Bayside Church Online | Sunday 3 May

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] welcome to Bayside Church online it's such an honor and privilege to have you join us this weekend it's great that we can still worship God together even though we're apart we are still connected and talking about being connected please join us via our online chats by our YouTube and Facebook live so please have a bit of a banter share some insights together something that really stuck out to you this weekend share it with Facebook live or YouTube also if this is your first time joining with us we'd love to hear from you you can send us an email at connect at bayside church.com dot a you and also if you have any questions you can reach us at that email connect at bayside church.com dot a you well i want to start this service with praying together and then we'll go straight into worship thank you Father thank you lord we can join you together even though we're all apart in our own homes in our own places all around this city all around this nation wherever we are Lord and we can still join hearts together with yours that together as a community online we can come together worship you and seek your face father bless every person that is watching and joining in today Lord and touch their hearts open their heart so they can receive a touch from you Lord bless them and let your hand be upon them in Jesus name Amen well let's sing out loud let's join in with a big choir of angels all around the world and praise God and worship Him let's go and worship [Music] welcome to basse our church everyone wherever you are I want you to sing the song together whatever your circumstances are at the moment let's declare his amazing grace that he still loves us unconditionally and feel that nice as we seek long wherever you are [Music] who breaks the power I've seen in darkness Bruce loud and so much strong the king of the king of all [Music] and leaves us breathless [Music] the king of this is amazing [Music] that you attend that you [Music] all that you've done for me [Music] who brings okay back into order who makes the our friend turn at dawn the king of glory the nation's we took the job Oh read the king above together this is amazing this is not telling now you take my [Music] well Jesus I sing for all that you've done for [Music] we're these the Lamb who was slain worthy is the king who conquered the grave worthy is the Lamb who was slain worthy is the king who conquered the grave [Music] where is the king who conquered the grave where the celeb [Music] he's the king Lois Lane where these the king worthy is the lamb who worthy this is amazing this is Sunday that you take my that you all that you've done for we see for all for us [Music] Jesus Jesus worthy [Music] thank you you [Music] I stand up on the solid rock of faith in Christ the steadfast hope shall God break apart we name the truck I am assured his promises will never as long as life remains he's faithful got a special got a sky he does not he does not post these ways are higher than these thoughts can share their greater all these so loud I'm sure my god I draw my breath under is created we swept scum I know my BOB shoveled us long after my flesh detached from dusk until the dawn he calls his children for [Music] his righteous love last generations God is patient but is now he does not and free he does not these ways are these thoughts can trim the a piece alone action my god [Music] he's Almighty God and lo he maker I'll be your fees the Lord of hosts verbanski God are endless with his kingdom stands above every i relieved [Music] like this son ever true shiny [Music] and [Music] and scary this game stanza [Music] like this ever true sorry [Music] to [Music] [Music] rose [Music] stanza [Music] like this shiny [Applause] every his love like this shiny nose [Music] thank you Jesus failure time to impress [Music] Cody's patient God is Kai he does not and B he does not for these ways are higher than these thoughts can show the greater of these alone I'm sure my god is love [Music] the guys that lay between us oh hi Dan I could not in desperate I turn to through the darkness your loving-kindness torture - yeah so [Music] Jesus [Music] who could imagine so great [Music] such bad Lestrade ages to where my see and the for again Oh beautiful say I'm yours Jesus my together hi praise the one who sent me three it's creep on me you have broken there's a mission Jesus Christ hi yeah braised Oh [Music] - lassie scream you their salvation [Applause] [Music] [Music] that gave them that sealed the promise your buried body we get two frames of inside [Music] I declared the grave has no claim we see it out church wherever you are then came the that sailor get to burn [Music] there are deeper brave has no play Jesus he's the beater ah praise the one who sent me dad is great preaching this salvation in your name Jesus smiley please who said be free dance it's great [Music] their salvation Jesus my Jesus Christ my took God my [Applause] thank you Jesus thank you we give you praise Lord we give you honor for who you are thank you for the hope that you've given us let us rest assured in his promises promises never fail judge wherever you are feel it feel the love feel the peace feel the grace let them a wash let them wash your inner thought your inner soul Jesus Jesus thank you [Music] we gave you honor Lord you are leaving home there's no one like you let's take this moment charge in your own space let the Holy Spirit fall afresh on us fill a heart replace our worries and anxieties in our fear Jesus thank you thank you for your love [Music] thank you [Music] I don Google Google I definitely Google we're gonna Wikipedia intranet yeah scroll through all the different answers and then I try and combine it and then make my own cornerstone smart friends I don't ask big life questions it's too hard to ask Google my grandmother I meditate I read when I have a big life questions I probably go to my family my mom and my dad basically my mom my dad maybe my god I get most of my answers from the library in any section there because I don't really trust the people that I'm around the key is always to yourself you gotta figure some things out there so I'm confused I work on the cluster and he confuses me more but when something more personal I try to find it within myself you [Music] so our vision statement Bayside church to courageously love and empower people to become like Jesus another great statement let's all say that together shall we to courageously love and empower people to become like Jesus and so our mission is to be a Christian community who work together for justice for mercy and for faith so just defining those words for you very quickly justice is deciding to do right by other people mercy is active compassion it's different to sympathy sympathy just looks and goes oh uh shame in it so shame if only stuff could change but then walks away sympathy looks and walks away compassion comes to help and stay we look for need then then we that what can I do to help then then faith is constancy in belief it's being constant and faithful to the Word of God and to God himself and so it's actually it can also be translated as loyalty so I find my loyalty lays with Jesus Christ and with the gospel and I'm gonna be constant in their unchanging full of faith faithful full amen and that's what God is calling Bayside church to be [Music] at the end of 2019 Bayside church launch brand-new vision and mission statements we see a church that courageously loves and empowers people to be like Jesus our mission to be a Christian community working together but justice mercy and faith when we launched this vision we had no idea of what we'd be facing in 2020 between the bush fires and the corona virus pandemic it was nothing like we would have predicted but we take comfort that nothing is a surprise to God we truly believe that God placed this vision in our hearts for such a time as this a time where our community is crying out for relief and a touch of the Father's love God has positioned us to love and care for his people to be that beacon of light I believe together we're going to see incredible miracles we're going to see a move of God like never before it'll take courage and love firstfruits is an annual opportunity where we partner together in this vision and mission of our church by generously giving up to one week's income above our tithes it's a free will offering for those who are willing and able now we're aware that some people have lost jobs or had a reduction in pay and we don't want anyone giving to the point that they are personally disadvantaged we understand that many people are not in a position to give the firstfruits right now and we want to reassure you that's okay if you do wish to participate and are able your giving will be going towards the care of people both in our church and local community as well as the health and strength of Bayside church your church each year the generous giving of our people makes a real impact on the kingdom of God but amongst the craziness of our world right now this year's first writs will be the most impactful please prayerfully consider what you can give in this year's first fruits offering wow that was an awesome time of worship and also it was great to see that we have firstfruits coming up and firstfruits is a great opportunity that we can share and contribute to to our church community to God's kingdom at work wherever we are as a community talking about giving and contributing we've now arrived at our time of tithing and offering and it's such a great privilege that God allows us to contribute to be Co contributors to his work here on earth through his church community here in Melbourne it is great that together we can contribute to the mission of this church which is to be a Christian community who work together in justice mercy and faith but many of us in these circumstances in these times I've got limited options of contributing it is tough for some of us losing jobs or losing income to their businesses it is not an easy time also for families to deal with working from home and raising kids at the same time and I understand that and I empathize with you in this situation but still I want to encourage you that you can contribute even with the little that you've got even though you may not have finance you can still contribute something towards the mission of this church towards in God's kingdom this reminds me of the story of the little boy with the five little loaves of bread and the two fishes Jesus was teaching these masses of people all about God's kingdom but I was getting late and his disciples they were worried and they said Jesus send these people away it's getting late they need food then Jesus said well you contribute something you give them to eat and there was this only this one boy with five little loaves and two fishes and he gladly gave it to Jesus Jesus took this little boy's lunch and he did a miracle with it you'll be surprised what God can do with the little that you give if you give it in full cheer like a little child to him you may have seen a little child run up to you and offer you a lolly a like oh man I can't see sweets at the moment but just that smile that cheer of that little child wanting to share something with you melts your heart and makes you accept it how much more our Heavenly Father if we approach him as little children dependant on him with a smile god I want to give you something this is something I can contribute it is little but it is yours how much more can God do something great with that if you would like to contribute financially you can do so via various options doing it via push Bay or the websites give click on the giving button or go through a web now if you would like to contribute in cash please email us at connect at Bayside Church that come there a you and we'll organize envelopes for you to be dropped off at your homes let's pray together thank you Father thank you Lord that we can contribute to your kingdom to your mission that together we can be a Christian community who were together in justice mercy and faith to see your kingdom come and you will be done to see people's lives transformed especially in the current situation Lord people's lives will be touched by you ultimately you are our provider everything that we have is yours already Lord and we believe that you can do something great through all of this that we contribute now bless every person where they're at especially those that are struggling financially right now given the circumstance bless them provide for them and carry them through the situation and bless every other person to Lord that as a community we are carried by you and we can carry one another too in Jesus name Amen thank you so much for your contribution this week well next week is Mother's Day we're going to watch your video about that and then straight after we'll hop into the message with Pastor Robb [Music] [Music] poached egg Wow wait to see what you guys do next week for Mother's Day [Music] [Music] well that's a great little reminder for Mother's Day just to reminder guys the kids are not going to be bringing those $10 presents home from school this year so you actually do need to think about it something nice for mum for next weekend for Mother's Day well let's get into the Word of God and if you want to follow this in your Bible turn with me to the Book of Isaiah and chapter 61 you'll find message notes on the website as well as on the app just click on the media button and bring up the weekly notes if you're making your own notes then the title is the divine exchange and we're going to read a couple of verses from Isaiah 60:1 these are incredibly well known verses of Scripture and I believe that we're going to bring great comfort and encouragement to our hearts through these verses this week Isaiah 60:1 the second part of verse 2 to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes the oil of joy instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair they will be called oaks of righteousness a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor wonderful encouraging Scripture it's actually a song as most of the prophetic words in the book of Isaiah he wrote them out as songs and and these particular verses have been made into lots and lots of songs over the years that we've enjoyed singing in church let me give you a very brief history lesson before we get into the main part of these verses Isaiah was actually written by two men the first of them is the prophet Isaiah and then there's another one we don't really know his name he's often referred to as second Isaiah or deutero Isaiah the first Isaiah he lived in the eighth century he started his minister very prophetic ministry around the 740s BC and he wrote chapters 1 through 239 of the Book of Isaiah in 698 he was sawn in half by Manasseh the evil king that's how he put him to death because he didn't like his prophecies and so the first Isiah died well before the people of Judah were taken into captivity in Babylon fast forward then to about 150 years later this second guy who's known as Jews Errol or second Isaiah he penned the prophesies in chapters 40 through 266 and this is after the Jews had returned from captivity in Babylon around 538 BC and he's bringing great encouragement to these refugees who have returned now from Babylon back home to Jerusalem and he's encouraging them if you look at these verses we'll put them on the screen for you Isaiah 40 verses 1 & 2 comfort comfort my people says your God speak tenderly to Jerusalem proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed and that her sin has been paid for so the sin that led the people into captivity has been paid for their hard service in babylonian captivity is now over they're brought back to Jerusalem and now there's a good prophetic word of comfort so the whole book of Isaiah that we have today that was compiled by Hebrew theologians around 200 BC and they put both of these guys prophesies together and called the whole book Isaiah our text is located in the second part of Isaiah the people are back in Jerusalem they're rebuilding the city in the wall they're reestablishing themselves in the nation of Israel and it's a hard slog the people are despondent at the sad picture of Jerusalem and they could do with some encouragement and they find it and we find it too in chapter 61 of Isaiah the prophets in courage Minh to a discouraged people and can I encourage you to read the whole chapter it's only about 11 verses Isaiah 60:1 read the whole thing this week just look at these two verses though in 4 and 5 of that chapter it says they will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations strangers will Shepherd your flocks and foreigners will work your fields and vineyards in other words you don't have to do this on your own and yeah they had that experience you know you've got this massive task to do and it's just you or maybe one other person and then these other people pitch in and say I we hear that you might need a hand with this and the feeling that you get as many hands make light work that's what the Prophet is communicating here the prophecy also looks forward to the Messiah we read in verse 11 and verse 8 make an everlasting covenant with them and then he makes an everlasting covenant with all nations not just the nation of Israel but but the nations of the Gentiles as well if we fast forward 560 years later Jesus actually reads the first two verses of this chapter as he was standing in the synagogue on the Sabbath day he's handed that scroll and he opens it up to what we know as Isaiah 61 the Spirit of the Lord is upon me for he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor and delivery of captives and so on and so forth and then of course we fast track to the present day over two and a half millennia later and we are reading those same words and we too are finding encouragement in these words in our time of crisis and so let's have a look at this divine exchange we're gonna look at three aspects of this divine exchange to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes the word beauty here is is an interesting word it's the Hebrew word Pierre P apostrophe er Pierre it sounds like a French name Pierre I'm gonna say I did French for eight years and I can still only speak about half-a-dozen phrases you know comment allez-vous you would say three-ball and I know oui oui Monsieur I always want to say manure for some reason and the only other French I know is the Holy Grail and the French Knight you know I love my nose that you'll and all of that kind of stuff but Pierre sounds kind of French but it's a Hebrew word that you will never ever forget there are and we translate this beauty or we translate it as beauty beauty instead of ashes but the word literally means a turbine or a garland it's it's talked about a little bit later in Isaiah 61 and verse 10 that says I delight greatly in the Lord my soul rejoices in a god for he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels and so the men the bridegroom's in those days they would put on either a garland of of flowers on their head or they would put on a turban and it was a sign of adornment it was a sign of joy was a sign of celebration and of gladness and so what the Bible is saying here is I'm going to give you adornment instead of ashes what a wonderful picture this is ashes in Scripture by the way are a sign of sorrow the people of Israel when they were sorry for their sin when they were repenting when they were mourning something something sad someone who died or something like that they would put on sackcloth and they would sit in ashes I want you to think about that have you ever felt the cloth that sacks are made of it's its course it's scratchy it's itchy can you imagine making a garment out of sackcloth like you do they would literally tear their own garments and then they would put sack cloth around themselves and it was comfortable it was it was hard and scratchy and and unpleasant so they would wear sackcloth and then they're going sit themselves in a pile of ashes and if they wanted to show their sorrow that would throw the ashes up into the air and they take ashes and and smear them across their face and so that was to be a picture of sadness and grief and sorrow and here the Bible says I will give you beauty instead of there I'll give you something to put on your head as a sign of celebration instead of ashes isn't that a wonderful picture of a divine exchange to all who mourn for those who grieve are you mourning at the moment something are you grieving some loss at this particular time I know many of us are in some shape or form and then this divine exchange to bestow on those people the people who are mourning the people that are grieving a crown of beauty a turban a garland of beauty instead of ashes when Christy and I first got married we we wanted to enjoy a couple of years as a married couple but then we decided you know we really would love to have kids we want to be parents and I'm going to say you know we tried for quite a long time to conceive our first child I won't go into detail because no no no one wants to think that they are the product of their parents having sex right I mean it's it's yucky any time we talk about that with our kids they're like oh they don't want to hear about this so anyway I'll just suffice to say it took quite a while and then one Sunday night I was on the radio back in those days on 3mp and I used to do a talk show every Sunday night called Rob Buckingham and friends and I would interview people some of them Christians some of them are not my I was kind of scoped back in those days was talking to people who were making the world a better place and we had an affair counseling service called the care line people could ring in they could get prayer they get referred to a counseling agency tour to a church and so lots of people would ring in they were volunteers many of them were part of Bayside church and I had a receptionist as well also who was a volunteer and she's still part of our Frankston campus and hi to Carol and so this particular Sunday night about 10 o'clock the phone goes in the studio and it's Carol my receptionist and she said Rob Christy's at the front reception and I thought it was a bit strange and I got to admit my first kind of feeling was I was a bit ticked because we were going on holiday the next day we were flying out early in the morning and Chrissie was supposed to be home packing for us to go on holiday and I'm like what on earth was Christy want and so I said I okay Carol gave them to walk down and as Christy was walking down I decided to walk up toward her and at this particular time in our sales department they were offering some incentive to our advertisers and that the incentive was a trip to Fiji and so they had all of these leis you know they like though they normally made of flowers to have them in Hawaii as well when you go to Fiji or Hawaii they'll put these lays over over your neck and it's a sign of welcome and a sign of celebration and so we had all of these paper leis laying around and Christy had picked one up and when she walked up to me she put it over my head and she said I bought you some flowers now remember I was already a bit ticked and I said no you didn't you got that from the sales department and she said well come on give me a break it's the best I could do for the father-to-be for the father-to-be and those words kind of sunk in I was like she was expecting our first child I was no longer miffed no longer ticked I was so happy we gave each other a big hug we celebrated and then I was the 10 o'clock news was on I had to go and you know interview the next person and so Christy went off home and she packed and and I really had trouble concentrating on my guests so it makes guests by the way that I had to interview the subject was how to deal with troubled teenagers can you imagine and I'm just kind of sitting there going uh-huh but I was completely glassed over all I could think of was good to be a daddy I was so excited and so the best she could find of course was that Garland and and that's a beautiful picture of that celebration we we were sorrowful because it was taking so long for us to fall pregnant and yet we finally did and our ashes were turned to joy and to beauty at that time God gave us beauty instead of ashes the second part of the divine exchange is the oil of joy instead of mourning decades in captivity these people decades in captivity somewhere between 50 and 70 years as refugees in a foreign land and finally a small percentage of them start to come home and they're excited about coming home but they come home to a ruined City to a ruined nation and they're standing there looking at the ruins and feeling overwhelmed by this task I've been doing some reading lately about the return of the Syrian refugees of course the civil war has been going on in Syria for many years and many of those people have either become internally displaced within Syria or they fled to other nations most of them to the nations around about Syria like the Jordan for example in Lebanon but a small percentage of the Syrian people that were displaced have started to go back home again only to find that poverty is rife corruption is rife can you imagine what it must be like to walk back into your city imagine if that was Melbourne and even if that was Bayside Melbourne and where we're walking back and we're trying to find our house and we're walking down the street and there's so much wreckage and rubble everywhere and is my house still going to be standing or is it going to be ruined and all of the emotion that must be flooding through those precious people as they go back and try and pick up where they left off life that's what it was like for these Jewish refugees returning home and their hearts were were Mourning they were missing their familiarity remember many of these people were born in the city of Babylon where they were held captive apart from the language and some of the culture of the Hebrews that was passed on from parents to children through a couple of generations apart from that these people would have known the local language some of them would have spoken in the local dialect of the Babylonians that was the culture that there were aware of but they had heard about Jerusalem they had heard about Israel they were excited about going back home to where they were from only to find that they were actually feeling homesick they they missed the familiarity of what they had back in the Assyrian Empire their hope was turned to hopelessness and then they were staggering as I said earlier at the enormity of the task at that point enter the encouraging word of God to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve to bestow on them the oil of joy instead of mourning that divine exchange swimming swapping out one for the other few weeks ago when we were still able to meet together I taught a series called becoming like Jesus and you might even want to revisit that series and particularly the message this kind of joy and we talked about this oil of joy that comes upon our lives and that we need to practice in everyday life even through the times of difficulty that we do what James talked about in James 1 counted all joy when you go through various trials and struggles because that joy gives us strength it makes our prayers effective it enlarges our character and it increases our health they're all things that we need at this time because some of the stuff that we're facing we we can we face just like the people of Israel faced as well we've lost some familiarity much of our lives have been turned upside down by covert 19 for some people their hope has turned to hopelessness and for some their staggering at the enormity of the task rebuilding businesses all sorts of things like that going on at this particular point in time if you find yourself with those feelings at this time can I encourage you to practice this divine exchange the oil of joy instead of mourning and then finally a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair the word garment here means a wrap or a shawl in the Hebrew it talks about a loose sleeveless cloak and the opposite of that is despair the word despair there can be translated as fainting or heaviness and really what the author is doing here is contrasting two different kinds of clothing especially at this particular time while we're live streaming you don't really have to get dressed up I mean some of you don't get dressed at all I know you've told me you stay in your jammies and your slippers and your dressing-gown and that's absolutely fine others you might be just wearing you know jeans or trackie DAX or you know a nice comfortable jumper and you're enjoying those comfy clothes you feel snug especially in the colder weather like this you feel when it's bit wet outside and a bit chilly you feel snug and warm when you're wearing those clothes and this is talking here in Isaiah about comfortable versus uncomfortable clothes you have been in a situation where you're wearing an uncomfortable article of clothing maybe it's a bit too tight maybe it's a bit scratchy maybe it's like the sack cloth that I described earlier in this message it's kind of just not working for you it's itchy and scratchy Kristi had an experience like that a few years ago I was doing a wedding and myself and Kristi and the girls were invited to the wedding and Kristi had shingles now at this particular point of time I hadn't had shingles so I didn't know how horrible it was and Kristi told me she had shingles and I'm like okay well it's a shame you know but hey we're going to a wedding really you know not one of the high points of my husband Lee and so she got dressed and we went to this wedding but her wedding dress was a little bit tight and of course it was rubbing on the shingles a few years later I got the shingles I suddenly had great empathy for what she enjoyed on this particular day not being able to stand even a seat belt going across my chest and was so painful and so uncomfortable and so I remember when we got home and Kristy was finally able to take this article of clothing off and put on something loose and soft and comfortable and that's what this divine exchange is like the garment of praise isn't tight it's not heavy and it's not scratchy when you're feeling faint and when you're feeling desperate start to express your praise out loud and you will experience a divine exchange and Psalm 147 verse 1 it says how good to sing praises to our God how delightful and how fitting one translation of that says praise looks good on you it suits you it's lovely isn't it when you get complimented for something that you're wearing hey you know that jacket looks really nice on you that dress really suits you praise looks good on you it looks good it's like the two priests that decided to go on holiday to Hawaii together and they got off the plane and they were heading to the hotel I thought we don't want to be recognized as priests while we're on holiday and so they decided to take a detour they went shopping they bought some Hawaiian shirts and shorts and some sunglasses and then they headed down to the beach and they're sitting there enjoying the warmth and the sunshine and this beautiful blonde lady was walking up she was just wearing a bikini and both of the priests kind of noticed her and and as she walked past she said hello father hello father like this and the priest would gobsmacked they thought my goodness what is it about us where she knows that we're priests and so they decided to go shopping again they bought louder Hawaiian shirts they bought hats they bought other items of clothing to try and go incognito next day we went back to the beach say blonde woman in a bikini walking up hello father hello father like this and and one of the priests stopped the woman look we're not ashamed of being priests but but how do you know who we are and she turned them as you said or to be sure father and term to end the end to other father this is sister Kathleen and so there you go it looked good on her I don't know about the Hawaiian shirts but have you ever been complimented for something that looks good on you praise looks good on you and so if you find yourself in a place of despair or a place of heaviness experience the divine exchange and put on the garment of praise begin to praise God for who he is for his attributes things like the fact that he's merciful and loving and kind and good and gracious and long-suffering and and tender-hearted and compassionate start to praise God for what he does all of his actions that he saves and heals and provides and blesses and forgives praise God for what he's going to do praise and faith working together for all of his promises we don't really know how many promises there are in the Bible somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000 the Apostle Paul didn't know he said for no matter how many promises God has made they are yes in Jesus Christ and then praise God for what we have all of the gifts that God has given to us our life and breath our salvation our health our strength our gifts and abilities food friends family our next breath that we count it all joy can I encourage you to enjoy the divine exchange this week to enjoy beauty instead of ashes the oil of joy instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair you'll find all of these things as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ if you've never decided to follow Jesus can I encourage you to make a decision today to follow Jesus if you'd like to do that if you'd like to know more about that we would love to connect with you send you some information and a Bible you can email us connect at Bayside Church comte you if you want to be a part of one of our online connect groups you can contact us as well and if you need any pastoral care or prayer please do send us an email connect at Bayside church comm dot a you on your message notes you'll find some further study and discussion questions as well you can either do those on your own during the week or you can do those in your online connect groups this week as well we're going to enjoy a beautiful guided prayer on Isaiah 61 verses 2 & 3 right now with Kristy B I'd like to read to you today from Isaiah 61 this is a powerful passage that Rob has just preached from and the Word of God is so faithful every time we read it it is fresh manna from heaven I'm going to take you through this and I want you to each time I I stop to think about what that would look like for you so I'm going to read from verse 3 Isaiah 61 verse 3 providing for those who grieve and Zion to bestow on them a crime of beauty instead of ashes a crime of beauty instead of ashes the oil of gladness instead of mourning thinking about that for a moment let's just take a moment to really thank God for his presence around us as we sit with those words crying of beauty brings my mind to think about a tiara or even just a floral arrangement on top of a bride's head something wonderful that the eye is drawn to instead of ashes which are leftovers something to be prized as opposed to something to be forgotten [Music] maybe there's something new that God wants to give you that will be a prized thing in your life and will replace the old and the dead things ashes symbolize something that has been burnt and while it was burning it could have been providing heat it could have been providing food but it no longer has a use except for if you put it in the garden and we know that principle where something falls to the ground and dies it brings forth something in you and I I'd like us to think about the very fact that God is the source of all joy in our lives all joy the joy the oil of gladness instead of mourning to think that you can be joyful about something what are some of the things that make you joyful let's just ask the Holy Spirit together to think about the simple things small and big that give us great joy [Music] I know for me having points of connection with each of my children just that moment where you look at them and you get what they're talking about or when you are with a friend and you see a beautiful sunset or the fragrance of home-cooked meal or the smile of a stranger all these things are in our lives the other day I was quite upset about hearing about the passing of one of my friends in Jakarta Dudek over 19 and I was walking along the street having my exercise and I was chatting with someone and I I was weeping and a complete stranger said are you okay and just in that moment of mourning the Lord gave me a great encouragement joy that someone else would be concerned about that he turns our mourning into dancing the next line of this is soap refined the garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair I know we talked about the armor of God protecting us but this is a garment a garment of praise that we put on a garment that brings covering a garment that brings joy a garment that brings comfort a garment that even brings authority over any despair in our lives right now I'd like you to take a moment to imagine yourself maybe you might be sitting slumped over and feeling dawn and then you're clothed with this beautiful garment that brings to you softness and comfort and all that you need what would that feel like to you what would your response to God be maybe if you allow yourself to sit with this thought through the week your imagination may soar hello God - use your imagination along with prayer and instead of daydreaming you can pray dream and allow that despair to go away with this garment of praise that is on your back and finally we will be called the Oaks of righteousness the planting of the Lord what I love about this scripture is it is also doable it is also sustainable you know we don't have to get confused by what we have to do or what we have to say we simply have to allow God to change our mourning through his oil of gladness we allow the Lord to change our sorrow we allow the Lord to clothe us and we accept he's handing us a garment of praise but we have to put it on we have to choose to be clothed in thankfulness and hashtag gratitude in hashtag blessed we make the choice and we choose we choose to praise so that we will be known as a trees of righteousness and the planting of the Lord I don't know about you but that does my soul good and i thank god that i can live today with the cloak of praise on me thank you so much pastor christie for that amazing time of prayer I really feel refreshed well that brings us to the end of this service as a church we are still connecting during the weeks via our online Connect rooms if you'd like to join one please send us an email at connect at bayside church.com dot a you also pastor Robyn Christy are online every Tuesday at 8 p.m. via Facebook live just go to the Bayside church page and join them there Tuesdays at 8 p.m. next week as I said before is Mother's Day and we have an amazing message from Amelia Pickering who is sharing some great encouragement not just for mothers but for all of us let me pray thank you lord thank you for these amazing people thank you for everyone wherever they're at you are with them you guide them and your hand is upon them you are the one who is anointed with the Holy Spirit and through your anointing you anoint us you baptize us you show us the way bless every person empower them and bless them in Jesus name Amen have a great week

Channel: Bayside Church Melbourne

Views: 435

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: bayside church, rob buckingham, bayside

Id: tc5VC-63IZA

Length: 81min 54sec (4914 seconds)

Published: Sat May 02 2020