence in these amazing ways.
When you read through the Old Testament,
you find places where you think,
that's only possible by God.
And that's the whole point of the gospel.
Salvation is only possible through God.
Life eternal is only possible through our Lord Jesus Christ.
You think here how it speaks of this sound,
like a mighty rushing wind.
The sound that came into their midst,
this presence of God.
It's so often how we see the presence of God
in the Old Testament.
In the book of Ezekiel chapter 37,
where God commanded the prophet to prophesy
in the valley of dry bones.
He said, prophesy.
And it brought life.
The breath of life came upon these dry bones.
And it brought life to them.
And that's exactly what we're seeing here as well.
That the Lord, through his Holy Spirit,
is able to give life to what is dead.
And that's how we are described.
We are dead in our trespasses and sins.
But he is able to give life.
And he's able to give life to his church,
to his people.
And it's amazing how he does it.
How even when we seem so far from God
and so distant from God,
that God in a moment can come and revive
and quicken his people.
And so here they were waiting in a sense of anticipation.
And then they see these amazing things taking place.
The tongues of fire coming down upon them.
And you think of fire in the Old Testament,
how again it symbolized the presence of God.
Moses in the wilderness,
he saw the burning bush.
It wasn't consumed because God was in the midst of it.
And God spoke to him there.
And you think how God led his people
through the wilderness journey.
How did he do it?
He guided them by a pillar of fire.
He was with them.
He was guiding them at all times.
And so there's this sense of God with us here
through his Holy Spirit.
He will be with us.
And then you think back to a reading
in Genesis chapter 11.
What happened there when there was so much confusion
that people were cast into chaos?
They'd all been speaking one language,
but God confused them
so that there would be a multitude of languages
so they couldn't understand one another.
Well, what we see here is
that there will be a language
that everyone can understand.
That God is bringing his people back together.
You look at the list of all the different people
and places mentioned here.
Between verse 7 down to verse 11 there,
there's a number of different places.
And the question is,
how are all these people understanding?
They have their own language.
Well, because God is restoring
and bringing his people back together.
You see, in Genesis,
they had been building this tower
for their own glory,
their own mighty works.
But now they are talking about
the mighty works of God
in a language they can all understand.
And that is the language of the gospel.
That as the gospel goes out,
it goes out with power.
And it leaves a sense of amazement
at what God is able to do.
That he is able to bring people back together.
That he is able to restore and heal
in a way that we cannot do.
Because it's all about the mighty works of God.
It's all about the power of his Holy Spirit.
We cannot do it ourselves.
We look to him.
And that's the way that they were to go on
from this Pentecost day.
And to go out to all ends of the earth.
That is the way that we are to go on
in the strength and power of the Holy Spirit.
Albert Einstein once said,
He who can no longer pause to wonder
is as good as dead.
And how easy it is for us
to lose our wonder of God.
Our amazement of God
and his mighty works.
Imagine coming to look
to the Lord's death on the cross
and to feel nothing.
We have done it ourselves in the past.
Perhaps we're doing it even now.
We're looking at the cross
and hearing of the cross
where Christ died for sinners
and nothing.
There's no wonder.
There's no awe and amazement
because we're dead.
But
the mighty works of God
are that he brings life
through his Spirit.
That the Holy Spirit
is what revives us in our hearts.
What quickens us to see
the cross of Christ
for what it is.
That Christ
died for my sin.
That he gave his life
as a ransom
for me.
And when the Holy Spirit
awakens us
and breathes life
into our hearts.
No longer
do we dead to that.
But we are made alive
to Christ.
We weep
over our sin.
And we rejoice
that Christ died
for our sins.
And we marvel
at the mighty works
of God.
That is how
we should be.
But are we dead?
Have we lost
that sense
of awe
and amazement?
Well we need
the mighty works
of God
through his Spirit
to revive us
and to bless us.
So the third thing
we see here is
it's awakening.
This is awakening.
And this is
what we want
in our own hearts
as well.
We see here
the church
awakening.
We see here
the people of God
awakening.
When they're asking
these questions
in amazement
and perplexity
in verse 12
saying
what does this mean?
We ask ourselves
that question today.
What does this mean?
When you see
all these places
and people
mentioned
what does this mean?
It means that
there's good news
for all.
For everyone
and for all
the nations.
And this is
what awakens
the church
of Christ.
The Holy Spirit
bringing life
and to see
and know
that Christ
died
for all.
In the book
of Revelation
chapter 5
verse 9
John is there
proclaiming
to us
what Jesus
has done.
that Jesus
has purchased
it for God
with his blood.
Men from
every tribe
and tongue
and people
and nation.
That there is
a mission
for the church
today as well.
That we are
awakened
to this end
to bring the gospel
to all ends
of the earth.
And the people
in this day
of Pentecost
and Acts
here
have been asking
well how is it
possible?
How can we be
your witnesses
in Jerusalem?
Far less
Judea
and even more
so the ends
of all the earth.
How is it
going to be
possible?
We have the
great commission
of the Lord
Jesus
and he says
go to all
ends of the earth.
He says go
but what else
does he say?
He says
I am with you.
And that's
the great question
that we have
for ourselves
as well.
How can we
so small
and insignificant
a people
here?
How can we
possibly go?
Well it's
to be awakened
and to know
the power
of the Holy
Spirit
with us.
It says
in the Old
Testament
it's not
by might
nor by power
but by my
Spirit
says the
Lord.
That is
how we
are to go.
He has
poured out
his Spirit
upon us.
He has
given the
Spirit
to his
church.
Pentecost
was about
mission
and empowering
because we
are powerless
without the
Holy Spirit
but we have
him promised
with us.
So let us
look to
him.
Let us
pray
to God
our Father.
Pray
through our
Lord Jesus
Christ
and pray
for the
Holy Spirit
with us.
When you
go back
to verse
1 of
chapter 2
here it
gives us
a reminder
of the
starting point
of this
journey
and the
starting point
for ours
as well.
When the
day of
Pentecost
arrived
they were
all together
in one
place.
They were
all together
in one
place.
They were
all tuned
in to
God.
It was
A.W.
Tozer
who once
said
a hundred
pianos
all tuned
to the
same
fork
are
automatically
tuned
to each
other.
And what
was the
point that
he was
making
there?
Well he
was making
you could
try and
tune
your own
piano
and somebody
else could
tune
their own
and everyone
could just
go ahead
and tune
their own
piano
but they're
not going
to be
in tune
because they're
all individual
but tune
it to one
tuning fork
and they're
automatically
playing the
same tune
the same
note.
The point
he's making
is this
that when
we all
tune in
to God
first and
foremost
then we
are all
in tune
with one
another.
That is
what makes
things possible
to be in
tune
with God
to be
together
in one
place
with God
in our
hearts.
knowing
the blessing
of the
Holy Spirit
with us.
So as we
go into
this week
ahead
may we
go with
a sense
of
anticipation
of what
God can
do for
us.
May we
go with
a sense
of amazement
at what
God has
done for
us.
And may
we go
with a
sense
of awakening
knowing
the life
giving
power
of the
Holy Spirit
of God
that we
would see
his mighty
works
in our
midst.
We will
at the
end of
this week
we will
be focusing
on the
Lord's
death.
And that
is our
focus
in all
that we
do
that Christ
died
for us
that we
might have
life.
And the
more we
look to
that
the more
we are in
tune with
that the
more we
are in
tune with
one another
the more
we are in
tune with
all that
is around
us.
And the
words on
your notice
sheet this
week with
regards to
the communion
the words
that Matthew
Henry had
I want to
leave you
with these
words because
they remind
us of
what it
means to
come.
Come to
the Lord's
Supper.
It says
let us
come to
the Lord's
Supper with
rejoicing and
thanksgiving.
these two
must go
together for
whatever is
the matter
of our
rejoicing
must be
the matter
of our
thanksgiving.
Holy joy
is the
heart of
our
thankful
praise and
thankful
praise is
the language
of holy
joy.
Both
these are
very seasonable
when we
are coming
to this
ordinance
which is
instituted
both for
the honor
of the
Redeemer
and for
the comfort
of the
redeemed.
Isn't it
a wonderful
way of
putting it?
It is
both for
the honor
of the
Redeemer
for the
honor of
Christ we
do it
but it is
for the
comfort
of the
redeemed.
The comfort
of doing
it in
remembrance
of him.
May we
come into
this week
with a
sense of
knowing the
Holy Spirit's
leading and
guiding and
blessing in
all that
we do
and knowing
the mighty
work of
God in
our midst.
Let us
pray.
Our
Father in
heaven we
give you
thanks for
your goodness
to us as a
people and
deserving as
we are
Lord we
thank you
for the
blessings that
are ours in
Christ and
for the
blessing that
we have in
the comfort
of the
Holy Spirit
with us.
And we
pray Lord to
know his
mighty work
in our
midst in
all that
we do
and there
will be
for your
glory and
yours alone.
So we
ask it in
the name
of Jesus.
Amen.
We're going
to conclude
by singing
to God's
praise in
Psalm 104
page 138
of the
psalm
books.
Psalm 104
we'll sing
from verse
31 down
to the
end of
the psalm
and the
tune is
Hifredal.
Psalm 104
verse 31
May the
Lord's
majestic
glory always
last and
never fade.
May the
Lord rejoice
and triumph
in the
works that
he has
made.
We'll sing
these
verses to
God's
praise.
May the
Lord
majestic
glory
always
last and
never
fade.
May the
Lord
rejoice
and triumph
in the
works that
he has
made.
When
he
gives
his
song
creation
earth
begins
to shake
and
fear
as
it
touched
the
mountains
tremble
smoke
and flames
of fire
appear.
to the
Lord
throughout
my
lifetime
to
my
God
I
will
sing
praise.
May
my
meditation
be
said
as to
him
my
song
I
raise.
but
with
sinners
free
before
and
the
wicked
be
no
more.
Praise
to
the
Lord
almighty
O
my
soul
the
Lord
adore.
After the
benediction I'll go to the door to my left.
We'll close with the benediction.
Now may grace, mercy and peace from God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon and abide with you all now and forevermore. Amen.
Amen.