Worship

Please take time to prayerfully consider the words of this wonderful hymn as you offer yourself in worship to God.

All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love & trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
I surrender all, I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessed Saviour,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow;
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
I surrender all…….

All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me, Saviour, wholly, Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.
I surrender all…..

All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love & power,
Let Thy blessing fall on me.
I surrender all……..

All to Jesus I surrender,
Now I feel the sacred flame;
O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory to His name!
I surrender all…….

Sermon on the Mat: A Call to Stillness.

‘Be still & know (recognise, understand) that I am God!’ Psalm 46:10.

There has never been a greater need to ‘still’ our hearts before the living God, than in these ‘strange times’ in which we live. Strange times where stress & it’s related issues, continues to be the number one killer of the 21st century. As the American news aggregator & blog, HuffPost, in a recent survey, observes – ‘Stress is recognised by many as the No. 1 proxy killer disease today. The American Medical Association has noted that stress is the basic cause of more than 60% of all human illness & disease.’

In this regard we would do well to revisit the words of Jesus who, to an audience of listeners, arguably less anxious & fretful than the audience of this present age, implored – ‘And who of you by worrying can add one hour to the length of his life.’ (Matthew 6:27).

Or as Eugene Peterson’s the Message amusingly paraphrases it –‘Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch?’

It was a painful lesson for King David to learn to let go & let God. To come to terms with the fact that, as powerful, capable & influential as he was, he couldn’t fix everything! That, in the final analysis, there was only One God & the sooner he realised & acknowledged that it wasn’t him, the better, happier & freer, he would be.

I remember, quite a few years ago now, attending a Marriage Enrichment Weekend with Anne-Marie. Of the many highlights of the weekend’s very interesting & highly profitable mix of good biblical teaching & related workshops, were the prayer ministry times offered at the end of each of the morning & afternoon sessions. One prayer time in particular will remain forever etched in my memory. It was the occasion I went forward for prayer & received the following exhortation from the Lord, through the person assigned to pray for me. An exhortation that was quick to remind me that – ‘the government of the world rests upon Jesus’ shoulders not mine!’ (Isaiah 9:6).

As I gave the burdens I was never meant to carry back to the One whose job it was & always is to carry them, (those impossible situations that only He has the power to change & influence for the better), the stress & strain of believing that the whole of life’s problems & concerns were somehow mine & mine alone to resolve, instantly lifted, resulting in a stillness of soul & a peace of heart & mind that, for far too long, had, to my shame, needlessly eluded me. A. W. Tozer sums it up best when he states – ‘God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which He must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits & relax our nerves. The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven’t yet come to the end of themselves.’

Which of course, as we know only too well, always leads to the beginning of God. The best starting & finishing point of the lot!

Prayer for Hope

Lord, I don’t really know how to let go.
I don’t really know what to do to give You control of my life
But I am coming to You in humility of heart, to admit that
I can do nothing in my own strength
And to confess my need of You in my life.
Lord I pray that Your grace & mercy would lead & guide me & take control.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Please pray –

• That, with God’s necessary help & input, the new normal may be a better & a kinder normal.

• That God, in His mercy, would, by whatever means He deems appropriate, soon bring this pandemic to an end, bringing honour & glory to His great & Holy Name.

Notices

If you know of anyone who could make good use of a mobility scooter, only a year old, which used to belong to Philip Moles, please speak to John.