Welcome to Woodhouse Online. Let us give God the Glory, and begin by singing Holy, Holy Holy.
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Please read with me this beautiful Psalm and remember, no matter how dark the valley; I will fear no evil.
Psalm 23 KJV
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
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As we move into a time of prayer let us join together and sing Cornerstone.
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest friend
But wholly trust in Jesus name
Dear Father God, please hear my prayer. I go along each day, trying to run my life my own way. I forget to let go and give you control. I wonder why things aren't going the way I want them to go. I forget to stop and ask what you want, Lord. Please help me to give you control, Jesus. I want to follow you. I want what you desire for me. Help me to realize that when you close one door, you open the one you want me to walk through. Help me also to realize that what I desire may not be what is meant for me, or what is best for me. Maybe it will lead me away from what your great plan is for me. Lord, let me accept each day as a gift. Let me follow the path you choose for me. Help me to be thankful for what you give me and not to worry about my needs. I trust you will take care of all my needs. Remind me that my role is to care for those around me and focus on those who need my help. Help me not to be judgmental, as we are all equal in God's eyes. Help me to see the good in all of your creations. Let me leave the judging to you, dear Jesus. Instead, I will concentrate on living to please you! Help me, dear Jesus, be who and what you want me to be. Give me strength, faith and hope, and most of all, give me guidance each and every day. I let go and give you control.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Please join with me in The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who 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.
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Let us Offer up our lives to the one who is in control
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Out Of control
Have you ever felt like the world is running out of control? Like life is out of control? Nothing seems certain anymore – and those fears and uncertainties just eat away at you.
Have you ever seen the film by Al Gore, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’? Now it’s a documentary about climate change. Whatever your politics, whatever your views on climate change, it’s a good film. He makes the point that the number of category four and five hurricanes and cyclones has almost doubled in the past thirty years. The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade. Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Columbian Andes, seven thousand feet above the sea level. At least two hundred and seventy-nine species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving closer to the poles. It paints a picture of a world out of control, so bent on consuming that we’re prepared to destroy our planet.
Now for many people, life is out of control, not only big picture issues but in our private space. And despite all the commercial bravado, quiet confidence is a commodity in very short supply. So how do we live a confident life in uncertain times?
When I was growing up one of the things that was worrying for many, was nuclear war. But these days it’s terrorism, it’s global warming, it’s poverty. Problems so big and so complex that the average person like you and me, we look at them and we see them as completely and absolutely out of our control, and we think, how can I make a difference? And so, we worry and become anxious. Worry, anxiety, and uncertainty is very real. And it’s eating away at people right across the globe. And here’s what uncertainty’s all about, a focus on the small picture, which is all about me, there are so many things outside my control that I just can’t impact on, so I think about, concentrate on me.
For the poor, it’s about food today and shelter and life itself, for the wealthy they’re still worried about not having enough and jobs and promotions and stuff. Wherever we live, whoever we are the list of uncertainties and worries is endless and so we have no peace and no joy and no quiet contentment, and so life goes on in this downward spiral, can I say that’s really, really sad. I was chatting to someone the other day. This man has such a tough life, real poverty, not enough food, but he had that joy and peace and contentment that astounded me. And that’s a challenge for me and for all of us. To have that same contentment in the valley as well as the mountain top.
But this pervading sense of uncertainty has no borders, it has no boundaries. People look in all sorts of weird and wonderful places to make that go away; they’re looking for something solid as a rock. Two thousand years ago a man called Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ wrote a letter, to a bunch of exiles who had an uncertain future. Here’s what, just the first few opening lines says:
From Peter an Apostle of Jesus Christ to the exiles of the dispersion scattered through Pontus and Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen and destined by God the Father, and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with His blood. May grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Now this Peter, the name given to him by Jesus because he was previously called Simon. Peter the Greek word Petros means ‘rock, solid’ and Peter was. And he’s writing to the exiles of the dispersion, men and women and children who have fled from Jerusalem and Judea because these people were being persecuted terribly for their faith. They’re scattered right across the known world, they’re exiles, they’re in the world but they’re not of the world, but here’s what he says about them:
You who have been chosen and destined by God the Father, God’s planned for this before time began.
You know what happens when we’re going through uncertainty? We think, “Well God can’t possibly be in this, if God were in this my life would be wonderful!” But here are a group of people who are going through shocking persecution, they were being tarred and torched by Roman Emperors. They were being thrown in with lions they were being killed in the most horrible ways and Peter’s writing about them and saying, “You have been chosen and destined by God the Father.”
You see, through the uncertainty, through the difficult times, God is in this place with you and what’s more, you have been sanctified by the Spirit. In other words, set apart, cleaned up, made wonderful and pure and useful and holy for God’s purposes. Right in the middle of your exile, right where you are, Jesus Christ will bring to you the grace and peace in abundance. Now that’s the exact opposite of fear and uncertainty, I mean these people were thinking, ‘Am I going to die tomorrow? The Romans are going to come in a feed me to the lions?’ So God comes, in the middle of that uncertainty with a quiet confidence to calm that anxious soul.
Do you get it? This letter is to exiles under persecution, this letter from Peter the rock sent by Jesus Christ, not just to God’s people scattered in Pontus and Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, but right here and now to you and me. From the UK to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Cameroon, Ghana, Denmark, Singapore, China, America, Europe and Rwanda wherever you are this very moment. You who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and scrubbed clean, made holy, set apart for God’s purposes by the Holy Spirit to be obedient to Jesus and sprinkled with His blood and forgiven. May God’s grace and God’s peace be yours in abundance right in the middle of your exile, here and now.
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Sit back and listen to the Sydney Staff Songster sing: Bow The Knee
Please have a quiet time. Praying for yourself, family, church, community, our world. Take this time to rest and know that God in Jesus Christ is with you.
The Benediction
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
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