31st May 2020 APC
​Pentecost Sun  
“The gift of the Holy Spirit”
 
Welcome and Introduction
Good morning everyone and welcome to our special service of worship. Today is a high point in the Christian Year.  It is Pentecost Sunday.  On this day, Christians all over the world celebrate ‘the great beginning of the Church’, the day the Holy Spirit first came to confused and frightened disciples. So this morning we join to praise God for this great Gift, and to ask for a new outpouring of His Spirit in our day.
So let’s begin by doing what we always do - let’s talk to God, let’s pray…
 
Opening Prayer
Almighty and loving God, we gather together today as those joined by your Holy Spirit.  We come remembering your ancient promise to send your spirit upon all people, young and old, male and female, Jew and Gentile.
Move within us we pray
We come remembering that first Pentecost when your spirit was given to the apostles, renewing their faith and transforming their lives.
Move within us we pray
We come on this Pentecost Sunday, reminded of the constant work or your spirit – inspiring, guiding, challenging, refining.
Move within us we pray
Almighty God, Spirit of truth, come as you promised and reveal to us more of the way of Christ.  Come and fill us with deeper faith and greater love.  Give us the gifts that we need to work for your Kingdom.  Inspire us with new vision and purpose and breathe your power into our lives.
Move within us we pray
Almighty and loving God, open our hearts and minds and souls to your spirit, whoever we may be, and so equip us to live as your people not just this day but every day our lives reflecting your glory and proclaiming your love.
Move within us we pray to the glory of your name, Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name,
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us,
And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil,
For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever, AMEN.
 
Bible Readings
John 14: 15-27           Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
 
John 16: 5-15       The Work of the Holy Spirit
5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
 
Reflection               “The Gift of the Holy Spirit.”
What makes Christianity so different from many of the other religions in the world?  There are a number of answers to that question.  But I think two of the most important are these:
Firstly Christianity is not a do-it-yourself religion.  It’s not a case of trying as hard as we can, to be as good as we can be, in the hope that at the end of the day when the scales are weighed our good works will out way the bad so that God will accept us into His Kingdom.  No, Christianity is a religion where God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. 
That’s why Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect life.  It was so that He could offer His perfectness to God the Father on our behalf as a life that is acceptable to be in God’s presence. 
That’s why Jesus died on the cross, so that He could bear the full punishment for all our sins so that we could escape that punishment. And when we turn from our sin and trust in Christ an amazing transaction occurs.  Our sin is transferred to Him and His perfectness is put down to our account.  That’s the only reason any of us will be in heaven.  Not because of anything we do!  Only because of what Christ has done for us!  This is very different from so many other religions of the world.  Most of them are based on the concept that if we follow a list of principles or teachings that we will better ourselves until eventually we will make ourselves acceptable to the Divine.
The second reason Christianity is so different from the other religions of the world is that Christians follow the teachings and instructions of someone who is still alive and is still actually with us.  Jesus isn’t on a cross this morning.  His bones aren’t rotting in some Israeli tomb.  He is alive!  Not on earth but in heaven. But so what?  Why is that so significant?  Well let me illustrate the answer with a short story.
There was once a photographer who was taking photos of a raging bush fire in South Africa.  Eventually the fire became too hot for him to bear so he radioed for a small plane to pick him up and take him over the fire.  He was assured a plane would be waiting for him at the nearby airstrip.  Sure enough, when he got there, he found a small plane on the runway exactly as he had been told.  He jumped in and said to the pilot, “Take her away.”  When they were in the air he said to the pilot, “I want you to swing left and go low over the fire.”  A little later he said, “Now I want you to dive down onto the top of the smoke.”  The pilot turned to him and said, “Why are you asking me to do this?”  And the photographer replied, “Because I’m a photographer and I want some good photos.”  In horror the pilot looked at the photographer and asked, “You mean you’re not my instructor?”
(Illustration taken From Christianity Explored)
Jesus’ disciples must have felt a bit like that leaner pilot when Jesus told them that soon he would be going back to heaven.  They were terrified and couldn’t understand why He would be leaving them.  Who would teach them when He was gone? 
Who would guide them when they were not sure what to do?  Who would encourage and help them when things got difficult?  Would they ever see Him again?   John records in His gospel how Jesus tries to calm their fears.  He tells them not to be afraid.  He assures them that He will prepare a place for them in heaven.  He tells them that if they continue to follow Him that one day they will join Him there. 
Then He promises them something amazing- something that makes Christianity unique.  He tells them that one of the reasons He has to go back to heaven is so that He can give them a very special gift.  That gift will be the Holy Spirit.  John records some of the words Jesus spoke to his disciples in Chapters 14 and 16 of his gospel.  Jesus turns to his terrified disciples and says, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.  And I will ask the Father and He will give you another counsellor to be with you forever- the Spirit of truth.” … “If anyone loves me they will obey my teaching.  My Father will love them and we will come to them and make our home with them.  He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.  These words you hear are not my own they belong to the Father who sent me.  All this I have spoken to you while still with you.  But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
“Now I am going to Him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, “Where are you going?  Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.  But I tell you the truth.  It is for your own good that I am going away.  Unless I go away the Counsellor will not come to you, but if I go I will send Him to you.”
This is what makes Christianity so unique, so very special and such a wonderful privilege to be part of.  It is not a religion of trying our best to follow the principles of someone who is dead, it is a faith that enables us to enjoy a living relationship with the God of the universe.  Because Jesus is alive and in Heaven He has been able to do something amazing.  He, along with God the Father, has sent God the Holy Spirit to come and live in every true Christian.  That means that through the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ can be with every Christian in every part of the world at exactly the same time.  Being a Christian means having the living Spirit of Jesus Christ inside us to guide and help and empower us to live well.  It’s amazing!
It’s important for us to stop and actually think about the significance of that this morning.  Do you realise that if you have turned form your sin and trusted in Jesus Christ to forgive you that He has given you the most amazing gift?  He has actually sent His Holy Spirit to live within you so that He can be with you wherever you go?
Ok, now that we have begun to realise that the Holy Spirit actually lives inside us, it’s important for us to understand what He is like, how we can develop a relationship with Him, and how He can help us.  So let’s begin by asking who is this Holy Spirit?
As we read different sections of the bible we discover that He is a person, He is not a force.  So He can be lied to and He can be grieved.  We also discover that He is Divine.  He is God, the third person of the Trinity.  We even find that He is none other than the Spirit of Christ Himself.  In other words, to have the Holy Spirit living in us is to have the Spirit of Christ living in us.
Just stop and actually let that sink in for a few moments this morning.  Do you realise that if you are a true Christian, that the Spirit of Christ Himself is actually living in you.  That means that wherever you go, Jesus is there with you.  Whatever you say He is there hearing.  Whatever you do He is there watching.  What an awesome and scary thought!  But also what a privilege and what an encouragement!
For what that means, is that through the presence of God’s Holy Spirit we actually have the Lord Jesus Himself with us everywhere we go.  And this Spirit of Jesus, God the Holy Spirit, will do for us what Jesus was able to do for His disciples when He was on earth. 
So what exactly will the Holy Spirit do for us?  Jesus Himself gives us the answer to this question.  He tells His disciples that the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of truth and that He will guide us into all truth.”  He says, that “He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.”
Jesus also describes the Holy Spirit as the ‘Counsellor’.  The word Jesus uses here that is translated ‘Counsellor’ is the word ‘parakletos’ which come from two Greek words- ‘Para’ meaning ‘alongside’ and ‘kaleo’ meaning ‘to call’.  So the Holy Spirit, this Counsellor, is literally one who is called alongside us.  The Greeks used this word to describe a friend who might come alongside someone who is bereaved.  They also used it to describe how a pilot would steer a ship safely into port.
If we put these two titles for the Holy Spirit together we get a picture of what He can do for us.  He will be with us just as Christ was with His disciples when He was on earth.  And just like Christ taught and ministered to His disciples, so God the Holy Spirit will teach and minister to each of us.  Just as He brought to the apostle’s memory the teachings of the master, so the Holy Spirit will teach us and help us to understand Christ’s teachings recorded for us in the pages of Holy Scripture.  In that way the Holy Spirit will guide us into understanding what God is like and how we should live in order to please Him and enjoy our lives most fully.  The Holy Spirit will also comfort us when we go through difficult experiences and give us the strength that we need to trust God and keep on following Him.  He will also create within us new desires, He will motivate us to want to live in ways that please God and when we pray he will give us the power to do that.  That’s why a real Christian lives a very different life from many people in the world that aren’t Christians.  They have the power of Jesus helping them.  Let me encourage you no matter how concerned or how stressed you are at the moment, to remember that Jesus is with you.  He will help you if you will take the time to ask Him.  Whatever habits or attitudes in your life that you are currently unhappy with – ask the Holy Spirit to help you to change.  You will be amazed at what He can do in our lives if we will only be humble enough to ask Him for help.
But as well as guiding us in God’s ways by helping us understand the bible, as well as comforting and strengthening us in times of pressure, the Holy Spirit will bring glory and honour to Christ.  He will help us to see a beauty in Jesus.  He will help us to understand and appreciate what Christ has done for us through His death and resurrection.  He will help us to see and be thankful for what Christ is doing for us now in heaven as our great High Priest.  He will cause us to want to worship Christ, live for Christ and seek to tell others about how wonderful He is.  He will create in us a longing to be with Christ.  There is so much more that we can learn about the Holy Spirit.  Today we have only scratched the surface.  So on Wednesday I hope to explain in a little more depth all the ways in which the Holy Spirit will do for us what Christ did for His disciples when He was on the earth.  But for today, I simply want you to appreciate the amazing gift that God has given us this morning – the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus.
Conclusion:
God has given each of us the very presence of Jesus in us and with us through the gift of His Holy Spirit.  You may feel that you don’t deserve it.  You may feel afraid or even embarrassed at what that means.  But let me encourage you to believe that God the Holy Spirit is in you.  Let me encourage you to accept that He is in you.  Let me encourage you to think long and hard about the deep and revolutionary significance that can have for your day to day living.  Let me encourage you to talk to Jesus by His Spirit every day to get the help and strength that you need.
And above all other things that you will ever hear or read about the Holy Spirit, let me encourage you to remember this:
He is a person.  He is God.  He is the Spirit of Christ Himself.  And the most significant thing about why He has been given to us is so that in some sense Jesus Christ may be in us and with us everywhere we go, every day of our lives.  Christ is in you! He is with you in every time and in every place.  He can do for you what He did for His friends all those years ago.  Amen.
 
Prayer
Mighty God, come to us through your Holy Spirit, filling us with peace.  Give us a love for all and a desire to serve, humility of mind and gentleness of soul.
Nurture your grace in our hearts
Mighty God, come to us through your Holy Spirit, setting us on fire with love for you.  Fill us with a burning desire to work for your Kingdom, and cleanse us of all that is impure and unworthy in our lives.
Kindle a flame of faith in our hearts.
Mighty God, come to us through your Holy Spirit, breathing new life into our souls.  Fill us with energy and enthusiasm in the service of Christ and sweep away all in our lives that keeps us from living as your people.
Instil a sense of expectation in our hearts.
Mighty God, forgive us that we so easily limit your Spirit, receiving His blessing for ourselves but failing to pass it on to others.  Forgive us that we so readily quench the Spirit, resisting that which challenges and disturbs us.  Forgive us that we are so often closed to the movement of your Spirit, shutting Him out by the narrowness of our vision.  Come as the dove, the fire and the wind.  Open our lives to the peace, the power and the inspiration you would give us.
Open our lives and touch our hearts trough Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
Take a moment to pray for friends and family asking especially that God’s Spirit might work in their lives in miraculous ways…
 
Closing Words
It’s been a joy and privilege to share with you again today.  Thanks again for logging on.  I hope you’ve felt inspired and challenged to reflect on the amazing gift God has given us in His Holy Spirit. 
 
Currently the government has set a provisional date of the 20th July for the reopening of Masses and church gatherings.  Since that is a Monday we are currently considering reopening on Sunday 26th July.  Please do pray for our church leadership as we pray and plan for this. 
 
I hope you can tune in again on Wednesday morning as we reflect more deeply ion the role the Holy Spirit plays in our lives. 
 
I want to thank Alison and our growing virtual choir for all their efforts recording this week.  You will be able to enjoy them singing their latest piece “10,000 Reasons” in a moment.  But first, let me share the benediction, after which I invite you to say the grace together…
 
Benediction
Go out into God’s world filled with the spark of the Holy Spirit. Let love guide your actions. Listen for the Spirit of Truth. Spread the peace of Christ and remind everyone you meet that each one is a beloved child of God…
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and for evermore, Amen.”
 

27th May 2020 APC    
 
Psalm 55 “Managing your anxiety!”
 
Welcome and Introduction
Good morning everyone and welcome to our service of worship.
Today we continue our series looking at some of the wonderful songs and poems we have recorded in the bible.  These Psalms are the prayers of God’s people and have been used for centuries as a vehicle for helping people to express their feelings to God.  This morning we will be thinking about how we might learn to manage our stress and anxiety as we consider Psalm 55 together.  But before we do that, let’s take a moment to talk to God, let’s pray…
 
Opening Prayer
Gracious God, Lord of all, we thank you that we can come to you in prayer, that for all your greatness, and wonder and holiness, we can speak to you as to a friend.
Hear now our prayer.
We thank you that we can open our hearts to you, that we can pour out our inmost soul and share our deepest thoughts, in the knowledge that you are there, always ready to listen and understand.
Hear now our prayer.
So once more we lay our lives before you, open to your gaze- the bad as well as the good, the doubt as well as the faith, the sorrow as well as the joy, the despair as well as the hope.
Hear now our prayer.
We bring the anger as well as the peace, the hatred as well as the love, the confusion as well as the certainty, the fear as well as the trust.
Hear now our prayer.
Gracious God we bring these things, not with pride or any sense of arrogance, but honestly, recognising that you know us through and through.
Help us to be truthful to ourselves and truthful to you, and so may we discover the renewing love which only you can offer – a love that frees us to live as you would have us live, and allows us to be the people you would have us be!
Hear now our prayer in the name of Christ, Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name,
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us,
And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil,
For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever, AMEN.
 
Bible Readings
 
Psalm 55       ‘For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David.’
1 Listen to my prayer, O God,
    do not ignore my plea;
2     hear me and answer me.
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
3     because of what my enemy is saying,
    because of the threats of the wicked;
for they bring down suffering on me
    and assail me in their anger.
4 My heart is in anguish within me;
    the terrors of death have fallen on me.
5 Fear and trembling have beset me;
    horror has overwhelmed me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest.
7 I would flee far away
    and stay in the desert;
8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,
    far from the tempest and storm.”
9 Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,
    for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they prowl about on its walls;
    malice and abuse are within it.
11 Destructive forces are at work in the city;
    threats and lies never leave its streets.
12 If an enemy were insulting me,
    I could endure it;
if a foe were rising against me,
    I could hide.
13 But it is you, a man like myself,
    my companion, my close friend,
14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
    at the house of God,
as we walked about
    among the worshipers.
15 Let death take my enemies by surprise;
    let them go down alive to the realm of the dead,
    for evil finds lodging among them.
16 As for me, I call to God,
    and the Lord saves me.
17 Evening, morning and noon
    I cry out in distress,
    and he hears my voice.
18 He rescues me unharmed
    from the battle waged against me,
    even though many oppose me.
19 God, who is enthroned from of old,
    who does not change--
he will hear them and humble them,
    because they have no fear of God.
20 My companion attacks his friends;
    he violates his covenant.
21 His talk is smooth as butter,
    yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,
    yet they are drawn swords.
22 Cast your cares on the Lord
    and he will sustain you;
he will never let
    the righteous be shaken.
23 But you, God, will bring down the wicked
    into the pit of decay;
the bloodthirsty and deceitful
    will not live out half their days.
But as for me, I trust in you.
Philippians 4 v 4-7         ‘Final Exhortations’
 
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
 
Reflection               Psalm 55 - “Managing Anxiety”
 
 “If you can keep your head when all around are losing theirs and blaming it on you….you’ll be a man, my son.” 
Those are the opening and closing words of one of Rudyard Kipling’s famous poems.  Secretly we probably aspire to be a person who always exhibits the unruffled composure he describes.  If only we could sail through the storms of life with calm and peace.  If only we could sleep at night no matter what the day had brought or the morning promised.  But perhaps as Kipling is suggesting by the title of his poem, to be able to live like that, is all a big “If”.
You see the truth is none of us are like that all the time.  None of us are completely unflappable, never mind infallible!  All of us are susceptible to anxiety and stress.  Sure we’re all wired differently.  Some people are so laid back that it’s not a bit of wonder that everyone else around them is tearing their hair out trying to pick up the pieces, yet they still don’t see it!  Other people are so highly strung or such perfectionists that the tiniest problem or the smallest mistake will send them into a wave of panic.  Most of us are probably somewhere in between.  It’s great that God has made us all so different.  Yet one thing about us is the same.  None of us, no matter how strong we appear or think we are, are immune to anxiety and nervous illness.
That goes for the Christian as well as someone who isn’t a Christian.  Christians battle with worry and anxiety just as much as everybody else.  Even Jesus experienced severe anxiety as He contemplated His crucifixion and prayed that famous prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, “Lord if there be any way for this cup to be taken from me then please take it, yet not my will but yours be done.”
King David also suffered from anxiety- David, the brave warrior who killed a giant as a young boy with just a few stones and a sling shot- David the spiritual giant who was described as, “a man after God’s own heart.”  We know he suffered from anxiety because he wrote more than one poem in which He expressed His emotional disturbance to God.  Psalm 55 is one of these poems.
As we read this Psalm together this morning it is my prayer that all of us will discover two things.  We will see the strong emotions and physical feelings that anxiety can create and we will learn how to manage those emotions when we are experiencing them personally.
But before we look at these two things, I think it is important to try and understand the circumstances that were causing David so much stress.  When we understand the seriousness of the pressure he was under, when we examine the depth of personal hurt that he had received, it will become clear to us that his emotions are not in any way irrational and that His way of dealing with them is a reliable example for us to follow.
 
1      What caused David’s anxiety?
To understand the background to this Psalm we will have to do a bit of detective work. We will have to examine what David writes closely for clues and compare that with the biography of David’s life story in the book of Second Samuel. 
When we read the account of David’s life and reign as King of Israel in the book of Samuel we discover that he was plagued by people trying to kill him so that He would not be King.  At one point in his life we even discover that his very own son Absalom led a conspiracy and a rebellion against him in order to try and become King.  I believe this is the most likely period of David’s life when he writes this Psalm.  It was obviously written at a time when someone was trying to harm him and bring him down.  That’s why he writes, “My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught at the voice of the enemy.”   It seems that this enemy and their followers were spreading viscous rumours about David in the city in order to try and stir up a military coup against him.  So he writes, “Confuse the wicked O Lord, confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city.  Day and night they prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it.  Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets.”
Probably the most painful thing about this attack is that it is being led by someone very close to David.  It may well be the time when his own son Absalom led a rebellion against him to try and topple David from the throne.  That’s why David writes, “If an enemy were insulting me I could endure it.  If a foe were raising himself against me I could hide from him.  But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God.”  To add insult to injury, not only was David being stabbed in the back by his own son, but as he twisted the knife, Absalom was publicly pretending to be best friends with his father.  David describes this hypocrisy by saying, “My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant.  His speech is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.”
So, not only was David having to cope with a threat on his life when he wrote this Psalm; he was also having to deal with the emotional pain that his betrayer was his own son.  It is no surprise then that when he writes this Psalm, David is full of anxiety.  But what does his anxiety feel like, how does it express itself in his life, and what does he do to prevent himself from cracking up under the pressure of it all?
 
2      The Strong feelings Anxiety Causes:
It is not too strong to say that what David is experiencing here is a full blown panic attack.  His thoughts and emotions are all over the place which is why the psalm is written in a chaotic and disjointed way.  He shifts wildly between lots of different feelings. 
In verse 5 he admits that he is afraid that the end is nigh.  He says, “My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death assail me.  Fear and trembling have beset me, horror has overwhelmed me”. 
In verse 15 he rages in anger against his betrayers saying, “Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the grave, for evil finds lodging among them.” 
He expresses grief at his betrayal saying “If an enemy were insulting me I could endure it” and in verse 17 he says, “Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress.”
He is paranoid and suspicious of everyone around him.  In verse 3 he writes, “I am distraught at the voice of the enemy, at the stares of the wicked for they bring down suffering upon me and revile me in their anger.”
And in the midst of all these negative emotions he suddenly announces a great confidence in God.  In verse 22 he says, “Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you, He will never let the righteous fall.”
The wild and conflicting emotions that David expresses here are typical of someone experiencing severe anxiety.  It may well be that with these emotions, he was also experiencing serious physical symptoms- jumpiness, twitching or trembling, sleeplessness, a racing mind and heart, headache or a tight knot in his stomach, breathlessness and a fear that he was going to die.  Some of us will know exactly what David is experiencing here.  Many people who have had such an anxiety attack say, “I’d rather die than have another one!”
His circumstances had upset him so badly that all he wants to do is run away.  So in verse 6 he writes, “I said, Oh that I had the wings of a dove!  I would fly away and be at rest- I would flee far away and stay in the desert.  I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and the storm.”
You know, the truth is all of us are the same as David.  All of us experience anxiety and stress.  There will be periods in life when those worries are serious and on-going.  We might be facing redundancy and struggling to find new employment.  Maybe our business isn’t doing well and we are kept awake at night wondering how we are going to pay the bills.  Perhaps we are experiencing serious illness or we’re worried about someone in our family who is sick.  Perhaps we are concerned about important exams or we’re afraid and upset because people are being nasty to us at school.  Maybe we are having problems in our relationships at home or at work.  Perhaps we are worried about growing old or about how we will manage to care for our elderly parents.  Maybe we are concerned about our children and the road that they are taking in life.  You know, one thing is for sure, in this life we will have trouble, and with that trouble we will experience anxiety.  That anxiety may express itself in so many ways.  We may feel sad.  We may feel worried.  We may feel afraid.  We may be irrational.  We may feel very angry at others, at ourselves or even at God.  With those feelings we may experience all sorts of strange physical symptoms.
I want to encourage you this morning.  If that is how you are feeling at the moment, do not despair, if you are experiencing severe pressure, it is deeply unpleasant but it is also normal.  It is part of being human.  You’re in good company for both King David and Jesus experienced it.  It can happen to anyone, even people who appear to be strong or think that they are spiritual or strong.  It in no way means that you are any less of a person than anyone else.   And even if the stress we experience never reaches that sort of level, there will be times for all of us, if we’re honest, when we will experience serious anxiety and all the emotional and physical feelings that go with that.
It’ important for us to admit that, because if we don’t, we may try to deal with our feelings in ways that long term will be destructive.  So how did David deal with his anxiety and what can we learn from that?
 
3      How to deal with Anxiety:
The first thing we realise that David does is that he finds a way to express his anxiety and all the strong emotional feelings that go with that.  Wisely, David doesn’t try to repress his feelings.  He doesn’t try to pretend they don’t exist or that his circumstances aren’t affecting him.  And even though he feels like running away from them, he resists that temptation and he faces them square on.  You see that’s what Psalm 55 is.  It is not an article in a psychiatric journal giving guidance on how to manage stress and anxiety.  It is a diary entry from a person of faith describing what they are going through and how they are feeling.
You know there is a really important lesson here for all of us.  When we are worried about something consistently, when we are afraid or angry at someone, when we are deeply hurt or confused about life, we must not deny those feelings.  We must not try to ignore them, suppress them, pretend that they do not exist, or try to run away from them.  If we do that, then we are likely to cause ourselves or others even more harm.  We may turn to alcohol or drugs to try and block out those feelings.  We may try to lock them away somewhere in our sub-conscious.  But they will only begin to show themselves in other ways such as depression, psychosomatic or stress related illness, high blood pressure, an ulcer, personality changes or a breakdown in our closest relationships or even contemplating suicide.
So how can we express our deepest emotions and anxieties and still maintain our sanity or our public credibility?  Well, part of the answer is, we need to pray.  For in a nutshell, that’s what Psalm 55 is.  It is the written prayer of a man who was going through one of the most painful and traumatic experiences in life that any of us could ever imagine.  This is how David copes with his crisis and if we will follow his example it will enable us to cope as well.
They say that a problem shared is a problem halved.  Isn’t it fantastic to have a partner or a trusted friend that we can offload to and who will not judge us?  We must never be too embarrassed or too proud to do that.  We must always make ourselves available to listen to others without judging them as they pour out their hearts.  Let me encourage you to make the effort to develop those sorts of friendships with people you get to know in your family, your work colleagues and in church.
But as well as allowing ourselves to be vulnerable enough to open up to our family and friends, we also need to be humble enough to talk to God.  The great thing is that God loves us.  He is always there for us.  He is never too busy to listen to us.  David had learned that lesson and that’s why he talked to God regularly.  In fact, it seems he may even have followed Daniel’s discipline of praying 3 times a day.  So in verse 17 he says, “Morning, noon and evening I cry out in distress and God hears my voice.”
The apostle Paul gave the Christians in the church in Philippi the same advice when he says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Paul isn’t telling these Christians that they should feel guilty about being worried.  What he is saying is, “When you are anxious, pray!”  That’s what David did. 
When we are overwhelmed by worry, fear, anger and so many other emotions that’s what we need to do too.  We need to tell God about it, just like David.
But how did David pray?
Well, he certainly didn’t pray like the prayers you hear on a Sunday morning or on one of our online services.  That’s because there is a huge difference between public and private prayer.  Public prayer needs to somehow try and express emotions and requests that everyone can identify with.  It needs to be considered, measured and sensitive. 
But private prayer is to be different.  In a nutshell, it is to be as honest and as frank as possible.  That’s one reason why reading the Psalms is so helpful.  They teach us how to pray.  Even though David obviously wrote down this prayer, it is clear that it is
something that was private, honest and intimate.  It was originally intended to be something between himself and God.
In the security of that relationship David doesn’t hold back.  He tells God exactly how it is.  He’s not embarrassed to tell God how afraid he is.  He’s not too proud to tell God that what Absalom is doing to him really hurts.  He’s not afraid to tell God how angry he is at what these people are trying to do to him.  He’s not ashamed to ask God to step in and sort things out even if that means coming in Divine and righteous judgement.  In a sense, there’s nothing nice about this prayer.  It’s not considered, it’s not ordered, it’s not pretty or measured.  It’s just David blurting out his emotions and feelings in the presence of someone he knows is listening and is listening without judging Him.  That’s why David can be so honest. 
It’s interesting that David also uses prayer as a way of saying the things he wants to say to Absalom but can’t bring himself to say face to face.  At one point he actually talks to God as if he is talking to Absalom.  In v13 he writes, “If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him.  But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked with the throng at the house of God.”
I want to encourage you all this morning to begin to pray privately like David.  Don’t feel that your prayers have to sound nice or have to include certain words or phrases.  Just say it as it is.  Say it as you feel.  Say it as you really want to say it.  Let me also encourage you not to feel guilty about expressing any kinds of emotions to God.  It doesn’t matter if you feel like punching someone, it doesn’t matter if you’re so ashamed you can hardly say the words.  It doesn’t matter if it’s something that sounds silly.  Just say it!  God can take it.  God can handle it.  In fact he knows it’s in your mind already.  So blurt it out because it’s better out than in!  Let me also encourage you not to be afraid to say to God the things that you have to leave unsaid publicly.  If you need to speak to God as if he is the person you need to say the things to, then go ahead. 
Because that’s what prayer is all about.  It’s not just about getting what we want from God.  It’s not just a happy pill or a form of magic.  It will not necessarily take the problems we face away.  But it will give us a context to work through those issues.  It will give us a safe haven to work through and come to terms with our emotions.  No, prayer is so much more about sharing every little detail of our lives with God. And as we do that, we will discover that prayer will unite us even more closely with Him.  It will help us to become more aware of what He is like.  It will strengthen the sinews of our faith and help us to trust God more completely.  That’s what it did for David who concludes his prayer with the words, “Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.  But you O God will bring down the wicked into the pit of corruption; bloodthirsty and deceitful men will not live out half their days.  But as for me, I trust in you.”
 
Conclusion:
How do you cope in a time of crisis?  How will you cope when your next major crisis comes? 
Will you worry and then think to yourself I should not feel this way.  Or will you realise that it’s normal from time to time to feel anxious, afraid, angry or hurt?
Will you try to suppress these feelings or pretend it’s no big deal with the consequences that may have for your mental or physical health? 
Will you try to carry those emotions like the African lady that a missionary gave a lift to?  When he looked in his mirror she was sitting in the back of the truck still carrying the heavy load on the top of her head!  Or will you cast your burden on the Lord and allow Him to sustain you?
And when that crisis comes and all the emotions with it, will you remember how to pray?
Will you blurt it out?  Will you tell God exactly how you feel?  Will you even dare to talk to him as if you are talking to your enemy?
May God help us all, to learn these lessons and to His name be all the glory, Amen.
 
Prayers for Others
Lord of all, we pray for all who are searching for peace in their lives – those burdened with anxiety either about themselves or their loved ones, facing difficulties and problems to which they can see no solutions.
God of peace, reach out and still the storm.
We pray for those wrestling with inner fears and phobias, torn apart by emotional and psychological pressures.
God of peace, reach out and still the storm.
We pray for all of us as we live among the change and upheaval that the Covid 19 pandemic has brought.  We pray especially for all whose lives are threatened by violence and warfare.
God of peace, reach out and still the storm.
To all of those in chaos and turmoil, all who are restless and troubled, grant your calm, your tranquillity, your quietness, and your peace which passes all understanding.
God of peace, reach out and still the storm.
Take a few moments now to pray for yourself and for others you know who need God’s help particularly at this time…
 
Closing Words
It’s been a joy and privilege to share with you again today.  Thanks again for logging on.  If you are struggling with deep anxiety at the minute then please don’t bottle it up.  Talk to someone you trust and who you know will listen.  If you need to talk to me then please pick up the phone and give me a call. It may take time but I assure you there is help available and in time you will begin to feel better once you reach out for help.  
 
Currently the government has set a provisional date of the 20th July for the reopening of Masses and church gatherings.  Since that is a Monday we are currently considering reopening on Sunday 26th July.  Please do pray for our church leadership as we pray and plan for this.  I hope you can tune in again on Sunday morning as we reflect on the amazing gift of the Holy Spirit.  I want to thank Alison and our growing virtual choir for all their efforts.  Its been lovely to see whole families joining in and new faces voices and faces appearing every week.  But there is still room for more to get involved.  So if you haven’t already joined our choir please do click the button on our website to pass on your interest and contact details to Alison. They will be singing another beautiful piece for this coming Sunday.  Also, I want to bring to your attention a very special upcoming event.  It is an online streaming of the formal election and installation of our new Moderator the Rev David Bruce.  David has been a great supporter of the Irish Mission and Home Mission churches like ourselves so I hope that many of us can log on and give him our virtual support.  This event will be live-streamed from Church House in Belfast from 6.45pm on Monday 1st June 2020, and is available for everyone to watch by following the link that will be on the main PCI website (www.presbyterianireland.org).
But to close, let me share the benediction, after which I invite you to say the grace together…
 
Benediction
The peace of God,
which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds
in the knowledge and love of God,
and of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord;
and the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
remain with you always.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore, Amen.”
 

 
News Release
21 May 2020
New Moderator to be installed on 1 June
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland announced today (21 May) that Rev David Bruce will be installed as the denomination’s new Moderator on the evening of Monday, 1 June, in a special event, which will be livestreamed from Assembly Buildings in Belfast.
 
The installation will take place on what would have been the Opening Night of this year’s General Assembly. The annual meeting was cancelled last month due to the current Coronavirus emergency and a small 25 person Standing Commission of the General Assembly has been appointed to transact necessary business, including the installation of the new Moderator for the year 2020 / 2021. Traditionally, the service from the historic Assembly Hall, would have been attended by upwards of 900 people from across Ireland, including past moderators, civic dignitaries, and representatives from other churches across Europe, Africa and Asia.
 
This year, apart from technical support, only four people will be physically present – the outgoing Moderator, Rt Rev Dr William Henry, Moderator-Designate, Rev David Bruce and the Clerk and Deputy Clerk of the General Assembly, the Revs Trevor Gribben and Jim Stothers. Other people will be participating remotely in the livestream from the Assembly Hall, leading in prayer and praise and reading from the Scriptures. Also taking part, but remotely via a video conferencing platform, will be the members of the 2020 Standing Commission, which has been set up to conduct all necessary business of this year’s Assembly. Monday evening will be one of their main tasks - electing the incoming Moderator, PCI’s most senior office-bearer and principal public representative.
 
Speaking about the installation, Rev Trevor Gribben, Clerk of the General Assembly and General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland said, “If we think back to that cold winter’s evening of 4 February, when our Church’s 19 regional Presbyteries met and nominated David Bruce as our next Moderator, who would have thought that so many of the things that we have taken for granted, would have changed so much in such a short space of time?
 
“As I have said before, our General Assembly has been part of the rhythm of our Church life since 1840. It is the Presbyterian family coming together, and as far as I am aware a meeting has never been cancelled, only postponed, due to a different kind of national emergency in 1940.”
 
Mr Gribben continued, “Yet, unprecedented times often call for unprecedented responses, and like many organisations, we have found it necessary to find different ways of working to do what needs to be done, and this includes the installation of our new Moderator.”
 
Outlining the service of installation, Mr Gribben explained that the four people present, along with the couple of technicians in the Assembly Hall, would follow all appropriate health and safety precautions, including observing government guidance on social distancing in the large hall, which normally holds over 900 people.
 
The Installation, which is being livestreamed and can be watched by following the link on the PCI website (www.presbyterianireland.org), will start at 7pm with an introduction and call to worship from the outgoing Moderator, Dr Henry. He will give a short address about his year in office and his theme, ‘Enjoying God’. Following a worship song from members of Dr Henry’s home congregation, Maze Presbyterian near Lisburn, the Clerk of the General Assembly will then formally propose David Bruce as Moderator, with the Deputy Clerk seconding the nomination. The members of the 2020 Standing Commission will then be asked to elect PCI’s new Moderator for 2020 / 2021.
 
Following the election, Dr Henry will then pray for David Bruce, installing him as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. He will then take the Moderator’s Chair for the first time and give his address. During the evening, Scripture readings and prayers will be led remotely by the Chaplains of both the outgoing and incoming Moderators. The installation will close with a final hymn and the Benediction, which will be pronounced by the new Moderator, by then, the Rt Rev Dr David Bruce, the 175th person to hold the office.
 
Trevor Gribben concluded by saying, “This is always a special moment in the life of our Church and for our new moderators and their family. This year, by necessity, it will also be a different kind of ceremony for a particularly unique time in our history. We very much hope that many will join us by watching the livestream on the night.”
 
Ends.
 
Issued by Mark Smith, Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s press officer: For further information contact +44 (0) 7802 264 354  or Email: [email protected]  W: presbyterianireland.org Keep in touch with Presbyterian Church in Ireland via Facebook or on Twitter by following @pciassembly and @pcimoderator
 

24th May 2020 APC    
 
Psalm 103 “Count your blessings!”
 
Welcome and Introduction
 
Good morning everyone and welcome to our service of worship.
Today we continue our series looking at some of the wonderful songs and poems we have recorded in the bible.  These Psalms are the prayers of God’s people and have been used for centuries as a vehicle for expressing our feelings to God.  Last Sunday we thought about the mystery of God in Psalm 139 and on Wednesday we reflected on the goodness of God through Psalm 107.  This morning we will be thinking about some of the amazing ways that God has blessed us as we read together Psalm 103.  But before we read and reflect on it together, let’s take a moment to talk to God, let’s pray…
 
Opening Prayer
Loving God, we are glad to come and worship you, glad to stand in your presence and give you the honour due to your name. 
Praise and glory, thanksgiving and worship are yours by right.
You are greater than our highest thoughts, mightier than we can ever comprehend, before all, in all and beyond all.
Praise and glory, thanksgiving and worship are yours by right.
So we come, acknowledging your greatness, marvelling at your power, rejoicing in your love, celebrating your blessings and praising you for all the mercy you have shown to us throughout our lives.
Praise and glory, thanksgiving and worship are yours by right.
Accept now our songs of praise, our words of prayer, the thoughts of our hearts, this act of worship.
Praise and glory, thanksgiving and worship are yours by right.
Let us share in the words of the Lord’s prayer together…
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name,
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day, our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses,  As we forgive those who trespass against us,
And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil,
For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever, AMEN.
 
Bible Readings
Psalm 103
1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits--
3 who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
    and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
    his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
    they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
    and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children--
18 with those who keep his covenant
    and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
    and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the Lord, you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his bidding,
    who obey his word.
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
    you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works
    everywhere in his dominion.  Praise the Lord, my soul.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
 
Reflection               Psalm 103       ‘Count your blessings’
 
Intro
You know I’m very proud of being Irish.  There are loads of things that I love about Irish people.  I think we smile a lot and know how to enjoy ourselves.  I think we are friendly and generous and have a good sense of community.  I think we look out for the most vulnerable in our society like children and the elderly.  As Katie Taylor has proved, we punch above our weight in world sports and generally we still have a good sense of spirituality and an open ness to God.  But there’s one aspect of Irish culture that I’m not so proud of.  We’re always giving out!  It doesn’t matter how much effort someone has put in or how well something runs, we seem to have this inbuilt desire to find some fault and point it out!  We give out about our politicians and local councillors.  We complain about our schools and colleges.  We moan about the weather.  We grumble about our doctors and health care professionals.  We winge about our work places and whine about our churches.  We’re particularly good at giving out about other people!  Not to their face of course, but rather to as many others who will listen!
The problem is that even as Christians it’s all too easy for us to allow ourselves to adopt this very negative aspect of our culture without even realising it.  We can even allow this negativity to influence our relationship with God.  Of course, we may not have the audacity to criticise Him directly or say bad things about Him to other people, but we can all too easily become like an ungrateful child who never takes the time to say ‘thank you’ to their mother no matter how much she does for them.
If you’ve unwittingly allowed the busyness of life and the ‘giving out’ nature of our culture to cause you to become ungrateful towards God, then let me recommend a good dose of Psalm 103 for your soul!
For in this Psalm, David tells himself to Praise God from the bottom of his heart and to make sure that he doesn’t forget all God’s blessings. 
But why was David so sure that he had something to thank God for? 
 

1. Why was David so sure that he had something to thank God for?

From what he writes, it seems that David wrote this Psalm shortly after a time in his life when God cured him from some sort of serious illness.  It seems that David felt that his particular illness may have been because of some serious sin in his life.  That’s why he includes these two things in the same sentence when he writes, “who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.”
Now of course, it is simply not true to say that all illness is a result of personal sin.  It wasn’t true for Job or for Paul or for the blind man who met Jesus.  When the disciples asked Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?”  Jesus clearly answered, “Neither!”
Having said that, the bible also teaches that in certain instances, there can be a link between sin and illness.  We also know this can be true from human experience.  Anxiety associated with unconfessed guilt may give someone an ulcer.  Abuse of certain substances can make our bodies sick.  Sexual misbehaviour can result in sexually transmitted diseases.  We don’t know the details of David’s sin before writing this Psalm, but it seems clear that in his own mind he felt it had been as a result of his own moral failure.  What’s more, his illness seems to have been a life-threatening condition.  So he talks about his life ebbing away as if he is staring over the edge of a grave or ‘pit’. 
At the same time, this Psalm is full of joy and positivity.  It is a Psalm of praise, adoration and thanksgiving to God because David is convinced that in answer to his confessions God has been merciful to Him and has healed him completely.  In fact he says that he feels so much better he feels like a young man again.  So David praises God as the one who “forgives all your sins, heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.”
Of course, in using these words, David isn’t saying that his experience will be everybody’s experience.  He isn’t saying that God will always heal us and will always make us feel like a young woman again!  But given what has happened to him at this particular point in his life, David is so overjoyed, that He just can’t help describing God as the great forgiver and healer!  It’s as if he’s so ecstatically happy that He simply overstates His case!
Of course someone who is a sceptic might say, “Well there could have been any one of a number of other reasons why David got better.  Why did David believe it was because of God’s answer to his repentance?”
Well, in a nutshell, David goes on to say that he believed it was God who had healed him because His experience of life tallied with what He had been taught from the OT as he grew up within the Jewish community.  There he had heard the record of how God had disciplined his ancestors when they disobeyed God during their years of wandering in the wilderness.  He’d also read about how God had forgiven them, delivered them from the oppression of their enemies and brought them safely into the land of Canaan that he had promised them.  That’s why David writes, “The Lord works righteousness and justice for the oppressed.  He made known His ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel.”
David then quotes from Exodus the words that God says to Moses during this period in the history of Israel.  It was just after the Israelites had fallen into idolatry by worshipping a golden calf. 
Moses pleaded with God to be merciful to the people.  In reply God said, “I am the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness and rebellion and sin.” 
In response Moses fell to the ground and worshipped God saying, “Although this is a stiff necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin and take us into your inheritance.”  We know from reading the rest of the story that God did have mercy on the Israelites.
As he thinks about how God had forgiven and healed him, David looks back on this story in the Old Testament and says something like, “This God of my ancestors and their leader Moses is my God too.  He delivered them.  He forgave their sins and healed them.  That’s what He’s done for me too!”  David believed that God had healed Him because His experience in life matched up with the historical experience of his ancestors.
You know you may not be able to prove that God is real to your friends or family members but let me encourage you not to be afraid to share with them that the God of the bible has been real to you.  Let me encourage you to pray for them so that God may reveal Himself to them, even in miraculous ways.
But what are the other blessings that David thanks God for in this Psalm?
 

1. What are the other blessings that David thanks God for in this Psalm?

We find the answer to that question in verses 9-14.  We might have expected David to thank God for things like political peace and stability in his kingdom.  We might have thought he would have included his family, his children, daily food and safety.  These are certainly things he ought to have thanked God for.  But interestingly in this Psalm, David simply blesses God for who He is.  He tells God just how wonderful His character is and just how much that means to Him.
He praises God that He’s a God who doesn’t get angry with us easily.  He writes, “He will not always accuse, nor will He harbour His anger forever.”  You know, in one sense God’s anger is not a natural attribute for Him to have.  It is something that was brought into existence by the fact that the first humans Adam and Eve decided to rebel against their Creator and so sin entered the world.  The fact that we have inherited their sinful nature means that when we deliberately disobey God, we too are giving God no option but to be angry.  If He wasn’t angry at sin and its consequences, then He wouldn’t be perfect.  He wouldn’t be fair and He couldn’t be trusted.  But the good news is that in the future there is coming a day when God will make a new heaven and earth in which those who love Jesus will live forever.  Then God will never need to be angry again, for everything in heaven and on earth will be reconciled to Him.  Until that day, God will be angry when we deliberately disobey His ways but He will also be more than happy and willing to forgive us when we are genuinely sorry for those sins.
David reflects this by moving on to thanking God for His generous mercy.  He says, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”
The story is told of how a young deserter was brought in front of the emperor Napoleon.  He ordered that the man be shot.  Immediately the young man’s mother came forward and pleaded with Napoleon saying, “Have mercy on Him.”  Napoleon replied, “He doesn’t deserve mercy!”  The mother responded, “If he deserved it, it would not be mercy.”
Let me assure you today that the God of this world is as far removed from Napoleon as it is possible to be.  Our God is a God of mercy.  He does not treat us as our sins deserve!  Let me encourage you, no matter what it is you have done or said, no matter how serious the consequences might be, do not be afraid to admit your sin honestly to God.  For in Him you will not find someone who is ready to shoot you down.  You will find someone who will forgive you and have mercy on you.  Let me also encourage you to be careful how you judge or treat other people…We must always ask ourselves, “Am I being as merciful to this person as God is to me?”
David then praises God for the greatness of His love and the comprehensiveness of his forgiveness.  He writes, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him.  As far as the east is from the West so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
Amazingly in 2012 American scientists successfully landed a buggy on Mars.  The planet is so far away that it took 9 months to cover the 354 million miles.  To be honest, we don’t know how vast the universe really is.  It’s so vast it’s almost impossible to measure.  Well, says David, that’s what God’s love is like towards people who respect Him.  That’s how much God loves you this morning. 
What’s more, David says that when we honestly confess our sins, God is so forgiving that he takes those sins and puts them completely out of sight- as far as the east is from the West.  How far that is, is probably impossible to measure.  Perhaps the idea in David’s mind is that in order to look east you have to turn your back completely on the West. 
Isn’t that a wonderful picture of what God has done for us in Christ?  When Jesus died on the cross, God the Father turned His back on His own Son as He took the punishment for all the things we say and do and think that are wrong.  Now that we have accepted what Jesus has done for us, God in a sense has turned His back on our sins and sees us instead as righteous and acceptable in His Son.  Of course that doesn’t mean we can just keep on sinning behind God’s back as it were.  God still sees our sin.  He still accepts us, He never stops loving us, but when we know we have grieved Him and hurt others we need to come and confess that honestly.  But we can do that knowing that God will forgive us because He loves us and will put those sins so far away from us that we’ll never be associated with them again in His eyes.  Let me also encourage you to constantly ask yourself, “Am I being as loving and forgiving to that person as God is to me?”
 
Next David thanks God for His intimate understanding of our frail humanity and the fatherly compassion He has for us as a result.  He writes, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him, for He knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.”
You know, the longer I live, the less there is that surprises me about myself and about people in general.  But God knows us better than we even know ourselves.  He made every molecule in our bodies and understands every complexity of our beings.  He knows how we are wired and how our up-bringing and environment have affected us.  He knows the temptations we struggle with and the unpredictability of our feelings.  He knows every good thing we have achieved and every mistake we have made.  He knows that there is nothing we are incapable of doing without His grace to prevent it.  We are weak, we are frail.  Thankfully, because He knows what we are like, God’s heart is filled with compassion for us.  Just as a loving parent worries about their child going off to school or university for the first time, just as they hold out a hand to guide a toddler across the monkey bars, so God cares about us, worries about us, and will do all that He can to be there for us.  God knows that we need Him.  If only we realised just how much….
David moves on to praise God for is His utter reliability.  He says, “As for man his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower in the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.  But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him and His righteousness with their children’s children- With those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.”
You know I was pleasantly surprised recently when someone told me  looked too young to have a daughter who was just about to finish her first year of University.  If I’m honest, I don’t feel as young as some people obviously think I look!  If I sit in one position too long it hurts.  I went down the stairs last week to get something from the kitchen.  Half way through my descent I’d forgotten what I was going down for!  Life goes faster than we think.  One day, death will come to us all. 
When they are older I’m thinking of asking my children to write “Have you seen my glasses” on my gravestone to give them a bit of a laugh any time they might visit.  But the truth is, even that will eventually be worn away by the wind and the rain.  David reminds himself and us of the brevity of life and the reality of our own mortality.  It’s not something he shighs away from or even something that he dreads.  Because even when the world has forgotten us, David reminds us that God never forgets us.  David understood God’s faithfulness, His utter reliability, that ‘Hesed’ love we were talking about on Wednesday.  It’s because David understood God was committed to loving Him no matter what, that he was completely sure that nothing, not even death itself, could sever that loving relationship.  He also believed that the utter dependability and unfailing love of God extended to his own children and to his grandchildren.
You know what was true for David is true for us too.  God has promised us that through our committed faith to Jesus Christ that we are eternally His.  In Christ, God has set His love upon us, a love that will last forever.  A love that will see us through life and death and bring us into an even better life to come in His very presence.  As Peter said on the day of Pentecost, that promise “is to us and to our children and to all who will believe!”
The last thing David praises God for is His complete control over the universe.  He writes, “The Lord has established His throne in the heaven and His Kingdom rules over all.”
Isn’t it a great comfort to know that our God is King over the universe!  What assurance that can give us whatever the circumstances of life are throwing at us to know that ultimately God is sovereign.  Nothing surprises Him.  Nothing stresses Him out or makes Him feel nervous.  Nothing causes Him to make a mistake.  Nothing can defeat Him or spoil His overall plans and purposes for us and for this world.  Ultimately our God is in charge. He will win.
 

1. How does David respond to God’s blessings?

As he thinks about how God has forgiven him and healed him, as he meditates on the compassion, mercy, faithfulness and sovereignty of God, David concludes his Psalm with the only response that is appropriate.  He writes, “Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His word.  Praise the Lord, all His heavenly hosts, you His servants who do His will.  Praise the Lord, all His works everywhere in His dominion.  Praise the Lord O my soul.”
In a nutshell, David says “Let everything that has breath Praise the Lord!”  Whether that’s the angels, all the works of creation, or himself, David concludes his Psalm by saying that God is so great and so good to us, that He deserves the praise of everything and everyone and that includes you and me.
You know, one of the real dangers for all of us is that we can lose sight of the great wonder and the goodness of God.  It’s so easy for the cares and the worries of this life to choke the appreciation of God in our lives so that there’s no spark left.  That’s why it’s so important to work at our relationship with God in the same way that we need to work at our marriages and friendships.  We need to make the time to be with Him.  We need to make coming to church or listening online the priority of our week.  We need to talk to Him in prayer.  We need to not only skim read the bible but we need to make the time to really meditate on it until we find the cold embers of our hearts being fanned into flame again with love for God.  That’s what David does here and that’s how it helps him.
Let me encourage you to make time this week to really think about God and all that He has given us in Christ.  Don’t stop reflecting until you find that your heart is just bursting with love and praise for Him, so much so that you want to live all of your life for His glory!  That is your greatest purpose, that’s what will bring you most happiness and satisfaction in life!
And when the lockdown ends, and we once again have the privilege of being able to come to church, let me encourage you to prepare well on Saturday night so that when you get up on Sunday morning you can rise with excitement at the opportunity to come and worship God together.  And as we come to church week by week, let me encourage you to sing the hymns and songs with sincerity and to join in the prayers and make them the prayers of your own heart to Him.  Let me encourage you to listen carefully to His word, acknowledging its authority for your life and to commit yourself by God’s grace to obeying what it says.
Let me also encourage you to get involved in serving God by using the gifts He has given you in church and in the community.  If you would like more advice about how you might do that, please speak to myself or one of the elders.  We’ll be more than happy to sit down and talk about where you might fit into the life and effective functioning of our church.
So take time to read Psalm 103 over the next few days.  It is my prayer that as you do that, God may rekindle His love afresh in all of our hearts so that every part of our lives may be lived as an offering of praise to Him who deserves all the glory…Amen.
 
Prayers for Others
Heavenly father, we thank you for how technology has allowed churches throughout our world to stay in touch and to broadcast services and messages.  We ask that these services will continue to be a blessing to people.  May they provide a strong sense of your presence and help to keep your people together during these times when we cannot meet together.
We pray for church leaders and ask that that you will give them wisdom as they consider how they might navigate the difficulties of running church activities in the future with the restrictions of social distancing. 
We thank you for all the people who work behind the scenes to keep the larger structure of our denomination functioning.  We pray for all the preparations being made for the meeting of the Standing Commission of the General Assembly at the beginning of June.  God help this group to work wisely and well so that they may be enabled to progress necessary pieces of business in the absence of this year’s regular format of General Assembly.
We give thanks for the ministry of the outgoing Moderator, the Right Rev Dr William Henry and we pray your blessing upon our incoming Moderator, Rev David Bruce and his family as he continues to prepare for his year of office in this unusual season of church life.
Lord, we remember people who feel particularly isolated and anxious and those for whom the circumstances have caused deep depression.  Lord, we ask that you will bring peace and calm to everyone and that those who are struggling will receive every possible support.
God enable our life together to continue to flourish despite the lockdown and social distancing restrictions.  We ask that anyone who is feeling vulnerable or in any danger would have the courage to speak to someone and that they would receive the help that they need.
Father, we think about patients in hospital and residents of care homes at this time when the need for additional measures to ensure safety from spread of infection can be upsetting, especially when they hear of restrictions being lessened elsewhere.  We ask that you would give everyone patience, understanding and a freedom from fear and anxiety.
We remember hospital and care home staff who feel tired and stressed by confronting the continuing challenges of coronavirus, and ask that God would renew them in body and mind.
Lord, as the conversation in society turns from lockdown to lifting restrictions, please give us all the necessary confidence to begin to take the tentative steps permitted towards resuming more regular patterns of life.
Give us a gathering sense of looking forward in hope as overall figures of deaths and the rate of infection from coronavirus begin to subside across the world.
Take a few moments to prayer for your own family and friends…
Closing Words
It’s been a joy and privilege to share with you again today.  Thanks again for logging on.  I hope you’ve felt challenged to count your blessings and inspired to really appreciate what a privilege it is for us to know and be able to worship and serve God in freedom together.  Currently the government has set a provisional date of the 20th July for the reopening of Masses and church gatherings.  Since that is a Monday we are currently considering reopening on Sunday 26th July.  Please do pray for our church leadership as we pray and plan for this.  I hope you can tune in again on Wednesday morning as we consider how we can learn to manage our anxiety as we reflect on psalm 55.  I want to thank Alison and our growing virtual choir for all their efforts.  You will be able to enjoy them singing their latest piece “How Deep the Father’s love for us” in a moment.  But first, let me share the benediction, after which I invite you to say the grace together…
 
Benediction
May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble;  May the name of the God of Jacob defend you;  May He send you help from His sanctuary, And strengthen you out of Zion;  May He remember all your offerings, And accept your sacrifices.  May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, And fulfill all your purposes.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and for evermore, Amen.”

​PLEASE NOTE:
 
There will be a live stream of a worship service at which our Moderator for the year ahead will be installed.  The new Moderator will be David Bruce. 
 
 
1.     THE 2020 STANDING COMMISSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
 
This will be live-streamed from the Assembly Hall and therefore available for everyone to watch by following the link that will be on the main PCI website (www.presbyterianireland.org). Please note this link will be ‘active’ on the PCI website from about 6.45pm on Monday 1st June.

​17th May 2020 APC             
 
“Songs of Experience” Psalm 139
 
Welcome and Introduction
Good morning everyone and welcome to our worship this morning.
Today we begin a series looking at some of the wonderful songs and poems we have recorded in the bible.  These Psalms are the prayers of God’s people and have been used for centuries as a vehicle for expressing our feelings to God.  We will begin by looking at one of the most famous of all the Psalms.  Psalm 139.  I hope this Psalm will inspire you to contemplate the mystery of God and that you will take time to read this Psalm for yourself over the next few days.  But before we read it, let’s take a moment to talk to God, let’s pray…
 
Opening Prayer
Loving God, all good, all true, all powerful, almighty, we worship you
Gracious God, all loving, all merciful, all faithful, all compassionate, we thank you.
Mighty God, always active, always leading, always calling, always knowing, we commit ourselves to You.
Saving God, always forgiving, always restoring, always teaching, always encouraging, we confess our faithlessness to you.
Sovereign God, all in all, now and always, we praise you, we worship you, we lift up our hearts before you.
Father God, we celebrate your goodness, we rejoice in your blessings, we marvel at your mercy, we thank you for your guidance, we offer our lives in response to you.
Living God, take this service, this day, our church, our lives.  Use them for your purpose and your Kingdom.  Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name,
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us,
And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil,
For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever, AMEN.
 
Bible Readings         
Psalm 139 and Romans 8 v 28-39
 
Psalm 139                  
1 You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand--
    when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.
Romans 8 v 28-39
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
 
Reflection                    “The Mystery of God”
 
In Union College where ministerial students are trained for the Presbyterian Church there is a library.  It’s a good library, with lots of different theological books, nicely arranged so that everything is easy to find.  It has some tables and chairs socially-distant enough to allow you to study in relative peace and quiet.  But aside from that, when I first started my ministerial studies, there was nothing about the library that made me think ‘wow, this place is really special.’  Nothing that is, until a few months into my ministerial studies, out of the blue, I decided to focus my eyes away from my assignments and books and look up at the ceiling.
 
I nearly fell off my chair at the sheer beauty of what had been there above my head for weeks.  To be honest, I felt a little bit embarrassed!  How could I have missed such a thing of beauty all this time?  The truth was, I had been so focused on my to-do list and my next assignment deadline that in my busyness and stress, I had neglected to look up.  And in that moment, I heard the soft whisper of God’s spirit saying to me, “Michael, Don’t forget to look up!”
 
Over these last few months we have all been under a lot of pressure.  We’ve been concerned about how we can stop ourselves contracting the Covid 19 virus.  We’ve been worried about keeping our elderly parents safe.  We’ve been anxious about our children and their school work.  We’ve been struggling to juggle the almost impossible task of working from home and looking after our children.  We’ve been distressed about how we are going to pay the bills and if we’re going to be unemployed by the end of all this.  All of these fears are completely normal.  As time goes on the stress and strain of these fears has begun to take a toll on our emotional and physical health.  So where can we turn, what can we do to safeguard our wellbeing in these difficult days?
Well there are lots of practical things we can do.  We can keep structure to our day.  We can try to keep ourselves and the kids busy.  We can limit our consumption of alcohol.  We can exercise daily and zoom our friends.  We can read or listen to music, bake or paint.  We can try something new.  All of these are really good strategies to employ.  But this morning I want to remind us that as spiritual people one of the most important things we can also do is to remember to look up.
In the midst of all the stresses and pressures, it’s essential to raise our eyes and hearts heavenward and take time to think of God, who he is and what He is like.  For when we get a fresh glimpse of who God really is, and what He has done and can still do, it can help to put a whole new perspective on the challenges we are facing.  That’s what I want to help us to do this morning using the words of the beautiful poem that is Psalm 139.
This is probably the most famous of all David’s poems.  In it, he reminds us of 3 very important truths about God.  The first is this- God knows everything.
 

1. God knows everything

 
You know as the years go by we begin to notice a few changes about ourselves- a bit of extra fat here, a wrinkle there, a few more grey hairs, the odd lapse in memory, a stiffening of the joints.  We can usually make such a good job of covering these things up that other people simply don’t notice.  It’s almost as if we’re afraid to let others see what we are really like in case they decide they don’t like us anymore!  I’ve found that even during this Pandemic people are afraid to let their guard down and admit that they or their children are struggling.  The thing is, no amount of cover up works with God because God knows absolutely everything about us.  David says, “God knows when we sit down and when we get up.  He understands what we are thinking.  He knows when we go out and when we lie down.  He even knows what we are about to say before we open our mouths!”
But the good news is, no amount of cover up is necessary with God either!  Because even though God already knows everything about us, He still accepts us and loves us!  I want to encourage you this morning, whatever blemishes you feel you may have.  Whatever things you may have done and wished you hadn’t, whatever weaknesses you feel you have that always hold you back, whatever characteristics other people have made you feel bad about, God knows all about it!  And He still loves you as if you were the only person that He had ever made.  You are still useful to Him and to other people in this world.
The other I thing I want to say is that however difficult you are finding life right now God also knows about it.  He already understands the depth of pain that you are feeling.  He cares deeply about the anxieties, fears and frustrations that you have about Covid 19 or anything else.  So let me encourage you not to despair in these times, but in faith to tell God exactly how you’re feeling.  Find a quiet place, even if you have to go for a drive to do so, and unburden everything to Him as if he’s sitting in the seat beside you.  You can be certain that He who endured the cross will know how best to comfort you.  You can be sure that He who created the universe will have the ability to guide and sustain you.
The second important truth that David reminds us about God in this psalm is that He is everywhere.
 
 

1. God is Everywhere

 
When we’re busy, which is pretty much all of the time for most of us, our minds are caught up in the important details of living and working and enjoying life.  All this is good, for all of life is God’s gift to us to be enjoyed.  But at the same time, in the midst of it all, it’s easy for us to forget about God.  But, although we can forget about Him, the truth is we can never get away from Him.   When we wake up in the morning, God is there.  When we are driving in the car, he is there.  When we reach the office we discover He has already arrived.  When we come home from a walk God is waiting for us.  In fact, there is nowhere we can go where God is not there already.  To some extent that can be a little disconcerting.  It’s like having the boss’s eye on us 24-7.  Then again, that can be a good thing for us. 
Knowing that God is always near me hearing what I say, knowing all my words and deeds, all my work and play, can be one of the greatest motivators to helping us to live in ways that are morally upright.  It’s always a great safeguard against temptation to know that even when other people can’t see or hear what we are saying or doing that God sees and hears us.
In Psalm 139, David reflects on this truth about God.  He says, “Wherever I go God is there.  There’s no where I can escape from his presence.”  But as David contemplates the fact that God is everywhere he doesn’t seem to mind.  In fact, it seems to bring Him comfort and encouragement.  He says, “Even if I have to go and live abroad, God’s hand will be there to guide me and keep me secure.”  He also says, “Even when the darkness closes in around me God will still be able to see clearly because day and night are just the same for Him.”
I want you to remember that.  Every morning when you open your eyes say to yourself, “God is with me.”  Whenever you are trying to help your children with their online work remember God is beside you.  When you are scrubbing up, putting on your mask and getting ready to enter the frontline again, remember that God is with you.  Whatever difficult decisions you have to make about the future of your business, remember that God is there in the boardroom, waiting to give you His wisdom.   Even though, like me you find it difficult being separated from members of your family because of the restrictions, remember that God is with them.  Whatever fears you have about the future and what life will look like when we do return to work and church, remember God will be there too.  Whatever trials or uncertainties you have to endure, please don’t try and go them alone.  Remember God is beside you, so talk to Him, tell him your concerns, allow Him to help, guide and sustain you, not just today, but tomorrow and the next day and the next.
The last thing David reminds us about God in Psalm 139 is that He is somehow sovereign over all of life’s details.
 
3      God is sovereign
Having thought about the amazing realities that God knows everything about him and is always around to help him, David moves on to contemplate the mind-blowing idea that even before he was born, God was planning every detail of his entire life.  He says, “God put me together in my mother’s womb.  Even before my parents or others could see me, God knew me!  But he didn’t just know me, He designed me and mapped out an entire life for me before I was even one day old!”
David just can’t get over how much God thinks about him.  He suggests that God planned every little genetic detail that made him who he was- his eye colour, his height, his talents, his weaknesses, his intelligence, his temperament, his gender and so, so much more besides.  Yet he believes that God’s thoughts about him didn’t just stop at the planning or manufacturing stage!  David goes on to say that from the moment he was born God has continued to think about him and has planned so many details of his day to day life.  In fact, he says, God loves him so much that he thinks about him more than there are grains of sand on the beach!
I’m going to be honest with you.  There is great mystery and paradox contained in this part of David’s poem for me.  On the one hand I take great comfort to think that God made me and that I am very precious to Him.  It gives me great reassurance to think that, He has a plan and purpose for my life whatever comes my way.  Plans that are good.  Plans to help me to enjoy being human despite all its limitations.  Plans to enable me to deepen my relationships with Him and with other people.  Plans to help me learn new things and encounter new experiences.  Plans to help me change for the better so that bit by bit I might become more like His Son Jesus.  And ultimately plans to bring me through death into a new and everlasting existence in heaven when we will experience humanity in all its fullness and joy.
But when I think of the devastation and suffering that this Covid 19 has caused around the world.  When I think of little children who have been buried.  When I think of the suffering caused to millions of the poorest people in the world because of natural disasters I’m left with many questions.  These things don’t cause me to doubt God’s existence.  If you take God away these things are still there.  But these things do create tensions for me when considered in the light of David’s Psalm.  If we are honest, therefore, I think it is normal for us to ask, if God is all powerful, loving and in control why does He not do something about these things and swiftly?  Why won’t He just come and take this Covid virus away?  How does delay fit into His plans?
My honest answer is I don’t know.  There will always be mystery in life and that includes the spiritual.  One of my greatest personal searches at the minute is trying to formulate at least some answers to these questions in my mind.  The God I believe in is a God of love.  So I don’t believe that he answers the prayers of a desperate couple to have children only to have the baby killed in childbirth!  That would be cruel.  I don’t believe he causes a Tsunami in order to destroy the lives of the poorest people. 
But I do believe he gives people freedom of choice.  That means that we can choose to cut down rainforests and burn fossil fuels to feed our lifestyles but at the price of creating weather conditions that can be catastrophic for some of the poorest on our planet.  So some of the answers to my questions point to human freedom and choice.  I also believe that the world has somehow been broken by the fall of humanity.  This has resulted in the existence of diseases that despite our best efforts will inevitably bring suffering and death.  So babies will die, people will be diagnosed with cancer and periodically Pandemics will strike.  How these things marry with the concept that God is in control and has a plan for us as David says, I still can’t explain.  All I can say is that within His control, God still gives us freedom to choose, and that evil and suffering are still present.  How these things can co-exist will always be a mystery.  What I do know is that one day God has promised to right all wrongs and to create a new heaven and earth where we will be able to live without pain or suffering, disease or disaster.  Until that day we still have time to turn to Him and to do all we can to do what’s right and good.
 
Conclusion
As we continue to face uncertainty let me encourage you to refocus on who God is.  Read Psalm 139 and reflect on 3 mysteries of God that David describes in his song-
 
God knows all things. 
Whatever comes your way remember God knows, He understands, and He loves and cares about you.
God is everywhere.
Whatever happens remember that God is with you.  He will guide you and sustain you.
 
God is sovereign
He made you, He loves you and has plans that are good for you.  How that dovetails with the suffering and brokenness that is part of this current world will always be a mystery.  But be assured God is for you and not against you and ultimately His plan is to restore the entire universe to its original perfection and through Christ to allow us to be part of that too.
 
 
Prayers for Others
Living God, we pray for all those who feel that they have lost control of their lives –
Overwhelmed by the pressures of work, burdened by financial responsibilities, overcome by personal tragedy or relationships that have broken down, battling against the rigours of old age or wrestling with chronic illness; in pain of body and turmoil of mind.
Lord remind them gently that you are present with them.
We pray for the victims of other people’s lack of control – wounded in body or mind, abused children, broken homes, victims of burglary, assault, domestic violence, and political conflicts.
Lord remind each one that you love them very much.
We pray for those who struggle to control aspects of their character – lust, temper, greed, impatience, envy, intolerance.  Lord remind them that you are a God who can give them the power to change.
Living God, give to all who are near the end of their tether the assurance that you are ultimately in control, to those who are hurt the comfort of your healing love, to those troubled in mind the inner peace which you alone can give, and to those discouraged by their repeated failings the gift of self- control.
Lord we bring to you those who are sick, who have been bereaved recently and those we know who are struggling with life at the moment….
Lord we also bring to you our Taoiseach and political leaders and ask that you will give them great wisdom in all the decisions that they have to make each week….
Finally we pray for ourselves and our families…
Lord whatever problems we are currently facing, help us to look up and to remember that you are a God who loves us, who is with us, who understands everything we are going through and who ultimately has plans and purposes for us that are good.  Lord give us the faith to trust you and the grace to carry us through.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.
 
Closing Words
It’s been a joy and privilege to share with you again today.  Thanks again for logging on.  I hope you have been blessed and motivated to take time to read some of Psalms for yourself.  It’s my prayer that as you do so, that God give you the confidence to be totally honest in how you really feel to Him.  I’m also delighted to announce that Alison is coordinating another musical item from our virtual choir to go online as part of our service next Sunday.  It would be lovely to have as many people as possible to contribute to that so if you haven’t already joined our choir please do click the button on our website to pass on your interest and contact details to Alison.  Please do tune in again on Wednesday morning when I’ll be sharing a few thoughts from another wonderful Psalm.
In the meantime, do keep everyone in your prayers and look out for anyone you can help.  The government date for church reopening is currently 20th July.  We hope to share with you some updates about what exactly that will look like for us a little closer to the time.  For now, let me close with a benediction after which I invite you to join me in sharing the words of the grace together…
 
Sending and Benediction
Our worship has not ended, it has only just begun, for God is with us every moment of every day.  Go then and offer the worship He desires- to act justly, to love kindness and to walk humbly with Him every step along the way…
 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore, Amen.”
 
 

​Wednesday 13th May 2020 APC            
“The Gift of Music and Song”
 
Welcome and Introduction
Good morning everyone and welcome to our Midweek time of worship together.  Today is the final reflection in our mini-series “Counting our Blessings” as we think about some of the gifts God gives us.   We have considered the gift of encouragement, the gift of friendship, the gift of laughter and today we will be thinking about the gift of music and song.
Before we pray, on behalf of you all may I pass on our deepest sympathies to Joy Twamley and her family.  Joy’s mum died on Monday and the funeral will be tomorrow at 10.30am.  You can watch the service inline if you wish by clicking on the relevant link on our Facebook page and website.  And do keep them and all others who have lost loved ones in recent days in your prayers.  But to begin, as always, let’s take a moment to talk to God.  Let’s pray.
 
Opening Prayer
Lord of life, we thank you for the gifts that you have given us – the things we can do well and enjoy doing, the things that bring happiness to us and contribute to the happiness of those around us.  Lord of life, teach us to use the gifts that you have given us; to play our part in the life of our church family and our society.
We thank you for the gifts of others – those things they can do which we can’t, the talents they have which we haven’t, the skills they can offer which complement our own, and the qualities they display which in so many ways enrich our lives.  Lord of life, teach us to appreciate the gifts of those around us; to appreciate the contribution they make to our lives.
Lord of life, teach us to recognise those things we can do well, and those things others can do better.  Teach us that we belong together; that all have something to give and something to receive.  Teach us to see the worth of every human being, and to understand you have a special place for each of us in the body of Christ and in this world.  It’s in the name of Christ that we pray, Amen.
Let’s join together thoughtfully in the words that Jesus taught us.  So we pray…
 
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name,
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us,
And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil,
For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever, AMEN.
 
Bible Reading     Psalm 150
1 Praise the Lord.  Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power;
    praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord.
Bible Reading    Colossians 3:16
16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
 
Reflection                     “The Gift of Music and Song”
 
Jane Austen wrote, “Without music life would be a blank to me.”
Plato reflected, “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”
Think for a moment of what the world would be like without the gift of music.  No birds singing in the morning.  No tunes on the radio as you drive to work.  No warning that the ice cream van has arrived in your estate.  No ‘Fields of Athenry’ or ‘You’ll never walk alone’ on the terraces.  No harp at a wedding, no jingle in the supermarket.  No piano in the background at your favourite restaurant and no choir on a Thursday night.  No Andrea Bocelli, Bono or Dave.  Silent openings to our favourite movies and as you walk up the aisle.  Would we dance?  Would we whistle? Would we recycle our instruments?
In many senses, without music and song life would be a blank or seem like a mistake, no soul to the universe or wing to our mind.
But thanks be to God this is not the case!  Thanks be to God He has given people talents to play and sing and write lyrics that bring colour to our worlds and a healing to our souls.  Music and song are a gift from God.  That’s why Madonna can say, “One thing I’ve learned, I’m not the owner of my talent – I’m the manager of it.”
 
Like all God’s gifts, music is good for us.  This is true scientifically and objectively.  Music has been proven to reduce stress, lesson anxiety, ease pain, improve our athletic and academic performance and lighten our mood.  Jonny Depp says, “Music touches us emotionally where words alone can’t.”  We all know this is true from experience.  Even if we find it hard to put into words, we all know when a song or a piece of music has touched us deeply and made a wonderful difference to our lives.  It may have made us cry at a time when we were down or experiencing a deep sense of loss.  But in the weeping came healing.  It may have lifted our spirits and energised us to face the day.  It may have given us a sense of calm in a storm.  An unexpected or long forgotten lyric may have screamed at us when we were deaf to every other voice.  Music is powerful stuff, or as Bono puts it, “Music can change the world because it can change people.”
 
Music and musicians are an amazing gift from God.  That’s what struck me again recently when I took my two boys to see ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.  It was only as I watched, that I realised that so many of the songs that had given me great joy over the years were actually written and sung by Freddie Mercury and Queen.  Of course there were aspects of his lifestyle and some vocabulary in the song lyrics that I would not like my teenage sons to copy.  But the abiding memory that we all left the cinema with that night was, “Thank God” for the musical genius of Freddie Mercury and thank God for all the amazing songs that he has left us.
Who are the musicians and what are the songs that have meant the most to you over the years?  Can you remember a time when they have helped or healed you?  Is there an instrument that brings you great joy or do you love to sing? 
Reflect       Take a moment and give thanks to God for these people and these good gifts.
 
Of course, the fact that music and song are gifts to us from God, means that one of the best ways we can use them and one of the ways we can get the greatest pleasure from them, is in giving expression to our relationship with God and our experience of life.
Many bible characters from Miriam to Simeon, Samson to David, Moses to Mary burst into song when they had an encounter with God.  It was a natural expression of their relationship with him.  Some were happy, others sad, but all honest and heartfelt and recorded in the bible for us to read.
This is also what we discover when we read the Old Testament book of Psalms.  These are the ancient song book of God’s people.  They are a collection of prayers and poems written by people of faith.  Sometimes they express deep sorrow and distress.  At other times they give voice to their frustrations or anger, disappointments and doubts.  They also provide an outlet for exuberant rejoicing and happiness and gratitude and praise to God.  These beautiful lyrics were then set to music and used within the worship of the temple as a way of helping people express their feelings to God in all the circumstances of life.
The Psalms are another of God’s gifts to us.  Throughout the centuries people have discovered that reading and singing the Psalms has touched them very deeply emotionally and spiritually.  These songs have given them a voice for their feelings and enabled them to make some sort of sense of their experiences in life.
Covid 19 has been a new and difficult experience for all of us.  It has given rise to all sorts of emotions and fears within all of us.
It’s at times like this when it’s important for us to use the gifts of music and song that God has given us.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, “A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”
I think he’s right.  So let me encourage you to find time to listen to some of your favourite music, to read a little prose and take a few nice pictures as you walk along the road.  These are God’s good gifts to us to encourage our hearts and give life to our weary souls.
Above all, let me encourage you to make time in your life for Christian song.  Let me encourage you to read a Psalm a day.  To meditate on it, to pray it or even sing it out loud.  Tune in to some Christian Radio or play a CD of your favourite hymns.  If you do these things, then I believe that the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, will come true,
“Music… will help dissolve your perplexities and purify your character and sensibilities, and in time of care and sorrow will keep a fountain of joy alive in you.”
 
Prayer
Lord God, we pause now to think and pray about others at this time. 
We remember Joy and Dave Twamley and their wider family circle as they meet tomorrow for the funeral of Joy’s mum Miriam.  Please draw near and may the service and burial enable them to say their goodbyes and bring them your comfort and peace as they grieve.
We continue to pray for all in Care Homes and in hospital.  Lord  in all residential care facilities may your sheltering hand be known among residents, your protection experienced by staff and your reassurance granted to family members unable to visit loved ones.
Loving Father, for all those in hospital at this time, whether suffering from coronavirus or battling other illnesses, we pray that your presence would be very meaningful and real and that loved ones unable to visit would know his comfort, strength and peace.  Continue to give strength, patience, wisdom and courage to every member of staff.
God, as the focus moves to the responsible lifting of lockdown restrictions, we ask that you will give wisdom to decision makers so that they may offer good leadership.  Help us, despite our feelings of frustration to follow necessary ongoing restrictions with patience and perseverance. 
We pray for businesses as they grapple with the need for modifications to working practices and conditions in the workplace, Lord, please give creativity and the ability to safely and flexibly begin to resume their work.
We remember people who are first responders to those experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus in the ambulance and paramedic services.  Father God, thank you for these people.  Please use them to bring care and comfort to those experiencing illness and distress, and keep them safe as they do this. 
We pray for those serving in the PSNI and Garda Síochána, adjusting to new ways of policing.  Lord, please enable them to continue to be able to help keep our communities safe.  Please protect them from the effects of coronavirus while they are serving the public.
We think of retailers who provide us with essential items for everyday living, Father God, we ask that you will help them overcome financial and staffing challenges caused by the pandemic’s interruption of the service they provide and that they may be able to resume trading when the time is right.
Lord, we pray for university staff and students. We ask that you would enable a good end to the academic year under unusual circumstances.  Lord, God grant your peace to graduates facing uncertainty about future employment prospects.   Give lecturers clarity and accuracy in final marking to reflect and reward a good year’s work despite the interruption caused by the coronavirus.
We pray for the work of PCI’s development partners Christian Aid Ireland and Tearfund, as they deliver coronavirus emergency initiatives amongst the poorest and most vulnerable communities around the world. Lord, help us to be generous in our giving despite our own present difficult financial situation.
Finally we take a moment to pray for other people you know who need God’s help…
 
Closing Words
It’s been a joy and privilege to share with you again today.  Thanks again for logging on.  I hope you have been blessed and motivated to take time to listen to some of your favourite music.  It’s my prayer that as you do so, that God will lift your spirits and give you the encouragement you need to keep on keeping on!
 
I hope you will also be as generous as you can in supporting the work of Christian Aid.  Despite the difficulties we face, there are many in our world for whom this pandemic has just heaped even greater suffering on their lives.  Countries where there is no governmental support, and where even fresh water and medical facilities are in short supply. You can click on the link on our Facebook Page and Website to do that.
Carrying on from our theme for today this Sunday coming I will be starting a new series entitled “Songs of Experience” as we look at some of the amazing Psalms that we find in the bible.  I’m also delighted to announce that Alison is coordinating another musical item from our virtual choir to go online as part of our service on Sunday week.  It would be lovely to have as many people as possible to contribute to that so if you haven’t already joined our choir please do click the button on our website to pass on your interest and contact details to Alison.
In the meantime, do keep everyone in your prayers and look out for anyone you can help.  For now, what better way to conclude our thoughts on the gift of music and song than by playing “Benediction” by Stewart Townend.
 
Benediction
May the peace of God, our heav'nly Father,
And the grace of Christ, the risen Son,
And the fellowship of God the Spirit
Keep our hearts and minds within His love.
And to Him be praise for His glorious reign;
From the depths of earth to the heights of heaven
We declare the name of the Lamb once slain
Christ eternal, the King of Kings.
May this peace which passes understanding,
And this grace which makes us what we are,
And this fellowship of His communion,
Make us one in spirit and in heart.
And to Him be praise for His glorious reign;
From the depths of earth to the heights of heaven
We declare the name of the Lamb once slain
Christ eternal, the King of Kings.
 

It is with sadness we wish to note the passing of Miriam Anderson, Joy Twamley's mother.
Our deepest condolences go out to David, Joy and the entire family on this sad news.
Please not there will be an online service for Miriam on Thursday
Click the link below to be a part of the service:
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