Canopy Sunday - Gathering Under God's Canopy

[Music] welcome everyone to canopy our national online gathering for baptist churches across scotland it's so good to be gathering from all over the country for worship this morning from towns and cities from villages and islands in church buildings and in homes coming together to honor the lord jesus christ and to celebrate his life in us old i'm martin hudson from the baptist union national team and my colleague lindsay and i will be hosting this morning good morning everyone i'm lindsay cameron ross the new communications lead at the baptist union we are so excited to be together with everyone this morning so far we've had a brilliant weekend at canopy we started on friday evening with our national prayer gathering and yesterday we were listening for god speaking to us about fruitfulness and about the climate crisis as well as hearing stories from baptist churches around the country it would be great for us all to know where everyone is joining from this morning so if you haven't already done so would you use the live chat on youtube and tell everyone where you are and whether you are with your church family or maybe you're at home or somewhere else and as we continue feel free to use the chat to add any encouragements or prayers or anything you maybe notice god saying to us now coming up this morning we have a live band to lead us in worship a bible message on john 15 which has been the bible inspiration for this weekend and a baptism coming live from one of our churches but before all of that we are going to hear from some people in our churches around the country who have come to faith and been baptized during the last year despite all of the restrictions we've asked them to come and say hello to canopy and all of you this morning and we thought you'd like to meet someone who became a believer through our friends in bms world mission in paris so watch out for her too hi canucky church i'm emily and i'm part central church in edinburgh and this summer i chose to be baptized and started following jesus and the transformation jesus has made in my life is indescribable and both challenging and wonderful at the same time and his love is one i don't think that can be fully described and but it's just been the best decision i've ever made my entire life hello everybody at canopy my name's sophie and i'm from viewfield baptist church in dunfermline and i got baptised this year after having to wait over a year because of the covered restrictions it was so great on the day to finally be able to stand up and testify about all the amazing things that god's done in my life hi everyone at canopy family i've got a folk baptist church i've been following jesus for just over a year now and it means a lot for me to become a christian point to the next step in order to be baptized my name is thelma robertson and i was baptized in the larawic baptist church on the 26th september i have been a christian for many years but recently last year or so i have been studying my bible diligently and have got to know jesus so much better and it is for this reason that i felt that i had to follow jesus command and to be baptized hi my name is valerie i am 20 6 years old i was back here and i decided to follow jesus for the rest of my life hi everyone at canopy i'm lucy from sherlock baptist and recently i got baptized here at aberdeen beach i recently decided to get baptized because as i was growing closer to god and my relationship with jesus grew i realized what it was for a two-day relationship and through that he was teaching me the importance of obedience and so god wants someone who searches after his heart and who listens whenever they hear so i got baptized it is so great to see all those people and hear what has been happening in their lives it reminds us that god is powerfully at work he is transforming lives and calling people to a deeper relationship with him even in the disrupted days of the pandemic so we are coming now to worship god through jesus christ and in the presence of his spirit wherever we are at home or gathering with others in a church building together we belong to jesus listen to what jesus says i am the vine you are the branches if you remain in me and i in you you will bear much fruit apart from me you can do nothing so let's worship him good morning why don't we stand together wherever you are whether you're here in the building or across the country and let's worship our god sing amazing love [Music] amazing love how can it be that thou my god [Music] amazing love how can it [Music] my god [Music] that i should [Music] is [Music] how can it be [Music] how can it be [Music] he left his throne is [Music] foreign [Music] my praise and spirit lay fast bound in sin and nature's night light i defused [Music] my chains fell off my heart was free [Music] my heart was free [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] and oh [Music] i [Music] we lift [Music] is [Music] [Applause] how wonderful you are we choose to leave [Music] is [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] every song you've seen [Music] standing and now lifting up your name [Music] shouting [Music] [Applause] jesus [Music] [Applause] here [Music] received [Music] god we want to thank you that you are glorious we want to worship you this morning you are wonderful you are mighty you are gracious you are the king of kings the lord of lords we give you all the praise we worship you we thank you you are our good good father in your hearts right now out loud say the names of jesus say the names of god all the good things that he is to us his amazing grace we worship you we thank you now god we praise you this is so good to be worshiping god together from all across the country and we've just been looking at all the people who've uh said they're joining in from the islands in the north and the west and in aberdeen and glasgow and the borders and the west coast and so many places now we've been listening to stories from people across our churches this weekend you'll find many of them on our youtube page and we've got another story we'd like to share with you today it's about a church that wanted to use the opportunity where they were to serve local people and to be sure they gave them an invitation to meet jesus too so we're going over to glenn rothes and fife for the story of the cafe they developed when they moved to a new building in their main shopping center [Music] over the past few years glenrothes baptist church has been on a journey the lord led us to relocate to the glenrothes town center and we began drawing aside and drawing near to the lord asking god to show us what his heart would be how can we engage as missionaries in this town of 50 000 plus people uh where the vast majority of them 48 000 or more uh don't know jesus don't go to church anywhere at one point in glenora this was known as the secular capital of scotland and uh so really that's what led us to the bridge cafe as a missionary platform uh the purpose of the bridge cafe is really as it says on the tin bridging the kingdom of fife to the kingdom of god through jesus christ a cafe is no different than what many other cafes do but we are different in that we seek to be unashamedly all about jesus uh if you think about fruit it always surrounds a seed and we believe the seed is the word of god as we draw near to jesus and bear much fruit showing to be his disciples we seek to unashamedly proclaim the word of god about jesus as he gives us opportunity just as the apostle paul in athens in acts chapter 17 he was provoked at their idol worship and he began reasoning with the people in the marketplace day by day and there was mixed response and so in the bridge we're seeing people confronted with the truth of who jesus is and uh we love everyone where they are and we're seeing some people's lives transformed as they get to know jesus first corinthians chapter three six through nine says one man plants another waters but it's actually god that gives the growth and so at the british cafe we've got all types of people coming in rich poor black white everyone under the sun and we're trying to love them and be salt and light here in this place so we're loving them not only with our actions but with words as well you know paul says in romans 1 16 that the gospel is the power of god unto salvation for all who believe and so we believe that our words really do bring eternal life to people and forgiveness of their sin and so we pray that people would come to christ here we use that with our words and our actions one example of that would be there's a couple that come in called mark and claire and through our actions of not judging them when a lot of the world is judging them we are like essentially they're asking questions about who is god who's jesus and and these conversations are leading to opportunities to offer to meet up to read the bible things like that um and slowly but surely we're just trusting god for the growth in all of i just want to share that um through the bridge we've had louise uh glancing come in and sharna margaret a mother and daughter and chris um who was a young lad who came in and they all got saved just through the ministry and just through being able to come in and chat and have a cup of tea and we just built up a relationship with them and just sharing the gospel that they actually realized well wait a minute i am a sinner here and i do need save by the grace of god and that's what's happened and we've got one of them baptized already and the other three are in the process of doing that so god changes lives and just through having a cup of coffee and a bacon roll and just being here and just glenothers is just changing and we just thank god for that in john 15 jesus teaches about abiding in him and bearing much fruit much like the vine of grapes it needs trained it needs made fruitful it needs pruned and in some ways what we've seen down in the bridge cafe here this missional outpost that god's given us and you've heard testimony about that is it's an opportunity to be relationally evangelistic to share jesus through conversations to be fruitful as you proclaim his word to those out in the community but one thing that we've been really excited about is seeing the opportunities to scale this up in other places places where maybe they have a real heart to reach out a real heart to share jesus through relationships to make connections with those in their community but they find that they won't come anywhere near the church or they won't come to whatever location you meet in and so we wonder whether maybe you've been praying about this maybe we can be a trellis that you can grow the vine of god's kingdom there to gospel proclamation in your area maybe we can come in and and establish a bridge cafe together in partnership with your church and your people who want to share jesus there where you are and perhaps together being the trellis and the vine of god's people in that area we can see his kingdom grow and so we want to encourage you perhaps you've been praying as we have been praying uh connect with us reach out to us and let's see if perhaps there's a way for us to partner together to see god's kingdom grow in scotland well that's certainly a story about a church bearing fruit a bold purposeful innovation that god is using to bless the community and to bring people to faith the bible passage that has inspired much of canopy this year is john 15 and that speaks about us bearing fruit when we remain in jesus we're going to listen to that reading now there's so much in this passage so we're inviting you to listen out for perhaps one phrase or word that just lands with you this morning that has a particular resonance to you for you or that just really seems to grab your attention and after the reading we'd love you to put that phrase in the live chat and we'll be able to share together what we're hearing from this passage what immediately hits home with us this morning as we listen together john 15 1-7 i am the true vine and my father is the gardener he cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruits while every branch that does bear fruits he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful you are already clean because of the word i have spoken to you remain in me as i also remain in you no branch can bear fruit by itself it must remain in the vein neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me i am the vine you are the branches if you remain in me and i in you you will bear much fruit apart from me you can do nothing if you do not remain in me you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers such branches are picked up thrown into the fire and burned if you remain in me and my words remain in you ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you this is to my father's glory that you bear much fruits showing yourselves to be my disciples as the father has loved me so have i loved you now remain in my love if you keep my commands you will remain in my love just as i have kept my father's commands and remain in his love i have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete my command is this love each other as i have loved you greater love has no one than this to lay down one's lives for one's friends you are my friends if you do what i command i no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master's business instead i have called you friends for everything that i have learned from my father i have made known to you you did not choose me but i chose you and appointed you so that you may go and bear fruit fruit that will last and so that wherever you ask in my name the father will give you this is my command love each other so let's just take a few quiet moments to reflect on those words take time to let them sink in we would love to hear what god is saying to you this morning so please do put in the live chat any words that you've felt have really stood out or have made an impact on you today [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] god's word is powerful and active and it's great to hear different words landing with us from that scripture this morning yeah and it's amazing just to get a sense of the different types of words that we might be receiving and actually the different meanings that we can pull out from the same passage yeah yeah listening to the word together well now let's just move on to join in prayer we were really keen to have another voice leading prayer today and we asked our friends at bms world mission if one of their partner workers would join in so our prayers begin with genesis aka from uganda and it's a real privilege to have someone from the global south from a country where the church is flourishing pray with us and for us today so let's pray thank you so much uh we send our sincere greetings to all of you and the entire congregation of the churches in scotland lord we thank you for uganda we thank you for the country that you're blessed so much we thank you for the friends who support other churches in uganda especially scotland the uk america and all the other continents in order to keep them at the congregation of uganda even at this difficult time that they will know you laugh they will know that you are still with them lord we also pray for the presidency in scotland for their love for that time that they are going through the companies that have lost their dear ones lord we still trust in you we know you are with us because that was your promise when jesus was leaving as he said the holy spirit will be with you i will be with you until the end of the age we trust you and we trust in your love we pray all these believe in jesus christ our lord amen as we continue in prayer we simply lift up your name lord praying for the glory of your justice and mercy to be seen throughout the earth praying for your love to be poured out across this land as we remain in you and as we live for you praying for your holy spirit to fall on us now to refresh us and renew us to fill us and empower us [Music] amen we're really glad to have yinca oyakan as our speaker this morning jinka is the senior minister at a baptist church down in reading he's on the core leadership team of the baptist churches down south and evangelist at heart with a passion for the church to become all jesus made us to be let's hear what god has given him to share with us today hi my name is jenka it's a real privilege to be sharing with you uh at the baptist union of scotland thank you for inviting me i want to share from john chapter 15 and verse 16 in a second and i want to talk about the confidence that we need to have arising out of these scriptures so let's make a start john 15 16 you did not choose me but i chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit fruit that will last and so that whatever you ask in my name the father will give to you astonishing scriptures i believe that there is a coming revival to scotland and i believe that the baptist union although we've uh scotland although we've seen extraordinary things and done amazing things in the past i believe a time is coming where god is going to do even greater things there's going to be a greater call on you on your heart and your soul and your mind for your destiny not just for the movement but for the whole of the nation you see we as baptists are nation changers both individually and collectively but to be that i i believe there's got to be a violent movement of prayer warriors who storm the gates of heaven and bring heaven down to earth in line with jesus's prayer so first thing we need confidence in we need confidence in the power of prayer you know disciples are jesus's friends and the promise here that we read in john 15 is is the third of four remarkable promises that jesus makes about prayer we need to have confidence in prayer john 15 14 says this very true i tell you whoever believes in me will do the works i have been doing and they will do even greater things than these because i am going to the father and i will do whatever you ask in my name so that the father may be glorified in the son you may ask me for anything in my name and i will do it amazing or in john chapter 15 verse 7 to 8 if you remain in me and my words remain in you ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you this is to my father's glory that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be my disciples or john 15 16-17 our scripture reading for today you did not choose me but i chose you and i appointed you to go and bear fruit fruit that will last so that the father will give you whatever you ask him in my name i'm giving you these commands so that you may love one another and the fourth of these amazing promises concerning prayer that we read about in the book of john is 16 23-24 on on that day you will ask nothing of me very truly i tell you if you ask anything of the father in my name he will give it to you until now you have not asked for anything in my name ask and you will receive so that your joy may be complete now in each of these promises that we read these four extraordinary promises we find that they're they're conditional they're conditional on a number of things in 1516 the promise is conditional upon two things say disciples carrying out their commission to go and bear fruit and prayer be made in jesus name in other words when we're praying we're praying in line with jesus's name in line with jesus's character in line with jesus as well we're praying in christ jesus uh in in verses 7 and 8 prayer must precede the work okay so that's what we read you've got to pray before you go but in 1516 the work is done but that work then must become the basis of a more extended boulder asking the order seems to be reversed it's not it's just simply extended now these prayer promises we've got to have confidence in the fact that when we pray in christ's name he will do it but these are not blind checks these are not promises to supply everything that anyone asks for it is when we ask in his name corresponding to his will corresponding to his character it is therefore imperative as sons and daughters as children of god that we understand how to pray that we learn how to pray how to enter the holy of holies how to enter the presence of god how to go beyond the veil how to access the golden altar the doorway of heaven itself we've got to have confidence in our prayer life therefore we're going to do the work of prayer secondly these scriptures show us that we've got to have confidence in the selection of god augustine of hippo said how is it that he choose us not the good but make us those whom he has chosen good we've got to have confidence in the selection of god it's god who chose you now whilst we have to overcome notions of inadequacy and feelings of failure look don't deny your weaknesses rejoice in them you know but rather make your boost in god your weaknesses highlight just how great god is that he would take such as us and use us for his glory your status is irrelevant in relation to your call as the work was never contingent on your status or your ability all the resources that you have either materially or of the flesh the mistake that many make is to fall back into a mindset that thinks that somehow we merit the fruitfulness that god requires rather than it's by grace first corinthians 1 verse 26 says days brothers and sisters think of what you were when you were called not many of you were wise by human standards not many were influential not many were of noble birth but god chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise god chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong god chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before him it is because of him that you are in christ jesus who has become for us wisdom from god that is our righteousness holiness and redemption therefore it is written as it is written let the one who boosts boosts in the lord we need confidence in prayer in christ it works we need confidence in this selection of god we need confidence in the appointment of god the ethical of god as it says in the text the text recalled that it was jesus who chose them and set them apart his appointment it's not the disciples if you like who initiate a successful call it's christ jesus himself i chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit in other words they're going to bear a successfully comes out of the call of god upon your life look he said the example laid down his life showed us how to live he set the model and he's looking for those who will also similarly prove trustworthy first timothy 1 and verse 12 and they will go and bear fruit jesus's initiative is the basis of this fruit bearing so therefore when he says when the scripture says sorry that you are the light of the of the gentiles acts chapter 13 verse 47 you know it's important to believe what we're told so we need confidence in the appointment of god he appointed you we need confidence in the mission of god so so god promises that he will prune us so that we will be more fruitful that the trials and pains that we've suffered so far are for divine purpose um that the setbacks and the struggles we face as part of the divine call doesn't define our destiny in other words that no plan of satan will prosper that nothing in all of creation can separate you or i from the love of god we need confidence in the mission of god that whatever the circumstances appear to be or feel like god will bring forth the fruit he determines and he desires that we need to have confidence that we will go and bear forth fruit now the fruit primarily in view in these scriptures is the fruit that emerges from mission right the fellowship and impulse of love of his love should result in a willingness to go and bring forth fruit now earlier in john 15 verse 4 when fruit was being spoken about the fruit there uh if like was the outcome of life and ministry the outcome of character a life lived in obedience to christ through enjoying his presence and by the power of the holy spirit here in 1516 though we're talking about the fruit of uh of mission of being sent in other words in short we're talking about new converts now and so we need to have confidence in the mission of god confidence that he will enable us to communicate the father's will the father's love confidence that you know uh that this call upon our lives has always been to an and it's in in a sense to an end a purpose right from abraham scripture reveals to us that when god calls there's a purpose attached for abraham it was to be a blessing to all the peoples on the earth genesis 12 verse 2 to 3. god's decision to bless abraham set the foundation for election in the old testament after the exodus the covenant in sinai is formalized yahweh god declares that he will take israel as his own treasured possession he elects he calls them and he was going to make them a holy nation and a kingdom of priests that would serve him the choice is made because of his love for the patriarchs what a beautiful story of god's love for humanity no god chooses the nation of israel it's god who chooses if like other individuals throughout scripture he elects them he calls them to a purpose and israel was to demonstrate what it meant to be governed by the divine what it was like for a nation chosen set apart uh uh uh that had the lord as their god the priests were chosen to be servants of the lord moses was chosen to be delivered to the people aaron was chosen to be a priest zerubbabel was chosen look god was in the business of choosing from among the people the kings in the land and if you go back to the story of david in ii samuel verse 6 is an extraordinary encounter in the in the purposes and calling of god and we and we all know the story of how david was called and the impact he made upon the nation perhaps the greatest king who ever lived but it's not just people and individuals that are called or nations cities are called to demonstrate elected chosen by god to demonstrate his purposes and so jerusalem was chosen to be the place where his temple would dwell and the new jerusalem coming down out of glory will be a place where his guru will dwell for all of eternity and so we see that god elects and selects and chooses and from all different backgrounds such as isaiah who saw the lord high and exalted and seated in glory and every encounter with god in which he chooses us causes us to wrestle with a with it imagery and was the purposes that he's destined for our lives no no god prunes us to make us more fruitful god uh calls us and when he calls us he has a destiny mind and so we need we need to have confidence in the mission of god that you know just as all these other people were called and our destiny and purpose so to you and i are called and and we like them will also bear much fruit now references to the fruit here in these scriptures are made to the quality of the of the fruit now this food is fruit that's going to last this is not transitory superficial responses to christ no no no these are fruit that will last the same word if you like is used to speak of other things that were last it's used to speak of the son of man um uh who who if like gives eternal life last that will endure forever it's it's used to speak about in in john chapter 8 35 uh a slave and a son and he sees a slave has no permanent police but a son belongs to the household forever okay it is used to speak if like of uh christ's offer and his determination to fit us for eternity so we can say that the fruit um that fruit this fruit of mission will last for eternity and into eternity um one purpose of election then is that disciples who have been so blessed by god who've so encountered the lord will themselves uh take that good news out to a broken world and show the love of jesus christ it becomes clear that the focus here is on evangelism and mission that evangelism mission is truly central just as in john's day so it is today so let us turn to the purpose if you like of the lord for baptism in scotland why are we here i believe we can learn from the story of elijah to see how we can fulfill our prophetic mandate in terms of jesus saying will be fruitful like elijah elijah was called to speak to authorities and powers we too are called to speak to authorities and powers in first kings chapter 18 verse 102 we read that after a long time in the third year the word of the lord came to elijah go and present yourself to ahab and i will send reign on the land so elijah went to present himself to ahab because there was a famine a severe famine in the land now now just like elijah going to here i believe we as baptists are called to speak to powers rulers and authorities about the will and word of god the nation was in was backslidden the prophets of baal were rampant and in fact in verse 25 elijah says to the prophets about calls them together and he says to them choose one of the rules and prepare it first since there are so many of you call on the name of your god but do not like the fire so they took the bull given them and prepared it then they called on the name of bao from morning till noon oba al answer as they shouted but there was no response no one answered and they danced around the altar they'd made at noon elijah began to taunt them shout louder he said surely he is a god perhaps he is deep in thought or busy or traveling maybe he's he is sleeping and must be awakened so they shouted louder and slashed themselves with sword and spears as was their custom it's always interesting to me that religions that have got demonic backgrounds tend to seek to deface the image of god by cutting their bodies anyway let's carry on verse 29 may they passed and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice but there was no response no one answered no one paid attention look we've got to call the nation back from his idols we've got to call the nation back we've got to speak into that context scottish baptists are well placed to highlight and bring the light of jesus christ into the dark corners of the nation we're here to if you like call the people back to god and the face of their many idols then elijah said uh and versace come here to me and they came to him and he repaired the altar of the lord which was in ruins we must repair the tabernacles of god across the nation that have fallen into into rain we must restore open up the wells in scotland where god has moved in the past and see a new outpouring of the holy spirit no no elijah as in elijah's day so it is now and elijah took 12 stones and said to the people of god you know reminded them that their name was to be israel and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the lord and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seas of of seed we're here scottish baptists are here to speak with one voice prophetically and with great boldness to the nation the intentions of god again we see that with elijah elijah says to ahab go eat and drink for there's the sound of heavy rain so ahab went off to eat and drink but elijah climbed to the top of mount camel remember he'd prophesied three and a half years earlier it wasn't going to rain and the rain stopped and now he was saying to you yeah god's about to center in we need to speak because we've been in a place of prayer because we've got confidence in the divine in what he's telling us to then speak out prophetically what the lord is revealing to the nation why because this nation is not going to be taken with just words but was a demonstration of the king of kings and the lord of lords his sovereignty his power and his majesty and and and you know it's interesting elijah goes up to mount carmel and there he's had the word of the lord but there's no clouds in the sky and his servant goes out uh to the brow of the hill to luke to see as he sends him out six times he sends him out while elijah is there with his head between his knees in a posture of prayer intercessory prayer seeking to bring heaven to earth he's had the word of the lord but there's no evidence or that god has done anything yet and we're told to pray like this man we're encouraged to pray like elijah in james 5 16 confess your sins to each other deal with the hypocrisy in your life sort yourself out confess your sins to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective elijah was a man just like us he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years again he prayed and the heavens gave rain and the earth produces crop the context is a backslidden nation the context is a man of integrity who knew how to pray who stood in the in the corridors of power not on earth but accordance of power in heaven a man who had an integrity and a character through which god could work you know a habits persistently search for elijah trying to kill him and here comes the word of the lord to him go to your life go go to hip and tell him what i'm saying the character of the man oh you see your character is what you are when nobody's watching you and but i pray in jesus name that our character when our door is closed will be what people see when the door is open no no hypocrisy robs of the of the of the power that is inherent in prayer if we live a lifestyle that is deficient that's hidden that's corrupt how can god take our words and do anything with them and so therefore we must keep short account we must repent and confess about our sins and make sure that the only thing that god has ever asked of us there's only one thing he wants that's everything it's given to him our whole heart our whole soul our whole mind i love the certainty of elijah's prayer you know in these scriptures we might want to focus on the fruit but i'll tell you the fruit comes out of the prayer the the fruit comes out of the prayer and there's something about these scriptures in which jesus is trying to help us to see and understand you know at the time of the sacrifice what does elijah do when when when all the prophets of bill have done their bid and now he is about to show that god is the lord and he needs a miracle he pours water on everything he makes it difficult for heaven and and what what happens he says lord now show yourself show that i've done these things at your command and fire comes down from heaven when he speaks to ahab he says send a message there is a sound of heavy rain ahab was told to go and rejoice the others could not see what he was off to go and rejoice about elijah saw it by faith by faith we hear the sound of abundant rain by face we see the fruit that god is about to bear three years he spoke it wouldn't rain and it didn't the confidence he had the confidence he had was that confidence born out of an intimacy was the divine and so we're called i believe and we need to see a movement of prayer in in our nation in our baptist family a movement of prayer in which we are bent over in humility before the divine until he moves on the earth until he moves in scotland until he turns the nation back to himself the power in the hands of a believer who prays whose knees are bent is no different to the prayers that were coming out of our savior in the garden of gethsemane jesus's prayers are effective and he wants you to know that your prayers are effective elijah was looking for the physical manifestation of his prayer he stayed in a place of prayer until he had a hint that something had changed a cloud the size of a man's hand and when he saw i mean it was just a little thing you know in the distance but when he heard the report back there's a cloud that was it for him it was done the manifestation of the prayer had arrived you know he didn't even have to wait he knew that now that god had answered and physically manifest his will that there was going to be enough rain a deluge of rain to to feed the land and and and and to stop the famine that are ravaged uh everybody's lives and so you know a little crowd might have seen insignificant to others but to elijah it was the beginning of the answer to prayer great blessings often arise from small beginnings you know as i said this is not some kind of morning mist but this was the manifestation of god's will on earth and so as baptists i want to encourage you from these scriptures jesus is telling us we should have confidence in prayer he wants us to believe that if we pray are writing in his name father will answer we need to have confidence in his appointing he he appointed you you're not here by chance you're here because of god's appointing you need to have confidence in the mission of god god wants us to bear much fruit in other words god wants many souls to come into the kingdom to hear the good news of the gospel we need to have confidence in the prophetic revelation that god is releasing to us about what he's going to do in the land we need to have confidence in the fact that he's the one who sets us before kings and rulers and authorities and that this work will be accomplished with signs and wonders and if if necessary miracles in order that the will of the lord might be accomplished we need confidence in the gospel once more in this land because there's no other name there's no other means by which a man can be saved except the gospel of jesus christ the gospel is the power of god unto salvation and if we want to see fruit born in the land if we want to bear much food according to this culture mission then we need confidence in the gospel and it's power it's efficacy the fact that we cannot add to it or take away from it the fact that the gospel is everything when it comes to the lost the gospel is the beginning of hope and life for them and the gospel is the end of eternal separation uh for them we need confidence in the gospel if scotland is to be saved brothers and sisters thank you for having me the lord bless you have a great conference wow thank you for bringing that this morning that was an amazing word about prayer and a call to be confident in the gospel of jesus to believe that he really is calling people to himself across our nation yeah and that call of jesus requires a response and baptism is a gift jesus has given us to declare that we have said yes to him that we have received his grace i was really struck by yinka there saying jesus asks one thing from us and that is everything and here in baptism we act out the death and resurrection of jesus and we are baptized into him all of us baptized into all of him when we get baptized we demonstrate that our lives are in him and with his help we will remain in him baptism is always a celebration and this morning we are going across live to broughty ferry baptist church just near dundee to join with elaine's baptism so let's go there now and i'll hand this over to one of their ministers brian talbert hello my name is brian tobert and i'm the pastor of this congregation i want to give you all a warm welcome to panmufil baptist center the home of bronty ferry baptist church where we're privileged to join with brothers and sisters in christ in so many other places for this service of worship today we're thankful to god for his provision for us over this difficult season of the virus pandemic we deeply appreciative of his faithfulness to us in the midst of so many challenges in this land and also overseas in particular as we've been reflecting as about his family of churches on spiritual fruitfulness over this weekend at canopy it's a real joy to be able to thank the lord for those who've been exploring christian faith and spirituality in one of our online courses such as life explorer christianity explored or who professed faith in christ we're also encouraged by those who be baptized as believers upon that profession of faith in jesus as elaine will do today you'll be praying for our sister churches in the coming days us has been our practice in the past but together we may all be fruitful for christ in the coming days of the praise of his glory i know invite you late to come and share her testimony of what god has done in her life leading her up to taking this step of public witness today good morning i'm a bit nervous i'm used to standing behind the chair cutting here i am so fortunate i have won my salon for the last 37 years i love what i do it has always been much more than a haircut it's true that clients will open up to you with their problems what is said to the hairdresser stays with the hairdresser clients have become good friends religion has not been a huge part of my life although i was christened as a baby and my mum would occasionally take us to church at the young age of 19 i joined a church to get married i just wanted that big white wedding i never read a bible or even thought if i believed in jesus sadly that marriage didn't last long and let's say i kept looking for love it finally clicked in may 2020 i found god the father's love i can call myself a locked down baby of christ three years earlier i started christianity explore classes as my dad had been baptized at the age of 77. just amazing he was so excited and all he talked about was jesus made a change from his goal i was interested to find out what was this all about not long after my dad's baptism my mum died and i was with her at the end i had never seen a dead body i could see her soul had left i wondered where had my mom gone when lockdown came it was just awful for everyone a huge shock not to go to work being self-employed and with staff to worry about i had worked since i was 15 and only time i had stopped working was for three months when i had my daughter lauren so what to do with my time walk exercise watch tv we were so lucky with the weather so i found myself in the garden with the desire to read the bible it was just wonderful i felt complete peace thanks to brian i look forward to his emails of his sunday service and then zoom church where i felt the holy spirit it was then when i took communion i found myself crying at the thought of jesus dying on the cross and the worship song played after turn your eyes on jesus i'd never felt such an emotion then i went on another life explored class on zoom with my dad he had been on them all but he did it again to give me encouragement it finally all just clicked i knew i wanted to get baptized it is a huge change in my life i can't start my day without speaking to god i listen to the art electrical 365 a prayer devotional every day christian radio is blasting through my house i've tried playing it in my salon but i haven't quite got away with that yet but now i trust jesus for my salvation and acknowledge him as the lord in my little salon i feel the holy spirit working me every day i will spend the rest of my life living to please jesus thanks to my husband johnny for supporting me in this thank you all for sharing this day thanks to brian gary allen and my dad for helping me find my path to jesus [Laughter] foreign it's so wonderful to be joining in today with the canopy service with baptist churches all over scotland and that was amazing to hear your testimony elaine and we praise god for all that he has done and is doing in and through your life and now as we come to the act of baptism i have just some questions i need to ask you and for you to respond elaine do you believe in one god father son and holy spirit elaine do you confess and acknowledge jesus christ as your lord and as your savior elaine do you turn from sin renounce evil and commit to follow christ all the days of your life and elaine will you commit to live within the fellowship of the church and promise to serve jesus christ in the world okay so before i invite you down to be baptized i've chosen a bible verse for you for this special day in galatians 2 verse 20 it says i have been crucified with christ and i no longer live but christ lives in me the life i now live in the body i live by faith in the son of god who loved me and gave himself for me amen okay i just asked you to come down into them on your confession of confessing jesus christ as your lord and savior and with your permission i baptize you now in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen okay let's get our encouragement okay let me just let me just pray for elaine now father god we are overjoyed and rejoice today in this special occasion most of all father we give you all the honor and all the glory and all the praise we we praise you for what we've just heard in elaine's testimony and as she's just now followed you in obedience through the waters of baptism father god may you bless elaine lord may your blessing be upon her but your anointing be upon her lord for the life that she now will live for you and we pray for her her family lord a role within the family that she has and also lord within her salon as well may lord she be so enlight for you as we've heard and to bear fruit we pray for so much lord for the work of your kingdom in jesus name amen and all the people said amen i'll now pass back to martin in a baptism like that all of us across the country to witness that declaration of faith to hear elaine's unique story and to recognize that her life is now immersed in christ just like she was immersed in the water and one of my prayers is that all our churches will have the joy of baptizing at least one person in this year i wonder if your church might embrace that prayer too now let's gather up our joy in all that god is doing as we close with some songs of worship and praise let's open up our hearts and sing to god with real thankfulness for his good work among us and around us [Music] let's stand together [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] love of christmas [Music] he [Music] jesus died for everything on him [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] victory [Music] [Music] this is [Music] [Music] no [Music] oh [Music] now [Music] here [Music] his love is like the mighty ocean his love for me will never are strong enough [Music] his love is like the mighty ocean his love for me will never stop is [Music] [Applause] [Music] we are lost without your glory we are lost without you girls [Music] let us see [Music] mountains [Music] christ alone [Music] lead us home and out of darkness [Music] you can [Music] for me christ [Music] is [Music] [Music] praise the lord our god is is [Music] if is [Music] we stand in you alone this morning our strength our salvation our hope is in you jesus amen so may the blessing of the one true god rest upon you may the father be the gardener who makes you fruitful for his glory may the son be the vine in whom you bear fruit that endures and may the spirit be the source of overflowing love poured out in your heart may this one god for the son and spirit who has called you and appointed you grant you whatever you ask in his name amen amen it has been such a delight to gather together for canopy again this year and we just want to say a massive thank you to all the people who have contributed from across our network to the tech team here in the studio to the worship band our seminar and main session speakers and to everyone who's joined in and shared on the live chat as well let's all keep encouraging one another and building each other up as we follow jesus yeah and we also don't want you to miss out on any of the incredible content that we've heard and shared over the weekend all of our live sessions and our seminars are available now on the scottish baptist website and here on our youtube channel and you can find all the links here so you don't miss a thing and let's keep sharing our stories of what god is doing in our lives and in our churches across scotland if your church has a story to share then please do contact the baptist union team and let us know we would love to hear from you and we can share it across our whole network of churches yeah so that's about it for this year a massive thanks to each one of you for joining together this morning we hope you have an amazing day and a real sense of god being with you and among you in the days ahead goodbye

Channel: Baptist Union of Scotland

Views: 381

Keywords:

Id: cJidOpmKR0A

Length: 76min 33sec (4593 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 04 2021