All Saints 9.30am online Service | 19 September 2021

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning and welcome to all saints everyone um my name is lee and it's so good to have you here um and this is anton hi how you going good morning to everyone at uh out there at all states um yeah we'd like to welcome you this morning whether you're young or old uh whether you're near or far like geographically um yeah and especially if you're new or newish um if you're exploring this whole christianity thing yeah we're so delighted that you can join us this morning as we praise god as we pray to god and as we hear from god it's such a beautiful day out there um and we don't we don't do this because we've got nothing better to do there's plenty of stuff we could be doing even during lockdown but we do this because we believe that it's worth it it's worth praising god he is worthy of our praise it's worth listening to god being reminding ourselves of who he is what he's done for us even at this time at such a difficult time in our lives we need god we need him um and so this is so important for us um so we're continuing our series in the book of one peter anton i thought i'd ask you what's been a highlight or a standout for you yeah it's been lovely to read through the book of one peter as a church and to hear god speak to us one thing that god particularly said to me back in chapter 2 was this verse once you were not a people but now you are the people of god once you have not received mercy but now you have received mercy and that just reminded me that uh it um we know we don't deserve to be god's people we've done nothing to deserve being included in god's family but god has shown us mercy in the lord jesus and so now we are god's people and uh i can't wait to express that again when we can gather together uh in person hopefully in uh in a little while's time yeah looking forward to it for sure um it was your birthday it was my birthday this week um can you just tell us i don't know a highlight moment or present or something like that yeah oh i had um a lovely time with of course just the family for my birthday uh lovely thing about having daughters they go they go all out with cards and things like that which is really nice and i got some daniel ricardo merchandise which um i heavily appreciated today good great timing if you're in the know um well speaking of celebrating we're going to be celebrating by praising our lord jesus in our next song because he he died for us and he rose again he has conquered death and that is something that is yeah we should praise jesus for that it's worth remembering and celebrating so before we sing though i'm going to pray for our time together so let's pray heavenly father thank you for the technology and the people who can make it possible for us to still gather in this way father thank you for sending your son for us even though we've ignored you um that we haven't treated you as you deserve um and even though we still don't do that um you loved us so much that you sent your son to to forgive our sins on the cross and we praise and praise you for that and pray that our time together this morning god would help us to live such good lives and that we would bring honor and glory to you in jesus name amen i [Music] i see [Music] is [Music] joseph's [Music] the silence [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] again oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] it shall return [Music] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] oh oh oh god [Music] hi boys and girls it's tim here and a big hello to you all i miss your smiling faces very very much at cornerstone each week and can't wait until we're back again together learning about god and his precious son jesus together as you know in cornerstone over the last few weeks we have been learning from the book of one peter and today i'm going to read you a story about the man who wrote that book and that's peter one of jesus disciples and this book is called the friend who forgives and it's written by dan dewett and it's illustrated by catalina eschaveri and it's the true story of peter who makes mistakes just like you and me and jesus who forgives him so let's read the story together a long time ago there was a man named peter who was best friends with jesus peter was a fisherman he was strong and brave but he often said the wrong thing do you ever talk before you think that's what peter did again and again and again peter fish in fact one day he and jesus had fish for breakfast fish for breakfast that's weird but we will save that part of the story until the end on the day when jesus first called peter to follow him can you guess what peter was doing that's right peter was fishing follow me and i will make you a fisher of men jesus told him can you imagine that peter fishing for men jesus explained just as peter liked to search for fish jesus had come to search for people who needed forgiveness peter loved being friends with jesus he saw jesus do lots of amazing things one time peter's mother-in-law was sick jesus healed her another time peter was about to drown in a storm jesus saved him slowly peter realised that jesus was more than a friend he was god he would never let peter down but sometimes peter let jesus down like the time jesus explained to his friends that he had to die on the cross but he would come back to life to offer forgiveness all of you will run away you're going to say you're not my friends jesus said peter spoke up right away he did that a lot i will never do that but jesus told him before the rooster crows in the morning you will say three times that you're not my friend i would never do that jesus is my best friend peter thought when soldiers came to take jesus to the cross peter pulled out his sword to stop them put your sword away peter jesus said my father said this must happen jesus let the soldiers take him to a courtyard to stand trial peter followed from far away aren't you one of jesus friends a young girl asked as she opened the gate for peter to enter the courtyard what do you think peter said no i don't know jesus it was a cold night so peter walked over to a fire where some people were warming themselves are you one of jesus friends someone asked peter what do you think peter said no i don't know jesus then someone else stepped forward and looked closely at peter yes you're one of jesus friends aren't you he said what do you think peter said no i don't know jesus right then at that very moment a rooster crowd jesus turned around and looked straight at peter then peter remembered what jesus had said before the rooster crows you will say three times that you are not my friend peter was so sad he knew he had failed jesus again and again and again he didn't just need to find other people who needed forgiving he needed forgiving too peter felt terrible he ran out of the courtyard and cried and cried and cried peter had laid his best friend down and now it was too late because the soldiers had taken jesus away to be killed but peter didn't stay sad because jesus didn't stay dead three days later was the first easter sunday when jesus came back to life to offer people forgiveness but would he forgive peter for failing so badly one day jesus went looking for peter where do you think jesus found him that's right peter and his friends were fishing jesus called to them from the beach peter jumped out of the boat into the water and rushed to the beach to see jesus and this is where jesus and peter had fish for breakfast fish for breakfast that's weird peter so happy to see jesus alive but would jesus forgive him peter wasn't sure maybe jesus wouldn't want to talk to him maybe jesus wouldn't want to be friends with him but yes jesus did want to talk to peter and yes jesus did want to forgive peter wow and since peter had said he didn't know jesus three times jesus gave peter the chance to say three times i love you jesus that's how peter became a forgiven fisher of men peter spent the rest of his life telling people about his best friend jesus he told them that if they would put their trust in jesus he would forgive them again and again and again that's because jesus was peter's best friend he forgave him again and again and again and if you trust in jesus he will forgive you too again and again and again hi everyone i'm steph and i help teach the preschool kindy cornerstone class at the 9am service we're really missing you all on sunday mornings seeing the kids smiles and hearing their laughter and we can't wait for a time when we can all be together again to play games and to sing god's praises at cornerstone a big thanks to tim for reading to us this morning wasn't it great to be reminded that when we follow jesus we are forgiven even when we keep making mistakes he forgives us now it's time to bow our heads in prayer father god thank you that you love us so much and that you are so patient with us thank you that we can always trust in you when life is easy and also when life is hard and there are things that worry us or make us sad please keep all of your children safe in your care help us to always follow jesus and to tell others how much he loves us just like peter did in jesus name amen amen well thanks tim and steph um what a great reminder of how god loves and forgives us but kids don't go anywhere yet because we're going to do something now together that is also going to remind us of how much god loves and forgives us we're going to celebrate the lord's supper so you're going to need something bready or whiny or grape juicy if you're young definitely something on the grape juicy end but we're going to do that in a sec but first we're going to have our check in break and that'll give you time to to get those things ready we'd love you to check in we'd love you to say hi through clicking on the link that's going to come up soon leave any encouraging comments or prayer requests let us know who you're watching with you can let us know how old you think anton is now or you could tell us the strangest thing you've had for breakfast whatever it is we really appreciate your hearing from you so let's check in now [Music] see you soon [Music] um [Music] oh [Music] [Music] hello everyone i'm at home with my family and we're going to lead you in the lord's supper all right kids does anyone know what the bread reminds us of jesus's body great and does anyone know what the wine reminds us of blood thanks lara being a christian is all about trusting in jesus and in his death for us so the bread and wine are things we can see and they remind us of what we can't see jesus forgiving us through his death on the cross as we eat and drink we remember that we don't deserve anything from god but he has given us his son jesus to die for us and bring us eternal life and so as we eat the bread of jesus body and drink the wine of jesus blood we remember and are strengthened in our faith that jesus died for us we're going to pray all together now we're going to say that we're going to tell jesus that we have sinned and we're going to ask for his forgiveness so let's pray this prayer together now heavenly father you have loved us with an everlasting love but we have often gone our own way and rejected your will for our lives we are sorry for our sins and turn away from them for the sake of your son who died for us forgive us cleanse us and change us by your holy spirit enable us to live for you and to please you in every way for the glory of our lord jesus christ amen god is slow to anger and full of compassion he forgives all who humbly repent and turn to his son jesus in whom there is no condemnation amen uh well let me remind us all what happened on the night before jesus died jesus took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying take and eat this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me after the meal he took the cup and again giving thanks he gave it to his disciples saying drink from this all of you this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me so one you grab a little bit of food and a little bit of uh liquid we've got some apple juice for us today and we'll eat and drink remembering jesus together are you ready take and eat this remembering that christ died for you and feed on him in your heart by faith with thanksgiving and drink this remembering that christ's blood was shed for you and be thankful let's finish by praying this prayer together heavenly father thank you for sending jesus to die for us thank you for forgiving our sins help us to always trust that you love us and that we are your children through jesus death on the cross amen so great to share the lord's supper with you all we'll see you later well thanks anton thanks for rushing back no worries um we're about to read the bible and you're about to speak to us from it what are you talking about this morning yeah we're heading to one peter chapter three which deals with how husbands and wives are to relate to one another while we uh while we live in where we live as foreigners in uh our world here and uh that'll bring up lots of um uh and we'll we'll be delving into some of the the aspects and the the truth that go into that which may be um you know which are big things to talk about yep um not an easy topic um for for many of us to hear for a variety of reasons maybe you're married happily married but maybe you're not maybe you're not married maybe you've been through or going through a separation or divorce there's going to be a question time later on after the sermon so please send through your questions we'd love to to hear them um but maybe a question time is just not enough and getting an answer in a question time is just not enough given the hurts um yeah that you're facing right now in your marriage or around that topic so if things do come up if it raises hurts or deep feelings then please reach out um antoine's going to speak more about that but reach out to us someone on the staff team yeah but for now we're gonna have our bible readings so let's read hi i'm vanessa and i'll be reading from one peter chapter three starting at verse one wives in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that if any of them do not believe the word they may be won over without words by the behaviour of their wives when they see the purity and reverence of your lives your beauty should not come from outward adornment such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes rather it should be that of your inner self the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is of great worth in god's sight for this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in god used to adorn themselves they submitted themselves to their own husbands like sarah who obeyed abraham and called him her lord you are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear husbands in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and of and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life so that nothing will hinder your prayers well over the years i've realized that i love ranking things uh making a list of uh top tens and things like that let me grab my clicker and so i do things like over the years i have uh you know i've got my top 10 songs for uh from this from a couple of years ago or i rank the movies that i see from each year and i love the driver rankings that come out after every grand prix and i reckon the passage that we have just heard is in a top 10 as well ranks up in the top 10 as well i reckon it's in the top 10 most controversial bible passages that there are i reckon it may not be number one but i reckon it is up there it would definitely be in the top 10 because this passage is controversial because it contains teaching about men and women in marriage and that might be going against the prevailing world view it requires a lot of nuance in understanding exactly what god is saying particularly as it comes after a passage relating to slaves and masters it doesn't address single people at all and maybe most significantly when this teaching is misunderstood or misrepresented it can be used as a justification for abuse and so what we're going to do today is take two weeks to hear god uh speaking in uh on from these verses today i'll be taking a bit more of an overview approach to the passage i won't be preaching in i won't be preaching and looking at the detail of the passage uh and uh seeing what the main point is that's what i'd normally do week to week but we'll save that for uh the next time today we'll be taking some of the key teachings that come from these verses on husbands and wives and try to answer some of the big questions that come up and then after the school holidays sarah barnett and i will come back to this passage and see what it does teach and what it does mean for wives and husbands what it means for for all marriages both marriages now and marriage is in the future for us here at church and as lee mentioned there may be things that come out of this passage that are particularly hard to hear for some of us and uh there might be there might be lots of reasons here are a couple of reasons why that might be the case firstly from what i can see in this biblical text its teaching on husbands and wives is at odds with a lot of what people think in our society may even be different to how your marriage is operating and if you find that that's the case for you then please listen carefully you might be surprised with what the text is actually saying and maybe not as extreme as you think but in any case see if what i say is lining up with scripture keep having a look at the passage and if it does think deeply about what god is saying to you here and you might need to ask the question will i trust god's worldview or continue to rely on my own but secondly this teaching might be hard to hear because you have suffered or are suffering abuse at the hands of someone you love hearing from today might bring up feelings of confusion or anger or fear or hurt and hopefully you'll be able to listen clearly see for yourself if what i say lines up with scripture and if it does that you may trust it and think about what a good next step for you might be but from my end i'm trying to do my best with the help of god's spirit to teach this text and its doctrines faithfully i want to say clearly what god is saying and trying not to bring my own agenda or preferences to this that's my aim but of course my aim is not to offend or to rubbish other people's views but i am a fallen human like all of us and so i might unintentionally offend you or say something in a clumsy or hurtful way i'm really sorry if i do that it's not my intention and i'm also trying to be as conscious as i can about my position and my authority i'm well aware that i'm a white-ish man who is here at a pulpit with the title as senior minister and so while i have the responsibility to preach god's word and to pass to this church i'm striving particularly this week to do that dependently on god trusting in the authority of scripture not my own wisdom and seeking to speak the truth in love and with gentleness now i may get this all wrong in my sermon i'm sorry if i do but that's not my intention and so why don't i pray as we turn to god's word our heavenly father you speak a potentially tricky word to us today and so please be at work in my heart as i preach that i may speak what is true from what is uh and what is from your heart and in a way that is gentle loving and edifying and please also be at work in the hearts of all of us as we listen may we all hear you clearly and hear your desire for marriage clearly so that we may rejoice at your wisdom and trust your goodness we pray this in jesus name amen so to start to get this passage right we need to look at it in its context a last chapter says that if you are a follower of jesus then you are a chosen people a royal priesthood a holy nation god's special possession because what because of what christ has done for you and as god's chosen people but also as foreigners and exiles in this world this world is no longer where you belong or even fit in because we are from chapter 2 we are to abstain from sinful desires which wage war against your souls and live such good lives among the pagans among the nations and a big part of how we live this out is how we respond to those in authority over us so as citizens we are to submit ourselves for the lord's sake to every human authority uh as slaves back in the day they were in reverent fear to submit yourselves to your masters and in our chapter today it says for wives in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands now i appreciate that that word submit might be a a dirty word for many of you or at best a misunderstood word uh so let's be clear i'll sorry go back let's be clear uh on one that's talking about here the few times i've heard uh wives or women outside the church use the word submit with respect to marriage what they've meant is when their husbands want to have sex they just have to give in and let it happen it's also reported that some wives might think that submitting means that they need to put up with any abuse they are experiencing because the bible says that wives should submit to their husband both of those are not let me repeat not what this passage or others like it are saying we'll see why later but let me put that out straight away however the call for wives to submit to their husbands does mean god is calling you to submit to an authority over you just as christian citizens are to submit to human authorities and ancient christian slaves were to submit to their masters in authority over them christian wives are to submit to their husbands now a wife's wife's submission uh might and look and should look different to a slave submission i think the when it says in the same way i think it's a bit of an over translation that it literally reads likewise wives submit and so your submission as a citizen to a policeman looks quite different to how you as a worker might submit to a boss and that will look quite different to how a wife submits to a husband it all depends on the nature of the relationship but in all those cases it's an act of submission to someone over you uh in authority uh note that it uh it doesn't say that all women or any woman should should submit to any man no it's specifically a wife to her own husband the relationship is key here it determines how you relate now pause at this point uh you may have lots of questions or even objections about this and as lee mentioned afterwards there's a question time the numbers on the screen you can text away but maybe you have one of these following questions that might be in your mind at the moment firstly isn't submission a bad thing that might be a question for you or secondly does doesn't this teaching infer that men are more important than women maybe most seriously another question doesn't this teaching lead to abuse how can this be good for a marriage and what does this mean for how husbands and wives relate uh that last question we'll leave for uh part two which will be in a few weeks time but let's go back to that first question isn't submission a bad thing well submission is actually something god calls us to all the time you know as we've as we've been doing we submit to the public health orders and uh the virus spreads down if we slows down the spread of the virus slows down if we do uh you want your kids to submit to the teachers at school for the good of their learning and for their safety and we're all called to submit to jesus to submit our whole lives to him but did you know that submission is part of who god is as well it's part of the divine being in the trinity god the son willingly submits to god the father and his authority now we see this in philippians chapter 2 for example christ jesus who being in very nature god did not consider equality with god something to be used to his own advantage rather he made himself nothing becoming obedient to god the father becoming obedient to death even death on a cross jesus willingly submits himself to god the father and so if that's if submission is in the nature of god himself then christians are called to be like jesus and submit to those in authority over us in a respectful way but if a wife is called to submit to her husband well doesn't that infer that men are more important than women well no it would only be the case if if authority meant greater importance if we assign value and importance to those in authority or the positions that they hold then we would deny a really important reality of what it means to be human because you are no less important than a policeman or a student is no less valuable than a teacher well a wife is no less important than a husband and back to these verses in philippians jesus is equal with god even though he willingly submits to him right from the very beginning we see in the bible that god created men and women equally in his image genesis 1 god created mankind in his own image in the image of god he created them male and female he created them and even in today's passage we see that wives along with all women share in share as heirs of of the gracious gift of life and so there is equality equal value given to men and women by god and yet god has created an order in marriage we'll see why this is good a little bit later on so men and women are your husbands and wives are equal in god's sight of equal importance in how god has created them there are different roles in marriage but they're equally important in god's sight and it should be in our eyes too but third question doesn't this teaching lead to abuse and this is a really important question to address to think about domestic abuse domestic abuse is a pattern of behaviors using power and control to dominate and and intimidate a family member most often an intimate partner but it could be a a child as well or or other person but that's what domestic abuse is that's what i'll be talking about in a minute uh this abuse may involve physical violence but it could also be financial controlling access to finances social cutting him off from family friends and others emotional like manipulating and threatening all the time or even spiritual using religious texts and traditions to justify abuse it could be it could be anything that is used to control or intimidate you can see domestic abuse is a pattern of behavior so it might be that uh a partner you know does an abusive act and feels really bad about it feel sorry for it might even promise it'll never happen again but then if it happens again and keeps happening then that is domestic abuse and domestic abuse by an intimate partner such as a spouse is far too common in our society and even in our churches and so in australia 23 of women and 8 percent of men say they have experienced physical violence let alone all the other types of abuse physical violence by an intimate partner since the age of 15. and the statistics are worse during lockdown periods as you can imagine and the stats don't get much better when you look inside the church so in the last 12 months 17 percent of australian anglicans surveyed reported that reported some experience of intimate partner violence it's 18 in the general public but behind every statistic is a person who is hurting or are being hurt and if you are someone who is experiencing abuse if you're in immediate danger then call the police or ambulance on triple zero if you'd like to talk to someone you can call the domestic and family violence hotline 1-800 respect might want to remember that number i'll leave it up for a little bit and as a church we say no to abuse it is sin we say no to abuse and we are here to help and so you can contact a member of staff uh there's also counselling available through anglicare i'll put some information in the in the chat in the in this youtube video and on facebook and other places as well down the track but back to this text and on husbands and wives in one peter and why i'm bringing up the concept of abuse here is often this teaching the teaching that comes back to this passage is listed as a factor by those who experience abuse but i want to say that someone who's using this text to justify abuse is not reading the text right and may just be using it as a form of spiritual abuse let me show you this from the text have a look and see if you agree this is what the text is saying firstly in verse 1 it says wives in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands notice how the instruction is addressed to wives it's calling on them to do the submitting this verse should never be used by husbands to insist on that their wives submit to them a husband must never demand a wife submit to him whether it be with sex or with putting up with abuse submission is a gift that a wife gives to her husband not for her husband to demand and then the word to husbands verse 7 in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life this is what being a husband looks like a husband's headship looks like being considerate treating wise with respect treating them as fellow heirs you know equals before god there's no room to justify abuse from this instruction to husbands at all but do notice that the bible does acknowledge that there is a natural power imbalance in most marriages peter calls wives the weaker partner now sounds terrible if you just take it on meaning anything but it doesn't it's not talking about weaker in every way but being physically weaker than most husbands and so with men being physically stronger there's the opportunity to abuse but husbands are to use their strength to be considerate and to respect their wives and to to that in ephesians 5 husbands love your wives just as christ loved the church and gave himself up for her the picture of headship in the bible is one of self-sacrificing love just like the love of jesus not one of domination or controlling or abuse and so if you're a victim of abuse please know that the bible's teaching doesn't support abuse in fact it condemns abuse in all forms and we want to help you as best we can and so call the hotline or contact the staff or someone you trust or if today you've realized that you are committing an act of abuse if by the holy spirit you've realized that you are a perpetrator of abuse then you need to repent you must not hide behind this teaching anymore and you need to stop this abuse but part of the repentance will mean to get help it's unlikely that you'll break the cycle of abuse on your own so you're going to need some help from someone outside your marriage and so make that contact today uh well fourth and finally uh how can this teaching be good for marriage well we uh well i what i want to do is paint a picture of what it uh means for uh for marriage what uh what is this picture of marriage that the bible's trying to paint so to you whether you're married or not i would love to paint this picture to show you what's behind this teaching and show you also the love of god so let's head over to ephesians 5 where the apostle paul describes a relationship between husband and wife as a picture of the relationship between christ and the church a marriage relationship is to be a reflection of the wonderful relationship between jesus and us god's church and so ephesians 5 25 husbands love your wives just as christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy a husband is to express his headship in marriage through self-sacrificial love just as jesus loves the church through his self-sacrifice in order to make the church holy so a husband is to love his wife through self-sacrifice for her holiness husbands we've got a big act to follow jesus showed us the greatest act of love there is to lay down his life for the church and you and i are called to emulate that love as we lay down our lives for our our wives our we lay down our preferences our needs for the good and for the holiness of our wives and on the other side of wives submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the lord now as the lord submits to christ so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything and so wives just like just like all christians you are to voluntarily and willingly submit yourselves to the loving headship of jesus or just like you you do that sorry that's not again wise just as you submit willingly and voluntarily to the loving headship of jesus then you are to voluntarily and willingly submit yourselves to your husbands now of course what does that all look like how does that play out in marriage uh well we will talk that all through in a few weeks time as we return to this passage uh but to finish up god has made us god has made husbands and wives to have different roles in marriage and these roles reflect jesus's relationship to us his church of course as sin enters marriage uh at times will be a pale reflection of jesus's relationship to us but by god's grace as husbands love sacrificially and wives submit to this loving headship people will get a glimpse of jesus's love for his people and our joyful response to the love he has shown to us well thanks anton um that's yeah a heavy topic for a lot of us to hear we're about to sing in a moment but um yeah i thought i just encourage you as we sing this next song which is called be thou my vision that you know that in your marriage and as you think about this you would look to jesus we've seen that both husbands and wives are called to imitate jesus in how he loved this world how he loved us if you're finding that just heavy and and overwhelming yeah please use this this song to reflect um and again i encourage you to to reach out um but yeah let's sing be down my vision [Music] be thou my vision o lord of my heart not be all else to me save that [Music] living thy presence my life [Music] be thou [Music] lord now my great father and i thy truth [Music] my light [Music] oh [Music] not no man's empty praise thou my inheritance now and always [Music] [Music] my treasures [Music] on [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] well thanks for sending through your questions um yeah again like maybe just an answer in question time isn't going to cut it for you this morning so please get in contact with anton or myself or someone on the ministry team like movamwe but we do have a few questions for you anton so the first one is in ephesians 5 21 it creates a framework for mutual submission why doesn't this mutual submission appear in one peter yeah back in ephesians 5 another passage that uh deals with uh with husbands and wives submitting or just with the roles of husbands and wives i should say uh the verse at the start of that says verse 21 submit to one another out of reverence for christ and then ephesians goes on to talk about wives and husbands and children obeying parents and and slaves obeying to earthly masters what we have there when it says submit to one another it's referring to submit as to one another as they have authority over to you so all the examples of submission in ephesians as well as in one peter are about a someone submitting to someone in authority over them so there's not the call for children to submit to their parents sorry it's not the call for parents to submit to their children or masters to submit to their slaves or husbands to submit to their wives so it's not mutual submission in ephesians it is uh submit to one another as people have authority over over you so i will um so i will submit to my brother-in-law uh not because of my relationship to him as a brother-in-law but because he's a policeman and so in that way i'll submit to him but uh but but as but uh that's not you know he doesn't submit to me as a policeman um it depends on the relationship so it's submit as we have someone in authority over us that's helpful thank you um the next question is should a wife submit to an ungodly husband yeah that's a big one uh what we have in juan peter the context of it is as we we're trying to live out godly lives to uh you know in a time when we might be foreigners or not belong in the world that we live in and particularly here the wives that are being addressed are wives with uh with uh non-believing husbands it says why submit to your husbands so that if any of them do not believe the word they might be won over by by the wives actions in particular so uh it's not so we so wives us to submit to their husbands uh even if they aren't christian necessarily uh or even if they aren't good husbands however that there is a there is a limit to that for sure as in if the husband is asking them to do something uh that is ungodly or uh uh or if he or if the husband is uh demanding that they do something uh which they're not comfortable in doing then uh that's when there's a there's a natural limit to what it looks like for a wife to submit to her husband um i guess maybe like a follow-up to that is what if there is ongoing persistent abuse in a marriage what does that mean for the marriage going forward yeah if there is ongoing abuse and uh there's no um uh well you know firstly that is it's just such a terrible and awful situation to be in and i really feel for anyone who's in that uh that situation uh but if you are being abused uh ongoingly uh that does create grounds for a potential separation or even divorce uh that you know you would not be sinning if you uh if you left for your own safety and we would do our best as a community to uh to care for you and look after you as much as we can as a church family and you know we want to be there to support you if and when you're ready to leave uh however we know that leaving is is complex and even dangerous uh and so uh you might not be ready for for that step now but if you're ready the bible says that there is freedom and safety on offer and so it's not the only option to stay and receive the abuse there is help available and we'd love to help you with that or or give one of the numbers a call that we'll put up later super helpful um that's going to be it for our questions this morning if you have sent a question through and it hasn't been answered or sends it through late then yeah we'll endeavor to get back to you but i'm going to pray now so yeah let's pray yeah father we yeah we just want to um pray especially for our marriages um out there um we pray that you'd help us to be godly in the way that we um yeah treat our husbands and wives i pray that we would follow your son's example um of yeah extravagant love that just shows the um yeah the the love and grace and forgiveness of the gospel but it's often so difficult and and often that yeah those actions get taken for granted or abused and we particularly pray for those who are suffering in their marriage and we ask that your spirit would be at work to um to bring strength and healing and repent true repentance and um yeah i pray that um yeah those in those marriages would feel confident to seek help um yeah whatever that kind of looks like um for any of us out there who are still wrestling with these ideas um yeah we know that we don't have to um just blindly agree um with the things that we hear so pray that we'd engage with this talk it through with others and yeah ask for your help in understanding um tricky passages like this um yeah we pray all this in jesus name amen um nolene is now going to continue praying for us so thanks noline good morning let us pray loving lord jesus you have promised that where two or three come together in your name you will be with them lord you know at the moment we can't come together physically but as we sit in front of our screens this morning we know that your spirit is with us and we thank you isolated as we are we can still come together as one to praise and worship you [Music] lord during this time of restrictions and limited freedom help us to count our blessings thank you for the ministry team at all saints their dedication and commitment to keeping us all connected as well as trying to reach out to our community thank you for the fun and funky kids spots that are presented each week and we ask your blessing on all the little members of our congregations that they will grow in their knowledge of jesus and understanding of his love for them thank you for the musicians and for those who help with the technological aspects of our worship lord we have so many reasons to be thankful thank you for the relative safety of our area thank you for the medical help and guidance available to us all please help us lord to cope with the currency limitations we pray that you will comfort those who are lonely we ask for patience for those whose homes are too crowded or too noisy due to lockdown or even maybe not safe please help those who are struggling financially because of the impact the lockdown is having on business and employment we pray especially for our hsc students at this time lord it's not the much anticipated end of their school careers that many were expecting but nevertheless we ask that you will be with them and help them over the next few months please keep them calm trusting in you for future outcomes thank you for the dedication of all who are working so hard to care for the sick and vulnerable in our society please protect and strengthen them we pray for guidance for those who have the responsibility of decision-making regarding the management of public health help us all be patient as we wait for you to bring an end to this pandemic lord as we look beyond our part of the world we are aware that in many places there are major problems we think of our near neighbours in papua new guinea and ask that you will help them as they seek to combat the onset of the coronavirus in their remote communities again this morning we bring the country of afghanistan before you we pray that the violence will end and basic human rights will be restored please help the people in that country to be able to live in peace without fear we especially pray for those in afghanistan who know and love you lord please protect and strengthen them that their very lives may be witness to the light of your love thank you dear lord that with all the upheaval and uncertainty in the world we know that you are in control we ask lord that you will fill us with that peace that passes all understanding that peace that is available to us when we put our trust in you thank you dear lord amen oh man thanks noline for praying for us and can i encourage um you all to to keep praying for each other at this difficult time maybe send a message to someone asking them how you can pray for them after the service this morning that could be a great thing to do um before we sing our last song i've just got one announcement um it's a little bit different but we're gonna have like a all-in all saints games night on saturday the 2nd of october at 7 30 p.m um you'll see more details in this week's coming newsletter and on facebook but if you've got your diaries open or if you can put it in somewhere the second of october at 7 30 p.m it's going to be fun it's going to be a great time just to get together and connect in this way we're going to sing our final song it's how great thou art and maybe this morning you're not feeling like god is so great at the moment when you maybe are struggling with those words from one peter but as you sing this song i pray that you're you would see how great god is that you keep trusting in his greatness that the god who sent his son to die for us does love us he's a good god so let's sing [Music] [Applause] [Music] has made i see the stars i hear rolling thunder thy heart throughout the universe displayed [Music] then sings my soul my savior to thee how great thou art how great [Music] and sings my soul my savior [Music] and when i think that god is [Music] [Applause] to take away my sin and since my soul my savior [Music] how great this is [Music] shall come [Applause] [Music] my [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] well thanks for joining us this morning um yeah it's been great to praise god to pray to god and hear from god it's been a heavy morning we've acknowledged that but um yeah again i want to stress if that's been something that's been really difficult for you um then please yeah reach out um regardless i think it's a good thing to do to just reach out to each other at this time call someone up zoom someone go for a walk with someone that's the thing we're missing the most about church being online is that that relationship so yeah as best as you can try and connect with others in your church family i'm going to pray to finish this up though so let's pray father thanks that we can still gather in this way and though it's um not ideal and it causes um sadness um i pray that it would stir us to to live the rest of our weeks um as your people encouraging each other sharing the gospel in ways that we can um living such good lives um yeah in this world um that would bring glory to you um that the um the gospel would keep um changing people's lives and i pray this in your son's name amen see you next week [Music] [Music] foreign

Channel: All Saints North Epping

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Id: IFUMOpiuAjE

Length: 76min 34sec (4594 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021