WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.839 Hi, this is video pastoral update number eight, and it's Friday the 8th of May 2020. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:11.839 And doing things a little bit differently today. 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:16.080 I thought we're still in the church, but I thought I'd give you a little behind the 00:00:16.080 --> 00:00:23.240 scenes look at what goes on in order to prepare us for the live stream on a Sunday morning. 00:00:23.240 --> 00:00:26.600 So as you can see, the church is still here, it's still standing. 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:32.800 And as we scan around the room, you can see that the music corner is still there, nobody 00:00:32.800 --> 00:00:36.920 playing at the moment, of course, and it hasn't been for a number of weeks. 00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:39.679 And there's one or two chairs dotted about the place. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:44.439 And in the middle of the church is the camera that is used to record all the sermons and 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:49.320 the AV booth in the back where Ali does all his magic and gets it ready and prepared 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:52.799 for a Sunday morning and a Sunday evening. 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:58.359 And then as we go around, we see we've set up our little Reverend I am Jolly chair in 00:00:58.359 --> 00:01:01.879 the corner where most of the pastoral updates happen. 00:01:01.879 --> 00:01:05.239 And you'll see, of course, I've got my little friend there keeping the seat warm for me because 00:01:05.239 --> 00:01:07.120 I'm not in it this week. 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:08.920 That's Stinky Joe, my teddy. 00:01:08.920 --> 00:01:13.120 Now, I'm not going to explain where that comes from, but the kids, when they come back to 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:18.799 church, when the lockdown is raised and we can come back, then I'll bring Stinky Joe with 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:24.719 me and I'll explain a little bit about him and why he's been with me every day since 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:28.519 I came to Edinburgh 20 years ago. 00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:33.479 And then round, we're back in the pulpit area and you can see we're all set up to record 00:01:33.479 --> 00:01:35.799 the service on a Sunday morning. 00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:41.280 And the interesting thing about that is there's a little bit of a reminder in that for us 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:47.400 as well that we don't know what's going on behind the scenes spiritually in a sense 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:50.400 with what's happening just now. 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:56.360 We are in the dark in some ways, but we're asked to trust the Lord who knows everything. 00:01:56.360 --> 00:02:04.920 And we are simply asked to put our faith and trust in what He's revealed and also trust 00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:08.520 that He is good and He will take us through this. 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:12.439 There's a great verse in Proverbs chapter 3, which says, Trust in the Lord with all your 00:02:12.439 --> 00:02:14.879 heart, lean not on your own understanding. 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:18.319 Lean all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight. 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:22.799 It's easy to want to try and lean on our own understanding, but we're asked to trust 00:02:22.799 --> 00:02:25.400 in the Lord through this difficult time. 00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:30.079 Now on Sunday night, I'm going to be looking at chapter 16 in Genesis, which is the passage 00:02:30.079 --> 00:02:35.919 about Abraham and Sarah, or Abraham and Sarah and Hagar. 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:42.439 And it's very interesting because it's a case of them taking matters into their own 00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:43.439 hands. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:44.560 They didn't trust the Lord. 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:49.039 They just looked difficult for them, and they decided just to go ahead without prayer and 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:50.560 without trusting in Him. 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:56.640 And there was huge consequences for them and for lots of other people. 00:02:56.640 --> 00:03:01.280 So please tune in on Sunday evening for that to hear God's word and also on Sunday morning 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:07.920 where John will be looking at Jesus calming the storm from our study in Matthew. 00:03:07.920 --> 00:03:13.199 So I encourage you to keep trusting, even when it can be very difficult, and keep praying 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:16.959 and keep knowing that He knows the end from the beginning. 00:03:16.959 --> 00:03:24.280 And He has already shown His great love and commitment to us on the cross and in His salvation. 00:03:24.280 --> 00:03:43.840 Thanks.