Worship

Please use the words below to worship the God who gave so much for us.

How Deep the Father’s Love for us
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss –
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life –
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart –
His wounds have paid my ransom.

Sermon on the Mat: Knowing what the future holds

Matthew 20:17-19  Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”

Jesus knew what was coming. This is the third time He has told the disciples what is to come, and it is the most detailed. The Jewish leaders will convict Him, the Roman authorities will beat Him, nail Him to a cross and let Him die. Yet despite knowing all this, Jesus is still willing to go to Jerusalem.

Because Jesus knows why He must die. Just a few lines later, He says, ‘the Son of Man… [came] to give His life as a ransom for many.’ (Matthew 20:28) Jesus knows His purpose on earth is to save His people. To die so that we can be forgiven and be in relationship with our holy and merciful God. And Jesus knows that death is not the end. He tells the disciples that He will be raised to life. And not just Him. His death defeats the power of death itself. Because of it, we too can be raised to an eternal life with God.

It’s important that Jesus knew what was coming. His death was not an accident. It was planned, predicted by the Old Testament prophets. It gave purpose and direction to His life. God cannot be killed by mistake. He can only be killed when He allows that to happen. For our sake.

The interesting thing is that because of Jesus’s planned death and resurrection, we too can know what lies in store for us. If we trust Jesus, if we claim his saving death for ourselves, then we can be forgiven and know a future secure with Him.

And not just our ultimate destination: heaven. God has plans for our time on this earth too. ‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ (Jeremiah 29:11) We need to co-operate with God to bring those plans to fruition.

The last year has not been what anyone planned. During 2020, it became very clear that no one knows what the future holds. Apart from God. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that God planned the pandemic, not at all. But He can work in it and through it to give His people hope. To ‘work for the good of those who love him’, as Romans 8:28 says.

So the question for us is, do we trust God? Are we willing to take Jesus’s ultimate sacrifice for our own, build a relationship with God our Father, and align our lives with his plans? God loves us and knows us intimately; we can be sure his plans will give us the best life we could live. Not necessarily the easiest; following God’s plans led Jesus to mockery, beating and death. But living as God intended is definitely be the best way to live.

Read the words below, and if you can, read it again slowly, making it your prayer. If you’re not sure then instead ask God to help you take another step on your journey to full dependence on Him.

Methodist Covenant Prayer

I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will,
rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing, put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you,
exalted for you, or brought low for you;
let me be full, let me be empty,
let me have all things, let me have nothing:
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours. So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen

Please pray –

• For our mothers this mother’s day, in gratitude and thanks; and for mothers the world over, that they will have the financial, practical and emotional resources to be the best mothers they can be.

• For continued signs of hope through vaccines and reducing hospitalisations; that as restrictions are slowly eased, case numbers don’t rise and that the world will come together to ensure a fair distribution of vaccines.